Your Neighborhood Regular: The Neighborhood #9 Read online

  “It’s okay, what if I came into the diner with you and had breakfast?”

  “That would be weird,” she laughs.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Tip your waitress, it’s not like I’m a prostitute or anything, but that kind of would be weird.”

  “Well, then I will not sit in your section. But I can’t promise that I won’t flirt with you or ogle you like a creep would.”

  I follow her into the diner and as she walks into the back of the diner, I grab a seat at the breakfast bar and grab a menu from the basket in front of me.

  Gladys, an older woman who’s worked at this place since I moved to town, likely since the day she was born, stands in front of me holding up a pot of coffee. I flip over the coffee cup and push it forward, silently agreeing.

  “You know, I don’t think that I’ve seen you in here too often,” she says.

  “Yeah, I usually eat over at the bar,” I say, just as Madison walks out of the swinging doors that the staff would go in and out of.

  She looks at me with a small smile and then goes over to her station almost ignoring me, but Gladys doesn’t miss a step.

  “I see why you’re here; you’ve got a sweet tooth for Red,” she leans forward on her elbow into my space.

  I look over to Madison and smile as our eyes catch and she glances down with rosy cheeks.

  “Well, from the looks of it, she’s got a sweet tooth for you too.”

  “You think so?” I ask swinging my head back to Gladys.

  “Oh, honey, there’s a lot of fellas that come in and out of this town and I’ve never seen that girl give anyone beside her friends an ounce of time. But you sir, she’s looking at like she could snack on you all day long.”

  “Oh, Gladys, now you’re just embarrassing me,” I playfully say to her.

  “Darlin’, you don’t know that half of it,” she winks as she pulls out her notepad. “So, other than Red over there, what can I get for you today?”

  “Is she giving you a hard time?” Madison asks walking up to me and places her hand on my shoulder.

  “Oh no, she’s just filling me in on town gossip.”

  Madison smiles and heads into the back as Gladys smacks her lips and hums with a knowing look.

  “Oh yeah, honey. Looks like I was wrong, you aren’t a snack. You are the whole meal.”

  Seven

  I spend the rest of my day working on a new program that one of the companies I work with on a regular basis requested. I order a burger ahead of time from the bar and head that way to grab my food.

  On my way back home, I walk past Madison’s street, pause and then continue on my way. I need to work on the software and make a sizable dent before I can socialize, except all I want to do is talk to her. I don’t want to go dark on Madison, right after we sleep together. So, I pull out my cell phone and find her number.

  She answers after three rings and I can hear the smile in her greeting.

  “How was your day?” I ask her.

  “It was so-so. Not crazy busy, but not boring as shit. How about yours?” she asks.

  “Busy, working on a new thing, just got some dinner and was heading back home.”

  “I can tell.”

  “You can?” I spin around and see her at the end of the block with her phone up to her year.

  “Hi there,” she waves, saying into the receiver.

  “Are you following me?” I tease her.

  “You happened to be walking along the same path that I was, I’ve actually been behind you since Main Street,” she says beginning to step forward.

  I begin to walk forward and then when we meet in the middle, we both hang up.

  “So, you must have seen me stop and look down your street then, right?”

  She grins, “I might have.”

  “Well, shit. I’m an idiot.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that you are an idiot. I would like to say that you are a snack, no wait… a full meal!” she continues grinning.

  “I take it that Gladys mentioned that to you?” I ask her.

  “She might have clued me into what she was chatting with you about. More so that what she observed. I guess I gave things way a little bit?”

  “She implied that, yes.” I answer while nodding at the same time.

  “So, you’ve got more work to do tonight?” she asks gripping the strap on her purse.

  “I do, but, if you wanted to come and hang out and keep me company, we can totally do that?” I ask.

  “No, get your work done. I don’t want to be a distraction. I did talk to Nydia and she wanted to know if we could head to the city with them tomorrow night to go see a movie?”

  I look up thinking while accessing my mental calendar and then return my gaze to her.

  “I will do whatever it takes to take you out tomorrow night,” I say crossing my heart.

  “Perfect, I’ll let them know that we’re in. Maybe we can do food before? Just you and me?” she asks with hope.

  “Sounds perfect,” I say stepping into her space, wrapping my palm around her neck and pulling her close to me.

  With a gentle kiss on the corner of her street, I let her go on about her night, while I go to finish my work and likely pull an all-nighter.

  Eight

  I stay up until five in the morning before I finished the outline of the new software. I sent off what I had so far to one of the partners of the company and finally fall asleep.

  When I wake up to my phone dinging, it is four in the afternoon. My emails indicate that my client is happy and that I can move onto the next phase. They give me a timeline of their release plan and after looking at it, I know that I have enough time to have a good night out without worry here and there. With tonight, being the first.

  I head over to Madison’s house a few hours later. I’m standing in front of her front door with flowers behind my back, like some cheesy teenager taking a chick out for the first time. I stand nervously until she opens the door. Her long red hair is in braids, she’s wearing a red, teal and brown flannel, a white top underneath, and short shorts.

