Ben (The Sherwood)

My other co-workers nodded.

Questions about insurance and rebuilding. “Luckily it wasn’t our church. This was our meeting hall. They must have thought they were bombing our church.”

“There was no mistake,” I said out loud then realized I needed to be quiet.

The guys looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and walked away. I sat back in my seat and finished my meal then I rinsed my bowl and told the guys I would see them later.

They were still engrossed in the massive explosion at Babylon First Church of God and Elder Ron Parson, an engaging man. He was. He was handsome and charming. He invoked sympathy for the people of his compound but people watching him didn’t know the real Ron. The ruthless man. The criminal.

I walked outside into the sunshine. It was a cool day in Winter now. We could no longer pretend that we didn’t need coats. I left mine at my desk. I just needed to make a quick phone call.

“Hey little brother, what’s up? Need a babysitter? Jace would love to watch Asia,” Heath declared when he answered. He was happy. Was it because he and Jace had blown up the Babylon First Church of God or because Jace was in town.

“Do you know anything about the explosion at the Babylon First Church of God?” I asked.

“Nope, I don’t.”

“Liar,” I said.

His laughter roared in my ear. I held the phone away until he was done. “Elder Ron wants to play games. I brought in the big guns. I’ll play with him.”

“You’re going to get us killed,” I warned him.

“Nope. I’ll finish him before that happens.” I shook my head. Heath truly loved this shit. I sighed. “Can Jace and I come over tonight for dinner?”

“Sure,” I replied.

“I’d like you to meet one of my best friends when I was in the military.” His voice had gone soft when he said that.

“I’d like to meet him,” I replied. Maybe it would give me perspective on how my brother had changed.

He chuckled. “We will pick up your girls and be there at seven when you get home.”

“Thanks. See you then.”

**

I was running a little late and didn’t get home until seven-thirty. When I arrived, there were more voices than I expected.

I went straight to the kitchen where my woman was cooking a feast. Heath got off work early so he had picked her and Asia up then. He had brought Merci and Lilah with him. For some reason, Matt and Justin were here too and AJ.

Jace was a woman named Jacey but the men in her platoon had called her Jace. Maybe it was so they wouldn’t notice the long, blonde hair or the big brown eyes that appeared almost too big for her face. She was stunning.

I shook her hand when Heath introduced me. Disa shot me a look over her shoulder that showed me she was as surprised as I was that Jace was a woman. A woman that was interested in Heath if I wasn’t mistaken.

She looked at my brother like he was the moon and the stars. She at the least idolized him. I hugged Merci and told I was happy to see her. I was sure that Disa was to. They were doing most of the cooking.

What I noticed next was Lilah was sitting on the floor play with Justin. AJ was engrossed in the television mounted on the wall. Matt, my stoic brother who swore off women after Layla broke him was pretending to watch the big TV too, but his eyes kept wandering to the woman entertaining his child.

I went to Disa and kissed her cheek. “I’m going to shower and change quickly.”

She nodded. She was glowing. This is when she was the happiest when my entire family surrounded her. I liked that about her. Jenny was like this too. Layla could only stand us in small doses.

I went through the living room and saw my daughter in the swing. I walked over to side of the swing and lifted her out. I snuggled her close and kissed her tiny forehead. I swear she smiled at me. I started to put her back when Matt said he wanted to hold her. He was sitting in my favorite chair, the recliner so I took a few steps and I passed my daughter to him.

When I turned, Lilah was gazing at my brother. Her eyes dropped quickly back to Justin as I passed by them.

In the bathroom, I turned on the water to let it warm up then I stripped and stepped beneath the steaming water. I liked it as hot as it could be, turning my skin pink. When I was clean I flipped the lever to off and opened the curtain. There stood my girl waiting on me. She handed me a towel. I dried my hair and wrapped the towel around my waist.