Altering Authority (3 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

Donna kept her distance for the first few days after she told Tatum the truth. She’d almost convinced herself that it was for Tatum’s own good
. Giving her time to process
she told herself. She knew that she was really just too ashamed.

              Murder, theft, corruption. Those were things Tatum could look past, depending on the circumstance. Betraying family? Unforgivable. She didn’t know how she’d look her daughter in the eye again.

              It had been years since Donna had lived in the main house with her husband and child, choosing the comfort and solitude of one of their cabins in the woods, away from the city and the drama. Once Tatum turned nineteen, she’d left, assuming her duty in sticking around until her daughter was raised was done.

              The quietness of the cabin now seemed to smother Donna. Every creek and scratch had her jumping. She constantly looked around corners in fear of seeing one of Bill’s men with a gun pointed, waiting for her.

              Logically, she knew that Tatum wouldn’t go to that extreme. She was her mother after all, however the years of dead bodies and severed limbs on their door steps and in the trunks of their expensive cars had Donna constantly on edge. Times like this, when her anxiety was up, it was a natural reaction.

             
A few more days
she kept telling herself.
I’ll visit her in a few more days.

CHAPTER SIX

When the day finally came for Tatum to meet her father, she was surprisingly calm. She had some butterflies, but sitting in the car on the landing strip, waiting for Phil and whomever he’d brought with him, she was bored. It was early morning and the rain from last night lay in puddles on the ground. The sky was pink and yellow; in the distance it held the promise of a good day.

              Once the plane became visible the butterflies began to act up. The nervousness was growing as the plane got closer. When it finally came to a halt, the doors opened and the stairs unfolded, she was sure her heart was visibly beating through her shirt.

              She’d opened the door and was sitting with her feet on the damp pavement, waiting for them to walk out. At first it was a bunch of Edgar’s men. Tatum’s knees began bouncing up and down slightly in anticipation. Rick and Marcus, another one of her henchmen, stood outside the car on either side of her.

              “How do you know these guys anyway?” Marcus asked her, looking down through his sunglasses.

              “They’re old friends of my mother,” was the only explanation she gave. She’d let Phil in on her plan to keep their relationship under wraps for a while.

              When they started to walk down the stairs, she knew right away that they were the ones she was waiting for, though she had no clue which of the three men was her father. She and Phil never exchanged photos first or last.

They spotted her car and eventually her. One was as big around as he was tall, and he was
very
tall. His long, curly, grey hair hung limply past his shoulders and his sleeveless muscle shirt stood out in stark contrast to the weather. She assumed, given their line of work, this man was more of the enforcer type. If you didn’t pay up, he was the guy you’d see. The other was a younger guy, probably around the same age as her with tattoos on both sides of his neck. He was good looking and muscular, but not nearly as much as the first man and Tatum knew he wasn’t her father, and she was glad. The third was somewhat menacingly good looking. He looked as if he’d seen his share of horrible things, probably executed them himself. His light brown hair hung to his chin, accentuating his handle-bar mustache. Tatum thought he looked like a modern-day captain Hook and that made her smile. How could a man with a mustache like that have such a serious profession?

              Tatum stood as they approached and wiped her hands in her jeans. She smiled nervously at them and knew which one was Phil as soon as he was about twelve feet from her. His eyes were glistening and he was wiping his hands on his pants as well. The other two men held back, offering polite smiles at her and an encouraging pat on the back for Phil.

              He didn’t stop, simply hesitated a bit when he came nearer to her, twisting the side of his moustache a bit before he smiled. She couldn’t resist reaching out and hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, wanting to make up for all the time he’d missed. All the hugs he wasn’t there to give before now. They’d spoken everyday from the time of the first call up until last night.

              Her own father had never held her like this. She couldn’t remember a time when they’d actually hugged. He’d certainly never cried upon seeing her before. She imagined that when Donna gave birth to her, he shook her hand and then went to smoke a stogie with his boys.

              Phil let go eventually and moved to look at her. With his hands on her shoulders he looked at her eyes which were similar to his own and now just as tear-filled as his, and said, “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on darlin’….” taking a deep breath he continued, “I’m so so sorry I haven’t been there. I truly didn’t know.”

