Chapter 4
“Don’t you got work?” Raquel said rousing Jaims, who was still in bed at 8:30. She usually left for work at 7:30.
“Not goin’ in,” Jaims mumbled, doing her best to block the light from the hallway behind Raquel.
“Hung over?” Raquel grinned.
“No,” Jaims said. “Could you shut off the hall light please?”
Raquel did as she asked. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Migraine,” Jaims muttered.
“Frigging headache?” Raquel questioned incredulously. “You don’t know what a headache feels like…” Her tone was snide.
“Maybe you should give me some of what you have been taking…” Jaims replied laconically. She heard Raquel’s sharp intake of breath and knew in that moment she’d pissed off her roommate.
“Fuck you!” Raquel snapped, then kicked the foot of Jaims’ bed. She stomped out of the room and slammed the door a minute later.
Jaims grimaced, not only for the jostling, but for the pain that ripped through her head at the sound of the slammed door.
She slept most of the afternoon, and when she finally came out of her room, Raquel was not home.
Jaims made herself some soup from a can and sat eating it with the TV on. She’d had migraines before but hadn’t had one for a long time. They usually started again when she was stressed. The situation with Raquel was certainly stress inducing. She never knew which version of her roommate she was going to get.
At Fancy’s that night, the Crew was hanging around their usual tables.
“Where’s Jaims tonight?” Ari asked Raquel, garnering a nasty look.
“Why do you care? Aren’t you with BB?” Raquel snapped.
Ari’s eyes widened, she nodded. “I was just wondering…” She stepped back, looking around for Jayden.
“Well, don’t wonder,” Raquel sneered. “She’s none of your business.”
“Hey…” Jayden announced as she walked up, hearing Raquel’s nasty tone. She could see Ari doing her best to hold back tears.
“So, what’s your problem!” Raquel yelled.
“Whoa, what’s goin’ on here?” Zion asked, having heard Raquel’s raised voice.
“Nothing,” Raquel commented, her eyes on Ari. “Princess was wondering about Jaims.”
Zion remained calm, but her eyebrows arched. Raquel had been nasty with everyone lately. “I’m wondering too,” the bar owner stated, “is she okay?”
Raquel looked flabbergasted, blowing her breath out in a huff. “She’s fine, Jesus! She just had a headache, that’s all.”
“So simple enough to tell us.” Zion nodded, her voice placating.
Raquel curled her lips in disdain. She shrugged, as if dismissing the entire incident.
Zion, Jayden, Case, and Flynn all exchanged a look of surprise. Raquel’s personality had indeed changed a great deal since she’d been back. She acted much more aggressively than she previously had.
In her office, Zion sat down to call Jaims, to check on her.
“You alright?” she asked when Jaims answered her cell phone wearily.
“Yeah, Z, just a migraine,” Jaims told her.
“You’re getting those again?” Zion queried worryingly.
“Yeah, this is the worst one in a while.” Jaims sighed. “It’s better tonight though.”
“Good.” Zion nodded at her end. “Well, I’ll leave you alone, just let me know if you need anything.”
Jaims smiled. “Thanks Z.”
Later that evening, Jaims was sleeping on the couch, having fallen asleep watching TV, when Raquel entered the apartment. Jaims sat up and rubbed her eyes. She glanced at the clock, it was 2:30 a.m. When she looked back at Raquel, she noticed her eyes narrow.
“You watching what time I get home now?” Raquel asked moodily.
“Uh, no,” Jaims said, stretching as she stood up. “I fell asleep and I was just wondering what time it was.”
“Bullshit.”
“Seriously? Get over yourself,” Jaims commented, as she moved past Raquel to head to her room. She was caught completely off guard when Raquel grabbed her up by the shoulders and slammed her into the wall.
“What the fuck do you mean by that!” Raquel growled at Jaims, their faces close.
Jaims refused to show any of fear she was suddenly feeling, and didn’t balk. “I mean you’ve been a royal pain in the ass lately, and I’m fucking sick of it!”
Shock registered on Raquel’s face; her grip loosened on Jaims’ shoulders. Jaims used the opportunity to shove Raquel away and escape to her room.
As she shut the door, Jaims felt herself shaking. She locked the door with trembling fingers. There was definitely something going on with Raquel and ignoring it wasn’t making it go away.
Sitting on her bed, Jaims dialed Zion’s number.
“’Lo?” Zion answered, sounding distracted.
Jaims could hear the sounds of glasses clinking together and the banter of people in the background. She realized Zion was probably cleaning up for the night at the bar.
“Z, we need to get the crew together.”
“What’s up?” Zion asked, setting bar glasses down on the counter for cleaning.
“It’s Rock, we need to figure something out to help her.”
Zion nodded. “She seemed pretty agitated tonight.”
“She’s agitated all the damned time.”
“I’ll get the crew together,” Zion said, “come down to the bar at two tomorrow.”
“Got it, thanks Z.”
“Of course,” Zion answered.
The next day, Jaims slipped out of the apartment before Raquel came out of her room. It was still too early to head to the bar, so she stopped by her parents’ bakery.
