Boondock Princess

Isabella stamped her heels down the eerily empty corridor of The Hoag, a prison specially designed for Boston’s finest criminals; she still wore the same clothes from last night but was thankful that Doc had lent her a long trench coat to at least give her a little modesty. She paused outside of the visitor’s room door, its large burly handle staring back at her, begging her to push it. Her breath had caught in her throat and she could feel the clamminess of her hands begin to spread to the rest of her body, nerves were about to get the better of her even though she had made it so close.
“We didn’t have any visitors for today?” a young guard, close to Isy’s age questioned, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
“Last minute” she answered vaguely.
“Who ya seeing?”
The fact that he was checking her out was painfully obvious, even in the dirty old coat he was eyeing her off like a piece of meat.
“The Saints.” Isy replied with a smirk and raised an eyebrow.
The young man’s demeanour changed suddenly and he took a few steps back.
“Today’s not a good day.”
“The guard on reception already lined it up; they’re probably in there waiting for me now.”
“Yeah well the guy on reception doesn’t really like the boys, he doesn’t care who comes to see them.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “And ‘sides, Connor and Murphy have got yard duties today; they gotta be out there soon.” He nodded his head in the direction of the outdoor yard, visible by the bullet proof window across the hall.
“That’s nice and all, really enjoyed the chat but I’ve gotta speak with them. It’s kind of a life or death matter.” Isabella tried to remain ambiguous
“Today’s not good.” He interrupted.
“It’s my life or death.” She rephrased
He rubbed the back of his neck again and Isy realised it was a nervous tick, something had him on edge but she didn’t entirely care what.
“It’ll be quick, I promise.” She soothed, leaning closer to the man and giving him a sly wink; she’d picked up a thing or two at the club.
“O-ok, but make sure it is quick. It’s important that they’re outside on time.” He finally agreed and let her enter the room.
It felt surreal seeing them again, it’d been so long that she would have almost forgotten their faces, if not for the picture she kept in her apartment, hidden in her underwear draw. It was the only picture she had of her brother, he had his arm proudly slung over her shoulder while Connor flipped the bird to the camera and Murphy had jokingly licked her cheek just as the picture was taken, resulting in her face being contorted in a look of both laughter and annoyance. But no matter how much she wanted to throw the picture away, she never could.
They sported a few fresh cuts and bruises to their faces and she could only imagine how many more were hidden underneath their prison jumpsuits. Their faces had aged since she had last seen them, quickly doing the math she realised they would be thirty five now and her slain brother Rocco should have been thirty nine.
“Good ta see yer Bell.” Murphy spoke first; a small smile crossed his face.
“Don’t call me that.” She spoke bluntly before walking to the glass booth.
“You still angry at us?” Connor asked with hurt in his voice.
“Of course I am!” Isy lost her temper and slammed her hands down on the bench.
“It weren’t our fault.” Murphy was barely audible.
“So it’s Rocco’s fault?”
“Course na’.” He was upset with her allegations.
“Rocco was, is, our brother till the end. We avenged ‘is death, brought justice.” Connor spoke proudly.
“It was your dumbass ideas that got him killed. Taking fucking vengeance on the Yakavetta's, I mean c’mon.” Isy exhaled loudly and took three long breathes to calm herself down.
“We t’ought you mighta actually come ‘round an wanted ta speak ta us again.” Connor sighed, “What is it then? Why’d you come ta see us?”
“I got myself in a real fucking mess and Doc said it’d be in my best interest to speak to you two about it.” Isy sunk back in her chair and fiddled with a signet ring on her finger.
“Well?” Murphy perked up.
“Look, I don’t know how much you guys know about what’s happening in Boston at the moment but since you got locked up, it’s been overrun with dicks trying to make it big in crime world. After you basically wiped out all those scummy assholes last year, this guy called Mikhailov starts up this little drug and prostitution ring. Couple months later, he’s running things and no body crosses him without being found horribly dismembered.”
“Sounds like a fucking asshole.” Connor gathered.
“Yeah well, I kinda pissed off one of that assholes guys.” Isy paused, suddenly aware of how stupid she was going to sound. “And then I killed him.”
“You fucking what?!” Murphy stood from the chair, the bullet proof glass that separated them reverberated with his uproar. “T’e hell would you do that for?”
“He killed my friend, she was innocent, had nothing to do with it.” Isabella tried to reason.
“You? Little Isy, can’t even hurt a bug, there’s a spider in the kitchen but don’t kill it Connor, just take it outside and leave it be.” Connor was dumbfounded by the news. “What happened ta ye?”
“Being alone without any family does that to a person. Kinda had to toughed up.” She spoke coldly, knowing her words would give them guilt. “I have to take care of the spiders by myself now.”
“What do ye want us to do?” Murphy spoke up.
“Not much you can do while you’re locked up but maybe a bit of advice would help.”
“Like head fer t’e fucken hills.” Connor replied sarcastically.
Isy stood angrily from the booth and began walking away, frustrated at herself for even bothering to come at all.
“I don’t know what I was expecting when I saw you two.” She admitted and left the room, leaving them no time to object. “All yours.” She spoke to the guard before trudging back down the hall she entered in.
Doc was sat in his car outside, his smile fading as he saw her approach.
“Y-y-you didn’t talk to them did ye lass?” his voice was painfully disappointed.
“I did, waste of my time. They can’t help me while they’re stuck in the Hoag.” She sighed and climbed into the passenger seat of the old Buick.
“Duffy an, an, an Dolly, they’ll help ye out.”
Isabella shook her head and looked to the kindly old man; he was always so willing to help anyone out when they were in trouble.
