Malachai and David walked out to the car in silence after getting Malachai’s wallet from the desk. They met the bondsman at the door and David told him that he services weren’t needed and thanked him for getting up in the middle of the night to come out to the jail.
When they got in the car, Malachai broke the silence. “Dad, I know I fucked up”, he said. “I got arrested and you kept telling me not to. I shouldn’t have reacted to that the way I did and I’m man enough to accept any punishment you think is fit for what I did.”
David pulled out of the parking lot at the police station then looked at his son. “Malachai, I’m not mad at you. You were protecting your sisters. You did the right thing in beating the hell out of that creep. In fact, I think what you did deserves a reward.”
Malachai’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
“Yes, son. Some freak who gets his jollies off by raping little Jewish girls like your sisters decided he was going to go trolling for a new play thing. When he spotted you sisters he thought, ‘Well, well, well, two for the price of one’, and decided to try for both Jordan and Maddie. He’s lucky I didn’t see him and you did, because I would have killed him. I’m proud of you Malachai. You showed a lot of restraint.”
Malachai was in shock. “You’re serious?”
“Yes, son, I’m serious. I’m actually thinking about giving you a beer or a glass or vodka or something when we get home. Lord knows you deserve it and I need it.”
Malachai chuckled. “I’m sorry to have dragged you out of bed for this, Dad. I didn’t mean to get arrested tonight.”
“Would you stop apologizing, Malachai? You did nothing wrong. You protected Maddie and Jordan. You did what you were taught by myself and your mother, and trained by your Uncle, to do. You have no reason to apologize.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want to get home, get a drink, and get back in bed with your mother. I’m sure the young woman you invited to your show tonight would like to see that you’re ok, as well.” David hesitated. “You seem kind of sweet on her, Malachai.”
Malachai laughed. “Yeah, I kind of am. She’s a really sweet girl. I’d like to get to know her a lot better, that’s for sure.”
“That’s good. I’m glad to see you moving past Devon.”
“I’m glad I’m moving past her too. Don’t get me wrong, I miss her. She was a good girl, and a good bassist. But, I don’t think she and I would have worked out. It’s a shame that she chose to take her own life, and I did love her, but that wouldn’t have been enough, I don’t think.”
“Looks like you’ve given moving on a lot of thought.”
“I have. I mourned; I’ve gone through the stages of grief, now it’s time to move past her death and to get on with my life.”
“It’s good to hear you say that, son. I’m very proud of you.”
Malachai smiled a little sadly. “Thanks, Dad.”
David looked over at Malachai and saw how tired he was. “Why don’t you close your eyes for the rest of the trip?”
“Because some needs to keep you awake.”
“There is so much adrenaline pumping through me it’s not funny. I won’t be falling asleep at the wheel. Get a little bit of sleep and I’ll get you up when we pull into the driveway.”
Malachai didn’t argue. He turned onto his side the best he could and closed his eyes. It didn’t take long for sleep to find him.
--------------
Logan sat and played with his uncle’s Akita as he waited for him to pull up with his cousin. She was a pretty, white, little female puppy that they named Delilah. They had also bought a male from a different litter and named him Sampson. It was Logan’s guess that the puppies were to be a breeding pair when they were older. He never knew what his Uncle David was thinking so he didn’t try to guess most of the time.
He happened to glance up at the window right as he saw lights turning into the driveway. He walked over to the window to see if it was his uncle’s truck then walked over to the couch to gently wake his aunt. “Aunt Brie, Uncle David and Malachai are home.”
She stretched out as she rolled onto her back and looked up at Logan. “Are you sure?”
“I know Uncle David’s truck anywhere. They’re home.”
She stood up and went to the door to meet her husband and son. When the door opened and Malachai walked in, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Malachai Aaron. You may be a grown man now, but I’ll still bust your ass over that kind of stuff.”
He hugged his mother back and smiled. “I’ll try to keep that in mind, Mom.” He pulled back and kissed his cheek. “What are you doing up?”
“When your Dad’s phone rang, it didn’t just wake him. It woke me too. I listened in shock and watched your father get dressed in horror. I’m glad that everything is ok though.” She released her hold on Malachai and wrapped herself around her husband. “What took so long, baby? I was worried sick.”
“When I walked in, the cop behind the front desk was a rookie and didn’t know shit. After threatening to take his job he got on his toes and took me to interrogation where Malachai had asked for an attorney and hadn’t gotten one. I heard him ask for an attorney on my way to the interrogation room. I walked into the room and cleared it. We sat for about five minutes and waited on Abe to show up.” David looked at Logan. “Where are my daughters, Logan?”
“They’re in Jordan’s room. The last time I checked on them, they were talking about how they couldn’t believe that Malachai got arrested and that even as the guy was being taken away, he looked really creepy.”
“Go get them for me please. I want to tell them what I found out about the man who touched them. They deserve to know. Get Jacob while you’re at it.”
