He looks at me, his expression and posture both asking for help.
“Don’t look at me,” I say, “you’re the one who told the princess she could decorate, who knows what you’re gonna end up with.”
Elizabeth sticks her middle finger up at me before pulling on Slim’s shirt again, reluctantly he follows.
As expected, she quickly takes on the supervisory role and we all have our jobs to do. The walls and floors are decent, so it’s just cosmetic stuff we’re doing. Tank and I are painting the front room a deep navy color; I have to admit, she has good taste, it’s dark and moody which suits Slim, he hates bright spaces.
They’re both in the kitchen, painting over tiles and cabinets, while Pretty Boy is in the dining room between the two,painting a dark green instead of navy. The L-shape ground floor isn’t completely open plan, but the large square arches between the rooms mean we can all see each other and talk, so the morning passes quickly.
Elizabeth’s trying to convince Slim to go furniture shopping with her, arguing that a bed roll is not a suitable bed, and garden furniture isn’t enough to make a comfortable living room. He soon agrees—whether he actually wants to, or whether she just wore him down, I have no idea.
“Diablo!” he yells.
“What?” I laugh, knowing I’m about to get dragged into something.
“Furniture shopping, you’re driving.”
I would argue, but it means I get to spend time with Elizabeth, so I’m not upset about it. Leaving Tank and Pretty Boy to carry on with the painting, we head off. I love how gentle Elizabeth is with Slim, and it makes me smile. Knowing he doesn’t like to talk much, she’s giving him easy questions, asking about his budget and what type of mattress he likes. Soon she’s giving me directions to a store where she thinks we’ll be able to get everything, again, knowing Slim won’t want to traipse around a million places.
“Okay,” she says to Slim, “I know this place is big, and there’s a lot of choice, so we can do this a couple of ways. Option one, you look around the store and pick out stuff you like.”
At the expression on his face, she quickly shakes her head.
“Okay, option one is a no. Option two, I walk around the store and pick out things I think you’ll like, and then give you a choice of two items?”
He nods.
“Great,” she says, grinning at me, I love seeing her this excited. “Let’s start with your sofa.”
Elizabeth
One good thing about shopping with Slim, he makes quick decisions. There’s no deliberation, no uncertainty; he’d sit on the two sofas, or beds, or dining chairs, whatever I’d picked out, and within moments point to the one he wanted. It doesn’t take us long to buy all the necessities, and I even managed to add in a few ‘nice to have’ items too; a new dining set with cutlery—instead of the metal plate, bowl, and fork he currently uses, a couple of cushions for the sofa, and some art for the walls.
We arrive back at his place to find Tank and Pretty Boy sitting out the front with a beer.
“Please tell me you haven’t been slacking off since we left,” I say.
“Painting’s all done, darlin’,” Pretty Boy says, raising his beer.
“Yeah,” Tank says, “besides, we’ve gotta get back to the club, El Jefe wants us at the table.”
“He say why?” Angel asks.
“Nope,” Tank says, “just that we gotta get back there.”
I’m gutted that I’m not going to have a chance to finish the decorating and get ready for the furniture; but I know that when El Jefe calls a meeting, it doesn’t mean later, it means now.
There are more bikes than usual at the clubhouse, it must be a whole other club that’s visiting.
“Diablos Rojos,” Pretty Boy says, checking out the bikes, “and a lot of them.”
“Yeah,” Tank says, “what the fuck are they doing back here?”
Angel walks over to the bikes; I’m guessing taking a quick headcount of who’s here.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” he says, “you guys go on in, I just need to chat to Elizabeth.”
They head inside, while Angel leads me to a corner near the office.
