I think you will all like this chapter, also I don't know what's with all the Alice Cooper, I think Mac is a fan though.

******"Some folks love to see red some folks never talk about it.
Some folks crave a blue lady some folks know and still, they doubt it.
I'm just no good without it I'm not a man at all it makes my skin crawl.
Baby baby come on and save me save me my my baby baby come on and save me now."******

Some Folks by Alice Cooper

Regina sat down next to Julie at a table out in front of the bar when she came in for her shift later that week. It was sunny out and the afternoon was one of those rare times when no one was around and they could talk. Usually, Devon was around or Mac, but today it was just them and it was time for some much needed girl talk. Regina was close with her now, when Michael was born and Mac went to jail, his family came through for Julie. Now they were all pissed at him for the way he was acting.

The only one on his side was Izzy, who casually kept mentioning to Julie to follow her heart. She wasn't pressuring her niece exactly, just reminding her that sometimes things weren't what they seemed. That was always a saying of Izzy's, from the time that Julie was little. Izzy had a gypsy soul and she accepted people just the way that they were. "Follow your heart, Julie," She would say "It knows what you need."

She had raised Julie with these free spirit beliefs but Julie couldn't embrace them completely. Her heart was not to be trusted in her opinion, and she was sure she should do the opposite of follow it. Following her heart to this man was asking for trouble, the week before she had almost fucked him in the alley behind the bar. Now, he was showing up with other women again, throwing money around and making sure she saw it. He even had the nerve to ask her for her old college roommates phone number. Shelly would fuck him in a New York minute and they both knew it, needless to say, Julie didn't give him her number.

"My brother is a huge asshole again," Regina said to Julie, "All that change got flushed right down the toilet didn't it?"

Julie nodded, "What did you expect Gina?"

"I don't know what I thought he would be like now," She said with a shake of her head, " Dad's mad," Regina said solemnly.

"Why?" Julie asked.

"Mac said he's going to sue you for custody if you get married." She answered, "He's afraid you'll take Michael away."

That had been what Jack wanted to do, to take them with him to travel the world, but she had been dragging her feet over that for a long time; they weren't going anywhere.

Julie started laughing a laugh that Gina hadn't heard since Mac blew back into town. He was out of his mind, they would take one look at him and laugh him out of court.

"I'm glad you're taking this so well." Gina laughed along with her.

"He's out of his mind," She laughed again.

"Well, of course, he is," Gina said, "You're involved."

"Can I have a cigarette?" Julie held out her hand and Regina gave her one and her lighter. They sat together smoking and watching the sun go down before the bar filled up with the locals and the dregs of society that were passing through that night. Night time was when the rougher crowd came along but Walter was always there to make sure the place didn't get out of hand. The early afternoon was the best time, it was slower after the lunch rush and they could actually talk about things.

"Can I ask you something, Julie?" Gina said finally.

"Sure," Julie lit another cigarette and took a long drag. This sounded like a two cigarette question.

"Will you tell me the absolute truth?"

"...yes." Julie hesitated but agreed.

Regina hesitated, she didn't want to make Julie mad, but this was a question she needed an answer to. She had heard Julie yell at Mac the other day. Hell, the whole town heard it. They loved each other, it was obvious to anyone that saw them together. How was she still with Jack?

"Do you love Jack, I mean really love him?" Regina hesitated and then just decided to go for it.

Julie thought about that question, what was love anyway, a road to pain as far as she was concerned. In the end, it was always her, alone and miserable if she was with Mac. At least with Jack, she knew he would never act like a dick just because he didn't know what else to do. Jack was stable.

Mac was unstable and a drug addict, not a good risk, but she had lost her head and told Mac she loved him, she didn't want to. It was never going to work for them, sometimes love wasn't enough.

"Gina what Mac and I had was," She answered, "It was two people trying to make a relationship over an accidental pregnancy that's all."

That was a big lie and they both knew it.

"I don't remember it that way..." Gina answered, "He was a better man when he was with you."

Julie nodded, "Yes..."

"If it was different you'd be with him now, not Jack," Gina said cautiously and she knew it was true, so did Julie. Julie gave a slight nod to her head.

"But I can't keep him in line, it's not my job G, Michael is my job." Julie, replied, "I don't have the time or the energy to get into it with him again, I just don't."

"Can you spend the rest of your life without passion though, without fire in your life, isn't that what makes life worth living." She asked, "I mean I saw the way you two were the other day, we all heard you..." Regina said with a blush, the back wall of the alley was wood, there was no way to mistake what was going on out there.

"Yeah but the thing about fire is it burns too," She flicked the ash off her cigarette and took another drag, "Fire is overrated, and chemistry doesn't pay the bills."

"So, no fire with Jack?"

"Jack is a good man and he loves Michael and I..."

She turned to see that Mac had just pulled up, he made no effort to avoid her gaze. As he got out of his truck, he walked past, sneering at both of them he went inside the bar to plant himself for the night as usual. He was not taking no for an answer and he was definitely not a good man.

"You belong to me, you hear me, Julie." And she just rolled her eyes, "You're mine Julie, you understand? You are mine." He yelled across the parking lot as if anyone didn't already know he had re-staked his claim on her, "And don't you forget it!"

Regina just flicked her cigarette and shook her head, her brother gave fuck all about what people thought, that much was clear. He ripped open the door and was about to walk inside when he heard her yell back.

"Why don't you go tell that to one of your whores!" She yelled back, he got under her skin like no one else could.

"Jealous much?" He returned as he went inside, and the sad thing was, she was.

