Page 86 of Mimosa

Sonny looked at the screen and said, “You better get back.”

Mims turned the chair and made Sonny look him in the eye. “It’s all going to be okay.”

“Why is it I believe it when you say it, even though it goes against everything I know to be true?”

“Because you trust me.” He kissed Sonny quickly, then got back to the bar and enjoyed the couple of the dance numbers they did, as Hippy twirled him into Goldie’s arms and he was lifted onto the bar where he poured liquor into the waiting mouths of a line of patrons.

He felt Sonny’s eyes on him the entire night, and it turned him on something crazy. He couldn’t wait to get back to him, but before he could, Murphy stopped him right before he got to the stairs. “Wait a minute or two before you head down. Taran snuck in before closing and is down getting up to speed.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Go count your tips with the others. They’re starting to miss you.”

Mims felt terrible. He had spent every spare minute with Sonny. “Okay. That would be good for me, too.”

At the table in the pub, they counted the tips and each of them contributed to the family fund for the house and furniture. Hippy said, “That oldest kid? He enjoys skateboarding, so get him like three really nice ones.”

Murphy scoffed. “Like I’d know a good one from a crappy one?”

Goldie offered, “I’ll go with you, Hip, to pick some out. My first real boyfriend was a skater. I still hear him waxing poetic about the brands and the pro skaters in my nightmares.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

“We did great tonight. The neighborhood came together for one of their own, and that’s rare nowadays,” Murphy told them. “It was a great time and we did a great thing. Cosmo, again, you really accelerated us becoming better people.”

Goldie added, “And the cat. Man, he even comes in my room now.”

“Daiq is gonna miss the kids. I’m thinking, shit, maybe get him over there when they get back from traveling.”

Abs said, “They’d love it. But I don’t know. He might feel like you abandoned him. Take him to visit maybe.”

“Good idea,” Cosmo agreed.

When they were all heading up to sleep, Mims finally saw Taran heading up to be with Cosmo. He went to the basement and laughed silently when he saw Sonny fast asleep. Getting undressed, he tried to be as quiet as possible, then he got into bed, and Sonny woke a little. “Hey.”

“Hey. Go to sleep. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

Sonny nodded and immediately was back out. Mims kissed his cheek and snuggled in, content, happy, and warm…

Chapter Twenty-Three

AweekafterSonnymoved into the little cottage house behind the Rodriguez family, Mims was at the grocery store, picking out some fruits and vegetables to bring to Sonny, who couldn’t leave to shop for himself.

There was the most perfect apple, and he picked it up to check for bruises, finding none. He’d just set it in the bag with the other apples when someone came up behind him and whispered roughly, “I know you know where he is.”

Mims spun around so quickly, he lost the bag and apples fell to the floor. It was Franklyn.

“What…what are you talking about?”

“You all at that bar think you’re so slick, but you’re not half as smart as I am. I know you know where he is. I know you know all about us, too. The question is, who will break first? You, Sonny, or us.”

Mims was shaking, but not in fear. Mims was ravenously angry and the sound of Franklyn’s voice made him more so.

“Get away from me. I know all about you, yeah. You and the rest of them. You’re a bunch of scumbags.”

Franklyn smiled, but his eyes only showed his fury. “You’ll all see who will come out on top of this.”

“Run off and get another warrant from the judge in your pocket, Franklyn.”

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