The Broussard Sisters Ch. 12

"We're going to call the police, tell them that these three guys came up, but before we could do anything, some old man shot them and ran off," Richard said, gathering Kimberly and her diaper bag.

"Old man?" Bernie said. "Richard, that girl wasn't some old man! In fact, she still had on her St. Thomas Aquinas uniform!"

"Yeah he was, in fact, I think he was black or something," Richard said.

"I wonder if she had anything to do with that car that caught on fire," Bernie mused as Richard punched in 911 on his cell phone.

Chapter 109

"You clean up pretty good," Elizabeth teased her brother as an excited Nadia dragged Bill out of his bedroom. "Oh, and thank God you shaved that goofy looking mustache off."

"Yeah, you too; or did you wax it?" Bill teased, playfully rubbing a finger under his sister's nose.

"Butt hole!" Elizabeth gasped, slapping him on his arm.

"And here's the flower girl!" Nadia announced as she herded Deonia into the living room.

"And, you, finish zipping me up, huh?" Nadia demanded and turned around.

"Not you, him," Nadia said over her shoulder as Elizabeth stepped up.

"Oh, um, okay," Bill stammered, then smiled. "Never had any experience zipping these up, just down."

"Later, if you're real good," Nadia promised playfully.

Her heart was not in a playful mood, though.

Ivan Doyeski and Katherine Doyeski had been at the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner last night. Ivan looked on in his usual stony silence, barely acknowledging Nadia and completely ignoring his grandchild.

Katherine, after a moment's hesitation, walked over and hugged her daughter tightly, then gratefully accepted a hug and kiss from her granddaughter.

"Do you know who I am?" Katherine asked in Russian.

"You are my grandmother and I love you with all my heart," Deonia replied.

"You speak Russian?" Katherine asked, smiling.

"Of course, you're being silly," Deonia said.

But Ivan would not acknowledge either daughter or granddaughter.

"He is so stubborn," Katherine shouted at him, in Russian. "Better I should have married a bear, you fool! That is your daughter, the little girl you held in your lap and told fairy tales, the little girl that loved you and danced and sang for you. One mistake, she makes one mistake and you act as though she is dead? May God have more mercy on you should you EVER make one single mistake."

Nadia hoped that the happy festivities would soften her beloved father's heart; she missed the loving connection she and her father used to share and also wanted her daughter to know her grandfather.

"Okay, we're ready?" Elizabeth asked, dangling the keys from her hand.

"Now, Bill; you're riding with me and Deonia," Nadia called out."

Of course; I'm your date, right?" Bill said and walked slowly toward the truck.

"He is looking good," Elizabeth complimented Nadia. "Color's good, he's walking a lot better."

"Thanks," Nadia smiled and gave her a quick kiss before mincing on the impossibly high heels to her truck.

Elizabeth strapped Eddie into his car seat, honked as Nadia drove away, then backed out of the driveway.

----

"Mandy, I don't think it's the flu," Kelli said as she rubbed her roommate's back.

The two were lying in Kelli's queen sized bed; the roommates had been sleeping in the same bed ever since that first night that Kelli had Mandy clean her pussy of Elliot and Wade's sperm. The only time Mandy went into her bedroom was to get more clean clothes.

"Then what is it?" Mandy demanded weakly. "I been throwing up all morning."

"You don't have fever, diarrhea, and head's not stopped up," Kelli continued.

"But I been throwing up all..." Mandy objected.

"When's the last time you got your little visitor?" Kelli asked, kissing Mandy's bare shoulder.

"I uh, oh. Oh no, no, it can't be, oh my God, no!" Mandy sputtered, voice rising in intensity as realization set in.

"Mandy, you let Wade and Elliot..." Kelli said quietly.

"Oh my God, my mom's going to fucking kill me!" Mandy moaned.

She rolled over and buried her face in Kelli's neck and sobbed. Kelli hugged her lover tightly and rubbed her back and shoulders until she was all cried out.

"You know where to get an abortion?" Mandy finally asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"An, oh no ma'am!" Kelli snapped, horrified. "Oh no ma'am, you are not doing that!"

"But what'm I supposed to do, huh?" Mandy yelled. "Fucking gay and knocked up? That's a real good combination!"

"You're supposed to have the child and raise it, or, if you don't want the baby, you give the child up for adoption, but you don't murder it," Kelli yelled back.

----

"Aw, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," Dick smiled when he responded to the call.

A body or what was left of a body had been spotted on a sandbar in the Atchafalaya Basin. Officer Mike Stevens, the first officer on the scene relayed that it appeared to be that of Angel Morales.

"I mean, it's kind of hard to tell; he's been in the water a while, and something's been eating at him, but that big cross he had tattooed on his chest?" Mike had radioed in.

