New to New York

The next morning Willow and Addi woke up with worst hangovers. You know the kind where the air condition seems too loud, and you feel like there’s someone in your head with a hammer. To say the least, it was bad.

“Here,” Addi whispered when Willow shuffled out of her room. “It helps some.” She pushed the bowl of oatmeal towards the other girl. She ate in silence for a minute before launching into her usual questions. “So, how bad was I last night? Any fights?”

“Um…you and – and Jake got kinda of close…” she squinted her eyes trying to remember. “Anabelle doesn’t like me because…because her boyfriend - Harry? - made a pass at me. And something else…” she let her eyes close and leaned her head back too tired and in pain to think.

But that didn’t stop Addi, she was still thinking about the first thing Will had said. “What do you mean me and Jake ‘got kinda of close’? Did we have sex?” Her face actually looked scared and Willow immediately felt bad about not being a better friend last night.

“I don’t think so. Not unless you guys did it at the bar. Which I don’t think you did, ‘cause you were on the dance floor like all night,” she thought back and was pretty sure. “What’s up with you and him anyway? You know he’d do anything for you.”

The fact that Addi stiffened at the question wasn’t lost on Will. “We, um…I don’t. I can’t, you know that. I’m not…”

What she was trying to say without saying it was that she couldn’t even perceive a world where she was with anyone other than Danny. Even after this many years. “Yeah I get it, Addi. Your business, not mine anyway,” then that one thing that had been alluding Willow had finally surfaced. “Oh my god. Jason kissed me.”

She had been mainly talking to herself and had forgotten Addi standing there leaning against the white counter, spoon frozen midway to her mouth, “What? What did you just say?”

“Or did I kiss him?” she went on ignoring her roommate. “No, he kissed me…but I kissed back. Should I have done that?”

“What?” Addi asked again. “Did you really just say he kissed you?!”

“Um…yeah,” a slow smile spread across her face. “I did.” Then she noticed the look of pure anger and horror on Addi’s. “Addi, did I do something wrong? Addi, talk to me. What’s the matter?”

“Oh, Ima kill that….oh, lordy be. Lord, help that dumbass lima.” She closed her eyes and took a few deep breathes. “I’m going to kill that sonofabitch. I swear to god… why is he so stupid?” she huffed off to her room and shut the door, leaving a stunned Willow in the kitchen.

Then as suddenly she had stormed out, she came back in. This time dressed in a white t-shirt with a giraffe head on it, skinny jeans, and black booties. “Don’t talk to him before I do, ‘kay?”

Willow just nodded dumbly. Had she known what Addi was planning, she would have put up more of a fight.

Addi shoved a pair of darkly tinted sunglasses on her face and left, leaving Willow with even more questions.

&&&&&

A loud knock resonated thru Jake and Jason’s small apartment and woke them up in the living room. “God, what is that?” Jake groaned throwing a pillow over his face.
Jason got up and looked thru the peephole, “It’s your girlfriend. And she looks pissed. You wanna get this one?”

“Addi isn’t my girlfriend,” but he got up anyway just to see her. When he opened the door, Addi stood stunned. It’d been awhile since she’d seen him shirtless and she’d forgotten how good he looked.

He had four stars tattooed on his left shoulder with knot work that spilled from the top of his back to his chest, washboard abs, and a deep ‘V’ waist that disappeared below the waist of his jeans. “Hey Addi,” he said leaning against the door jam. “Do you need to sit down? You’re not looking so good.”

“No thanks, Jake,” she pushed past him to where Jason was laying on the sofa. “I’m here to talk to your buddy. Jason, can I have a few words with you?”

“Do we have to?” he grumbled eyes closed.

“Um, yeah. We do.” This was an Addi that no one liked to see. The myth that red heads have a short fuse, not a whole lot of myth about it. Jason remembered a time when their boss had hit on her in the beginning and she had punched a hole thru the wall. Her knuckles were bloody for a while and she wouldn’t wrap them. “Get your ass up, and meet me outside.”

When she left, she got up on her tiptoes to kiss Jake on the cheek before she left. Both boys stood gaping in her wake. “You go tiger,” said Jason hitting Jake on the chest on his way out. He was not looking forward to Addi’s rage, but Jake was finally making some head way.
He found her in the ally outside his building, arms crossed, ready to fight. “You’re such a dumbass.” She said matter-of-fact. “You do know the line of work that you’re in right?”

“Yeah, I do.” His ‘line of work’ was being the collector for a major gang; The Family is what they called themselves. He was the guy they sent to get money that was owed, but mostly to show how in inferior the other gangs were compared to theirs. And the only reason Addi knew was because she was in it too. She was the right hand to their boss. She held a lot of the power.

