True Grit Page 15

"No, Ma'am," said Alo. "We moved out into apartments. That's why Tito was getting the stuff. We were going back to the farm for a few days for Winter Solstice."

  "So, the men who were yelling at you were not saying anything that was true."

  "No, Ma'am. We were confused. I got back-t0-back with Ruby, said we didn't want any trouble."

  "You didn't stand in front of her? Protect her?"

  Alo shook his head. "She's a Valkyrie, and had been training as one with Ajai and Willow, our friends from the ranch. I kind of hoped she would protect me."

  "You felt threatened?"

  "One guy finished his beer, and smashed the bottle against the brick wall where the ATM was. The other had something in his hand."

  "Was it a sap? A piece of leather, weighted on one end?"

  "It looked like a black stick that didn't shine in the light. It was heavy; the man's arm muscles stood out when he held it."

  "Then what happened?"

  "The guy with the stick thing went after Ruby. He broke her arm when she held it up to protect herself. I heard the bone snap. I kicked the beer bottle out of the other guy's hand. He hit me a few times, but I kept blocking. The other guy twisted around, hit me with the heavy black thing. I felt my wrist break." He held up his cast. "I used my knees, my leverage. I caught his arm and slammed him into the brick wall. I heard Ruby screaming the Valkyrie cry, and the other guy took some swings at her, because I saw the shadow on the ground."

  "That's how you saw her arm get broken?"

  "Yes," said Alo. "Out of the corner of my eye. The guy hitting me got in some more punches before I got him with my leg and a combination of right-left-right. He went down, and I called 911. Ruby got her guy down, and she took out her phone one-handed. I asked her who she texted, and she said Tito. Then she texted Henry."

  "Then what happened?"

  "I got the two of us leaning against the wall, away from the bad guys. I turned, and tried to figure out how to get off my leather jacket to get to my shirt to tie up her arm in a sling. She laughed at me, kind of a choking laugh, and said it would be faster to wait for the ambulance. Tito came running up. It felt like ten minutes, but it was probably two. He got us sitting down and looked us over. I think he called Henry too. Then, the cops came, and talked to the guys on the ground, and then they arrested me."

  "Wait, what?" said Chandra. "You had a broken wrist, your female co-worker had a broken arm, the bad guys had a sap and a broken beer bottle, and you got arrested?"

  "The one that attacked Ruby said it was the other way around, that we attacked them. So, the cop handcuffed me to the gurney that the EMTs put me in."

  Chandra said, "What did they do to the other guys?"

  "I saw them leading them to their cop cars. Both cops talked about taking statements, then one of them got into the ambulance with me. I asked why I was in a handcuff when the guys attacked me and Ruby, and he told me to shut up. I asked him where they were taking Ruby, and he told me to shut up, and read me my rights. I kept asking about Ruby, and why he had me handcuffed when we were attacked. I told him there must be some sort of record, that ATMs have cameras, and to go look. The whole time to the hospital, he gave me this dead animal stare, looked right through me."

  "Did you keep talking about it in the hospital?"

  "Every few minutes. Luckily, they put Ruby in the next cubicle as me. She pulled open the curtain, and kept telling the cop he was making a terrible mistake, and that when Henry and the Valkyries got there, he would be in big trouble. They wheeled her away to x-ray and to set her arm and put on the cast, then they brought her back. I kept telling the doctors I needed my hand x-rayed, that it was broken, and the doctors and nurses told me to wait. It wasn't until Henry and the lawyer got there that I got uncuffed and treated."

  "And what were your injuries?"

  ""Broken wrist, cracked ribs, two black eyes, cut lip, lots of bruises, and some bruised bones. Was a mess for a couple weeks." His bruises had faded, but his lawyer had gotten plenty of photos.

  "And the other guys?"

  "Don't know," said Alo. "I think they took them to another hospital."

  She flipped into her evil-Chandra mode, her hair swinging with her intensity. She had watched hours of "Beemer" perform, for that's what he did. Perform and obfuscate.

  "Isn't it true that you had been drinking that night?"

  "No."

  "A little toke? Some peyote buttons?"

  "No."

  "Isn't it true you were having a little spat with your girlfriend, and those guys came up to help her?"

  "No."

