“Who’re you?” Ava said from beside me.
“Stand back, now.” Daisy didn’t care who he was and at her words all the girls got close to me.
Jerry ignored Daisy. “Your father’s got a message for you.”
My eyes went wide.
Then my back went straight and my chin went out.
All right.
I’d had enough.
This was not happening.
I’d had a tough day. A tough week! A tough fucking life!
I was going to take no more.
“Is that so? Well I have a message for him too,” I snapped back.
Jerry’s hands went tight on my arms, so tight, they hurt.
“Quiet and listen to me.”
“Last warning, stand back.” Daisy got in closer.
I ignored her and leaned in. “No, you listen to me. No messages, no nothing. My father doesn’t exist anymore. You tell him that.” Then, for good measure, I used one of Hector’s badass lines, “Got me?”
Jerry ignored my fairy princess/bimbo groupie badass and returned, “Sadie, I’m warnin’ you, Seth is losin’ patience with you.”
Ice Princess gave him a Chill Factor Sub-Zero Glare. “Do I look like I care?”
He leaned in and we were nose-to-nose right before he said threateningly, “Girl, you better care.”
“Take your hands off her.” I heard Eddie say from behind Jerry and I looked around to see him standing there, feet planted wide, arms loose at his sides and looking unhappy.
Jerry let me go and turned to Eddie. Then he gave an amused hoot.
“Detective Chavez,” Jerry said in an ugly voice. “Now I’m confused. I thought it was your brother who was tappin’ her ass.”
I gasped.
“Uh-oh,” Ava said from beside me as Eddie’s body went visibly taut.
Jet, Daisy, Ava and I huddled as Eddie warned Jerry, “You got one second to disappear.”
“Yeah?” Jerry taunted, pretending to look around. “You sure you wanna try to get a piece of me? I don’t see Nightingale at your back.”
“Eddie, let’s just go,” Jet put in.
“Move away,” Eddie told Jet, not taking his eyes from Jerry.
“Eddie –” Jet kept trying.
“Jet,” Eddie clipped and that was all he had to say. Jet shuffled us all back, we moved as one in our Rock Chick huddle, all of our eyes locked on Eddie and Jerry.
“Fuck, you think you can get a piece of me.” Jerry sounded amused.
Eddie didn’t say a word, he didn’t move, his eyes didn’t leave Jerry.
“This is gonna be fun,” Jerry went on and Eddie still didn’t reply, pushing Jerry to ask, “You gonna stare at me all night?”
Eddie still didn’t move.
But he did speak.
“No, I’m gonna ask you what Townsend would think if he knew you been meetin’ with Donny Balducci.”
What?
Jerry and Donny?
No way.
Jerry’s eyes narrowed. “You been watchin’ me, spic?”
I gasped again, this time angrily.
“Oh Lord,” Ava muttered.
“What did he just say?” Jet asked, her voice trembling.
“Stand down, Jet, I think Eddie’s got this covered,” Daisy told Jet, pulling the huddle back another few steps.
Eddie had gone silent again but the air had changed, it became heavy and very, very scary.
Jerry waited for a reaction to his racial slur and, when none was forthcoming, he (stupidly, if you asked me), decided to create one.
His arm reached out, he planted his hand in Eddie’s chest and I saw him give a shove.
I stared and my mouth dropped open.
I was certain he’d given a shove but Eddie’s body didn’t move.
No kidding, it didn’t move an inch.
Solid as a rock.
I watched surprise slide across Jerry’s face, surprise I was pretty certain sure was mingled with a hint of fear as Eddie encouraged in a low, menacing voice, “Keep goin’.”
“Fuck you!” Jerry clipped and immediately threw a punch.
Quick as a flash, Eddie ducked but came up, body cocked to the side and swinging, he landed a fist in Jerry’s stomach and I heard Jerry’s awful grunt.
“Oh for goodness sake, we’re missin’ Stella,” Daisy said as if Eddie’s fight with one of my father’s henchmen was akin to an annoying traffic delay on the way to a movie and I looked at her, mouth still open. She was digging in her purse (not all Rock Chicks went purse-less) and she came out with a stun gun.
Oh boy.
This was getting worse by the second!
