Tennessee Whiskey

Chapter 4-Evan

Chapter 4

Evan

After leaving Mary, I call Logan. “Hey man. You ready?” I ask. “Heading that way now. Ashton’s with me.” He tells me. “See you there.” I say before ending the call. I pull out of the parking lot at the mission and head to the warehouse that we use for business that’s not exactly above board. A businessman, a lawyer, and a judge. Three men who you would think would follow the law to the letter but sometimes, the law doesn’t do what it should. I pull up to the warehouse and get out of my car. I head inside and see Ashton and Logan waiting for me. Rico walks up and I ask, “What happened to him?” He has a gag in his mouth and is strung up by his feet, hanging upside down. “Had to reposition him and gag him. He wouldn’t shut up.” he says, smirking. “Let’s do this. Flip him.” I say and they start moving him back around.

While they are moving the piece of s**t that hurt Mary, Logan asks “How’s your girl?” I smile and say “Good. I just left her, actually.” I tell them. “Wow. Spending time alone with her?” Ashton asks. “Yeah. Just at the mission.” I tell him and Rico nods that they have him ready. I put on my game face and step closer to him. “Rob Mikelson. We meet at last.” I say. “I don’t know you.” He says as he struggles against the binds. “No. But you know my woman.” I tell him. “Who’s your woman?” he asks. “Mary Carter.” I tell him and you see him go white. “She’s not your girl.” He says. “Oh, I beg to differ. She’s my woman.” I say as I step even closer. “You see, Mary became my woman the minute I saw her. And those bruises you left on her? That doesn’t work for me. You see, I can’t have the woman I plan to marry believing that this is how men are supposed to treat her. I know our children will know it’s not. But…you’re never going to get the chance to touch her again.” I tell him and his eyes go wide when he sees Rico rolling a cart full of tools out to me. “Tie him on his back on the table.” I say and Rico’s men do as they are told.

Once he’s in position, I walk around the table, letting his anxiety build. “What made you think it was okay to hurt my woman?” I ask. “Her mom offered her up.” He says. “And that gives you the right to touch her? Did you ask my woman if it was okay to touch her?” I ask and he shakes his head no. I make it a point to call her my woman and not by her name. He doesn’t get to hear her name anymore. “Do you like people touching things that aren’t yours?” I ask. He shakes his head no again. “Then what makes you think it’s okay to touch my woman. She wasn’t yours to touch.” I say. “She wasn’t yours when I f****d her.” He tells me and I look at Ashton and Logan and smirk. “Did that matter with your women?” I ask them. “No.” they say at the same time. I look back at Rob and say “Doesn’t matter if she was mine at the time. She’s mine now.” I tell him as I move over to the cart.

Looking over the tools, I see a paring knife. I pick it up and walk over to the table where Rob is tied down to it. I show him the knife and say, “You know, these are great for cutting out pits.” I look at his face and then the knife. “It’s also great for removing someone’s eyes.” I say before nodding to one of Rico’s men who helps to hold Rob’s head still. I grab a hand full of his hair and I dig the knife into his eye socket, carving out his eyeball. I hold the eyeball up by the nerves and he’s screaming from the pain. I toss it into a bucket that Rico brought over and move to take out the other eyeball. Once those are gone, I move to the table and grab the pruning shears. Rico stuffs a rag in his mouth to muffle his screams. “Science has proven that once you take away someone’s eyesight, it heightens all of the other senses. But they don’t tell you about the fear that comes, not knowing what’s going to happen to you next. Do you feel that fear Rob?” I ask. I run the shears along his calf, and he flinches. “You see…wait…no you don’t. My bad man.” I say and you hear everyone snicker. “Not being able to see what’s coming, that’s some s**t that messes with your head. My woman, she lived with that fear. Not knowing when you or some other piece of s**t was going to find her and violate her. Not knowing when one of you would take it too far and cause her to take her last breath. But me? I’m going to make sure she never feels that fear again.” I tell him before taking the shears and cutting off his little toe just to hear him scream. I go about cutting off a couple more toes and even a couple of fingers when I see something else on the table and smirk.

