Haunted (19 page)

I nodded and looked toward the door where I could hear raised voices that didn’t sound playful.

“He’s in a lot of pain. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better, I’m afraid. But if I can get him to talk about what happened, maybe it will help.”

When I looked back at Mrs. Boudreaux she had turned those blues on me like a spotlight.

“I think he’ll listen to you, Jaylene. He’s very taken with you.” She studied me for a minute, and then smiled warmly. “I can see why. I think we’re all taken with you.” She squeezed my arm gently. “Thanks for listening to an old woman prattle on.”

“You are far from being an old woman, Mrs. Boudreaux! And thank you. I’ve been treated like a queen since I met Daryl and now these guys. I’ve been more spoiled this past year than ever!”  

She laughed. “Well, you deserve every bit of it! And while I’m not too sure about tattoos, I have to admit what you do is incredibly beautiful! You’ve got a lot of talent, sugar!” I blushed and thanked her. “And if I’m not an old woman then you better start calling me Marie or I’m going to continue with that delusion.”

I laughed and agreed.

The oven timer dinged, saving me from further embarrassment and I hurried to help Marie get things set up for the deluge of the cavemen. I told her about breakfast that first morning and how I was afraid for my life if I got between them and the food and she cracked up.

“Oh, you should have seen what they were like when they were growing up! All five of them boys kept my pantry empty! I was cooking all day at the restaurant and then cooking when I got home and it was never enough! Especially when Devon hit his growth spurt? Lord! He went from being 5’6” to 6’6” in just over two years! I couldn’t keep him in clothes and shoes much less food!”  

She had a flair for storytelling once she loosened up. It tickled me to see her smiling and hear her laughing. We got the food set up buffet-style and I went out to tell the boys.

The scene I entered was not a good one. Marcus and Devon were facing off, Marcus yelling in his face. Jade was yelling at Marcus to back off, which wasn’t helping to diffuse the situation. Star and Mage were just sitting with their heads down, trying to ignore the tension.

“Why can’t you just hear him out, Marcus? It’s ok for us to throw in some different sounds, man. Isn’t that what we are doing this for?” Jade was red in the face, but Marcus was redder.

“Jade, if I want your opinion, I’ll fucking ask for it. Pipe down.”

Devon stepped closer to him and lowered his voice. “Marcus, you’re being an ass. Be mad at me, I don’t give a fuck. But don’t talk to your brother that way. We’ll work this out, alright?” He put his guitar back on the stand and walked past me to the back door, his cigarettes already in hand.

I watched him walk past and then turned on Marcus. “Hey Marcus, can I talk to you for a minute?”  

He looked irritated, but followed me upstairs to the rumpus room and plopped down on the couches. I got us each a water bottle from the fridge and heard Marie come out and tell the other guys to come eat.

Marcus threw his head back against the couch and let out a huge sigh. “I know, I know. I’m an asshole. Go ahead and say it.”

I sat down across from him on the ottoman and handed him a bottle. He uncapped it and took a huge drink.

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

He frowned at me and rolled his eyes. “Then what? I can’t carry this! They don’t want to listen to me. The label is expecting Maggie’s Bones, not Maggie’s Shell of a Band. And Devon’s head is not in the game. He’s so miserable he can only play miserable shit and that’s not us. We do angry. We do slutty. We don’t do heartbroken.”

“I hear you. So what do we do to get them in a better frame of mind?”  

He looked at me shrewdly, like maybe I was an ally instead of just one more person to bite his head off.

“You got ideas, I’m all ears. I thought bringing them home might help, but fuck, I don’t know. You being here at least got D out of his catatonic state. He can’t keep wallowing. It’s not helping anyone.”

I took a breath and calmed myself. It was infuriating sitting here listening to him piss and moan about how this was everyone else’s fault, but I needed to get him focused on solutions.

“Ok. So he’s not catatonic. The other guys are starting to talk a little. How about you? Are you ready to talk? Because I don’t see how pretending like you can all just move on is going to fix things.” I hoped he didn’t take it as I was attacking him.

He looked away and closed his eyes, leaning forward to put his head in his hands.

