Mine...Yours Pt. 10

"Cream and sugar?" I asked.

"Just some cream." He replied.

It was surreal, just last night, or early this morning depending on how you look at it, I had served Lucretia's dad coffee and now it was Hildy's dad. Trouble always seems to come in groupings like this. Actually, just having a judge in my house was trouble in and of itself, no need for groupings here. He looked around my kitchen and then up at the ceiling, sniffing every now and then.

"Your home is lovely..." he began, and Lucretia interrupted, loudly.

"Say one bad thing about MY home and I will tear your hide from your body to make slippers for MY Greg!"

He blinked at her; I tried not to smile so I concentrated on making Lucretia her cup of coffee and placed in front of her, then smoothed her hair back from her ear and gently rubbed her earlobe. I had found out it did the same thing as when I rubbed the base of her horns in her other forms.

"Excuse me, Judge Roberts?" I got his attention and he looked at me instead of my roommate. "I can assume you came over here to talk to me, so no offense...could we talk and you go. I honestly do not feel comfortable having you in my home."

He slightly narrowed his eyes at me and took a sip of coffee; he glanced at it, and took another slower sip with a murmur of appreciation. I had been tempted to mix him up a cup of flavor crystal Folgers coffee, instead I had served him a well brewed pot of 100% pure Kona. Just because I would not piss on the Judge if he were on fire doesn't mean I should be rude to him while he is in my, I mean, our house.

"Then I will get right to the point..." he began, and set his mug on the table after polishing it off in one long swallow. "I want to know how you got this house." He folded his hands and waited for my response. I just shrugged.

"I had been looking for a place to live since I didn't really want to live with my parents anymore, this house showed up with the owner desperate to sell for some reason. My Dad paid for it and gifted it to me...I still am making payments back to him. I had told him I didn't want it as a gift and he could hold the mortgage, but he insisted saying I needed a place of my own." That had really surprised me, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth!

Judge Roberts nodded and then reached inside of his jacket, Lucretia growled and I got ready to put up my shield. He just calmly pulled out his checkbook.

"How much do you want for your house?" He said, lifting his head to look at me, his pen poised.

"Excuse me?" I said in surprised.

"How much do you want for your house? I will offer you two million dollars and thirty days to vacate the premises." He started filling out the check, but left the amount blank.

I shook my head and his lips thinned a little. "Very well, two and a half million..." I waved a hand to cut him off.

"Wait...no. I understood you; you want to buy my house. But why?" I asked.

"It should be obvious to you, I don't want my daughter living so close to undesirable elements." He glanced at Lucretia, and pinned me with a hard stare.

Lucretia looked like she was going to pop her top! I was surprised as well. Trevor and Suzanne Gwen and Jemima's parents or patron or Sires or whatever didn't seem to have a major issue. So why....

"Explain please...?" I asked quietly. Judge Michael Roberts sighed and drummed his fingers on the table.

"I don't have to explain anything, but I will since you seem to be a bright young man. I don't want my daughter living next to a felon who summons outsiders. She is a good woman who will someday take my place as leader of our pack and I do not want your or that thing's influence on her."

It took me a second to get what he meant by that "Thing" and when it did I got a little hot under the collar. I had my own bone to pick with him though.

"My roommate aside...felon? You have a hard time thinking about your daughter living next door to a sex offender? Or is it you have a hard time explaining to Hildy how an innocent man in your courtroom got smacked with a guilty verdict when you knew the truth?"

Give the man credit he didn't bat an eye, "Both. You may have been innocent before, but you certainly aren't now. How many people have you hurt Mr. Brooks? Hmmm? I have six different hospital medical reports of people who you put in there. As for having a hard time explaining things to my daughter. I just told her what I had done was for the good of the pack."

I stepped back from the table now, standing with my back to the counter. Lucretia was holding eerily still watching the events unfold swiveling her head back and forth to keep us both in view.

"Wait, how is my becoming a felon good for the pack?" I was trying to keep my voice level, but a quiver of rage was starting to come through. This man was telling me that he...

