Chapter 3

Nike held Angel's hand as they walked to Freebyrd and Bic’s house. Bic was standing on the porch smiling, and Nike nodded.

“Hey, sweetie,” Bic said softly to Angel whose head was on Nike’s shoulder, and she was just watching. The girl had gone silent the moment Nike had told her she would be staying with Bic and Free with Nike. She was scared, didn’t know what to expect from anything.

“Hey, Casey, this is my friend, Angel. Angel, this is my very good friend, Casey Callahan, you remember I told you about her and her husband, Joe. They are letting us stay with them.”

Angel nodded and then lifted her head up and looked at Nike. “Where is Boony?”

Nike bit her lip; she knew Boony had a hard time after finding out what happened. She had called several times this afternoon and each time Data told her everyone was dealing with shit, but everything was fine. Jilly had taken Boony to the kitchen, and they had talked for hours, it kinda freaked everyone out how the two had suddenly bonded without ever actually meeting before today. They had seen each other in passing but never been formally introduced, this was mostly due to the fact Boony was crazy, and Jilly was recovering from a different kind of crazy. Treat felt the two didn’t mix real well and had asked Boony to keep his distance.

Bic looked at Nike with a raised eyebrow, and Nike shrugged. Bic looked back at the little girl and smiled. “He is around, and if you want to meet him, I will have Joe give him a call.”

Angel immediately chirped, “Yay, I wanna meet him.”

Bic grinned and then said, “Well come on in, we will get you two settled and then have Joe bring Boony for dinner, how is that?”

“Nice,” Angel said shyly, smiled at Bic, and then buried her head in Nike’s neck. Nike grinned at Bic and relaxed, finally, something was actually looking up. However, the Social Worker already warned her that soon Angel was going to crash, and she was going to need counseling, she was arranging that first thing in the morning. She was dealing with this way too well.

“Boo-yah, chica!” Boony laughed at Angel, he had his shield back up, which meant he was hiding all his shit and acting like a dork again. Nike knew, so did Bic, but they didn’t call him out. Angel needed goofy Boony, and he needed to forget for a little bit.

Joe had already told them about Boony’s little meltdown, and honestly, both women were worried. They weren’t sure how this was going to play out with Angel, she needed stability, and Nike didn’t want to tell Angel that Boony currently lived in a lean-to on the beach.

“Boony-man, you are funny.” Angel laughed, and Nike smiled but then watched as the little girl got thoughtful and looked sad. “My mommy went to heaven today,” she whispered, and Boony suddenly became serious.

“I know, sweetheart,” he whispered back to her. “I am sorry.”

Angel looked at him and then said, “You told me everything was going to be okay.”

Boony grimaced and looked up at Nike helplessly. She bent down to talk to Angel, but the girl continued, and Boony’s gaze snapped back to the girl. “It is, you sent Nike to me.”

Boony closed his eyes, and Nike felt tears gather in hers. It sucked, even more, so that this child was wise beyond her age. No child should have to be this grown up; they should be playing with butterflies and worrying about what time cartoons come on, not this shit. She felt her anger grow and Nike had to turn around.

“I am so sorry,” Boony whispered.

“Me too,” Angel whispered.

Bic waded in then to save the day. “Hey,” she said. “How about we go see if we have some ice cream handy.”

Nike felt Angel nod and then leave the room with Bic, but the pain and sorrow still filled the space, and she knew it came from Boony. Nike turned and looked at him, he looked broken, and there was nothing she could do to help him. She knew that because there was nothing that would make her forget today.

Z and Te had spoken for hours about their situation. Yes, they had come to terms with some things, but Z knew he was going to have to call his parents soon and talk to them.

Z was sitting by the window staring at his president’s house where Nike was currently. Both men had watched her walk in with Angel, and they knew Boony was there now. It sucked since they wanted to go over there and talk to her.

“Have you talked to Treat?” Te asked, and Z turned and frowned.

“No, we are going to need to figure out what the f^k is going on with that,” Z said. “Nike has already had a shitty day; it is going to get much shittier when she comes over here. Freebyrd is going to bring her over when Angel goes to sleep according to Bob.”

There was a knock on the door, and Z turned. When Te opened it, Treat, Stone, and War were there waiting. With a sigh, Z motioned them to come in the room.

“Te,” War said firmly and nodded to Z, the time for explanations were now apparently.

“So,” Treat grinned at Z and Te. “Apparently this is going to be family reunion day at the compound.”

Z rolled his eyes and then looked at the guys. “How did we end up in this clusterf^k?” he asked with a grin.

“Just lucky,” Stone said with a smirk.

“Let’s break this down so when Nike comes over here, we are all on the same page,” Z said, and Te nodded, they all got comfortable and began to share the information they knew.

By the end of it, Z was wondering if they were even going to get a chance with Nike at all. With all this shit, she may well decide she was going to just get the f^k out of dodge and forget all this shit. He certainly would since this was a bit like a f^king soap opera.