Down at the Twist and Shout Ch. 02

"This is bad, Johnny; I'm not going to lie. I know you had your reasons, and in your place I would have done the same thing, but the fact is you've now got major-league trouble on your tail; word gets around on the street real quick in these parts, and most people are saying the same thing; the two men you...disposed of? One was just a moose, just muscle, but the other one was Lucé Ribeiro; he and his two brothers Joao and Felipe are what was left after the Gulf cartel decided the Mob was in their way around here; back then they were just runners, originally from one of the favela gangs in Rio, low-level nobodies; after the dust cleared, they made a deal, now they dance to the cartel's tune; they're an important pipeline along the East Coast, and their people run Hell's Kitchen and points West; they've got muscle, and serious connections; the word is half the precincts are either in their pay or riddled with snitches, so the law hasn't been able to touch them in years."

Barker sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"These people are savages, John, and they rule through fear; Felipe likes to cut fingers, ears, or noses off as a reminder to repay debts, and he doesn't care who he mutilates. Luiz is a rapist; he thinks he's a ladies' man, and it doesn't matter whose wife or daughter she is; if he wants her, he'll take her, and once he's done with her, they'll find her in a river somewhere a long way from here with her hands and feet gone and her face chewed off; he keeps a clutch of pit-bulls and he likes to give them fresh meat..."

He sighed, and straightened up.

"John, right now they don't know who you are, or even that it was you, but they're going to start putting the pieces together very quickly; if you stay here, this is their back-yard, they'll find you, and you can't keep all of them off you. Get out of New York, go somewhere they'll never find you, and our people here will try and see what we can do; I have a couple of geniuses of my own to call on, you know who they are, and you know they'll be more than willing to run interference for you, but go, and do it now; those animals have eyes and ears everywhere, and you owe them blood; I guarantee you they'll come looking for payback."

John looked at Justine, and saw the determination in her eyes. He grinned at her, at her answering nod, and looked back at Jerome.

"Mr Jerome, I know where we can go be safe from them and their friends; you say this their back-yard, so fine, I'm gonna take 'em on a little look-see through my back-yard; let's see how a little Louisiana Hayride sets with any o' them fellers who want to come a-lookin' fo' us; who know, maybe they dance the Zydeco 'fore we finished with them! Yessir, time me an' my folks finished takin' them down to the Twist an' Shout, they gonna be real unhappy they come a-visitin'!"

Even Jerome grinned at the overdone, good ole boy accent, but then he grew serious again, holding up his hand to still Johnny for a moment.

"Johnny, I know you think it's probably none of my business, but I wanted you to know one thing; I know about you and Justine, I have done for years, how you felt anyway; now, it's pretty much out in the open, and I'm glad you two have managed to make it work, but I also think it's important that both of you know that none of us care; certain people, you know who they are, have been in your position, they guessed and put it all together years ago, so when you meet up with them again, you'll know that they know, and that they feel just like I do; Justine's a sweet girl, and she deserves someone like you in her life. That's all I have to say on the matter, and we'll go on from there."

John stared at him in open-mouthed wonder, while Justine looked at him as though she was expecting him to start shouting at her for doing what she was doing, but Barker smiled back at her.

"Don't worry, Justine, no-one's judging; you and John are happy, that's all I care about."

He switched his gaze back to Johnny.

"One more thing, John, that other matter we discussed? Meet me in Lafayette in six days, at the townhouse on Englewood; those other, umm, people we discussed, they'll need to meet with you and Justine before this all gets out of hand. Sunday, One PM, OK?"

Johnny looked blank for a second, then memory cut back in, and he nodded.

"Yessir, Mister Jerome, Lafayette, Sunday at one, we'll see you there; it's about time this all happened, anyway."

*

Back in the car, Justine seemed quiet, her brow creased in thought as she sat silently. Johnny drove in silence for as long as he could, but the prolonged silence from her was beginning to concern him. Finally, he could take it no longer, so he pulled into the parking-lot of a convenience store and killed the engine.

"OK, Minou, you want to tell me what's eatin' you?" he asked, watching her expression; it was one he knew well, the one that said 'I'm not mad yet, but I'm getting there', so he waited a little apprehensively.

