“Those are just my girls, they’re not gonna play, just watch.”
He shuffled his feet. “I’m not sure about that Daisy,” he said.
“Where I go, my girls go.” She pushed in and I had to admire her even though she scared the shit out of me.
He was twice her size, which put him much taller than all of us. I didn’t know about pushing into a room where I wasn’t wanted but Daisy was in and we had no choice but to follow.
We all traipsed in (at this point the Daisy-ettes) and sweet, Tinkly-Bell Laugh Daisy was all gone. This was Serious Kick-Butt Daisy.
“Boys,” she said, scanning the table.
The men at the table stared at her.
Then they stared at us.
They weren’t happy.
It wasn’t exactly Brad Pitt teaching wannabe megastars how to play poker in Ocean’s Eleven. It was dirty, smoky, smelled of sweat and I didn’t like the idea of my Dad hanging out in such places, night after night. The thought of it was just plain sad.
They finished their game, found a chair and Daisy sat; Butch giving her chips when she gave him a roll of cash. My eyes bugged out when I saw the roll of cash but she turned to me and I saw her hair move in a “no” and I just stopped myself from giving out a little scream.
Indy, Ally and I stood quiet several feet away from the table. No one talked, it was all about the cards. Daisy folded for her first hand. She got beat on a bluff her second. She won huge on her third.
While they were dealing the fourth, she spoke to the man at her side.
“Where’s Ray tonight?” she asked, calm as you please, like Dad was a frequent guest at dinner parties.
“Don’t know,” he mumbled, not looking at her.
“Marcus is lookin’ for him,” she said and the guy shrunk into himself.
“Thought he’d taken care of his thing with Marcus,” another guy said.
“This is a new thing,” Daisy replied.
“Ray’s a dumb fuck,” a different man said.
Now, I might have been mad at my Dad, but I didn’t like hearing someone call him a dumb fuck. I tensed, visualizing my stun gun in my hand and Daisy, in mother bear mode, slid her eyes to me and her hair did another negative shake.
Daisy turned to Dumb Fuck Guy, “You know where he is tonight?”
“If he was smart, he’d be in Argentina. Since he’s not, he’s sittin’ a table somewhere.” His eyes met Daisy’s, “And no, I don’t know where.”
Daisy folded the next hand and lost huge (and I think on purpose) on the next. Then she got up, motioned to us and cashed out with Butch. We left the room and none of us said good-bye. They didn’t mind us being impolite.
We bellied up to the bar down below, ordered drinks and stood there trying to ignore the stares we were getting.
“Can I just say, you are the shit,” Ally said to Daisy.
Indy and I nodded.
Tinkly-Bell Laugh Daisy was back.
“Thanks, Sugar,” she giggled.
“Did you lose that last hand on purpose?” I asked.
She nodded, “Not good form to go out a big winner, not if I don’t want to make trouble for my Marcus.”
I had to admit, it was true, she was the shit. She knew everything.
“We still don’t know where Jet’s Dad is,” Indy pointed out.
Okay, maybe not everything.
Daisy knocked back her vodka rocks.
“We ain’t done yet, neither.”
Off we trooped to the Mustang and Daisy gave Ally more directions. We hit a bar on Colfax, deep on Colfax, in a zone I’d never been to before.
We walked in and I noticed it had a reverse mix race majority, some white faces, predominately black. Regardless of the fact that we weren’t the only white people there, we were the only white people there wearing skintight Lycra and enough hair spray to supply the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders for an entire season. This caused somewhat of a sensation and I felt that sensation lifting the hairs on the back of my neck.
Daisy charged through the bar like she owned the joint, went down a back hall and rapped on a closed door.
An enormous black woman, with an Afro even bigger than Daisy’s hair (needless to say, it was huge), opened the door, her face like a storm cloud. I sucked in breath and pulled my purse closer, the better to reach my pepper spray. Then the cloud cleared and the woman’s face broke into a bright smile.
“Daisy-girl!” she said and came into the hall with us, closing the door and enveloping little Daisy in a big hug.
