Hey everyone. I'm back thankfully. I do attempt to at least update every month but now since the summer is nearing I should be able to update more and hopefully wrap it up. Well here is the next chapter. It's based on Augustana's "Hey Now" which I do not own along with the Donnellys. Enjoy and Review!
"Hey Now"
Sky black and blue
Blue turned to red
It's quiet in the streets now
It's screaming in your head
I ain't a fool
I've got my doubts
Say it doesn't hurt
Doesn't matter anyhow
Anyhow
Saying hey you're bleeding for nothing
It's hard to breathe when you're standing on your own
We'll kill ourself to find freedom
You'll kill yourself to find anything at all
So lock all the doors
And put your child to rest
It's quiet in the streets now
It's screaming in your head
We're passing the time
We're breaking apart
We're damned at the end
We're damned at the start
Blame it on the roses
Blame it on the red
Running out of time
Running out of breath
Saying hey now you're bleeding for nothing
It's hard to breathe when you're standing on your own
We'll kill ourself to find freedom
You'll kill yourself to find anything
You say good-bye
Every day and night
With writing on the walls
Everybody's gonna need somebody
To take our troubles, and our worries, and our problems all away
'Cause, hey you're just bleeding for nothing
It's hard to breathe when you're standing on your own
We'll kill ourself to find freedom
You'll kill yourself to find anything at all
Hey now you're bleeding for nothing
It's hard to breathe when you're standing on your own
We'll kill ourself to find freedom
You'll kill yourself before
You'll kill yourself again
Hey now, hey now, hey now
Right now
Hey now, hey now, hey now
Right now
Hey now, hey now, hey now
Right now
Hey now, hey now
Joey waited patiently for her return. She said she would be back. The gate opened and his therapist walked through. Joey sighed and as the therapist sat down.
"Joey, let's take it from the top." He said.
"Well, Bebe thought she should make amends…" Joey started.
I stepped into the mahogany office. It was neat and perfect. My brother was always a neat freak. Some photos lined the wall. One in particular caught my eye. Daniel with his long black hair and his boyish face while I stood next to him grinning toothless with my long red hair. We looked so happy. I remember the day our mother took that. It was the same day that Jimmy's leg had gotten run over. In the back of the photo you can even see the half-moon ride. Those days used to be the greatest times of our lives now we have to fight to find good days. The door slammed open. My brother came through reading a folder.
"Alicia, can you get me the…" His voice trailed off as soon as his eyes hit me. He slammed the folder shut. "I thought you realized when you hit me the meeting was cancelled." I noticed that his eyes and his lips were only slightly bruised. He looked better than me. I was wearing more makeup than a drag queen does.
"Makeup?" I asked. He nodded and sat down at his desk. His wife Annie must have given him some to hide the extreme bruising that I had done with my fists. "Look Daniel, I'm not going to apologize for what I did last night. Frankly, I think you deserved it. All I want to say is I hope we can put this behind us. I need this to be put behind us." He just gave me a cold stare.
"What do you want Bridgette?" His voice was even cold. What the hell had happened to my brother? He used to be so warm and sweet. He used to be the one I ran to in my time of need. We used to be so close. He used to be my brother.
"I need you to sell me a block of the two block radius you and Jack Trevor have." His jaw dropped.
"How the hell did you know about that?" He was standing and he was turning red. I must have said something that pissed him off.
"I have my ways. Sell it to me and I will never bother you again." His normal color came back and he sat down. He threw his head in his hands.
"What do you want with it?" He mumbled.
"Just sell me the block, please. As my brother do this for me or we'll have to let the board decide." He growled.
"You're not taking this to the board. It's not that easy, Bridgette. I just can't break a deal because you mysteriously need a block." I could sense fear in his tone. It's something I hadn't heard in a long time.
"You pretty much run and own the company."
"I run it but I don't own it completely so I can't just make rash decisions."
"I'm begging you, Daniel. Do this one thing for me." I could see I was slowly persuading him.
"I'll see what I can do but you need to know what you're getting into." There was concern in his voice which scared me. He started to rummage through his desk. He passed me a file. "Read it carefully and notice all the signatures attached to it." I nodded.
"I know who's attached and I know this is a dangerous game but we're ready." He sighed defeated.
"I'll message you over papers tomorrow. You'll need copies and everyone needs to sign the original and I mean everyone."
"Daniel, thank you. I know we don't always get along but I still care for you and the girls." He nodded. I went to walk out but he stood up and stopped me.
"Please be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. Have those boys protect you." I smiled at him because he was acknowledging the Donnelly's.