"Think back to your trial Gregory...it took place during an election year. We all have to be seen as cracking down hard on crime at that point in time. It makes us look good. I have hundreds, no; thousands of people that look to me for leadership in my pack alone, and I need to be in a position of authority to do what is best for my people. I need to be able to protect them, look out for them. They are my family you might say, and I will do much to protect my family!"

I was having a hard time breathing as I tried to comprehend the enormity of his words. "You mean...to tell me...you sold me out to get a few more points to keep your position as judge?" My voice was tight and my words wheezed.

"Not completely. In a case of he said she said like yours was, and the fact that you were an honest sort who told the cops everything so they could use it against you. It was too close. Maybe if you had cried more than she did on the witness stand I could have swung it your way because of sympathy." He gave a malicious little grin. "Honestly Greg...telling everything to the police without an attorney present? Believing that you were innocent would protect you? I figured getting you out of the gene pool would make all humans a little bit smarter. You know, survival of the fittest?"

I wanted to KILL him! But I took a deep breath and offered him a little smile in return.

"Well, thank you for answering that question for me. The reason I couldn't rent an apartment and can only get shit jobs and get attacked randomly by strangers is I was just one of the many innocents sacrificed to keep your position for the good of your pack. Nice to know."

He shrugged, "Not many inncocents, last election year there were only about 7 or so." I clenched my jaw and then took several deep breaths. He seemed to be enjoying watching me get angry, I glanced over at Lucretia, and she was deathly still, her eyes black and still watching us both. I wondered why she wasn't flying off the handle yet!

"So...Mr. Brooks, two million and a half to buy your house? It's a little over twice the asking price even with it all being refurbished." Judge Roberts asked.

"No." I said, and my voice was calm, it didn't shake. Not even a little...well maybe a little but give me a break I am trying to keep my cool here.

The muscle in his jaw tightened and he glared at me. "I watched this neighborhood carefully. I monitored who came and who left. I made sure that this area was full of good people for my daughter. There was never any mention of you. Now I find out you lived here for over a YEAR and just now I find out about you? I am offering you a chance to get out of here peacefully and gain a great deal financially. The next time I ask, I may be a bit more rude than I am now...do I make myself clear?" His voice was quiet and cold. I did not doubt that he could make my life hell if he wanted. Well I had been through a kind of hell before, but I wasn't going to be pushed around anymore.

I leaned forward onto the table and said, "Bring it on Cujo. Or should I say Benji? I will think about those threats you just made at the next barbeque your daughter invites me too. I will remember it and laugh to myself as I see her take a bite of homemade elk sausage I am going to bring over just for her." I gave him a broad wink and a smile.

"Now get your hairy ass out of my chair and out of my house...I don't like the scent of wet dog." I grinned showing my teeth and kept my eyes on his. Like HELL was I going to blink first! His face rippled and I saw his eyes gleam amber light, it made me smile wider.

"Please, oh please change Mister Zulu Wolf. I would love a chance to beat you down. Lucretia and I could double team you and I could have a new rug in front of the television to clean my shoes off on!" I mock pleaded.

His face calmed and his look of disgust was so palpable I could almost physically feel it! "You are a small, little boy. Do remember that I tried to be peaceful about this." With that said he got up and collected his checkbook and headed for the door. Just before he walked out Lucretia spoke and her voice sounded dreamy, but intense.

"Were Alpha..." Judge Michael Roberts turned to look at my roommate. Her horns were showing through her hair and her black eyes stared hard at her hands that were growing black nails on the fingertips. She had his coffee cup in one hand and used her long pointed tongue to lick all around the rim. Then she swallowed and grinned showing sharp pointed teeth.

"I have your scent!"

The Judge left without a word or backward glance. I watched him walk out and close the gate in the door behind him. I stood there at the window thinking about what transpired and getting a handle on my rage when I heard a small grinding crack and whispering behind me.

"Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole..."

I turned to see Lucretia staring at the broken pieces of mug in her hand, then she made a retching noise and ran into the kitchen where I heard her throw up!