  “Here,” I hold out the flowers for her and she blushes while taking them. “Are we going square dancing?” I ask.

  She tilts her head and smiles, “No, but we are going to a bonfire out in the woods.”

  “Out in the woods?” I ask.

  “Word is that there’s going to be a band out there throwing a renegade show,” she bounces on the balls of her feet.

  “Interesting. Who’s the band?”

  “Some guy who used to live here in town and has some major connection to Mercy,” she shrugs.

  “Sounds interesting, haven’t been to a bonfire since I was in high school.”

  “Want to come in for a little bit? Nydia and Cooper said they would text when they were on their way and that they’d swing by and pick us up.”

  “How much time do we have?” I ask wiggling my eyebrows.

  “I don’t think we have enough time for that, mister,” she puts her hands on her hips while I walk by, kiss her cheek, and enter her apartment.

  “There’s always a little time for something, darlin’,” I reply turning to face her as she closes the door.

  I walk up to her and put my fingers through the belt loops of her shorts and pull her closer to me. She drapes her arms around my neck and leans up on her tippy toes.

  Our lips touch gently, and I tilt my head opposite hers to deepen the kiss. Her fingers thread into the hair on the back of my head and moans quietly into the kiss. My hand moves from her belt loops up her side and to cup her breast.

  I squeeze lightly as my tongue searches her mouth and our tongues dance together just as Madison’s phone dings from the kitchen counter.

  She pulls away reluctantly, peppering a few kisses before we completely pull apart and I rearrange myself.

  She looks at her phone and then puts it in her small purse on the counter.

  “They’re on their way over,” she
says.

  “To be continued,” I wink.

  There are hay bales, lanterns on posts and a small sound stage in the middle of the woods just outside of Mercy.

  I don’t even think the parties that the high schoolers throw out here are this nicely put together. The band that is playing has a professional set up and looks legit.

  So why are they playing out in the middle of nowhere?

  “Hey man, can you help me with this keg?” a guy asks in a deep voice from beside me.

  I turn to look at him and he’s a big guy, he’s got some 5’o’clock shadow happening and looks like a tough guy.

  “Sure thing,” I reply, “so, why do you think these guys wanna play out here?”

  “Ah, that’s because Mr. M doesn’t want his father to know that he’s playing.”

  “So, then why not go to the city?” I ask.

  “Because, if he goes to the city, that’s too many people knowing he’s back on the scene, and Mr. M wants to stay on the down low to make sure he doesn’t bring attention to himself or the area.”

  “So, who is this Mr. M?”

  “Mr. M? You telling me you don’t know Mr. M?” the guy shakes his head in asking.

  “I don’t, should I?”

  “You from around these parts?” he asks.

  “I live here, but I’m not exactly from here.”

  “Ah,” he nods in understanding as if it’s something that he’s used to hearing.

  We move three kegs to a hidden spot behind a bush, and then the stranger thanks me and then walks away without any more explanation.

  I’m still left with no answers and a curiosity about whoever this Mr. M is.

  The roar of the generator breaks the silence of the rustling trees and the lights hanging around the large space flicker on and come to life. It’s not too bright, but enough to lighten the space up a little.

  Now, I see more people milling around the stage area, plugging things into amps and fiddling with a few other instruments. More onlookers are milling around the wooded area and looking around than I thought.

  Madison smiles and walks over to where I’m standing in the middle of the field.

  “Hey, making friends?” she asks.

  “Just helping out where needed,” I reply. “Do you know who Mr. M is?”

  She looks at me in confusion, “that sounds so ominous. I have no clue who you’re talking about, any clues?”

  “The guys gotta be the front-runner of the band or something. The dude I was talking to made it sound like he was someone big.”

  “Interesting,” she threads her arm through my arm on my hip and around my waist. “Thanks for coming out tonight, I think this is fun, a double date.” She says as Cooper and Nydia come up beside us.

  “So, you guys doing good?” Cooper asks.

  “Yeah, how did you guys hear about this?” I ask.

  “Wyatt met one of the guys in the band the other day, and yeah. Speaking of which…” Cooper trails off as Wyatt and Miles approach.

  We all share niceties as the band begins to sound check their instruments.

  “This is a killer set up man, I wish they had this kind of shit when I was a damn kid, it would have been a whole lot of trouble and drunk ass nights,” Miles says looking over at the row of kegs behind the bushes.

  “You grow up around here?” Wyatt asks.

  “Sure did, I was homeschooled though, kinda hidden from the town due to shame from my mom’s indiscretions and shit.” Miles replies.

  “Sounds sinister,” Cooper replies.

  “She hooked up with Noah’s dad, made me and so I was hidden for the most part because it was known that my mom had no man,” Miles shrugs and says quickly.

  “Such scandal for such a small town.” Cooper says with a laugh. “But hey, you got a brother out of it, Noah is a cool guy.”

  Miles nods as a big gorilla of a guy steps up to the microphone.

