Us (5 page)

Chapter 6
– J

“I just want to get a few things straight between you and me before we go in there with Dig. We need to be on the same page, and I don’t want to be negotiating in front of your boys.”

I wasn’t sure what she wanted to get straight, but I appreciated her foresight to make sure we were
on the same page
as she put it, and to do so in private. Although if I was going to let my shit hang out with anyone, it’d be Dig.

“OK. Lay it on me, baby.”

“Well,” she began, “I assume we’ll be discussing a few things. Who we think came after me, and why of course, what to do about Burns, and I have a sinking feeling somehow Fernie is going to get brought into the mix.”

Fuck. She was right. When we fell asleep last night and she said we’d talk today, I wasn’t sure about what
, but I knew it’d involve her kid. I gripped my shoulder, trying to figure out how to explain to her that Fernie could be helpful.

“Look, you’re smart. It’s a big part of why I l
ove you. So I’m not gonna front. I’m sure Dig will bring up Fernie and how he can be of use to us. I know you don’t want him involved. You treat him like your own child. Your light shines when you’re around those kids, another thing I love about you. Can you just hear Dig out though? I don’t know what he’s gonna say. Dig and I have planned shit together, but he usually comes up with the ideas and together we work through them. I’m sure he’s been up half the night planning.”

“While we were fucking.” She smirked. God, I love
d her. Despite the intensity of this conversation, she still was able to crack a joke, a dirty fucking joke.

“Yep. Poor fucker was plotting deaths while I was
cock deep in you, baby.”

“Bump it.” I fuckin’ bumped her outstretched fist. “Joking aside, I get it, why Fernie could be useful. And I’ll listen, but there is something I’ve been thinking about.”

She hesitated, so I urged her on. “You can tell me anything that’s on your mind. You know that, right?”

“Yeah. It’s just—well, this is way out there. Like seriously out there. Hear me out, OK?” I nodded. “Well, Fernie is almost eighteen, so there isn’t much I can do to get him back in the
States. At least, not legally. Genesis is another story. She isn’t even seventeen yet. When this is over, and I’m hoping it’s over quick, I want to talk to Genesis’ parents about adopting her so she can be a legal citizen in the United States. You know, get a social security number, go to college, get her American Dream.”

I stared at her, stunned. As usual, I never had a clue what was about to come out of her mouth. Any thoughts that may have raced through my head while she was getting up the nerve to
lay this out were dispelled. As she told me her plan the words rolling out of her like water, she glowed. And when she spoke of Genesis getting her American Dream, I swear she lit up like a lighthouse in a storm. She didn’t want kids. She’d told me that. Yet she wanted to adopt a sixteen year old girl so she could be a legal U.S. citizen? Only my Elle would come up with an idea like that.

“How long you been thinking about this?” I asked her.

“A while.”

“Baby, we can adopt every fucking kid at that center if you want.”

“Well, it’d just be me petitioning to adopt. I mean, you can be there, I guess.” She trailed off at the end, obviously uncomfortable.  “Shit, that came out all wrong. I mean, I want you to be there. I hope you want to be with me, and this is part of being with me.”

“On
e of your onion layers? You and Shrek?” I looked in her eyes, and saw the love of a woman who quoted Shrek, and there was no one else I could imagine spending the rest of my life with, no matter what path it took. As long as we were together, I’d die a happy man.

“Thank you, baby,” she whispered.

“I get it. I mean, I’ll be by your side. I told you I didn’t care about a piece of paper saying we’re married. If you can do this on your own, that’s fine, but know I’ll support you every step. If you have to be married?” I let the question hang in the air.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s go fuckin’ handle Dig. Then we’ll go to Fernie’s farm.”

She reached her hand out to me. Because she was so unpredictable, it offered me the opportunity to fall in love with her over and over again. Her willingness to adopt Genesis didn’t surprise me. Her willingness to marry me on paper if necessary did, though. We’d already talked about marriage since waking up. She expressed that she didn’t see herself in a white dress and she surely didn’t see herself in a church. I was actually thankful for that. I wished Gramps was around. I know he didn’t have a church wedding with Gram because they weren’t Christian. We were Lakota. But I had no idea what kind of ceremony they had. I didn’t know any of the Lakota ways when it came to marriage. Thinking about it made me miss him and rue the years I missed out on while under Burns' thumb.