I went after her slowly and heard her give a small choked sob. I came around the corner and saw her with her hair hanging down and back bent breathing hard into the sink. I came up behind her and put a comforting hand on her back and held her hair as she drank from the spigot to wash her mouth out.

"I suddenly realized that I had his taste in my mouth and that I...that I had swallowed it!" She muttered thickly, and then coughed spitting again in the sink. "I don't want that Were's scent or taste or presence near me!"

"Yeah, he is not one of the good guys." I drawled as I rubbed a hand gently on her back. Lucretia shook her head and coughed again.

"He doesn't really see himself that way. He sees himself as a protector and champion for his people. He sees all others as less than what he is. That is why he spoke to you the way he did Master." She choked again, and then relaxed. She stretched her neck, tipping it from side to side then walked towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to go brush my teeth Greg, something tastes funny in my mouth and it's not what I left in the sink!"

I snorted, then looked in the kitchen sink and winced. Maybe I should install one of those waste disposal sink grinders in there. When had Lucretia eaten calamari? I cleaned up the sink and thought a bit to myself. I now had the judge as a threat in my life to add to all the others, I needed to warn my family. I sent my dad a text to make sure he and mom were home, they were. I thought about taking Lucretia with me, and then decided against it. I think dad and I needed to have a good father/son talk time. Maybe since I was meeting everyone else's parents it made me start to appreciate my own a little more.

Who am I kidding? I appreciate them a LOT more!

Lucretia came out and smiled at me with a crest white smile and gave me a soft smooch and a hug.

"By the way roomie..." I said to her, "...you look, really good when you get scary like that! When you threatened the judge as he walked out the door, every other thing on this planet looked drab and dull to how hot you were then!" She giggled and wiggled closer into my arms and gave me a longer softer kiss.

"I didn't like him saying those things to you. He talked like Seneca does, my eldest sister, she says things that don't mean exactly what you think they mean but expects you to know exactly what she means." She pulled her head back and stroked the fingers of one hand through my short hair.

"Kind of like how you talk sometimes but you do it in a way that makes me smile." She grinned and kissed my cheek.

"I need to go an visit my parents, and I would like to go alone. But before I go, your dad gave me something to give to you." Lucretia's ears perked, I swear they did. She followed me up the stairs to my room where I opened my sock drawer and pulled out the small stone of obsidian. I gently placed it in her palm and watched as she tapped it and rolled it around in her palm slowly. She took it to the window to let the sunlight play over it's every facet, then did the same thing with the light from my desk lamp. Then she did what I expected of her and she swallowed it.

"Does it have some special significance?" I asked her.

"It's from my Papa..." She replied. I waited for more but that was all she said.

"What is it you like so much about stones?" I asked again. She shrugged.

"I just always have. When I was home with my Mother and sisters I loved exploring the castle and listening to the rocks and seeing the histories through different layers in each one. Sometimes a rock would break and then I could see all the different colors in them and read the stories of their lives." She put a finger to her chin and cocked a hip while thinking.

"It is like reading a book but you don't see words so much as pictures." She said to finish off her thought.

I was flabbergasted...well, not really. It made sense to me, sort of. I'm human so I can't pick up on the subtle nuances of the language of rocks. I have a hard time learning even one human language, though it makes me curious if cement is actually considered a rock and if it had it's own language?

I grabbed my coat and hat and boots since I would be going to work after seeing my family, Lucretia wanted to come with me, I said no. I didn't say it like that. I said I wanted some time alone with my family, and then I would go to work and be back in the morning. I even told her she could be in my room while I was gone this time. That surprised her and she asked me why the change in rules.

"You have shown you can be trusted and you also have remembered to put my things back where you found them, so let's see how you do with this, okay?"

Lucretia got a little teary eyed again, how in the world had I missed that this woman is an emotional rollercoaster?

"You are so much more different than my old master." She said softly and then kissed the back of my hand.

"You know, one of these days we are going to need to talk about your old Master and see just how bad he was, I am just hoping I don't make any of the mistakes he made with you." I gave a smile to show her I was teasing but she didn't smile back.

