Chapter 1
Frankie peeled around the corner into the kitchen, he could smell his brother’s coffee already so it must have been out for a while. He pulled open their fridge and took out the food they had frozen the other day and started making his lunch.
“Hey Ben, have you heard anything about Kayden? He was supposed to help me and Mel with a job a couple nights ago but he never showed, and we can’t seem to find him.” He threw the soup in the microwave in a hurry.
The older man at the table placed his drink down gingerly before speaking in with a commanding tone. “Frankie you’re staying in tonight, probably moving forward as well. Kayden’s been reported missing by his parents. Until people stop going missing out here I forbid you from going around playing like you’re some kind of gangster.”
Frankie spun around while he waited for the microwave to heat his food. “You can’t be serious?” His mouth now open on one side and biting the other. “You do realize that because Mel and I didn’t get to that last job this is all we have left until you get paid don’t you?” He flung the freezer closed. “All because you think you’re too good for . . .” He started to choke, feeling like there were fingers closing around his throat and then he could feel his feet leaving the ground.
“No Frankie.” Ben stood up and walked closer to him hand stretched out. “I promised mom I’d keep you out of trouble and Melody helps with that, sure.” Frankie started lowering to the floor still gasping for air. “But now that one of your crew is gone, I’ve realized she’s not as safe as I thought she was for you. You can be out during the day but I expect you back here half past nine, no later. Understand?” Frankie glared at him in defiance as he struggled for air. “I said do you understand!” Frankie closed his mouth and nodded quickly. Ben dropped his arm and Frankie took in a big breath and backed away as the microwave started going off, he was coughing. “I’m sorry Frankie, I can’t take any chances with you, for mom.” He walked back over to his chair and started sipping his coffee again.
Frankie pulled his soup out of the microwave then sat at the counter staring at it as he stirred it with his spoon. “I’m sorry Ben, I know you’re stronger than I am. I can barely lift a rock without help or a booster or someone else.” He sipped some soup off his spoon, refusing to make eye contact with Ben. “Going out on runs with Mel and the others makes me feel not so useless and they still pay me even though I can’t do much.” He inhaled deeply and looked at his brother now. “I have to go out or you and I are going to starve.” His voice hitched at those last few words.
Ben let out a big sigh. “I have some things in the works right now. If Melody will come over and promise me that she will keep an eye on you I can let you out tonight, but, we are going to have more of a conversation about this later, when I have more info. Am I making myself clear?”
Frankie rolled his whole head to that. “Ben you know what kind of hell she’s going to give me if you make her promise that.” He dropped his face into his hand. “Can you try to be subtle about it at least?”
“No shot. If she doesn’t clearly understand she’s responsible for you until things come together on my end, you don’t go anywhere after 9.”
Frankie shook his head back and forth. “Fine, I’ll bring her by later to talk to you. Happy?”
Ben walked over and grabbed Frankie’s shoulder and smiled at him and then turned to walk out the door. Frankie let out a sigh of relief and gulped down the rest of his soup in one motion then ran out the back door and down the alley.
XXX
Four blocks up the street Frankie stopped at Melody’s house and went right to the door and knocked. After a couple of minutes Melody came and opened the door. “Your dad out of town again or something? It’s one in the afternoon and you look like you just woke up.”
Melody yawned and stretched as she signaled Frankie to follow her into the house. “The Callis brothers were running their mouths yesterday after you left. I had a late night visit with them to remind them of their manners when talking to a lady.” Melody sat down on her couch and put both hands under her and gave Frankie a smile that seemed to say, see how innocent I am?
Frankie let out a laugh. “Mel, you are the last person I would ever call ladylike, the way you broke your last boyfriend.” As he finished he caught a glimpse of a pillow flying at him and when it hit he felt the wind get knocked out of him as he was pushed back a little over a foot. He started to cough and doubled over. “First Ben, now you, how’s a guy supposed to catch a break?” He slumped over onto the floor.
Melody sat there with her arms crossed. “Oh come on Frankie I let you off easy, that’s the softest pillow I own!” She walked over and stuck out her hand. “But maybe if you didn’t run your mouth so much we wouldn’t feel the need to remind you who’s protecting who.” She helped Frankie get up and as he got his balance her face shifted and she moved her hair out of her face. “You hear about Kayden?” She started back towards the couch.
Frankie rubbed his chest and the back of his neck. “Yeah, Ben said something about his parents reported him missing? Was that this morning?” Frankie plopped on the couch and reached for the cards on the coffee table.
“No I guess it was last night. I went to the Callis house because they were talking about how he’s not coming back.” She let out a grunt. “And after that they tried to go steal from his mom saying ‘oh hes not going need anything from you anymore.’ then they try to tell ME to get lost?!” Melody stormed over to the other side of the room feet stomping.
Frankie started to deal the cards into two piles. “Mel come back over here lets talk about it over some cards.” Melody stopped pacing and after pausing for a moment she went back to her side of the couch and waited for Frankie to finish dealing. “I know you’re worried about him, I am too, I know he wouldn’t run off on us when we had plans.” He finished dealing out nine cards each and then dealt four more into two separate piles leaving the deck placed to the side. “I don’t know if hes gone gone, but I think I have something that might help us both out a bit.” He placed a suited ten and eight onto the pile and took one card from the left pile.
Melody shifted her focus from her hand down to the remaining cards. “You mean something other than Kayden’s favorite card game?” She set down a pair of threes and took the eight Frankie had set. “What is it Frankie?”
