Bits of Saint #2
Jessie let out a sigh. “Her mom stayed around us for about a year then she met this loser and he hurt her. My dad and she fought a lot during that time, but when she allowed him to brand Erika, my dad kicked the shit out of him. When her mom, Ashley ran to help her boyfriend and didn’t step up to protect her daughter, my dad told her to leave.
He told her she could leave Erika behind and he would raise her, but Ashley wouldn’t do that.
She left and took Erika with her.” She shook her head.
“I never saw her again after that.” She paused then added, “Well, until now that is.” She turned to Lucifer.
“You have to help her. Please baby? I know I’m asking a lot but she deserves so much better than she got as a kid. ”
Lucifer shook his head. “Of course, we’ll help her baby, but she has to tell us who she’s running from and why.” He helped her to her feet. “Come on mommy, you need your rest and so does she.”
Jessie nodded. “Ok, but I want to see her again in the morning.” Shaking her head, she said, “I can’t believe she’s here. I can’t believe I found her again.”
When Jessie and Lucifer left the room, Saint looked down at the woman.
Her eyes were open now and filled with tears. “Was that Red?” she whispered in awe.
“You got a cousin named Jessie?”
Erika nodded. “I remember her. She and her dad were the only good things I had when I was a kid. I never thought I’d find her again.
” She looked at him seriously now. “You have to let me go. I can’t bring him here.
He won’t let me go. He will lay waste to this place and these people!
I don’t want anyone to die because of me. ”
Lucifer watched Saint and Erika walk in and he wasn’t surprised in the least to find them holding hands. When they sat down at the table he looked at Erika and asked, “I take it you feel better this morning?”
She looked at him and nodded. “I learned a long time ago to hide the pain I was in. My mom’s boyfriends only made it worse when I cried, so I learned not to cry around them.”
He looked surprised when she shared this, as she was secretive before. “Are you really Jessie’s cousin?” He wanted to hear the confirmation from her own mouth.
She tucked a strand of her teal blue hair behind her ear and nodded. “My name is Erika Grant, yes. Jessie is my cousin. My mom and her dad were sister and brother.”
“Why do you have her last name if your mom is her aunt?” Demon asked.
Erika snorted very unladylike. “My mom had a lot of boyfriends but the one thing she never had was a husband.”
“What about your father? Didn’t he have a last name?” Pappy wanted to know. “Most men want to claim their kids.”
She shrugged. “She claimed at the time I was conceived, she never knew who he was and I learned the hard way, never to ask her about him.”
“I think Jessie wants to be here for this part, so let me go get her.” Lucifer got up and left, returning a few minutes later with Jessie in tow.
The two cousins stood and stared at each other for a moment then Erika grabbed her up and hugged her tight. “God, I never thought I would see you again,” she whispered in Jessie’s ear.
“I thought I was alone in the world after my mom died,” Jessie sobbed.
Breaking away, the two women sat down.
“The last time I saw you and your family, I almost wished my mom had left me behind.” Erika looked over at Jessie.
“Your dad was right to beat the shit out of her boyfriend. “Her boyfriend at the time was pimping her out for money to feed his habit. The day he branded me was the day she didn’t bring home enough for him to buy his daily fix. After Uncle John beat the snot out of him, he dumped my mom a hundred miles down the road. The one consistent in her life was her taste in men. It and they sucked. Growing up with her as my role model was tough, but I learned what I did and what I didn’t want.
I learned to take care of myself and not worry about what she was doing.
I went to school because I didn’t want to end up like her, with nothing.
It was tough but then if you want it bad enough, you can put up with anything.
If the bullies start picking on you, you learn to fight back.
I learned how to defend myself because no one else was going to do it. ”
Saint, Pappy, Lucifer, and Demon listened as she spoke about her childhood. They all looked troubled as well.
“Then about five years ago, she got mixed up with her dealer. Crack was her drug of choice and he had her delivering his shipments. She took all the risk while he sat out on his boat, all safe and sound. Four months ago, she od’ed but I got to her in time.
Then I found out her dealer had overdosed her on purpose.