“Mom?” Jaims queried as she poked her head in the back office, away from the bustling front counter.
“Jaimie, honey!” Her mother looked over from her computer, her computer glasses perched on her nose. “What are you doing here? Did you get a pastry?”
“No, Ma, I just stopped by.” Jaims smiled, her mother was always trying to feed her.
Celeste Carpenter stood up, walking over to hug her daughter tightly. “Come get a pastry,” she prompted, as she took Jaims by the arm, guiding her back to the front counter. “You love my pistachio cannoli!”
“I do,” Jaims agreed, as her mother pulled out two for Jaims, putting them on a plate, and adding powdered sugar. “Come, come, sit with me.” Celeste motioned to the break room.
Jaims enjoyed the pastries, knowing she wasn’t getting out of eating every bite. Celeste looked on, smiling brightly. “Such a good girl…” she observed.
“Because I eat when I’m told?” Jaims chuckled.
“Of course! So, what is wrong?” her mother asked seriously.
Jaims sighed, knowing there was never any point in keeping things from her mother. “Just a problem with my friend.”
“Which of your friends? You have so many.” Celeste smiled proudly.
“Rock, Mama.”
“Oh…” Celeste grimaced. “How is that poor child?” She of course knew about Raquel being shot in the Middle East. Jaims shared everything with her family; she loved that they were always supportive of her and her lifestyle. It was a great source of comfort to her.
“She’s struggling, Ma, so we are getting together to try to figure out how we can help.”
Celeste nodded. “You are good girls, all of you.”
“I heard my baby is here!” came a booming voice from behind her. Jaims was immediately grabbed in a bear hug.
“Hi Dad!” Jaims laughed.
It was a nice visit.
“Aww, always a good reason to come to a family meeting…” Steel ‘SJ’ said, as she dug into the box of pastries Jaims had brought from the bakery.
“My mom said none of you eat enough.” Jaims laughed, rolling her eyes.
“Your mother is a bloomin’ angel!” Case reached for a filled donut.
“I really do love her,” Shayne sighed contently, grabbing two cannoli.
“Hey, L Word, leave some for everyone else!” Flynn called, as she got herself a soda from the fountain at the bar. “Anyone else need something?”
“Coke for me, Errol!” Jayden raised her hand.
“Is it too early for a shot?” Steel asked.
Zion made a face. “With your danish, SJ?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Steel rolled her eyes. “Coke for me too!”
“Is Dax comin’?” Shayne asked.
“She’ll be here, she was having an issue earlier at the Martinez Bridge,” Zion said.
“Driving from Sacramento is dedication,” Jaims added.
“Family is family,” Dax said from the doorway.
All the bois greeted Dax, smiling and shaking hands.
“How is Sacramento, Dax?” Jaims asked.
“Eh.” Dax shrugged, “It’s a job.”
“How’s the hot red head?” Shayne raised her eyebrows a couple of times with a knowing grin on her face.
“Kenzi is fine, thank you.” Dax smirked.
Flynn handed out drinks from the tray she was holding. “Kenzi is definitely fine.”
“Watch it…” Dax murmured, even as she grinned.
Everyone settled in, chatting for a few minutes, and catching up with each other and Dax.
“So, what’s going on with Rock?” Zion finally got to the point of the meeting.
Jaims took a deep breath, blowing it out in a long sigh. “Well, you’ve seen how she is lately, moody as fuck, snapping at everyone.”
“Right…” Zion prompted, waiting for the rest of what Jaims had to say.
“At home she throws shit all the time, she doesn’t sleep for days, and then she crashes for like two days at a time. And then there’s the pain pills.”
“Pain pills?” Dax queried.
“Yeah, whatever they gave her in the hospital in Germany, she ran out, and they won’t refill her prescription.”
Zion grimaced. “So you think she’s getting them somewhere else?”
“I know she’s still poppin’ ’em, like fuckin’ M&M’s,” Jaims replied.
“Damn…” Steel breathed.
The others shook their heads, not sure what to say. They’d all been completely freaked out when they had heard that Raquel had been shot in the head. There had been relief when they’d learnt that she was coming home. Zion and Dax had even put together money to send her brothers to see her in Germany.
“Have you talked to the boys?” Dax asked Jaims.
Jaims shook her head. “I didn’t want to worry them.”
“So, what do we do?” Steel asked.
“Stage some kind of intervention?” Case asked, looking like she didn’t relish the idea.
“Maybe?” Jaims looked to Dax and Zion.
As the two oldest members of the crew, Dax and Zion were the unofficial heads of their little family.
Flynn shifted. “She ain’t gonna take it well.”
“Hell no,” Shayne agreed, grimacing.
Dax and Zion exchanged a look. Zion’s lips twitched. “I think we have to at this point.”
“We can’t just let her keep on, if it’s that bad…” Dax said.
“Oh, it’s that bad,” Jaims assured them.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Zion decided.
“When?” Dax questioned.
“The sooner the better,” Zion said.
“Maybe tomorrow?” Jaims suggested. “It’s park day.”
“Yeah…” Zion nodded, her voice trailing off.