"Johnny-Bear, what was Mister Jerome talking about? Who are those 'people' he mentioned, and why the hell are we going to Lafayette? I may not be too smart at geography, but I do know that's a hell of a long detour if we're going to Houma; what's going on, and don't you lie to me, I can read you like a book!"

Johnny met her gaze resignedly; he'd always known this conversation would happen one day, in fact it was long overdue, but that didn't make it any easier to tell.

"Minou, it's about what you got comin' to you. What do you remember about your daddy's business?"

Justine looked blank at the sudden side-shift; her daddy's business? It was gone, Mom had told her he owed so much to the tax-people they took just about everything, all she had left was the apartment, a small annuity, and not much else.

"What about daddy's business, Johnny? Mom told me the IRS took everything..."

Johnny shook his head slowly.

"No, Minou; mama tole you that so's you wouldn't act like no entitled rich kid and get gold-diggers an' fortune hunters chasin' after you; your daddy's partner, you remember, Carlo's daddy? Mister Bruno? He, an' mama, and Mister Jerome, an' me too, we made sure everything your daddy earned, everything he owned, everything he invested in, it all went someplace safe; Mister Bruno even bought-out your daddy's share in his companies, at a price mama thought was fair, so's he didn't have nuthin' that rightfully was yours; he was your daddy's boyhood friend, and he wanted to make sure what was yours came to you; he knew one day Carlo gonna take over everythin', an' he din't want Carlo gettin' his hands on what wasn't his to have."

John watched the look of almost anger transmute to wonder, but that edge of real anger was still there, so he decided to tell her everything.

"Justy, mama an' me an' the others, we put everythin' into a bunch of trusts for you, with me, mama, Mister Bruno, Mister Jerome, and a couple other real good people to be your trustees an' make sure that money stayed safe for when you claim it all; we goin' to Lafayette to meet those people, you need to meet them an' tell them what you want to do next; they been keepin' things quiet so Carlo an' any shysters he team up with don't get wind o' just what you got, an' how much it worth..."

Justine chewed her lip, never breaking eye contact with Johnny, disbelief plain on her face; it sounded like some kind of fantastical, movie-plot, wish-fulfilment fairy story, but Johnny had never lied to her in his life, and he wasn't doing it now, she was sure of that.

"So tell me, Johnny-Bear, if I had all this money, and I still don't believe a word of it, but we'll let that slide for now, why'd you start me working and earning money? Why didn't you just tell me I was OK? Do you know how hard I worked? How tired I was most nights? How much I worried? You knew all along, and you didn't tell me; why?"

Johnny grimaced, but his gaze never wavered.

"Think, Minou; what happened to everything you had, all mama's insurance, your apartment, her jewelry? That's right; they all gone, Carlo took it all, an' he lost it all, an' if he knew you got all your daddy's money, he gonna try and take that too. Mama made the trust airtight; only you can benefit from it, but if your husband find out about it, there are prolly ways he can legally take a big chunk of it; I'm sure your daddy, and I know Mister Bruno, wouldn't have wanted that; that money, all them investments, they were meant for you, not for Carlo an' his lawyers to help theyselves to."

He stopped to unravel his thoughts, before taking up the story again.

"Baby-girl, while you been growing-up, your trustees been investing and earning for you, and they kept everythin' safe for you against the day Carlo and you broke-up; we all saw it comin', warn't nuthin' we could do to stop it, it was like just a matter of time, but now you legally separated we all think it's time you were told, and given control; it's your money, after all."

He smiled ruefully.

"An' I didn't 'start you working', Minou; I wanted you to know that you were good at something, that you could make it on your own, that Carlo wasn't where your life was 'sposed to be goin'. I'm sorry I din't tell you 'bout your daddy's money sooner, but I really din't want that fat piece of crap findin' out and taking it all away somehow, I dunno how, maybe some fly-by-night legal shenanigans, or maybe not legal at all, the way he stole the money you earned."

He grinned at her, hoping she'd grin back, and disperse the storm he could see gathering.

"As it is, Minou, you got some smart, powerful people lookin' out for you, an' we goin' down to Lafayette so you can see what all they been doin' for you."

Justine stared silently at him for long, dragging seconds, then, her small fist smacked into the fleshy part of his arm. Johnny jumped in surprise, then leaned back as a flurry of punches landed on his arm, his chest, and even a couple in his solar plexus; Justine stopped smacking him when she realized she was having no real effect, but now the initial surge of anger was gone, replaced by a sort of aggravated annoyance.