He wasn’t too happy with either of us. I told him if he left her alone, I’d do her routes.
But that was all I would do for him. I wasn’t going to become his side dish and I wouldn’t allow him to pimp me out like she did.
” She paused then turned her head away from the group.
Jessie had tears rolling down her cheeks, as Lucifer grabbed her hand and squeezed.
Saint looked pale and a bit enraged, though he remained quiet.
Erika finally spoke again as if she didn’t want to finish, but she felt compelled to, “He didn’t like the fact that I didn’t fall into line like he was used to.
I did what I said I would and nothing more.
He saw how well I was doing and he decided to test me.
He gave my mom another overdose and this time, he did it just as I was leaving, so he knew I wouldn’t be there to save her this time.
She wasn’t breathing when I got back and after all that...
” she paused. “I-I didn’t try to save her.
I wanted her to rest. I wanted to call the cops and take care of her and he asked why.
Then he weighed her down and threw her body over the boat into the water.
All he said was that the fish gotta to eat too.
I walked out on him that night. Three days later, he dragged me back to his fucking boat.
He told me my mom died owing him money and I would have to pay him back.
That I would do whatever he wanted for the next year and he would decide then what more I owed him.
I told him I agreed to deliver his routes and that was all.
Three days later, I ran again. He found me within hours and he whipped me.
That must have been when he chipped me. I never knew he did it.
” She stared off into space for a long minute.
The group all sat and waited.
Letting out a sigh, she looked back over at them again.
“When I woke up, he told me if I ran again, he’d whip me, then pimp me out.
I stayed about three days then he came downriver and was parked in Lake City.
I was too sore from the whipping he gave me three days earlier to care what else he might do if he caught me.
I took his damn drugs and delivered them to his dealers.
Then just before I was supposed to get back on the boat, I walked away.
I stole a bike and just began to ride. I crossed the bridge and got to Wisconsin but it was getting light outside, so I had to hide.
My back was killing me, so I slept, but I overslept.
I got as far as I could then found my way up here and I must have collapsed in the woods.
” She looked down at the floor. “When I woke up, I was already here.”
“What’s the name of this dealer on the boat?” Pappy wanted to know.
Erika slowly raised her head and looked at him. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“Damn fucking right, we want to know.” Lucifer growled looking enraged.
“His name is Mickey Mackeson but he’s known on the streets as—”
“Mack. The Irishman,” Demon interrupted.
He shifted in his seat. Looking over at the other men there, he explained with a scowl on his face, “He’s bad news to anyone and everyone he meets.
He runs the river from Minneapolis to LaDonna at least once a week.
Whenever the cops stop him and search the boat, they never find anything they can book him on. ”
Erika glared at him. “Oh, they knew where the goods were, but Mack always paid them to not to find anything.”
Bits of Misfits First Christmas
“The price for the farm is only a fraction of what’s in the savings account,” Saint told her.
“The guys and I can work too, we aren’t afraid to do manual labor to get what we want either.
The first year or so is going to be hard as we all work to get ourselves settled in.
Alexi wants to see his land growing crops again.
We could maybe have some cows and horses and I know the guys will break their backs to have a place to call their own.
This is our fresh start and if I know them, they will make this work. We could live a happy existence here.”
She turned to look at him. “The only time I knew what a normal life was like was the time I spent with Jessie’s family.
Uncle John showed me what having a daddy was like and I wanted that in my life.
But my mother didn’t even try. Oh, she found more men after that but it was for her own sake, she found them, not for mine. ”
“Well, you were right before. You did find a man that would stand beside you. I’ll never want any other woman because I happen to be in love with you. Nothing will ever change that. I would be proud to marry you.”
“When we got together, you were the only man I ever wanted in that way,” she told him.
“But I won’t use our baby to get a ring on my finger.
I wouldn’t do that to you or any man.” She turned in his arms and looked up at him.
“But just so that you know, I’m only ever getting married one time in my life.
I don’t believe in divorce so if we ever do get married, you’re stuck with me for the rest of our lives. ”
Saint grinned. “I can handle that.”