Page 32 of Property of Bull
Once we get to the clubhouse, I end up visiting with the waitress from the Stumble Inn. While she didn’t seem surprised to see me walk in with Stryker, I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped to find her nearly naked and playing poker with a couple of guys near the back of the room.
It turned out that the poker game was why she was down to her G string and tank top. After taking one look at them, Stryker told the men he needed to talk to them and told Jade to get dressed.
“Are you two together?” she asked me as soon as the room was clear.
“I’m not sure yet,” I answer her honestly as she assesses me.
“I heard he took you on a date, so he must be thinking of making you his property. That and that kiss he laid on you at the Stumble Inn,” she decides to answer her own question as she fans her hand in front of her face. Although my mind hasn’t moved much beyond the word ‘property’. “That wasfire, and I’ve never seen him kiss anyone before. But I’ve only been here a few months.”
In the two times I’ve met Jade, she’s pretty much talked nonstop with minimum input needed. Then and there I decide to befriend her, for no other reasons than she is pretty likable and will basically tell me everything I want to know without me asking her any questions.
“I was kind of nervous about coming here today,” I start, pausing to test my theory.
“Oh my God, you have nothing to be nervous about, even though you don’t wear makeup.” Hmm, well, she’s blunt, I guess. “I’ll introduce you to Bella, she’s been working at the salon in town part-time. She’s taught me so much about shadowing andhighlighting my features already, but anyway the vibe here has changed so much since Alli and them left.”
Suddenly, she catches herself and looks around the room, before dropping her voice. “I probably shouldn’t talk about her though. Allistolefrom them, and Bull waspissed. Like, I would never want anyone that mad at me.”
“Wow.” I breathe out the word, widening my eyes.
“Yeah, but I guess Alli and them gave the stuff back because the Kings are going to have a party tomorrow night when some other Kings from Ohio show up. I haven’t met the Ohio guys yet, but one’s called Voodoo and I just think that sounds sexy as fuck. You’re going to come to the party, right? You shouldn’t hook up with any of the other guys though, not if Bull wants you as his Ol’ Lady.”
“Jade, honey, will you give us a minute with Margo please?” A tall thin man with shoulder length gray hair interrupts the font of information that I’m getting. Beyond him is another man, shorter with his muscles well outlined under his long-sleeved white shirt. I’d guess that he’s close in age to Stryker, while the first man has to be ten years older.
She smiles at them before sauntering away from us.
“Margo, I’m Halo and I more or less provide spiritual guidance around here. I wanted to extend my condolences about your grandfather and let you know that I’m here if you need someone to talk with.”
“I’m Sauce,” says the second man. “I knew Mr. Tucker since I was a boy…”
“Oh, you were talking to Stryker this morning,” I cut in interrupting him. I’m not much of a hugger, so I reach a hand out to squeeze his forearm. “I heard most of what you said, and it meant a lot to me. That you remember Granddad so kindly.”
“I let my mother know, and she’ll be at the service,” he tells me, sounding choked up.
“Oh! She still lives nearby?” I question him, feeling like I’ll be on steadier ground with him than with Halo, who is looking at me with a combination of sympathy and caution; as if I might break down at any second.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replies, his mouth spreading into a grin that lights up his face. “When we moved here, she got a job at The Lodge at Deadwood, as a housekeeper and now she’s the Assistant General Manager.”
While Granddad and I headed to Deadwood for Oktoberfest and to hit the casinos once or twice, I’m not familiar with the place he mentions, but there’s no denying the pride on his face, so I make the appropriate comment about her success.
They join me at the table, and while Halo occasionally contributes to the light-hearted conversation Sauce and I are engaged in, the phrase ‘still waters run deep’ is ringing in my mind whenever Halo catches my eye.
When Sauce wanders off, promising to return with drinks, I look back at Halo, who’s studying me as he sits back with arms crossed over his chest.
“Are you a pastor?” I ask him, trying to figure out how he fits into the mix around here.
“Of sorts,” he says with a shrug. “It’s not my day job, but when called upon, I handle weddings, funerals, christenings and the like.”
“Confessions?”
“Nah, I’d have to be a priest in good standing to hear confessions. If people want to talk something through, I’m willing to listen though.”
“Sometimes that’s all people need to feel relief,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
It never occurred to me that I’d find someone who I trusted enough to tell them that I killed a man, and I sit there, wondering if it’s trust that I’ve found with Stryker, or just the knowledge that he’s, minimally, been disposing of bodies since he was a teenager.
Maybe that was what made it so easy to confess the burden I’ve been carrying these past few months.
“Margo?” Halo gently calls my name, as if waiting for an answer.