“Lori’s got a job, a big job, you’re one of the only people that can make it happen.” Frankie eyed the two threes debating on if it was a trap before setting down a four and a seven and taking both threes keeping him at eight cards.
Melody rolled her eyes. “Lori always has a job, doesn’t mean she’s going to cut a reasonable reward for it.” Melody discarded a ten and a king and took a card from the right pile. “Did you at least figure out how much it pays this time?”
Frankie eyed the pile. “Yes Mel.” He said with a grunt. “I learned after last time we didn’t get paid anything for running out the guy that cut into her territory.” He dropped an ace and a two from his hand and took the king, leaving him with seven cards left. “No, this time she’s paying by the box from a shipment coming in and I don’t know about you but one box would cover my rent for a month. She won’t say anymore unless the rest of the crew is there to hear her out but it’s supposed to go down tomorrow night.”
Melody’s eyes ran back and forth down her hand and grabbed a four and a queen and got rid of them for a card from the right pile again. “A whole months rent?” Melody watched Frankie trying to pick out any signs of a lie but couldn’t see anything. She let out a sigh “Ok so what, the catch is that there’s going to be two boxes for us to split four ways then with C and Dan? That’s not enough and theres always a catch with her.”
Frankie glanced back at the pile, knowing he didn’t want to let any info slip to melody he grabbed his five and six and put them in the pile and took a card from the right leaving six cards left, all he needed to do was drop the jack and he would with with kings full of threes. “It really doesn’t sound like theres a catch this time I swear. Should be a truck full of some product she needs, at least ten boxes so two and a half months rent for each of us.”
Melody nodded and pulled her cards to her chest. “I don’t mind going and talking to her to see if she’s telling the truth. I mean I guess C is better at that kind of thing than I am anyway so we’ve got to make sure he comes with us.” She smiled and discarded an ace then showed her four through eight straight flush of hearts to win the game. “I really do have all the luck don’t I Frankie?” She said with a smirk.
Frankie threw his cards on the table and turned. “Yeah I mean we need the whole crew anyway, I’ll get C and you get Dan, we’ll meet at Lori’s in two hours and can see if the jobs as good as she says.” He let out a huff not even looking at Melody.
XXX
Frankie got to C’s house and knocked on the door but there was no answer. He knocked again, this time harder and yelling “C. C I know you’re in there. The footprints from the snow aren’t from today so I know you’re home.” After waiting for another few minutes he let out a grunt and tried the handle. Locked. “C I’m coming in whether you open the door or not.” Not hearing any footsteps coming, Franking put both his hands around the door knob and focused his mind. “Come on man, if Ben can lift me off the ground I can at least get a lock by myself.” After about a minute Frankie heard a click. “HA! I’m coming in C!” He pushed the door and it got caught after about an inch. Frankie saw a chain hooking the door to the frame “C come open the door man!” This time though he heard a response.
“Go away Frankie!”
Frankie rolled his eyes and shut the door then he took both his hands up to where he thought the chain was hooked. After fumbling around he could feel something on the door so he grabbed it and started to jiggle it until he heard a light clanging. Frankie opened the door and started yelling. “C we’re going to meet Mel and Dan come on.” As he walked in, a figure came stomping down the hall face red.
“I said to go away Frankie, I ain’t going out with her after what she did last night.” C walked to the door and opened it the rest of the way gesturing for Frankie to leave.
Frankie squinted his eyes and turned from C to the door. “So let me make sure I understand, Mel, the strongest person in this part of town, roughs up the Callis’ and you think you’re safer here… than with her?” Frankie cocked his head and stared. “C I get it you’ve lived by yourself for the last few months but come on even someone as slow as you should know you’re better off being around Mel in this situation.”
C shook his head. “No Frankie you don’t get it, their friends are wanting some revenge and you and me both know they aint gonna stand a chance fighting her.”
Frankie let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. “So all alone, in your house, where everyone knows you live, is safer than being with the person they know they can’t hurt?” Frankie spun around eyeing the inside of his house, C lived in a small section of a building that was converted into a fourplex and the makeshift kitchen had been falling apart since he moved in, but now, it had all of C’s belonging strewn across the place in a mismatch kind of way. “Do you have your rent for this month? If I remember right, the landlord here likes to hire Mel if anybody ends up late.” He turned back to C and raised an eyebrow.
C’s fingers curled into his shirt like he was bracing for a punch. “She.” He paused. “She wouldn’t, right?” his voice cracked at that last word.
Frankie shrugged casually “I mean, you owe rent, and we both know how she handles that.”
C swallowed, his mouth opened then closed. “Frankie, please. You know her best. You talk to her.”
Frankie shook his head and started walking towards the door. “I mean she wanted me to come tell you about a job, one that would cover your rent for a few months, but if you don’t want to see her now I guess you’ll have to wait for her to come herself.”
C shut the door before Frankie could make it there. “How many months?”
Frankie smirked at that. “Oh two, maybe three if we’re lucky.” C put his hand to his chin, he was thinking best Frankie could tell.. Man this guy was always so difficult three fourths the strength of Melody and half the brain… or less. “Clocks ticking C we don’t got all day to meet up with her.”
C drooped his shoulders and let out a breath. “Fine Frankie, lets go meet up with her. But if any of the Callis brothers crew catches us I’m throwin you at em.”
Frankie smiled and made his way to the door twisting the handle with his mind to open it and all he could think was You’d have to catch me first you big oaf.
