I can see it in her eyes that whatever happened with her mother wasn’t a good thing.
At the moment, I’m going to hijack all the emotion.
“Get into my car, sweetie,” I whisper. “We have to take a ride. We will talk about everything. But I need you to see something.”
“Okay,” Jolie says. “Are you okay?”
I shake my head.
I kiss her again.
I put my lips to her ear. “Just listen to me, Jolie. Go get into the car.”
She walks away and I face Taz.
“I kept her alive,” he says. “We went to see Violet. That crazy one was going to jump into the ocean and try to swim away. I have someone’s face I have to break too.”
“Hold off on that for a minute,” I say. “If shit ever went bad, you and Les would take the crew, right?”
“What?”
“I would have Les handle the brains. You be the muscle. Are you okay with that?”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Mac?”
“Call Les right now. Get everyone together, minus Ado. Stay some what visible. Okay? Visible, Taz. Be seen. Be heard. Be annoying. Whatever it takes.”
Taz looks at my car, then back to me. “What’s going on?”
“The Ado situation is being handled,” I say. “Everything with Jolie’s parents is handled too. Shit is clearing up finally.”
“Then why do you look ready to kill someone?”
“Don’t worry about that right now, Taz,” I say. “Just keep an eye on the crew. Be loud and visible.”
I start to turn and Taz grabs my shirt. “Mac…”
“Don’t fucking do this,” I say.
“I’m not,” he says. “I get it. I just want you to know, whatever happens, I think I love you, bro.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Same to you and the others. Just keep the crew close. No Ado. No matter what.”
Taz nods.
He lets my shirt go and I run to my car.
I get inside and start the car and take off.
Jolie lets out a little yell and grabs for the seat as I turn the car as hard as I can.
“Mac…?”
“It was a fucking set up, sweetie,” I say to her.
“What was?”
“It wasn’t your father or anyone he’s been involved with,” I say.
“What are you talking about?” Jolie asks.
I pick up more speed on the main road.
“It was Mama and Declan,” I say. “They’re the ones who planned it out. It was Declan inside your apartment.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I just found out. This whole thing is messier than ever. And I’m fucking done with it all.”
“Wait a second, Mac,” Jolie says. “You’re telling me that Declan was the guy in my apartment?”
“That’s right.”
“How?”
“How? Mama told him to. She wanted to scare you away from me. Away from the life. But it didn’t work.”
“No… I mean how did…”
“She’s losing her fucking mind, remember?” I snap.
The inside of my car goes silent.
I stare forward and drive even faster.
You can’t yell at Jolie for it. For anything. It’s not her fault.
“I didn’t mean to snap,” I say.
“My father isn’t a good person though, Mac,” Jolie says.
I look at her for a second. “That’s what you have to say? You’re still in on all of this?”
Jolie nods. “My father is a bad person. He’s going to get what he deserves. The same with my mother. And if this is true about Mama and Declan…”
“It’s being handled,” I say to her. “Same with Ado. It’s all being handled.”
There’s silence again for a few seconds.
I cut the wheel to the right and the tires scream.
I slam on the gas pedal and the engine roars.
“Where are we going, Mac?” Jolie asks.
“You’re getting an apology, sweetie,” I say to her.
And then I’m going to kill Declan.
Declan lives on the ground floor in a shit-hole apartment building just outside of town. It’s the kind of place you’d never think a cop would live, but it’s the exact kind of place a dirty cop would live. Because Declan pisses all his money and time away on women, drugs, and fantasizing about being something he’s not.
There’s a million things that could have went wrong the night he barged into Jolie’s apartment. I guess in a way it’s a good thing he’s a complete idiot or else it could have been bad.
I park the car and look at Jolie.
“Wait here for a second, sweetie,” I say.
“Mac…”
“You know what? Fuck it. Come with me.”
“Mac, please…”
“No,” I say to her.
I get out of the car and wait.
Jolie gets out of the car and follows me.
I rip open the main door to the building and the first door on the left is Declan’s apartment.
As I pound on the door with a heavy fist, I can feel Jolie tensing up.
I grab her hand and squeeze it tight.
You’re not going to like this, sweetie, but it has to be done. You have to see and know that nobody is allowed to fuck with you.
The door finally fucking opens and Declan has a gun in his hand.
“Mac…”
“Mama sent me,” I say to him. “We have to talk.”
“Yeah, sure,” he says. He looks at Jolie. “I see you’ve been found.”
“Yeah,” Jolie says. “Magically.”
Declan laughs.
He opens the door and lets us in.
His apartment is a dump.
There’s pizza boxes on the coffee table. Beer bottles on the dining room table.
Everything is shit except for the couch, the TV and the sound system.
The place smells like old food and cologne.
Declan is in shorts and a t-shirt.
I carefully watch what he does with the gun.
“Didn’t know you were coming,” he says. “I would have cleaned up a little. Sorry, Jolie.”
“I don’t mind,” she says. “We’re not here to live.”
“True,” Declan says. He puts the gun down on the dining room table. “Want a drink? Water? Soda? Beer?”
“No,” I say. “No drinks. Just wanted to talk a little.”
“Sure,” Declan says.
I release my hold on Jolie’s hand.
I feel her grab for me.
I keep going.
Declan’s back is to me for a second and that’s my chance.
I lunge for him and hit my shoulder into Declan’s back.
He lets out a yell and reaches back for me.
I drive him forward and into a wall.
The thud echoes around and I step back.
Declan starts to turn and I throw a punch, hitting him in the side of the face.
He drops down.
“What the fuck, Mac?” he yells.
He tries to shield his face but I kick him in the jaw.
I’m not here to fight fair. I’m here to kill him.
I kick again and hit him in the chest.