Chapter Fifteen Little Blossom
Fate
“The hell?” I exclaimed. “So what does this mean for all of us?”
“It means we should just go home,” Ma replied in exasperation.
“No Ma, we can’t do that.”
We all looked over at Talon who had come around the corner. Heading over to her, he grabbed her up into a bear hug.
“Landsakes, boy!” She laughed as she squeaked. “You squeezin’ me something fierce.”
Nodding, Talon set her back down. “That scared me, Ma,” the big guy admitted to his mother. Then he looked over at Jarret and asked, “Got a shiner for your troubles, eh?”
Jarret shrugged. “They coulda shot me. But they did seem to be overly sensitive about my flying fists. No one was fatally hurt, so we were all lucky.”
Talon nodded at him. “I’m not sure about luck. If we had more of that, Deacon would be gone for good.” He turned to me and Briget. “He actually released them.” Moisture shimmered in his eyes as he went on to say, “Thank you, Briget.”
She shook her head at him. “According to Justice, he didn’t do it for me.”
“Yeah, I know.” Talon sighed. “The man has no kindness in him from what we know. But if you hadn’t asked…” He left the conclusion unsaid as we all knew Ma and Jarret would still be gone if she hadn’t asked for their release.
I wrapped my arm around Briget’s shoulder and stated proudly, “We all had our weapons out and our threats made, but all it really took was a little blossom.”
Most of the group stared at me with blank looks on their faces.
Knowing why I said it that way, Belle and Scarlet laughed.
“That was adorable as all get out, boy,” Ma said as she chuckled.
“Adorable?” Liberty asked me. “What the hell does it even mean?”
“It’s all in a name,” I said with a smirk on my face.
He looked even more confused by this remark. “Are you even speaking English, baby brother?”
“It’s my last name, Liberty,” Briget explained.
“Your name is Briget Blossom?” Liberty exclaimed as he looked astonished. Then he laughed loudly. “That is a helluva funny name.”
Belle smacked his arm as she shook her head.
Briget crossed her arms over her chest and retorted, “So says Liberty as he chose Belle for his girl. Ever heard of the Liberty Bell?”
The group all laughed at the pun.
I leaned in, kissed her on the cheek and said, “That was very clever.”
“Or very corny.” She rolled her eyes.
“Ok, so we need to have a discussion about how to proceed,” Jarret said.
Talon looked over at him and said, “We go ahead with our plan.”
“But he seems to know where we all are already,” I broke in.
Looking frustrated as usual, Talon pushed his fingers through his hair and replied, “That may be true. Although, he might not know where all the Walkers are. We need to keep with the plan for no other reason than the fact that he will have trouble attacking or going after fifteen different groups and locations. That is about how many are relocating.”
I paused at this smart conclusion and shook my head. “Damn, so the numbers game, huh?”
Ma nodded in agreement as she stated proudly, “We are so lucky that Deacon isn’t the only Walker strategist.”
Talon looked weary and not proud of her compliment. “We can only do our best. In the end, he has to die. If he remains alive, no Walker will be safe or anyone who is with a Walker.”
“It’s just so sad,” Briget said.
We all looked over at her.
Looking around, her cheeks went pink as she realized she had drawn the group’s attention again. “You have to admit that he is wasting his life with all of this. Like does he get up everyday and eat his Wheaties while saying, how many Walkers can I terrorize today? ” Briget then snorted at her own nervous joke.
“Just don’t waste your time feeling sorry for him,” Talon stated as he looked angry. “He could have just gone on with his life after O died and left the country or at least, left Louisiana. But he didn't. He chose to stick around and make us all go into hiding. Threatened our lives and our home. He had to know that his mother was a horrible criminal who killed his father and his uncles. But he didn’t care.”
“I’m not sure he knew that she’d killed them,” Belle spoke up with doubt in her voice. “But I do know what he told me. He said he made a promise to her. That his mother made him swear to see this through to the very end. Then after she died, he stayed to fulfil his vow to her.”
“I just can’t drum up any sympathy for him or this vow,” Talon stated. “Not after he bombed that estate, thinking we were in there. You were present for that, Belle.”
She nodded her head. “But did he know back then that you were all really at Connor House? He could have? He sure seems to know more about where we are and what we are doing than you think, Talon.”
“So you're saying, he sent that army in there and the bombs just for kicks?” I asked her.
