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| ART OF THE DARK BY SHADY & CABBIE ESQ. |
CHAPTER 13 |
PART THIRTEEN
Roseanne sits on her cot in the dark, knees pulled up to her chest. She stares at the wall, blankly...unable to get Oba's warnings out of her head.
"... jou are tainted. Jour spirit has mixed with his, and now...he lives in YOU..."
"...I am warning you, cher, for your own good...LET IT GO. Because if you do not...jou WILL regret it."
She half-laughs at that, getting pissed all over again. Oba obviously thought that she was still powerful enough to influence her. Right...I'm just a pet, a stupid little puppy that'll do whatever it's told. Well...not anymore, she thinks with a sigh, letting her head rest against the wall. She looks around her cell, stripped bare by the guards as punishment for breaking the rules. It doesn't feel like much of a punishment, though...in fact, Roseanne barely notices. Everything she needs now is inside of her, so all the other stuff is just...stuff.
The hard clank of a baton hitting the bars makes Roseanne turn her head. Two of the guards stand there looking at her, with typically sour expressions.
"C'mon, let's go," one of them says.
"Where're we going?" Roseanne replies, unenthusiastically...and the guard cocks an eyebrow at her.
"You have visitors."
Roseanne cocks an eyebrow right back. "What, NOW? Who?"
The guard rolls her eyes. "How the fuck should *I* know who they are? You gonna see them or not?"
Roseanne thinks for a second...then shrugs. "I suppose," she says, as she stands up, lazily. The first guard whips out the handcuffs as the cell door slides open; and the other guard stands at the ready with her baton. Roseanne watches the cuffs wrap around her tiny wrists...then one guard grabs each one of her elbows as they lead her down the hall.
"Can you at least tell me if they're male or female?" she asks, as she shuffles along.
Both guards laugh...then one says: "We're guards, Delgado...not secretaries. You're lucky you're getting any visitors at all after the shit you pulled today."
Roseanne sighs...but doesn't say anything else. She has to grin, though, when the guards walk her past the visiting area...the room where she and Todd had their last head-to-head.
"So...they fix the windows in there?"
"Not yet," the guard says, as they continue down the hall, stopping at another room. The first guard opens the door and steps in; and the other guard pushes Roseanne inside. She trips into the room, and turns to give her a dirty look.
"You got ten minutes...and we'll be watching, so no funny business. That goes for ALL OF YOU," the pushy guard says, then both guards leave the room, shutting the heavy door.
Roseanne turns back...and sees her visitors. She runs her tongue along the inside of her mouth as she looks them over.
"Well, well, well...if it isn't my two favorite guys."
Todd and RJ sit at the only table in the windowless closet of a room. RJ glances over at Todd, then at her.
"Have a seat."
Roseanne looks around, and sees the video camera mounted in one corner, just below the ceiling. It could see everything in a room this small...so she sighs, walking over to the chair and sitting down.
"Isn't it past your bedtime?" she asks, letting her cuffed hands rest in her lap.
RJ leans on the table, smirking. "Oh, I couldn't get through the night without seeing YOU, Rosie. Todd told me how CUTE you look in prison orange...I just HAD to see it for myself."
She squints at him...then eyes Todd, still sitting back in his chair. She cocks an eyebrow at him.
"Aww, he misses me already...whas'up, baby?" she purrs, with a familiar sexiness that creeps RJ out immediately. He looks at Todd again; but he stays unmoved and quiet, almost statue-like in his chair. So RJ sighs, taking the lead again.
"Oh, y'know...the wife and kids are missing. The usual stuff."
Roseanne directs her gaze back at him, with a phony look of sympathy. "Yes, I know...I'm all broken up about that..."
RJ laughs a little at that...and she leans in a little. "...and YOU'RE not the one Tea's... 'turning to. How sad...all that work for nothing."
RJ's slightly amused grin disappears; and he can feel Todd's paranoid eyes on him. He resists the urge to look, though...instead, leaning a bit further in toward Roseanne.
"We're not here to talk about me."
"Then what do you want?"
"Well, see, it's not really what *I* want... 'cause if it were up to ME, we wouldn't even BE here," RJ replies, directing the comment more towards Todd than her.
"But for some reason, Todd here seems to think that YOU know where Tea is. I don't see how that's even possible, but he just wouldn't let up. So here we are."