----

Juan Costoval believed that he was the heir apparent to the enterprise that was the Angels 270. Obviously, though, he was the only one of that opinion; none of the other Angels 270 would listen to his edicts.

"Fucking bitch!" Juan screamed at Jose Costoval, his cousin. "I asked you, where's the money, huh? Where's my money?"

"Fuck you; I ain't giving you shit," Jose sneered at his cousin. "You ain't in charge here."

Juan pulled out his nine millimeter and put two slugs into Jose's head, then glared at the other boys.

"Anyone else want to tell me they ain't giving me shit? Huh? I kill my own cousin, you think I won't kill you too?" he challenged.

"I ain't giving you shit," Carlos sneered from behind him and put a bullet into Juan's back.

"Fucking beautiful," Officer Eric Greene said when the 911 call came in.

"Yeah?" Dick asked into his radio.

"Several gunshots at eleven fourteen Toussaint," Eric said into the handset. "Responding now."

"Battle gear on?" Dick asked.

"Yes sir; two boys and a Mommy want to see Daddy come home tonight," Eric agreed.

----

Oscar Coutre sat in the middle of the church, on the groom's side. He and Buddy Webb had grown up three doors away from each other and had played together as children. Of course, since Buddy had been a few years older, the playing had mostly been Buddy beating up on Oscar. But Buddy had needed someone to come over and fix his computer; he'd gotten a very persistent virus from a pornography site, and Oscar's new mobile computer business had come to the rescue.

"Yeah, man, I'm getting married," Buddy had bragged as Oscar mapped the hard drive.

"Well, congratulations; didn't know Louisiana passed same sex marriage," Oscar said.

"Aw, fuck you, man!" Buddy had laughed. "Nah man, marrying that hot reporter? Sonja Doyeski? You seen her on the news, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, went out a couple of times with her sister, Nadia," Oscar agreed and began deleting the corrupted files.

"Aw yeah? She a hot fuck like Sonja?" Buddy had asked. "Man, let me tell you, that Sonja? Fuck she is a freak!"

He was bragging, lying. Sonja had not allowed Buddy access to any sexual contact.

"When we are married," Sonja would hiss whenever he tried to touch her.

"Really wouldn't know; just had a few dinners with her and her roommate," Oscar admitted and began to write out the invoice for his services.

"Hey, would really like it if you'd come to the wedding," Buddy had said, pressing an invitation into Oscar's hand, along with the one hundred and eighty dollars for the computer repairs.

Now, Oscar sat in the pew, wondering why he had come. Buddy had waved in greeting, Jack and Susan Webb had nodded politely, and then left him to sit in the pew, a solitary figure.

The music blasted, a droning cacophony of organ music, playing an unfamiliar piece, adding to his somber mood.

The bride's side of the church also had only a few people scattered throughout.

"At least I won't be the only one showing up by himself," he reflected, looking around the church.

Her dark nearly black eyes met his golden eyes and they both froze.

She looked beautiful, dressed in a pale lemon yellow dress that seemed to make her dark eyes even darker; her dark curls even more lush.

"Hi Mither Othar!" Eddie shouted, unmindful of his surroundings.

"Hi my little man," Oscar smiled, grateful for the distraction.

"God, she is so beautiful," he thought to himself as he accepted the three year old boy's hug and sloppy kiss.

"Hey, how you doing?" she quietly asked as he walked her son back to her.

"Good, I'm good. You?" Oscar asked.

"Good, good," she agreed.

"Hey Bill, how's it going?" Oscar asked the man.

"Pretty good," Bill responded, and then smiled. "Yeah, my man, I'm pretty good, you know?"

"Good, good, glad to hear it," Oscar said and then swallowed nervously. "Well I um, you know, uh..."

"See you at the reception?" Elizabeth asked as the music began to swell to an intolerable level.

"Yeah, yeah, um, see you there," Oscar agreed.

----

"And then they'll have a hundred babies and live happily ever after," Deonia declared to her grandmother.

"A hundred babies? Oh, I think that's too many!" Katherine delighted in talking with her three year old granddaughter.

Ivan Doyeski stood, tight-lipped as his wife played with the child, the source of embarrassment as if it were nothing, as if the child had brought no shame to their family.

"You are a fool; you would deny yourself the happiness of knowing your grand-daughter," Katherine hissed to him.

"It is no concern of yours, none at all," Ivan spat and glared contemptuously at the prattling child.

Nadia immediately stepped in between her child and her father, scooping up the child to protect her from Ivan's words. Ivan's tight lips almost formed a smile; the flighty, self-centered daughter he knew had matured.