But he also knew she wouldn’t use that power. She hated it almost as much as him. “And you’re okay with getting Willow in to all that? She’s a sweet girl Jay. And you…you’re usually a target. I heard what Chuck and Sam were planning….”

Chuck and Sam were two brothers who had grown up in The Family. Their father had been close with Rob, who was the head of the whole thing, and hadn’t been too rough when they got jumped in because of it. They were also known for starting needless fights with the urban kids, and other groups. This made it hard for anyone associated with them to walk down the street.

“They want to go to Italian territory and just piss people off. Rob will go ballistic and shit will rain…” her voice faded as she thought about how bad Rob’s temper was, Jason thought. He felt sorry for 5’3 redheaded girl standing in front of him, she looked so young, but he had to remember that she had seen things that he could never imagine. That’s why she held the position that she did.

“You want me to talk to them?” he asked wanting to help.

“No,” she shook her head like she could shake the thoughts away. “No. I will. I just want you to be careful with Will. Okay? She’s not like, you know, your other girls. Will’s special.”
Jason smiled to himself, “No kidding.”

“So you like her?” she asked smiling. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

&&&&&

“Addi?” Will woke up when she heard the front door slam open and shut with a bang. “Addi? Can I talk to Jason now?” she was in the back bedroom, trying to sleep off most of the sickness when an icy feeling crept in to her gut. Wouldn’t Addi have answered her by now?

Reaching for her cell and dialing her room mate’s number, she kept talking into the hallway. “I think Anabelle called for you, F.Y.I. Do her and Jimmy live together?” her phone was ringing, but she didn’t hear Addi’s tone anywhere in the apartment. Her whole body went cold.

“Hello?” Addi answered thru the phone.

“Addi,” Will whispered. “Where are you?” she moved as slowly as she could to her closet and stepped inside. Maybe she could hide.

“Um, Jake and Jason’s? Why?” her tone took on an alarming ring. “Willow what’s going on?”

“Um, I’m not sure, but I think there’s someone in the apartment. And it’s not you…does anyone have a key?” The whole place was deathly still, like the walls were waiting on Addi’s response.

“Jake and Jason, but they’re with me,” she moved the phone away from her mouth and talked to someone else. Probably Jake. “Okay, Will, where are?”

“In my bedroom.” She answered her heart pounding icy blood.

“Can you get to my room?” Will could hear Addi racing down stairs, then deeper voices behind her with louder footsteps. “If you can, get down the fire escape. Get as far you can.”
Will peeked out her door and saw a flash of red tucked into the back pocket of dark jeans turn the corner. She broke into a dead run towards Addi’s room, her heart in her throat, and shut the door quietly. But when she tried the window it wouldn’t budge, no matter how much muscle she used. She knew she wasn’t strong enough. “I – I can’t open it, Addi. I’m stuck here!” Willow was starting to get a little hysterical.

“It’s okay,” Addi said soothing. “It’s okay, baby. Just lock the door. We’re here, just give us a few seconds.” Then her tone changed when she spoke again, “Jason, use those stairs right there. It’s the third level and on the far left. Jake can you come with me? Okay, Will, look for Jason.”

“Okay,” she said shaky. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard someone banging on the bedroom door. Then relief flooded thru her when she heard the tap, tap, tap of someone at the window.

Jason lifted it with ease and motioned Will thru it, holding her hand and lifting her from the waist. “Hey,” he said when they were outside. A release bloomed in his eyes. “You’re not hurt, right?”

"Right, just scared.” She looked up at him and tried to capture it all. From the messy dark hair, to the leather motorcycle jacket and white tee shirt, to the dark jeans and bike boots. “And cold,” she realized wrapping her arms around herself.

“I can fix that,” he grinned opening his jacket and waving her in like a hug. He smelled like smoke and peppermint, it comforted Will so much that she almost forgot she was standing there in her p.j. boxers and cami.

Almost.

Ducking her head close to his chest, she laughed a little. “Don’t look down at me, kay?” she’d die of embarrassment if he saw her so unkempt. But maybe he liked that sort of thing. And after that kiss last night, should she be so nervous around him? She had no idea if she was being foolish or not.

He pulled back enough to look at her but not enough to take her out of his warm jacket. “Why can’t I look at you? Did you grow another set of arms? Which, in all honesty, could have its advantages…” he laughed at his own joke as Will playfully hit him is the side.

“No, I just haven’t gotten dressed yet,” then added quickly “I mean normal clothes, these are my p.js.” she thought it best to just stop talking all together when she felt Jason’s stomach shake with laughter, but he pulled her closer again.

“Were you really scared? I mean, of course you weren’t faking it, but was it bad?” he asked after a moment. His voice had lost all playfulness and he sounded deadly. If she’d seen his face she would have seen the anger that had settled behind his eyes and the way his lips were pressed together so he wouldn’t yell or curse, and the look of concentration as he tried to not go back in to the apartment and rip those guys to shreds.