“I know. You’re right. I just felt like she died and I was left trying to keep us all from drowning. No one else was in any shape to lead and the label was like, ‘Wow, we’re sorry for your loss. Now get back to work and make us some money.’” He finished the rest of his water in one gulp. He looked ready to get down to business.

“Alright, Tattoo Girl. What do you suggest?”  

I was so hoping he would ask me that.

“For one, I think last night was a good idea. Trying to blow off some steam seems to have helped at least get people waking up, am I right?” He nodded. “So even though it seems counterproductive, I think more fun might help get things moving again.”

I had a crazy idea that I thought just might get them out of their mindset and back to their boyish ways. Marcus’ eyes lit up and he started chuckling when I told him.

“I love the way you think, girl. I’ll make the call right now!!”  

I really hoped this worked.

I went downstairs and fixed a plate of food for each of us and brought them back upstairs.

“So you’ll get it all here? How soon? Ok. The sooner the better. Thanks Uncle Daryl.” He hung up and grinned wickedly at me.

“Baby girl, we gonna start us a war!”  

I clapped my hands together. I couldn’t wait to get started.

We talked strategy over our meal and then Marcus and I went downstairs to tell Marie we’d clean up later and that she’d probably want to get out of there as soon as possible. She looked confused, but I assured her I had a plan. She kissed me on the cheek before she picked up her purse and headed out.

“Good luck, sugar!”  

I waved her off out the back door and then looked into the corner and found Devon smoking. He said goodbye to his mama and then we were alone.

“You guys seem to have had a nice talk.”

He only sort of seemed happy about that. I walked over to him and sat next to him, kicking his foot with mine.

“We had a great talk and no I won’t tell you what we talked about.” I grinned at him and he just shook his head, taking a long drag on his cigarette. I could tell this was not his first.

“Did you get some dinner,” I asked him.

He shook his head so I urged him to go make a plate. He looked over at me with those sad eyes again and I hoped again that my plan worked.

“I’ll go eat. Then we’ll probably practice some more.” He groaned. “I’m sick of this already. I hate fighting with him.”

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “You guys will find a way. I’m going back inside, gotta go check my messages. See you in a while.”

I bounded off leaving him with a look of complete bewilderment. I ran upstairs, happy to see the other guys were busy eating and arguing by the bar. Maybe they wouldn’t see what we were about to do.

I found Marcus and Daryl out on the balcony. “This is the best I could come up with, chère. Think this will work?”  

I nodded, bouncing on my toes with excitement.

“It’s perfect! Now if you can just get the fog machine and strobe lights set up and then hit the lights we’ll take it from there.”

Daryl appeared to be having a hard time containing his amusement and both he and Marcus were looking at me like I’d sprouted a second head.

“Trust me, guys! This will get them working together and hopefully get them to get out of their heads a little.”

Daryl seemed skeptical, but he was entertained. “You’re either a true genius or out of your pretty little mind. Alright, dahlin'. I’ll do my part, you two go get ready.”

I grabbed Marcus’ hand and we inched along the gangway, trying to be as quiet as possible to his room.

We quickly put on the black coveralls over our clothes and night vision goggles. We checked our equipment and made sure we had enough ammo. Then we crept quietly to the rumpus room where Marcus queued up the music and waited for the signal that Daryl was ready.

As soon as he hit the lights I heard shouts from downstairs.

“What the fuck?”  “What happened to the lights?” “Shit I can’t see anything down here.” They were all banging into stuff and yelling out names.

Marcus and I signaled to each other to split up. With our night vision goggles we could see the guys flailing around. I took aim with my gun and hit Mage in the thigh.

“Holy shit! Someone’s shooting at us! Ow, what the...” 

The strobe lights started and Mage was wiping at his leg, finding fluorescent paint.

“What the hell is going on in here?”  

I heard Devon coming in the back door and I couldn’t resist. I let one fly, hitting the wall next to him.

“What the fuck?”  

Just then Marcus’ maniacal laugh came over a bullhorn. “Alright, you pussies! Find your gear. It’s hidden in plain sight! Last one standing wins a prize to be named later.” Then Slipknot’s Spit it Out started screaming from the stereo. A spotlight came on illuminating a pile of coveralls and guns and goggles.

