A Friend from the Past

They took off on a ride in our general area. When she got back, she came to me and kissed me. She smiled, and Bob laughed. There was no doubt to anyone that she was my woman.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"Because I love you," she replied as we kissed again.

My cell phone rang just then. I wasn't surprised when I saw it was DJ. I figured he might call.

"You white mother fucker. I'm coming after you. You stole my woman and I'm going to gut you out. You tell that fucking whore that after I kill you, I'm going to beat her to a pulp and then sell her ass to the highest bidder. You messed with the wrong man, you mother fucker."

"Hey Darrell, we can work this out. Just give Aliana a divorce and you can have everything. Let her have her freedom. There doesn't need to be any violence. Just let her go."

"Mother fucker, nobody takes my property and I own her."

"Listen, you black bastard," I looked over at Aliana, my silent message an apology for the language. She gave a slight nod showing she understood. "I tried to be fair and nice about this. She's my friend, not your fucking personal property. The only way you'll get near her is over my dead body, you black piece of shit. You fucking scum of the earth."

"Mother fucker, I'll be there and you're right. I will take that whore over your dead body," he said as he hung up.

"What did he say John. I heard your side of the conversation and I have to tell you it scared me." Aliana shook as she spoke, fear in her eyes.

"He says he doesn't like me and apparently he doesn't like you either. He won't give you a divorce."

"John, please what did he say?" she implored.

"Pretty much what I told you but he used a much more colorful language," I replied. "Don't worry, we have it under control."

At around four o'clock, the tracker started beeping. We knew we had less than four hours before they would be here. At six thirty, Jim, Aliana and I headed over to the campgrounds. I gave Aliana a pair of boots and hip waders to put on. I had another pair for me.

"What are these for John? Are we going fishing or something?"

"Something like that. We may be waist deep in swamp and scum water. I won't force you to wear them, but you'll be glad you did."

We had our two trawler rowboats ready. We didn't want them to be moving too fast and take a chance of catching up to us or getting bogged down in the swamp.

Jim saw the Cadillac pulling into the parking area. We started our boat and headed out. I took a machete with me, knowing I would have to cut down some more growth.

"Hey man, have you seen a guy named John Jones?

"Yes Sir. That was him with a lady friend in that boat that just pulled out."

"Do you have a boat we can rent? We're in a hurry."

"Just this trawler boat here. It's good around the Everglades. It's a —"

"I don't care how much it costs. Here's a fifty; you can give me the change when we get back."

They jumped in the boat and started after us.

"Be careful and get the boat back before dark," Jim yelled after them.

We didn't usually do business like this but this time we made an exception. They could have just taken the boat for all I cared.

We saw them coming about a hundred yards away, but kept moving along at full power, which was only a few miles an hour. We entered the 'Danger Area', scaring Aliana.

"John, it said danger back there. I'm scared."

"Don't worry sweetheart. I know this area like the back of my hand. I promise that I won't let anyone hurt you."

As they followed us through the everglades, Aliana held on to me while I slowly guided the boat around the difficult curves. I knew it was dangerous but this is what I had to do for the plan to work.

We turned off the main streams onto smaller ones. I even had to slow down so that DJ and his guys would follow us. After making a number of turns, we were in a marsh type swamp.

"My god John, they are still behind us. Where are we going?" she asked, crying.

"Just trust me Aliana, I know every inch of this swamp. I need for them to keep following us."

I pulled up to a sand bar, got out and reached for Aliana's hand. "Hurry, we will have to walk now."

Bob and I had cut a path earlier in the day. We were on sand and mud bar with growth on it, so we could walk decent. A few times, we sank to our ankles but were able to keep moving.

We heard DJ, Terrence and Lance shut off their boat and begin following us on foot. We just kept moving along ahead of them. Aliana was scared to death but trusted me to take care of her.

"We're coming for you white boy. You and that whore are going to pay the ultimate price for crossing me. I'm going to fucking kill you," DJ screamed from behind us.

Soon we reached a plateau where it was all wet sand, about twelve feet across and a good twenty feet wide, surrounded by swamp growth.

