Chapter 35 Lincoln
Ispent the whole day in bed with Laynie. We laughed and told stories about our past before she got taken. I got to see who she was and what kind of person she was becoming before her life was taken from her. I loved listening to her talk and hearing that accent. It got stronger when she felt more passionate about something. She seemed comfortable with me and relaxed. I made her feel safe, and that thought made me want to fiercely protect her from everything.
“We should get up and eat,” I said.
She agreed and put her clothes back on from earlier. I remembered how she reacted to seeing my father, Don, in the apartment. It made me question if she had seen him before. He was known for his disgusting appetite for women, but Laynie acted skittish around most men, understandably. I didn’t want to push her by asking again, but I would bring it up later. I hated that J.C. brought him here, but I wasn’t worried about him. One thing I can say is he will protect his family. It’s too bad he won’t protect them from himself, though.
Charlie and J.C. were playing the PS5 in the living room. I ensured I moved the games and TV over here. J.C. loved video games even if she wouldn’t admit it.
“What are you doing? Follow the mission. Stop killing random people,” J.C. said. She was a stickler for completing games the right way. Meanwhile, Charlie was off uncovering random shit and slaughtering people.
Charlie laughed and put the controller down when she saw us. She eyed me closely. “You guys have been sleeping all day,” she said with suspicion in her voice.
Laynie nervously combed her hair back with her hand. “Yeah, I’ve been tired.”
“I’m going to cook for everyone,” I said.
All three girls made excited noises as if I said I was taking them all on a shopping spree.
I saw some boxes by the front door. “Is that the Christmas stuff?” I asked.
“Yeah and some stuff you ordered for Laynie, I think,” J.C. said.
Laynie went over and unpacked the boxes while I started dinner. I watched her as she unpacked each item, taking the time to stare at it, read it, smell it. She laughed when she saw I bought her more llama with sombrero pajamas, but then I saw the tears forming as she stared at them.
I walked over and sat next to her. “You don’t like them?” I asked.
She smiled back, wiping her tears, “I love them. It just…” she paused for a moment as if thinking of a memory that was causing her pain, “It just brings back memories, that’s all.”
“I hope they are wonderful memories.” I kissed the side of her head and took the pajamas from her lap so she would move on. Something told me they were not wonderful memories, and she was struggling to get past it. I looked up and saw Charlie staring at us. When our eyes connected, she flicked me off and went back to the game. I laughed. She was fucking crazy, but I liked her, despite her trying to kill me yesterday.
A timer went off in the kitchen, so I got up and pulled the lasagna out of the oven.
The girls all ate without complaints, and I kept my eye on Laynie. I know her moods fluctuate with her thoughts, but I wanted to make sure she was okay, to catch her if she fell, to pull her close if she needed to feel safe. She would look up if she felt me staring and give me a reassuring, fake smile. She had a beautiful smile that I saw little of.
After dinner the girls spent the next hour decorating the apartment like Santa Clause Village. Laynie didn’t participate but watched from the couch and added her opinions when asked. J.C. was meticulous when she put an ornament on the tree while Charlie put little thought into where each ornament should go.
“Charlie why would you put that huge heavy ornament on the lowest branch?” J.C. asked while snatching the ornament off.
“Who knew there was such an art to tree decorating. Jesus Christ,” Charlie scoffed.
I sat next to Laynie when I finished cleaning the kitchen and began to rub her feet. There were healing cuts on the bottom of her foot like she had stepped in shattered glass. I was careful around them and watched her face to make sure I wasn’t hurting her.
“Anyone down for a game of Mario Karts? I hooked up the Switch to the TV earlier,” J.C. said.
I waited for Laynie to respond before agreeing.
“As long as I can be Bowser,” Laynie said.
“Ew who likes Bowser?” J.C. laughed.
“Bowser is just misunderstood,” Laynie said.
“I am Princess Peach.”
“Of course you are.” Charlie rolled her eyes.
“I’ll be Mario,” I said.
“How classic of you, brother.”
Laynie curled up next to me on the couch and J.C. and Charlie sat on the floor beneath us.
“Who are you Charlie?” J.C. asked.
“Yoshi,” she responded.
Charlie beat us in every single game and J.C. wondered if she had hacked the system and was cheating.
We laughed and argued until everyone was over Charlie’s winning streak. Laynie came in last place every single game. Part of me wondered if she was drifting off while playing. No matter where the banana was on the road, Laynie was going to run into that shit. At one point, I had to take the controller to catch her up because we had all been placed and she was still driving. She laughed and apologized for how bad she was.
“I didn’t play video games growing up. Cut me some slack,” she said.
“Yeah, Laynie was too busy outside, every moment of the day. We could barely get her inside at dinnertime.”
Laynie shrugged. “This just feels like a waste of time, you know? There’s so much to explore outside. Why waste it on this?” She tossed the controller next to her.
“I guess to each is own,” J.C. said.
“Well, I have to get out of here for a few hours. I need to check on some of my assets and people,” I said. I looked over at Laynie and she was staring straight ahead, but nodded.
I squeezed her leg. “I won’t be gone long, I promise.”
“Well, I have some shit to do tonight too,” Charlie said, getting up from the floor.
I really didn’t want to fight with her anymore and didn’t matter what I said, but I knew I couldn’t leave J.C. and Laynie alone, especially without Charlie here.
