“Ma!” Jean did a for shame gesture at Rachel, with forefinger of right hand brushing over the forefinger of her left with everyone else enjoying the interaction with vocal appreciation. “The Marine Marauders oversaw all action with care and dedication.”
“I like your new trio tag, Viper,” John Harding said. “Lucas of course loves it, as do those two ancient Marine coots, Chuck and Sal from Red Dragon. They all should have retired together to a pond where they could fish and exchange memories. That damn Lucas has busted my chops so much lately I’m thinking of retiring before him.”
“Yeah… that’ll happen,” Al scoffed. “We’re all here, Dad. Can Clint and Lynn get to it before Johnny goes out for more bird treats? Do something with your husband, Cala. Gus says he’s been pulling this bird shit for over a decade.”
Cala Groves couldn’t speak. She was laughing so hard at Johnny’s gasping reaction to his private bird interaction, it took many moments while avid appreciation of Al’s critique was enjoyed by all, for her to voice a response. “My husband is very addicted to his bird friends. It is a blessing. We give him scraps for the flying rodents. He distracts them from us if we are eating – very useful.”
Johnny shrugged, having run out of bread scraps, he joined his friends and family. “It is as Cala states, my disrespectful life’s partner to be punished later for her transgressions.”
“Oooohhhh… you are so forceful.” Cala embraced Johnny with stilted speech to much amusement. “I am so scared.”
“Should we stake out Bart’s crew,” Gus asked, holding tight to his wife Tina in the chilling wind breezing across the beach.
“Let me follow the situation in school, Uncle Gus,” Benny replied. “It may be that the serious ending of Squiggy, and the arrest of his crew, will quiet this situation. I’ll be able to tell. If the police can keep the suppliers in jail, the thugs like Bart and his gang should fade.”
“Want to sit with us, Benny,” Nick gestured at the ring of lawn chairs.
“Is it okay if I walk Sammy down to Lover’s Point with the kids?”
“Sure. We have you on audio,” Nick replied. “You watch out for Little John. He thinks he’s sixteen instead of six.”
“His older sister fusses over him so much I doubt she’ll let him near anything,” Cala said. “I can’t believe Lila will be a teenager soon.”
“Go on, Benny,” Johnny said, giving his wife a shoulder hug. “Dan takes orders from Lila, so Little John will be fine.”
Benny and Sammy went to gather Johnny and Cala’s kids for the long walk.
“How old is Dan?”
“He’s ten, Lynn,” Cala answered. “He’s quiet, but the one we keep an eye on all the time. He has taken to the knife like a kid in the candy store.”
“Really?”
“Oh Lynn,” Jean said. “He’s better than Sonny and I were at that age. Dan has the bug. He loves the throwing knives.”
“I saw you pin that Squiggy creep’s paw to his chest. You put some snap into that toss, girl. Maybe we’ll get some sparring time this visit.”
Jean hid the absolute adoration she had for Lynn Montoya Dostiene with effort. “I’d like that very much. Sonny, Quinn, and I spar constantly. I’m hoping we’ve gotten at least near to you in skill.”
“I’m certain of it, kid,” Lynn declared as the adults sat down together for the more serious subject of a massive kill mission. “I’m losing a step. I need a replacement, right, babe?”
“Not hardly,” Clint answered.
*
“That was a great visit, Dad.”
I looked over at the spitting image of my wife Lora with a nod of acceptance as I drove the stretch limo toward our North Bay base. “Yeah, it was. I liked Johnny’s idea of infiltration with Cala into their midst for confirmation. I don’t like them continuing to do this crap. We all know what they’ll find. The bastards don’t congregate in secret except to establish their damn No-Go zones.”
“You know Kabong, Cheese,” Lynn said. “He’ll be filming the hell out of everything. Jean’s going in as their daughter. She speaks the lingo like a native. They’ve done this crap before. We need to find out if the place is a hive training center, or a congregation community geared as usual to provide the chicken-shit assholes with kids and women to act as shields.”
Clint chuckled at my silence. “I think Cheese is at the point he wants to start doing some Hiroshima drops.”
“I admit it. We’ve been allowing this seeping poison for over two decades. We now have whole American cities under unannounced Sharia Law. That all of us citizen dupes are now armed to the teeth is the only reason they haven’t moved on us as they have in Europe. While we’re cleaning this nest out, we should go to Washington, DC, and take care of some traitors there selling us out on a daily basis.”