  "Isn't it true you broke her arm?"

  "What? No. And we aren't lovers."

  "Why not? Unable to get it up?"

  Alo was stunned, but he got through the question. "She's a lesbian."

  Chandra stopped and smiled. "If you can survive that one, you can survive anything. Go home and get some rest."

  Alo smiled. He stood, then took the bottle of water with him, and stepped outside. "Grilling over?" asked Tito.

  "Until tomorrow," said Alo.

  "I'm so sorry you have to go through this," said Tito. "Bastards."

  "Too stupid to plead guilty," said Alo. He shrugged. "Some people are just that way."

  "Sonic?" asked Tito.

  Alo shook his head. "Let's wait until they pop Ruby loose, and get us some barbecue sandwiches."

  "She's done, waiting for us," said Tito. They walked down the hall and to the elevators. Ruby was there with Skuld. Ruby gave him a tired smile.

  "Hope you're hungry," said Alo. "I'm thinking pulled pork sandwiches."

  Ruby smiled a brilliant smile, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. She looked at Skuld. "Man speaks my language."

  Skuld snorted. "When he can speak Old Norse, then he can speak your language. But, a feast is a good idea. Then rest."

  "All for the rest part," said Ruby, as the elevator dinged.

  The next day dawned bright and cold. Chandra walked each of them step by step, through recounting the assault. Beemer was just as insulting and ugly in his characterizations of the teens as he could be, saying that they belonged to "cults."

  Alo looked at Beemer and said, "What are you talking about?"

  "What is the Wolfpack?" he asked.

  "We're a group of teenagers that live on Henry and Inola's farm, just off the res. Henry called one of the first ones ‘Little Wolf.’ I forget which one. So, they became the Wolfpack."

  "Isn't it true you do Native American rituals together?"

  Alo snorted. "We study together, go out on jobs, do chores, sleep in dorms together. Daily life stuff."

  "What about sweats?"

  "That's an individual thing. Some do, some don't. Most of us are too busy."

  "Don't you train together?"

  "We learn riding, if that's what you mean. The fighting stuff is the Valkyries. A motorcycle club for women."

  "A cult," said Beemer.

  "Objection!" said Chandra. "Is there a question somewhere? And, as far as I know, Alo is a male. How would he know anything about a motorcycle club for females?"

  "Sustained," said the judge, a blocky man with a sweep of graying hair and a no-nonsense manner. His name was Judge Jerome Stearns.

  "What kind of fighting do you do?"

  "Kickboxing, mostly," said Alo. "We spar with the girls sometimes, but that tends to leave a lot of bruises."

  "So, when you attacked my clients that night..."

  "Objection!" said Chandra. "The tape clearly shows both his clients attacking mine."

  It went on like that for several minutes, but Chandra kept objecting. Beemer finally had to let Alo go.

  He tried the same thing with Ruby. Chandra took her through the tape, step by step, including using measurements to show that the men were taller and outweighed both teenagers by quite a bit. She froze on the weapons.

  "Were you attacked with a sap?" asked Chandra.

  "I was," said Ruby. "The Valkyries t
aught me to defend myself, and how to fight through pain. Without that knowledge, I may well have been dead. He kept swinging at me with that thing, swinging at my head. I didn't want to die from a skull fracture."

  "Objection!" said Beemer.

  "Overruled," said the judge. "You opened this line of questioning."

  Bit by bit, Chandra walked her through that night, and her training with the Valkyries. Then she asked, "When the men were down on the ground, could you have killed them?"

  "Yes," said Ruby. "Several ways came to mind."

  "They attacked you with weapons, attempting to maim or kill you. Why didn't you kill them?"

  Ruby sighed. "You can't kill every bigoted, drunken fool in the world. That would take too much time and energy." The jury laughed.

  At lunch, Beemer signaled Chandra to talk to him. She sent Henry and the kids to lunch, then entered a small conference room to talk to Beemer.

  "One of my clients wants to speak to you, against my advice," said Beemer.

  The prisoner was a far cry from the long-haired, drunken redneck of that night. Michael Davies was clean-shaven in a suit, but he was in leg chains. He had a sandwich and soda in front of him.

  He turned to Beemer. "You're fired. Please leave the room."