  “How we doing out there?” he asks.

  A few whistles and cheers sound from just below the stage. There’s at least fifty to a hundred people hanging out now, all waiting for the band to go on.

  “So, for those of you who don’t know who we are, we’re Mercy’s Grind. We’re a local band, who got too big for their britches out in the real world, so we’re taking some time off. But we miss playing out, so we’re doing it in secret. Are you ready for this?”

  Cheers erupt and the first chords from the guitar play.

  Mercy’s Grind.

  I recognize that name. Not just because they have the towns name in their band name, but I swear, that I’ve heard their music before.

  I take another look at the lead singer.

  The name is familiar.

  He’s a giant, has big biceps, a short manicured blonde beard and short blonde hair on top that is styled perfectly as if he constantly runs his hands through his hair out of frustration.

  It can’t be.

  Can it?

  Nine

  It’s Caleb fucking Mercy.

  When I first moved to this town, he almost ran me over with his car on his way out of town. He swerved and instead of hitting me - thank heavens- he hit the driver’s side of my car instead.

  When I took his information down, he said that he would do his part for the insurance to make sure the end of my insurance was taken care of.

  But I never heard from the guy after that.

  Granted, his family name is the name of this town, but I’ve never seen him in town again.

  A few months after the small accident, the record company that he had just signed with that I contracted for, wanted me to add his band to their site as well as wanted to create a site for them.

  Mercy’s Grind.

  And now, I’m standing in the woods, with this band that spiked high in the charts for a few years until rehab and trouble came their way.

  The music echoes perfectly through the woods; the beer flows perfectly as the evening goes into the later hours.

  Soon enough, I forgot about how I knew the leader of the band and just swayed to the music with Madison in my arms.

  It was truly a perfect night, unlike any other date that I’ve gone on and kinda romantic as well.

  I had a few drinks and was having a good time with Cooper, Wyatt, and Miles when the band stopped playing and the lights shut down.

  I hear someone murmur to be quiet and then see spotlights in the distance bouncing off of shadows and of the trees.

  Madison grabs my hand and we take off running in the opposite direction of the spotlights and head towards where we parked the car.

  When we get to the car, we’re all out of breath and jumping immediately into the back seat with Nydia and Cooper right behind us.

  We gun it out of the spot that we parked in and we are soon on the highway back into town. As soon as we hit Main Street, Cooper pulls the car over and kills the engine.

  As if on cue, we all break out in laughter.

  “I feel like I’m fifteen again and out past curfew,” Nydia laughs.

  “Seriously, do I have braces again?” Madison laughs.

  “Bonus is that the few sheriffs and deputies around this area, means that we could do anything. I doubt that anyone is left at the station. Wanna loot?” Cooper says with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

  “Hey Mr. Bad Boy, none of that talk. You know I like good boys,” Nydia points at Cooper.

  “You know I’m kidding, babe,” he says leaning over and kissing her chastely.

  Laughter fills the car again, and Cooper starts up the car again and drives back to Madison’s place. We get out of the car and stand awkwardly on the sidewalk after we say our goodbyes to Nydia and Cooper.

  “So, do you want to come in?” Madison asks. “I have a busy morning tomorrow, but I figure we could hang out just a little bit.”

  “Oh yeah, what do you have going on tomorrow?”

  “I have the morning shift, so that means I have to be up around four in the morning to
make sure I’m in at five.”

  “Well, that works for me, I need to be up early to work on a work project,” I wink.

  We walk side by side up the rest of the sidewalk and into her place. As soon as the door closes, she has me pressed up against the wall. Her hands grips the collar of my shirt as she presses herself against me. She licks my lips and I open for her instantly. Our tongues tangle as my hands slide down her hips and grip her ass to press her against me more.

  She fists my shirt and pulls it over my head as my hands fumble to do the same with hers. I get her shirt off and her bra unclasped then toss her shirt aside. I grab her by the hips and hoist her up with her legs wrapping around my middle while I move through her apartment to her couch. I turn and sit down with her sitting astride me.

  “I want you,” she whispers against my lips in between kisses.

  “You have me, you can have me in any way you want.”

  While I said that I needed to get up early and work last night, after getting back home this morning at four-thirty in the morning, I go directly to my bed and pass back out only to wake up a few hours later to a pounding on my door.

  I drag myself out of bed and with a yawn, I open the front door to a very excited Cooper.

  “Why are you knocking on my door so early? And why the hell do you looks so happy?” I ask him to step aside to allow him entrance.

  “I asked Nydia to marry me last night, and she said yes!” he says excitedly.

  “Man, that’s pretty awesome. Congrats. But why are you here with me when you should be in bed with your woman?”

  “She needed to head into town, some appointment that she already had lined up. Why are you looking like you were still asleep, it’s noon?”

  “I passed out when I came back from Madison’s.”

  “Come with me to the bar, I want to celebrate and make sure no one is messing with my work site.” Cooper says shoving his hands in his front pockets.

  “Sure thing, let me switch out of these clothes.”