“Shirleen. How’s tricks?” Daisy asked when Shirleen let her go.
“Shit, they’re always shit. You know that,” Shirleen said, the smile never leaving her face which I thought was strange considering “tricks” were shit.
“Let me introduce my girls,” Daisy said and performed the introductions.
“Oowee! Looks like you all are paintin’ the town pink too-nite!” Shirleen declared and looked us all over with approving tawny brown eyes. I had the feeling Shirleen had Ada’s rose-tinted glasses on or she was prematurely blinding.
“Only way a town should be,” Ally said.
“You got that right, sister,” Shirleen noted and we all grinned.
Daisy got down to business.
“We’re lookin’ for Ray McAlister. He in there?”
“Ray? Haven’t seen Ray in a coupla days. He got trouble, you know what I mean?” Shirleen replied.
Daisy’s hair nodded, so did mine, Ally’s and Indy’s. We knew what she meant.
“This is his little girl,” She pointed at me.
“Shee-it!” Shirleen squealed and her eyes turned to me, wide, bright and happy, “Been wantin’ to meet you. Everyone’s talkin’ ‘bout you. Heard you kneed Fratelli in the balls at a bagel place. Wish I’da been there. You coulda sold tickets to that.”
“It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. He called my boyfriend a wetback,” I explained.
Damn.
Now I was calling Eddie my boyfriend.
Shirleen’s grin faded and her eyes narrowed.
“Fuckin’ dick,” she said. “Fratelli’s not a big fan of the brothers either.” She turned to Daisy, “Marcus, now, he’s a good man, respects the brothers, ‘bout time he cut Fratelli loose.”
Daisy’s hair nodded again.
“You see Ray, you call me, would you do that Shirleen?” Daisy asked.
“You got it.” She put her hand on the doorknob, “Gotta get back. Go to the bar, tell ‘em Shirleen said to set you up.”
“You’re a peach,” Daisy said.
Shirleen disappeared behind the door. We went to the bar and told the bartender Shirleen set us up. He didn’t quibble and used a heavy hand.
“What now?” Ally asked, sipping her Designated Driver Diet Coke.
“I know of another table, but ain’t no way they’d let me sit it and ain’t no way I’d try. Marcus would have a conniption,” Daisy replied.
This was not good news. This meant the night was a bust.
No Dad, no control of my life, no end to my nightmare.
All dressed up and nothing to show for it.
Damn.
I glanced across the room and then froze solid when I saw Darius.
He saw me at the same time and did an eye-sweep taking in Indy and Ally. Then, without hesitation, his hand went to the back pocket of his homey-jeans and he pulled out his cell.
“Shit!” I hissed, turning to the bar.
“What?” Indy asked.
“Darius is here, he saw us, he’s calling Eddie,” I looked at her, “Or Lee.”
Indy looked across the room, obviously saw Darius and then turned around.
“Shit!” she hissed.
“I’m gonna go say hi,” Ally said.
Indy grabbed her.
“Don’t say hi! We’re in Darius Domain. He doesn’t want some white woman in red knit with her ass hanging out walking up to him to say hi.”
“He’s Darius,” Ally returned
as if that explained everything.
Something to know about Ally, apparently, she wasn’t scared of anything.
Daisy was looking across the bar, bold as brass, staring right at Darius.
“You girls know him?” she asked.
We nodded.
She turned to us, Serious Kick-Butt Daisy firmly in place.
“You don’t know him right now.”
Ally stared at her.
“Gotcha,” Indy said, pulling Ally back to the bar.
Luckily, that was that.
We sucked down vodka. Mine and Indy’s cut with cranberry juice, Daisy’s cut with ice.
So much for the big, dangerous night out with the girls.
“Yo, bitch!”
We all turned to see who the bitch was.
To my surprise, the bitch appeared to be Indy.
A small, round black woman with ringlets invaded Indy’s space.
“Remember me?”
Indy blinked at her.
“Um…” Indy mumbled.
The woman looked at me.
“She don’t remember me,” she said.