Logan nodded and headed up the stairs. When he came back he had Maddie and Jordan on his heels. Jordan and Maddie both ran past him and threw their arms around their big brother. “We’re so glad you’re home, ‘Chai. We were both afraid that you wouldn’t be coming home.”
“I’m home, girls. Like Dad’s going to let me stay in that hell hole of a city jail for that long”, he said as he hugged them back. He looked up to see Jake tripping down the stairs. “You ok there, sleepy head?”
“I’m good, ‘Chai. Glad to see you home.”
“Thanks. Dad has something he wants to tell everyone.”
Jake sat down on the stairs and listened. Maddie and Jordan followed suit. David held Brie as she clung to him. “I found out from the family attorney that the man who Malachai assaulted earlier is a known but unregistered pedophile with a weakness for little Jewish girls. He’s in the hospital healing from the wounds and injuries inflicted by Malachai then he’s got a one way ticket back to prison for parole violations. First of all, he put himself in a place where he was sure to find at least one girl that match his victim profile. Second, he wasn’t registered. And third, he hadn’t reported to his parole officer.”
Jordan gasped. “Holy shit. It probably would have helped if I hadn’t dressed the way I did, huh?”
David shook his head. “Nope. Pedophiles don’t care. They’ll dress you to what they want you to look like if they have the need. You did nothing wrong other than not warning me.”
“I’m sorry about that, Daddy.”
“You’re fine now, Jordan. Now, Jacob, Jordan, and Madison, you all need to get in bed; or back in bed in Jake’s case.”
They all stood, and went to give their parent’s a hug and kiss good night then went to their rooms and to go to sleep.
David looked at Malachai. “You want the drink now, or with dinner this evening?”
“NOW, please. Lord knows my nerves could use it.”
“Drink? What drink?” Brie asked as she walked with the boys and her husband to the kitchen.
“I told Malachai that he could have an alcoholic beverage for doing the right thing tonight by beating the fuck out of the mother fucker who thought he was going to take our daughters and molest them.”
Brie nodded then peeled herself from David’s side to go get the glasses ready. She put a couple of cubes of ice in the three she grabbed from the cabinet and then set the glasses in front of the men. “What are you drinking, babe?’ she asked.
“Instead of dirtying glasses, why don’t we just drink a beer before they go to bed? What do you boys think?”
“Do my parent’s know that you’re giving me a beer, Uncle David?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, and they’re ok with it.”
“Then a beer sounds really good right now.”
“I’m cool with it, Dad”, Malachai said.
“Then I’ll grab you all a beer and put the glasses up.” She picked up the glasses and put them away, then grabbed three bottles beer bottles out of the fridge and put them on the table in front of them. She took a seat next to David and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m just glad my guys are home so that I don’t’ have to freak out.”
“You really shouldn’t worry so much, baby”, David said then laid a kiss on her hair. “You know I’ll do whatever it takes to get home to you and I’ll move Heaven and Earth to make sure our children come home too, if that’s what needs to be done.”
“I still worry about you and the kids. You should have seen me the first time you went on tour after the War. I was a wreck until you called and told me you were ok and at the venue.”
“I could tell. Why do you put so much undue worry on yourself?”
“I don’t mean to. I guess that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve picked up the same bad habit that my mother had. I need to stop.”
“You do, or you’re going to be on the same medications I’m on for your blood pressure.”
“Mom, you always worry too much, especially now that the War is over. But, I will say this, you do your best not to let the younger kids see it. Jake, Jordan, and I see it, but that’s because we know you”, Malachai said.
She laughed. “It’s sad that I can’t hide it from all of you and just let your Dad see it. And, if I had my way about it, I’d hide it from all of you and none of you would ever see it.”
--------------
After finishing their drinks, Malachai and Logan went up to Malachai’s room where the girls were sleeping. Logan lay down behind Dani with no trouble. Within minutes, he was asleep. As Malachai crawled into bed with Amanda, she stirred. “Malachai, is that you?”
He smiled. “Yeah, Mandy, it’s me.”
“You’re out of jail?”
“Yeah, the cops had nothing to hold me on, so I walked out of the police station with Dad and our attorney.”
“That’s great”, she said quietly. Then, her expression changed. “Maybe I should head home. It’s really late and I’m sure my aunt and uncle are worried about me.”
Malachai snaked an arm around her waist. “Stay with me tonight, please. I’ll take you home in the morning, I promise.”
She sighed. “Ok, you convinced me. I’ll stay, but don’t expect me to have sex with you, Malachai Draiman. I’m not easy.”
“The thought had never even crossed my mind, Mandy. I want to get to know you. That means all that entails. If I’ve got to learn your mind and heart before I learn your body, that’s fine with me.”
“You’re such a smooth talker, Malachai. I had better be careful or I just might fall in love with you.”
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