“She’s good. Bruises and scrapes will be there for a while, and she’s sore, but you know how tough she is.”
“That I do,” he says with a nod.
In our teens, Beck was over at the house a lot. Theo and I weren’t like most teens with younger siblings. We never cared if Ella was around when friends were over. Our way of thinking, it was better she was with us than out on the streets with her own friends. With Theo and me around, we knew she was protected. That included Beck’s protection. He’s one of the good guys.
“You take care of Chase?”
I give him a look that portrays my answer.
“Shouldn’t have even asked,” he mutters.
“I need you to do me a favor. If you see Cora or Chase on the south side, call me. And pass that shit around.”
“You got it. But you gotta promise if you go after him again, I’m with you. It’s fucked you didn’t call when you took care of him the first time.” He gives me a level look.
There’s a reason I didn’t call him. Beck may be a good guy, but he’s also a hothead. When provoked, he doesn’t know how to control his temper. I don’t know if he zones out and doesn’t realize what he’s doing, or if he just sucks at locking his shit down, but either way, I’m not sure Chase would have survived our visit had Beck been there. I wouldn’t give a fuck if Chase bit the bullet, but I’m not taking that route in my life unless I’m forced to. Getting away with beating the shit out of a guy is easier than getting away with murder. And there’s no doubt Spencer would work ‘til his last breath searching for who took his son out.
Even so, if Chase shows his face around here again, or if I even get a hint of him disobeying what I told him, God fucking help him. I won’t hesitate to call Beck in and we’ll both go pay him another visit. One he won’t be leaving still drawing breath.
I jerk my chin. “Done.”
He takes another drag of his cigarette before flicking it away. “I’ll be in next week for you to finish the dragon.”
“Sounds good.”
Beck is one of the few people who can just walk in the shop without an appointment. After all, he’s damn near covered from head to toe in ink and Ink Me has done them all.
We part a few minutes later, him driving off in one direction, me running in the other. Back at the house, I take a shower, grab some coffee, and sit at the bar to draw for a couple of hours before heading into the shop.
“YOU GOT ALL YOUR stuff together?” I ask Aria after walking into the break room at Ink Me.
“Yep!” she shouts. She jumps down from the chair at the table and starts stuffing the picture she was drawing into her backpack. I get a glimpse of it and feel pride settle in my bones. Theo’s drawing skills aren’t bad, but Ella and I trump him in that department. Theo’s talent is computer shit. Aria has obviously inherited the natural ability to draw from Dad, Ella, and me.
He dropped her off an hour ago while I was in the middle of putting a vine of dead flowers on a woman’s back. Considering Ella was just beaten to a bloody pulp five days ago, I was going to cancel the babysitting gig to cover her shifts, but Ella, being the stubborn woman that she is, insisted on coming to work. It’s her first day back, and the only reason I agreed to leave and still stick with the plan is because Jazz was coming in. I finished the tat fifteen minutes ago, ten minutes after Jazz showed. Ella threatened to kick my ass if I didn’t leave. She’s got the stupid idea that she should feel guilty since I’ve been working thirteen-hour days for the last four to cover her shifts. It’s not like she asked for that shit to happen. Besides, I’ve done it multiple times before. But her jaw was set, and I knew she wasn’t budging. Ella’s tenacious as hell when she wants to be, and as the baby of the family she gets her way most of the time.
With her right in front of me, I called Vicki, who said she already had plans to come to the shop after work to make sure Ella doesn’t overwork herself. It earned me a muttered “fuck you” and the middle finger as she walked away. Vicki is a nurse at one of the low-income clinics, so I know Ella will be taken care of.
I take Aria’s backpack from her. “Why don’t we go say goodbye to Aunt Ella?” Before she runs from the room, I tack on, “Quietly. She’s with a client right now.”
She turns in the doorway and says, “Don’t forget Goodie!”
I eye the cage holding the little shit, tempted to forget him, and I swear he’s smiling smugly at me.
“You better keep your teeth to yourself this time or you’ll be a dead rodent,” I mutter, then grab the handle.
I follow behind Aria, who dramatically tiptoes down the hallway. I chuckle as her arms go up and down with each step, like she’s trying to sneak up on someone. The buzzing of Ella’s tattoo machine stops when she rounds the corner into her station. Ella is just snapping off her gloves when I look inside. Normally I wouldn’t let her go into a room while someone is working, but Miles is a regular and has kids of his own. Aria’s been to his house before to play with them.
“Hey, Ree Ree, you leavin’?” Ella asks, pulling Aria into a hug.
“Yep! We’re going to have spaghetti and watch movies all night!”
Ella smiles at her excitement. “You better make sure Luca stops and gets your favorite ice cream. You can’t watch a movie without ice cream.”
She leans forward like she’s going to tell her a secret, but when she speaks, it’s not very quiet. “I was going to ask him when we leave.”
I notice Ella’s wince when Aria flings her arms around her neck and squeezes tightly. The bruises on her face have turned from a deep purplish red to an ugly brown and green. She’s got a couple of small bandages on her face, but luckily the swelling in her eye is no longer present. She still has her wrist and arm wrapped in gauze, but I know that’s for sanitary purposes, since there are open scratches.
I’m just about to extract Aria from Ella when she shoots me a warning look and pulls back herself.
“You be good for Uncle Luca, okay?”
She nods. “I will.” Leaning forward, Aria places a gentle kiss on Ella’s cheek where there’s a patch of bruised skin.
“Love you, Aunt Ella.”
Ella’s eyes soften. “Love you too, Ree Ree.”
“Bye, Miles!”
“See ya later, Aria,” Miles responds and holds his hand out to her to slap.
We leave and twenty minutes later, I’m pulling up to my house, a pint of birthday-cake-flavored ice cream in tow, to see Mom’s little Toyota parked in the driveway. Even though I wasn’t expecting her, it’s no surprise she stopped by. I know why she’s here, and it’s confirmed when I open the front door.
“Hi, munchkin,” Mom croons, slinging a hand towel over her shoulder as she walks out of the kitchen. “Come give Gamma a hug and kiss.”
Aria runs across the room and flings herself at Mom. I don’t know why Theo asked me to watch her, not that I’m complaining, when we all know Mom would jump at any opportunity to spend time with her granddaughter.
“Are you here to watch movies with us, Gamma?” Aria asks after she pulls back. “Me and Luca are going to watch Willy Wonka.”
Anytime Aria’s at my house we watch the older classic kid movies.
Mom smiles down at her, pushing back the bangs that’ve fallen into her eyes. “Not tonight, munchkin. Your Pa is taking me out on a date tonight.”
I raise my brows at the eager look in her eyes. Mom’s always been the type to refuse eating out, even on the rare occasions we could afford to. She said her family would always have a healthy home-cooked meal on the table each night. Her lip curled with disdain when she thought of a stranger cooking for her family. Cooking was something she enjoyed doing. It was just another way she showed us her love.