Page 31 of Exile & Lula
“Stevie should be okay with a little time. Cher might be fucked up for good. I can’t imagine her being different. When I try, I get a shitty feeling right here,” he said and tapped his chest. “Like, a fire gets set inside me that burns through every good damn thought. So, having you around distracts me.”
As Rowdy fiddled with the remote, I thought back to when I got the call about Nova’s shooting. All the oxygen had left me, and I felt like I was in a free fall. Before I even knew she was targeted because of me, I couldn’t imagine a future without Nova in it. How would I raise her girls the way they deserved?
“Can you play video games?” Rowdy asked me, giving up on finding something to watch. “I need a bigger distraction.”
Rowdy owned a slick gaming setup. We played until the sandwiches arrived. While eating and drinking beers, we shared a short conversation about my time in the Marines. Once we were done chatting, we returned to mindlessly playing. The world was simple when survival came down to shooting monsters on the screen.
Later, when Rowdy took Goblin out for the dog’s final shit break, I decided to follow them downstairs. The condo’s gated courtyard was quiet when we arrived, but I spotted a guy sitting shadowed in the corner. A smallish dog rested near his feet.
Lighting a cigarette, Rowdy didn’t react to the man, but he held himself rigid like he expected trouble. Goblin sniffed around the entire courtyard before barking at the other dog.
“Your runt needs to learn manners,” said the man.
“You have every reason to mope in the corner, Tricky, but don’t take your bad mood out on my dog.”
Tricky Curran stood up. His hulking build shuffled closer, moving like a sad kid rather than an intimidating man. His bearded face was hidden under his long, blond hair. “Why is he here?”
“You already know the answer.”
“He can’t stay.”
Exhaling smoke, Rowdy muttered, “You don’t want to mess with me today.”
“You should have kept those girls safe,” Tricky spat out.
Despite his clear anger, Rowdy smiled. “That’s Crimson Guard business, and you ain’t Crimson Guard, man.”
“And he is?”
“He saved my sister. That makes him solid in my book.”
I waited for Tricky to make a move. He was known to be a hothead and quick to throw punches. He got into it with my club back in Rawlins after the attack on a meth house. I assumed I was facing another brawl tonight.
Instead, Tricky flipped us off and sat back down. I considered Rowdy’s reputation, having heard he bit off a guy’s nose once.
“He’ll fucking cannibalize you, so be careful,” Zodiac announced to me and the guys when we were talking strategy against the Crimson Guard.
After Rowdy finished his cigarette and Goblin took his shit, we headed back upstairs. The dog quickly curled up in the cage near the windows.
“I plan to put on a kung fu movie and turn off my brain so I can sleep,” Rowdy said after tugging free his boots and settling on the couch. “No telling what tomorrow might bring, and I figure we both need to be sharp.”
Eyeing him, I removed my hat and glanced at the T-shirts he had set earlier on the kitchen counter for me.
“Lula bought me those shirts, so I assume she likes them,” he explained while finding something to stream.
"Is it true you bit off a guy's nose?"
Rowdy stopped fucking with the remote and frowned at me. "Now, I need to set the record straight on that. I did, in fact, bite off the fucker’s nose. But contrary to the rumors, I did noteatthe nose. I don't want to get a bad reputation because of lies, you know?"
Chuckling at his bullshit, I took the shirts to the guest room and yanked off my boots. Rowdy had found a movie by the time I returned. I settled in a chair and stared at the screen.
My brain wasn’t on the action. Instead, I replayed my time this afternoon with Lula. I also thought about Nova and the girls. My loyalties felt yanked in two directions.
Later, as I crawled into the guest bed, I found a text from Zodiac with photos of my sister and nieces tucked into their beds. Tomorrow would be make or break with Lula and me. If we didn’t click, the answer would be easy. I’d just jump on my ride and return to Baton Rouge.
But if we clicked, I doubted I could let her go, and I wasn’t sure how that reality would look.
LULA