I take the shears and cut open his shirt before looking at Rico. “Can you grab that bottle of water for me and that sponge?” He nods and gets what I’m asking for. “What are you doing?” Ashton asks. “Growing up, one of my favorite old movies was Frankenstein. Thought since we have our own monster here, we’d see if we can light him up.” I say and Rico starts getting the battery set up and hands me one end of the cables. I take the sponge and sit it on his chest before pouring water over the sponge and on his chest, just over his heart. There are straps holding him down so he can’t move more than a quarter inch, but he still struggles against the binds, not getting anywhere. I don’t say a word. I take the end Rico handed me and attach them to the sponge. Then I take the rubber gloves that Logan hands me and put them on. “Let’s light this fucker up.” I say and hold the cables to the sponge. Rico takes his end and at my nod, he attaches his end of the cables to the battery, and we watch Rob’s body twitch and jerk. Rico waits for my signal before taking the cables off the battery only to do it again a couple of minutes later. When he’s almost unconscious, I take the shears and the tongs that are on the table and have one of Rico’s guys pull his pants down. Taking the tongs, I grab his limp member and use the shears to cut it off. I then take it and Rico, with his own gloves on, opens Rob’s mouth and we shove his d**k in his mouth before shutting it. Rico takes super glue to glue his lips closed before they take his body and toss it into the incinerator.

After finishing with Rob, Rico’s men take care of the cleanup, the three of us head outside to our respective cars. “Brother, of all the s**t I’ve seen you do over the years, that s**t was f*****g insane.” Ashton says. “None of those other times were protecting my woman.” I say and they both smirk at me. “When are you seeing her again?” Logan asks. “Tomorrow when we head to your house for the weekend.” I say. “We have her set up a separate room from you so that she’s comfortable.” Logan says. “Good. As much as I want her next to me, I want her to be comfortable when she’s there and I don’t think she’s there yet.” I tell him. We say our goodbye’s and head our separate ways.

After I get home, I shower and head to bed. I take my phone off the nightstand and send Mary a text.

Sleep well Sweetheart.

Sweet dreams Evan

I lay in bed and look up at the ceiling and just think about the woman that I avenged tonight. I will do whatever it takes to protect her and show her that not all men are like that piece of s**t I demolished tonight.

The next morning, I wake up and head to Logan’s house. I ring the doorbell and Logan answers, inviting me inside. I follow him to the kitchen where Ashton and Izzy are standing with their kids. “Hey Evan.” Izzy says as she comes up to me and hugs me. “Uncle Evan, Mommy got your favorite ice cream.” Izzy’s five-year-old son tells me. “Is that right? Well, she’s one of the best sisters I could ask for, huh?” I ask and he looks at me confused. “You have another sister?” he asks. “Your Aunt Lori is my sister too.” I tell him and he smiles before running off to play. “s**t, to be that young again.” I say. “To have that kind of energy again.” Ashton says and we both start laughing. “Where’s Lori?” I ask. “Gone to get Mary.” Logan says and I nod. “You let her go alone?” I ask, knowing better. “Our driver took her. She’s protected. Trust me.” He tells me and I smirk at him. Izzy walks over and asks, “Can we talk?” I nod and follow her outside to the back patio. “What’s up?” I ask. “Ashton told me what happened last night.” She tells me. “I know.” I say, simply. “What you did for her…” she starts. “There’s nothing I won’t do to protect her, Iz. She’s my woman. I’ll protect her just like Ashton does you and Logan does Lori.” I tell her. “Good. She needs someone that’s going to show her that not all men are like that.” She tells me. “That’s the plan.” I tell her before we head back inside.

We’re not back in the kitchen for more than a few minutes when the front door opens, and Lori walks in with Mary by her side. There are people talking all around us but all I can see is her and I can’t help but smile. She looks up at me and I see her smile back. I move to her side and say, “Hey sweetheart.” She moves a little closer and says “Hey Evan. How are you this morning?” I link my pinky with hers and she looks down and there’s a blush on her cheeks. “Better now. How’s yours?” I ask. “Better now.” She tosses my words back at me. “Lori put me in the room next to yours.” She says softly. “Good. That means I’ll be close if you need me.” I tell her and she just nods.

After getting snacks together, we head to the theater room and start the first movie. Logan’s housekeeper is at the front with the kids, Ashton and Izzy are snuggled up on one loveseat, Logan and Lori are snuggled up on another and Mary and I are sitting on a third. I grab a blanket and unfold it, covering us up. We’re sitting there together but she’s not touching me, there’s a few inches between us. She leans against the arm of the loveseat and is watching the movie. I take her hand and pull her to move over closer to me. She looks up at me and I hold my arm out, inviting her to snuggle up next to me. She takes the offered space and snuggles into my side and we both go back to watching the movie. I brush my fingers lightly up and down her arm, in an effort to comfort her. After a little bit, she moves her arm to drape across my stomach as she snuggles deeper, getting more comfortable and I kiss the top of her head.

