“Worse things, Mijo. Worse things. You need anything else?”
“No, man. I appreciate you doing this much. I need my boy safe, he’s all that matters in the world to me… at least he was.”
“Was? Now that sounds promising,” he says and I close my eyes thinking about Rory.
“It’s too damn late for this conversation,” I tell him.
“Never too late to talk about a good woman. I’m assuming that’s what we’re talking here. Of course, after the shit you’ve had I could see you thinking about swinging on the other side of the fence.”
“It’s a woman,” I tell him, smiling despite myself. “Rory McDaniels. Prettiest fucking woman you’ve seen in your life.”
“Sorry, man, but that would be the woman in my bed with my cum dripping out of her right now.”
“Christ too much information, brother,” I laugh.
“Never too much information between friends, so tell me about this Rory. You trust her?”
“I’m trying. Sometimes I fuck up, like I did earlier today. She knows jack shit about me. Doesn’t even know who I am. She knows a little about Vicki, but has no idea the hell she put me through and I didn’t exactly explain about Violet either.”
“Breaking that down, you have her in the dark.”
“Yeah,” I sigh, pushing my fingers through my hair and getting it out of my eyes.
“Women don’t like being kept in the dark, brother.”
“Figuring that one out,” I admit. “She’s had her own drama in the form of a fucked-up ex and a brother that’s involved, too. Haven’t got the whole story, did meet the ex and what I met wasn’t good.”
“Damn.”
“It ended with me taking some frustrations out on the bastard and Rory swearing out restraining orders.”
“Bet that was a sight to see since I know you have a smorgasbord of frustration.”
“It felt pretty damn good at the time,” I admit.
“You should have handled your ex like I did that bitch Jenna,” Marcum says.
“Wanted to protect my boy. Was hoping Vicki would get her nose clean and put her child first. Fucked that one up, I admit.”
“I hear you. I’ll get started on reaming out her shit and finding the cockroach,” he says and I half smile, shaking my head. The fucker has a colorful way of looking at things.
“Thanks man,” I tell him.
“So, freebie,” he says.
“Come again?”
“You helped me when I needed it, wouldn’t take compensation for that shit when you should have. So, I’m giving you a freebie.”
“Don’t need nothing else man,” I tell him.
“I’ll check out the situation with your lady friend. See what kind of hole she might be in.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I tell him.
“She mean something to you?” he asks and I let those words rest for a minute before I find the courage to answer.
“Yeah. She means something to me.”
“Then I’m going to check it out and I’ll do this one without a marker and because I just fucked my wife, got another baby on the way and when we get off this phone I’m going to go fuck her again. Life is good. Want to spread that around too,” he says.
“Not sure there’s a reason. Ex hasn’t showed back up since the beatdown. Chances are he ran out of here quick. He pled guilty to trespassing, paid fees out the ass, and no one has heard from him since.”
“I’ll still do it. I’m feeling giving because I just fucked—”
“Don’t need to hear that shit again, Marcum.”
“Maybe I just like repeating it,” he laughs. “Whatever, I’ll check it out, because you have the worst damn luck in the world when it comes to women. This would make me sleep better at night.”
“Funny you’d think fucking your wife would help you sleep better,” I say with a smirk.
“It probably would if she didn’t snore,” he jokes back.
“Thanks for the assist, man,” I tell him, my face going serious again.
“Be in touch, Mijo. Call your brothers—at least one that you trust. Do they even know where you are?”
“A couple probably do by now. They know I own a place here in Montana. I doubt they’ve told the others. I told them I’d be in touch in time… and I will. I’m just not ready yet,” I tell Marcum. He’s silent for a minute and I can almost hear the wheels turning in his head from here.
“Fair enough. I’ll check in soon. Might take a few days, but I’ll keep you in the loop.”
“Sounds good. ‘Preciate it man,” I respond.
“Later, Mijo.”
“Later, Brother.”
We hang up and I stare at my phone, willing Rory to call me.
She never does.34RorySixty bucks down the drain. The only thing I accomplished was avoiding Noah. I did that, but it didn’t change the fact that I missed him. I did—horribly. I’ve never missed another person in my life like I am Noah. I fear I wasn’t falling in love with Noah. I’m scared I’m already in love with him.