"Follow me, hold on tight because we have to go around this sand."

"God, I'm scared John." She stumbled but held on to me.

We dropped about a foot into the swamp water. Aliana even gave out a little scream as we waded through it and around to the other side of the sand before ending up directly across from the path we were on minutes ago. Right then we saw the three scumbags approaching us about fifty feet from the sand bog.

"Stop right there or we'll shoot you where you stand," yelled DJ. "You take another step and your whore girlfriend is dead."

About twenty feet away from the sand bog, Aliana was crying and holding on to me.

"Did you really think you could get away with this shit? You did all this for a fucking whore. Did she tell you how she fucked everyone I told her to? You're one stupid bastard," DJ hollered, then laughed as he started to come across the sand at us, his two buddies standing behind him.

All of a sudden, he started to sink, losing his gun as he threw his arms in the air. He'd stepped in quicksand.

He yelled to his two buddies to help him out. They started to approach him when I said, "If you save him, he'll boss you around the rest of your lives. You might want to think about it."

"You dumb fucks get me the fuck out of here." They weren't reacting.

"I got money, it's all yours if you get me out of here," yelled DJ, now waist deep in the quicksand.

"Where's the money at?" asked Terrence. "Tell us and we'll help you. You don't have a choice."

"There's a key in my apartment. It's to a locker at the bus station; now get me out of here."

They started to move forward but decided not to. They knew they could now have it all, the business and the money. They watched as he sank to his neck and went down calling them fucking black bastards.

Aliana couldn't watch it. She was in my arms crying on my shoulder as DJ sank in the sand.

"I can't watch it, I just can't," said a scared and crying Aliana as she clung to me.

I watched as his head went under, buried for eternity in the quick sand.

"From the earth you came and to the earth you return," I said to myself.

I looked over and saw Terrence and Lance standing there staring at us. We each stood on opposite sides of the bog, Aliana and me with a machete and them with guns.

"Looks like if we do away with you two, we'll be home free," said Lance.

"People know we're here and saw you get in the boat. Besides, if you make a wrong turn, alligators will eat you. It's getting dark and they'll be hungry. Oh shit, there is one behind you, look out," I yelled.

They quickly turned around and fired shots into the ground behind them. It gave me enough time to pull Aliana into the high swamp growth behind us. When they turned back around, all they saw was empty space where we had been.

"What the fuck are we going to do?" asked Lance.

"Forget about them Lance. We need to get out of here before it gets any darker. We didn't do nothing wrong, besides we need to get back."

They had over a mile to walk back through the swamp. Aliana and I waded through waist high swamp water for about twenty-five yards where we had our airboat docked. We quickly boarded it and headed back to the campground area where Jim was waiting.

"Sure is good to see you two. We could hear the sound of gunshots. What happened?"

"DJ couldn't make it through the quicksand and his buddies will probably be here in a little while. It might be best if you stay out of sight and see what they do. We're taking the airboat back to the business. We'll get the trawler tomorrow. Call me as soon as you know something."

We headed back to the house and went to clean up and change into something dry. Aliana took a shower while I docked the boat. I took a quick shower and when I came out, Aliana greeted me with a kiss.

"You're my guardian angel and hero all rolled into one. I really do love you John Jones. That will never change."

My phone rang and it was Jim. "John, they just arrived back. They didn't even tie up the boat. They just got out and went right to their car. They did look scared. Do you want me to call you and let you know where they're going? I still have the tracker."

"Just call if they head anywhere other than north. They have to be tired. My guess is they will drive a while and find a cheap motel away from this area."

"OK, sounds good. I'm heading home myself after I go dock the stupid boat. I'll keep an eye on the tracker for a while and hopefully talk to you in the morning."

Back at my house, I went back to kissing Aliana. "John, I owe you my life. How can I ever repay you?"

"I'm sure we can think of a way. Let's start by letting me kiss your body all over again."

"Wait, you did that last night. It's my turn to return the favor."

She walked with me to the bedroom and when I started to undress she said, "Stop, I'm supposed to be doing this."

