Chalk by Lily J. Adams

Chapter Seventeen: Damage Control

 

Chalk

 

Talk about having some fight in her. If it wasn’t so close to home, I would have been laughing. I’d never seen Lucy get so fired up. It was both eye-opening and a turn-on. She was like a big mama bear, fighting for her cubs, but Angie couldn’t do that again. I knew she liked to get a little spicy with her lip, but she took it too far.

“What the hell are you doing Angie? What was that shit about?” We were standing off to the side, and as I got closer to her, I smelled the whiskey on her breath.

She hiccupped and put the back of her hand to her mouth. The stuff was seeping through her pores. “What? I’ve been celebrating the article. I might be a little smashed. Just a little bit.” Angie put her fingers together as she squinted. “I didn’t mean to hurt your little girlfriend’s feelings, but she put her hands on me. What the hell is wrong with her? She’s the firecracker and you need to get back over there and handle her not me. I’m— ”

“Angie!” I bit at her to snap her out of her incessant ramblings. “That’s the mother of my child. You won’t ever address her again like that, do you understand?” I was close to pointing my finger in her face, but I stopped short of it and let the fire roll off my tongue instead.

Angie could see I was angry and her expression turned sober. “Okay, calm down. I didn’t mean it like that. Things got out of hand, I apologize.” Angie looked at anything other than me.

I didn’t intend let her get away with it.

“That’s not good enough, Angie. Don’t ever approach Lucy like that again, unless it’s to apologize to her. Understood?” I fired at her.

Angie huffed a little while swaying from one foot to the other. “I got it.” She folded her arms one over the other, tapping her fingers on her forearms while not looking at my face.

“You better be glad that’s all she did to you. Can’t happen again, Angie.” I made it crystal clear as my eyes bored into hers.

“Got it, whatever,” she said flippantly. “Let me get myself together, and I’ll go over and make good.” Angie’s eyes were still a little glazed over.

“No you won’t. Not tonight, it’s too volatile. Next time.” I walked away from her and back to Lucy.

Wrath and fury still covered Lucy’s face and I worried she was going to find a way to go for round two.

Harper stood next to her and she had a drink in her hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Harper, do you mind? Can you give me a minute?” I asked.

Harper nodded. “Sure.” She slipped away.

I looked at Lucy. I could see that she’d been crying and her face was red. “I’m sorry about what happened,” I said. I could see she was about to cry again. “Hey, we should go. We should leave. She wants to apologize, she’d been drinking.” I put my hands on her shoulders to try and console her.

“What is her problem? Keep her away from me, Chalk. I don’t want her anywhere near me or Sarah.” The pain in her voice rang clear and she already had her purse hitched on her shoulder. She wouldn’t look at me.

I knew the good track that we were on had somehow just been derailed. Now we were in some weird triangle situation and partly I’d contributed to it.

Reaching for her hand, I waved goodbye to the others and walked out. “She won’t do it again.Trust me. That’s not what I wanted to happen.” We were standing outside in the moonlight. That’s when I knew that I deeply loved this woman in front of me, no matter how long we had to go to bring our lives together.

 

 

Two days later…

The cord of tension between Angie and I was pulled tight, but she had valuable information about the Road Warriors and their future plans, so we had to talk. We were downstairs in the Wheelz club after the meeting.

“Hey Chalk, how are things?” A gentle question with her hands in her blazer pockets.

“They’re interesting right now,” I said without wanting to give too much detail about my relationship. “How did you find out the Road Warriors were trying to put in a bid for the casino?” I asked, deflecting the conversation away from personal stuff.

“I’ve been talking with a few dealers that operate out of the Biloxi area that have loose connections to the Road Warriors. One of them wanted to be initiated, but for whatever reason, they wouldn’t let him into the club. He had some key information. If they haven’t started to bid I would say they will soon.” Angie paused for a beat before continuing, “I would be prepared for that. They now have twice the buying power with the two clubs. Plus, the fact that the Road Warriors already have a casino. They know what they’re doing. They might be the first choice over the Rebel Saints.”

“I swear, it’s actually hard as a club to be…good. Easier to fall to the dark side,” I mumbled.

Angie shrugged. “That’s the way of life. Listen, I gotta go, and I wanna say sorry to Lucinda. I feel kinda bad about everything. I hope we can at least be civil. Probably not, but it’s worth a shot.”

I scoffed. “Angie, you’re a firecracker at the best of times. Don’t try to act polite now, but the apology is necessary.”

“Okay fine, fine. I probably took it too far. When I see her next, I will say sorry. Let’s keep it cool. I’m not one to hold grudges or anything. Tell her not to punch me in the face though, when I try,” Angie remarked.

“I can’t guarantee that. I’m meeting her for lunch right now.”

