Diesel
Glancing at himself in the mirror, Kaia turned this way and that, appraising his clothes. Not much different than his normal attire. Except they were new. Brand new, not secondhand, ‘gently used’ new.
“CJ handpicked your fuckin’ ass for Rebel and this is how the fuck you repay him,” he’d fumed, then looked him up and down, and sneered an insult about Kaia’s striped pants and polka dot shirt.
They’d been cool with each other whenever Bishop came with Mortician to watch CJ practice.
When Bishop stormed off yesterday, Kaia stood in the foyer, broom in hand, humiliated and defeated. Mrs. Caldwell clearing her throat had scared the shit out of him and alarmed him to no end.
Gazing into her icy blue eyes, he’d expected her to send him packing. He had flirted with her even before the Fia incident. She’d ordered him to follow her, anger vibrating in her every step.
Inside her office, she had addressed nothing other than his wardrobe.
First, she’d questioned if he had a problem shopping for new clothes.
He didn’t, if it meant Bishop eased up on him.
Then, she wanted to know if he wanted to do his own shopping.
It didn’t matter to him since the chicks who purchased his clothes rarely asked his opinion.
. He hadn’t shared that with Mrs. Caldwell, but she insisted his preference mattered.
Either he wanted to shop for himself or he wanted her to shop for him.
Since he’d had to sweep, he’d asked her to do it for him.
Once she got his sizes, she sent him to do his job. Returning to his room later that afternoon, once he finished sweeping the house, he hadn’t expected to have new clothes waiting for him. He’d even texted CJ and said his packages had been delivered to Kaia’s room.
That hadn’t been the case. CJ walked in and opened one bag, then threw it aside. “This is yours, dickhead,” he’d grumbled, turning and stalking toward the door.
“No, I doubt it,” Kaia had insisted. It looked like a mini department store had landed in the room, exploding jeans, T-shirts, pullovers, button downs, trousers, chinos, socks, belts, jackets, sweaters, beanies, coats, suspenders, suits, bow ties, regular ties, loafers, boots, sneakers…
the list was endless. “Who’d buy all this stuff for me? ”
“My mom,” CJ snapped, almost to the door because Kaia’s room was big, too.
“Wait, CJ! Please? I’m sorry. Please, don’t hate me. I…thank you for trusting me with your sister—”
CJ rounded on him. “She’s my little sister. You weren’t supposed to like her. You’re a grown fucking man.”
“I was a grown fucking man when you asked me to approach her,” Kaia pointed out. “Don’t turn this completely on me.”
“Rebel is spoiled and na?ve. You like chicks who buy dick from you. It was the perfect solution.”
“I fucking fail to see how. And, yeah, Rebel’s both. She wanted me to live in some fucking treehouse! A treehouse. Not only won’t she pay my way, she can’t like me that much.”
CJ smirked. “Come with me, asshole.”
Seeing the ‘treehouse’ left Kaia speechless. It was actually a house in a tree, not a plywood structure with a tarpaulin cover as a roof.
Rebel’s treehouse—originally built for CJ Kaia later discovered—was two stories of luxury, gaming consoles, huge TVs, and sound systems. The second-floor bedroom had a private bathroom while the one on the first floor didn’t have a tub, but a shower.
“She doesn’t…she really thinks…she doesn’t know about…”
“Regular treehouses? Rebel doesn’t know about regular anything, Kaia.”
He looked around the treehouse again. “So c-can I stay here?”
“No.” CJ eyed him with anger. “Diesel’s moving some chick in. I can ask Mom if she’ll let you live in the pool house.”
“You have one of those, too?”
CJ nodded.
Glancing away, Kaia shoved his hands in his pockets. “Why did you choose me? You know I could never be a real contender for Rebel. I’d have to work ten jobs a week just to afford her clothes.”
“Rebel was supposed to get a little crush on you, not look at you and think you’re the fucking world.”
Smiling, Kaia met CJ’s gaze. “The chi to my huahua.”
“WHAT?”
“You don’t have to look and sound so appalled,” Kaia said with a sniff.
CJ turned and stormed away, leaving Kaia no choice but to follow. Back in the main house, it had been clear that CJ would leave Kaia on his own again.
“Wait, CJ,” he’d called, hurrying to his friend…former friend.
“What now?” CJ asked irritably.
“I don’t…that’s a lot of clothes.” He’d shifted, nervous. “Can I…would I anger Mrs. Caldwell if I offered Kayce…”
CJ giving Kaia his full attention made him even more uneasy.
He didn’t want to embarrass his brother and talk about their secondhand wardrobe.
Mom and Dad used to bemoan the fact that Kaia and Kayce’s styles were so wildly different.
Ironically, the clothes Mrs. Caldwell bought aligned with Kayce more than Kaia.