"Really?" Roseanne says, looking back at Todd with a grin. RJ notices how intensely they stare at each other, and makes a face, curious...knowing something was definitely going on between them. He thinks back to the night when he found Todd drunk on his doorstep...
...with the hickey on his neck. Oh, shit...RJ sits back in his chair, as things fall into place. He looks over at Todd; and for the first time, Todd looks back at him. RJ just shakes his head at him, feeling utterly duped.
"What?" Todd asks...but RJ looks away, laughing to himself in a really pissed-off way, as he sits back hard.
"Nothin', man. Just ask her what you wanna ask her, and let's get the fuck outta here already."
Todd leans in, trying to get a look at him; but RJ keeps his eyes---and his anger---focused on some miscellaneous point on the floor. Roseanne sees this, and grins.
"Uh-oh...I think he knows about us."
Todd's head whips over, his eyes flashing. "What did you say?"
"He KNOWS. Look at him...he's ready to punch you," she says, with a laugh...and at that, RJ suddenly looks at her.
"Oh, I'd punch YOU FIRST."
Roseanne laughs louder, nodding at his street-savvy coolness. "I BET you would! Too bad we're being watched, though, huh?"
RJ just glares back at her. "Do you know where she is or don't you?"
"Well...why're you asking ME? Seems to me you already have SOME idea."
RJ tips his head back a little, poker-faced...and Roseanne smiles.
"Aaaaah, I see...YOU want to see if what YOU think jives with what *I* know...right? You want to trick it out of me," she says, cocking an eyebrow; but RJ still doesn't say anything, so she sighs.
"Well...tell me what you know," she says, with a shrug. "I'll tell you if you're right."
RJ and Todd exchange glances...and after a moment, RJ gestures for Todd to take the lead.
"London. We think she's in London...with...HIM."
Roseanne makes an impressed face. "Interesting...how'd you come up with THAT?"
"None of your business," RJ interjects. "So? What does the Wicked Witch of the East say?"
Roseanne laughs again at that. "You're so damned FUNNY, RJ...fuckin' laugh riot," she replies, leaning in and resting her arms on the table.
"I say...yes and no," she finishes, eyes locked with Todd's.
RJ does an insulted take at that...then he stands up, with a humorless, fed-up laugh. "I knew this was a waste of time. Can we get outta here, please?" he says, heading for the door.
"No...wait," Todd says, eyes still on Roseanne...and RJ whirls around.
"Man, the bitch is CLEARLY yanking our chains. Let's go...NOW!!"
"What do you want?" Todd asks Roseanne, softly...and she smiles wide.
"Mmmm...I think you know," she whispers back. Todd blinks at her slowly, with quiet understanding.
"Do you REALLY know where she is?"
Roseanne nods. "I've been there already."
RJ walks back over at that. "Excuse me? How in the hell is that even POSSIBLE?" he asks, but Roseanne and Todd are still focused solely on each other.
"You have the right country...even the right city, sort of. But without the EXACT location, you'll never get to them in time. England is still an awfully big haystack to comb through."
Todd breathes deeply, holding back tears of desperation. He wants to kill her...just reach across and strangle the life out of her...but she's holding all the cards. His pride goes down rough, as he swallows hard.
"Alright."
RJ looks at him. "Alright WHAT?"
Todd ignores him, leaning in close, and Roseanne leans farther in to meet him. "We'll take care of it," he whispers.
Roseanne smiles a sweet smile back at him. Todd lingers on her face for a moment...then quickly pushes back from the table. The chair screeches loudly as he stands up, and starts to head for the door.
RJ grabs his arm, pulling him in close, whispering loudly. "Hold up, just a goddamned minute...the fuck did you just do? Did we just AGREE to something??"
Todd looks at him, calm as can be. "Yeah. We're gonna get her out."
RJ stares at him, shocked speechless...realizing too late, that Todd knew what he was gonna do all along, and didn't feel any need to let him in on it. RJ shakes his head, then marches right over to the door, banging on it, too pissed to say anything else. Todd eyes RJ for a moment...then looks back at Roseanne.
"You fuck with me, I'll kill you. Got it?" he says, steely and cold...and Roseanne keeps her eyes on him until he's out the door. Then she laughs, thoroughly pleased with herself.
