Hotel Key

Chapter 16

5 years ago

The next morning

RickyJo woke up and gently moved her small nieces so she could sneak out of bed without waking them. RickyJo could hear Daryl talking softly into the phone in the living room. She assumed he was talking to Merle and headed out to find out what was going on. Daryl wasn't saying much, just mostly yes and no and oh fuck a lot. After a few minutes he hung up the phone. RickyJo went into the kitchen and made some coffee. Strong coffee. She did her fair share of drinking the night before and her head was pounding. She poured a cup for herself and another one for Daryl. She knew he was up most of the night.

"How bad is it?," she asked. Daryl took the mug gratefully and sat down on a barstool at the counter. RickyJo came around the counter and rubbed his back softly. He had his face buried in his hands now. She knew they probably charged Merle with drunk and disorderly. And probably assault. He attacked Isaiah, brutally beat the young man. And then decided to go round two with the club security guards. Then he fought the police when they showed up. But from Daryl's reaction to the phone call, RickyJo guessed the charges were worse than that.

"He had drugs on him," Daryl said, "and they were all portioned out in baggies. They're chargin' him with the assault, plus the possession, and distribution. And he punched that cop, so he got resisting arrest, and assault on a police officer plus a drunk and disorderly."

"Oh fuckin' hell," RickyJo remarked, "...they set him any bail?" Daryl thought for a minute about lying to her. He knew no matter how much it was, RickyJo was going to go down there and pay it. Just like she always did. But this time it was a lot more money. More than Daryl felt comfortable asking for. More than he or Merle could afford to pay her back.

"They want ten grand," Daryl told her. RickyJo just shrugged and went to get dressed and get her checkbook.

"Tell Nana to call that lawyer friend of Poppa's while I'm gone, okay?," she told him.

"I will," her Nana said from where she was coming out of the bathroom, "Just go on and go get 'im."

RickyJo dressed quickly. Then she grabbed her car keys and purse. She didn't have to look up directions to the jail. This wasn't exactly the first time she had to go there for this same purpose. She did call them first to see if she could write a personal check for an amount that large. The desk clerk assured her that she could. Within the hour she had Merle out and was driving him back to her apartment. She was none too happy with the man either. Imani was pissed off at her and they gotten into it worse on the phone because of what Merle did to her brother. This time Imani had enough and told her it was over. It wasn't the first time they had broken up, but RickyJo had a feeling it might be the last. The other woman was frustrated with RickyJo's ongoing relationship with Daryl. When she found out the man was moving in to RickyJo's apartment, she was livid. I'm tired of dating a straight girl. The words still stung a little, and her brother getting beaten up by Daryl's brother sealed the deal. Not to mention that aside from causing her a shitload of personal problems, Merle ruined her graduation party. RickyJo thought about laying into Merle a little, but he looked so bad she decided he had been punished enough already.

"We're going to see a lawyer at one," she told him.

"Can't afford a fuckin' lawyer," Merle grumbled. His head was pounding and he needed a drink.

"I'll pay for it," she said, leaving out what she thought about saying. Just like I always pay for yer bullshit.

"Fuckin' easy to pay for everythin' when yer a spoiled little trust fund brat," Merle spit. He could see the muscles in her face tighten up. RickyJo gripped the steering wheel. Normally, she didn't let other people's opinions bother her, but Merle had a way of getting under her skin. What she really wanted to do was pull her jeep over and throw him out onto the side of the road. It wasn't her fault her grandfather left her money. And she wasn't spoiled. Merle just said that because he knew it would piss her off. But he still didn't expect to actually get a reaction out of her. She was usually so cool and collected. RickyJo was the one person he knew besides his brother who just let his bullshit roll off her back like water on a duck. Normally, it was a lot harder to get a rise out of her. Merle reached over to rub her leg. She smacked at his hand and threw it back at him.

"Keep yer fuckin' hands off me," she hissed. He had a sudden flash of the time they had kissed in her dorm room. They never talked about it. Merle guessed she liked to pretend it never happened. But he remembered how angry she was and how hard she kissed him. One good angry fuck is what he should have given her.

"You have a fight with your negro princess," he asked her. Sometimes it drove RickyJo crazy that Merle knew about that. But she had to admit, he was careful to only bring it up if they were alone. And sometimes it was nice to have someone to share her secret with. However, this was not one of those times.

"We broke up," she told him.

"Because I beat up her brother?," Merle asked her hopefully.

"No," she said, "because of Daryl. She said she's sick of dating a straight girl." When RickyJo said the last part, Merle could hear the slight hitch in her voice like she wanted to cry. He put his hand back on her leg and this time she took his hand, squeezing it. He couldn't begin to understand the strange relationship RickyJo had with her roommate. Or the even stranger one she had with his brother. But he knew she was his friend. And she was hurting.

"So, are ya signin' on the shop?," he asked. RickyJo smiled. She was grateful for the change the subject.

"It was supposta be today," she said, "...so probably tomorrow."

"Can I go with ya?," he asked. RickyJo nodded, smiling more. It would be nice to have someone come with her, especially Merle since he was so excited about it.

