Page 60 of Fate
“Justice is over exaggerating,” Fate said as he laughed. “You know how dramatic lawyers are.”
“We are not,” Justice defended. “But I hear artists are one of two things, gay or emotional. Or…both.” He smirked.
Liberty laughed loudly. “Pegged him perfectly.”
Fate shook his head as he scoffed. “Jealousy does not become you, brothers.”
Zed was laughing at their banter. “Damn, I missed you Walker kids,” he said. “Always playing. Sharp as tacks and funny as all hell. I just wish you would’ve brought Prophet home. He said he and Jewel would be with Redemption for a while longer to be there to face off with Deacon.”
“No one can blame him, Zed,” Legend spoke up. “The man kidnapped you and Jewel.”
“And Glory,” Zed said as he turned to look at her. “Did he hurt ya, little G?”
“No, but he did hurt you,” she snapped. “I heard you were all beat up.”
“I was okay in the end. Just got a big mouth like I told ya.” Zed shrugged. “No real scars from it. I will always say that if it weren’t for that brave little Jewel, I would be… well, dead now.”
Fate patted his arm.
I looked up at Fate and asked, “Jewel?” I knew who she was because of Scarlet knowing her, but I never heard about this. I’d heard some stories about what O and Deacon had done, but no one told me about Jewel.
“Deacon had a real twisted plan as he had Uncle Zed kidnapped from right here in Sugar Land,” Fate said.
I raised my hand to my mouth in surprise.
Nodding, Zed added, “He had a large group of Russians working for him back then and they attacked us, knocked my guys out and grabbed me up by gunpoint. They pointed guns at my men. They said they would kill them all if I didn’t go with them. So of course, I went. Then he wanted to trade me over for Jewel.”
I slowly shook my head as I truly did not understand this.
“He wanted her to produce his heirs,” Glory said in disgust. “Just think about that. This man planned all of it. With poor Prophet having to choose between his girl and his dad? How evil is that? And Deacon did all of it in order to force Jewel to be his Baby Momma? Against her will?” She shivered. “Jewel told me about it one afternoon at the Connor House. I agree about his game playing. But that's what’s scary. Who knows what he will do?”
“Jewel said he promised his mother,” Scarlet said. “That he would keep her line going. But he stalked Jewel even before that when he took over the Cotton Candy Club.”
Fate nodded. “We are still in this uncertain stage. Now it seems everything is not as it seemed.”
“We got a visit from Deacon himself,” Justice told him.
“At the truck stop just past Ramton, Uncle Zed,” Glory explained.
Scarlet nodded as she added, “That crazy man just waltzed right in and sat at our table.”
Zed cocked his hat covered head and said, “He likes war games. So, he might be playing some of the time just to muss things up and confuse all of you. I cannot say that this news surprises me none. I met him briefly. He’s smart but I’m afraid his elevator don’t go all the way to the top floor. Ya know? It’s like he’s one pancake short of a stack.”
I giggled at his analogies.
“Yes, he can arrange a good fight,” Zed went on. “No doubt about that, but he likes to cheat too much. I told him that and he had his Russian prizefighter beat me up. I admit that I shoulda kept my mouth shut, but y'all know me. That wasn’t gonna happen. My mouth just kept on going. He got a bit sloppy when he grabbed Jewel. Like his super smart plans tend to outsmart even him sometimes, I’m thinkin.”
“He showed up and we all drew our weapons but he already had that Plan B lined up,” Legend told him.
“Of course, he did.” Zed nodded. “See, he doesn't work a job like most of us do or like anyone normally would. His life is entirely about this war on the Walkers. It is all his mother trained him to do since he was a boy probably. So while he’s this mastermind, like Liv and Logan tell us, he’s also totally and certifiably insane. Whether that insanity came from his bat shit cray, cray Mama, we don’t know. But she groomed him well for his destiny, don’t you doubt that for a fat second. He directs large and often foreign crews of men. He owns huge warmachinery pieces and weaponry that only armies usually have. And he also has enough money to wipe his ass with hundred dollar bills for a few decades if he wanted to.”
I simply stared at Zed in astonishment. As crazy as it sounded, I don't think anyone had ever explained Deacon and this whole situation as well as he just did. He was so funny and wise too. Deep down, I knew he was right. We all knew he was.
“Well, he can take a flying leap,” Glory griped. “We want our damned lives back.”
Everyone standing there nodded as they grumbled, including me. I’d been forced into hiding with no job and no money to speak of to survive on. But we were all alive and that meant there was still hope.
Zed wrapped an arm around Glory’s shoulder and said, “I know darlin’ and it’ll happen. I always told your dad that no one could walk over a Walker and win. And that goes for all your badass cousins as well. Nope, y'all will prevail. You’ll see. Jarret didn’t raise no weaklings and apparently his brother Jacob didn’t either.”
