Starting a new story :) Don't worry, any of you who read my other story, The House that Xavier Built. It is still going strong, but I watched Four Brothers the other day and I LOVED it so I started one of these as well. Mostly follows the movie, some variances and a new character. Let me know what ya think! :)
She had just come off the stage when she got the call. The phone rang as she sat at her mirror, wiping the insane amount of make-up off her face with a cool cloth. Flyleaf's "All Around Me" blared out so loudly and suddenly from the rectangularish device that with a squeal she hopped two feet into the air and dropped her cloth onto the floor. With her heart hammering in her chest she looked at the number. No, that couldn't be right. That number hadn't popped up on her caller ID for years now. What the hell could he possibly want after all this time?
Wary and a bit suspicious she touched the green button and said, "Hello?"
All hope that someone else might have gotten the number and that it really wasn't him on the other line fled when that gravelly voice replied, "Hey girl, how you been?" It was an innocent enough question and she might have thought nothing of it if it hadn't been so long since she'd talked to him, but even now she could hear the forced lightness in his voice as well as something one didn't hear from him all that often. Tears clogged the man's throat.
"What do you want Bobby?" she demanded with a weary sigh. Funny, how little it took for him to make her so tired.
"What? No hello? No 'great, how bout you big bro'?" he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I know you, and I know you're not calling just to say hey," she growled into the device. "Just tell me what you need to tell me."
"Fine, have it your way," he said, all humor draining from his voice in an instant. "Ma died yesterday, shot at that little store across from the gym. Funeral's in three days. Show up or don't, it doesn't matter. Just thought I'd let you know." And just like that the line went dead as the world ceased to spin.
A stone cold as ice dropped into her stomach, freezing her from the inside out. She couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't even breathe. Her body was numb as her mind sputtered and whirled. Images danced around in her head, swam before her eyes. Evie, dear, sweet Ms. Evie with her platinum curls and kind blue eyes smiling down at her. Flowers, figures in black, cold stone on a snowy afternoon. A casket.
No, it couldn't be. No! Her mind simply refused to wrap around the concept…refused to put the two together. Ms. Evie and dead. Saying, even thinking the two in the same sentence had to be illegal.
The phone slid from her hand and clattered onto the table, the cover scattering in different directions. It was the noise that finally forced the two parts of that evil sentence together in her head and sent the universe crashing down on top of her. Sure, she hadn't seen the woman in years, but Ms. Evie had given her life long after she'd been sure her soul had deteriorated beyond all hope. She loved Ms. Evie like the momma she never had, and though it had been so long since the two had last spoken, her heart cracked in two as she remembered the last thing she said to her.
"You meant the world to me. Just thought you should know that."
The tears fell like rain that day, as she packed her bags and drove away.
OXOXO
"Been a long time since anybody's seen that face around here," Green murmured to his partner where they were parked just outside the funeral home, watching an old car pull slowly around the corner with a surly, mustachioed face staring out at them with a smirk.
"He must've gotten off for good behavior," Fowler replied sarcastically.
With a glance Green said, "Not likely. That's Bobby Mercer," he opened the rather large manila file folder to the first entry, the same surly looking face staring out at them with the same insolent smirk. "Heavy weight champion fuck up of the family, and that's a well-defended title. Woulda made his daddy proud if he'd ever had one. I used to know him a little. Played hockey with the boy. Got thrown outta sixty-odd games before the league finally had enough of him. They called him the Michigan Mauler." And he looked every bit as menacing as his title, struttin down the sidewalk with the wide-legged stance of the overly confident and overly loud.
"Who's the kid?" asked Fowler, spotting a gangly young man with wild hair and a hand-knitted scarf as he lit a cigarette.
"Ah, that's Jack, the youngest," Green chuckled. "First class fuck up, third class rock star."
"He doesn't look like trouble."
"He's a Mercer. Don't let him fool you." The two watched as Bobby approached young Jack and mussed his hair affectionately. The two turned and disappeared into the house. Green made a thoughtful sound in the back of his throat. "I'd have thought she'd be here…" he murmured to himself.
"Who?" Fowler asked.
"A young woman by the name of Stephany Denèe. Another musician, a rocker. She was Jack's girl for a while, and where he was you could usually find her not far behind. That is, until some kind of falling-out they had a few years ago. She was real close to Evelyn, so I thought she'd be here."
"I don't have a file for her," Fowler said, shuffling through the thick sheaf of paper in his lap.