"We about ready?" one of the deacons asked, sticking his head into the small vestibule.

"Yeah," Sonja snapped.

She was coming down, hard. She and Dee had drunk too much vodka, smoked too much marijuana, and then snorted several lines of coke.

Dee was a mean drunk, and hyper-sexed when high on cocaine. Sonja's pussy throbbed in pain; Dee had driven her fist into Sonja, almost halfway up her forearm, twisting savagely, until Sonja finally begged for her to stop.

She smirked over at Dee. With her period only a few days away, Dee was suffering her own hangover, as well as her horrible cramps and headache.

"Okay, Deonia, do you remember what you're supposed to do?" Nadia asked, giving the child the basket of rose petals.

Katherine allowed an usher to bring her to her seat at the front of the church, and then Deonia began spreading the flower petals, happily, haphazardly.

The familiar chorus started and the patrons rose and peered toward the rear of the church.

Elizabeth wasn't looking at the rear of the church; she was looking at the handsome Oscar Coutre.

Oscar wasn't looking at the rear of the church either, he was returning Elizabeth's stare.

She flashed him a dazzling smile just as the bride and her father blocked their view of each other and Oscar returned the smile.

"Get a room, huh?" Bill half joked, half complained to his sister.

"Shut up," she smirked at him.

----

Paul had thrown out all the alcohol in the house. Surprisingly, it had not been as hard as he had thought; he simply dragged the large outdoor garbage can into the living room and began dropping the bottles into the metal can.

He smirked; Pam would have had a fit if she had seen the garbage can in her immaculate kitchen, but he steadily dropped can after bottle after can of beer and wine into the can.

And she would have been upset if she could have seen her kitchen. Years of not having a mom, Paul knew how to cook. But, he didn't know how to clean all that well.

"First things first," he said aloud and finished the task at hand.

"Man, I bet there's going to be some happy garbage men come Monday," he thought as he dragged the overloaded garbage can down to the curb.

He had seen Cindy. And Pam. He had seen them last night. He was going into the classroom where the Bender Beginners meeting was held but a flash of red caught his eye and he turned to see Cindy, followed by Pam, entering another classroom.

"No, man, you don't want to go in THERE!" Delbert, a large African-American man had laughed. "Boy, that's the Alanon room. They some vicious bitches in there, man."

"Hey Paul, why do Alanons want to get on top when they screw?" Marc asked as he set up the readings.

"Um, I give up," Paul mumbled, still trying to peer around Delbert at the Alanon room.

"They love watching us drunks fuck up," Marc and Delbert laughed.

"Here, you read 'How It Works' tonight," Marc insisted, thrusting the laminated sheet into Paul's hand.

After the meeting, after Marc finally quit talking to him, Paul had run next door to see if he could find Cindy or Pam, but the room was empty.

"Someone you know?" Marc asked quietly.

"My wife, well, my girlfriend," Paul admitted. "Girlfriends. I guess they're going to Alanon now."

"Got some good people go to Alanon," Marc had nodded. "I love picking on them, but they got some good people go to them meetings."

Paul looked around after he put the garbage can at the edge of the driveway and noticed just how bedraggled his lawn looked. True, it was winter, but that didn't explain the nearly knee high weeds that dotted his yard.

"Clean House, " Marc was always saying. "Trust God, Clean House, Help Others."

Paul opened the garage and dragged his lawn mower out.

----

Vee and Paris fussed over Deonia and Eddie and urged both Elizabeth and Nadia to mingle, to dance.

"Oh my God, I would love to have a sweet little boy just like you!" Paris exclaimed, squeezing Eddie in a hug.

"And a pretty little girl like you, Vee agreed, giving Deonia an affectionate tickle.

Elizabeth cursed her high heels; she could barely manage a skittering run to where Oscar stood, chatting amiably with Susan Webb, Buddy's step-mother.

"I hope you don't mind, but I just have to steal this man away from you," Elizabeth nearly shouted as she grabbed onto Oscar's arm.

"No, not at all," Susan nearly laughed as Elizabeth dragged Oscar toward the dance floor.

"So, um, how you...." Oscar asked as Elizabeth plastered herself against him.

"I miss you, I cry myself to sleep almost every night, I want to be home, in that big old bed of yours," Elizabeth said. "And you? How you been?"

"Really? Lonely. I've been lonely," Oscar admitted. "I miss you. And I miss Eddie, miss playing with my little man there."

"Can I, can we come over? Tonight?" Elizabeth begged.

"Elizabeth, I don't know. I mean, you know? Just thinking about you. And Nadia, it's just..." Oscar stammered.

"I'll give her up; I'll tell Nadia she and Deonia have to find some other place," Elizabeth begged.