  "You fucking ungrateful piece of shit," said Beemer.

  "Counselor," said Chandra. He left. "What can I do for you, Mr. Davies?"

  "I'd like a deal," he said. "I testify against Jeff, and I do a little less time." He held up a hand against the objection she held against her lips. "I know, I beat up a girl a few months from being a kid. Well, I have a daughter. And a wife. My wife divorced me, my daughter won't speak to me, and no one from her side of the family will tell me what's going on. My family --my dad, he's doesn't believe we should pay taxes. Jeff is way more into that shit than me. His dad supports him. He's the swastika-wearing type. Runs a business printing all the white supremacist shit. I don't even have any tattoos, he's got three. 666, a swastika, forgot what the other one is. All hidden under his clothes. All I ask is a year less, maybe two. And get me out of state so I don't have to deal with this guy's family. Some of them are in prison on weapons charges."

  Chandra sat down. "I'll split the difference with you, a year and a half. And you get sent to a federal facility back east." She sat down, got out her cell phone. "I'll get my associate to bring me some lunch. Let's get this done." She looked him in the eyes. "You need representation, Mr. Davies. Do you trust me?" He nodded.

  She made some calls. One was to Henry to tell him to take Alo and Ruby someplace close by, and that she wouldn't be joining them. One to Keith Bosan, a defense attorney she dated on and off, who she knew was in the building. Chandra put a dollar on the table, and Davies hired Keith with it. The deal was struck.

  The trial collapsed on itself as the judge denied splitting the trial, and permitted Keith Bosan, his new lawyer. Bosan sang like the sweetest songbird. The men had been drunk and angry, and Jeff Allen had lost yet another job due to being drunk, late to his shifts, and calling in sick. He deliberately went out to find someone he could "fuck up" that night. The jury took less than an hour to deliberate, and the federal hate crime charges were upheld.

  Both men went to prison for ten years, Davies one less, with no time off for good behavior. Both men were shipped off to facilities far away from Nevada; Davies to protect him from Allen's people, and Allen to put him out of reach of his father's buddies.

  Once the casts came off, the Nighthawks and Valkyries celebrated with a ride. Spring was warming the air. They went to Lake Mead, lit campfires, and talked, sang, and ate well into the night. Ruby went off to spar with her sisters in the Valkyries.

  Alo pulled Skuld aside. "I like Willow. A lot. What do I have to do to win her? Do you have some sort of thing I have to do?"

  Skuld nodded. "Stand up for yourself more. You aren't weak, but you are so easygoing it's easy to lose you, you know?"

  Alo nodded. "Been making money, Skuld. Feed business, some construction with Tito. Going for my bio-chem degree. Organic chemistry's a stone bitch." He smiled. "Been too tired to stand up for myself."

  "Try," said Skuld. "And talk with Thari about physical therapy for your wrist. Don't want you to re-break it when you start training with me. Until then, pool every day. And get some universal weights, from nothing, to way too heavy, and a bench. Get one of the Iron Knights to help you with that."

  Alo jumped up and down on the balls of his feet. "You would train me? Really? That is so cool!"

  "In my copious free time," said Skuld, dryly. "What I do for my sisters." She sighed.

  "Sometimes being overrun is a good thing."

  5

  Opportunities

  "Success breeds success --and new opportunities."

  Saber nursed his near beer and let his eyes wander over the room. Ivy was hippier since having the baby; her breasts larger, but she could still move. She shook it on the edge of the dance floor, and made it up to the plinth with a hand up from the rose-haired dancer. They twisted around each other, and the crowd went wild. The band banged out ZZ Top's Legs, then they slid into Guns N’ Roses songs, and the dancers went wild. Servers turned and whirled, dropping off beer and whiskey at the tables. Ivy danced to Sharp Dressed Man, then hopped off the plinth onto the shoulders of Rooster, their favorite gearhead. He crouched, and Tito took her arm. She jumped down, and went to the band, Tito following like a baby duck with its mama. He handed her up, then Ivy went semi-modern and sang Man, I Feel Like a Woman. The ladies went crazy, and Tito got his wife and her girlfriends out onto the floor, then headed for the bar. He sat next to Saber, and ordered a real beer.

  "Hola," said Saber.

  "Que pasa?" asked Tito. "Where the fuck is your lady?"