Jerry threw another punch, Eddie’s chin jerked back and, again, Jerry missed his target but Eddie moved swiftly and landed another blow, this time to Jerry’s kidneys and this time Jerry’s grunt was filled with pain.
“Give me that stun gun! I want to stun that jackass!” Jet cried, her hand going out to wrap around Daisy’s wrist and the now crackling stun gun.
That’s when Jet and Daisy started to scuffle, both trying to get control of the stun gun.
And there it was.
The night got even worse!
My eyes swung from Jet and Daisy to Jerry and Eddie as Jerry went at Eddie, advancing quickly. Eddie was retreating but he was weaving almost casually (not joking, casually!) while Jerry tried some one-two combinations but none of them connected.
We had an audience now, people were amassing in the hall to watch but no one seemed to want to get involved. That was, no one except a big blond man who was shoving his way through from the back.
“What the fuck?” Tex asked when he made it to the front, right when Eddie stopped retreating and weaving and landed another savage body blow causing another grunt of pain from Jerry. “That’s it, Chavez, fuck him up!” Tex boomed his approval. What he did not do, I noticed immediately, was intervene. Then he threw back his head and gave out a wild catcall.
Really!
These people were nuts!
“This is just great,” I snapped to no one as Daisy and Jet were grappling for the stun gun next to me, Ava was trying to stay out of their way, Eddie and Jerry kept at it and Tex settled in for the show. “Can’t I have one trauma free night?” I went on complaining (again, to no one).
At that moment, I had a stroke of luck and Daisy dropped the stun gun.
Without thinking and fed up, I bent down, picked up the gun and, Ice Princess in total control, just like I’d done it dozens of times before, I walked right up to Jerry, reached up and touched the hissing prongs to his shoulder.
Hector told me a second would give an incapacitating jolt, three would bring him down. He wasn’t wrong. After the third second, Jerry was at my feet but I was bent over and I kept the stun gun on him even as his body jerked around on the floor with the bolts I was zapping into him.
Around about the seventh second, Eddie pulled me away.
“I think that’ll do it, chica,” Eddie said in my ear, his arm around my waist, my back against his front.
I looked up at him, nodded then looked down at Jerry.
“Tell your lord and master to fuck off,” I said to the blinking but otherwise unmoving Jerry. “I mean it. I’m done with him, done with you, done with that life. You can tell Donny when you see him next to fuck off too. Get this straight, Jerry, tell them both to… fuck… off.” Jerry just kept blinking at me and I decided to take that as his agreement to deliver my message.
I took a deep breath and shoved Jerry and my father mentally aside (for the time being). I turned in Eddie’s arm, it went loose and I smiled up at him, deciding to mix New Nice Sadie with Pretend Happy Sadie and get on with the good part of the night.
“Thanks for fighting for me,” I said breezily. “You want me to buy you a beer?”
Eddie stared at me blank-faced for a second then his eyes went warm and the dimple came out.
What he didn’t do was answer.
“Oka
y then,” I decided for him in order to move past this latest fiasco (which I had, again, somehow survived and, luckily, so had everyone else). “Beer for you,” I told Eddie and went on. “Shots for the girls. Come on!” I yelled, turned, stepped over the prone Jerry and started to head to the bar.
Then I stopped, turned back around and leaned down to Jerry again. “One more thing. I know I zapped a bunch of your brain cells just now but the word you were looking for has three syllables.” I lifted my fist, shoved it close to Jerry’s face, my fingers flicked out and I counted them off as I spoke, “His… pan… ic, you moron.”
Then I straightened, saw Jet, Ava and Daisy grinning at me but I whirled on a flounce and stomped away on my new motorcycle boots.
I was shoving through the people (not really getting very far) when they parted like I was Moses and they were the Red Sea and Tex’s hand came to the top of my head.
“I’ll take a beer too,” Tex said to me, his hand leaving my head but he didn’t leave my side.
“I’ll buy you a beer. Heck, I’m rich. In fact, I’m totally loaded. I’ll buy everyone in the club a fucking beer,” I answered.
Tex boomed out a laugh.
“She’s not buyin’ the house a round,” Eddie said, materializing close to my other side and making me jump. I hadn’t even felt his approach.
