13. Alex
Chapter thirteen
Alex
6 Months later
October
We are finally on our way back home. This deployment was completely necessary for the life of the small village. Ensuring those families had a safe place to live and raise their children made every moment, every drop of sweat, and every sunburn worth it. It’s stuff like this that makes me love what I do. This is why I signed up to be a Marine. It is never the same thing with each deployment. I am here to help people in this world full of chaos and destruction.
I would know all about the destruction coming from the Lopez García name. This is why people only know me as García. My grandfather is the head honcho of the Cali Cartel. Yes, you heard that correctly… I am the heir to Los Comos since he only had my mom as a child, which makes me next in line. And I don’t want it! I want nothing to do with the Cartel. Human trafficking is the part that gets me queasy. How could you be willing to sell a human being and sleep at night?
As I get off the plane with my pack slung over my shoulder, my aviators are on while the sun beats down the flight line. It’s nice not to be in a thousand-degree weather.
Xander walks up next to me, putting on his Ray-Bans, and whistles “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. I am envious of his carefree personality. If I didn’t come from the bloodline that I do, I would be able to be carefree, too. The problem is that my family is a part of the destruction going on, and while my grandfather is the Drug Lord, I have no power to help the innocent.
“Hey, man. You good?” Xander pulls me out of my head.
I hate it when I go down this rabbit hole. I need to get out of my head about my family issues and worry about my current life in the Marine Corps. Taking over the Cartel is an issue for another time.
“Yeah. Just a lot on my mind.” I smile at him. Hopefully, it was convincing. I pull out my phone and turn it on. After six months of being gone, my phone was buzzing nonstop. I finally looked at it when everything had calmed down. I had over 100 text messages and 50 phone calls. I slowly scrolled through all of the text messages and froze!
Olivia: Hey, It’s Livy. What are you up to tonight? I was thinking about maybe going out for a beer.
Holy shit! My jaw drops, and my heart rate picks up. I can’t believe that, out of all the times a beautiful girl could have texted me, it was right after I left for deployment. She probably thinks I ghosted her. Hopefully, she got the impression that there was no way I would ever do such a thing to such a beauty. I quickly shot off a short message to her. Hopefully, she replies, and we can see where this goes. My hands are shaking as I am trying to type.
Me: Hey, It’s Alex. I just got back stateside. If you would let me, I can explain more. If you allow me the honor, I would love to take you to dinner and explain.
Damn. I sound pussy whipped. When the fuck did I start saying, “If you would allow me the honor.” I shake my head, not sure what has gotten into my confidence, but apparently it ran the fuck away.
I put my phone back into my pocket and walk to my bike. Xander and I parked our bikes next to the barracks so no one would fuck with them while we were gone. I finally got to my Black Harley-Davidson. This is my bitch! I love this bike more than anything else. I pull my leather jacket out of my pack and put it on, along with my helmet. I swing my leg over my bike and start it up. The purr of the engine fuels my soul. God, this bike is exactly what I need right now.
I slowly ride my bike through the streets of NBC, enjoying the freedom of riding again. Once I get off base, I let the wind take me wherever it wants. The world passes me by with the freedom of my bike under me. I love this feeling—the freedom. There are no responsibilities and no obligations—just me and my bike.
I ended up on the beach. I put up the kickstand and swung off the bike. I removed my helmet, placed it on the seat, and began walking down the boardwalk, breathing in the salty air and feeling the breeze through my hair. This is my happy place—the beach and my bike—and I can’t wait to bring whoever I fall in love with here.
I feel my phone buzz when I finally sit on the bench to look out at the water. It’s Olivia!
Olivia: Hey, stranger! Long time no talk. Want to get pizza tonight?
Me: Pizza sounds great. Want to go to the Filippi’s?
Olivia: Awesome! 6?
Me: Perfect! See you then, beautiful!
I'm so giddy about this date. I haven’t been this way since high school when I asked Kaylie Shay to prom, and she said yes. I should go home and get ready for this date with this beautiful lady.
I get home and throw my pack on my bed. I’ll deal with that later. Heading into the bathroom, I turn on the shower and undress. You can see the tan lines from the rolled sleeves of my uniform and from spending too much time in the hot sun. I step into the shower and sigh in relief. You never know the small things you miss until you don’t have access to them every day. The most amazing feeling in the world is when you haven’t been able to take a decent shower in six months, and then you get to stand under the water, letting the water run down your body for ten minutes without moving. I probably should wash up and get ready for my date.
Standing in front of the mirror in my bathroom, I stare at my reflection while doing up the buttons on my red dress shirt. I can see some of the scars from my time overseas. Shrapnel got me from an explosion near our camp. That explosion, thankfully, didn’t kill any of our people, only causing injuries, some more severe than others, but Doc was able to patch us up, and we kept going. Doc said my cuts were the deepest, and I had to get a couple of stitches, but that's all.
I have to shake my head to clear my thoughts of deployment. I don’t need to be thinking about that before a date. I brush my teeth and spritz some cologne on my neck before heading down the stairs to get my helmet and bike keys. Now that I'm supposed to be home for a while, I should look into getting a new vehicle to have something other than my bike as my daily driver.