"I will." I had my hand on the doorknob.
"And Bridgette I'm sorry." I turned around and smiled at him. He reached in and embraced me. Holding on to me for a few seconds.
"We're brother and sister it would be unnatural if we didn't fight. Just next time don't call my ex-fiancée." He let go of me and chuckled. I walked out the door smiling to myself. We were going to be ok.
"Daniel!" Bebe screamed out in the middle of the night. Daniel rushed over to her bed and held her while she cried.
"Bebe, what's wrong?" She continued to sob into his flannel pajamas.
"I had a dream about daddy." She whispered. Daniel picked her up and brought her to sleep in his bed. She rested her head on his shoulder and she went into a peaceful sleep with her brother next to her.
Those memories were always going to be cherished.
I needed normalcy for a little while. So I went back to work. The diner was absolutely silent except for the sound of the radio playing The Rolling Stones. Jenny looked up as I walked through the door.
"You look pretty good for someone who just got in a brawl." She said sarcastically. I looked at myself in the mirror behind the counter. My eyes were swollen and my lip was fat. I grimaced. I thought my knuckles were bad.
"I just saw my brother." She turned and gave me a look. "We both apologized."
"For hitting a girl." She said under her breath.
"I know my brother's a dick. At least I didn't date him." Jenny grabbed a piece of bread and threw it at my head. I stuck my tongue out at her and she smirked.
Jenny and Bebe laughed as Mrs. Reilly attempted to teach them to make Boxy.
"Ok, first you start by peeling the potatoes." Mrs. Reilly said demonstrating the process. Bebe grabbed a handful of potatoes and attempted to peel them. Jenny did the same. Both of them failed the process. Jenny grabbed a handful of them and chucked them at Bebe's head. She almost doubled over with laughter and grabbed a handful and chucked it at Jenny. Mrs. Reilly rolled her eyes as the two girls continued in there potatoes war. The finally stopped when both of them fell to floor with laughter.
Jenny and I sat at the counter laughing about stupid things we had done in our past. All the broken bones, scars, boyfriends, and school. It was the first time since I've gotten back that Jenny and I could sit around and to not worry about anything. We reminisced about all the times we would save the boys asses.
I sat down next to Jenny in the school yard. She was all alone because the Tommy, Kevin, and Sean were being reprimanded by a teacher because they had been fighting with some kids.
"How do you think we can get them out of this one?" Jenny asked. Bebe smiled at her than Bebe started to cry. She got the teachers attention right away. She ran over as Jenny pretended to comfort her.
"What happened?" The teacher asked Jenny.
"Those boys…" Jenny pointed to the one's the Donnelly's were fighting with. "…were picking on her. So these boys stepped in to help her now she feels bad for getting them in trouble." The teacher nodded and looked at the boys.
"Just do me a favor and come to me if this happens again. Detention is not necessary this time. Now all of you go along and play." The all nodded while Jenny held onto Bebe's hand. The teacher went to go reprimand the other kids. When she was out of sight Bebe let go of Jenny and wiped her tears. For a seven year old she wasn't a bad actress. She and Jenny gave each other a high five while all the boys watched in astonishment. They were the best tag team anyone has ever seen.
Jenny and I split a piece of cheesecake waiting for the next customer to come in.
"Do you think we would be this close if it wasn't for the boys?" I said jokingly. Jenny chuckled and nodded her head.
"You're the only girl I can stand to be around in this neighborhood." I laughed. Out of all the women in this neighborhood we were the most down to earth. And we were really tomboys. We didn't have time for all the womanly bullshit and it was no surprise our mothers were friends. I heard the bell chime and I turned to see who it was. Tommy, Jimmy, and Joey walked through. I was slightly disappointed Kevin wasn't there. I jumped up waiting for an answer to the question I posed all night. Where in the world was Kevin? Tommy walked toward me and rubbed my arm gently. Kevin was fine, probably sleeping off his drunkenness. He walked past me and kissed Jen. I turned toward Jimmy and Joey.
"Do you guys want anything?" I asked.
"A cheeseburger, extra pickles and bacon with fries." Jimmy said happily. "I haven't had a burger in three months." I smiled and looked towards Joey.
"Nothing."
"You sure?" He looked around the diner.
"How about some cake?" I nodded and went to get them food. I walked behind the counter when another bell chimed.