“Fine, I’ll take them with me,” I said to Charlie.
She nodded and disappeared into the guest bedroom.
“Is that okay with you two? I’ll just have you wait in the car for me and I’ll have Liam watching out for you.”
“I mean, I guess so. I don’t want to be left alone here, that’s for sure,” J.C. said.
“I want to be with you,” Laynie said just above a whisper.
Now I have to juggle my problems a bit more carefully. I called Liam and told him the plan and he arranged for the SUV to be parked near the warehouse, but not inside of it. I didn’t know who knew where the warehouse was and I needed to make sure the girls stayed safe.
Charlie left before us. I wondered what she was doing when she left. Maybe she had met someone and was going to meet up with them. She has every right to live her life as free as she wants, but I worry about her. As tough as she tries to come off, an adult man can take her down with one blow, if he wanted. I knew Alek’s pursuit would be on Laynie and not Charlie, but I wouldn’t put anything past him.
Laynie changed into the clothes we had bought online. She wore some black leggings and a tan hoodie. No matter what she wore, she looked adorable. She tied her hair in a bun on top of her head and, for some reason, it made her look younger. I could see the hickey I had left on her neck earlier. Finally, a mark on her that meant something different.
“Let’s go,” I told them.
* * *
We pulled up to a parking lot near the warehouse. I had the girls move into the empty SUV with black tinted windows. No one would even know they were inside of here. I made sure we weren’t followed, making turns that would help me recognize a vehicle going the same way. Despite my anxiety about leaving them, I knew I had to address this problem immediately. I took a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel before turning back to them.
“I’ll be back. Don’t open the door, don’t sit in the front seat, don’t speak to anyone.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t breathe either,” J.C. joked, but I ignored her.
“There’s a gun under your seat if you need it. Here’s a knife,” I slid the knife into Laynie’s hands. I saw the fear in her eyes. “It’s going to be fine. I won’t be long.”
It wasn’t snowing, but it was cold. I could see my breath as I cut across the parking lot to meet Liam.
“What’s up boss?” Liam greeted me.
I ignored the greeting. “You got the stuff?” I asked.
He handed me a block of cocaine wrapped in brown paper. I tucked it in my waistband, looking around.
“It’s going to Sal. You can walk from here. Do you want me to follow behind in case you get caught up?”
“No. I need you to keep an eye on my car. Call me if you see anything suspicious.”
He nodded.
I started towards Sal’s office building. Sal was a dentist that sold to his clients. He was a strange man but a loyal client to me. I kept my hood on while I walked, but kept making sure no one was behind me. As much as I wanted to make this deal work, I needed to take out the person responsible for fucking up my business.
After walking for 10 blocks I entered the back stairway of his office building. Right as I pulled the door open, I felt something hard hit me in the back of the head. I stumbled forward but managed to pull my knife out as I turned around facing my attacker. They came at me again with a brick in hand. I grabbed their forearm and slammed them up against the wall in the building. I realized immediately this was a woman by her body. With one hand, I grabbed her by her throat and used the other to remove her hood.
Charlie.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I screamed.
I saw the recognition hit her eyes as I released her from my choke grip. She dropped to the floor, gasping for breath.
“Linc?” she looked at me stunned. “What am I doing? What the fuck are you doing?” She ripped at my pants, exposing the block of cocaine I had. “You-you’re a dealer?”
“Yeah, I am and you’ve been fucking up my business the last 6 months. What the fuck? What are you doing this for?”
She paced around me, talking to herself. It took her a full minute to come back to my attention. “You piece of shit. Your drugs are the drugs that supply those fuckers, you idiot! Are you a part of this? Are you one of them?” She reached up to slap me, but I grabbed her wrist.
“Of course I’m not a part of them. I know every single person we sell too and they aren’t on my list.”
“I promise they are. Your little warehouse is where I traced it right back to. I’m going to the cops. You need to rot in jail.”
“You think the cops will help you? I sell to the Mayor.”
She charged at me again with full rage. I grabbed both wrists and spun her around. “Listen to me. Despite your belief, I am not the enemy here. I’m sorry I’m not the upstanding guy you thought I was, but I never led you to believe that. I come from a shitty home, just like you. This is how I have learned to survive and get my family out of poverty. I’m not proud of it, but I have never tortured, abused, or raped anyone. I am not that person. If the wrong people are getting a hold of my drugs, I will find them and stop it.”
“Let me go, now.”
I released her. “Are you working with someone else?”
“If I was, I wouldn’t tell you.”
I rolled my eyes as I opened the door for us to exit. I’m parked a 10 blocks away. You’ll tell Laynie, I assume.”
“You damn right I am,” she said and stormed past me.
Great. Following Charlie, I walked back to the car for 10 blocks. I told Liam I handled the problem, and he looked confused, but didn’t question me. I handed him the block and told him to deliver it for me, that nothing should be in his way.
I watched Charlie from a distance yank open the car door, but it was locked. I waited a full 3 minutes before hitting the unlock button just to see her pissed standing outside the car. Once I hit the button, she flicked me off and climbed inside. I waited 10 minutes before walking over there. I knew I would have to defend myself to Laynie, and I wasn’t sure how she would react.
I took a breath before opening the car door and the silence was louder than I thought.