Before I knew it, she'd stripped me of all my clothes and began to kiss my body. I was as hard as a rock, and when she got to my cock, I told her to turn so I could eat her pussy at the same time. She had no objection to that as I pushed my tongue into her very wet tunnel.

We continued to make love till we both fell asleep in each others arms.

*****

The phone rang at six the next morning waking us both up again. It was Jim.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything," said Jim laughing.

"You woke us up so you interrupted my sleep. What's up Jim?"

"You were right about those other two guys. They spent the night in Georgia. They started on the move again this morning. I'll probably lose them in the next hour or so but it sure does look like they're headed back to Ohio."

"Thanks Jim, we'll see you in a couple of hours. I'm going to try and get a little more shut-eye."

"Yeah, right," Jim said and chuckled as he hung up the phone.

"Is everything OK John?" asked Aliana.

"Everything's fine. The scumbags are headed back to Ohio."

"Would you like a little morning sex?" I asked Aliana looking sexy as can be.

"I'd love it," she said as she grabbed me around the neck and brought me down to the bed.

The next two days went by without much new happening. Matt called and said Terrence and Lance returned to Ohio but he never saw DJ. I just told him DJ found a permanent residence in the Everglades. He didn't ask any more about him.

I mentioned to Matt about calling the scumbags and setting up a meet. I told him that we believed they got some of DJ's money so he might want to ask for a bigger buy.

He called us back later in the day and said he asked them if they could handle sixty grand worth of crack instead of the original thirty. He added they hesitated but agreed they could do it. They had a meet set up at the reality office for seven the next morning.

I told Matt to turn it over to his brother-in-law and explain the whole deal. I suggested he stay clear of it all after that.

"We're coming home day after tomorrow. We'll be driving my truck. It should take us two days to get there, since we don't plan on driving straight through. You can fill us in on how and if the drug bust was successful."

Once we arrived, we went right to her parent's house to see Ashley. She ran up to her mom and gave her a big hug. It just made me smile.

"Did you like Florida, Mom? Is it pretty there?" asked Ashley.

"Yes, it is very beautiful there; you're going to love it there."

She stayed there to talk with her parents. In the meantime, I went to see Matt.

"How'd it go Matt or did it?

Matt was grinning from ear to ear. "It went perfect. My brother-in-law didn't believe me at first till I told him the story about setting up a buy and I explained that somehow they got hold of DJ's money and purchased more crack with it.

"He talked to the undercover guys who went there and made the bust. They used the name of Pedro Castro just like you said. Two of the agents went inside with government cash and asked to see the goods. Once they opened the vault, the whole police department rained down on the building.

"It was awesome! I watched it all go down from on top of a building across the street. They recovered over a hundred thousand dollars worth of crack and other dope. God knows what the street value would have been. They were hoping to catch DJ there also but Steve told me that his partners said that he went to Florida and hasn't returned yet. I didn't tell him anything about you or Aliana."

"Please Matt; don't mention us in any way, shape or form."

"No problem. Steve is the man of the hour for organizing the bust, and he thanked me repeatedly. The paper reported it as one of the biggest busts in our area. Plus, they're going after the suppliers now. It was quite the ride, John. Thank you for inviting me along."

"You're welcome my friend, and thank you for helping Aliana and me. I'll try and stop by to visit whenever I'm up this way. Feel free to come and visit me in Florida also."

I felt happy for Matt and Steve. They said that Terrence and Lance would go to prison for a very long time. I went back to Aliana's and told her about the drug bust. She was very happy hearing the news.

I sat down and Ashley came into the room. "What's the matter honey, you look sad?"

I got down on one knee in front of her so I could talk to her at eye level. She came over, put her arms around me, and said, "I love you John and want you to be my daddy." Talk about something pulling at your heartstrings. "Will you be my daddy?"

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight. I was trying to figure out what to tell her.

"Honey, I love you too but it's not that easy, it's complicated."

"What's comcated mean John?"

"Let me try and explain it to you. Your mommy is already married. A paper she has says she's married. She has to go to a lawyer and get a divorce, which means she will no longer be married. It can take some time to get that done, sometimes up to six months. After that she will have to decide if she wants to get remarried."

