Page 7 of Stone Blind

“No, you’re not his type as far as I know,” Mustang said. “He does have kids at his place. I don’t know how many at any given time, but he runs this residence, I don’t know if it’s a group home, a boy’s home, or if he is the housemother for the House of Applelicious or some shit.”

Mustang said it in a way that made Helen realize Apple played for the other team. “And the boys, are they all family as well?”

“Yes, he takes them off the streets of Milwaukee, at least the ones wanting something better,” Mustang said. “He trains them on life skills, financial management, and how to blend into the world as men, unless they are entering fields where they can be their authentic selves.”

“Like hairdressers and stylists?”

“You got it,” Mustang said.

“Well, that should be interesting,” she said, running her hand across his abdomen. “Anything else I need to know about him?”

“He doesn’t play around. The man has no sense of humor, and he’s deadly every fucking day of the week,” Mustang said. “There aren’t many people who make me pause, but he’s one of them. Keep your nose clean, do as he asks, and learn everything he can teach you, and he knows so much, from tracking, long range shooting, hand to hand, and more. He was a Navy Seal and trained with Mr. Exit. Now that dude, is also scary.”

“Okay, I’m officially nervous,” she confessed.

Mustang pulled her into his arms. He said nothing as he held her, wanting to take the lady away from it all, but he wasn’t ready for those steps in his life. She wasn’t ready to be the person he needed in his world because she had yet to learn to be the person she needed to be on her own.

“Don’t be nervous and don’t be scared; be aware,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she said. “You came here to give me what I didn’t even know I needed. The dick down was welcomed as well, but the pep talk also helped. Have you had breakfast?”

“No, I took a red-eye from Portland.”

“How long are you staying?”

“When do you leave?” he asked.

“Monday, first thing,” she told him, staring up into his eyes. “I was supposed to report on Wednesday, but it got pushed back, giving me time to chicken out, I guess. When will you leave?”

“Then I shall leave Monday as well, at first light,” he told her. “In the meantime, do you want me here with you, across the way with my brother, or further away with the folks to reduce you being tempted to use my body?”

She reached for him. Her arms encircled his neck, pulling him down to her face for a kiss. In the world where she’d existed, too many people saw and wanted to use her body. Helen could never see doing that to another person, not even if he made lovelike a Greek God about to wage war on the non-believers in the temple.

“I would be pleased if you’d stay with me,” she told him. “I do have a guest room if you’d like your own space. Being here does not require the use of your body, but I would value your company, as well as conversation, and sharing meals without feeling like an interloper in someone else’s life.”

Mustang pulled away from the embrace. His face held a scowl. “You mean to tell me, Ms. Helen, I can stay here with you and not have to put out? You’re telling me that we will talk and have thoughtful conversations over meals about life and personal dreams?”

“Sure, if you’d like,” she said, watching his face.

“To hell with that,” he said, bounding from the bed. “I’m putting my dick away and going to stay with my folks. At least there, I will be appreciated! The nerve!”

She couldn’t help it; she burst into laughter. “Okay, fine, I will use that dick frequently while you’re here. Does that make you happy, Sir?”

“Hell yeah, that’s more like it,” he said, laughing and pulling her from the bed. “Should I put it away now or go wash it so you can play with it some more?”

“You get on my nerves; do you know that?”

“I have a nerve you can get on, Ms. Helen,” he said, pulling her close. She felt right in his arms. Helen McDaniel felt right to his spirit.

In the spirit of the game, she was simply a chess piece on a board. Azrael would get to move her about as needed, and Helen would need to comply. This weekend needed to be about grounding. Helen needed to be grounded, not only to her cousin Cherry, but to someone else who mattered to her.

As a Technician, Helen’s life would be tough. She would to see the darkest parts of human nature and still needed tosleep throughout the night. Monday would begin a year-long training program beginning in Wisconsin with the Bad Apple, an assassin with deep-seated anger issues. If she survived all that Bad Apple instilled in her, the next move would be to Ohio in the Archangel’s backyard for a three-month stint with Lemon, a nefarious chemist who specialized in everyday vegetation mixed with venom to kill a person painfully.

He didn’t see Helen thriving in the environment with Lemon. However, Passion Fruit, the accidents’ specialist, was a lover of animals. She had a place in Illinois which served as her cover for rescues and an animal shelter of some form, which Mustang explained to Helen over the worst biscuit he’d ever tasted in his life. Yet, there would be no sour grapes about a meal the lady had only prepared for her own broken taste buds.

The real challenge would be Sour Grapes herself, who didn’t like people. She didn’t like children or animals, but mainly, she detested humans in general. An anthropologist, ironically by profession, provided cyber support by hacking people’s computers. The role of tracker for Sour Grapes altered when she was best able to locate an individual digitally versus on the ground. Sour Grapes morphed from being a tracker to a hacker, causing havoc and chaos across the digital world. Mustang confessed he believed Sour Grapes enjoyed her work.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” Helen asked.

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