Faithfully

114

Friday afternoon Braxton charged into the El Royal and down the stairs for the office. "Were you really held hostage?" She asked as soon as the door open. When she looked around she saw Archie and Mad Dog staring back at her. "Hey Brax." Mad Dog said as he passed for her the door.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Yeah. We were." Archie told her as he stood up.

"Well are you okay?"

"I am."

"Why didn't you call? You're a Serpent. We like have been here within minutes."

"I wasn't exactly in a situation where I could have made a phone call."

Braxton looked around and then back to Archie. "So who the hell is Dodger?"

"Some guy from the Arcade that has kids do his dirty work for him."

"And you put him in the hospital?"

"What? No. Reggie and I found him out front one morning and called an ambulance."

"Damn."

"Brax, I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am you ended up not coming."

"No kidding. I'm glad you're okay though. And I hope the kids still got a good meal out of it."

"Oh hell yeah they did. We barely had any left."

"Good, because I slaved over some of that food."

"So what did you and Sweet Pea end up doing for Thanksgiving?" Braxton looked at Archie and pressed her lips together with a smile. "Say no more." He continued with a chuckle.

"Not that I'm complaining, but something was off with him."

"How's so?"

"I don't know, I can just tell with him."

"Maybe you should talk to him about it?"

"Are you kidding me." Braxton laughed. "He would never."

"Talk to you about it?"

"Right.."

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"It does. But he doesn't talk about his emotions. Over the last year I've grown to understand him. That if something is bothering him it's best not to ask about it. You just.. you have to be there for him."

"I guess that would make sense as to why he's so angry all the time."

Braxton let out a light laugh. "You're not wrong. But Sweet Pea has been through a lot in his life. Something no one understands."

"No one?"

"Other than me and FP? I don't think so." She shook her head.

Archie looked at Braxton. "You're good for him." He said.

"We're good for each other." She replied.

______

When Braxton walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, Sweet Pea was sitting at the island drinking coffee as he read the morning news paper. "What the hell are you doing?" She asked him taken back by what she saw. "What are you talking about?" He asked looking up at her.

"It's Sunday morning and you're acting like a 50 year old man."

"I was just reading the article Alice wrote about the hostage situation at the El Royal on Thanksgiving."

"Any good?"

"She definitely pinned Archie as a hero."

Braxton found herself frustrated. "Pea.. what are we doing?"