“Marcus, you son of a bitch! I’m going to nail your ass.”

Devon was the first one to the pile, followed by Star and they scurried out of the light to get dressed. Marcus and I took random shots to keep them moving. Mage was still yelling about his leg.

“That hurt, motherfucker! I’m going to get you, Lambert!”  

More maniacal laughing. That’s good, Marcus. Keep them coming after you so I can sneak up on them.

I crept quietly around the gangway looking for my next victim.

Jade was dressed and started yelling, “Where are you, Marcus! Dammit, I can’t see anything.”

By this time the fog machine had filled the downstairs and the strobe lights made it tough to see anything in front of your face. I had the urge to cough, but knew they might hear me.

Suddenly, Devon broke out and ran across the floor. I took two shots but missed. I could hear him laughing as he ducked behind the bar and then shot back. He missed me by several feet, but I kept my chuckle to myself.

Then Jade was standing in the middle of the floor looking around so I couldn’t resist nailing him in the ass when he turned around.

“Ow! Man! That’s not fair, I can’t see anything! Marcus!!!”  

Hearing his whiny voice and watching him rub his poor little tushy was too much! I couldn’t help the giggle that burst out.

“Is that you, Jaylene? Are you a part of this too?!” Mage was yelling at me.

I giggled some more and then ran for cover. Shots were fired in my direction, but they all missed me. I dove behind the couch and waited, trying to smother my laughter. This was working perfectly! I could hear Star and Mage strategizing and I heard footsteps pounding on both sets of stairs. I ran into their room and hid behind the door. When Star came in and his back was to me, I couldn’t resist but to pop him one in the calf where I hoped it wouldn’t hurt too much. These coveralls were padded but the paintballs didn’t feel good. As he was spinning around trying to find his attacker, I snuck into the bathroom and out the door into the adjoining bedroom. I heard his voice go out into the hall so I waited for a few minutes before I attempted to sneak out. I heard shouts and laughter from all over the building and I was so elated that they were working together, even if it was to find Marcus and ‘destroy him.’  

I was just about to the door when arms closed around me from behind, and a hand covered my mouth. I froze and felt lips at my ear.

“Well, well! Look who I’ve found here with her guard down!”  

Devon turned me around in his arms and flipped up his goggles and my night vision. He disarmed me all with one arm. Then he laid one on me. I couldn’t see him in the dark, but his hands were all over me. He turned me around and backed me into the wall, picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist.

“Devon, oh mmmmmmm...” I was panting, my whole body alert. He murmured softly against my skin while he was nipping and sucking on my exposed neck and kissing me hard. His hand came around the front and cupped my breast through the coveralls, thrilling me to my toes. My hands grabbed frantically at his biceps, which were fully flexed as he pressed me into the wall. He was moving ever so slightly against me and I could feel all of him.

When my breathing started to get out of control, I tapped him on the shoulder and he dropped his head to my shoulder. We both tried to catch our breath, not letting go, not moving from this sensual position. I couldn’t believe he’d hoisted me up with little to no effort. His muscles didn’t even feel like they were straining.

“I think I caught you, chère. What’s my prize?” He was whispering and rubbing his lips gently against mine.

I smiled wide and said, “You haven’t nailed me yet.” I could faintly see his eyes in the dark and they were practically glowing with excitement.

“That’s true, chère. And I would so love to.”

I giggled and wiggled to get him to let me down. When he did, I reached up and kissed him softly.

“Fourteen more days, remember?”  

He pouted and I nibbled at his lower lip. He groaned in frustration. His hands grabbed my ass and he pulled me against him firmly. I tried to stifle a moan, but it escaped anyway. I was in danger of falling for his seduction if I didn’t get away from him.

I had to distract him. “I know of one way to make this sweeter.”

He pulled back from kissing my neck, which I was thoroughly enjoying, and whispered, “Going to my room and locking the door? Letting me take these coveralls off you with my teeth?”  

I was panting again. I had to take control of the situation before I let him do just that. I grabbed his face to still him. “While that sounds delectable, let’s focus on the task at hand. Let’s. Get. Marcus.”