I shook my head clear of those thoughts for now and took her hand. Together we went to Dig’s room, a united front. I’d do my best to support her, but I knew Fernie was going to be a tough sell. My girl protected that boy like a lion protects her cubs. I sighed at what was about to transpire, and how Dig and Elle would
manage to come to agreement on anything.

Chapter 7
– Elle

J tapped on Dig’s door twice. Dig tapped back
. J tapped two more times, and the door opened. If I hadn’t killed a man within the last forty-eight hours, if I wasn’t just kidnapped, if I didn’t know what was at stake with Burns, MM, and my man—fuck, this tapping shit would’ve made me roll my eyes. As it was, I was glad they knew what they were doing.

J pulled me to sit next to him on the edge of the bed. Son and the man I’d been introduced to as Jorge sat
in two chairs on either side of a small round table across from the bed. Dig paced. We dug right into business, foregoing small-talk. Thank God. I wanted to get this show on the road.

“I don’t think it was Sinaloans who took your girl.” Jorge leaned forward in his chair, placing
his elbows on his knees and making a steeple with his fingers. “It was a sloppy job. I don’t know how you guys do it up there, but down here, we don’t fuck around. If it was Los Zetas, your girl would be dead. The Sinaloans might be our rivals, but they operate like us. They’d have killed your girl and sent you her head in a box.”

“Watch your mouth.” J shot up from the bed. I pulled him back down.
Jorge was right. I’d thought about the shitty knot they’d tied, and even though I wasn’t a cartel expert, it seemed like they’d be a little more on top of their kidnappings. Not that I wasn’t grateful for their lackluster kidnapping job. Although, I didn’t think I’d be processing that whole situation until I was home and safe, at least I escaped. At least the man I loved saved me, even if it meant him taking a life as well. At least I was alive.

Fuck, but we were a pair.

“He’s right.” I turned as Dig spoke up. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. From what I know of the cartels, they make Burns look like the Easter Bunny.” It seemed like Dig and I were on the same page, though the Easter Bunny comment threw me.

“The Easter Bunny?” I looked at Dig, though not as tall or broad as J, he was a solid beast. A solid beast referencing the Easter Bunny.
He just scowled at me, making me think Dig wasn’t my biggest fan.

“Don’t let Burns fool you, girl. He’s a
brute of a man, but he doesn’t run as tight a ship as Jorge’s men. He's also the only one who makes sense kidnapping you.”

I was about to tell him not to call me girl unless he suddenly decided he liked men, but J spoke before I could reference RuPaul or
the butt sex he'd be receiving.

“Why would he want Elle? We’re the ones plotting the bastard’s murder.”

“Think about it, J. He knows there's dissention among the ranks, but without you on board, we all kept our mouths shut. Now I’m gone, as are you and Son. He knows something is up, and he knows you’re the catalyst.”

“Fuck,” J whispered. I put my hand on his.

“So he kidnaps me to what? Send a message? Pry you guys out of hiding? What’s his MO?” I asked Dig.

“I’m not one hundred percent sure what his objective was, but knowing Burns, he
probably assumed J would come for you. That'd be his chance to get revenge on the man who started all this. He likely knows his men were unsuccessful by now. As well, he knows we’re in Mexico. I think it’s time for us to go back to Missouri. It’s time for war.”

“I agree,” Jorge chimed in. “But I think J and the girl should stay here. They’re obviously high on this Burns guy’s shit list. You send them in, he’s not going to waste time taking them out.”

“Out of spite,” Son added, entering the conversation for the first time. “He’s a spiteful motherfucker who knows this plan wouldn’t be happening if you weren’t on board, J. And you know his ass ain’t
above
hitting
below
the belt. He knows Elle is your weak spot. Word got around when Cane saw you with her on the back of your bike in Kansas City last year. I agree with Dad. Let us go back and check things out on the down low. You two stay here a few days, at least until the product gets into Delmarco hands. Stay with that kid.”

And there it was. I knew Fernie would be dragged into this somehow. I guess it could have been worse.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay with Fernie, but at least he wasn’t being asked to get bloody in this battle.

“Why can’t we just stay at this hotel?” I looked at Son when I said this, but he looked straight to Dig, like he was out of input for this endeavor.

“If Burns sends more men here, he’s gonna look at hotels first. He probably doesn’t know ya got a friend here.” Dig was right on that point, but I still hated the idea of Fernie being any part of this. I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes. On one hand, I didn’t want J back in Missouri yet. I knew it’d be a blood bath getting Burns out of power. I’d barely gotten J back, and I wasn’t ready to let him go. On the other hand, I wanted this shit done quick. I wanted my life back. Studying abroad was a wash, but I could at least go back home and keep taking classes. Also, I wanted to begin looking into what it would take to adopt Genesis. I wanted her to have the same chance at the American Dream that I did. Most of all, I wanted Fernie out of the path of this shit that most certainly was about to hit the fan.