**********************
RJ takes his anger out on the steering wheel of Todd's SUV...gripping the soft leather in his hands, twisting the hell out of it. He stares straight ahead...because he knows that if he even looks at Todd right now, he'll go right off the road. He can't remember a time when he was this angry...though he knows he must've been at some point. Just forgot what it was like, he supposes; but it's all coming back to him now...ohhh, yeah. He drives fast and rough, hitting every bump on the abandoned secondary road that slices through miles and miles of open country before joining the highway.
So THEY were going to bust Roseanne out. THAT was Todd's big plan...and ten to one, he had no clue how he was going to go about it. Well, why would he need to? That's what I'M here for, right? Fucker... he fumes, mouthing the word. He tries to understand the logic...he'd been trying since they left. Hell, before that, even...way before. The past year had been a crash course in the school of Todd...and as RJ plows ahead, he seriously considers dropping out.
For his part, Todd is oblivious to RJ's foul mood. He sits in the passenger seat, reclined back, looking out the window...thinking only of Roseanne. Seeing her face, her big, brown eyes...just like Tea's. He blinks suddenly at that thought, like he's just waking up. Roseanne isn't like Tea at all...no...not at all. Tea is...everything...whereas Roseanne is...
"Nothing," he whispers, unconsciously. She's nothing...and I'm gonna show her just how much of a nothing she really is, he then thinks, with a sniff. And he nods at that, his newfound resolve feeling good to him, like fresh air...it wakes him up, snaps him out of the daze he's been in; and makes him forget that he misses his wife and children, at least for a while. Yeah... right now, it feels best to concentrate on Roseanne. It prevents him from looking inward too much...takes the edge off of his own smarting guilt.
He sniffs again, finally looking over at RJ, like he just realized he was there. RJ's eyes are locked to the road with a stony concentration; and all of a sudden, Todd feels the chilly anger coming off of him. He sighs, knowing why RJ's pissed at him...but not really caring all that much. He knows what he's doing. He's determined to have his way, to give that little witch exactly what she's asking for...and RJ is just gonna have to get over it.
Just then, the car bounces wildly as they hit a pothole in the road; and Todd bounces with it, hitting his head on the roof.
"OW!! FUCK!!" he shouts, wincing as he grabs the top of his head, and glaring at RJ, who almost cracks up...almost. He's too pissed off to laugh, really; but causing Todd physical pain right now makes him...grin. He barely turns his head, as he glances over at him.
"Did you just say something?" he asks, dripping sarcasm.
Todd rubs the top of his head, still glaring. "You're an asshole. You wreck my car, I'll brain you," he says, and RJ does half-laugh then, at Todd's sheer audacity. He continues to laugh to himself in a really, REALLY pissed-off way for another half-mile or so, slowing down a bit.
And Todd's glare narrows to a squint. "What's so funny?" he asks, and it's then that RJ decides...it's time. He swerves to the right, pulling over to the side; and the truck lurches to a very sudden stop. RJ throws it into park and gets out, slamming the door so hard it nearly comes off. Todd just sits there, thrown off-guard, watching RJ walk around to his side. By the time he realizes he should lock the door, RJ's already got him by the coat lapels.
"C'mere!" RJ growls, through his clenched teeth, as he drags Todd out of the car...and tosses him down the small embankment. Todd goes tumbling; and RJ follows him, stepping with his heels to keep from slipping, watching Todd hit the bottom.
"Ugh...ohhhh...shit..." he groans, having gotten the wind knocked out of him. He stays face down for a moment, trying to breathe, and hoping to god he didn't just fracture something. Then he slowly turns himself over...
...only to find the barrel of a gun in his face, with RJ on the other end...who watches with mild satisfaction, as Todd's mouth falls open a bit. Obviously, he wasn't expecting this. RJ lifts his head a bit, and says:
"Well, how ya LIKE me NOW?"
Todd swallows hard, closing his gaping mouth. He takes a deeper, uncomfortable breath, as he sits up straight, raising his hands.
"Whoa, hey...hey, man...what're you doin'?" he asks, trying to sound calm, but not succeeding.
RJ wags his eyebrows slightly, cool as can be. "Me? Oh, I...just wanna say a few words, that's all."
"Well...you don't need...THAT," Todd replies...but RJ stays unmoved.
"Oh, THIS..." RJ says, giving the barrel a quick glance, "...is for AFTER THAT."
Now Todd's brows crease with definite concern. "What's gotten into you?"
