Chapter 36

I set the safety and dropped the taser on the ground. T’wana started to make some noise but I said, “Tell the cops” and disregarded her. I was done with this. I headed to the porch where there was a bench swing so I took the privilege of the injured and elderly to sit my ass down. I pushed with my legs and gently rocked. Grace and June were already coming out the door, clearly not sure what was going on. It was a good thing Ji had called the cops while I was texting during the ride over. As I watched, Ji approached the police car.

Lavi and Melissa joined me on the swing. Melissa fussed over me and Lavi watched T’wana for any sudden movement. I didn’t think things had gone how T’wana had expected. She looked at Chris and then us. Seriously, what did she expect a chest thumping ex-football player to do? Melissa and Lavi had called her a lot of things but they had never seriously indicated she was dim. Suddenly she did move, rapidly striding towards Ji. Ji stepped back. T’wana snarled something but the officer talking to Ji put himself between them and his hand was on pepper spray simultaneous with moving. T’wana noticed, said something nasty toward Ji and stomped off.

Melissa, “That makes a kind of sense.”

“What does?” I asked.

Lavi, “That T’wana is riding Chris, probably literally. She’s always had it out for Grace since she locked Owen down and he’s at practice right now, no phones allowed. He’d have done worse than zap Chris. Shit, you probably did Chris a favor.”

“And Owen,” Melissa said.

“That sounds... “ I was searching for a word other than juvenile which didn’t seem quite right.

“Paskudnik.” Lavi offered.

“What does that mean?” Melissa asked.

Lavi was thoughtful. “Troublemaker, kind of, but the feeling behind it is that they’re nasty, like just vile.”

“Gotcha.”

Melissa bumped my good shoulder. “You were awesome.”

“All I did was tase an idiot.”

“Awesome,” Lavi agreed.

“I was shocked I did it.”

Melissa nodded gravely. “I did find watching it electrifying.”

Lavi, “It was galvanizing.”

I gave Lavi a fist bump. “Good one.”

She grinned. “Thanks.”

I would have preferred to chat but we found ourselves watching everyone else. Chris started to stand, dazed and looking around confused. T’wana was talking to Chris and getting angry that he wasn’t answering. The other cop waved T’wana off and talked to the boy. Then two more cars pulled up, which was interesting. I was only expecting one more. A stout woman, Detective Warren, got out of one of the cars, introduced herself to the patrol officers and took command of the scene. Over the next few minutes I watched a drama unfold on the stage that was June’s front yard. June and Grace left the porch and joined the interviews. T’wana was asked to stay where she was near a truck I didn’t recognize. Meanwhile, Chris was sitting down on the back bumper of the squad car. Everyone else was kept separate from Chris and T’wana.

Lavi, “Should we head over there?”

“They’ll get to us when they’re ready.” I said. I liked June’s yard, it just had too many people in it. I’d have to ask her later about the herbs she had among the flowers. Detective Warren was playing stage director. I hadn’t heard from her since she talked to us on the day of our departure for New Orleans but she had responded to my text message immediately. Warren took Ji’s phone at one point and connected it to a laptop, did stuff, and then dropped a thumb drive into a plastic bag. The other car that had arrived at the same time as Detective Warren was being driven by some teenage boy. After a few minutes he drove off without talking to anyone. He looked familiar.

I tapped Melissa’s knee. “Was that Jerry?”

“Yeah.” Her tone was distant.

“What was he doing here?”

“I don’t know.” The words sounded like they tasted sour in her mouth. That was another thing for later I figured. Right then and there things were still unfolding. Chris must have refused an ambulance because none arrived. He did seem fine since he was moving around and shooting looks at us. Eventually he and T’wana got in the truck and left together.

Melissa kicked at the air as I pushed the swing some more. She had black and pink converses on. She broke the silence saying, “Seems pretty messed up to me.” She nodded at the truck retreating into the distance.

I asked, “How do you mean?”

“Well, I fell for you, right? We had that fight and it sucked and it hurt but that’s how it goes. It turned out we just needed to talk but I didn’t know that then. It is what it is. If she’s just trying to get after Grace for Owen, which was like years ago, it’s just sad. It’s not like Lavi stood around moping when I couldn’t get my head straight about her either.”

“I did want to bitch slap you a lot though,” Lavi added. “Like, why can’t the dumb bitch see how perfect we are together?”

“Would it have slapped sense into me?”

“Probably not. You’re too damn stubborn. You and Robert are the same in that way.”

I felt a little defensive. “We’re not stubborn.”