Aliana was watching me talk to Ashley. I had no idea what to say to a four year old, but I tried to tell her the truth. "If your mom wanted to marry me and move to Florida, she would have to go through all your things and decide what to take and what to leave."

"Mom would marry you. She loves you just like me."

"If we got married, then I would have to fill out papers that say I want to adopt Ashley Brown as my daughter, and your mom would have to say it was all right with her. When it gets approved, then they would change your name to Ashley Jones and you would legally become my daughter. So you see it would all take some time."

Ashley looked at me like "What the heck are you saying?" Aliana and her parents were smiling at my struggle in explaining it to her. They did all they could to keep from laughing. I finally realized I was getting nowhere.

"Honey, let me try this again so you might understand," I said, walking over in front of Aliana and kneeling on one knee.

"Aliana, I love you more than anything. As soon as your divorce is final, would you marry me and allow me to adopt Ashley as my daughter? Will you get all your stuff together, move to Florida with me, and share my house in the next few months? That includes bringing Ashley to live with us."

"Say yes mommy, tell John yes."

After a few seconds, Aliana looked into my eyes and said, "Yes, to everything you said. I'll marry you, you can adopt Ashley as your daughter and I'll do my best to get things in order to move to Florida in the next few months."

"Yeah," Ashley yelled as she jumped off the chair and climbed on my back. She was all smiles as I kissed her mom.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown smiled too, but I would have to believe they would miss having them around. They had two other daughters, a son, and seven grandkids, but they didn't live anywhere near them. They visited now and then but it wouldn't be the same as seeing them everyday. I hoped they just wanted the best for Aliana and Ashley though.

It was time for me to go tell my parents about our plans. I told Aliana I would stop by the next day and take her to pick up her belongings at the apartment she had with Darrell. That's why we drove up in my pick-up truck. I was wondering in what condition the place would be in seeing that Darrell told Terrence and Lance he had hid a key there to a locker at the bus depot. Since they brought in more crack I figured they'd found it.

*****

The following morning we arrived at her apartment. The front door had a crack in it and hung open. Someone had broken into the apartment. It looked like a tornado went through the rooms. Piles of clothes, the dresser drawers with the contents dumped, her TV and even the stereo lay scattered around where the vandals threw them.

The mattress rested on its side, ripped open with the inside shredded. When Aliana saw the mess, she closed her eyes for a second and shook her head.

"Why did they have to destroy everything? Breaking the TV and stereo was just plain destructive."

"It was probably their way of getting revenge on you. You should call the police and report the break in."

"They won't come out here for a robbery, not in this neighborhood," said Aliana.

"It's just that you want it on record. You might as well go tell the landlord too and then let him know that you will be moving. Are you on any type of lease?" I asked.

She gave a slight smile. "You've got to be kidding. The people in this apartment building change weekly if not daily. I'll let him know that I'll clean up the place and be out in the next day or so."

While she went and made her calls, I brought in a few boxes and bags and started gathering up some of the papers lying around. When she came back in, she said that she was just taking her personal things, and then started putting hers and Ashley's clothes in the large bags.

I had most of the papers gathered and put in the box but told her she should go through them when she found the time in case there was anything important. I walked into the bathroom and saw the busted lid on the toilet tank. Looking closer, I found a small baggie inside.

"Aliana, I think they found the key in the toilet tank lid. I can see where it was taped to the inside." Aliana started crying.

"I'm sorry honey, I don't know what to say or do. We can replace anything you want. I hate to see you cry," I said as I took her into my arms and held her.

"It's not things, John. Other than our personal items I don't want anything here in our house to remind me of the bastard."

"Why are you crying then?"

"I just thought about the money that he had hid. He didn't care enough for me or Ashley to leave us a little to help make ends meet. If it wasn't for mom and dad helping me, I don't know what we would have done. Yet all this time he had money stashed away for himself."

We spent the whole afternoon straightening up the room. I took the bags of clothing, the box of papers and a few of Ashley's toys out to the truck. We put the broken items and torn mattress and dumped them outside in the trash barrel.