"Nah, you won't ever see one either. Clean as a whistle, that girl. How she ever got mixed up with a gang like the Mercers, I'll never understand. Wait a minute," he said, leaning forward as the throaty roar of a motorcycle approached from around the corner. The bike whizzed past, sliding gracefully into a parking space. It's rider dismounted and removed her helmet, unleashing a thick mass of platinum hair that stuck out in all directions, managing to look both done and undone at the same time. She turned, and for a moment the two could see her face, pale and smooth with steely gray eyes steadily leaking tears framed by thick dark lashes and smoky makeup. She only stood about a full head shorter than the youngest Mercer, but her hair was level with his nose. "There she is," Green said with a smile as the girl turned and hurried toward the back of the house, ducking her head as she avoided Jack and Bobby clutching her leather jacket closer around her tiny frame.
"And who do we got over here?" Fowler remarked snidely. "Another model citizen, I'm sure." He was eyeing a black man in a black fedora, gossiping with a group of women near the door to the home.
"Nah, actually Jeremiah's alright. He was a rising star of the Union for a while. The man found a cause."
"We got one MIA, I thought you said there were four?"
"Angel? Pretty-boy. Ex-hustler. Soldier. Guess he's a no-show today."
"I don't get it," Fowler exclaimed as the two got out of the car. "If this woman was such a god-damned saint, how'd she end up raising four total fuck-ups?"
"Ms. Evelyn's cycled hundreds of kids out of the foster care system and into permanent homes, and in thirty years she only came across four lost causes. Four delinquents so far gone she couldn't find anyone to take them in, so she did. Trust me, Fowler, these kids are congressmen compared to what they would have been."
OXOXO
Jack followed Bobby through Jerry's house and back out into the snow-covered back yard, where they stood and surveyed the old folks gathered to gossip and socialize after his mother's funeral. Jack felt awkward, and their cavalier attitudes pissed him off. Part of him knew that they weren't really cavalier at all but laughing and gossiping about Evelyn's glory days in an effort to keep from losing it, but that part was tiny and easily silenced. It felt better to be angry right now. The world had done him an injustice, too many injustices, and he was mad at it. So he stood next to his big brother whom he hadn't seen in so long, pressed his lips together and scowled out at the people and pretty pink flower arrangements and fumed. Anger helped keep the tears at bay, and he was tired of crying around Bobby.
But Ma's death wasn't the only thing making his eyes fog up and his throat tight with emotion. It was disappointment too. He'd thought for sure that she would have showed up for Ma's funeral. But then again, he'd thought a lot of things about her that had turned out to be lies. Like when he thought she might actually care enough about him to stick around a while. But she'd turned out to be just like the rest of them. That was the real reason he was disappointed that she wasn't here. He just wanted to tell her off. It wasn't as if he would have wrapped her in his arms without question and whispered in her ear how much he missed her or anything like that. Of course not.
That was when a bright golden flash caught his eye. He turned to peer at the gate around Bobby and his breath caught in his throat. As if his thoughts had somehow conjured her into being, there she was in all of her crazy haired, leather clad glory. Once again he was struck with awe at how someone could look so hard yet so soft at the same time. She was tiny and looked even smaller with her red, tear-streaked face. He'd imagined this moment thousands of times since her departure, but all his preparation fled the moment he caught a glimpse of her gunmetal eyes and he was frozen in place.
"No fucking way," he breathed. Bobby turned and followed his gaze, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Well, shit."
Jack managed to swallow thickly around the lump that was steadily hardening in this throat as the young woman in the leather jacket scanned her surroundings. So far she didn't see anyone she knew. She'd already talked to Jerry and Camille, and she'd seen neither hide nor hair of Bobby or…him. Her eyes roved the backyard and passed over a pair of familiar-looking gentlemen gazing steadily in her direction. Wait a minute…
Her eyes met his and the universe flipped all over again, but this time it went right side up, everything that had gone wrong in her life the past few years settling back into place as she got lost in his eyes. It took everything in her not to sprint across the yard and leap into his arms then and there. The only thing that stopped her was the knowledge that his arms weren't open to her anymore. So she stood there and stared back, hoping she didn't look as awkward as she felt. He certainly did.
Jack stared back at her, wide-eyed and trembling with the effort it took not to fly across the yard into her arms and the sheer, overwhelming joy of seeing her again after all this time. He thought his heart might stop as she took a hesitant step forward.
He was rooted to the spot, unable to move as she slowly came to stand before him, staring up at him as he stared down at her. A fresh wave of tears cascaded down her face as she shoved her hands in her pockets.
"Oh, Jackie," she whispered, and everything he wanted to say to her, all the swearing and raging and anger he imagined he would throw at her vanished, leaving in its place an overwhelming desire for her warmth.