“Please,” Lavi responded, “If you two were mules and ran into each other on a road needing to pass each other you’d just end up butting heads until one of you fell asleep and the other walked over them. I’ll bet when you two talked things out it involved yelling until you figured out you were on the same page.”

Melissa and I looked at each other. That was mostly accurate. So, we did the mature thing and simultaneously blew raspberries at Lavi. We all sat surprised for a second and then laughed.

“You know,” Warren’s voice interrupted us. She and one of the patrol cops were standing just off the porch. “Usually parties in a domestic complaint aren’t laughing.” Ji was talking to Grace in the background. Warren looked thoughtful, “Unless drugs are involved.”

“In my defense I do have prescriptions,” I said.

She ignored me and cracked a thin smile. “I see you took my advice.” She held up a bag with my taser in it. “Can you verify if this is your’s?”

“It is.”

“And you tased Mr. Barrington with it?”

“I did.”

“Can you fill us in on why?” She had a small notepad out and was taking notes.

“Sure. Grace called us. Chris was over here causing a scene. We contacted 911 and you on the way. We got here and Chris was verbally abusive. June told him to leave. He threatened Melissa and raised his hand so I zapped him.”

“The end?”

“The end.”

“You girls have anything to add?”

They shook their heads no. Then Lavi said, “I thought about stomping on his dick but I didn’t want to get pee on my foot.” The patrolman winced. Lavi ground her foot on the ground to emphasize the point and I swear he cringed for a split second.

Warren ignored it. “And would you make statements to this effect?”

Melissa responded first but Lavi and I quickly followed. “Absolutely.” “Sure.” “Yes.”

Warren put the notebook up. “This time we have video so he will get charged. Those sorts of threats are a class C misdemeanor. He won’t get much, especially if the judge is a good old boy. He could sue you for damages too.”

I yawned in response, realizing it was kind of rude. I said, “Sorry, I’m tired. I’ll deal with it if he does.”

Detective Warren raised an eyebrow. Melissa cut in. “Robert was stabbed in New Orleans. His shoulder is really messed up and he is still healing.”

“Stabbed?”

“I got mugged. I took a dirty box cutter to the shoulder a few times.”

“Are you supposed to be in a hospital?”

“He’s a mule,” added Lavi.

“Half, kind of like a satyr,” further added Melissa. I kicked her foot with mine.

“Was Mr. Barrington aware of this? Uh, that you were injured.”

Melissa, “Lavi and I weren’t secret about it, it kept us out of school a week so folks knew. There are pics on Instagram.”

Warren sighed. “Joy, social media. Can you give me the profiles?” Melissa and Lavi did so and then I added mine in for good measure. Who knows, maybe she likes to cook. She wrote them all down. “Well you should go home. We will be in touch. I assume I don’t have to tell you to stay away from him or Ms. Shuer do I?”

I paused. “Shuer? Is that T’wana?”

I don’t think Warren missed the pause because she was looking at me with focus when she replied, “Yes.”

“No, no you don’t need to tell me that at all, Detective Warren.” I realized I had said that a bit curtly so I tried to be a bit warmer when I said, “Thank you.”

I stood from the swing. Warren stood aside and as I passed she asked in a light voice, “This Ms. Guo is she...”

I paused. “Just a friend.”

“Really?”

“A close friend.”

“And you’ve only been friends while she’s seventeen, right?” Warren would know Ji’s age and birthdate after interviewing her.

“Only a close friend as of earlier today actually.”

She gave that slight smile again. “Some blokes have all the luck.”

I looked at her. “It’s ‘cause I’m so pretty.”

She made a snorting sound and gestured towards the cars, “Get the hell out of here.”

We obeyed but stopped by the knot of Ji, Grace and June.

Melissa asked the obvious question. “What the hell was going on?”

Grace, “T’wana knew I quit so Richardson must have already broadcast it.”

Lavi, “But why was Chris freaking out?”

Grace had her arms crossed and one finger was tapping away like a manic muscle tic. “I got no clue, he’s gone off the edge. He kept saying I needed to go back to the squad and it wasn’t fair to him. I think he’s gone completely mental. He’s always been a few bats short of a belfry but this was out there.”

Lavi, “Get the feeling there’s something going on we don’t know about?” All the ladies nodded in agreement.

“I’ve got my own question,” I said. They looked at me. “And it’s for June.” I thought I saw the corner of her eye twitch. “I just learned something really interesting. T’wana, last name Shuer. Coincidence?”

She looked over my shoulder instead of at me. “Uh, no.”