I stared.
Guess I was wrong about the big, dangerous night out with the girls.
She turned back to Indy.
“Few months ago, you stun-gunned me.”
Daisy, Ally and I looked at Indy. Indy’s face registered recognition.
“Uh-oh,” Ally said.
“Uh-oh is right, bee-atch,” the woman said, not taking her eyes off Indy.
The negative power force enveloping us ratcheted up a notch.
“Who you callin’ a bee-atch?” Ally asked, hand going to hip.
Okay, so we’d reached ground zero in a serious Holy Shit Situation.
The woman moved into Ally’s space.
“I’m calling you a bee-atch, bee-atch.”
I was thinking that wasn’t the right answer.
“Why don’t I get you a drink?” I put in, trying to defuse the Holy Shit Situation.
“Don’t want a drink,” she answered, not looking at me, “Ain’t no one disrespectin’ me. You hear what I’m sayin’?” Her ringlets were bouncing around while she was shaking her head and I didn’t take this as a good sign.
“I’m not the one who charged over here, getting into people’s faces. That’s disrespect. You hear what I’m sayin’?” Ally flashed back, hair bobbing around her head and somehow the Holy Shit Situation escalated.
“Ladies,” I tried to cut in just as the woman’s fist came forward in a jab.
I ducked, she missed me and hit Daisy right in the eye.
I lifted up and stared.
Daisy staggered back a step on her rhinestone encrusted, ice blue, platform go-ahead.
Then she steadied herself.
“Uh-oh,” Indy, Ally and I said in unison.
Then Daisy pounced.
It was fair to say at that juncture that mayhem ensued.
Ally jumped on the pile of arms and legs on the floor, which consisted of a rolling Daisy and the black lady. The black lady’s friend came up and shoved Indy and they got in a tussle. Other people either watched or thought it might be fun to join in and started shoving and punching each other. I stood in the middle of it all, opened my purse, pulled out my stun gun and switched it on. It started crackling and hissing which I figured meant it was ready to roll.
I wasn’t wrong.
I leaned over and touched it to black lady number one. She let out a squeak and went slack. Then I touched it to black lady number two, with the same result, except she was standing and she hit the ground like a dead weight.
I looked at the stun gun, then looked at Indy.
“Rock ‘n’ roll!” Indy shouted, putting her arms up, forefinger and pinkie extended in the famous rock ‘n’ roll double devil’s horns.
I switched off the gun, shoved it in my bag and then I helped up Daisy and Ally. I grabbed Indy’s arm, turned tail, and ran, dragging Indy along with me.
I chanced a glance backward at the growing brawl to see Ally wave at Darius.
He was grinning.
We got in the Mustang and Ally burned rubber.
We were a couple of miles away when Indy said, “I think I tore Tod’s dress, he’s gonna have a shit fit.”
“That ain’t nothin’, Sugar, I think I might get a black eye, and worse, I broke a nail.” Daisy said.
There was a beat of silence.
“That was righteous,” Ally said quietly.
“You got that right, sister.” Indy replied.
* * * * *
We dropped Daisy first, then Ally took me to Eddie’s.
We idled at the curb, me in the front seat, all of us looking at Eddie’s house. The lights were on.
“Damn, shit, fuck,” I whispered.
It was definitely a multi-curse-word moment.
The outside light went on, the front door opened, then the security door opened. Eddie stood inside the opened door wearing jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, feet bare, shirt unbuttoned, chest and abs partially exposed, hair a sexy mess, face unreadable.
“Holy crap,” Indy breathed from the backseat.
“Fuck, shit, damn,” I whispered.
I was wrong, this was a multi-curse-word moment.
“I don’t know whether to feel sorry for you or stun gun you and take your place,” Ally said.
“I think he’s going to cuff me to bed the next time,” I said.
“Lee tried that with me, it doesn’t work,” Indy offered.
Um… eek!
“I think you best mosey on up there, pa’dner. He doesn’t look like he’s gonna wait much longer and I’m not sure you want to know what he’ll do when he’s done waiting.”
