Wrath
Rooster and I were in the workroom with Stitch and Bones, going over the previous night’s security feed from the Demarco warehouse, when Stitch’s burner started to ring. He grabbed it from his pocket, and my attention peaked when I heard him say, “Yeah, what’s going on?”
There was a long pause, then his eyes cut over to me and Bones as he asked, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Hello, this is Officer Buchanan. I’m looking for a Mr. Charles Turner.”
“Yeah, you got him. What’s going on?”
“We were called about a disturbance at your residence.” Before I could ask what the hell he was talking about, he continued, “There was an altercation between a young lady by the name of Mia and your neighbor Rosa.”
“Ah, damn.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, then said, “I think it would be best if you came here and helped us sort this thing out.”
“I’m on my way.”
I ended the call, and when I looked up, I found Stitch standing inches from my face. “I just got a call from Mia... She said she’s out at your place and that the cops are there.”
“Yeah, I just heard.”
“I figured as much.” He studied me for a moment, then said, “Well, we best be getting out there. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah, we definitely should.”
“Whoa... hold up,” Bones shouted, stopping us before we walked out. “What the hell is going on with Mia?”
“No time to explain.”
“Make time.”
Stitch gave his son a stern look. “Mia is fine, but she needs us and she needs us now.”
“Do you need me and Rooster to go with?”
“Absolutely not. You two stay here and finish going over that security feed.” Stitch answered as he charged out the door. “I’ll get with you when we get back.”
Nothing else was said as we made our way out to Stitch’s truck.
I felt like a complete dick as I got in his truck.
It was a moment I’d been trying to avoid for weeks.
I should’ve just been upfront with him. He was my brother.
My mentor. I owed him that, but I had no clue what to say to him.
I had no idea where this thing between Mia and I was headed.
Things were good at the moment, even better than I would’ve ever expected, but there were no guarantees that it would last. Regardless, I’d fucked up, and my head was spinning as I tried to think of the best way to fix it.
I had to say something to him. I just didn’t know what, so I remained silent until Stitch asked, “How long?”
I didn’t play dumb.
I knew exactly what he meant, so I answered, “A couple of weeks.”
“You two serious?”
“To be honest, I don’t know what we are. Hell, I never intended for any of this to happen.”
“Hmph. That’s Mia for ya,” he scoffed.
“I gotta say, you seem to be taking this better than I thought you might.”
“I’ve had time to make peace with it.”
“Come again?”
“I’d seen the way she looked at you, brother. Her mother looked at me the same way.” A faint grin crossed his face as he scoffed, “Figured it was only a matter of time before she got her hooks into you.”
I turned to him with confusion. “So, you knew?”
“She’s my daughter. Of course, I knew... Actually spoke with her about it.”
I couldn’t believe it.
I’d seen Stitch do unbelievably horrific things, and I figured he’d do the same to me for getting involved with his daughter. He had every right, but he was being cool about it—eerily cool. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
I ran my hand over my face and throat, hoping I could force the right words into my head. “I want you to know... I never intended to get involved with her, brother. It just kind of happened.”
“Nothing ever just happens.” Stitch looked over to me as he said, “We might like to tell ourselves that, but we don’t ever do anything we don’t really wanna do.”
“Yeah, maybe. I don’t know... I’m still trying to make sense of it. To be honest, I don’t even know why she’s interested in getting tied up with me. We both know she could do a hell of a lot better.”
“Don’t know any such thing.” He kept his eyes on the road as he told me, “The way I see it, she could do a hell of a lot worse.”
“Regardless, I’m sorry you had to find out like this. I should’ve said something to you sooner.”
“Yeah.”
Before he could finish his thought, he turned into my drive.
The blood drained from his face when he saw that there were two cop cars parked at the house, each with their blue lights flashing, and several officers were poking around the property. “Fuck.”
“What the hell happened?”
“Mia happened.” Stitch turned to me and shook his head. “Hope you know you’ve got a livewire on your hands, brother.”
Stitch parked, and we both jumped out of the truck and started up to the house. We didn’t get far before one of the cops came up, and his mouth fell open when he saw that it was us.
“Oh, hey Stitch. Wrath... I didn’t realize...” He glanced behind him, hoping for some help from his fellow officers, but none was to be found. “Is one of you Charles Turner?”
“That’d be me.”
“Oh, damn. Okay.” He was clearly unnerved as he told me, “I’ve gotta few questions I need to ask.”
“And I’ll be glad to answer them, but first, I’d like a word with Mia.”
