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Chapter 11: Texas

I stepped through the door to see the gang sitting around the living room waiting for me to show up. Brian was the only one missing, but he technically wasn’t a member. Harry would kill me for saying that, so I never did… aloud anyway… I kept it to myself.

They all looked up as I entered, including little Julia sitting on Nick’s stomach holding a baby’s keychain. Julia looked up at me with those big green eyes of hers and cooed.

“Tess,” she said, and waved.

Dang, that kid gets cuter every day. I smiled at her and took the chair that Lance had relinquished as he sat on the floor.

“What’s the word on the Cats, garrison?” I began. “Any of ‘em stirring up trouble?”

After a brief hesitation, Nick spoke. “I think I was followed by one of them the other night while I was out walking.”

“I was walking home from Sadie’s house the other night.” AJ admitted. “That’s right on the edge of Cat territory. I can’t be sure, but I think someone was following me, too.”

“I hope you had your blade with you,” Harry said.

AJ gave him a look. “Just what makes you think I’d be going in that direction without it?”

“You can never be too careful in that part of town, McLean,” I pointed out. “They’ll jump anybody… or worse.”

I saw a couple of the boys shudder and knew how they felt. I’d been jumped a few times myself by a Cat.

“They’re expanding their territory,” Howie said. Normally he was so quiet, you forgot he was even there.

“Like they don’t control enough already,” AJ spat. “We gotta do something.”

“A couple of maybe-followings isn’t enough to call a council,” I said. “I won’t back away from trouble, but I ain’t gonna start none, either. We need to keep it cool, let them make the first move.”

“The Street Festival is in a couple weeks,” Howie said. “Over on Maple. Neutral territory. I be they’ll try to start something there.”

“If they do,” I said, “we’ll be ready. Until then, no one wanders off alone.” I gave a glare to Nick, who got real interested in Julia suddenly. “Understood?” I said, right to AJ. His jaw clenched.

“I won’t sit home, scared to go see my girl or live my life,” he said in a hard voice. “I’ll agree not to start something, but if they do… I’ll finish it.”

His attitude was a double-edged sword. He was tough in a fight, good to have at your back… but he was also strong-headed enough to get into trouble all by himself.

“Just remember,” I said, “one Cat is no problem, even two… but you almost never catch them alone. If they’re expanding, they’ll be traveling in threes or fours… or more.”

He was stubborn, but he wasn’t stupid. He nodded agreement a second later.

“All right,” I said. “Enough about the Cats. Just keep your ears and eyes sharp, okay?” Agreements all around. Yep, they were a good bunch of guys. Proud to be with ‘em.

Julia began fussing a bit, unhappy with the keys that Nick was trying to entertain her with. When she flung them away, hitting Lance on the back of the head, I had to laugh.

He grinned, shook his head, and picked up the bright plastic toy. “I think she seconded your motion. No more Cats.” He turned to her and held out the keys, which she was suddenly interested in again.

“Ki ki ki ki ki!” she cried. Dang, that kid was smart!

“How about bath bath bath,” Lance said. “Then bed.”

“KI!” she squealed.

Of course, she got what she wanted. She wasn’t even two, and she had every one of us wrapped around her little chubby finger. But Lance wasn’t to be denied, and he scooped her up while she began chewing. “I could use some help, if any of you guys are secure enough in your manhood to do it.”

AJ, of all people, stood up. “Sure, I’ll give ya a hand,” he said. “Got to make sure you don’t drown the kid or anything.”

I saw Lance’s hidden smile. He knew, just like I did, that AJ adored the kid, but refused to show it. The three of them left the room, and it was then that I noticed a package on the coffee table. It was from Puerto Rico.

“That came today,” Harry explained. “No doubt it’s from Precious, since it’s addressed to Brian.”

I chuckled. Those two were so infatuated with each other that when they were together, it was difficult to get them apart. If you called Precious into the kitchen for a phone call, Brian went with her and just stood to the side until it was over. Or if Julia needed tending to, Precious would follow Brian and watch him take care of her, helping on occasion.

“Quite the pair,” I said.

“Yes, they are.”

The rest of the evening wasn’t all that exciting; Harry was beat, from his long hours at the job, so we kept things low key. We didn’t do much more than watch television, but no one complained. We were like family, and when we were together, things just didn’t seem as bad.