Quick as a flash he reached out and grabbed her, tucking her into his chest and burying his face in the hair on top of her head. After only a moment's hesitation he felt her arms encircle him and her lips peppered his chest with kisses. Between them she murmured to him, "Jackie…I'm so sorry…Please forgive me…I love you…I love you…" He said nothing, only held her tighter. Suddenly his entire, messed up life was alright. With her in his arms, the world clicked into place and he made a vow never to let her go again.
Her face tilted upward and he leaned down to meet her in the barest meeting of lips. He wanted more, and she wanted more, but Bobby chose that moment to be Bobby.
"So you had the balls to show up, did ya?" he growled, shoving her back roughly and fixing her with a glare.
She fixed him with one right back, putting all the heat into it she could possibly manage. Bobby just couldn't hold a candle to the famous Stephany glare and he looked down and away, unable to withstand its intensity. When he looked back at her he was smiling and Steph smiled back.
"Come here," he said, pulling her into a big brother bear hug. "We missed ya, little sister."
While she'd never been adopted by Ms. Evie, the brothers had always thought of her as their little sister and she was glad to see that hadn't changed. "Hey, Bobby. Thanks for the call. I wasn't really mad, just shocked is all."
"I know." He released her and she stepped back into Jack's embrace, breathing in his distinctive scent and trying to convince herself that this was really not a dream. When she stepped away she saw two tiny figures standing alone in the snow. Jerry's little girls.
"Hey, guys!" she said, crouching down next to Jack and Bobby.
"Hey there," he said with that deep, husky voice that made her heart skip a beat. "You must be Daniella." He reached out with his hand and chuckled as the little girl shook it with her left.
"And you must be Amelia!" Bobby said to the dog whose leash Daniella was holding. "Nice dress Amelia!" Steph found herself laughing too. Who knew Bobby was so sweet with kids? The little voice he was using to joke with them was just too much.
Both she and Jack cracked up when the other little girl said indignantly in an even sweeter voice, "I'm Amelia!"
"I know," Bobby crooned. "You guys probably don't remember us, but I'm your uncle Bobby, the pretty one is Stephany and this is Cracker Jack!"
"Don't teach them that, man," Jack protested with a glare in Bobby's direction.
"Come on Jackie, it's cute!" Stephany said with a chuckle, then held her hands up in submission when he turned the glare on her instead, though the grin never left her face.
"You're not my uncles, you're white," Daniella said, brows scrunched together in confusion.
"Momma Evie's white," sweet little Amelia reasoned.
"Yeah, we're a different kind of uncle. Your grandma, she adopted me and Uncle Jack like she did your daddy," Bobby said, but the girls weren't listening anymore.
"You're a policeman!" Amelia exclaimed. The three turned to see Green and some sour-faced white guy with a huge nose striding through the gate.
"You're so smart!" Bobby said before standing along with Jack and Stephany.
"Ya'll are all under arrest so don't nobody move!" Green said, coming to stand in front of Bobby. Stephany's hand found Jack's and gripped it tightly. Though Green was an old friend, cops around the Mercers had always made her nervous. The two parties just didn't mesh well. "Hey, where ya'll goin?" Green said as the girls took off into the house, giggling all the way.
"What about me, Green? You gonna arrest me too?" Bobby asked.
"Well, that depends, Bobby. You keepin straight?"
"Straightish."
Jack glanced down at Stephany and rubbed their hands together to get some warmth back into them. Stephany's gloves actually had fingers on them so they were toasty, but she knew from the sting on her cheeks that his exposed ones would be about numb by now. Never taking her eyes off of Green, she took his hands and sandwiched them between her own, rubbing back and forth vigorously as she breathed on them.
"I know man," Green said, pulling Bobby into a one armed man hug before turning to Jack.
"Jack."
"Green."
"Sorry about your mom, brother. Give me some love." Jack got the same little half-hug, but when Green turned to Stephany she wrapped him up tight with both arms. She'd never been one for half-gestures, but she had been one for affection.
"Hey, Steph. How you been?"
"Better now, Green. Better now," she said with a genuine smile. Green had always been a good friend of hers and she really was glad to see him again.
"Well, I'm glad. What've you been up to lately?" Green asked. She saw Jack perk up out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help but grin.
"Maybe I'll tell ya sometime,"
"I'd like to hear it." Green smiled back at her and she felt Jack bristling beside her. She slipped an arm around his waist and sighed with pleasure as he tucked her in close under his arm.
"Thanks for coming, Green," Bobby said. "Ma would've been happy you made it to the service."
"Your mom would have been happy you made it back for her funeral," Green retorted.
