Midnight Rider

Paige felt slightly awkward sitting around, skulking in the back of the bar while these Boston Saints talked about killing some Italian fucks.

Eunice was apparently here to collect Connor, he obviously couldn’t fight, and he was hurt pretty badly. She said that she had a fake identity all ready for him out west they just had to make the trip.

First of all, they didn’t want the Italians following them. With Connor’s poor health, he would be an easy target for them, and the last thing they would want would be for him to slip back into their grip.

Second, that meant that Murphy was half alone in this battle. Eunice was disapproving of Romeo helping in his healing condition. Murphy was going to need a good plan, and he only had the help of two detectives.

Third, Paige wasn’t allowed to contact her family. And she wasn’t allowed to help unless it was from a distance. Eunice seemed to like Paige, and insisted that until this mess was taken care of, she needed to be kept here under protection.

That’s when Paige lost it. Duffy had scoffed the moment she was mentioned. Paige had met Dolly on a few occasions, and liked him. Duffy however always gave her a hard time. She was never able to defend herself because all she was to him was a whore.

“Call me a whore one more time Duffy!” Paige yelled as Murphy wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her back. He patience had finally dispensed and she could no longer let him keep jabbing at her. Duffy’s hand came away from his face; he checked his fingers for blood. But Paige hadn’t hit him hard enough.

The commotion was enough to startle everyone, and again Paige felt completely out of place. Duffy deserved what he had gotten, but she wished that she hadn’t lost control in front of so many people.

“I don’t need this!” she said after the awkward silence had become unbearable. “I can take care of myself.” She was suddenly very aware that Murphy’s hands hadn’t quite left her body. He bothered her the most, he had ignored her since that morning at the motel, pretending as if nothing had transpired between them. Yet, who was she kidding? Nothing had.

She jerked away from him before grabbing her few possessions and walking out the door.

“Now I don’t know about ya’ll but I quite like her.”

“She’s a loose end Eunice.” Duffy said. “Just some prostitute that took money from the wrong clients.

“Murphy, don’t let her get far?” Eunice asked. “She’s sweet. I don’t want her in the wrong hands again.”

“Eunice, just leave her, let her go.” Duffy added. Murphy’s fists were clenched tight against his sides. Going after he was the last thing he wanted to do, especially after seeing the look on Connor’s face.

“Look I didn’t make my way all the way down to the heart of Boston to half ass this job of cleaning up your mess. We’re gonna do it my way or ya’ll are gonna see the very ugly side of me, and I promise you it is not pretty.”

Duffy and Dolly both looked somewhat scared. Eunice had never seemed like a frail woman to them, she had always been a hard-ass, smart gal who always made them feel stupid. And when she meant business, she meant business. So Murphy grabbed his black wool coat and headed out the door.
________________________________________

Paige had stepped inside a taxicab, completely aware that she had no money with her. She watched as the meter ran, and the cab driver made his way across town. He stopped at a three-story flat where Paige proceeded to have him wait while she buzzed her friend from upstairs.

“Yeah?!” Crissy said.

“Mind getting the fuck down here and paying my cab fare?” Paige asked.

“P. Where have you been bitch! Haven’t seen you in days.”

“Ran into trouble, can you help me out? I’ll explain later.”

“Yeah sure thing.”

Christina made her way down to her friend. The stairs were enough to lull her mind into an unsuspecting gaze. When she saw her friend she almost didn’t recognize her. Without her wig her hair looked dirty, and her face… she really had run into trouble.

“You couldn’t just take the bus?” Crissy asked her.

“Didn’t want to wait.” Paige responded.

“Who the hell did that to you? Is this where you’ve been all this time? Don’t tell me you got dealt a psycho.”

“No… this is technically my fault I guess.” Paige said.

“So he hit you? And he made you believe it was your fault? Good job P.”

“No… it – Mauricio is responsible.”

“Shit girl! I thought you said he was legit? Like a normal guy n’ all.”

“Well, he’s also psychotic Crissy.”

Crissy and Paige had finally made it back up the stairs. Paige indeed could see her face looked terrible, but what bothered her most was her injured hip, so she sat down while Crissy made her a cup of coffee.

“I just needed somewhere to lay low.” Paige said.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got Italians looking for you. You know Marco just got in with them!”

“Well don’t tell Marco then Crissy. Just keep your mouth shut.” Paige didn’t realize she was still angry. “I- I’m sorry.” She said. “I didn’t mean that, I’ve just been dealing with a lot of shit.”

“I can see that.” Crissy said, “Are you alright?”

“For now.” Paige said. “Just want to shower, and borrow some clothes, if you’ll let me?”

“Of course, my home is always open to you, I’ll run down to the noodle place and bring back some food. You… you just rest.”

“Thank you Crissy, I owe you…”

“You owe we several, but I know you’re good on it.” Crissy said winking before grabbing her coat and heading back out the door.

Paige fought herself to get into the bathroom to start the hot water. She settled down into the bath and could immediately tell the water was too hot – but she forced herself to get used to it, she did eventually. She could see that the bruises across her body were nothing short of what she’d seen on other girls she’d worked with. Paige had been knocked around a few times, and she supposed that she expected it – as it came with the job.

Upon stepping out of the tub she noticed the drenched locks that were clinging to her still wet body. She smeared away the steam across the mirror before grabbing a pair of scissors to cut off her hair. Once she was done she had cut it to her shoulders, a similar cut to the wig she used to wear. She threw away the bits of hair in the sink, and proceeded to start drying the uneven cut. She borrowed some of Crissy’s nice make up to cover some of the bruises she sported. Finally she looked like a normal girl, like someone who should have a proper job, or enrolled at a University.

She left when she heard Crissy come back from the store. She had Styrofoam boxes filled with ethnic food. Paige sat down and began to dig into her favorite curry dish.

“You act like you haven’t seen food in days.” Crissy said to her.

“I’ve… been avoiding it I guess.”

“Why? What happened to you, you promised you’d explain.”

“I just… should never have gotten mixed up with Mauricio, then I never would’ve met them.”

“Met who?” Crissy asked.

“These… guys.” Paige admitted, “They have a beef with the Italians too.”

“Someone I would like? Guys… cute guys?!” Crissy asked.

“Uh-“

“I don’t know why I’m friends with you.” Paige said.

“So… you like him.” Crissy said.

“HOW! HOW DID YOU GET THAT FROM MY FRAGMENT OF A QUESTION? You are a complete mystery to me.”

“You tend to ramble or change the subject when you avoid things. You’re just bad at getting away from things.” Crissy said while nodding her head.

“What do you mean-“

“So I wanna know alllllllllll about him” Crissy said. “We’ve got all night!”