Chapter 21 Fire Bomb
Sasha nearly tripped, blinded by the cellophane from the large gift basket he carried into Tyler’s house.
“For you, Miss!” he said, proudly placing it on the table.
“Oh, my goodness, my mom is too much!” Nicki exclaimed.
Tyler walked into the living room from finishing a hard workout.
“Is that from your parents?” he asked, taking a closer look at the basket filled with Polish sweets, chocolate-covered plums and a Chicago Red Sox baseball cap.
“Yeah, you charmed the hell out of them, with all your manners and your tie,” Nicki said, unwrapping the basket of goodies. “Aww, I missed these chocolates!”
“Well, I was happy to charm them, they were great. I like your brother too; he was a riot.”
“He’s funny. I bet the hat is from him to tease me and not forget where I’m from. I’m glad Tommy came too, the two uncles seemed to be having a good time together.”
“You were sweet to invite him,” Tyler said, and embraced her from behind.
“You’re all sweaty,” she teased.
“Yeah, you love it.”
“That’s true.”
“Are you gonna give me one of those chocolates?” Tyler asked, eyeing the chocolate-covered plums.
“Are you pregnant?” Nicki quipped.
They both laughed.
“I’m kidding, honey, of course you can have half of one, haha!” Nicki’s joke was punished by Tyler tickling her into a scream.
“Did you make the appointment yet?” Tyler asked, letting her go.
“Not yet. I figured I’d wait until you guys got back from the final delivery next week. Then we can tell the guys the news and the gender all in one go. I just want to make sure we wait long enough so everything is OK and—”
“My love, everything is OK. You are so strong and healthy and this is so meant to be.”
“I know, I feel good. Just a little bit of morning sickness, but overall, I have to say I feel quite normal.”
“That’s so good, baby. And you like Christina and the team?”
“Yeah, actually Christina is great. I can’t complain, she’s nice to have around.”
“Good. Hey, could you order a box of special cigars for us when you’re running errands next week? HM’s if they have them.”
“Of course. Wait, why are you getting cigars? I thought they were a celebratory thing. Aww, is that how you’re going to tell the crew about the baby? That’s so sweet!” Nicki exclaimed
“Yeah…it’s for that,” Tyler said.
“Well, they have been a little down lately I noticed, leading up to the final delivery. Maybe the baby news will lift their spirits a little.”
Nicki popped another chocolate plum in her mouth.
“It will, honey.”
“And you can also tell them if you’re going to be a boy dad or a girl dad! I’m so excited to find out!” Nicki exclaimed.
“God help us, if it’s a boy. I’ll have him at the punching bag as soon as he can stand. And if it’s a girl?! Oh, fuck, baby, you haven’t seen security yet! You don’t even know what security looks like! I’ll have armed drones circling the house 24/7!” Tyler shouted excitedly.
“Oh, Lord!” Nicki exclaimed, flipping her hand over at him.
“I’m going to go shower, you wanna come with me?” Tyler offered.
“Sure, I’ll come with you,” Nicki teased.
He chased after her, and they laughed like children through the house.
Emergency meeting. Compound. Now. Bring whiskey, the text from Tyler to the crew read.
He sent it as soon as Nicki left Saturday morning to go do her usual: volunteer at the kid’s center and then yoga class. He needed to discuss something with the guys out of her earshot.
Tyler revved his Revuelto and sped to the Compound. A text popped up on his screen.
Darling, I’m meeting Tanisha for lunch after yoga, I’ll be home later. XOXO
He smiled.
Have fun, baby.
“Boys, thanks for coming in,” Tyler announced in the Compound living room to the crew plus Boon. The August humidity was too much for his spoiled self; he preferred the air conditioning.
“I have a special announcement to make. Now, you already know that there’s going to be a wedding—”
Vinnie jumped up.
“Fuck yeah there is! And that means: BACHELOR PARTY! I already have some ideas I thought I could share with the group. First and foremost: strip club. But which one? There are just so many to choose fr—”
“Sit down, Vinnie!” Tyler shouted, laughing.
“I’m not here to discuss the bachelor party, buddy, but something else.”
“Then why would you tell us to bring whiskey then, bro? Is there not going to be a bachelor party?” Luca whined.
Jake threw a car manual at Luca. “Bro?”
The crew was eager to hear the news, as Tyler had a huge grin glued across his face and couldn’t seem to take it off, no matter how hard he tried.
“OK, guys. Nicki wanted to wait a little bit longer before I tell you, but I’m going to tell you now, because it’s important.” Tyler paused, and shot a look over at his brother.
Tommy nodded and offered him an ‘go for it’ smile.
Tyler turned back to the silent crew.
“Nicki’s pregnant.”