              He brought Tatum in for another hug and they stayed that way for a moment or two more. When they let go, Phil led her over to his guys.

              “Tatum,” He said. “This is Sugar and Gary.”

              Sugar leaned in and shook Tatum’s hand. He smiled at her, revealing long perfectly white teeth. As far as criminals go, sugar was basically the opposite of the stereotype, aside from the neck tattoos. He looked like the type of guy who liked to snuggle and watch romantic comedies.

              Gary, being more of the poster child for retired WWE fighters, wrapped her in a bone crunching embrace. He kissed her on the cheek and Tatum was surprised that given his size and appearance, he smelled amazing.

              The four of them got into the back of Tatum’s Hummer. It was custom built by one of her clients who owned his own dealership and garage. He’d made the windows bullet proof and turned the back seat into more of a limo-style: three seats faced the correct way while another three faced the back.

              Tatum crawled into the seat next to Phil, leaving Rick and Marcus in the front. They knew before they even took the car out of park to put the partition up, leaving the backseat sound proof.

              He wrapped one arm around her and held her hand while they chatted, talking about their lives and her plans for them while they were there. Tatum was shown more love and affection from a father in those thirty three minutes it took to get from the airport to her main club than she had received in her entire life.

              He pulled a small box out of the inside of his leather jacket. “I brought you something,” he said as he laid it in her hand. “It was my mothers, your grandmothers.”

              Tatum opened it and found a beautiful antique emerald ring. Immediately she took it out and put it on her right ring finger.

              “It’s beautiful,” she said, and she meant it. She’d never known either of her grandmothers. This tiny piece of silver or white gold (she couldn’t tell) made her feel more connected to Phil than she ever did to Bill.

              “I have to stop into one of my clubs for a minute to handle something. I uh- have a surprise for you guys too. I hope you’re not too tired?” she asked.

              “One of your…strip clubs?” Sugar asked with a half smirk.

              Tatum simply smiled back at him knowingly.

              “I think we’d have to be dead to be too tired for that,” he replied and Gary patted him on the back.

              They walked in, Phil still holding onto Tatum’s hand. She led them to the main stage and sat them front and center. Immediately one of her waitresses came over to them. Gary gave her a once over and decided that he approved. He leaned in close to her when ordering his beer and rested his hand respectfully on her waist. Naomi seemed to enjoy the attention. Not that she wasn’t used to it. Her uniform of a thong and nothing else practically begged for it.

              Phil glanced around and couldn’t help but be filled with pride for his newfound daughter. The club was unlike anything he’d ever seen, and he’d seen more than his share of strip clubs. It was enormous, with three stages spread out. Mini-bars placed on either side of each one and security everywhere. It was clean too; no weird smells or spilled drink stains.

              And the girls were immaculate. Just like they stepped out of a Beyonce video.

              Tatum asked where the rest of the guys were. Unable to peel his eyes away from the dancer on stage, Sugar replied “They had to wait for a couple of days. Phil wanted some time here with you before they came, and your friend couldn’t fit them all until Monday anyways.”

              Tatum nodded and looked to see one of her guys walk through the kitchen door. She knew that his arrival meant her meeting was soon going to begin. He scanned the crowd for her and when he saw her, he motioned his head to let her know that what she was waiting for was in the kitchen.

              “I’ve got to take care of something for a bit guys. I’ll just be in the kitchen there if you need me, but for now I have something for you.” She motioned for Naomi to come back and escort the men to another room.

              Phil held back a minute, and pulled Tatum’s arm. “Is everything ok? Do you want a hand with something?” he asked.

              She looked deep into his eyes. She knew what she had to do tonight. Would it be easier to just let him see her for what she was really capable of this first night? Deciding to leave it up to him she said, “It’s um… pretty serious. I don’t know what you’re used to, or… what you can handle, but I’ll leave it up to you,” she said, still looking him in the eye.

              It registered to him. He knew she had to get her hands dirty. He’d heard of her reputation through Jager. He told Phil stories he’d heard of ‘Bill’s’ daughter. How she was as ruthless as she was beautiful. If that was the case, Phil thought Tatum was capable of anything.