Yet he was so grateful, he couldn’t help but love them.
Embarrassed, he looked at the floor.
“If you want to give Kayce half your stuff, three quarters of it, fuck all of it, Mom won’t care. It’s yours. If you don’t like it, give it to Kayce and Mom will start from scratch.”
Kaia found the idea so startling that words escaped him before he thought better. “It must be nice.” He hadn’t meant to sound so sharp.
“What?”
“Not having to worry about money.”
“Money isn’t everything.”
Kaia snorted. “Says the motherfucker who doesn’t have to worry about it.”
“I didn’t choose my lot in life, so I won’t apologize for it.”
“I suppose this is the part where you tell me I need to work hard because I can achieve this, too.”
“No, fuckhead, this is the part where I tell you, you don’t have to worry about anything anymore.
If your parents and brother need help, they’ll get it.
As long as you fucking behave, Mom has your back.
Otherwise, my dad will kill you and she’ll tell him to do it.
” With one last filthy look, CJ turned and stormed away.
Now, it was almost time for Kaia to report to duty again. When he’d awakened, he hadn’t been hungry, but now he felt the first grumbles. Mrs. Caldwell told him he had the run of the house and to make himself at home.
He glanced at the bathroom with a green and white color scheme and a design he’d seen in magazines. His bedroom with red and gray décor, was more of the same. He’d put his new wardrobe in his walk-in closet and invited Kayce over later this evening.
The wall clock chimed the 8AM hour, so Kaia snatched the key to his bedroom and stuffed it in his pocket, then hesitated to take his phone.
Mrs. Caldwell said he could carry it with him, but most of his jobs had a very rigid cell phone policy.
Turn the ringer off. Don’t talk except on breaks or during lunch. Some didn’t even allow emergency calls.
Suppose he took it and played a game when he finished sweeping? Would she fire him?
Someone pounded on his door. Sighing, Kaia laid the phone on his king-sized bed and unlocked the knob. Before he opened the door, Diesel slammed it against the wall, stalked in, and punched it closed.
Raising his hands, Kaia backed up. Not saying anything, Diesel stood toe-to-toe, their noses almost touching, and glared at him.
“I’m leaving for a few days,” he announced, and Kaia almost danced in joy. “I fucking hate that you’ll be here.”
“The only person who treats me nice is Mrs. Caldwell and Rebel, so my presence shouldn’t make a difference. It certainly won’t infringe on your place in the family.”
“Nothing can change that, and why should any of us treat you any better than what you are?”
“What’s that, Diesel? What are you?” He wanted to lower his hands, but he didn’t trust Diesel, an understanding he’d gotten too late. “I’ve never done a fucking thing to you.”
“I beg to differ.”
Kaia searched his mind for a time when he’d ever been anything but affable with Diesel Caldwell. “Is it my poetry?”
“That nonsense you spout isn’t poetry, and you know it.” Diesel scowled and backed away. “Put your fucking hands down. As much as I want to smother you and then use your fucking eyeballs for target practice, Aunt Meggie won’t allow it. She’s already hurt and angry. I won’t add to her distress.”
“Rebel likes my poetry.” He refused to comment on anything else.
Diesel glared at him.
He hadn’t been out of his mind the other day. Kaia shook his head. “You’re jealous of me.”
“An accusation you’ve already leveled at me, and I have denied it.”
“Denial doesn’t equate to innocence.”
“Your insinuation disgusts me.”
“When she’s made up, she looks about seventeen or eighteen. Other times as well, especially when she’s not in her school uniform.”
“I’ll forget you fucking said that.”
“You didn’t seek me out to tell me ‘bye’, so why are you here?”
“I’m going to marry someone soon.”
Kaia didn’t comment. As far as he knew, Diesel was already married. As much as CJ disliked his sister-in-law, if she was no longer part of the family, Kaia would’ve heard about it.
“Should I step out of the way for you to pursue Rebel?” Diesel began circling, stopping only to smile coldly and impart, “or should I show her how you’re guided by your cock?”
“Mrs. Caldwell said you couldn’t—”
Another halting of his sharkish maneuvers. “Do you honestly think I don’t know how to work around that?” He went on the move again and paused behind him this time. “Do you think my friends won’t do the job I’m barred from doing?”
“Diesel—”
“The thing is, Kaia, Rebel’s been hurt enough, and I can’t have her. I don’t want her,” he amended quickly. “But you aren’t worthy of her either.”
“That isn’t for you to say.”
“I beg to differ. It’s for me, CJ, Uncle Christopher, and the rest of the boys. We have to protect her virtue.”
“You’re going about it the wrong way. This is going to blow-up in your face in the worst possible way.”
“And you’re so concerned about her?”
“I am. Believe me. Don’t believe me. I don’t care. I like her.”