We stayed up in the room for hours, just talking about everything from the miscarriage to the way she feels now with the new baby on board. She was able to show me some YouTube videos about pregnancy on her iPad. We discussed the different themes she might want for a baby shower and what she’s thinking about doing for the baby’s nursery.
She told me about her fears of having a baby and also about how Hoodrat is as overprotective as ever. I could’ve told her that was going to happen. I know my brother. The second Giada told him she was pregnant, I’m sure his need to protect her went into overdrive. Probably more than he or she ever thought it would.
After a while, Giada’s stomach started to grumble, and I basically had to force her out of the bed, so we could go downstairs and get something to eat.
“Honestly, I’m not that hungry,” she says, but she also already told me that she was beginning to get concerned about her weight, something Hoodrat didn’t know. I wouldn’t say anything, but I also wasn’t just going to let her sit there and starve because she thought she was getting ‘fat’. Not on my watch. Not when I know how important good food is for the baby.
As Giada and I walk down to the kitchen area and get some food together, Boss walks in with a big stack of papers, photos, and mail. “Oh, I didn’t know anyone was in here. I need more space,” she says before she sets out separating it.
“It’s okay for us to be in here?” Giada asks, and Boss gives her a nod.
At the very top of the pile, I see a small box. Something that looks to be the size of a phone.
“Hey, is that my new phone?” I ask excitedly.
Boss’s eyes dart over to the box before she pushes it out of the way and continues separating the papers in front of her.
“No. That’s a spare for the club. I’ll let you know when yours comes in. It should be any day now,” she says without looking up from what she’s doing.
I think it’s so odd that I’ve had to go this long without a phone, and the club has spares just lying around. What I can’t comprehend is why I can’t use one of the club’s spares until mine comes in. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
I understand all about the insurance issue, but at this point, I’d rather have just paid for it out of my own pocket than wait this long. I’ll have to talk to Muffler about it when he gets back.
I see a glossy piece of paper in front of Boss, and it captures my attention. I know I shouldn’t be looking over her shoulder, but something about the photos intrigues me. When I look at it, I see what looks like an overhead image of a compound.
I wonder if this is where Muffler is right now?
“This is the run that Muffler’s on, right?” I ask. Now that I’m Muffler’s ol’ lady, it’s easier for me to get information about certain things, whereas when I was just Hoodrat’s sister, the information wasn’t given so freely.
“Right.” Boss cocks an eyebrow at me, and I continue with my thought process. There are a few more photos on the table in front of me, and I quickly study them.
“I hope they’re not just going to go straight for the leader. Not with all those people around him. They’re not just going to let anyone close to him.” I don’t know much about what he’s doing, but I do know it has to deal with the cult.
Boss looks over to the photo that I’m referring to, trying to figure out what I’m looking at. One of the photos is of a group of people all dressed the same, but there’s one man in particular that stands out from the rest. Not because he’s dressed any differently or because he’s got some sort of ornate headdress on, but simply because of the body language of everyone else around him.
“What do you mean? Who’s the leader? We haven’t figured that out yet,” Boss says and looks at the picture with me.
“Really? It’s this guy right here,” I say and point down to the picture.
“How do you figure that?” Boss asks and turns the picture in her direction.
“Well, really, it’s everyone else that lets me know that this one is the leader. Look how they are all turned in his direction. How they take protective positions up in front of him. They are all deferring to him.”
Boss scoffs slightly and looks at more pictures, all of which that guy is in and all of which the rest of the people around him are doing the same thing. They’re looking to him for whatever directive, and he is standing there in the middle, strong and tall. I’m surprised none of the club had ever seen this. It was right in front of all of them the entire time.
“That’s good work,” Boss says. “Anything else you see in these photos?”
“Yeah. I hope you asked them to hide here.” I point to a large outcropping of trees near a small body of water.
“Why is that?” Boss asks. Though there is a slight smirk on her lips.
“Well, it’s good coverage, and there’s an easy way out. You want them to be able to make a run for it if they need to, and even though there are a lot of the others in this photo, that topography would make it hard for them to follow our guys back.
Boss shakes her head and wipes a hand down her face.
“Damn, girl, that’s really good. You’ve got some good eyes on you. I might need to call you in to look at a few more photos. Maybe you can see some things that I’ve missed,” she says, and I smile in return.
It’s been a long time since anyone dared include me in anything. They were all treating me like I couldn’t hold my own simply because of the accident. I knew deep down that I was able to do something to help. I just didn’t know that it would be this. I don’t mind, though. If it means that there’s a better chance Muffler and the club members who went with him are going to come home in one piece, I’m more than willing to help them