Page 76 of Marlin's Faith

“Thanks,” he uttered and got up to finish what they were doing.

The idyllic peace of the day was shattered when we disembarked the boat with loose plans to have something to eat at one of the nearby beachfront restaurants.

“Youfuckingson of a bitch!” a woman screamed. She was striding up the dock towards us in ridiculously high heeled sandals, at least for walking on the gapped wooden surface. She wore tight, so light blue of a skinny jean that they were mostly white and a loose, fluttery salmon colored top. Her breasts were obviously paid for, and expensive, and she oozed money, from her expensive blonde dye job that was remarkably close to my natural hair color, to her well-manicured and pedicured nails. She raised her Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses up onto her head and her brown eyes snapped furiously at us.

I blinked and stood, pretty much between her and the men as Marlin had just lifted me from the boat. She eyed me up and down and I didn’t like it, but waited to see what she would do. Her hands went to her hips, gold bangles ringing as they slid down her wrist and she eyed me with contempt.

“What, are you his whore? Is that why he’s leaving me and his two children?”

“Lynn,” Johnny started in an exasperated tone, but I already knew, Ireallydidn’t like her, and after overhearing Marlin and Johnny earlier, and thinking back on how I would never have the opportunity to have any children of my own… well anger replaced any hurt I might have felt, even if it was a tad misplaced.

I think I may have channeled Hope for a moment there, because some of the old me, the me from before I had ever set foot in the city of New Orleans, surfaced for just a split second and the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Nice outfit; did it come with daddy issues and a pole?”

Her perfectly lipsticked mouth in a color that perfectly matched her shirt, dropped open.

“Whatdid you just say?” she demanded.

“Oh, I think you heard me.”

Marlin, Bobby, and Johnny all stood aside, equally as shocked as she was, mouths hanging open in surprise. The woman, Johnny’s wife, scoffed and demanded, “Who the fuck are you, Skank?”

I stepped into her space and she turned to face me, I put my nose almost touching hers and gave a tight little smile, “No one,” I said and put my hand in her stomach and shoved. She teetered on those stupid stripper shoes and arms flailing for balance went on her ass, precisely as I intended, over the open water. She shrieked before the filthy, oil slicked marina water closed over her head and she came up sputtering.

“I’m hungry,” I said dispassionately, and walked away, leaving Lynn screaming for her husband to help fish her out. Johnny looked at me like he was seeing me with new eyes and Marlin and Bobby, laughing, caught up to me.

“What wasthat?” Bobby asked me, tears of laughter very nearly leaking out of his eyes.

I looked at Johnny, then Marlin in his and said, “He’s family now, and if it’s one thing I learned from my sister, Hope, no one, not anyone, is allowed to mess with family.”

Marlin put his arm around me, his smile reaching from ear to ear, and Johnny looked from me to him, mystified.

“When are you bringing your girl home to meet Mama?” he asked.

“How does this Sunday, sound? After church, you should bring the kids. It’s been a while since Mama’s seen her grandbabies.”

“Oo, think you can talk her into making one of her key lime pies?” Bobby asked and I felt myself smile.

“Bring her a flat of oranges and I bet you could talk her into just about anything.”

“Fuck I’ll bring her the limes, too. Got a plot of ‘em at the back of the south grove.”

The men talked amicably about Marlin and Johnny’s mother’s cooking and I felt like I belonged with them. Like whatever barrier I’d had between myself and Marlin’s brother had been lifted, despite the guilt I felt for having given in to my flare of anger. I had been and always would be a firm believer that violence couldn’t and wouldn’t solve anything, but still, it’d felt really good to do what I had done, even though I would likely pay for it later. Technically I had just committed assault, and I expected Lynn would turn me in to the police.

“Hey, what ‘cha thinkin’?” Marlin asked, shaking me gently by the shoulders.

“Well, I was thinking that I’ve already been to jail twice, now. This last time I actually remember the whole thing, so at least I know what to expect.”

Marlin laughed, and Bobby looked at me like I’d grown a second head, “Honey,” Bobby said, “We don’t know what you’re talking about. We all three saw it, one of those dumbass hooker heels of hers got caught in the dock and she went right over. You have three witnesses that all saw it to her none.”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it,” Johnny agreed.

I blinked, I hadn’t considered that they would lie for me, although, I should have suspected they would. Marlin chuckled, “I may be your white knight, Baby Girl, but to the rest of the world, I’m still an outlaw.”

I tucked myself against his side, “I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks, I know what kind of man you are and I love you for it.”

He hugged me around the shoulders and kissed the top of my head, smiling a satisfied little smile. Neither Bobby nor Johnny commented, but they were both smiling, too. Though Johnny’s held an edge of sadness which made my heart break a little for him. Having lived through what I lived through, it was hard not to recognize abuse when I saw it, and Lynn? Lynn might as well have ‘abuser’ branded on her forehead in neon letters. I reached out without thinking and grasped Johnny’s hand giving it an empathetic squeeze and he startled, before giving me a shy little smile.

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