We got into Lubbock early
the next morning, and were greeted by Strannix' woman, Deb. No sign of the
infamous Bad Boy I'd heard so much about...
Deb: Ryan! Where've you been, man?
They hugged as friends do, fiercely. Ryan stepped back and slipped an arm
around me, smiling at Deb. He introduced us, and I gave a shy smile.
Ryan: This is my beautiful woman... my Jade.
I saw a middle aged woman, fairly ordinary looking, with dark red hair,
darting brown eyes and a huge walking cast on her left ankle. God knows what
Deb saw... although i'm sure she found me a bit too young to be with Ryan.
Deb: Jade...I've heard so much about you. Come on in...Ryan, Billy's not home,
might not be for a couple of days. Do you need a place to stay?
He was, as always, incredibly polite. It always amazed me, this... seeming
terror of a man, to be so gentle.
Ryan: If ye wouldnt be troubled...
Deb: Please. You've all but lived here in the past. You know which bedroom you
two can use. Jade...is there anything I can get you? You look a little
overwhelmed.
Ryan took off down the hall, knowing the way to the room she had indicated.
I felt Deb looking me over, and I tried to gather up my wits. What she said
suprised me a bit.
Deb: It can be...disconcerting...to find yourself in this situation. You go
from a simple little law abiding woman with no particular vices to...what we
are now. If you want to talk...we can talk.
So... Strannix was more than he seemed. Perhaps as ruthless as Ryan?
frightening thought, that. I wasnt sure I was ready to meet *another* one. I
was about to ask her about this, when I heard Ryan from the back.
Ryan: Jade! come back here...
I found him in a room filled with bunkbeds and firesale dressers... he was
sitting on a bed, bouncing lightly on it. I nearly giggled at the look of him,
the little smile on his lips.
Ryan: Look at this...a regular play-yard...
I whispered, amused but embarrased,
Jade: Ryan!
Ryan: I made you blush, sweet one,
and he chuckled lightly. I felt so giddy with the sound, I didnt hear Deb
come up behind me.
Deb: You could make a stone blush. Towels are in here...
Ryan: William has towels?
Deb: Now he does. William also has matching sheets and real dishes.
He was still grinning, obviously happy to be in the house with friends. How
long had it been since I'd seen him so at peace, even a little? I was in love
with him all over again at this small sight. and i knew it. He went on, a
lopsided grin on his weathered face. Deb bantered with him like an old sparring
partner.
Ryan: I'll be damned. How did you work this miracle?
Deb: Like you give a damn about sheets and dishes, you old fraud. I don't know
where he's dragging you off to, Jade...but make a home for him. Even
international fugitives need a home to come to.
Well, that answered my question. wouldnt have to look like a fool in front
of her. At that point, as if on cue, I heard a door crash open somewhere deep
in the house, and I involuntarily stepped behind Ryan a bit. A rough, wild
voice called out, and it seemed to fill every room.
Bill: Punk! Where you at?
Deb's face lit up.
Deb: Billy!
I'd wondered about this man whom I'd been more than asked to steer clear of
by Ryan many times. A look I'd care not see aimed at me had settled in the
middle distance when he spoke of him and I in the same sentence. I, of course,
had wanted to meet the man, especially someone who brought that look into
Ryan's eye. Not many people lived past that look... I had to meet the man who
had.
Ryan: That... is William.
He started to get up, but i pulled him back down. Smiled and actually pushed
him down onto the matress.
Jade: I think I'd like to catch some sleep. But first you'll have to help me to
rest...
He smiled briefly, his voice like hot rum down my throat.
Ryan: aye, lass. will do...
I awoke early, and I found Ryan was curled along my back, one hand gently
gently encircling my waist in his sleep. I usually rested easily in his massive
embrace... unlike a few others I had shared my life with. Even though he'd been
forceful, rough, he'd never hurt me. He knew my limitations, and he stayed his
limit when called.
I fell back asleep, warmed by Ryan's touch, and awoke alone. I startled awake,
remembering the pub incident from a few nights before. "fuck it," i
thought, he's a big boy, and we're among friends. I took a shower, then got
dressed and made my way to the kitchen. I found a note taped to the microwave. "Your
breakfast is in the microwave. Ryan and I have stepped out to get a couple of
things for your trip. Try not to wake Billy. He gets cranky if he wakes up much
before late afternoon. See you later, Deb."
I ate the short meal, barely paying attention to the food in front of me, and
opened one of Ryan's books that he'd checked out from the library where I had
worked a week and a half before. I was just about half way through "A Good
Man Is Hard To Find" in the O'Connor collection when the back door burst open,
admitting the most intense whirlwind of a man I'd seen since... well, since
Grease, I suppose. Or West Side Story. I wanted to ask him if he was with the
Sharks or the Jets, but then decided not to when he pulled off his dark,
aviator sunglasses and nailed me with a level gaze with a pair of glittering,
charcoal eyes.
Bill: Where's the punk?
I was speechless. Or could have been, had I not blurted,
Jade: Uh, 'the punk?'
Bill: Deb. Where she at? Her and Gaerity take off for the mornin'?
Jade: That's what her note said. They've been gone since I got up... about half
an hour ago.
His gaze didnt falter. He pulled out a kitchen chair in one liquid motion
and sat down in it.
Bill: Hell, they'll be gone for hours. Once of 'em gets talkin' that philosophical
bullshit and the other one jumps in and they forget the time and every other
goddam thing.
His words were gruff, but he spoke without anger or irritation, just of
someone who'd lived with it all before. He also spoke like a sailor. I just grinned
a little, but kept my mouth shut. He regarded me steadily for a long time, and
I wondered if I were being weighed and measured. more was going on in that head
than he wanted people to believe. When he spoke, i thought he'd been dipping
into my brain, must have been written on my face.
Bill: I dunno what you been told about me. Most of it's a damn lie. But what
I'm gonna tell ya about Gaerity is the truth as I know it...
Unfortunately, that's when the door opened. Ryan looked as rested as i'd
seen him in months. he and Deb had gone shopping, and was wanting to show off
things for our trip. Bill took off with Deb, leaving me with Ryan.
Ryan: I hope he wasnt too... coarse with you, love.
I just smiled at him, and he seemed to relax a bit.
Jade: Nothin I cant handle...
and yet, perhaps I would be wrong. Only time would tell.
again... thanks goes to Deb for these words, where my own fail me...
To be continued…
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