              He smiled at her to let her know that there wasn’t much he hadn’t seen or couldn’t deal with. He motioned for her to walk and she turned, giving him a wary look before smiling back and rolling up her sleeves.

              When they walked into the sterile kitchen, Phil noticed that there was no food being prepared just yet. There were half a dozen men standing around a young woman with mascara stained eyes and tape over her mouth. Her hands and feet were bound to the chair she was sitting on.

              When she saw Tatum her eyes lit up with fear. Tatum took off her jacket and adjusted her sleeves again. Her men looked at Phil but didn’t seem to oppose of his presence. Rick handed Tatum a sheet of paper that looked fresh out of a printer. She studied it carefully before turning to the woman in the chair. She walked over and laid it on the table in front of her. The woman’s eyes grew wider and she began to cry and scream behind the tape. Black tears stained her pale cheeks. She struggled with her hands and tried to push away from Tatum but Rick held the chair still with one hand.

              “Did you think I wouldn’t find out Candace?” Tatum asked, looking at the girl. She quieted down then, knowing her fate, accepting it.

              “I gave you a job. I paid your rent, your gym membership.” The words echoed in the kitchen although Tatum’s voice wasn’t very loud.

              She paced around the kitchen for a bit, thinking.

              Candace began to cry more loudly then.

“No one… Steals from me,” Tatum said.

              She motioned with a flick of her chin to untie Candace’s hands and Rick quickly did so, placing them on the table and holding them there forcefully. Tatum walked over near the stove and pulled down one of the biggest knives from the magnetic strip on the wall. Candace was panicking. Rick subdued her hands while another man stood behind and secured the chair. A third man, standing nearer to the door began clicking away at his cell phone and within seconds the music from out in the club was at twice its previous volume.

              Tatum stood next to Candace and laid the knife down next to her hands on the table. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and then picked it up again, all the while staring at Candace with the calmest face of all the people in the room. Especially given what she was about to do.

              With one quick movement, Candace fingers were detached from her hand. She screamed for a while but eventually blacked out from the shock and pain. Phil, while somewhat alarmed at how easily that seemed to be for his daughter to do, was impressed. He’d never seen a woman take that kind of approach with someone before. In his line of work, the women took care of the men. Cooking, cleaning, planning parties. They’d get dirty if they absolutely had to, but for the most part, they stayed out of everything. They preferred to be the ones the men went home to after days like this, being the comforters and coddlers. He wondered if Tatum had anyone at home to do that for her.

              He didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. Tatum walked over to the sink and was washing her hands, dapping at a blood stain on her shirt with a brown paper towel and some dish soap. Her men were wrapping garbage bags around Candace’s wrist and securing them with rubber bands. Within twenty minutes she was propped over one of the men’s shoulders and being carried out the service doors and into a black Cadillac, still unconscious.

              Tatum walked over to Phil then, placing her hands on her hips, looking at the floor and table, seeing the blood covering them. “I better help get this all cleaned up,” she said while avoiding eye contact with her father. She looked at the clock on the wall, “Ooh! The good part is about to start. You should go in the room with the guys. I planned this for you.”

              Phil moved into her line of vision, and tipped her chin up to look at him. She did, raising an eyebrow, willing him to challenge her but still worried about what he was about to say. When he didn’t say anything, just smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, she knew she’d made the right decision in showing him her true colors sooner rather than later. Phil knew. He understood. He was proud of her for not taking any shit.

              “I’ll come find you then?” he said and she nodded and smiled at him. “My God you’re beautiful,” he said before kissing her on the cheek again and walking out, following the direction that one of Tatum’s men was leading him in.

              While she got down on her hands and knees in the kitchen to clean with three of her guys, Phil was led to a room down a long dark hallway. The man opened a door and he could see Gary and Sugar sitting back on to him, facing a stage. They were cat calling and hollering at a blank curtain. Phil made his way over towards them and sat. There were a set of stairs on either side of the stage. The music started slowly at first and then grew louder. Gary and Sugar didn’t even acknowledge Phil. They were practically salivating. Gary, not taking his eyes off the stage leaned forward laughing with Sugar and patted Phil on the knee as if to say
watch this!