“They can’t keep flying to my rescue whenever I get myself in trouble Doc. We’ve had this goddamned discussion before.”
“th-th-th-this is d-d-different.” He stammered, his stuttering always worsened when he was upset. “This isn’t some lad following you home, this is s-s-seri-s, it’s fucking bad.”
“It’s ok old man, ill figure something out. You need to have a little faith…” Isy was cut off by a loud explosion not far from where the car was parked.
The car rocked as the explosion shook it and every other vehicle in the lot, an entire guard tower was knocked to rubble and part of the fence was down with dust surrounding the area and limiting their vision.
“Fuck ass” Doc yelled.
“Yeah, lets fuck ass outta here!” Isy cried out and banged on the dash.
Doc only had time to pull the car into gear when three figures emerged from the haze, two walked in sync with each other while the third lagged behind a little.
“Well I’ll be damned, guess the boys aren’t stuck in prison anymore.” Isabella shook her head in disbelief as the men spotted the familiar car and rushed to it.
“Ye should ‘ave tol’ us ye had a plan ta get us out.” Connor laughed hopping into the back seat and rubbing both Doc and Isabella on the head in excitement.
“Aye Bell” Murphy confirmed.
“I told you to stop calling me that and we had nothing to do with this.” Isy turned back to the three that had scampered into the car. “And who the hell is this spick?” she eyed off the third man.
“Fuck, she has as much class as you two.” He laughed, “I’m Romeo baby girl.”
“Who the hell are you?” she raised an eyebrow in question.
“What? Are you serious?” he looked around the rest of the car, Murphy and Connor both shrugged and held back laughter. “Babe, I was their man last year. I was the man.”
“You two got yourself a prison bitch?”
“Nah nah nah, not what I meant.” Romeo tried to defend himself.
“Shuttup I don’t care, we gotta get outta here.” Isabella silenced him.
“But I aint their bitch.”
“Shut up.” Isy completely tuned out his protests and focused on the vehicles travelling besides them on the highway.
“Where are the cops?” Murphy looked around.
“Not many walk the beat anymore, too easy for them to become targets. It’ll take them a little longer to get to the Hoag.” Isy spoke, not looking away from the other cars as they sped past them. “Slow down a little Doc, this old rust bucket is already causing enough attention.”
The old man obliged and slowed it down to the speed limit, his eyes constantly looking in the rear view mirror to check for any tag alongs. He was surprisingly calm for someone who had just aided in the escape of two high profile criminals and their boyfriend.
“Whoa Doc, you missed the turn.” Isy spoke up, realising he had sped past the exit that they needed to take.
“aye.” Was his only reply.
“Well where are we going then?”
“Pub’s the first place that Mi-Mi-Mikha-Mik that the fucken Russian would look, especially since some of his boys already went an-an-an never came back.”
“How many of ‘is men ye take out?” Murphy looked at her seriously
“Well, three”
“fuck.” Connor put his head in his hands in frustration.
“Who is this Russian guy anyway?” Romeo spoke up.
“He was Yuri Petrova's nephew, you remember him boys?” Isy questioned them.
They looked to each other briefly in confusion,
“He was t’e guy.”
“Aye the guy.”
“What guy?” Romeo piped up.
“ye know, t’e one who we met tha’ time”
“Oh yeah, yeah. At t’at place.”
“You have no idea, do you?” Isy shook her head. It might’ve been a while since she’d seen them but they hadn’t changed much at all. “The first big time guy that you popped.”
“The fat man.” Murphy finally caught on
“Yeah, Mikhailov was the next family member in line.”
“Time te send him a welcome.” Connor grinned, enjoying every moment now that he was out of prison.
“First things first.” Doc spoke, pulling the car aside on an old empty road.
“Where the hell are we?” Isy questioned, looking at the abandoned factory in front of them.
“J-j-j-just get inside.” Doc instructed and all four of his passengers obliged.
They cautiously walked into the old, crumbling building that smelt of burnt rubbed and looked like it hadn’t been used in a decade. Isabella kept a few strides behind Connor and Murphy, having them so close to her was painful and her heart ached.
She had known them for a few years before Rocco’s death, meeting them at McGinty’s the day of her mother’s funeral. Doc had allowed her to stay at the bar all night with Rocco, she didn’t want to be away from him and he didn’t want to stop drinking. Despite being only thirteen, no one seemed to question her presence there, except for two young Irish men. They cheered her up, teaching her how to play darts and were rather surprised to find that she was good at it. Before long, Isabella would accompany her brother to the bar every weekend and she and the three men would hustle people out of money with her darts skills. They were the ones that kept her in school, urged her to continue on and get an education. Without the MacManus brothers, she could have been a lot worse off, but without the MacManus brothers, her brother would also still be alive.
Deep in thought, she didn’t notice Murphy drop back and try and catch her attention until she felt his shoulder nudging her.
“What?” Isy spoke blankly
“Ye need te forgive us eventually.”
“I don’t know if I can.” She answered honestly.

They came to a stop at the large closed doors that blocked their entry to the warehouse, rusty and covered in dirty, it looked like a death trap. Doc rapped on the door three times and they could hear it echo through the inside of the old building and then it was followed by silence. After a minute, the familiar click of heels on concrete resounded from inside, it got louder as it neared them before stopping just outside the door.
Isy turned to Murphy, they both shared the same confused expression, his blue eyes looking questioningly into hers and for a moment, she forgot why she had spent so much time trying to forget about them.
The door creaked open slowly and the person in heels revealed themselves,
“Well ya’ll took long enough, how about ya let me show ya’ll around.”