Steal my Sunshine

*Joseph*

I didn’t want her walking around with that crazy woman hiding somewhere. She was confident though, and I couldn’t question her, not when I had asked her to be my wife. I had to trust her, and that meant trusting her to know how to handle herself. I had brought her into this world, kept her in it. I could have made her leave that day we let her out of the caged room. I did that, not for her, not at first. When the guys saw the bruises on her I knew she was living with a monster. I knew Ryan was a bigger problem than I had originally thought. If she could handle them, surely, she could handle a weak crazy girl. “She is just scared.” Henry said walking around the corner. I looked at him, feeling bad, because I knew he was afraid of what would happen to the girl. I wouldn’t hurt her. Tanya and Mrs. Jones were caring for Zeus in another room. “I know that, Henry. I wouldn’t hurt her.” He nodded and shook my hand. “I know boss.” I heard the girl use a name that always made my skin break out in chills. “Elizabeth?” She must have spotted Sandra. “Right, I am Elizabeth. You know who I am, right?” I heard the disgust In Sandra’s voice when she said the name. That’s her old name, she changed it long ago. “There Is a man here, have you seen him. He is scary, I think he came from the peak. I thought they were all gone. Why would Henry bring him here?” She sounded terrified and I knew my queen would be able to help her with this. I told the men to turn off their comms. I wanted them to have privacy. I looked around and watched as my men listened to me. Before I took mine out, I heard my girl thank me. I think she thanked me for my trust and for giving them privacy.

I thought it best I went to check on Zeus. No one was frantic so I assumed he was okay. I walked to the room they were in and knocked knowing he hadn’t seen his lady in some time. “Yea?” He sounded okay so I walked in. Tanya was applying a nice large bandage to his side. Not his stomach or anything, more like his literal side. “She missed that big fucking chest bro?” I laughed trying to make light of the situation. “She did. She wasn’t really aiming; I am pretty sure the poor thing closed her eyes. When I walked in, I think she thought I had come from the Italians to take her back. Henry tried to talk to her, but she was already triggered. That girl has serious PTSD.” I nodded, knowing very well what that looked like. I have seen Sandra triggered, and my mother. “She just sliced my side a bit. A couple stitches might be good, but I am not going back to town right now.” I smiled and excused myself thinking I would leave them to have some privacy. Mrs. Jones followed me out. I complimented her on the holiday decorations, with pumpkins and fall colors decorating the house. It did look nice. She rolled her eyes at me and walked off in perfect Mrs. Jones style. She thinks us men are dirty pigs, and we wouldn’t know the first thing about decorations. She is wrong. I used to love decorations when I was young. That was before, before my life changed, before my mother changed, before I decided I would never be powerless again. The beginning of little Smoke, a boy with a bad past who decided to rule an empire. The boy who sat in front of the T.V. completely on Darth Vader’s side.

I thought back to my last Christmas I could remember where my mother and I decorated our last tree together. I was probably 5. My father has just been killed and my mother tried very hard that year to make it seem like everything was okay. We spent an hour making sure our tree looked the most beautiful. Putting each ornament in the perfect spot. She got drunk that night and set the tree on fire. I don’t remember having a tree after that. I have made it necessary in this house out here since I started all of this. This has been a place my guy could have a tree. As silly as it sounds for a bunch of gangster psychopaths to have their own tree, we needed it. We needed each other. I cannot wait to share it with Sandra. I know her father was wonderful. I know he made sure she had all the Christmas joy for a child. I doubt with Ryan she was allowed to enjoy it. I will ask her. I looked around as I walked back into the foyer. I saw Henry sitting with his head in his hands. I walked over and sat down in a chair beside him. “I am sure she will be okay little brother. Sandy is smart and they go way back. I am sure she can help her.” Henry looked up at me with tears in his eyes, “Do you think I should take her to a ward?” I shook my head no. Those places never helped my mom. “No, we will take care of her. If we must pay for round the clock psychiatry, we will make her better here, at home.” Henry squeezed my arm and wiped his eyes. “Look at us sitting here like a couple of bitches.” I smiled at him and patted his back. He stood up and headed to the kitchen. I am sure he was going to cook, because that’s what he does when he is upset. I decided to head towards the girls.

