Page 26 of Clear Your Mind

I grab a cup of coffee and head back outside to the picnic area where Cowboy and Kilt are waiting. “Anything new?” I ask with a nod at the open laptop.

“A little.” The rumble of pipes draws our attention.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” Kilt quips as Dude tosses a leg over the bench next to me and steals my cup. Before I can complain, Maxi brings out the whole pot and three more mugs.

“Wow, I almost forgot what you looked like,” she says to Dude before heading off to class.

“Give me the rundown.” It’s unconventional to conduct business at a wooden table on a patio, but Dude does things a little differently, having learned from Morningstar. We have church wherever and whenever it’s needed. Today it’s needed right here.

Cowboy speaks first. “Bullfeathers’ pool hall is in foreclosure. Auction is tomorrow. We can get it for a steal. Great location and it’s a step toward pushing them out.”

“Well, what do you say, gentlemen, wanna own a pool hall?”

“Yay,” we all answer.

“Okay, Cowboy, you wanna go bid?” He nods in assentation to the prez.

“Okay, pool hall settled. What else you got?”

Dude pours another cup of coffee. He looks tired but happy. Pretty much the same way I feel.

I find myself wanting to apologize for the things I said when we left Reno and all the way here.

Dude turns to Kilt, who shakes his head, then to me.

“Krystal thinks they’re doing something shady in the outbuildings of the apartment complex. She’s agreed to stay here with me.” Just saying the words aloud gives me a sense of peace. Peace isn’t the right word, but it’s something like that.

Kilt and Cowboy exchange money while Dude rests his hand on my shoulder.

“What’s that about?” I ask the two counting out bills.

“I put agon you being whipped by the end of the week, this fucker said within three days,” Kilt complained. “You couldn’t just wait a few days. I would’ve split it with you.”

Kilt seems genuinely pissed.

I want to be mad, but I’m not. Not really, however, I’m mildly offended they both expected me to fall hard and fast.

The hand on my shoulder squeezes then releases. I study my prez sideways as he sips his coffee. He has a shit-eating grin on his face.

I shake off the slight irritation at actually being pussy-whipped in record fucking time and get back to the business at hand.

“Krystal claims no ties to the bullshits other than they live in her building and I have no reason to doubt her word. However, it’s still chapping my ass that one followed her and pulled off before turning in where his boys were waiting. There’s something I’m missing there.”

“Agreed. From what you said, it doesn’t sit right with me either. I’m glad she’ll be here and protected. It’ll make my night go a hell of a lot better.” That grin is back. I know exactly what he’s talking about. Faith is Krystal’s best friend, so she wouldn’t be happy if her friend was in danger.

“Also, she did change her name. Hiding from a shitbag ex who’s a dead man walking.”

Cowboy responds, “That explains the dead end. Know her real name?”

“Laura Maddox. She got involved with a bad motherfucker from a bad club, I assume, in Enid, Oklahoma. Courts failed her, so she ran.” I hear the rapid clicking of computer keys. “Name’s Jeff. Not sure about much else, except he’s marked by me.”

Prez pipes in. “He’s all yours as soon as we—”

“Got it,” Cowboy declared. “Laura Angelica Maddox filed no less than three restraining orders in Garfield County against Jeffery Allen Williams.”

Cowboy kept the keyboard smoking. Theclickity click clicka constant soundtrack to the conversation.

I take a deep breath and turn to Dude while Kilt and Cowboy are distracted. “I want to apologize, prez.” Unsure how to say what I need to say, I pause.

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