RJ laughs again, in that same, pissed-off way, continually amazed at Todd's nerve...or cluelessness, whichever; and he shakes his head at him.
"I'll tell you what's gotten into me. Some fuckin' SENSE, that's what," he starts, watching as Todd just blinks innocently, like this is all news to him. "I'll give you this, man...you're good. You're REAL good. You had ME fooled. I bought that whole line you fed me back at the club...I let you DRAG me all the way out here in the middle of the night, just so you could have some face time with that skank!"
Todd gives him a confused look at the mention of Roseanne, like he has no idea what he's talking about. And RJ flicks his tongue against his teeth at that, not appreciating it.
"You know...Roseanne? Your GIRLFRIEND?"
"She's not my GIRLFRIEND," Todd replies, instantly disgusted, as he starts to pull himself up; but RJ only flares up at him, his face contorting angrily.
"Ohhh, DON'T EVEN TRY IT...DON'T YOU EVEN try to lie to me right now, man. I will cap your ass RIGHT HERE AND NOW, and don't you think I WON'T!!" he yells, raising the gun as Todd stands, backing away, hands still up.
"RJ, just...calm down for a second, okay? SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND...I don't know what the fuck you're talking about!" Todd says, regretting it immediately, as RJ swings his head to one side, with a terrible, fearsome look in his eyes...like he's getting ready to...
BANG!!!!
Todd's whole body locks up at the awful, echoey sound of the gun going off. The bullet hits the ground close to his feet...WAY too close, kicking up a cloud of cold dirt and grass into his face.
"JESUS CHRIST!! THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU??!!" Todd shouts.
"YOU!!"RJ shouts right back, still aiming at his feet. "THAT'S what's wrong!! YOU...are SO WRONG, Manning, in SO MANY WAYS...you're fuckin' CERTIFIABLE, man, how could you even THINK of doing that to Tea? What, did you just think she'd never FIND OUT??"
"Find out WHAT??" Todd replies, with a broad shrug...and RJ just shakes his head, finally dropping his tired arms to his sides. Todd watches him closely, as he safeties the gun, and starts pacing around like a pissed-off lion.
"Find out what...hoh-ho-ho..." RJ mumbles to himself...then he turns back to Todd.
"You think I'm a chump, dontcha?"
Todd shrugs again. "What? NO!" he says, and RJ tips his head to one side, knowingly.
"Check your nose, Pinocchio...got a fuckin' TREE growin' out of it."
Todd throws his hands up at that, walking up to him. "Look, RJ...I don't know what you want me to say. But I'm NOT gonna say that that fuckin'...bitch...is my girlfriend! I don't know WHERE you're getting that from! She is NOTHING to me...and the only thing I'm interested in doing to HER is bashing her fuckin' head in," he says, with a good bit of conviction.
And RJ nods...but isn't convinced. "Oh, RIGHT...AFTER you fuck her. AGAIN."
Todd throws his hands up again, exasperated. "I DIDN'T---" he starts, unable to complete the sentence...growling instead, as he walks away; and RJ follows him.
"I just wanna know who in the hell you think you're dealing with here. When did I EVER give you the impression that I'm STUPID??"
Todd turns back around at that. "You're not stupid...I never said you WERE."
"Ohhh...WELL..." RJ says, brightening up in a most exaggerated, sarcastic way, then immediately souring again. "You didn't HAVE to. You TREAT me like a chump...thereFORE, you must THINK I'm a chump. YOU...didn't think to let me in on this little idea that you OBVIOUSLY had planned LONG before you got to the club tonight. Come to think of it, the LAST time you decided to go off on your own, you didn't think to let me in on THAT, either. You PUNCHED me."
Todd sighs, bothered. "I TOLD you I was sorry about that."
"I know. But see, the thing is, about apologies...you get to use that card ONE TIME. ONE," RJ replies, holding up a finger. "But if you just keep pulling the same shit over and over again, well, then...you're just a lying, manipulative snake. And if the person you keep pulling the shit ON doesn't take the hint after a while, then...he...or SHE...is a doormat."
Todd's eyes narrow at the thinly veiled meaning. "You bashing Tea for being with me now?"
RJ glares right back. "No. I would NEVER disrespect her the way YOU do," he says, with a calmness that cuts Todd right down, knocking him speechless for a moment. RJ stares him down further for a second, then starts walking away.