“She’s rich, what’s there to do with money but buy a round?” Tex asked good-naturedly.
“She’s not fuckin’ buyin’ the house a round,” Eddie returned sharply.
“All right, badass, stand down. Shee-it,” Tex gave in.
I would not be denied some form of generous gesture, however. “I’m buying you both a beer,” I told Eddie, stopping at the bar.
“I’m drivin’, no beer,” Eddie looked down at me.
Blooming heck but being nice was not easy.
“Well then, I’m buying Tex a beer and the girls shots,” I returned.
Eddie grinned. “That you can do.”
I gave him the Ice Princess Icicle Ray of Death Glare.
“Well, thank you,” I said coldly.
His arm came around my shoulders, he tucked me into his side and he kissed the side of my head.
Unbelievable.
Was the Ice Princess, like, invisible to these people?
“Yo!” Eddie called, the bartender trotted up and Eddie gave my shoulder an affectionate squeeze as indication I should give my order.
Apparently, she was.
Oh well, so be it.
I decided to skip the fancy stuff and ordered straight tequila shots.
What the heck.
Right?
* * * * *
“I can walk to the door,” I told Lee as he walked beside me up to Hector’s front door.
Lee looked down at me and smiled. “I know.”
I weaved a little bit.
Seriously, he had a great smile.
And, at that moment, I decided that he should be made aware of this fact.
“You know,” I informed him (yes, I was drunk or more drunk or, say, uber-drunk), “I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this but you have a very handsome smile.”
He slung an arm around my shoulders (what was it with these guys and the arms around the shoulders, not that I was complaining, it was nice, but still, how touchy could you be?).
“It’s been mentioned,” he replied, his head coming up to look at the house and his chin gave a jerk.
My eyes followed his and I saw Hector standing inside his open front door. He was dressed, jeans, boots, white t-shirt under a buttoned-up but untucked flannel. The flannel was bunched up around the gun that was on his belt at the side of his hip.
I decided at that moment that Hector looked good wearing a gun.
Then again, Hector always looked good.
“Hi,” I called and waved to Hector as Lee and I walked up the front steps.
Hector just stared at me then his eyes cut to Lee.
It was then I realized Lee’s arm was still around me.
I looked up at Lee when we stopped in front of Hector and informed him helpfully, “You might want to take your arm away. Blanca tells me Hector doesn’t like men touching me.”
“Blanca told you that?” Lee asked, his smile (and arm) still firmly in place.
“Yes. She’s known Hector, like, his whole life so I think she’s in the position to know.”
Lee nodded, his smile somehow bigger like he was trying not to laugh then his eyes moved to Hector and he said, “I tried to stop it.”
Hector looked at Lee then looked at me then he muttered, “Oh fuck.”
“It was Ally’s idea,” Lee told Hector.
“What was Ally’s idea?” Hector asked Lee.
“It was not Ally’s idea!” I cried.
“It wasn’t!” super-power-eared Ally yelled from the open back window of Lee’s Explorer. “It was Sadie’s idea. I just was offering moral support.”
“Shut up, Ally!” Indy shouted out the open passenger side window.
“I will not shut up! I’m not taking the fall for this one!” Ally shouted back.
I turned to the car, dislodging Lee’s arm and lifted both my hands and pressed down. “No one’s going to take a fall. Everyone calm down. It’s all okay. It’s rock ‘n’ roll!” I screamed.
“Righteous!” Ally screamed back.
“Rock on, sister!” Indy screamed too.
“It’s rock ‘n’ roll?” Lee asked, sounding as amused as he looked.
“You all wanna quit screamin’ at three o’clock in the mornin’ in my fuckin’ neighborhood?” Hector suggested.
Mm, well maybe we were being an eensy bit loud.
“Time for beddie by,” I announced (sounding like Ralphie), got up on tiptoe, kissed Lee’s cheek (like Ralphie and Buddy would do to me), turned and gave Indy and Ally a double devil’s horns (like Ava taught me) and shouted, “Rock on!”
They shouted back in unison, “Rock on!”
“Christ,” Hector muttered but I ignored him, walked into the house and headed toward the stairs.