"I didn't come back for no funeral," Bobby said softly. As cold as it was, the temperature dropped a good ten degrees, and Stephany sighed again, this time in exasperation. Bobby hadn't changed. She foresaw a whole mess of trouble for the Mercer family in the near future.
Green looked at the stern man next to him who practically scolded, "Thanks for the offer, but we've got it under control." The whole time the four had been chatting and exchanging hugs, he'd been standing there and watching with this cold, calculating stare that was totally devoid of emotion. He reminded Stephany of a hawk, and though she usually adored hawks, this one gave her the creeps.
Apparently he rubbed Bobby the wrong way too. "Yeah, I know. I could tell by the looks of things when I drove in. The place looks completely different. Detroit's finest cleaned it up, huh?" His voice positively dripped with sarcasm. Stephany hung her head in exasperation and sighed yet again. This was all they needed, to start a war in the middle of Ms. Evie's farewell. She could only imagine the disapproving look the woman would be giving her son right now.
"Hey, be easy Bobby, we got these punks. A kid playing basketball across the street witnessed two gangbangers running in there and shooting up the place."
"Green, I used to make a good living around here cuz cops like you couldn't find tits in a strip joint." Bobby was getting ugly now, and while Stephany's head just fell lower, Jack was trying really hard not to laugh. "So why don't you just come inside, have you some coffee and donuts and then take your boy and get the fuck out of here, ok? Come on," he said, nudging Jack who was really laughing now. The two men turned and walked back inside, leaving Stephany standing out in the cold with the cops, her eyes closed and her forehead resting on her fingertips. She looked up at Green, shaking her head and holding her hands out in apology.
"I'm so sorry Green," she said.
"Yeah, I know Steph," the officer replied, more amused than anything. "Charming guy," he muttered to his partner as the three followed Bobby and Jack inside.
"Has anybody seen Angel?" Stephany asked with a gentle hand on Jack's back.
"Nah," he muttered, shaking his head. He glanced down at her, suddenly not satisfied with such a light touch anymore, so he grabbed her and crushed her to him, knotting his fingers in her hair and resting his chin on top of her head. His stomach began to flutter the way it did when he was fifteen as she squeezed him just as desperately and molded her body to his as if were made for that purpose.
"I'm so mad at you right now. I want to hate you," he murmured for her ears alone. In that voice she heard a thickness that betrayed the true depth of his emotions. She knew because they echoed her own. That same voice that had the power to make her melt with delicious heat, at that moment froze her heart over and then hit it with a hammer.
"I'm so sorry, Jackie," she whispered and was disgusted with the way her voice broke like a child begging for forgiveness. But wasn't that what she was? "I can't ask you to forgive me. I can't ask you to let me back into your life just like that, or at all, so I won't. I'm not going to ask, I'm just going to let you judge me as you will and I'll take what I deserve." About halfway through the tears started to flow freely again as she surrendered her fate to the man whose heart she broke. She seemed to know what he was going to say before he said it.
Pulling back to look her in the eye he said, "Good, because I can't."
Though she was expecting it, she couldn't say it didn't hurt like hell. Just like that, both the people she cared about more than anything in the world were ripped away from her, leaving her raw and bleeding from wounds that would never fully heal.
She dropped her arms down to her sides and stepped out of his reach, eyes fixed firmly on the floor. "Ok. Sorry, Jackie." A whisper was all she could manage without opening the floodgates. She glanced up at him one last time before turning and heading back out the door. She didn't realize he'd followed her out until a rough hand grabbed her arm and spun her around and he was there.
"Wait, I'm not finished yet," he practically growled. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.
"Well, could ya hurry it up? I guess I've got a plane to catch," she choked out around the dam of unshed tears building inside her throat.
"I can't just forgive you," he said, suddenly looking rather awkward.
"You said that already," Stephany snapped, anger boiling inside her like a warm balm for her freezing wounds.
"But," he sighed heavily. Jack Mercer had never been the best at expressing himself, particularly when it came to relationship stuff. He just wasn't the relationship type, and Stephany'd tried to change that about him for years. She was beginning to understand that Jack just didn't have room in his life for someone else. Which is why the next words out of his mouth shocked her to the core. "But I can't just let you walk away again either. I don't think I would make it. Will you come home, Steph?" This time it was his turn for a cracking voice and a single manly tear fell from his eye. He gazed at her with those baby blues, so open and vulnerable. That alone had her convinced. Jack Mercer was vulnerable to no one, but here he was, pouring out his soul for Stephany to see.
There was only one possible answer.
"Of course, Jackie."