“Alright. Bye, Chalk.” Angie winked and walked out.

Mia and Numbers came over to me.

“That go all right?” Mia asked with a concerned look on her face. “I know about what happened the other night. Numbers told me.”

Yeah, now the whole club knew about the incident and that didn’t sit right with me. “It went fine, let’s move on from the subject,” I said in a tired voice. I rolled my neck as I slid my jacket on and we stepped into the daylight. “What do you think about this Mississippi River case? Do you think you have the capability to get it re-opened?”

Mia sighed as she reached her car and Numbers slid in the passenger seat. “Umm, Angie is going to be the key to that. She’s planning on taking a deeper look into the sibling of the deceased. We might be able to find out something that way. Until then, who knows, unless someone steps forward with new information?”

My lips formed a thin line as I nodded. “Okay, I guess time will tell.”

She opened the car door and waved. “Yep, it will. Here’s hoping. See you soon.”

“Bye.” I waved and put my helmet on then swung my leg over my bike.

One of the shop owners from down the street approached. “Ah, Chalk! I saw the paper, you guys are legends around here. That was a great read. So much history.” He shook my hand with a smile. “I’m going to come in for a drink sometime soon with my wife. Sounds like a good place.”

I grinned. Maybe we weren’t going backwards at all as a club. “Thank you, that’s very kind of you. We do go way back in this town.”

He nodded and gave me a smile as he headed back down the sidewalk.

I made my way over to the Holbeck hospital to surprise Lucy.

I entered the sterile building and immediately wanted to walk out like the last time I’d been here. I hated hospitals because they reminded me of sickness. As I walked through the tiled hall the nurses looked, the doctors looked. A biker all dressed in black with a leather patched jacket would have been a sight for them all. I smirked, walking with confidence to the nurse’s station. Their whispers were so loud it was hard for me not to laugh when I got there. “Hi ladies. Having a nice day?”

One of them coughed as she held the base of her throat. She looked to be in her mid to late sixties. “We are now,” she said sweetly as she looked over the top of her glasses at me.

One of the other nurses elbowed her sharply.

The corners of my mouth lifted even further as I chuckled and put my elbow on the desk. “Do you know if Lucinda Matthews will be back on break soon for lunch?”

The elbower quickly gave me the answer, “She’s going to be on break in about five minutes. She’ll come right past this desk. You must be Chalk. She talks about you.” The nurse had a warm smile and she looked to be a little younger than the other one, around her late twenties.

“Oh?” Cocking my eyebrow, I lifted my arm off the counter standing up straight. “Okay great. I’ll wait right over here.”

“That’s no problem,” she said as the other one resumed ogling me.

Lucy came strolling through with her stethoscope around her neck, her dark hair piled high on her head and her cheeks slightly flushed pink.

My body flooded with warmth as soon as I saw her. All I wanted to do was wrap her up in my arms and hold her tight. The nurses would have a field day if that happened, so I kept my self-restraint intact. “Hi,” I said to her awkwardly.

Her face glowed with a smile. “Chalk! What are you doing here? Are you working again?”

I saw that the nurses were lurking in the background, but they faded fast as I spoke to her, “No, I came to take you out to lunch. Is that okay? You got plans?”

She looked flustered for a moment. “No, I don’t have plans, we can go out. I was only going to the cafeteria for a sandwich anyway.”

“Take an extra half hour,” one of the ladies called out to her.

I waved to them and we walked out together. “Hope you don’t mind. I wanted to see you…spend some time together.”

“Thanks, nice to see you.”

We were dancing around one another, but I figured once we got out in the open that would change. When I saw Lucy, my heart wanted to burst out of its skin. I wanted to be with her badly. The words were locked inside of me and I had to find a way to bring them to light.

“Are we going somewhere or are we walking somewhere?” she asked.

Standing there in her nurse uniform with her wisps of silky hair framing her face, left me no choice but to claim her lips. To steal the moment, right out in front of the hospital. I closed the circle between us, interlocking my fingers with hers as my lips grazed hers, she yielded under my touch as I indulged in her tenderness. Felt damn good to do that. I pulled back slowly, keeping her hand in mine. “Had to get that out of the way first. Let’s go to the diner across the road. There’s good food there.”

“Fine by me,” she gushed, touching her lips where I’d just kissed her with a small smile.

We were building our sandcastle back together one bucket at a time. There were moments when I thought the tide would wash it away and parts of it crumbled, but we were still moving forward, and that was the main thing. “Do you think you’d be okay with going to Wheelz again sometimes? I promise Angie isn’t going to be a problem anymore.”

“I’m fine now. I’ve cooled off and I don’t think she’ll say anything else again…because I won’t hesitate to do the exact same thing I did last time,” she threatened.