“I’ll call Kenzi, let her know I’m staying here tonight.” Dax sighed.
“You can stay with me, if your place isn’t available,” Zion told Dax.
“It’s not,” Dax sighed. “I’ve sublet it to a couple while I’m in Sacramento.”
Zion nodded. “Figured.”
The group discussed a few details about how they would handle things, and once they’d finalized a plan they broke up for the afternoon.
The next day the crew showed up at the park a bit earlier than normal, finding a more secluded section of the Mission Dolores Park so they could talk to Raquel in privacy.
Zion and Dax stood together, watching the others mill about, they were not sure what to do, to look casual.
“Nervous as cats…” Zion commented.
Dax chuckled. “Yeah, this really isn’t our area of expertise.”
“Not hardly,” Zion agreed. “Gotta do what we gotta do, though.”
Dax nodded then she saw Raquel’s Jeep pull up to the park. “Look natural you idiots!” she called to the group.
Shayne and Flynn started tossing the football back and forth. Case and Jayden joined in, by the time Raquel walked up, they were picking teams.
“You joining the game, Rock?” Dax called.
“What are you doin’ here?” Raquel asked.
Dax shrugged. “Came for a visit.”
In the end, they split into teams and played a game until everyone was tired. They sat as a group on the grass, enjoying the warmth of the sun on their faces.
“How are you doin’, Rock?” Dax asked, glancing at her friend.
“Alright,” Raquel answered, she was laying on her back, her longish dark hair in two braids. “How’s the valley?” she said, her tone joking.
“Hot most of the time,” Dax grumbled.
“Sucks to be you,” Raquel retorted. “Is the little woman ever gonna let you come back?” This time there was a bit of a bite to Raquel’s tone. Everyone heard it.
Dax’s eyes narrowed behind her mirrored shades. “Kenzi’s contract is done in about two months, then we’ll be headed back this way.”
“Good, you can get back to having Z’s back, so Jaims doesn’t have to handle your shit all the time,” Raquel remarked jeeringly.
Dax glanced over at Zion and saw her lips twitch, which usually meant she was irritated.
“I tend to handle my own shit,” Zion barked.
Raquel sat up and guffawed. “Funny, Jaims seems to be havin’ to help out a lot these days.”
“Excuse me, I’m right here,” Jaims commented dryly.
“What’s the real problem here?” Zion questioned, looking directly at Raquel.
Raquel didn’t respond, she simply laid back on the grass.
“Rock you’ve been kind of a bitch to everyone lately,” Steel put in finally.
“Yeah, and it’s gettin’ old,” Shayne added.
“Like moldy old,” Flynn said.
Raquel sat up slowly, looking around at the group. “So you all got a problem with me suddenly?”
“It ain’t sudden,” Case uttered.
“You too?” Raquel snapped. She turned her head to look over at Jayden. “What about you? You got something to say too?”
Jayden looked terrified.
“Lay off BB,” Jaims said. “You know you haven’t been the same since you got back. We’ve all noticed it, and we want to talk to you about it, okay?”
Raquel’s lips curled derisively. “Oh I see, it’s fuckin’ gang up on me day, right?”
“No,” Zion retorted calmly. “We wanted to know what’s happening with you, and what we can do to help.”
“Well, right now you’re all up on my jock, and it’s startin’ to piss me the fuck off!” Raquel got to her feet, her body looked tense. “You can help by knockin’ it off.”
“Is it the drugs you’ve been taking?” Jaims asked. “Are they making you act like this?”
Raquel whipped her head around to look at Jaims. “I’ve been taking pain pills for my fucking head, you’d take pain pills too if someone had tried to blow your fuckin head off!”
Jaims nodded slowly. “I get that, but I think they’re messing with your head right now.”
Raquel let out a short angry bark of laughter. “My fuckin’ friends… thanks for the support! I don’t fuckin’ need this shit.”
“Rock wait!” Zion called, as Raquel started to walk away.
Jaims jumped up and went after her. “Will you just wait a second!”
Jaims positioned herself in front of Raquel. She held up her hands to try and get the woman to stop walking.
“I can’t fucking believe you did this!” Raquel accused. “You let them attack me like that!”
“They weren’t attacking you Rock, you’re worrying us and we wanted to try to tell you that,” Jaims said, feeling desperate to get through to her friend.
“Fuck ’em!” Raquel spat.
“And fuck me too?”
Raquel looked at her for a long moment, an ugly sneer appeared on her face. “Fuck all of ya.” With that she shoved Jaims hard, knocking her to the ground and walked away.
“Woah!” Dax exclaimed, rising to her feet, as did the others, to go to Jaims’ aid.
“You okay?” Zion asked, as they helped Jaims to her feet.
“Yeah,” Jaims said, not wanting to show the rest of the group how hurt she was feeling. “I guess this didn’t work.”
Dax shook her head. “She isn’t ready to hear anyone yet.”
“I don’t think we handled it well either,” Zion added.
Case’s eyebrows knit together, disapprovingly. “I’m no bloody therapist.”
“None of us are.” Steel sighed.