“Aaaaah!”
“Woah!”
“Alright, man! Congrats brother!”
The crew roared with cheers and cracked open the whiskey.
Everyone took a shot, except for Tico, but he was eager to jump up and shake Tyler’s hand, congratulating him.
Tommy took Tico’s whiskey shot.
“Thanks, guys. OK, now moving onto the next related point of discussion,” Tyler said, taking another shot and slamming down his glass. “The final delivery next weekend.”
The crew now got quiet and serious. The end of their gun-trading era was creeping up in a matter of days no matter how much they tried to postpone it. The inevitable was upon them: giving up their gun business to their biggest rivals, and losing the war with the Leemans.
It made the sweet whiskey turn bitter in their mouths.
“What about it?” Tico scoffed from the back, crossing his arms. The happy baby news evaporated without a trace.
“Anything special we need to know before we bend over and hand over the keys to the west coast, boss?” Tico added.
The silence turned uncomfortable.
“Brothers. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m having a fucking baby. Girl, boy, I don’t give a fuck. It’s the heir to my empire. It changed my whole perspective of life, on everything! Everything has changed now,” Tyler announced.
The crew remained silent, curious at what Tyler was going to tell them. Only Tommy was trying to hold in his smile. He folded his arm and covered his mouth with his hand to hide it, bouncing with a suppressed laugh on the arm rest of the couch.
“I can’t have my blood son or daughter see their father like a little bitch who gave away the fucking empire Tommy and I built.
The guns, the ammo, the contacts, the routes, the logistics, the whole fucking operation!
We told Chase from the very beginning to give us some leeway here while we deal with these maggot Leemans, until I figured something out.
And the more threats I got… pictures of Nicki… ”
Tyler’s fists clenched. So did his jaw. “I knew I couldn’t fight back. It was just too risky. She even offered to lay low back home in Chicago for a while. But I couldn’t handle that. But now, it’s so fucking clear!” Tyler shouted.
He felt the hard stares of his crew.
“This Friday, we won’t be handing them our business. We’re going to destroy the entire fucking Leeman operation and take our gun empire back!”
The crew erupted with cheers so loud that they could be heard throughout the entire Compound. Even Boon joined in, barking loudly.
“Yeah, fuck those assholes!” Vinnie exclaimed.
“Fucking right we’re taking our territory back!” Jake added.
Tico approached the brothers, beaming. “This is the proper thing to do, you know it is. We can’t let them win this war!” he said, shaking both of the brothers’ hands, hard.
“Thanks, buddy, I know you were having a hard time with this. You don’t have to anymore, man,” Tyler said. He stood up taller.
“The Leeman’s are not going to win this war.
This war is ours. I got my brother back, I got my woman, and now I have a kid on the way.
And there’s no fucking way I’m giving up my guns.
So, listen up! I know how we’re going to take back full control of our territory.
And not only that, but take theirs too. This is exactly how we’re going to do it… ”
Friday. The final delivery. The mood was oddly positive at the Compound.
Nicki’s head swiveled at Jake practically skipping across the living room.
What is going on?
“Hi, Nicki, how are you feeling?” Luca asked as he walked up from the basement. “Is there anything you need?”
“Um, no, why?” she replied suspiciously.
“No reason, just asking,” Luca said, shrugging his shoulders.
The guys started to make their way to the trucks.
Tyler came up last from the basement and approached Nicki.
“My baby. We’re taking off. I want you to know that we might get a little extended with this last one. Sunday might be pushing it, but Monday is more realistic. In case I can’t use my phone, just know that we’re OK and we will be back as soon as we can, OK?”
“I’m not liking the sound of this Tyler, is there something going on?” Nicki asked.
“No, baby, why would you say that?”
Well, I just… I just thought everyone was dreading this day. And you guys are practically giddy—”
“No, no, the guys just haven’t had any action in a while, they’re excited, that’s all,” Tyler said, unconvincingly.
“Yeah, well did you tell them about the baby?” Nicki whispered. “I mean, just earlier today, Luca offered to carry my purse up the stairs for me.”
Tyler burst out into a laugh. “OK, baby, it’s true, I may have mentioned to them that you are pregnant, because I’m so fucking excited and I couldn’t wait anymore, OK?”
“What? I haven’t even told Tanisha yet! Uuuugh! Fine, but I get to tell them the gender when we find out, how about that!” Nicki countered.
“Deal. Well, we’ll see. I might be too excited to hold that in too.”
“What are you good for?” she teased.
“Getting you pregnant,” Tyler whispered.
“Alright,” Nicki said, rolling her eyes.
Tyler hugged her tightly.
“I love you, my angel. We’ll be back as soon as this last delivery is over, OK?”