“So we stay, you and Son go. Then what? You just gonna bust up in there, kill Burns, and all is right in the world?” I looked at Dig to elaborate on his plan. If he thought he was keeping m
e out of the loop, he needed to think again.

Thankfully, Dig was forthcoming with information.
I listened to his plan, allowing him the floor to say everything that was on his mind. J was right, he was the planner of the group, and his current plan involved J and I staying with Fernie, while he went back to Missouri to check in with Fret who I learned was one of the MC brothers around Dig’s age.

“You trust Fret?” I asked Dig after he’d told us what he believed to be the best course of action. He looked at me like I had horns.

“I trust Fret and his boy with my life. They’ve both been essential to this plan. I know which brothers we can trust and which ones we can’t. I suggest ya stop speaking of people you ain’t even met, girl.”

OK, that was it. The time had come for me to hip Dig to what he was dealing with. I felt J straighten his back on the bed next to me. Yeah, he knew what was coming.

“Go easy on him,” he whispered in my ear as I stood up to say my piece to Dig. I just patted his hand, assuring him I would keep it in check—mostly.

“Dig, no disrespect, but you need to chill the fuck out. First of all, no, I don’t know these people, and my ass was kidnapped a few days ago. So forgive me if I’m cautious. Second, I killed said kidnappers, so if you could stop addressing me as girl, I’d appreciate it. I’m not a fucking child. You can address me as Elle, or not at all, though I highly discourage you from not addressing me as I am part of this shit now. Third, you want J and me to go stay with Fernie, putting that boy and his grandmother at risk. You bring
any
of
my
kids into a plan of yours,” I laid my hand on my heart as I spoke of my cubs, “and I get to ask any fucking question I want.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “So Fret has a boy who's part of MM?”

Dig ran his hand over his head.
His greying hair was starting to grow back as he seemed to be lacking access to a razor. I’d gladly offer him my Schick Intuition razor if he’d stop acting like I wasn’t part of this little planning committee. Shit, if he stopped acting like I was ruining his show, I’d even let him shave his damn face with my razor. His goatee was almost all grey, bordering on white, but a full beard was beginning to make an appearance. Son had dark hair, similar to what I assume his father once had. Now it was salt and pepper colored—more salt than pepper though.

I kept my eyes on Dig’s as I waited for his response. I really wasn’t trying to be a bitch, but he needed to realize who he was dealing with. I wasn’t some trick ass
whore who was just along for the ride. Fuck, I didn’t even want to be on this ride. I was here for J, not because I gave a damn about Dig’s MM. I gave a damn about J’s MM because I gave a damn about J. I’d accepted that Dig came with the package, now he needed to accept that I did as well.

“Fret has been with MM since I was your age. We patched in around the same time. His son never patched into Burns’ MM, but he ha
s been a big part of J’s and my plan. He’ll be patched in as soon as Burns is gone and we have MM back like it’s supposed to be. Does that answer your question?” Was there a bit of hostility in Dig’s voice as he said this? Yes. Was I going to push the issue? No. 

“Yeah. Once you get back to Missouri, you’ll let J and me know what’s up? I’d rather not stay in Sabinas any longer than necessary. I get what you’re doing Dig, and I respect the love you have for MM, but this isn’t my life.
I came here for school. My semester is pretty much shot, so I’d like to get back to my life—the one in Missouri. I think the study abroad ship has sailed.”

“So it seems.” Dig nodded to my questions, letting me know J and I were in for one of my favorite things—waiting. Man, I hated waiting. It felt stagnant, like you weren’t doing anything when there was so much to be done.

I turned to J. “Can you call Fernie to come over? I’m gonna go back to our room and let you guys talk. Lemme know when Fernie gets here. I’d like to speak with him.”

“Course, baby.” I kissed J goodbye and let the men have at it. I’d heard enough to know I was going to be kickin’ it in Sabinas for a few more days, or I hoped it was only a few days. I couldn’t stay cooped up
at Abuelita’s for too long. I was dying for my own space, one that I could fix the energy of and not feel like I was drifting. I was tired of drifting, yet had a feeling I was far from being done with it.