“I don’t know…” Briget spoke up. “But you saw his amusement when you all pointed guns at him. In fact, before Talon arrived, he was having a helluva good time.”
“He did seem to get a kick out of the whole thing, alright,” I agreed. “Maybe he does most of this just for the fun of it?”
“Still makes him a madman,” Jarret grumbled.
“Then don’t forget this, sister,” Scarlet reminded us. “She might be another O in the making.”
Belle agreed, “She acted nice to me but there was a glint in her eyes that was, well, sort of chilling.”
“Jewel said that the sister was bloodthirsty for revenge on the Walkers,” Scarlet added. “She overheard them talking. She said the sister seemed to be pressuring Deacon on that subject. So she may be even worse than him.”
“It is the way Olivia raised them,” Ma said. “But it is too late to change them now. I do not condone killing as you all well know. But I do feel he and his sister will end up badly. Nothin’ good comes out of carrying a basket of mayhem all the way to hell.”
“Ma, some people just aren't right,” Justice said.
“And they never will be right,” Liberty agreed.
“Ok,” Talon spoke up. “Ma and Jarret will come with me.” He looked over at the rest of us. “You all continue on. I brought four more Rebel Saints to add to your guards.”
“You think we’ll need them?” I asked him.
“I don’t think anything, Fate. I just try to even the odds.” He gave us all a nod.
Ma came over and hugged Briget, then Belle, Scarlet and Glory. “Take care of your men, ladies,” she advised them. “Make sure they eat and sleep enough. They are Walkers and you know they will forget. I often think that without their women, they just wouldn’t make it.”
The girls all laughed.
“Gee, Ma,” I cut in. “You saying we are sort of slow?”
“Maybe not as slow as molasses.” She winked at me. “But you all do tend to forget everything when you’re in a fight.” Waving at us, she joined Jarret and Talon. “Just take good care of each other. Family is all ya got in this world, really.”
All three of them and two of the Saints guards went around the building.
Bones looked around at the group and said, “We need to pay up, gas up and get out.”
“Wow, Bones, you need to make a rap song outta that,” Briget teased him.
Raising a brow at her, the biker leader made no comment as he walked ahead of us and went in through the door.
“Bones just doesn't seem to have a funny bone, does he?” Briget asked.
Everyone shook their heads as they also turned to the door.
I took her hand in mine and said, “Never mind those sad-sack losers.” Then I sang, “Let’s keep rollin', rollin', rollin.' Move 'em on, head 'em up, ride em out…rawhide!”
Laughing uproariously, Briget nodded her head. “Oh, my gosh, that is old! You watch black and white westerns?”
Honestly, I was surprised and happy that she knew the old cowboy song. I laughed as I nodded. “Yep, love ‘em in fact.”
Liberty shook his head at us and blinked hard as if our jokes pained him. “You two are annoying as all hell. You are perfect together.”
Belle was laughing at the disgusted expression on his face while he tugged her to the door.
“I happen to agree with my fat head brother,” I said with a smirk.
“Fat head,” Briget repeated with a snicker, then asked, “Which part do you agree with?”
“Not the annoying part,” I scoffed. “Lib’s got dibs on that.” I wiggled my brows at her. “The we are perfect together part.” I opened the door for her.
She chuckled.
Following, we headed to the store area to pick up snacks and drinks for the next two hours of the trip. I shook my head as I opened the door and reached in to grab a couple of cold Dr. Peppers.
“What is it?” Briget asked.
“We had a wild ninja chase then a confrontation with the Walker Warlord himself and all that happened in just what was supposed to be the first hour of our trip.”
Nodding, Briget said, “I think we will be free to make the rest of it without incident.”
I turned to take her hand and we headed to the snack aisle. “How can you be so sure?”
“The Walker Warlord had his fun for today, I think.”
I grabbed some chips and cookies from the shelves. “Briget, I understand that you think you know this guy, but that would be impossible. He is a sociopath. That means he changes every five fucking minutes.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just glad he didn’t change right after he made that deal with us.”
“You mean the deal he made with you ,” I reminded her with a chuckle. “That was a wonderful thing to do, Briget. I know you had to be nervous about speaking up like that.”
“I just felt so scared for Ma and your dad.”
“We all felt that fear. I mean he took our parents? What kind of monster does that? They’re the heart of the Walker family. We were all strangers a few months ago, but I’d like to think we are closer now.” I looked up and down the aisle. “Is there anything you want from here?” I motioned to the shelves of food.