  "Gone, for a while now. MIA. Empty bed."

  Tito patted his back. "Quit drinking the near beer, then, asshole," he said. "Bring a cerveza for my friend." They clinked beers, then turned to watch the women dance. "My wife gave us five wonderful children," said Tito. "Still the prettiest fucking woman in the room."

  "Fuckin' A," said Saber.

  "You can look at her if you want," said Tito. "But, she'll kill you if she doesn't like it. My mamacita, she's the most loving fucking person on the planet to one man, to me. But she is the mama bear. Hurt her kids or make her feel bad, she'll cut out your heart out and feed it to you. It's the Aztec blood. Mestiza women are the best," he said.

  "Same with mine," said Saber. "And, I know she might fuck another guy. May have to, in order to stay alive. But, I know she'll make him pay and pay, be in a cold, dark cage if he survives her. Last guy didn't make it. Died on the way to the hospital."

  Tito nodded. "My wife and I talked about an open marriage. Lasted one minute, then she said my balls would be missing the next day. So, I'm a one-woman man."

  "I have enough trouble with one relationship," said Saber. "She's bi, so it might work to get a girlfriend. Keep us both warm when one of us is gone. But, would it be fair to the girl?"

  "You live in a two or three bedroom?" asked Tito.

  "Three," said Saber.

  "Well, then, ask her when she gets back," said Tito.

  "Fuck, man," said Saber, as they watched the girls dance even harder when Ivy switched to Meredith Brooks' Bitch.

  All the ladies on the dance floor were screaming the lyrics. The servers whipped by with beer and shots, and the screaming became deafening as a huge herd of Valkyries entered the room, led by Rota and Skuld. They sang Highway to Hell, and danced until they were covered with sweat.

  Saber's mouth hung open. He closed it, then took a sip of his beer. "I need to get us a girlfriend," he said.

  "Ask your wife to ask a Valkyrie," said Tito. "Gotta be some bi ladies there who need some loving."

  Saber groaned. "I have to wait until she gets back to ask."

  Tito pulled out his phone, sent a message, then put his phone away. They drank, and watched the women dance. A Valkyrie jumped up and san
g Meghan Trainor's All About that Bass, making Ivy laugh. Ivy took the mic back for Pat Benatar's Hit Me with Your Best Shot, and the Valkyries went wild.

  Five minutes later, a woman in sweaty, crimson leather came up to Tito and Saber. She had blue-black hair with the tips dipped in multi-hued purple and silver, a foxine face, tilted black eyes, a flat nose, and golden skin. Her hair was in the tiny braids of a Valkyrie on one side, with silver beads woven into them. She walked like a predator.

  "I'm Sigrun. Sister Skuld says Sister Wraith would enjoy sharing you. Would you be interested?"

  Saber swallowed, then pulled out his phone. There was a text from Wraith. “Yes,” it said, in their code. He put his phone away. "You're willing to share us both?" he said.

  She shrugged. "I hate my roommate. She uses drugs and I don't, and she steals my stuff. I love sex, and I have been interested in Wraith for some time. You're hot. So, why the hell not?" She stood on the bottom rung of the barstool, and kissed him in a way even Wraith had never done.

  He looked into those chocolate eyes. "So, you're moving in tonight?" he said.

  "Sounds fantastic," she said. "Dance first, move later." She kissed him again, waved goodbye, then went back to the dance floor.

  "Dios mio," said Tito.

  "What the fuck did you text to my lady?" asked Saber.

  "Well, fuck," said Tito. He pounded Saber's shoulder. "I just told her what you wanted. I take it she said yes." Saber nodded. "Let's celebrate. Tequila!"

  "Don't have it," said Nina. "Whiskey coming up."

  "Johnny Walker Black," said Saber. "Keep it coming." Nina smirked, and poured the shots. The men downed them, then turned to watch the women dance to Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl.

  The men crowded into the bar three deep, and took their places along the wall, and enjoyed the girl power night. The band rolled with it, even when women took down instruments and started whaling away on guitars and tambourines. They sang, stomped, whirled, whooped, and hollered.

  "To Girl's Night!" said Saber, buying another round. The men cheered, ordered more beer, talked, and settled in to watch the show.