"Bridgette?" I swirled around to see Kevin leaning against the counter in front of me. His eyes were bloodshot but his smile was unmistakable. Something had to happen last night. He leaned over the counter and gripped at my neck. His blue eyes connected with mine and I felt those old butterflies come up in my stomach. He leaned in closer and caught my lips. My hands slid into his mass of curly hair. This was worth any pain I had in my lips. I felt Kevin clamp his arms around my wrists and pull them out of his hair. I was slightly disappointed when he pulled away but I knew he did it because his brothers were around. He didn't break our eye contact though.
"What the hell got into you?" Jimmy said behind us. Kevin broke out of his stare and sat down in front of me. I just leaned against the counter trying to keep myself balanced since that kiss left me dizzy. I looked at Kevin who was licking his lips. I gripped onto the counter a little tighter.
"Is it so bad if I kiss my girl?" Kevin said. I felt my cheeks get a bit red. He never referred to me as a girl before.
"Aw, she's embarrassed." Joey said. Jimmy slapped him in the head.
"Ow, did you have to do that?" Joey asked.
"You have to learn to shut your mouth." Jimmy snapped. A cell phone began to ring but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Tommy reached into his pocket and grabbed it out of his pocket. Jenny just held onto his hand refusing to let go.
"Hello?-Yeah- we'll deal with it tomorrow. Just get the money." He slammed the phone shut than looked at Jimmy. "Jimmy, I need you to make a pickup." He grabbed a napkin and jotted down an address. He then handed it to Jimmy. "Don't do anything stupid." Jimmy laughed it off and stood up.
"Joey, let's go." Joey followed him out like a sad puppy dog. When they were gone I turned to Tommy.
"What was that all about?" I inquired. He pinched the bridge of his nose. I laughed inwardly because Tommy only did that when he was really frustrated.
"I let you in on the Nicky deal other than that it's my problem and don't bother trying to get it out of Kevin." I just rolled my eyes and looked at Kevin.
"How about you stick up for your girlfriend?" He just shrugged. "Oh, who said chivalry is dead?" Jenny laughed lightly. She stood up and walked into her hallway.
"I'm going upstairs. Bridgette, close up and go home. You look horrible." She said walking up the stairs. Ever since her father went to the hospital Jenny has been taking more time off from the diner. Her pregnancy and the extra income of money had made it easier for her to do so. I can't really complain.
"Thanks Jen!" Tommy smiled and followed her up. "Kevin, shall we go to my place?" Kevin smiled sexily and I felt my heart melt a little. I leaned in closer to him. "Is sleeping with me going to make you feel better?" I knew I was going to ruin the mood but it had to be addressed. He pulled away and I could see his attitude developing.
"Is it so bad I wanna have sex with my girl?" I rolled my eyes at him.
"You sleep with me every time you're jealous. It's like a territory thing." He let out a low growl. "Grow up and tell me what happened last night?" He looked dead at me trying to make me break my stare. I knew he was standing his ground.
"Nothing. He was gone before I could kick his ass." I rolled my eyes yet again. Something I've been doing a lot more often being with Kevin.
"Can't you just let things go?" He shook his head. "Stupid Irish men." He leaned in closer grasped my hair again. His lips locked with mine again lips. It was a strong and powerful kiss. Almost like the one last night. It was demanding of me to stay with him. He pulled away and licked his lips again causing my knees to go weak. Kevin was the only person who ever had that affect on me.
"Can we please get out of here?" He begged. I nodded and started to wipe up the counter. He started to fiddle around impatiently like a five year old. It got really annoying after a few minutes so I turned around.
"Go to my house and wait. I'll be there in half an hour and I have to stop by the bar." He leaned in again and kissed me hungrily again. It was an incentive to make me close up faster.
"Don't be late." I smiled as he walked out the door. Even after all this time Kevin still made me feel like Jell-O. Wow, did I really just refer to my feeling as Jell-O?
I locked up and made my way to the bar. The night before Jimmy asked me to look over the books so everything looked legal. I had to go pick them up before I forget. I decided to not take my car and just walk it would be easier than finding parking in this damn neighborhood. I made my way through the streets walking as fast as I could. I didn't want to keep Kevin waiting or even myself waiting for Kevin's touch. I walked to the alleyway and noticed I wasn't the only on there. A few Irish Mafioso's stood before me. My feet planted firmly on the ground and I lost all sense to run. My back was suddenly pinned to the wall and two hands formed around my throat. My breathing became shallow. Was this the way I was to die?
"Joey, what did I miss?" Maureen ran sitting at her position outside the cell. The therapist rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Maybe, you should be his therapist. So he can give you a straight answer." The therapist walked out leaving them alone. Joey just smiled at Maureen and went to retell his story.