I got out of the front seat and Indy got out of the back and our hair was forced to get out with us.
I hugged Indy.
“Thanks,” I said into her ear.
“It was a blast,” she said into mine.
I leaned over, my dress rode up, I pulled it down just before disaster struck and waved at Ally. She blew me a kiss.
Then I walked up to Eddie.
He stood aside and let me enter.
“Hey,” I said as I walked by, surprising myself by sounding cool instead of freaked out.
His eyes did a full body scan. Then, slowly, he shook his head.
Okay, I was done with being cool.
I made a beeline for the bathroom, leaving him to lock the door.
I washed my face and tore a brush through my hair. With effort it went from Freaky Diva to Charlie’s Angels.
The house was dark when I opened the bathroom door, a dim light coming from the bedroom.
Eddie was in bed, on his side, covers up to his waist, chest bare, head in his hand, eyes on me, face still unreadable.
Eek!
I turned off the light, slid off my shoes, tore off the dress and pulled on the camisole that was still lying on my bag but I left the bottoms for another day.
I crawled into bed and settled, my back to him.
Eddie didn’t move.
“Thanks for letting me in,” I said to the wall, attempting to gauge his mood.
No response.
“Good night,” I tried.
He moved, settling in, obviously on his back, not touching me and not speaking either.
Hmm.
There were a few of problems with this. First; I was wide-awake and coasting on a serious wave of adrenalin, adrenalin that needed to be worked out somehow (and I knew how I’d prefer it to be worked out). Second; I was too freaking shy to do anything about it, definitely I wasn’t able to make the first move. Last; I was pretty certain Eddie was ticked off so even if I wasn’t too shy, he clearly wasn’t in the mood.
Instead, I fidgeted, I moved, I turned and I tried to count sheep.
I was rearranging my pillows for the third time when Eddie’s arm came out and hauled me across the bed, tucking me into his side.
Finally.
&
nbsp; “Jazzed?” he asked.
“Um… yeah.”
“Stun-gunning angry black women in bars on Colfax’ll do that to you.”
Wonderful.
Darius told on me.
“Darius,” I said.
Eddie didn’t answer.
“I tried to be a mediator, I swear. I even offered to buy her a drink. But apparently Indy stun-gunned her a few months ago. Then she called Ally a bee-atch, which Ally didn’t like. Then she punched Daisy in the eye. Then Daisy jumped her and Ally jumped them and they started rolling around on the floor. Then some other woman shoved Indy and—”
Eddie interrupted me. “You can stop talkin’ now.”
I closed my mouth and laid there a second, pressed up against his warm, hard body.
Then (I swear, I couldn’t help it, it was the adrenalin, and maybe a little of my newfound coolness) I ran my hand down his chest, across his abs, then back over his chest and my fingernail might have somewhat-purposefully snagged his nipple.
He grabbed my wrist and held my hand where it was.
“You tired?” I whispered.
“It’s after one in the morning,” he replied, but didn’t answer my question.
I thought about this and came up with a solution.
“I’ll do all the work,” I said quietly.
He didn’t respond and he didn’t move.
Damn.
Finally, he said, “Please tell me you didn’t have the chance to bend over in that dress.”
I did a mental replay of the night.
I hadn’t.
Except for when I bent over to use the stun gun of course.
I didn’t share that with Eddie.
“I didn’t even sit down, unless I was in the Mustang.”
He didn’t say anything.
I squirmed next to him.
“Um…” I dragged it out, “about me doing all the work?”
He pulled me over his body, his hands slid down my bottom, the backs of my thighs and hooked at my knees, pulling them up so I was straddling him.
My mouth found his in the dark.
“Can I take that as a yes?” I asked.
He didn’t answer but he pulled off my camisole.
I was guessing that was a yes.
I went with my guess and I was right.
Chapter Nineteen
Lottie
The alarm went off, Eddie touched a button and rolled out of bed.
I slid the covers over my head. Maybe, if I hid, he wouldn’t remember I was there.