Todd half-laughs to himself, in total disbelief...then starts following him. "Hold up...Gannon!" he calls, but RJ just keeps going, which pisses Todd off more.
"Get BACK here, man! Don't you fuckin' walk away from me!!"
RJ stops, keeping his back to Todd for a second...sighing, almost regretting having started this, though he realizes it was unavoidable. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Todd straightens up tall when RJ finally turns around; and the two men stare each other down for a moment, looking at each other with new eyes. Todd watches as RJ calmly sticks the gun back in his belt and folds his hands in front of him, waiting.
"What do you wanna say to me, Gannon? Let's do this."
RJ stares at him...then glances away, thinking for a moment; and sighing again, when he looks back.
"Y'know...in all the time I've known Tea, she's ALWAYS stood up for you. ALWAYS...even when I didn't agree with her, she'd convince me. Because she talks about you with such..." he shrugs, looking for the right word. "...such love. Such honesty. She says what she means, and means what she says. So I'd always end up thinking, she MUST know what she's talkin' about. She's a smart woman, she knows what's what. So there MUST be...a good side to you, and it's just that SHE...is the only one who sees it."
Todd tips his head back a bit...taking it in calmly, since RJ is being so calm himself, glancing down at his feet, then back up.
"So...THAT'S the mode I've been workin' under all this time. Even though you've shown me time and time again that you either CANNOT be trusted, or you just WON'T trust anyone else, whatever...I still stick by you. I back you up and bail you out every goddamned time, because of Tea...because of HER belief that you're the man she SAYS you are. So, I mean, tell me...what IS it with you, man? Why can't you just take that love she's so willing to give you and just GET OVER YOURSELF??"
Again, Todd takes all that in; and there's something very humbling about RJ's openness. It's almost enough to make Todd open up too...but not quite. His anger is too important to him right now. He doesn't want to lose it...because if he does...he WILL lose it. No...no, no, I can't do this now...gotta stay focused...
"It's always about Tea with you, isn't it?" he asks, letting his paranoia kick into gear, wanting it to, even. And RJ does a take at that, shaking his head and laughing to himself as Todd takes a few steps in toward him.
"Do you even HAVE an opinion of me, Gannon? Do you even think AT ALL? Or do you just see everything the way TEA wants you to?"
RJ eyes him as the space between them narrows, his fists balling up unconsciously, his patience just about gone.
"I mean, what do you think...what, that if you play the 'loyal friend' long enough...you'll eventually be rewarded when I fuck things up, and you can just...slip right in there? That your plan?" Todd finishes, sliding one hand over the other...and RJ gets right in his face.
"Oh, I'd knock that shit off RIGHT NOW if *I* were you, man."
"Ahh...but you're NOT ME. Never in a million years, Gannon, could you POSSIBLY understand what it's like to be me." Todd says quietly, and RJ notices his voice, so unsteady and unsure and almost...fearful. It throws him off for a second; but then he just nods, slowly...as if realizing something.
"Ohh...look at you. You ALMOST had me. You did...I could almost FEEL that tortured soul you claim to have. But I SEE you now, man...oh, I SEE YOU...and I'll tell ya, it is one...UGLY...picture. No wonder Tea took off."
Todd steps up to him, nose-to-nose now. "You think I'm a liar? Degenerate? Amoral? Psychotic? Sociopathic? Bipolar? GAY?? WHAT??!!" he yells in RJ's face...daring him with the amped-up glint in his eyes; and RJ has to blink at the wind coming out of his mouth. They stand there in each other's space, glaring for a moment...then RJ lifts his chin a touch.
"Nah. *I* just think you're a stupid, lying motherfucker. THAT'S what *I* think...and I'll be DAMNED if I'm gonna help you now," RJ says, low and cold...and he gives Todd another downward glance...before hauling back and hitting Todd with a one-two punch...one to the gut, one to the face. Todd sinks down first, then flies back and lands in the grass spread-eagled...and out cold. RJ stands there for a moment looking down at him, flexing his hand and shaking it out. Then he turns on his heel and walks back to the truck, his long braids flying out behind him. He gets in the truck and starts it up...looking back at the field, unable to see Todd now. But he glares anyway...and doesn't feel the least bit bad when he floors the gas and peels away, getting as far away from Todd as he can get.
********************
PART TWO
2002 Copyright by Shady & Cabbie Esq.

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