it any longer. Dad was always ranting and raving, going off when he felt slighted or disrespected. The old Italian man with darkly tanned leather skin, East coast bravado, Midwest charm and sparkling honey eyes offered so much entertainment with these insane outbursts, he wasn’t frightening in the least. This didn’t take from the fact he was one of the smartest bastards Nixon had ever known. If he were a betting man, he’d swear his father was a damn genius.
“So if I send the ticket and book the room, are you coming?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. And start answering Maria’s calls. You know how panicky she gets. She even got me concerned this time.”
“I’m tougher than nails. Not going anywhere.”
“Love you, old man.”
“Shove it.”
“Yeah. That means you love me, too.” Nixon smiled and ended the call with the push of a button. Once he hung up, he realized he had a new voicemail. He played it back as he drew closer to home.
“Raze, this is Taz. Please call me as soon as you get this. Thanks!”
He used a voice command to call Taz’s private cell number.
“There you are! Hey, stranger,” she stated in a cheery voice. “What have you been up to?”
“Pretty much working, taking care of some things. I just left the office, actually. I have to go home and continue though so it’ll be a long night. Have court early in the morning. How have you been?”
“Great… Things are great, sweetie. Look, we have a special request for you, next Sunday afternoon. That’s enough notice. Can you come in?”
“Oh… Gretchen must’ve not given you my message.”
“Message? What message?”
“I won’t be at The Cage for a bit, Taz.” A long silence ensued on the other end of the phone. “I have something to take care of and that would… well, that sort of thing would, ya know, interfere.”
“Cut the bullshit. You love it here. You live and breathe this place. It’s your home away from home so just fess up.”
“Fess up?” He laughed, buying time.
“Nix and shit almost rhyme. I see why now, ’cause you on that bullshit. Who the fuck is she? Who took our main attraction—the dick slanger, pussy strangler, and ass banger—from us?! I wish I could cut tha bitch!”
He grinned. Taz was just teasing, but she truly did want answers.
“All right. I’m busted. I’d prefer to keep the details to myself though, but just give me a little time and space, okay? You and I will always be cool, no matter what, and I am not saying you’ll never see me again, but uh, you know, I just gotta take care of this… and anything that interferes with what I am doing right now can’t be in the equation.”
“You say take care of it like you are getting rid of a dead body.”
“There’s definitely a body involved…”
They both burst out laughing.
“All right, Mr. Top Secret. She must be real special then for you to abandon ship like this. I’ll let the staff know.”
“Cool. Thanks, baby.”
“I better start trying to hunt down another Satyr, just in case.” She huffed. “But I have a feeling you’ll be back.”
“First of all, you’ll never be able to find another Satyr like me. I’m one of a kind and can’t be replaced. Secondly, why do you say that?” He adjusted his rearview mirror as a large truck came up behind him with its headlights on the brightest setting.
“Because a man like you can’t be tied down. I asked you one time if you’d ever been married, considered it, or had dated someone for over six months exclusively, with no other pussy in the equation, and you laughed in my face.” He swallowed. “The idea of commitment to one woman makes your head explode. Those are your words. I remember them well because I was thinkin’ of making your fine ass mine. Unlike many of these women out here though, I was willing to share you. You’d never find a more agreeable lady than me, and I go both ways as you know, so if I find a man or woman sexy, I’m fuckin’ ’em. Point blank, period! So we could have threesomes, foursomes, all-the-time-somes up in this bitch, baby!” The woman was enjoying this, laughing and carrying on. She was such a trip. “I’m just messing with you. Well, sorta.”
A note of sadness did creep in her tone though. She’s going to miss me being around. We’re friends. Good friends. I’ll miss Taz, too.
“Good luck, Raze. Anyway, love, when you come to your senses,