Page 39 of Life To My Flight

The crowd parted as I walked purposefully towards the woman that was intent on driving me insane.

I knew exactly the moment she realized what was about to happen, because her eyes went wide, and she slipped down underneath the table.

She popped back out on the other side and she started walking resolutely away from the table in the opposite direction.

She must’ve assumed that I was going to follow her, but I went to the table with a single-minded determination.

“Hey, Cleo. Thanks for helping Rue the other day. You just missed her, she went to the bathroom I think,” Cody said as I stepped up to the table.

I offered him my hand first, and then quickly followed, offering it to the man sitting next to him.

“Mikhail Caruso. You can call me Cleo,” I said.

The man took my hand. He was a hoss, plain and simple. Jacked and lethal, and I could tell that in a single glance.

“Cleo,” he nodded. “My name’s Dooley. Nice to finally meet you. This is Dante Hail. He owns Hail Auto Recovery in Shreveport.”

My eyes turned to the man in the opposite seat, and my eyes zeroed in on the man’s tattoo when I shook his hand. “You’re a PJ?”

He nodded. “Was. Had a bad turn a few years back. Now I’m in repossession.”

I smiled.

“Huh,” I said and pointed to the seat. “Do you mind if I sit?”

He looked at the limited space beside him and shrugged. “Sure.”

I sat, leaving one foot hanging out of the side to give me more room.

“What brings you in tonight?” I asked.

Dooley sat back and ran his hand over his face. “Dante called me when he repossessed a little car. He found one of my teenage parolees in the backseat where he’d been sleeping for the past six months.”

I lifted my eyebrows at him. “You do Juvenile? I thought Rue said you were a public speaker?”

He nodded. “I do both.”

Huh. That’s surprising. I figured him to be the kind of man who tried to shove his bullshit down your throat, but he seemed fairly approachable and open.

“What do you speak about?” I asked as I took a pull of my beer and kept my eye on the bathroom where Rue had disappeared.

“I just go around to all the public and private schools in the area and tell my story. What I do. How I do it. Every once in a while I bring in a few people to show what the kids can accomplish if they set their mind to it,” he explained, and then looked at me critically. “You wouldn’t by chance volunteer to come up and speak, would you?”

I would’ve answered with a resounding ‘fuck no’ but Rue’s annoyed voice interrupted me. “You’re in my spot. And you were supposed to follow me, not sit here and talk.”

“Sorry, Rue La La. You looked in a hurry to head to the bathroom so I decided to wait here and meet your new friend. Your skin’s got a much healthier glow than it did when you were sick the other night.”

Nobody at the table misunderstood my intentions.

Rue was mine.

She narrowed her eyes at me, and placed her hands on her hips. “Thank you for staying with me,” she said grudgingly.

I smiled at her. “Anything for my girl.”

“I’m not your girl,” she snapped, causing Dante to snort as he rolled his eyes.

We all knew that was a lie.

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