Page 57 of Cruelest Contract
After constant glances in the rearview mirror, I’m finally satisfied that nobody is following us. I take a few extra turns to make sure before heading for the road out of town.
“And how did all hell break loose?”
“I’ll explain,” Tye says, and unleashes a barrage of cheerful and vulgar language to tell the story.
The girl he was messing around with turned out to be the fiancée of one of the bartenders. For all I know, he was the guy I saw vaping in the back alley. At the sight of Tye’s hand up his girl’s shirt, he flew into a rage with a lot of friends to back him up. My brothers were quick to join forces and within seconds a full blown brawl was underway.
“All that drama and my dick didn’t even get a play date,” Tye complains with a belch. “Plus my shirt is ruined.”
“That’smyshirt,” Fort points out.
“Huh,” Tye grunts. “Well thenyourshirt is ruined.”
“At least I got some action,” Fort boasts.
Tye erupts with laughter. “Creaming your pants because you touched a tit isn’t getting action, junior.”
“Fuck you,” is Fort’s grumpy reply.
There’s still no sign we’re being followed and I start to relax. Tye isn’t a liar. By his account, the bartender and his pals started throwing punches first without realizing who they were dealing with.
We’ve got an understanding with the sheriff’s office. No one will be eager to slap cuffs on us just because a few ornery bartenders got their asses kicked. Obviously, we can’t go back to that place anytime soon but so be it.
When I check on Cecilia, she’s rummaging through her purse. Calmly, she extracts a small pack of tissues and offers them to Getty, whose lip is still bleeding.
On one hand, I wish she wasn’t in the middle of this chaotic episode. On the other hand, this is who we are. Let her see it.
“Thanks,” Getty mutters and accepts the pack of tissues.
“You’re welcome,” Cecilia replies, facing forward again. “Does anyone care if I lower the window?”
“Jul, just pull over,” Tye says from the backseat. “I need to piss.”
“Wait a few more miles,” I tell him.
“I need to take a leak too,” Fort says.
I sigh. Sometimes I feel like a cranky dad on a family road trip. This is one of those times.
I pull off the road and bounce a hundred yards over dirt and grass before braking. My brothers dive out of the backseat even before I cut the engine. They make a hell of a racket as they head into the brush and Cecilia looks at me.
“Are you feeling better?” I ask her.
She nods. “That was a little hectic but at least I feel sober now.”
I squint through the windshield, observing how my brothers have scattered. “They can’t have gone far. They’ll be back in a minute.”
She opens the passenger door. “Let’s wait out here.”
The moon is one tiny sliver away from being full and there’s enough light to see even with the truck headlights turned off. I turn down the tailgate and cover it with a thick wool blanket. Cecilia immediately takes a seat and modestly arranges her long dress over her legs. Self-conscious about her scars, she never allows her left leg to show.
Her fingers play with the charm at the end of her necklace as she scans the sky. “I thought I might be able to see it but I guess the time of year isn’t right.”
I take a seat beside her and look up. “What are you looking for?”
“Gemini constellation.” She holds up her necklace and I can barely make out the image on the charm. Twins embracing under a sun and moon. “Gabriel gave this to me years ago. Our eighteenth birthday.”
The way she says her twin brother’s name leaves no doubt that he means the world to her. But that was never really a question anyway. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here.
