7. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Medusa
I walk into my house after having a breakfast feast at the clubhouse. I yell out Michelle’s name, but nothing. I take off my leather jacket and hang it up. Remove my boots and grab the stack of mail on the stand by the door. I flop onto my recliner and get comfy before going through the mail. My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and I reach for it to pull it out. I see it’s Derby calling.
“Yo!” I answer.
“Can you not answer the phone correctly?” She sighs. I giggle. Derby is not as prim and proper as she pretends to be, but she grew up attending etiquette classes thanks to her grandma.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I forgot I’m talking to the Queen of Saltina, Indiana.” We laugh. “What’s up? How is work?”
“Work is good. TJ hired someone today.” I sit up and move the pile of mail off my lap.
”Did you send the information over to Joker?” Joker is our resident computer nerd who likes to dabble on the dark web.
“As soon as he left. He’s a lawyer who only went to college to please his Dad but loves working on cars. He was forthcoming with everything. TJ likes him, and he lives in the apartments Smitty owns. Noah sang Smitty’s praises, which made TJ like him.”
“Good. So his background is good?” I’m overprotective of my siblings. It can be suffocating, as Michelle likes to remind me.
”Yes. Everything Joker finds is legit. She’s still running her deeper dive, but it all points back to him being a good guy.”
“I hope he works out for TJ’s sake. He needs to find someone to help him and won’t be swayed by the DeMarcos.” I still can’t believe they’re trying to act like a legit family-run business. It’s just a way to launder their money. We figured that out fast enough when one of our prospects new to the area did some recon there.
“Have you seen Michelle today?” Derby pulls me from my spiraling thoughts. She knows when it comes to them, I go dark and inside my head too much.
“No. She’s not home. Joker reviewed her cell phone records; his number is a burner cell. I can’t help but think he’s not who he says he is.” I groan as I lay my head back on the headrest.
“You need to let her make her mistakes. She’s old enough to find her path. You can’t keep her in this bubble you made for Michelle.” I know this is the same speech I get from TJ, Bubbles, Derby, and DaVinci, who I’m closest with because we all grew up together. I’m thankful for them, but putting that hat away is difficult.
“I know, but it’s hard.” I close my eyes, and I see the little girl clinging to my hands as we put my dad into the ground. She’s not that little girl anymore. Derby tells me she needs to get back to work. We hang up, and I sit there thinking about everything: the club, Michelle, TJ, our businesses, and how to shut down DeMarcus once and for all. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, but my stomach growls. I guess I’m hungry. Standing from the recliner, I look down at the stack of mail I don’t remember dropping but see a brown envelope. It has Amelia Baxter written across it. There is no stamp or address written on it. “Who would’ve delivered this letter?” I mutter to myself.
As I’m opening it, my hands shake. The last time I received a note like this, it was from Tommy DeMarco shortly after my dad’s murder, making sure I knew he was watching me. Pulling out the paper, I read the words and drop it.
Hello, Bella. I see you and can’t wait to see you again.
“Oh no. Oh no. He’s back in town.” I thought Tommy moved away a few years ago. I heard from one of my sources that Tommy's son is running the operations here. I don’t even know his name. My heart starts racing, my hands are sweaty, and my breathing is coming faster. I know this is a panic attack. I look for my phone and send an S.O.S. text to Bubbles and Smitty with the home emoji. I’m sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth. It’s bringing up so much from that time.
“Why did Daddy die?” Michelle cries as she snuggles closer to me in my twin bed. She’s been sleeping with me since that night. TJ is sleeping on an air mattress, blocking the door to protect us. He’s worried Dad’s killer is coming back to get us. Mom has been in her room moaning Tommy’s name most nights. It’s disgusting, and Michelle is too young to understand what’s going on, but TJ knows. After school, I always grab the mail as Mom is usually sleeping or fucking one of DeMarco's men. It’s how she’s paying the bills. I grab the mail from the mailboxes in the lobby of our building. I flip through them; a lot of them are condolences for the death of Dad, bills that I don’t touch, but there’s one addressed to me. It’s a brown envelope with my name, Amelia Baxter, written across it. I open it in my room after walking up the stairs. Mom isn’t home, which surprises me, but I ignore it. She’s probably out doing someone DeMarco wants or needs information from. Sitting on my bed, I pull out the paper in it.
Hello Bella, I’m watching you. I know you know, so you better keep your mouth shut, or little brother gets what your dad got.
I grab the letter and run out of the building to find Smitty. He’ll know what to do, which is all I can think of for myself. The corner store is busy with kids from school buying things to drink or snack on before their parents find out they stole money or hustled it from someone. I move to get behind the counter so Smitty can see me. He looks at me and closes his register, telling the other worker he’ll be right back.
“What’s wrong?” He places his hands on my shoulders so I can look into his eyes. My hands shake, and the paper crinkles. He looks down and takes the paper with his left hand but leaves his right hand on my shoulder. He was trying to keep me in the here and now. “He knows you saw him.” He whispers. I nod.
“I don’t know what to do.” I begin to cry. He pulls me into his arms, hugging me tight.
“Don’t let him know what’s going on. Please don’t give it away, you know. I know you’re scared, but don’t let him get to you.” He tells me in his stern tone. I nod.
“Kid, it’s going to be okay. I promise you. I won’t let anything happen to you or your siblings.”
The doorbell rings, bringing me out of my evil thoughts. I stand to answer, but Bubbles walks in with Smitty on her heels.
“Did you two come together?” I ask.
“No, we just arrived at the same time.” Smitty pulls me into a hug. “You’re shaking. What’s going on?” I handed him the note. “Mother fucker. Not again.” Bubbles reads over his shoulder and curses, too.
“Is he back in town? I haven’t heard anything about it.” Bubbles asks no one in particular. I sigh, shaking my head. “Our sources would’ve told us, right?” I stare at Smitty. It was a friend of his who was the source of our information. My stomach growls again.
“Let’s get you something to eat.” Bubbles leads me to the kitchen. “Is Michelle home?”
“No. She’s with Lucas.” Smitty sits down at the counter in my kitchen. Bubbles, who loves to cook when she is stressing about something, starts to look through my cupboards, fridge, and freezer. She asks about my lack of food. “I need to go grocery shopping. I’m never here long enough to eat a gourmet meal. Plus, you know I can’t boil water. I never had anyone teach me to cook.” I stick my tongue out at her.