Glancing at my chips and cookies, she shrugged. “Looks like you got it covered. I love sour cream, onion and chocolate chips.”
“Well, not mixed together I’m sure,” I joked as I took her hand again and we went up front to the register area. “We both love Dr. Pepper and non nutritional junk food. Did you realize we both ordered that beef and swiss sandwich instead of cheeseburgers like everyone else at lunch? We are a match made in heaven, little Blossom.”
Briget stopped to stare at me. “Little Blossom?”
I set my items on the counter then turned to look at her. “Yeah. It suits you.”
She slowly shook her head and laughed. “If I was Japanese or an American Indian, maybe?”
I chuckled at that. “You’ll get used to it,” I said.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Sure, I mean you’re getting used to me, aren’t you?
Laughing, she nodded. “You kind of grow on a person, I guess?”
“Gee thanks, you make me sound like some kind of fungi or something.”
“Well, you are a fun guy.” She smirked at me.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled again. “Damn, you are funny.”
“I know I have an odd sense of humor.” Briget shrugged.
I winked at her and said, “I still think you're cute even if your jokes are a bit lame.”
She gasped in fake indignation as she dramatically placed her hand on her chest. “I resemble that remark!”
Again, she made me chuckle. I really enjoyed being with this girl. I don't think anyone had ever made me laugh as consistently as she seemed to do. “As long as you can behave when we are in public, it's fine with me.”
She tisked and shook her head. “I’m afraid you will be on the losing end of that one, Fate boy. I get nervous in public. You know social anxiety? So when it happens, I make awful jokes. The more nervous I am, the worse they get. Didn’t you see the way I acted out back? Funny bone about Bones? The fuck was that? It just pops out of my mouth though. Kinda like a coping mechanism. When everyone looks at me, out comes the corny puns.”
I smiled at her. “I was teasing about the out in public crack of course. I constantly make a fool of myself in public. But I think there are worse habits than that. My best or worst habit is…well, I torment my twin a lot, but he earned that. Being Mr. Full-of- Himself after winning all those trophies in MMA. I had to turn up the teasing to bring him back down to humanity.”
“Well, Belle will keep him there.” Briget nodded.
“I know and I am so happy about that. Now it isn't just up to me to pull him down a damned peg everyday. He’s got Belle to keep an eye on that. You shoulda seen their supposed courtship. No…maybe I should call it a shipwreck.”
We laughed again.
Briget kept beaming at me. “Well, just do not be surprised the very next time I embarrass you in front of strangers. Belle is always teasing me about the dumb shit I say. It's sort of a mixture of the Three Stooges and dad jokes, maybe?”
“You watch the Stooges too?” I asked in shock.
“Can’t you tell? Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.” She raised her hands and did Curly's snap-slap-a-fist move.
Her hand move did impress me for sure, as not many people could do that particular one. “Well, there’s one true test,” I told her mock-seriously.
“Bring it on, buddy,” she said as she raised her hands and curled her fingers at me.
I narrowed my eyes at her and said slowly, “Niiaaggaarraa Falls.”
She smirked at me then scowled as she looked a bit crazy.
I raised my hands and scowled too.
In tandem, we both turned to the side. With our hands raised and our fingers curled, we said the lines together, “Slowly, I turned. Step by step. Inch by inch…” We both then burst into laughter.
The cashier laughed with us and shook her head. “You two are so funny together.”
I reached over and grabbed Briget up. Pulling her close, I smothered her mouth with mine. Kissing her was all I’d thought about doing while we joked together. In truth, I’d wanted to ever since our last kiss. She tasted so good. A woman I could laugh with, watch old movies and shows with. I even loved her corny jokes. I knew I had definitely fallen for her. How did I know? Her humor, the way she cared about other people, her laugh, those sweet blue eyes and yes, the way she kissed me. I needed more of her and I hoped we would get that far.
I had to face the fact that I was in love with Briget Blossom.
Wrapping her arms around my neck, she moaned low in her throat. Kissing me back deeply and wildly.
I don't know how much time passed as we got lost in this wild, sweet, addictive kiss, but finally, we had to come up for air.
Breathless, we both stared at each other.
“If I can’t have what you two share,” the clerk said. “Then I don’t want a boyfriend at all.”