Misfit(276)

Laughing, Bunny kissed him again, wrapping her legs around his waist when he lifted her and carried her the short distance through the water to their waiting pontoon. Tea candles surrounded the table and two chairs. Although the pontoon wasn’t big, it was large enough to hold a table with dishes of squash and chana dhal, palusami, and homemade bread topped with grated coconut.

The grog Digger had been drinking almost since arriving awaited him in a coconut shell. Bunny wanted a taste so bad, but she refused to risk her baby for a sip. Mark promised he’d take bring her back for their one-year anniversary.

As she settled herself in her seat, Digger prepared plates for them, then set her napkin in her lap before sitting and doing the same for himself.

“What up, girl? You seem like you a million miles away.”

Bunny tasted her non-alcoholic punch. “This is so nice. All of it. From the service to the food.”

“If you like this, then when we get back, I’ll look into getting you a staff.”

Pushing her glass aside and picking up her bread, Bunny thought about the best way to ask this, then decided to just forge ahead. “How much money do you have now?”

“You mean how much we got?”

She nodded, touched by his determination that she consider his money hers. Legally, she knew it was, but his money didn’t matter to her.

“A fucking lot. More than we can spend in our lives. A lot of that shit dirty fucking money. Sharper probably ran it through the church to holy it up to forgive the way he got it through peddling girls. Me and Mort setting up a foundation in our mama name, and donating a lot of money to…I don’t fucking know. We got a financial advisor and shit. Mort such a stingy motherfucker. He’d set up the foundation, then ban any of us from spending. Motherfucker know that shit, too. I intend to do for you what he doing for Bailey.”

“What is he doing for Bailey?”

“Assuring that she don’t fuck him up when she want to buy something.” Drinking some grog, he waved. “This money talk. Let’s wait until we get home and I promise I’ll tell you all about it. Let me know how many motherfuckers you want working for you. Ten? Twenty? You still want to live in our postcard house on club grounds?”

“You’ll still be in the club, right?”

“Fuck, yeah! Just ‘cause I got more money than I know what the fuck to do with, don’t mean I’m a different motherfucker. I’m investing some of the shit. Stuff like that, so my dumb ass don’t fuck up money like I did before. I’m going to see if Outlaw want another bike. He kind of married to the one he got. He love that motherfucker, so maybe he don’t. I’m tricking mine out.”

“You’re giving up the one we rode back to the club on?” She was rather sentimental about that bike.

“Fuck no! I’m just putting the club emblem on it. Making it a little stealthier. That’s about it. If you learn to ride, after our kid born, me and you can have matching bikes.”

“I’d love that!”

“Then that’s what the fuck we’ll do.”

“As to living in our postcard house—” Her dream cottage surrounded by an English garden—“I haven’t changed either. I want the house we’re building, where we’re building it.”

“Cool with me, although we can have like six servants tops. The thing not even two thousand square feet, Bunny.”

“I know, but I like cozy. You saw where I grew up at.”

“Okay, so a housekeeper, a nanny, and a cook sound good?”

“If I have servants, then it’ll look funny taking care of Meggie’s kids,” she mumbled, afraid he’d tell her she couldn’t work.

Sometimes, her life with Trader came back to haunt her. Mark was as different from Trader as night was from day. With her, Mark was kind, considerate, and gentle. He wouldn’t disparage any of her ideas or ignore anything she needed or wanted. She’d wanted to keep Trader happy out of fear. She wanted Mark happy of her own free will and to reciprocate his actions.

“You want to fucking still work for Meggie and Prez?”

Bunny squirmed. “I want to talk to Meggie about investing in the company. I love kids, Mark. I’d miss CJ—and the other kids—so much. Meggie would never let me work for her without payment, but if I had a small interest in the company, then we could have a happy meeting of the minds.”

“Bunny, baby, as long as you happy, I’m behind you one hundred percent. You and Meggie would be lost without each other. The happier you is, the more pussy I get.”

Throwing her napkin at him, she laughed when he ducked. “I love you, babe.”