After the first movie, we start another. I pull out the footrests on the loveseat and we both have more room to stretch out. Halfway through the second movie, Logan’s housekeeper and all the kids are already sleeping, and we just let the movie play. The six of us head out to the kitchen and have a nightcap before heading to our respective rooms. I walk Mary to the room she’s staying in and tell her “My room is right next door. If you need me, the door will be unlocked, just come in if you need me.” She nods and I say “I need your words baby. Tell me you will come to me if you need me.” She takes a deep breath and says, “I will but can I ask you something?” she asks. “Of course.” I say, making sure she knows she has my attention. “Why me?” I tilt her chin up and kiss her lips softly and say “Because you’re mine. That’s all you need to know.” She nods and I open the door for her, and she heads inside to go to bed. Once the door is closed, I move to the room I will be staying in and climb into bed.

I wake up, hearing the bedroom door open and look at the alarm clock. It reads two in the morning. The covers pull back and she slips into bed but doesn’t touch me. I turn to face her and ask, “Are you okay baby?” and she shakes her head no. “Do you want me to hold you?” I ask, letting her know that she has the choice of saying yes or no. “Will you?” she asks. “Come here.” I tell her before opening my arms. She slowly moves into my embrace, and I wrap my arms around her. “Did you have a nightmare?” I ask and she nods her head yes. “I used to have them all the time after everything happened.” I tell her. “How did you get past it?” she whispers. “Counseling helped. Boxing helped. I had to have something to put all that energy into. Drawing helped.” I tell her. “I don’t want to be damaged.” She whispers. I cup her face and make her look at me. Seeing the light from the moon shining on her face, I tell her “You’re not damaged. You are a f*****g warrior. You are my warrior. My woman. You won that f*****g war baby. Don’t ever let yourself think that you’re damaged. I am so proud of you baby. The s**t you’ve been through and you’re here, with me, taking your power back and I will be here every step of the way, so baby please don’t ever say you’re damaged. You’re not. Do you understand me?” I ask and she nods. “I understand.” She whispers. I place a soft kiss to her lips and pull her into my chest, where she stays until she finally drifts off to sleep.

The next morning, I wake up with Mary still in my arms and I smile. I feel her start to stir and she snuggles deeper into my chest before realizing what she’s doing and starts to pull away. I let her, so that I don’t overwhelm her. “Good morning baby.” I say. “Morning.” She says softly. “How are you feeling this morning?” I ask. “Better, I think. Thank you for letting me stay here.” She says. “Don’t thank me baby. I finally got to sleep with my woman in my arms. I’m going to be selfish today and be happy about it.” I tell her and she shakes her head but is smiling. “You really are something else.” She says. “I’ll be anything you need me to be. But right now, you need to head to your room and get dressed. As much as I love seeing you in just a t-shirt and panties, a man can only handle so much before he has to take a cold shower. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.” I tell her and she nods before going to get out of bed. I grab her hand and pull her to me and kiss her softly.

After getting dressed and heading to the kitchen, I’m standing there, drinking my coffee when Mary walks in. After Izzy and Ashton round up the kids, they start hugging us goodbye. Ashton’s five-year-old, walks over and hugs me and when he goes to hug Mary, he says “See you later Aunt Mary.” And she smiles softly and says, “See you later buddy.” Before he runs out the door. After they leave, Logan and Lori are talking about going to the art museum and she starts withdrawing. “Are you okay?” I ask. “Oh yeah.” She says before looking at Lori and asking, “Do you think you can drop me at the mission on the way out?” I look at her confused and ask, “You don’t want to go to the museum?” She looks down at her hands and says, “I should head back to the mission.” I see her cheeks turn red and it hits me. “If you want to go to the museum, we’ll go to the museum.” I tell her. “That’s okay.” She says and Lori asks her to talk in private. “Fuck.” I say. “Lori will talk to her.” Logan says. “I know but f**k, her mom f****d her up. She thinks she doesn’t deserve to be treated to things like this.” I tell him. “I know. But between all of us, we will help her get there. She’s one of us man. We got her.” He tells me and I nod my agreement.

A few minutes later they walk back in, and she says, “If it’s okay, I’d like to go to the museum with you guys.” I take her hand and pull her close. “We can go any time you want sweetheart.” I tell her and she just nods. We head out to the car and the driver takes us to the museum. Getting out of the car, Logan and Lori start on one side and we start on the other, giving us time just the two of us. As we walk up to the first exhibit, we look at the placard. The Loving Cup it reads. “I remember seeing this one in one of the books at the library. What I read said something about it representing the love we all wish we could find.” She says. “I remember that one too. The artist painted it to show the woman he loves that his love would never stop flowing for her.” I tell her. “It makes you wonder if that kind of love really exists.” She says. “It does. Trust me.” I tell her. “How do you know?” she asks. “Even though my parents’ relationship was s**t, my grandparents were so in love with each other. I always said I wanted a love like theirs.” I tell her. “Are they still alive?” I ask. “No. They died when I was a teenager. My grandmother had a stroke that took her, and my grandfather died a week after her funeral. His heart just gave out. It was like he couldn’t live without her, and he knew it.” I tell her. “Evan…” she starts but I stop her. “I promised myself if I ever found someone that makes me feel the way my grandfather felt about my grandmother, I would do everything I could to make sure she knew how precious she was to me.” I tell her and she looks back at the painting. “I hope you find her someday.” She tells me. “I already have.” I tell her and she looks at me and shakes her head no. “You are what’s precious to me. There’s nothing that you can say or do that will change that. You have my word.” I tell her and she nods her understanding. “I promise I’m trying.” She tells me. “I know but I need you to remember that I can’t read your mind. If you need something from me or even just want something from me, just tell me. I promise you that I won’t get mad or judge you. I will only support you.” I tell her and she laces her fingers with mine and says “Okay.”

