He swings again, and I duck, the swipe too fucking close for comfort. Then I see the cops sprinting from the convenience store. One runs over to us and the other to their car. I hear them yelling, but don’t pay attention to the words they are saying outside of the word “Stop!”
“You owe me now.” He swings again, and I let it connect with my side.
Numb, I am fucking numb to pain.
“Come on, man. You gotta have more in you than that. Oh, snap, that’s right, you don’t. A woman like Hailey wouldn’t have left if she were satisfied.”
A swing, a connection, and I am down. Perfect. I think this is working.
“I’m gonna kill you, motherfucker.”
“Give it your best shot.”
He swings again, and I roll as tire iron hits pavement; then he drops it. No sooner do I kick it out of the way than he dives on me. Then it’s a flurry of fist-to-face connections, one right after the other.
I laugh. “Pussy.”
“Freeze,” I hear before I roll to my right, avoiding the last jab I planned to take before striking back.
Monte’s fist hits the pavement, and he cries out like a little bitch before being taken down by the two Vegas police.
I hop up and think for just a second that I should have lain there, let them think this fucker hurt me. Then I walk around my car, and what do I see? Well, that is fucking pain. The blows my ride just took were a perfect play in a game he may have started, but that I finished.
“I’m gonna fucking kill you, Aces!” he screams as they cuff him and shove him in the back of the squad car.
What do I say? Not a damn thing.
I am surrounded by people who’d witnessed his attack on either my vehicle or on me, all asking if I am okay. I say nothing.
Am I okay? Hell yes, I am. The crazy fucker was unprovoked, and I didn’t lay a finger on him. Hell, no one even heard me say a word. I made sure of it.
Sean “Monte” Timmons is going away for a long fucking time.
The ambulance takes me to the hospital, where I find out I have two broken ribs and a concussion, and then I get a couple stitches near my temple. Afterward, the police interview me and I file a report.
—
I have to stay the night since I have a head injury and they want to observe me. I get shot up with some killer drugs, then pass the hell out.
After two days, they finally release me, and Wheels gives me a ride to Hailey’s car. Then I take it to where my Porsche has been towed, only to find out she is a mangled mess. I have Monte’s insurance information and have sent in the police report and pictures. I will hear back from the insurance company in a week. I am offered a rental but decline.
I grab my duffel bag and suitcase, shove them in the back of Hailey’s car, close it up, and slide in.
“What a heap of shit.” I laugh to myself as I slide the seat back to accommodate my legs.
I take my time driving back to Rock City so as not to push Hailey’s car too hard. My head is throbbing, my side hurts too much to sit for very long, and I don’t wanna show up with a black eye and stitches.
The only thing I tell my brothers and Hailey, who only calls once a day, is that I am enjoying my road trip.
When I arrive back home, Hendrix walks out of his garage, wiping his hand on a grease towel. “Get a new car?” He laughs at me.
“Hailey’s ride. Got rid of the—”
“What the hell happened to your eye?”
“Fell down the stairs when I was leaving. Vegas’s final kick to my ass to head me in the right direction.”
“Is that the story?”
“Yes, it is.”
“The pretty boy car?”
“Got rid of it.”
“Another lost bet?”
“I didn’t lose shit.” I look at the stairs leading up to the apartment. “She up there?”
“Nah. She went to work. Sally’s kid has a fever.”
“The youngest?”
“Yeah.”
“Kid’s sick a lot, isn’t she?” Hendrix nods his reply, and I ask, “The little chick?”
“Upstairs with your sister-in-law.”
“My sister-in-law, huh? You two on the outs?”
“Fuck no! Why would you say shit like that?” Hendrix clinches his fists.
“?’Cause you said ‘your sister-in-law,’ not ‘my wife’ or ‘Livi’ or—” I shake my head, ’cause the fucker is confusing me.
“She is your sister-in-law. She’s family, just like that little chick is starting to feel, and just like your ‘friend’ is, too.”
“Good. They need family.”
“You have a plan?”
“A plan?”