"You should have told me anyway, Johnny; this has been going-on since daddy died, and you're telling me now? I thought you trusted me..." she trailed off, and Johnny was alarmed to see a tear quivering in each eye. He reached over and pulled her close, Justine at first stiff and unyielding, but eventually she relaxed.

"You done now, kitten? OK, lemme say just one thing, then you can whale away on me long as you like: truce?"

Justine nodded warily, although she wasn't going to hit him again; that was kind of pointless.

"OK Minou, first things first; I do trust you, I always have; you my boo'sha', but you a nice person, and you can't think like Carlo; I know you'll feel sorry for him one day an' let slip what you got, an' he ain't gonna hesitate to strip you bare and lose it all again; 'long as he din't know, you safe; Carlo don't care for no-one save hisself, and if you in the way, then you in the way, and he fix that. I kept shut because I rather have you mad at me than try an' find your body. Look what he did to get what you had in the loft; you think he gonna stop there if he find out what you really got? There, now I said my piece, so you go ahead an' take a shot if you-all think that's what you wanna do."

Justine frowned at him as she chewed over his words, but when she grinned at him he relaxed.

"So, just how much money are we talking about here, Johnny?"

John stared sightlessly over her shoulder as he mentally tallied what he knew about, and what he remembered from back when Justine was still just a young teenager.

"I don' rightly know the full in and out, but I remember there was somethin' like fifteen million dollars cash, an' a bunch of investments, stocks and bonds, that kinda stuff; it's prolly grown some since then, people we got investing' and watchin' it for you know how to do the best they can to make sure you ain't shorted ..."

Justine slumped back in her seat. She had how much? That was preposterous, that couldn't be right; why, they lived in just an ordinary apartment in an ordinary apartment building, with ordinary neighbors, people who kept cats, and grew petunias in window-boxes; people with the kind of money Johnny said she had stashed away lived in swanky Central Park West apartment complexes, not Mineola. She caught Johnny's expression and straightened-up.

"Johnny, there must be some kind of mistake; Mom told me everything was gone, that all daddy's business stuff was taken away by the IRS, that there was nothing left..."

Johnny nodded.

"I know, Minou, she had to do that to protect you; fewer people knew about what was waitin' for you, safer you'll be. Mama was keepin' you safe, baby-girl, an' me an' all the others we did everythin' we could to make sure it stayed that way. When we get to Lafayette, you gonna find out the rest, ain't no more I know."

*

Johnny had stripped off the vinyl wrap designed to make his classic Blazer look nondescript, old and beat-up, and it now gleamed in its original dark glossy blue paintwork, so anyone looking out for the two of them in the dull, muddy, rust-speckled white over sky blue Blazer Johnny had driven away in wouldn't connect the young couple in the pristine car it now was. Johnny had looked far and wide to find someone who could make an authentic 'Road-Rat' look wrap, and they had done a good job.

Now, with the wrap off, Justine in a long red wig, with concealer hiding the worst of her bruised face and black eye, and Johnny's dusty-blond crop now a dark, spiky mop, there was nothing to connect them to the pair the Ribeiro brothers were undoubtedly looking for.

The 1,400 mile drive to Lafayette took almost four days; Johnny kept to I- 81 and I-59 Southbound, with periodic long, circuitous detours to circle around and pick up the interstates much further along, just in case anyone was following them. It was the longest drive Justine had ever been on. The long days on the road and short, restless nights in grimy back-road motels were getting on her nerves, so it was with a long sigh of relief that she finally started seeing the signs for Lafayette.

Johnny, however, showed no sign of stopping, and Justine, by now sick of the road, the car, and the constant traffic, finally asked him where in the Sam Hill they were going, the damned turnoff was right there, and she wanted a shower, a proper shower, in a real bathroom, one where the floor didn't come alive every time she switched on the damned light!

Johnny grinned at her.

"Baby-girl, we can't stay in no slick city hotel or motel; if Mister Jerome was right, those people got someone in the police precincts watchin' out for signs of us; they see us use credit cards anywhere, or even ATM's, they'll know where we are, and they gonna be on us like flies on shit. They prolly know by now I come-up from New Orleans, so they gonna figure we headin' back there jest as fast as we can, which is why we come this way."

