The Talon Family
The Kiss of the Witch Doctor
February
Draft_2
By: Chase L. Currie
The Talon family ate dinner together at a small fish place near the beach and enjoy chatting with each other until the sun went all the way down. Sesily had easily fallen into place with the family. They all laughed at her jokes and acted as she had always been in their lives. Michael wondered if easily accepting people into the fold was a byproduct of having an adopted sister. Helbis in his mind had always been in his life, and he couldn’t place a time when she was not around them. There were a few photos on the walls in the house without her, but Michael would have to a double take when walking by them because in his mind’s eye she was in them all.
He was overjoyed to have her back in the family. It was like having his best friend back in his life. He smiled big looking at her and Sesily’s hand resting on him under the table as dinner went on. The night was young but perfect; nothing could ruin it.
Except for the fact he and Sesily couldn’t get into any of the bars or clubs which Gabriel seem very unhappy about talking to the doorman. She turned to face them pointing right at Michael and said, “If I let you guys go off by yourself you will keep your phone on you the whole time, right?”
“Right.”
“And you both will behave yourself,” she said glaring at them.
“Yes,” Sesily said with a smile and a childlike voice. It was the natural way she spoke which at first caught some people off guard, but Michael enjoys it. “I’ll keep him in line.”
Gabriel led in whispering into Michaela’s ear, “Take her for a nice long walk on the beach.”
He smiled and said, “Will do.”
“And for the love of God,” she said breaking away, “Don’t be like your brother, act like a gentleman,” but Gabriel always said, gentleman, like she was saying jelly beans.
“Hey, I like jelly beans,” Raphael yell from behind her.
“Not what I said,” Gabriel told him spinning on her heels in her blue summer dress.
“I know,” he smiled, “but they are better than that gentleman thing you keep telling me to try out.” He told both of his sisters as they walked into the club.
Michael held out his arm and asked, “Shall we my love?”
“Oh yes, we shall,” she said taking his arm, “my good sir,” adding a deep southern accent to the last part. They both laughed walking away from the club and heading for the beach. They held each other’s hands as they walked barefoot on the sands. It was nice having some a lone time for once, even though they got it all the time back at home. Gabriel put up a good front up, but she normally trusted her little brother, and for the most part, she was right to do so. They had kissed, made out, and did a little bit more but nothing like some their friends they both knew. They hadn’t gone all the way, close to it, but they both stopped knowing they were not ready for it.
It made the relationship easier Michael quickly found; he didn’t have to worry about sex all the time. He could instead enjoy being with Sesily for the sake of being with her. It was nice.
He stares up at the night sky watching the stars dance around wondering what it was like to see the world from their point of view.
“You are always looking up,” Sesily said.
“It’s too perfect not too,” he said.
“You know it’s dangerous to always been watching the sky,” she told him.
He smirked. “My father would say the same thing.”
“Well, your father is a smart man.”
“He sure is,” Michael agrees. “My mother was the one who always told me to look up from time to time.”
“Why?”
“In the hopes, you could see the angels looking down at you,” he said dropping his eyes to her deep green ones. She brushed a little and creaked a tiny smile as he kissed her. “Guess, I can stop looking up now, huh?”
She giggled and said, “You know that is cheesy.”
“Yeah, but it was good?”
She laughed and nodded yes. “It was nice,” and she kissed him again.
“It would have been nice to meet your mother,” she said.
“Ah, she would have loved you.”
“You think so?”
“Well,” he said, “if you could win Gabriel over then you could win my mother over as well. They are a lot like.”
“That good to know,” Sesily said. “I really like your family.”
“They seem to like you as well.”
She smiled as a big as she could pushing some of her hair around her ear.
They both looked up into the sky watching the stars, and after a while, they ended up laying in the sands doing the same thing. Sesily rested on his large arm with her hand on his chest wishing for this night to never end.
From time to time they would hear a few men cackle a few yards away. There was two of them walking drinking heavily and making a crude joke about any women they saw on the beach. Michael paid them no mind knowing better than anyone he could handle himself if they tried to start anything.
He sat up on the sands feeling his phone go off. He shot up looking down at his lover and nodded he was going to walk away from her to the waves. She smiled stretching out on the sand. He pulled the phone out and asked, “Yes?”
“Everything good?” Gabriel spoke loudly with the constant thump of the music behind her.
“Yeah,” he said. “Where are you?”
“In the bathroom,” she said. “I just wanted to check up on you. Where on you?”
He stepped closer to the dull sand kicking some of it around. “On the beach.”
“She likes it?”
“Yeah, she loves it,” he said. “She found some seashells to make necklaces out of for everyone.”
“That’s nice,” Gabriel said.
“Sure is,” Michael said spinning around on his heels to look at Sesily. He stopped dead seeing the two men walking around her talking to her. They weren’t touching her, but they were close and made her uncomfortable. She was on her feet trying to get away from them.
“I’m not sure what tim---”
“I’ll call you right back,” Michael said with an eerily calm voice and hung up. He put the phone back into his pocket walking up to the men.
“You want to drink with us, baby?” One of the men asked.
“No, she does not,” Michael told them both squaring his shoulders up to show his massive body. One of the men seems a little bigger than him, but Michael doubted he had super strength in his muscles.
The man who spoke rose his hand holding a beer and said, “Ah sorry mate, this your pet.”
“I’m no one’s pet,” Sesily said making her way over to Michael. She didn’t stand behind him but right by his side.
“Sorry, love,” the drunk man bark. “We can make it up to you by buying you drink if you like.”
“She is underage,” Michael said. “And it isn’t creepy of you guys to be hitting on her.”
“Yeah, well, what are you going to do about it, big man?” The musclehead said stepping closer to him as his drunk friend circle around them. They were both a little too close for comfort.
“Nothing, man,” Michael said. “We just want to be left alone.”
“A girl like her should be with a real man,” the guy in Michael’s face said. “We can teach her a thing or two and maybe, you as well.” He said poking Michael in his chest.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
He laughed. “Like you could.”
“Just go about your night and leave us to our,” he said.
“Hey, hands off,” Sesily said punching the drunk man right in the face. He must have moved around on them without either one of them noticing. Her tiny fist met his nose shattering it as the guy fell back crying out. Everyone was a little shock at how strong the tiny girl seems to be, and something told all of them she was holding back.
The big man’s teeth started to show like a mad dog as his hand shot out taking her by the hair. For a quick moment, Michael saw red, and the man was one the guy trying to cry. His arm was broken by Michael grabbing him and his jaw smashed by his punch. The man laid on the ground with Michael hitting him in the face with as little might as he could put behind his blows. If he wanted to he could punch right through the poor fool’s head, just, for now, he wouldn’t be able to talk for six months, use his arm for longer, and maybe, need a new nose.
“Michael,” Sesily yelled. “Stop, don’t kill him.”
Michael stopped his fist falling on the man staring right at his girlfriend with blood dripping from his hand. He calmly and slowly stepped away from the body and looked dead at Sesily. He blinked a couple of time letting the rage fade away and then looked at the bloody face of the man.
“We should call for help,” was all he could say before tears rushed out of his eyes. His jaw locked in place and the horrible fact he could have killed a man he didn’t know sat uncomfortably in his mind like a nail in his boot.
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