We walk through the entire exhibit and talk about some of the paintings, and we come up on one that has a man and woman. She’s snuggled into his chest, with a knife pointed at something behind the man and he has his sword pointed at something behind her while his head is nuzzled into her neck. War of Love the placard says. “It says here that this one depicts a man and woman so in love with each other that they will do anything to protect the other.” She reads. I pull her close and wrap my arms around her and she lays her head on my chest. “That’s how I feel about you.” I tell her. “You don’t know me enough to love me.” She whispers. “I beg to differ.” I tell her and she looks up at me, eyes so innocent and full of wonder. “You don’t have to love me back right now, but I hope that someday you do.” I tell her and she nods before snuggling back into me.

After spending the day at the museum, we head back to Logan and Lori’s house. Once we’re there, I offer to take her home and she agrees. On the drive back to the mission, I say “I want to put this out there. You don’t have to make any decisions right now.” I tell her. “Okay.” She says softly. “I have plans for us.” I tell her. “What plans?” she asks. “When you’re ready, I want you to move in with me. I want us to get married someday and have a family of our own. I want us to have what Logan and Lori have. What Ashton and Izzy have.” I tell her. “I want that too.” She says softly. I reach over and take her hand and lace my fingers with hers. She leans her head back against the headrest. “I slept better last night than I have in a long time.” She tells me. “Me too.” I tell her. She rolls her head to the side to look at me. “Do you have trouble sleeping?” she asks. “Not so much that but since meeting you, I go to sleep wondering if you’re okay. Wondering if you’re comfortable, if you have everything you need.” I tell her. She looks back out the windshield and asks, “You worry about me a lot, don’t you?” I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles and say, “I do.” She smiles softly and says “I’ve never had anyone worry about me before you guys. Never thought I was worth it.” She tells me. “You are most definitely worth it.” I tell her.

Once we make it to the mission, I walk around to her side of the car and open her door. Holding out my hand, she takes it, and I help her out of my car. Lacing my fingers with hers, again, I lead her to the mission, and we walk inside. “Mary, how are you feeling?” Kathy asks. “Better. Would it be possible to have a session in the morning?” she asks. “Of course. Find me after breakfast.” She tells Mary and I look at her concerned. “It helps me to talk things out.” She tells me. “But you’ll let me know if you need anything?” I ask. “I will. I promise.” She tells me. “Do you want me to walk you to your dorm?” I ask. “That’s okay.” She says. “Call me when you’re done with your session, please?” I ask. “I will.” She says. I cup her face and kiss her softly and say, “Sweet dreams baby.” She smiles softly and whispers “Sweet dreams.” before stepping back and I stay where I’m standing until she’s heading down the hall and out of sight. “How’d she seem today?” Kathy asks as she moves to stand beside me. “She seemed okay. We went to the museum, but she was worried about going. I’m trying to get her used to telling me when she wants things.” I tell her. “That’s good but she’s got a long way to go.” She tells me. “I get that. She’s told me a couple of times that she’s damaged. I just keep reminding her that she’s a warrior. My warrior and that I’m proud to have her by my side.” I tell her. “She needs to hear that. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you help her better.” She tells me. “I will. Thanks Kathy.” I say and she nods before I see my way out. I get to the door and see a new security guy there. “You new?” I ask. “Just started tonight.” He tells me. “What’s your name?” I ask. “Devin Jackson.” He tells me. “Evan Black.” I say. “You volunteer here?” he asks. “I help out.” I say. He looks back at the hallway Mary headed down and I look where he’s looking. “I wish there’d been a place like this when my sister was still alive.” He says softly. “I’m sorry but you being here, working, keeping an eye on things here? That’s a good way to honor her.” I tell him. He looks at me and says, “I just wish there was more I could do.” He tells me and I see he’s a good size guy. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. You’ll be able to do more before you know it.” I tell him before walking out the door.