Page 35 of Brother In Arms

Chapter 11

Rush

Fucking citizens always gotta come around and ruin a good thing. This time it was some old lady and her fuckin’ dog. I was getting into her kiss when this batty old bitch starts screaming at us from the riverbank about being ashamed and blah, blah, blah threatening to call the park’s services or some shit. All it took was me setting Bailey down where she was safe to stand, and me walking up out of the water in the buff for the bitch to start power walking her fat ass back down the trail.

Bailey followed me out of the water laughing with this bright eyed expression that made the whole thing worth it. We hurried up and got dressed and passed the woman on our way out the park. I gave her the good ol’ one fingered salute as we went by and took me and Bales the fuck out of there before she could get into any shit.

We rode back to the farm, having no place else to really go and with her energy seriously flagging after more than twenty-four hours of being awake. Dray was sitting on the porch steps fucking around on his phone, one of those fancy black cigarettes that smelled more like incense rather than a proper smoke dangling between his fingertips. He took a drag off it and tucked his phone back into his cut as we pulled up and I tapped Bailey to get off.

He exhaled a cloud of fragrant smoke and grinning said to his cousin, “Look at you all badass! What d’ you think?”

Bailey stretched her fingertips to the sky and worked the chinstrap to her brain bucket free and called out, “I think I finally understand the appeal.”

“Yeah?” He put his sunglasses on his head and gave me a tight lipped smile that said I was so getting my ass beat later. Hopefully I could get an explanation in before we had to hurt each other.

“And you,” he said to me. “Takin’ my cousin for a ride.”

“Oh for god’s sakes, Dray-Dray. Give it a rest,” Bailey said and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, Dray-Dray… give it a rest.” Dragon got up from the table up on the porch and stubbed his cigarette out on the bottom of his boot before putting it into an empty soda can. I hadn’t even realized he was sitting there.

“Jesus Christmas, Bailey Lynn… look at you all grown up,” he declared.

He came down the steps to give her a hug and Bailey said softly, “Hi, Uncle José.”

“Wish you’d call me Dragon, sweetheart. Only your mamma calls me José and that’s only because she knows I don’t like it.”

“Sorry, Uncle Dragon,” Bailey said shyly.

He smiled at her and shook his head, “Lord, child. You are the spittin’ image of my Tillie.”

“My mom says so, too.”

“How’re you doin’ sweetheart?” Bailey went with him to the porch and they talked softly. She would nod and the mantle of her responsibilities was back, weighing down her shoulders.

Dray stood next to me and growled, “You’re seriously fucking my cousin, aren’t you, you bastard?”

“One, it’s more like she fucked me… remember the story about the brunette hottie in the back of The Spot?” Dray’s head jerked back and a look crossed his face that clearly said he was impressed – with her, not me.

“And two?” he demanded.

“You already know I’m a bastard, so why don’t you try an insult that isn’t actually true?”

He snorted and the ice was broken enough that I figured I was saved from some kind of ass beating to defend his cousin’s honor. Not that she needed it. She was pretty fierce, she’d just lost her way some with everything being so overwhelming. Hell, I knew grown ass men who wouldn’t be holding their shit together half as good.

“You know if you hurt her, I’m still going to have to kill you, right?”

“That some kind of fucked up blood family clause thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Meh, yeah, I could see it,” I said and nodded.

“You boys get yer asses up here and let’s talk,” Dragon called. Dray and I exchanged a look, shrugged and went up to join them.

“Wait, let me get us all something cold to drink, I’m dying,” Bailey said and got up. She went into the house and it was just the three of us guys again.

“What do you think happened to the horse?” Dragon asked.

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