"I am getting to know you very well Greg, I believe it would be impossible for you to make the mistakes that he did. You are just not that sort of being." I saw that this conversation was now starting to trouble her so I just patted her on the shoulder and told her to call me if there was trouble. I got into my little white truck and decided to call William while I was heading to my folks.

"Hello, This the Abernathy residence. This is Mr. Abernathy's personal assistant how may I help you?" I heard a sweet voice say.

"Ummm...Nancy?" I said.

"Oh hi Gregory!" Nancy gushed into the phone. "Do you need to talk to William?"

I wondered again how Nancy, my friend the talking rat could answer the phone with no thumbs. He must have it set up for conference call or something and she just presses the appropriate button or something. Heck, a rotary phone would be like a mini carousel wheel for her!

"No that's alright. If you could just take a message for him that would be great." I told her. I heard some scratching and her muttering quietly to herself the time and the date and then her voice piped up, "Ready Gregory!"

"Umm, Judge Michael Roberts the head of the local werewolf pack was the judge at my trial and now has it in for me. Tried to buy my house for over two million dollars and made some veiled threats, any advice would be appreciated." I waited and heard Nancy writing, seriously...how did she write? She is a rat for Pete's sake! Maybe she has an inkwell and dips her paw in then writes out the letters then has a little bowl of lemon water to clean off her claws...

Dude...that would be adorable!

"Okay, I have it written down..." her voice stopped and I heard her mutter a little to herself, then she came back on the line. "Gregory, you said a trial? Are you okay?"

I sighed; I wasn't going to get into this now.

"Ask me later Nancy...or just ask William. And physically I am fine but no, I am not okay."

I heard her voice quaver a little. "Is there anything I can do to help you? I owe you so much already, I would be happy to..."

"Just make sure Will gets my message Nancy. I would appreciate it."

I continued on out of the city, and down past large stretches of farmland. My parents live on some acreage by a river, been in the family a long time. Got some big huge trees and some quiet pastures. They once had been rented out for farmland but after Dad won the small lottery he had turned back into pasture. He lets our neighbor's cows feed on it as well, that way he doesn't have to mow it.

I let my mind wander, as I drove, not to the point where I was not watching where I was driving, of course. It just gave me time to think a little. As a person I can only stay mad for so long, it's against my nature to constantly dwell on something negative that keeps me angry. Anger as we all know, takes a lot of energy to maintain. Sure it is a great source of strength, like when I bring back the dumpsters after a long shift and as I do a drive by to check the others that weren't full...I find out that while I was emptying the others the late night shifts were putting in overtime over the holidays and filled the other twenty! Then I get angry and finish the last dumpsters then the anger goes away and I sleep like a rock!

I guess a better way to put it is that I have learned to set my anger aside over the years; it's still there waiting for me, like today meeting the judge. I have a literal metric crap ton of rage waiting for me to pick it up and use it! I just choose not to...why you ask?

I am afraid that once I put it back on again I may not take it off!

A righteous anger is when you are in the right on one end of a situation and the other is clearly wrong. You are justified to take the stance you are and that fuels you to fight on and push your cause or whatever. Knowing that I am innocent I have what to my mind is a righteous anger. Thing is, I know from what the judge told me, he feels that he was right to do what he did as well. Like that old saying says,

"No one is a villain in their own eyes."

To break that down further think of it like this. We all love our cat when it is hunting mice, but I bet the mice hate that mean ol' pussycat! It's all a matter of perspective. Now I kind of regret what I said to the judge. He may be a mean, hardhearted son of a gun, but there was no excuse for me to attack him verbally the way I did. I can't change what he did to me, and how he tarnished my good name in front of others. I can be civil and not...

My front wheels blew and my car started to list! I frantically tried steering but it was sluggish and non responsive! I took my foot off the gas and began to coast to a stop, my wheels making horrid noises as I wrestle my truck to the left side of the road. I put my car in park, turned off the ignition, and put my keys in my coat pocket. I looked around and saw some rolling hills with trees dotted here and there on them in small groves. I guess I was about 4 miles or so from my folks. I pulled out my cell phone to tell them I would be late when my driver side window burst in and I reflexively threw up my arms to protect my face!