********"Some folks love to feel pain some folks wake up every morning.
Some folks live for no reason some folks die without a warning.
I'm just no good without it I'm not a man at all it makes my skin crawl."********

/

"You've changed," Gina said to Mac later that day as she served him drinks at what had now become 'his table', "You used to be halfway human and you used to care about things, what happened?"

"Yeah I did, I cared a fucking lot. That woman is what happened to me, your friend, your friend fucked me up real good sister," Mac raged back, "I lost my family, I lost everything."

"You went to jail because you broke the law," Regina reminded.

"Yeah, all because of a busted tail light," Mac hissed, "Ten more minutes and I would have been home free, ten more minutes! But nope that's not how my shit goes."

"Listen, did you forget who you're talking to? I know you, and furthermore, you are a convicted felon and that is the fact. Did you forget that too ?" Gina answered, "Why should she trust you again? Tell me why?"

He turned and glared at his sister and if looks could kill. He was wallowing in self pity, he knew that everyone had told him so. But that was the way of the addict, it was never their fault and everyone else had the problem. Until he was ready to admit that he was a lost cause.

"She loves you," Gina said suddenly and motioned over to Julie who was behind the bar pouring drinks for a couple of regulars, "I know she does, somehow you two have to work this out."

"She's sure got a shit way of showing it."

Regina snatched the drink from his hand, she had heard enough.

"What the fuck are you doing!"

" You are now flagged, it's time you showed her you can change, starting with this," She turned to leave, then turned back, "Oh, and lay off the crank too and maybe things will go your way for a change."

"Fuckin doubt it," Mac huffed back at her.

"Give it a try brother, what do you have to lose, to hear you tell it you already lost everything."

"I love her crazy it think, Regina; doesn't mean we can be together though."

/

*******"Baby baby come on and save me save me my my baby baby come on and save me save me My my baby come on and save me now."*********

Julie waited in her car outside the school for Michael to come out and she smiled when she saw his little head bobbing through the crowd of kids. In his hand, he had a picture that he was obviously very proud of. Sometimes before Mac came back Walter would pick him up and just take him to the bar. The afternoons were dead and they didn't even start serving alcohol until after seven at night. The lunch crowd wasn't rough at all, and Walter and Michael would play in his office, color or read.

Now Julie was picking him up every day and taking him home to Izzy, where they would do his homework before Julie went to work. It was an arrangement that was working for now but couldn't be forever. She always intended to finish school, but that hadn't been in the cards for her. Time with her son was more important now, she had been both mother and father to him for five years. Maybe when he was older she could go back to school, it was a nice dream to think of.

"Hey kiddo," She got out of the car and helped him into his booster seat in the back of her jeep, "What's this?" She asked as he handed her the picture he had drawn of three stick figures, two larger ones both holding either hand of a smaller figure.

"It's you, me and Mac, I mean..."

"It's ok to call him Daddy," She kissed his cheek as she fastened him into the car seat in the back, "You call him that if you want to."

Lately, Mac had been looking better, like he was eating some and not staying up all night doing crystal or whatever it was he was into at the moment. Julie was watching that closely for just this reason.

"I do," He answered as she got into the front seat.

"Then you should." She said as they pulled away.

"Mommy," Michael called from the back seat.

"Yeah boo,"

"Do you think he can come for dinner sometime?" And Julie smiled at her sweet boy. He didn't know the mixed up situation between his parents, all he knew was his father was back in town and he wanted to be with him.

"Sure..." She answered, what else could she say really. They drove in silence for a few miles and, then she pulled over on the side of the road and got out of the car, "I'll just be a minute boo."

As she leaned against the car and dialed the number, she felt good about this. She wasn't letting her feelings cloud what she knew was the right thing to do. But she was also being smart about it, with Mac you had to be smart about things.

When he answered she swallowed her pride and everything else down for her son, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Hey," Mac laughed as he lit a cigarette, "You change your mind about that ride on the Mac Garcia Scream machine...?"

"No," She laughed, "That's not why I'm calling. Are you high right now, tell me the truth?"

"Does it sound like it?" He answered and she could tell he was sober, for the moment.

"Be ready in fifteen minutes you're coming to dinner with Michael and me."

"Are you high?" Mac laughed, this phone call was not what he expected, especially after the scene in the alley behind the bar. Julie had barely talked to him after that.

"See you in fifteen minutes."

Mac had showered and changed by the time they arrived and was sitting on the steps of his house. He stood when they pulled up, walked over, gave a pleasant greeting to Julie as if they hadn't been at each other's throats for weeks and got in the car. It was clear that Michael was happy to see him and Mac was happy to see him too.

He didn't even insist she let him drive the way he would have before, change was slow, but it was happening. Ordinarily, they would have argued and he would have just demanded her keys and not moved until he got his way.

It was a forty-minute drive to the nearest larger town and they stopped at Mc Donald's and sat outside at a table for three for two hours. That was where Julie learned that the reason Michael dipped his fries in chocolate shakes since he was little was because Mac did the same thing.

So gross. But what wasn't gross was watching the two of them, they were so alike, had the same smile and mannerisms, and Julie knew she had done the right thing.

Things weren't perfect but it was a start, from that night on they all went to McDonald's every Tuesday night together as a family. Mac was not high during those times and they actually enjoyed each other's company. Maybe after this was all said and done they could be friends, she told him straight up nothing further was happening and he'd accepted that.

That was ok with him, for now, because sometimes, on Tuesday nights, when they were eating cheeseburgers together with their son as the sun went down, Mac would look at her in the dying light of the day and he could swear she glowed.

******"Baby baby come on and save me save me my my baby baby come on and save me save me My my baby come on and save me now."*****