Melissa exploded, “OH MY GOD! Really!?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Now June looked at me. “Look, Robert, it’s not her fault”

I interrupted. “You chose to keep this to yourself even though she was attacking us?”

June stood up straight, “You don’t know that she was”

Lavi cut her off this time. “What is going on here?” Ji seemed to be equally lost.

Melissa touched Lavi’s arm. “Remember when Robert met June and she said his old boss was gone from the company?” Looking at me she continued, “I’m so sorry Robert, I didn’t know her dad’s name was Greg or I would have...”

Comprehension came over Lavi’s face. She tensed.

“Shhhh ... This isn’t on you babe. You didn’t know.” I pointed at June. “You did know.”

“Robert...”

“No.”

“Ro “ She started to say my name but I cut her off.

“No. No. NO!” I took a second to bring my voice back to normal. The patrol officers were looking at us. “We could have had this conversation on your terms months ago but you choose to keep something important to yourself. When we talk about this it will be on my terms, understand?”

“I think”

“That is a yes/no question June.” She nodded yes and looked down.

Melissa looked at Grace. “Did you know?” Grace just shook her head no and was looking like someone had sucker punched her in the gut. I knew the feeling.

Grace asked Melissa, “Are we good?”

“We are.” Melissa gave Grace a friendly hug. “Practice starts tomorrow,” Melissa said as she disengaged. “Our place, 4:30.”

Nothing more was said and the four of us got in the car and left. I was so tired that as Lavi got in with me and I laid my head on her shoulder. When the second wave of adrenalin faded I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up I was face planted in Lavi’s cleavage, which I was not unhappy finding myself in. She had turned around to put her legs up across the backseat and I was laying in her lap, head resting on her bosom. We were pulling into the driveway.

Lavi stroked my hair. “Good nap?”

“Uh, yeah.” I blinked. I felt well rested but the drive couldn’t have been that long. That’s when I noticed the drink in Lavi’s hand. “So, where?” I pointed at the drink, language skills failing me.

“You were tired.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to crash out on top of you like that.”

“Don’t worry about it, you were the hero, you deserved a rest.”

I sat up. “Last I checked our lioness didn’t need a man protecting her.”

“I don’t but that doesn’t mean I don’t like one that will. And you were really beat. You didn’t even wake up at the burger place.”

“We got you onion rings though,” Melissa said.

“Where from?”

“Top Notch,” Melissa said, “we were driving around to let you sleep and Lavi wanted onion rings so we got you some too.”

Lavi grimaced, “They were getting cold so I ate yours too. Sorry, cold onion rings are no good.”

“Top Notch is the place with car hops, right?”

Lavi, “Yeah, some guy came out and brought us the order while you were snoring against my tits.”

“Jealousy doesn’t even begin to describe his reaction,” said Ji.

Melissa was unbuckling. “Lavi didn’t help things when she said Ji was next on the list.”

Lavi, “Hey! Ji didn’t help when she licked her lips and said she wanted at least an hour.”

Melissa giggled. “Oh, I think it helped something along. He walked away a bit awkwardly.”

We were all getting out now and headed into the house. “You, to the hot tub, your job is to turn it on and get it ready.” I raised an eyebrow at her. Oh, what the hell. I headed that way. Behind me I heard Lavi and Ji being directed as well. In short order the water was ready and Ji was stepping out with microwaved pizza, and Lavi had towels. Melissa was followed behind them with a tray that had glasses and the pitcher of limeade I’d made though it looked fuller.

“Make more?”

Melissa put the tray down beside the hot tub, “I fortified the limeade with that limoncello you had.”

“Had?”

“Well, until this is drunk anyway.” She smiled.

I looked at Lavi. “Lavi, can you help me with my shirt?”

“Sure.” She came over and helped me lift up my sweatshirt. As I leaned so that she could move it around my bad shoulder Lavi asked, “Not going to complain about microwaving the pizza?”

“Huh?” Ji looked over to us. She and Melissa were fixing plates for all of us.

Lavi, “Robert has strong feelings about microwaves and why they can destroy flavor and how you should never, ever”

“Ever,” added Melissa.

“Be used to thaw meat.” Finished Lavi.

The shirt came free. “It actually depends on the kind of protein but my point is... “ I looked at them. “You know, it doesn’t matter. I concede to the utility for heating pizza up.” I dropped my pants and got in the water.

Ji’s eyes went wide. Lavi looked at her. “Really? You’ve seen and touched that, sister.”

Ji looked embarrassed, “I know, I ... it was just unexpected.”

