173 - Blue Tape
*I swear to God, if that woman makes any of my kids cry like that again, you’re going to need serious bail money to get me out of jail. Hell, you may have to file for conjugal visits in prison. - Darkness*
Camille handed over her debit card to pay for everything before turning to look at Celt. Reaching over, she smacked his hand as he tried to pull up the blue tape. He gave her a confused look.
“The tape has to stay on until we get to the house,” Nicki explained. “Even Mitch has to leave the tape on because it came from a daiquiri barn.”
“Well…. I probably should have known that,” Celt chuckled as the woman brought the card back with a pup cup of whipped cream and two bone shaped dog biscuits.
“That’s for you,” the woman handed the card to Camille. “And this, my good boy,” she moved to the back window and kissed Tink on the top of his head before handing the pup cup to Nicki, “is for you.”
“*Sitz*,” Camille ordered as she pulled out of the building and then out onto the street.
The dog sat down looking at the paper cup that Nicki held. Drool dripped from his mouth and landed on her leg. The teen made a sound of disgust as she used her jacket to wipe it up.
“Momma C!” she cried out when even more drool hit her arm.
“Tink, *auf dem boden liegin*.”
With a whimper, the sleek dog jumped over the seat to the trunk area of the Jeep. He laid down and from her small mirror that was meant to be used for an infant, Camille could see the black and brown body laying on the floorboards in the back. Smiling, she turned towards the police station and Celt’s rental car.
Her phone rang and the song playing on the radio cut off as the name Dutch appeared on the radio screen. Turning the volume up, she answered the call with a simple, “Hello, asshole.”
“If I did not admit to being an asshole, I might be offended,” Dutch said over the radio.
“Good thing that you know that you are an asshole,” Celt told him.
“Oh good, you’re there,” Dutch gave a soft laugh. “By the way, where is there?”
“I’m taking Celt back to his rental car,” Camille said, turning onto the road with the police station.
“Ugh! How long until your back at your house?” Dutch demanded.
“About ten or fifteen minutes,” she said. “Do I need to call you back?”
“No, I need you to let me into your house,” her oldest brother demanded. “I’ve got to piss like a mother fucker.”
She laughed, “I’ll worry about why you’re at my house later. Use the code star star zero five two seven zero one pound.”
“Hit the star button twice?”
“Yes,” she said, turning into the police station parking lot and moving towards the rental car.
“Why?” he asked and then recited the code as he punched it in.
“It indicates that it is the universal code for the house.” She stopped behind Celt’s car, “Your chariot, sir.”
“Can I ride with Uncle Celt?” Mitch asked.
“Come on, kid.” Celt said, opening the door, “You can navigate me back to the house.”
“Yes!” Mitch grabbed his backpack and opened the door. With his fruit smoothie in one hand and backpack in the other, he slipped out of the Jeep and slammed the door.
“Hanging up unless you want to hear me piss,” Dutch declared. “Holy fuck, this place is big, where the hell is a pisser?”
“Powder room is under the stairs,” she turned around and looked over the seat at Nicki behind her. “Do you want to move up to the front seat?”
“Thank god!” Dutch declared and the line went dead. Camille reached over to turn the radio back down before the music came back on.
“Yeah, can you hold these?”
Camille took her ‘fruit smoothie’ and the pup cup so that Nicki could move to the front seat. After dropping her book bag on the front floorboard, she snapped her seatbelt and took the drink and treat back. Settling the drink between her legs, she reached over and found a station that she wanted to listen to.
“Are you okay?” Camille asked quietly as she drove back to the house.
“Yeah,” Nicki said but did not sound very convincing.
After finding a hip hop station, she turned the radio up and turned to look out the window. Camille reached over and linked their fingers. Nicki squeezed their fingers together and her adoptive mom ignored the soft sob that the teenager did not want her to hear.
By the time that they arrived, Darkness’ bike was already in the driveway. Nicki grabbed her bag and took the drink and pup cup into the house. Leaving the two drinks where they were, Camille went around and opened the back gate and let Tink out. As she was grabbing the drinks out of the front cupholders, Celt pulled into the driveway.
“Mitch,” Camille held out the pup cup, “take this in for Tink.”
“Okay,” he looked at Camille with tears in his eyes, “is Nicki okay?”
“I don’t know, baby,” she admitted honestly. “But we’re going to make sure that she will be.” She kissed the top of his head, “Go on in.”
He nodded and then headed inside. While she waited to hear the door to the house close behind her youngest, she peeled off the blue tape and opened the straw that was taped to the side. Jamming the straw into the X on top, she took a long draw.
“What do I need to know?”
Celt chuckled as he also took a drink. “Your little girl has some fire in her.”
“The sass is strong with that one,” Camille agreed with a smirk.
“Yeah,” he agreed as they both leaned against the side of the Jeep. “Dominique accused Darkness of molesting Nicki.”
“What. The. Fuck?”
“Yeah, that was pretty much her exact words too. Followed by, and I quote, are you naturally that stupid? Or is it a skill that you had to learn?”
“She did not!” Camille laughed.
“She did. Followed by, and this time I’m paraphrasing, consider this my courtroom sketch, she was abused more with Dominique and her own immediate family more than she had ever been with you and Darkness. She talked about how you take them to therapy, and you let them be themselves.”
“Me great, but I am not the one being accused.”
“The plural of you. And she sang his praises, too. Did say that he’s not perfect. There were things that she doesn’t like. On school nights she has to be in her room at nine. That sounds familiar.”
Camille laughed, “As we got older, we saw the benefits. Come on, his daiquiri is going to be all liquid if we stay out here any longer.”
“These are good,” Celt admitted as they pushed off from the Jeep and headed inside.
Walking inside, she looked at the couch, and found her husband holding their daughter as she cried.
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