“Violet.”
“I got four days, the girls are gone, I got four days to do it. Can you give me that?”
“No.”
“Mike –”
“Vi, you’re in my bed tonight.”
“Mike, listen to –”
His arms gave me a shut up squeeze so I did and he said, “No, Vi, you listen to me. You work it out with him. Talk. I don’t give a fuck what it’s about, don’t wanna know. You come to my house tonight and you come prepared to spend the night.”
Yep, he was getting impatient, staking his claim.
“Mike, I don’t think –”
“And don’t fuckin’ bring one of his shirts. You sleep in tees, you wear one of mine.”
“But –”
“And you take it home too.”
Shit and damn. Joe was home a few days and my brother was fucking dead, I’d been semi-adopted by an Italian family in Chicago, my girls were back under his spell and I was back in this unholy mess.
“I’m not ready for that.”
“Yeah, you are and I am and he can have your days, you need to work shit out with him, but, while the girls are gone, I have your nights.”
“What if we –”
“I want you safe. I wanna know you’re safe and the only way I’ll know that is you in my bed. He and Colt can keep watch durin’ the day but I’m tellin’ you, Vi, I get the nights.”
“Mike –”
He didn’t let me finish again, this time he kissed me. Not his straight-to-fiery kiss, this one was a stealth one, light and sweet, building the fire.
I ended it with my arms wrapped around his neck.
“Six o’clock, sweetheart,” he whispered, “come on in, the door’ll be open.”
“Okay,” I whispered back, because I was a total, complete idiot.
Then, just like Mike, he gave it to me honest.
“You don’t get this, Vi, so I’ll tell you. I’m fallin’ for you.” I closed my eyes. Mike kissed them in turn and I opened them again. “I know you don’t need that, sweetheart, but then again, you need it all the same.”
This didn’t make sense but it totally did.
I gave it back to him, just as honest.
“Mike, you deserve the best and I’m not sure that’s me.”
He just grinned, gave me a squeeze, kissed my forehead and repeated, “Six o’clock, door’ll be open.”
Then he let me go, turned and left.
I stared at the door.
Then I walked to it and armed the alarm.
Then I went to my cold cup of coffee, nuked it and stood in my kitchen, staring out my kitchen window, watching three men now carrying out to the dumpster what seemed to be Joe’s entire freaking kitchen and while I did this I drank my coffee.
After I had a shower, I spritzed with my perfume, put on light makeup, my Lucky jeans and a blouse I always liked. The cotton looked almost tie-dyed, all in deep shades of grape, the split at the neckline was embroidered with green, lilac, lavender and blue flowers and there were braided strings hanging down from the top sides of the split, their weight holding it open. It fit loose but had an elastic waistband and elastic at the cap sleeves. It was kinda Heidi and kinda rock ‘n’ roll. I loved it, it made me feel good and I needed that in a big, honking way.
Then I picked up my phone, scrolled down to “Joe’s cell” and hit go.
He picked up on ring two.
“Yo.”
“It’s Violet. We need to talk. Come over.”
“Buddy, I’m in the middle of something.”
“You come over here or I come over there and we do it in front of all the boys who’re demolishing your house.”
He was silent then he sighed and said, “Give me ten.”
“You got ten then I’m headin’ over.”
“All right, baby, cool it. I said I’d be over.”
“Right,” I said into the phone then slid it shut.
I had ten minutes and I knew what I’d do with them.
I limped out the front door, walked across my yard, cautiously jumped the split rail fence that separated the front of Tina and my yards then walked right up to her door and pounded on it.
She made me do this awhile then opened it, her face a smirk, she knew this was coming and she wanted it, the bitch.
“Hey Violet.”
I didn’t greet her, I said, “I hear you spread my business around again, we got problems.”
She put her hand to her chest and said with totally fake innocence, “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
“Donuts for our boys in blue, tellin’ Mike shit you have no idea what you’re talkin’ about, that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” I unnecessarily reminded her.
The fake innocence melted away and her eyes narrowed. “Know you walked out Cal’s backdoor wearin’ his shirt. Know you’re stringin’ along a good man like Mike. Know that’s fucked.”
“You’re standin’ there throwin’ stones when you regularly screw a married man,” I fired back, watched her sneer even as she flinched and continued. “You don’t know shit, Tina, but even if you did, it isn’t your business so keep your mouth shut.”
“You gonna make me?” she asked, like we were eight and having a verbal tussle at recess during grade school.
“Yeah,” I answered, not in the mood to be mature. “I got way too much fucked up crap happening in my life, I don’t need to deal with you.”
She leaned back and sneered, “What can you do to me?”
I decided to steal Joe’s line. “Don’t know, but you force it, I’ll get creative.”
“Bring it on,” she snapped.
I shrugged and replied, “You got it.”
Then I turned and limped away to see Joe standing in my yard, feet planted, arms crossed on his chest, his eyes aimed beyond me to Tina’s house.
“What was that?” he asked when I’d jumped the fence again and got close.
“Nothin’,” I replied, limped passed him to my front door and I stepped through.
Joe followed me and closed the door.
“Vi, what was that?” he repeated.
“You and me, we’re over,” I announced again.
He crossed his arms on his chest, stared down at me and I forgot how scary he could look. He’d never done the arm crossing thing and that was super scary.
“I asked twice and I’ll do it one last time, what the fuck was that with Tina?”
I noticed he ignored my announcement so I decided to answer him so we could get to what I wanted to get straight, something that Joe wouldn’t let me do if he was stuck on Tina.
“She saw you drive us away yesterday, she saw you leave the house this morning. She decided to bring donuts to the Station and, while spreading her sugar cheer, share all that shit with the guys, Mike bein’ one of them.”
Joe’s face got hard and far scarier and he turned his head in the direction of Tina’s house to look at my wall.
“Mike and I are good, we’re solid, she’s tryin’ to shake that up and I told her I’m not havin’ that,” I finished, bringing that subject to a close.
Joe’s hard face swung back to me.
“You and Haines are solid?” he asked.
“Yes, which reminds me, you agree or not, we’re over.”
He shook his head.
I stared then asked, “Why are you shakin’ your head?”
“Because we’re not over.”
“We are.”
“We’re not and you’re not seeing him again,” he declared.
My mouth dropped open.
Then I asked, “What?”
“You need to tell him it’s done.”
I felt my eyes get wide and I repeated, “What?”
“Do it today, he’s a good man, you need to cut him loose.”
I felt my body grow slowly solid but I leaned forward a bit while this was happening and asked, yet again, “What?”
“You’re mine, the girls are mine. I’m stakin’ my claim with you right now and, you force it, I’ll do it with him too.”