When I made it to the hall they were in, Sandra looked at me and smiled. Takara stood up and started immediately apologizing to me. “I didn’t realize it was Zeus. I know him. I don’t know what happened. It was like I wasn’t here anymore, it was cold, and I felt like I was stuck in that house. I am so sorry Smoke. You can make me leave if you want me to.” I shook my head no. “You are fine. We can bring in your therapist more often if you think that will help. Whatever we can do. Z is fine, he is with Tanya. You go talk with Henry, eh? He is worried.” She nodded, kissed Sandra on the cheek, and started to walk away. “Ill talk to you later Eli… Sandy.” Sandra laughed and waved goodbye to her. “You are really a wonderful queen, my love.” I said, grabbing her and wrapping her up in my arms. “I am.” She shrugged and stood on her tip toes to try and steal a kiss. She didn’t have to steal it; they are rightfully hers. Always. “I think we should let her kill Tommasso.” I didn’t know what to say, I just looked at her for a few moments. “What makes you think we are going to kill him?” She looked embarrassed. “I just assumed that since we brought him here.” She shrugged. I giggled at her. “Stop making fun of me.” She stomped toward the kitchen. “I will put some thought into it.” I said as I followed behind her. I realized I would follow her to the end of the earth. She saw Mrs. Jones in the laundry on the way and walked in. I watched as she told her about the engagement. She was asking her to help plan. It shocked me with all the women in the house that she was asking her. Mrs. Jones smiled at her and hugged her. That also struck me as odd. Only Sandra can get that reaction out of nanny McPhee. She came back out smiling big. “I figure she knows you better than anyone else around here.” She shrugged and kept walking towards the foyer. This woman really thinks of everything.

Everyone was in the kitchen by the time we made it in there. Zeus was smiling talking to Tanya and Takara. Looked like they had buried the hatchet already, or knife I suppose. I smiled to myself. I watched as Sandra went in and stole the attention of the room. They loved her. They all did. She hugged the girls, both, and then walked over to see what her bestie was cooking. I could tell she had a soft spot for Henry. If we were honest, we all do. I noticed Jay was missing and looked around. I told one of the guards to go look for him. He should be here with the family. We have guards to watch over Tommasso in the cellar. I think I will allow the girl to take him out if she wants to. If it will help her heal. I noticed though it was hard for Sandra when she killed Ryan, she seemed to really heal from it. It gave her some of her power back. Everyone was talking to one another, sharing Thanksgiving dishes and memories. Henry was talking about meeting families who didn’t celebrate or wouldn’t allow him to. That guy really had a hard time growing up. Suddenly I heard a loud pop outside. Zeus and Henry were already headed for the door. When we looked out, someone was lying on the ground. I pulled my gun, along with the others, and we all headed outside. It was dusk, but not quite dark yet, so we could see someone running in the distance. The man on the ground was one of our guards. Someone had shot him in the head. He was gone. We then started to run to the storm cellar, knowing this had to have something to do with Tommasso. I couldn’t look inside, terrified of finding Jay on the ground in much the same way. When Zeus got down the stairs he yelled for us. “Is he dead?” I asked, hearing my own voice get weak. Jay wasn’t dead, but knocked out, his head was bleeding bad. I took off my shirt and placed it to his head with pressure. Zues shook him and smacked his face trying to wake him up. When he finally stirred, he looked straight at me. “He took Jackson at gun point. Jackson saved me. He went into the woods. He wants to kill the women.” He tried to sit up and grabbed ahold of my arm, "He wants to kill our Sunshine."