A new fire was lit in Lucy’s spirit and I liked it. I smirked at her response even though I tried not to. I didn’t want her to be involving herself in fist fights at the club. “Next thing you’ll be ready for the MMA fighting ring,” I added, but I squeezed her hand affectionately so she knew there was no harm meant by the joke.

She narrowed her eyes at me, but a hint of a twinkle sparkled in her eyes.

As we made it inside the diner we sat down in the booth and I realized once again the intensity of my feelings for this woman. I wanted to know if she was truly staying for good. If we could make it together. “How is the alarm system working in your apartment? Are you happy with it?”

“Yes. Everything is working fine. I use it and it feels a lot safer. I haven’t seen anyone creeping around and I check my surroundings all the time now. I’ve been a little nervous since you put out the article.” Lucy rolled her lip around her teeth as she spoke.

I reached for her hands. “Good, I wanna know that my family is safe.” I stared into her warm eyes, wanting the past to be erased between us. For there to be a clean slate.

“Family?” she enquired as she shuffled around in the diner’s booth. “Is that what we are now?”

I could sense her hesitation, but I wanted her to know this is what I saw in our future. I answered her honestly, “I think we’re getting there and I feel like I can trust you – I do trust you.”

“I’m glad we’re here, in this place. We’re really in a good space now. I don’t know how I feel about Angie, but I trust you to handle things with her.”

“Angie and I are nothing. She’s helping us at the club, nothing more, nothing less. I know that’s hard for you to believe, but I can assure you that’s all it is.” I made it plain and as clear as possible, but I knew it might take time after everything.

“I have a bad taste in my mouth about it. I’m not sure I want to be coming down to the club too soon. And if I see her face again, it will be too soon.” Pain ricocheted through her voice as she spoke about Angie.

I knew I had some work to do in order to repair that situation. I’d hoped it would simply fade away and both of them would be able to talk to one another in public. I blew out a weighty sigh. “I don’t want you to feel isolated from the club, everyone loves you down there, especially Harper. Angie won’t be around forever. It will be okay.”

As soon as I mentioned Angie’s name, I saw the horror on Lucy’s face. Her jaw slackened.

I frowned not knowing what would cause that look on her face. I swivelled around quickly to see Angie walking over to our booth. I raised my fingers to my forehead to rub the sudden onset of a headache away.

Lucy’s face clouded over with gloom.

Every time I tried to step forward with her, an event or circumstance got in the way of us.

“Hey guys,” Angie said coldly.

Lucy said nothing, but her eyes radiated hatred in the direction of Angie, the wounds still fresh.

“Hey, were you in the area or something?” I asked, trying to be neutral, but my shoulders were balled-up knots.

Angie took her sunglasses off her face, raising them over her head. “Yeah, I was,” she responded. Angie faced Lucy with a weak smile. “Hey, I wanted to clear the air with you…I drank too much and let my mouth run away with me. I know you guys have something serious going on. I was teasing, really. I know when to back off, sober. I hope we can be cool from now on.” Angie held out her hand while the thick cord of tension mounted.

Lucy’s eyes fiercely locked with Angie’s, and it was a long twenty seconds before she shook her hand, a limp handshake at best. “Thanks, I accept your apology,” she said hesitantly.

“Thank you. I’m starving, so I’m going to keep on the move,” Angie replied and quickly walked away.

I raised both eyebrows at Lucy, waiting for her to explode or say something sarcastic. “I’m glad she apologized. Maybe we can start to move forward now.”

“Maybe we can. Let’s see how it goes for now between us.”

“I’m not going to let her do that again, trust me,” I added.

Lucy nodded her head with a small smile.

We ordered lunch and talked about her job, then laughed about Sarah’s Frog report as she had aced it with flying colors, due to research she managed to get from the internet. When she’d showed us her grade, two days before, she’d stated that she was now Holbeck’s authority on frogs. We had a great time. It felt good to be together.

Later that night, I stood in the club talking to Bones.

He was elated. “Patronage at the club is up by 15% this month and I don’t think that’s any coincidence since the article Angie wrote. I’ve seen people in here that I’ve never seen before. Like the whole of Holbeck was hiding and now, they know we’re here,” he marveled. We were standing near the bar watching the flood of new people entering the bar.

“It’s insane. The last time I saw it like this was when I started the pool competition,” I said with shock.

“Agreed. We got a helluva fight to get the ownership of the casino. We’ve worked so hard as a club to put ourselves in the position to do that. Only for us to fall at the finish line to the Devil Riders. That would be my worst nightmare,” Bones added in a gruff voice.

“We’ve got this. We’ve gotten through every other storm, no reason we won’t make it through this one.”

In the back of my mind, I knew the article would have repercussions for Angie. My gut told me so, and usually, my hunches were right.