He nodded, then let us continue up to the porch.
Mia was sitting on the front step with her hands cuffed behind her, and other than a slight busted lip, she looked pretty much unscathed by the altercation.
Rosa, on the other hand, had a black eye, busted mouth, and dirty clothes, and it looked like a pack of rats had been having a field day in her hair.
I’m pretty sure she was missing a clump or two.
Poor thing looked like she’d been on the wrong side of a tractor pull.
Thankfully, she was busy talking to one of the officers, so I had a moment to ask Mia, “You okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. This whole thing is stupid, and I’m really...” Her words trailed off when she spotted her father. Her back stiffened as she turned to him and announced, “Before you say anything, she took the first swing.”
“So, you beat the hell out of her?” Stitch roared.
“She had it coming! She’s the one who came over here starting shit with me.”
“Um-hmm.” Stitch turned to the officer as he asked, “You mind uncuffing my daughter?”
“I would, Stitch, but I’m thinking she might need to stay put until we get this thing cleared up.”
“I’m telling you, Dad. This isn’t on me. I swear it.” Mia’s face turned red as she ranted, “I was minding my own business. Just trying to feed the cat when this nutcase came over here mouthing. I tried to walk away, but the crazy bitch punched me... Sooo, I punched her back.”
“Looks like you did a lot more than that.”
“Well, she should’ve stayed down.”
Stitch gave his daughter a stern look and growled, “Mia.”
“You would’ve done the same thing! I told her to stay down, Dad.” Mia shrugged. “Not my fault that she kept getting up.”
“She’s a fucking lunatic!” Rosa charged over to me and roared, “You need to keep your bitch on a fucking leash!”
“Watch your mouth, Rosa.”
“See?” Mia asked innocently. “She’s the one. Came over here making claims she had no business making. She’s lucky she’s still standing.”
“You seriously need help!”
“And you need to stop trying to mess around with what’s mine!” Mia’s cheeks flushed red as she snapped, “I don’t fucking share!”
Stitch leaned in and snickered with a whisper, “She never has. Ask her brother. He’s got the scars to prove it.”
“This is insane!” Rosa looked at me, hoping for some sympathy or understanding. When I had none to give, she turned her attention to the cops. “She assaulted me, and I want her arrested!”
“Yeah, well, she assaulted me first! I want her arrested, too!”
“Just hold up for a minute.” The officer turned to me as he asked, “This is your property?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“And you know each of these women and have been involved with both of them in some degree.”
“You could say that.”
“Then, I say this is your problem to deal with.”
When the officer stepped over to uncuff Mia, Rosa lost it. “What! You’re just gonna let her go! You gotta be kidding me.”
“The way I see it, you both were at fault and in time, I believe you will see the error of your ways.” His tone turned serious as he warned, “But if you don’t and we get called back here, I’m arresting each and every one of you.
I’ll make sure you get punished to the fullest extent of the law. Is that understood?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
He then turned to me and asked, “Understood?”
“I got it.”
“Good. Then, we’ll leave you to it.”
With that, the officers got in their cars and pulled out of the drive. As soon as they were gone, I turned to Mia and said, “I’m gonna need a minute with Rosa.”
“Something tells me you’re gonna need more than a minute.”
“I’ll make it quick.” I took Rosa by the arm and led her towards her driveway. When we were out of earshot, I growled, “This bullshit ends now!”
“It would’ve ended days ago if you’d just told me that you were fucking that whore!” This whole thing was my fault, so I held my tongue as I listened to her say, “I would’ve left you alone, but you never said a word about any of it.”
“You’re right. That shit’s on me, and just me.”
“So, what’s really going on? Are you really seeing her?”
“You’re not hearing me, Rosa. This is done. Whatever this was isn’t happening ever again.” I motioned my hand back towards my house as I snarled, “And that has nothing to do with her.”
“What is it with her? What makes her so damn special?”
“Leave her alone. Don’t talk to her. Don’t look at her...”
“Oh, wow.” Her entire body seemed to deflate as she muttered, “You really care about her, don’t you?”
“Do you get what I’m saying to you, Rosa?”
“Yeah, I get it.” She sighed as she muttered, “Loud and clear.”
Without saying anything more, she turned and started walking back home.
I waited until she’d gone into the house before I headed back to see about Stitch and Mia.
When I got back to the front of the house, Stitch’s truck was gone, and Mia was sitting alone on the porch.
“Dad went back to the clubhouse. I told him I’d drive you over to get your bike later tonight or tomorrow. ”