When they got back, Daryl told them that Nana took Jessica and the girls back home. She had a feeling if they stayed, Merle and Jessica might start going at it again. And that was the last thing anyone needed right now, especially in front of the little ones. Merle showered and RickyJo changed her clothes as well. That morning she threw on sweats and a t-shirt to go get him and she wanted to wear something more presentable to go see the lawyer. She already warned Merle he better do the same. He was waiting in the living room when RickyJo came out. She was wearing what he thought of as her scientist costume. Loose, lightweight white dress pants and flats, with a short sleeved white jacket over a button down shirt. She had a large messenger bag with her. If Merle ran into her on the street in this getup, he would never know that she could bait her own fishing hook and shoot a rabbit through the eye from thirty paces. Her hair was tied back up in a bun and she even had a little makeup on, which she normally didn't bother with.

They got back into her jeep and RickyJo drove them to the lawyer's office. Daryl wanted to go with them, but RickyJo told him no. Making Merle behave was hard enough. Wrangling both the Dixons was impossible.

The office was in a tall building downtown. It looked expensive too. Merle was suddenly very grateful that RickyJo was paying. He could never afford this. She asked him to carry her bag up for her and he adjusted the strap on his shoulder. The thing was heavier than he expected. What the hell did she have in there anyway, rocks?

They both shook hands with the lawyer, who to Merle's relief was an older white man. The lawyer had a small stack of papers he went over with them. He talked a little about getting some of the evidence thrown out and pleading the rest of the charges down.

"What if we'd rather just have this all go away?," RickyJo asked the man. The man looked at her. Normally, he would not even meet with someone over such a small criminal charge. He specialized in corporate law, which was a polite way of saying organized crime. He only took this meeting because he knew who this girl was. And he knew her grandfather. Merle gave RickyJo a dirty look. What the lawyer was saying didn't sound too bad to him. The lawyer cleared his throat.

"Well that would take considerably more of my time," he said, "If you wanted all the charges dropped completely, that is." RickyJo eyed the man and leaned back in her chair.

"How much?," she asked bluntly. The lawyer hemmed and hawed for a minute talking about how much his hourly charge was and everything he would need to do to get the charges dropped.

"How much?," RickyJo asked the man again.

"Fifty thousand," the man finally said. Merle about shit himself. That was a lot more than he expected. This wasn't lawyer fees and hourly charges. Someone was getting bribed in this scenario. RickyJo just nodded like someone was asking to borrow five bucks.

"Hand me my bag please," she said to Merle. He just stared at her for a minute, then snapped out of it and grabbed for the bag. She opened it and started taking out stacks of cash. They were all bundles of one hundred dollar bills. Each one had to be at least ten grand. Merle realized his mouth was hanging open as he stared at her and he shut it. She took out five stacks and set them on the man's desk. The man opened his desk drawer and put the money inside.

"You can notify us by mail when the charges are dropped," RickyJo told the man. He nodded, then stood to shake both of their hands.

Merle was silent all the way until they got into the elevator. He knew RickyJo had money. But he didn't know until now that she had that much money. She paid that man ten grand like she was paying a bar tab. And where has she gotten all that in cash?

"How much fuckin' money ya got in that bag?," he asked her finally.

"Enough," she told him with a smile, "...I guess it's lucky for you I'm a spoiled little trust fund brat." Merle was speechless. It was hard having his own mean words thrown back in his face like that. He said nothing, pulling RickyJo into his arms and hugging her close.

"Why didya do that fer me?," he asked her softly. She hugged him back. But she didn't answer at first. The truth was, she did it because she cared for him. She couldn't bear the thought of Merle sitting in a tiny box, locked up like an animal. Here in his arms, she was scared to say how she felt.

"I can always make more money," she said, "but Daryl only has one brother." She looked up into his eyes and he knew she was lying. She had not done this for Daryl. The elevator stopped and opened with a ding and they walked out to her jeep arm in arm.

"You hungry?," he asked her. RickyJo nodded. Aside from her coffee that morning, she hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day. "Lemme drive," he said. RickyJo handed him the keys. She usually didn't like other people driving her cars. But she was curious to see where Merle was going to take her. He headed out of the city and up the road that she knew went up the mountain. They stopped at a small truck stop where he made her wait in the car while he went in. Merle came out holding two large paper bags that he set in the backseat next to RickyJo's money bag.

He finally pulled up near a large clear lake. RickyJo could tell by the way the rocks were cut it was a man made quarry. There were a few groups of people swimming and sunning themselves. RickyJo locked her bag in the trunk and got out her picnic blanket. Merle led her away from the other people, finding a good spot close to the water but not too close. RickyJo sat down on the blanket. They ate sandwiches and drank beers out of the paper bags. RickyJo saw a family of ducklings and she fed them her chips, laughing as they gobbled them up. When the food was gone, the ducks lost interest in her and wandered off. RickyJo lay back on the blanket, letting some of the exhaustion of the day finally set in. Merle laid back as well, using her stomach for his pillow. She looked up at the leaves and the trees, stroking his hair and letting her fingers twine a little into his curls. He needed a haircut.

"Is this how ya do it?," she asked him softly.

"Do what?"

"Get all those girls to sleep with you," she said. He laughed a little. Merle doubted any of the bar flies or biker whores he slept with would be impressed with a sandwich picnic. Only RickyJo liked things like that. She was so cute feeding those little ducks, and she even got a gentle pet in on one of the ducklings, before the mother duck herded them away out of her reach.

"No," he said, "I just get them drunk." This made RickyJo laugh, he could feel her stomach moving under his head.

"We should go back soon," she said, making no move to get up. Merle was happy where he was as well, but she was right. It was going to start getting thick with bugs if they stayed out here much longer. He rolled over and pulled her shirt up, revealing just a tiny sliver of the bare skin of her stomach, where he planted a tiny kiss. Then they both stood up and got their things together so they could head back to the car.