He patted her knee reassuringly even as he threaded through the building traffic.

"Minou, I know someplace real safe, don't you worry, ain't no-one comin' out there less'n they itchin' to get their heads blown clean off. You just set a while longer, we be there soon, an' you can have as many showers you think you need; don't see why though; you look an' smell jest fine from where I'm sittin'!"

Justine couldn't help but grin back at his lecherous grin, and reached over to punch him in the upper arm.

"Ow, what that for?" he exclaimed.

"That's for dragging me off on this wild goose chase," she pouted, then smiled and reached over again to squeeze his crotch, making him buck, and the Blazer swerve, before he recovered. "And that's for later, Country-Boy, long as I get my shower first!"

Johnny circled around Lafayette proper so they were approaching from the West, through farmland and smallholdings until he swung off the main Ridge Road and followed a dusty blacktop to the end and onto an unmarked winding country road, to finally swing into the dooryard of a small, frame house. The house looked neat, clean, and deserted, but Justine could feel eyes on her, and when she made as if to step out of the vehicle, Johnny stopped her.

"Nuh-uh, you-all just set a moment, real quiet-like. I'll just get out- "

"Heh! Qu'est que tu veux?" (Hey! What do you want!!?) shouted a voice from nowhere Justine could tell, and Johnny froze, his hands above his head as he slid out of the car.

"Tante Amice? C'est moi, Jean-Bastiènne, ou est tu?" (Aunt Amice? It's me, Jean-Bastiènne, where are you?) called Johnny grinning even as he turned around slowly to face the house. A muffled curse came to Justine's ears and the screen door banged open to reveal a small, wiry old woman training a twelve-bore on them.

"Jean-Bastiènne? What the hell you done to your hair, boy?" grinned the old lady, "I like to have shot your fool head off you didn't call out, and who that in the car? She with you? You married yet? Both of you better come on up, don't stand aroun' like idjits!"

Johnny grinned as he handed Justine down from the car and herded her inside the small house. Once inside, Johnny made the introductions.

"Justine Pellini, meet ma tante Amice, she my maw-maw half-sister. Tante Amice, meet my girl, Justine; we headin' home, but we got to be in Lafayette in two days, 's why I'm here. We on'y need to stay couple days, we take care of our business in Lafayette, then we headin' down the bayou; we got trouble on our tail, an' I was figgerin' to let them boys chasin' us get a taste o' real Southern hospitality, you get my drift?"

Amice grinned as she reached up to tweak Johnny's ear.

"I do indeed, yes I do! Kind of makes me wish I was forty years younger so's I could help make them fellers real welcome! You a bad boy, an' you a lawman, Jean-Bastiènne, but you still my petit boug, and your maw-maw skin me she find out I don't help you along your way. What you want fust?"

Johnny grinned impishly, looking once again like the boy she used to punish with clockwork regularity, but could never stay mad at.

"Justine a city-girl, she think she need a shower, and I could sure use some of yo' hush-puppies an' maque-choux right now, an' if you got any rice an' gravy...?"

*

Justine luxuriated in the hot shower; Amice's single bathroom was small, but very clean, and she had no hesitation in stepping into the shower cubicle and washing off three days of road-dust and the memory of those grime-pit motels they'd been sleeping in on their way here. She was in a world of her own, reveling in the steamy heat of the small cubicle, but still felt no surprise when a pair of large, warm hands slid around her waist and cupped her breasts.

"John, no! Your aunt's in the next room!" she half hissed, half giggled, then groaned softly as his stiff cock parted her buttocks as it slid into the cleft between them.

"Stop it, Johnny-Bear..." she moaned, even as she pushed back against him, wriggling and rubbing her soft, springy buttocks against his hardness.

"Why should I, when I already got these..." Johnny murmured in her ear, rubbing his palms over her taut nipples, the sensation sending a bolt of pleasure through her. Justine gasped again when Johnny's thick erection slid between her thighs and rubbed along her swelling labia, and she instinctively thrust her rump out as she spread her legs. Johnny grazed and nibbled his sister's neck as he slowly slid into her, grinning into her neck as she softly chanted "omigod, omigod, yess, yess, omigod..."

Johnny was just getting into his stroke when Justine abruptly pulled away from him, shocking him into stillness.

"Hey, what I do?" he asked, then grinned as she turned and smiled up at him.