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When we make it back to the others, they’ve been joined by the rest of our missing men and women who were taking care of their own task.
“Where are the guys?” Gunner asks, his eyebrows raised as he keeps an eye on the empty space behind us.
“Disposing the trash,” Charlee tells him, censoring her words since there are ears nearby that shouldn’t hear the details of what’s happening down there.
“Ah,” he remarks, sitting in Sister Ann’s high back chair that looks like a throne, his arms laden down with file folders. Looking at me, he clears his throat. “You’ll be happy to hear that this is a new operation. Everyone is here and accounted for. That’s not to say that other…thingshaven’t been happening behind the scenes.”
“Kinda figured that out for myself,” I mumble, then confess, “The things we just walked in on are disgusting and hard to take.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Julius says, anger laced with sorrow directed toward me. “We know that the world is evil and unconscionable, but when it’s shoved in your face it makes it hard to swallow.” Then his attention turns to his daughter, sadness laced in his eyes. “Charlee girl.”
“It’s okay, Pops. Water under the bridge,” she contends, waving his concern away. “We’re good. I swear.”
“Are we?” he asks her, walking up and cupping her cheeks with the palms of his hands. Caressing the apple of her cheeks with his thumbs. “You’re one of the most important people in my life, I can’t stand there to be a rift between us. I’ve been harsh with you. I’m sorry… terribly sorry, baby girl. Ma would be ashamed of me for the way I’ve treated you. I love you so very much, you are my sunshine.”
“As far as apologies go, that’s a pretty damn good one,” I spout off, causing Charlee to chuckle and Pops to shake his head, a smile spread across his face, reaching from one ear to the other.
Charlee sniffles before she says, “She’s right, it is. I promise Pops, we’re okay.”
“Is she crying? Did you know she could do that?” I ask Gunner who simply chuckles.
Pops sighs, giving me a side-eye full of mirthful condemnation. Then he turns back to his daughter, insisting, “We aren’t, but we will be, Charlee girl. I’ll start taking the time to put your feelings into consideration before letting my tongue run loose on me. I never want to push you away from me, and I am grateful for you. I forget sometimes that you aren’t one of the guys.”
Feeling like I’m invading a private moment, I shuffle toward Gunner and sit down beside him. He hands me a folder and I start scanning it. From there, we compare my memory to what’s been noted. We sit for a long period, I get lost in the jotted notations, and before I know it, the room is filling up with the men we left downstairs.
“Everything been taken care of?” Gunner asks Luca, who simply nods. “Good. Let’s head out. We’ll let the ladies gather the kids while we make sure we’ve left no trace behind.”
The kids are anxious to leave with us, so it doesn’t take a lot of effort on our part to get them loaded into the vans. By the time we’re settled, the men come out, appearing as if they’re out for a Sunday stroll.
“Okay, kiddos. Y’all ready for the first day of the rest of your lives?” Charlee asks, twisting the key and firing up the vehicle.
They all shout that they are. We couldn’t fit everyone into one van, but the ones who couldn’t ride with me weren’t hard to persuade to separate from me after I promised we were heading to the same place.
As we drive home, a weight lifts from my chest, and I wear a smile the entire way back.
My demons have been conquered.
My past has been dissipated.
There are no more threats waiting on the horizon for us.
Or so I thought.
Luca
“Wake up,Mera. We have a full day ahead of us,” I whisper into Mera’s ear. Her beliefs are important to me, I know that I can’t take her until we share some vows, so I’ve been working behind the scenes to make that happen for her.
“Five more minutes,” she grumbles into her pillow, causing me to smile.
“You said that twenty minutes ago, Curly Sue. Up and at ‘em, baby.”
“But I’m tired, Luca,” she complains.
“I know. But I’ve got a surprise for you,” I tell her.
“Surprise?” she asks, popping her head up from the pillow.
Shaking my head, I laugh. “Ah. Should’ve known that’s what’d catch your attention. Get your shower, baby. Wear a nice dress and meet me downstairs for breakfast.”
