AN: As always, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. The motivation is very much appreciated and I hope that you all continue to enjoy the story. This chapter was going to have some 'Oo La La!' material in it, but since it started to run long I decided to save it for the next chapter. I suppose that's a warm-up warning for anyone who feels uncomfortable with adult situations;-)
Sofi had taken a hike by the time the weekend rolled around. She asked Angel to move in with her over at her sister's apartment. Even though he's pussy whipped he finally worked up the balls to tell her 'no.'
The thing Sofi can never seem to understand is that it doesn't matter how much we argue, Angel looks up to me almost as much as Jack does. More so, even, in some regards. When I bully people, Jack will try to stand up to me if he thinks I've gone too far. He makes the attempt when things get too hot to handle. Angel won't. Angel likes being tough shit and it got him kicked out of plenty of foster homes before mom adopted him. He only made it as a Mercer because from moment Angel met me, he had to redefine his definition of tough. He realized I had plenty to teach him about survival, and he became my most avid student.
If only one brother of mine stood next to me in a fight against unbeatable odds, I'd always choose Angel over Jack or Jerry because I know he'll stay right in there with me to the end without thinking about it.
Jack and Ang both respect me, both look up to me. I'm about the only person in the world that neither of them can say 'no' to forever. On any subject, it's only a matter of time before I get what I want out of them. If I want Jackie to quit smoking, it'll happen. If I want La Vida Loca out of my house, eventually it'll happen. End of story.
Besides, Angie-boy probably figured I'd kill him if he left me to take care of Jack on my own—and he was right about that much.
Tonia arrived right on time Sunday night. The second the doorbell rang Angel and I both sprinted out of the living room, racing to reach the door first. Why? I don't know. He probably just did it to piss me off... Aggravating son of a bitch...
I got there first, but he used all his weight to slam me out of the way. In the end Tonia let herself in, finding me and Angel wrestling on the floor of the entryway. Him with the momentary advantage.
"Hello, Mercers," she chuckled, carefully stepping over the two of us and carrying whatever parcels she'd brought with her to the kitchen.
Neither of us paused long enough to return her greeting.
"Jack, I brought your favorite!" she shouted.
"Steak!" he yelled back hopefully from the couch.
"No, silly! My mom's chocolate pie."
"That outta help with your hormones, Fairy!" I called, right before Angel's elbow collided with my face during our struggle. We both froze, realizing the game was over.
"Ah, shit," he said, looking down at me. "Dude, I didn't mean that."
"What, am I bleedin'?" I asked, touching my lip.
"Just a little," he said, hauling his heavy ass off of me and pulling me to my feet. He smacked me on the back and we headed for the food. "Fortunately for me, my big brother can take a punch."
"I think you knocked my tooth loose."
"A fake one or a real one?" he asked, splitting off from our shared path to enter the living room.
"Fake," I said, using my tongue to wiggle it. The tooth only moved fractionally, so I could've imagined it. For the most part it felt pretty secure in my jaw.
I walked over to where Tonia stood next to the counter, unpacking various goodies out of her grocery bags. "Hey, baby. Can you tell me if you think my K-9 just got knocked loose?"
She craned her neck to look in my mouth, using her fingers to gently wiggle the tooth I indicated. "That one of the teeth you lost when that guy head butted you in the mouth with his helmet?"
"Yesh," I said, her fingers still in my mouth.
She snickered at the memory, her pale lips curving up a little more on one side than on the other. "You know, honey, they invented mouth guards for a reason," she reminded, about ten years too late.
"See, I told you Bobby's got a girlfriend," Angel announced, half carrying Jack over to the table from the living room.
Baby brother grinned. "Look, Angel. She's already got him eating out of the palm of her hand."
They pretended to sigh in a chorus of, "Aww."
I probably would've murdered them both on the spot, but it was hard to concentrate on something so mundane with Tonia's arm winding around my neck. She dragged me over to the sink and made me bend over so she could scoop warm water from the faucet into her hand and use it to clean my lip.
"I think your baby needs a band-aid for his booboo," Angel commented, walking over to lean against the counter and watch Tonia wash the blood out of my mouth. He'd picked up the last banana off the table and peeled it while enjoying the spectacle, taking a big bite.
"I knew you were a cocksucker," I said the first chance I got, indicating the fruit in his hand.
The headlock Ton had on me noticeably tightened and I noticed she had a sudsy washcloth in her free hand. "Now let's see, how old were you the first time I saw your mother clean out your mouth with this rag, Bobby?"
I immediately pulled away from her, putting several feet of distance between me and that washcloth. She smiled just a little at my reaction. I pointed at her, leveling my gaze. "That's not funny," I said.
Angel smacked his thigh and roared with laughter.
Jack got going pretty good himself, triggering a short coughing fit. Before he finished coughing he started talking, grinning in spite of his drained color and bloodshot eyes. Over time we'd all gotten used to the fits. I hardly noticed them anymore. "Shit, are you serious? Mom actually stuffed that thing in Bobby's mouth?"
"Hell, yeah, she did! She got him good a few times too. God, it was hilarious. Too bad it was before your time, Jackie. Believe me, you never saw that woman mad in your life. She was never strict with you like she was with Bobby. Big brother ate more than his share of soap as a child. Damn but did he need it, though!"
I glared at Angel, wondering for a moment if I should cut him down verbally or physically.
"Food's on in five, gentlemen. If you would kindly set the table for a lady, I'm sure I'd appreciate it," Tonia interrupted, gracefully ending our impending argument and taking the chicken out of the oven at the same time. She still knew exactly which drawer we kept the hot pad holders in. I'm not even sure I know where we keep them. "Ooo, who learned to cook? You guys did a nice job on this."
Realizing that my opportunity to strike back had evaded me I resolved to head for the fridge and grab myself a beer.
"I read the cookbook, Angel did the cooking," Jack said, taking a potato chip and popping it in his mouth.
Becoming frustrated upon finding we didn't have any brew in the fridge, I felt the desperate need to take a crack at that particular comment. Everyone in the room knew that without someone watching over him, Angel had two left feet in the kitchen. Any day of the week I'd take prison food over whatever Angel had cooking. "Baby brother had to hold your hand in here, huh, Ang?" I prodded, my tone letting them know I was in the mood to be a dick, so they shouldn't act surprised.
Angel just shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest and catching Tonia's glance when she turned to set the meat on the table. "Can you believe this fool, Tonni? He busts our balls day and night—but I'll bet if we both moved out, he'd walk around in dirty clothes all the time and barely survive on beer and cheetos."
I walked over to him, licking my thumb, and using it to scrub at his cheek. He shoved me away, his face contorting in disgust. "What's wrong with you, man?" he said, using a sleeve to wipe off my saliva.
"Just trying to clean off some of that ash from the fireplace, Cinderella," I shot back, chuckling as I took a seat next to Jackie. "Don't worry, Angel-bear, we've got your fairy Godmother right here. She'll make sure you get to the ball in time to dance with Prince Charming."
Jack turned to look at me, both elbows resting on the table. "That make you our evil stepmother?" he asked.
I shot him an evil grin. "The only fairy tale at this table is you, Cracker Jack. Now would somebody please go get me a fucking beer?"