She just shook her head and held tighter to him. Now that he’d brought it back up it seemed a lot worse. Why had those people broken in? Did they take anything? Is there something of Addi’s worth taking? Questions ping-ponged around in her head. “I just don’t know why someone would do that.”

“Yeah, me either.” but he souned bitter when he said it, like he knew exactly why.

Addi appeared in the window, her hair a little messy and her eyes a little jumpy. “Didn’t I tell you to get as far as possible? You could have gone a lot farther than my window.”

“How far could she get in shorts Addi?” Jason replied irritated. He knew her mind wasn’t on them really; she was in pick-up-the-pieces mode, but still.

“Whatever,” she said waving them in. Suddenly Jake was behind her holding two yellow mugs of coffee, looking a little pissed himself. It didn’t really suit him, thought Will. He was a sunny kind of guy and angry clouds just looked wrong on his face.

“Want some?” he offered once everyone was inside the room.

“Please,” she said reaching for one. The warmth spread up her arm raising goose bumps. “Thanks. What did they take anyway?” she turned her attention to Addi, who looked more annoyed than scared. Did this happen a lot?

“Oh, nothing. Just broke a lot of stuff. Like all the dishes. And the microwave. And the TV which is totally essential. Jason, I need your help in the kitchen please,” she turned on heel and Jason followed like a puppy.

“Maybe I should get dressed,” Will said once they left, leaving her and Jake alone.

“Yeah, maybe.” She was about to leave when he spoke up again. But he sounded distant. “This happens sometimes. It’s not something new. Addi tries to be in the house as little as possible. You can always hang over at our house, ya know.”

Not really knowing what to say Will just nodded. “Thanks, Jake. I’ll keep that in mind.” And headed to her room to get ready.

In the kitchen Jason was picking up shards of porcelain off the floor again, and again he was grumbling because Addi never let him retaliate. “They’d never do it again.” He argued.

“I know,” she answered sweeping up the small pieces.

“But you don’t care about little stuff like this, right?” he asked sarcastically.

“Correct,” she answered not looking up. She knew what was coming next and braced herself for his blow up.

“God damn it, Maddison! It’s not just you this time! It’s okay to ask for help every once in awhile.”

“No, it’s not, Jason. When you ask for help, people want favors. Favors I can’t or won’t fill. Is that what you want? Hmm? A favor?” she threw the broom down with a bang.

“God, no Addi! No! I want to HELP you. You and Will. You know, the girl who just got scared out of her mind when she doesn’t even have anything to do with this whole thing?! And you worry about me being a danger.” He stood up with a disgusted look. “You’re so…. God!”
They stood there staring at each other. Her daring him to act like all the other guys she’s known and him daring her to be more than the hard mask she hides behind. But neither one of them willing to give up.

“Jason, back off.” Jake was standing in the door way. “Addi, he’s right. Let us help you. Stay with us a few days.”

"No, Jake, I can’t. I can fix this. How’s Will? She okay?” Jake made everything better with her. Her arms dropped to her sides and she felt calm again. The kind of calm you get from sitting on the beach and watching the waves.

“She’s as to be expected. She’s getting ready and doing girl stuff.” He smiled at Addi and she smiled back.

“Thank you Jake. You have no idea. And I’m sorry Hatter. I didn’t mean what I said.”

“Yes you did. But I forgive you anyway.” he pulled her into a hug that enveloped her in smoke. “Only if you buy Chinese tonight though.” Then Jake came up and wrapped both his arms around the both of them.

“I would like orange chicken, please.” He rested his chin on Addi’s head, but a bright flash blinded everyone for a split second. When vision returned Willow was standing next to the black oven with Polaroid camera in hand.

“Sorry, but it was such a nice moment.” Jason stepped out of the group hug and ran to her, picking her up over his shoulder and spinning her around the kitchen till the picture floated down fully developed. “Put me down,” she screamed in between laughs.

“I can’t. There’s sharp stuff on the floor. I might be saving your life right now. You really should thank me sometime.” The smile in his voice was obvious and it made Will happy to know she made him happy.

“Put me down and I might.” She said trying to sound seductive upside down. Which is harder than it sounds.

“I’d put her down, Jay,” chimed Jake from the side lines. “You might get something worthwhile.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. Will has lots of tricks up her…sleeves,” Addi giggled. She never was good at making sex jokes.

“Well, it that’s the case,” and Jason headed to the living room, throwing her on the couch and landing on top of her. “Hey,” he said, his breath warm on her face.

“Hey,” she said as every part of her body tingled. Jason was less than a centimeter from kissing her again when the door swung open with a thud.