"No," Oscar said firmly. "Elizabeth, I can't ask you to... Elizabeth, that's part of who and what you are, you'll just wind up hating me if I made you..."

"Please?" Elizabeth asked, tears filling her eyes. "Oscar, I can't, I don't want to live without you."

On the other side of the dance floor, Nadia grimaced as Jack Webb, Buddy's father, groped her breasts and rear under the guise of dancing.

"Damn, Buddy says you and Sonja are twins but I can tell you, your tits are twice as big as hers," Jack leered.

Nadia was grateful when the song ended, and managed to side step Jack's drunken attempt to hug her. She strode as rapidly as the uncomfortable shoes would let her to where Bill and Paris and Vee sat.

"Mommy, we was dancing, you seen us?" Deonia asked, cheeks flushed with excitement.

"I sure did," Nadia lied. "Looked like so much fun I had to try it."

"May I have this dance?" she smiled at Bill.

"Sure," Bill agreed, hoisting himself to his feet.

"Remember, drink as much water as you can stand," Nadia whispered to him. "I know there's all kind of free alcohol here but you have to remember your kidneys can't take too much of that."

"Hey, Florence Nightingale, you're not on duty right now, remembering?" Bill said, slightly drunk from the four glasses of champagne he'd guzzled while Nadia was being mauled by Jack Webb.

"Please?" Nadia looked up into his dark eyes.

After a moment of her intense scrutiny, Bill looked away, ashamed.

----

""No, no survivors," Eric Greene said into his handset. M.E.'s on his way?"

"Yeah," Dick agreed. "Damn, NO survivors? You sure?"

"Took their pulse," Eric said. "Dumb as I am, I can still count to zero."

"How many?" Dick asked as he turned onto Highway 19.

"Zero," Eric said.

"No, no, how many casualties?" Dick answered.

"Oh, Nine in the first room and three more in the first bedroom. No others observed in the house," Eric said and waved as the Medical Examiner's car pulled to a stop in front of the house.

The extremely overweight man hoisted his bulk out of the car and began the laborious task of walking the twenty nine feet from his car to the front door of the house.

"Thank God it's a flat, huh?" he wheezed to Eric. "Tired of these vermin dying on the third floor of some rat trap."

"Yes sir," Eric said and smiled tightly as Dick screeched to a stop.

----

"Thank you so much," Nadia smiled at Paris as she helped an exhausted Bill sit down.

"Oh, no trouble," Paris smiled. "We all just stood right here and danced."

"You two want to go on and dance, go ahead; I'll watch these two little boogers," Nadia smiled.

Vee and Paris passed a look between each other and both smiled and shook their heads no.

"Bill? You want anything to eat? And let me get you some water," Nadia said. "And Miss Deonia and Mister Eddie, you two eat anything besides cake?"

"Yes ma'am," Deonia lied.

"What? What'd you have?" Nadia asked.

"Um," Deonia hesitated.

"Uh huh," Nadia smiled and pinched her daughter's backside. "There, you get a pinch for lying to me."

Buddy drunkenly staggered through the room, loudly chatting with his guests.

"Aw, hey man, you made it!" he bumped into Oscar, forgetting that he had said the exact same thing twenty minutes earlier.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, made it; thanks for inviting me," Oscar agreed.

"And, aw, hey man, I didn't know you knew Elizabeth!" Buddy laughed. "Man, she and Sonja's sister are roommates! Right? Roommates, right?"

"Right, roommates," Elizabeth smiled tightly.

"Man, you one lucky mother fucker; don't let this one go, know what I'm saying?" Buddy declared, giving Oscar an unwelcome hug.

"Quick, he's gone; let's get out of here before he comes back," Elizabeth mock-whispered to Oscar as Buddy tottered off to talk with other guests.

----

"Female, Caucasian, approximate age twenty eight," the M.E. intoned into his recorder as he paused in front of Mickie Bernard's body. "Apparent cause of death, multiple gun shot wounds to head. Female, Hispanic, approximate age..."

"Man, how many girls did you see?" Dick asked, watching the M.E. waddle through the room.

"Seven," Eric said. Five in this room, two in the other."

"Male, Hispanic, approximate age twenty one," The M.E. continued.

----

"My nightgown still at your house?" Elizabeth smiled as she buckled Eddie into his car seat.

"Yeah, got a few of Eddie's clothes too," Oscar agreed.

"Okay, see you in about thirty minutes," Elizabeth smiled happily and sucked another kiss from him.

"Be careful," he smiled and scampered to his car.

"Need me to watch Eddie?" Nadia asked, smiling happily.

"No, bringing him along," Elizabeth smiled. "But thank you; I appreciate it."