Melissa brought over a plate and glass for me, then her own. As Ji recovered Melissa lifted her t-shirt over her head, tossed it to a chair and it was joined by her black bra in seconds with her jeans following. The jeans took a little while to remove but once they were off the panties followed and she was at her most beautiful, the nude nymph.

“Ta da!” She struck a pose, her blonde hair falling down her shoulders. From sitting in the tub I got a wonderful look up her legs. She put her hands on her hips. “Like what you see?”

“Always.” I grinned like an idiot but she made me stupidly happy so why not?

Melissa settled in next to me while I looked up. Lavi had her skirt off and was twirling her panties around on one finger to toss them to Ji when she stopped. “You all right?”

Ji was just standing there.

“Hey,” Melissa said, “I can get you a suit. I mean, bottoms, you can wear a t-shirt for a top.”

Ji turned red, the implication that she couldn’t use either of their tops hit her. “No, no, I’m being silly.”

“Yes, you are.” That was Lavi who stepped over to her, dressed only in a black knit top and naked from the waist down. Lavi stroked her cheek. “I want you naked, Mellie wants you naked, Robert wants you naked. We all think you’re gorgeous so for fuck’s sake get naked with us.”

“I’m not pretty like you and Mellie.” She pouted.

“I’ve had it,” I said. “Lavi, just drag her over here. I’ll tie her up and she can watch us all masturbate while we look at her.”

Lavi, “Oooh, kinky.”

Ji still pouted. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Because you’re being ridiculous,” Melissa said. “All three of us have been eager to get in your pants. Robert got hard just looking at your legs this afternoon. After kissing you a few weeks ago Lavi was so hot I thought we’d have to hose her down.”

Ji looked at her and Lavi nodded indicating this was an accurate depiction of events. Ji took a deep breath and pulled the dress up her body until she could take it off. The lacey white panties had a matching bra. Taking the bra off took little effort. Despite her proclamations she was definitely not flat but they were small enough that they held themselves up, perky and firm.

Lavi meanwhile had taken her own top off. When Ji went to take her panties off Lavi deflected it. “Let me.” Lavi then stood behind Ji, reached her hands around and slid her body down, her breasts dragging across Ji’s back. Ji closed her eyes and bit her lip. Lavi hooked her fingers in the panties and pulled them down. Once she had them on the ground she reached up and stroked Ji’s thighs but didn’t touch her pussy.

Lavi stood up and offered Ji her hand. “It’s just a hot tub, nothing more.” We all knew that was a lie but Lavi meant it kindly. Ji gingerly climbed into the hot tub next to where she had put her pizza and drink. Lavi climbed it at the same time.

Melissa had scooted towards Ji and held out a hand towards Ji’s chest. “May I?” Ji nodded yes. Melissa ran her hands across Ji’s chest and bent down to lick one nipple. “God, they’re gorgeous. Mine hang down more than that. I’m jealous.” Jealous? Melissa’s were perfect.

Lavi, “And I’ll bet when you’re on your back they stay up. Mine slide down to the sides like udders.” She held her tits up. Udders, she said that like it was a bad thing.

“But they’re nice and big, mine are tiny.” Tiny? They were perfect handfuls.

“Not that small,” I said. “They’re perfect on your body. You’re so slim they don’t look tiny on you at all. I’ll bet you’re bigger than your sister.”

Ji got a happy grin at that. “Yeah, she’s a 30A. I’m a 32B. Bigger than my mom too. She says it’s all the American milk I drank growing up.” Ji looked at Melissa, “I already know what a guy would say but how can you like my tits as much as Lavi’s?”

Melissa shrugged. “You’re pretty, Lavi is pretty. And yeah, don’t ask Robert, he’ll give you some analogy about flavors and food.”

I considered refuting that but decided I should have some of the pizza while they were ignoring me. I might need strength later. Their conversation wandered for a little bit among things that didn’t concern me while I soaked my shoulder and enjoyed the heat helping it relax. I tuned back in when I heard a certain name. Lavi was saying, “So, Richardson will know by tomorrow if not tonight.”

Melissa was nodding agreement.

Ji looked thoughtful. She stood up and walked over to the little table where she had put down her purse and got out her phone. After a moment she held up the phone and we heard from the speaker, “Hi, I can’t come to the phone right now so please leave a message at the beep.” I didn’t know the voice but guessed who it was.

Ji turned on a sugary sweet tone of voice I’d not heard from her before. “Hi, Mrs. Richardson, its Jiang Guo. I’m sorry but my schedule is just turning out to be really packed this year and I’m going to have to drop cheerleading. I’m so sorry. ‘Kay, thanks, bye!” She ended on an up tone and as she hit end we all burst out laughing.