I was in his bedroom, I’d turned on the light by the bed and was sitting on its side when he arrived.
“What did Lee try to stop?” Hector asked when he hit the room.
I leaned over and yanked off a boot then held it up to him.
“Look at this boot!” I cried, “Isn’t it aces? Daisy and the gang bought it for me. They bought me my whole outfit!” Then I threw the boot at him, thinking it was so cool, he might want to get a closer look.
He caught it, stared at it for less than a second then tossed it toward the pile that had somehow sprung up in the short time since Blanca’s tidying effort.
“Hey!” I snapped. “Don’t throw my new boot. It’ll get scuffed.”
Hector advanced, saying, “It’s a motorcycle boot. It’s supposed to be scuffed.”
Oh.
I didn’t know that.
Boy, I had a lot to learn about being a Rock Chick.
I was going to have to start taking notes!
I leaned over and pulled off the other one while he stopped in front of me. Then I hesitated.
Oh, what the heck.
I threw it in the pile and took off my socks.
“Can I ask you to do somethin’ for me?” Hector said.
I looked up and saw he had his hands on his hips and was towering over me. I couldn’t read his expression mainly because it was unreadable.
I decided I didn’t like him towering over me. I also decided I didn’t like so many clothes on him. He looked far better naked.
So I stood up and started to unbutton his shirt.
“What?” I said to his shirt, concentrating on my task.
“Burn that fuckin’ skirt.”
My hands stilled and my head snapped back.
“Excuse me?”
“That skirt. Burn it.”
I was confused, I liked my skirt, no, I loved it.
“Why?” I asked.<
br />
His hands came to my shirt and he pulled it up, my arms went with it and he whipped it off.
“Mamita, just don’t wear it again.”
I decided to give in, not wear it in front of him but not burn it. I could wear it on Crete and he’d never know.
“Oh, all right,” I agreed but I didn’t sound happy about it (because I wasn’t).
His hands came to my hips and mine went back to his shirt.
“Now, what did Lee try to stop?” He went back to his earlier subject.
I’d kind of lost track of things so my mind rewound the evening and I remembered Eddie’s fight with Jerry which Lee didn’t even see and I got confused.
“Me stun gunning Jerry, my father’s henchman?” I guessed as I finished with the buttons, lifted my hands and pulled the shirt off his shoulders.
His hands left my hips when I leaned into him and tugged the flannel down his arms. Then I whipped it around, shrugged it on and started to button the two buttons at my breasts while his hands came back to me, this time to the front button and zip on my skirt.
“Nope, Eddie called, told me about Jerry. Lee knows I know about that. What else happened tonight, after the fight?”
I pulled in my lips and tried to think as Hector slid down the zip on my skirt (and thinking was not easy to do). I decided to help him and lifted the hem of the flannel to get it out of his way. He slid the skirt over my hips and pushed down, it fell to my ankles but Hector’s hands, and body, froze.
Then he moved, one hand went low on my right hip, the other one went to the side of my belly by my hip and he framed the bandage that was at my hip bone with his hands.
“What the fuck?” he muttered then his eyes cut to me.
“Oh yeah!” I yelled, even though he was right there, barely a foot away. “I got a tattoo.”
Hector’s brows went up and I smiled at him.
“That must be what Lee was talking about,” I informed him. “He didn’t think it was a good idea. Neither did Eddie. Or Hank, for that matter. Tex thinks I’m a nut. Duke and Mace liked it, though, and the girls thought it was aces. So do I. Look!”
I bent over and peeled the bandage away, exposing the brand new tattoo, it and my skin glistening with tattoo goo.
It was a black panther, fierce, graceful and snarling.
I loved it.
“It’s a black panther,” I informed Hector unnecessarily as his hands were still framing it, his body was leaned slightly to the side, his head cocked and his eyes were locked on my hip. “I thought my idea was lame at first. But I couldn’t think of anything else that represented you.” I noticed his head jerk and his eyes slice to me but I didn’t process it, I kept talking, “Then I told the artist guy about you, that you had black hair and black eyes that could go really intense and you were a badass and I liked the way you moved, graceful and in control, like a cat. He sketched that and me and all the girls, even Shirleen, thought it was perfect, so, I said –”