When Luke turned up the hall, I could see Billy running down the stairs with a gun in his hand, while Ash and Cy piled out of their room together. Still, the alarm kept going off, beeping, whining, and talking incessantly. I managed to grab my phone and then hurried after Billy, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.
As I headed for the stairs, I saw Luke standing in the middle of the hall, holding Faith by both shoulders as he tried to comfort her. She was hugging her dog, who looked as nervous and scared as I felt. Ash and Cy didn't say a word. The guys simply followed after me. Right now, inside was perfectly safe, so that was where Faith and the dogs needed to be.
But when I reached the first floor, Cessily was in the kitchen, working on wrapping her robe around her body. Like me, she seemed to be a little confused, but she pointed at the door to show where everybody else had gone. I followed her finger, and the guys followed me.
Outside, the sky was still dark, but the flashing of the lights on my car made it hard to be sure of anything else. Billy was standing on the steps, staring down towards the gate. Squinting hard, I could just look past the glow to see something moving. A moment later, the porch light at Emily's house flicked on, which was just enough light for me to see three men jump over the fence section that held up our main gate.
"Aw, come on." Darnell said as the front door opened and more people began to make their way out. "Violet, somebody just fucked up your car bad."
"Did anyone see who that was?" I asked.
Billy checked his gun, flicking the switch on the side, then turned around to look at Faith. "Did you get a look at any of them?"
She shook her head, but her eyes were on his chest. Right on the tattoos. "I could just see their shadows," she admitted. "The car alarm woke me up, and my window's right there."
"Did anyone else get a look at them?" Billy asked.
"Pretty sure the cameras did," Darnell pointed out.
Then Cessily made her way to the mess of us clustered on the porch to drop two sets of shoes on the ground. They were both the kind that slipped on. One set was big enough for a guy, and the other set was small enough for me.
"I don't care who goes," she said, lifting up my key fob to press the button and silence the alarm, "but someone needs to get some pictures, and then we need to talk about what comes next. If they're jumping the fence…"
Which was when Berto pointed out across the lawn. "My eyes playing tricks on me?"
"Who's that?" Darnell yelled at the shadows moving in the darkness.
"It's us," Emily called back. "We heard the alarm, and I saw someone jump over that spot by the gate."
That was enough to convince Darnell to shove his feet in the shoes and head over to greet her. I took the other pair of shoes and went to look at my car. Since I still had my phone in my hand, that only made sense, but when I got closer, what I saw turned my early-morning confusion into rage.
Both of the driver's side tires had been slashed. Painted across the side were the words "fag fucker." When I made it around the front, I saw that the windshield had been completely destroyed. It was still in place, but the glass was spiderwebbed so badly that the thing would be impossible to drive. Across the hood was more graffiti. This said, "die bitch." It was written in a different handwriting. And sure enough, the passenger side had a third message: "Southwind sux."
I quickly got pictures of every angle of my car I could think of. The back had been mostly left untouched, but I had a feeling that hadn't been intentional. The alarm going off had probably scared them, sending them running away. If it hadn't, what would they've done?
When I had those, I headed back to the house, only to find everyone still standing on the porch. More than that, nobody was really dressed. Luke had on jeans, but nothing else. He was standing behind Ash with his arms wrapped around the guy to keep them warm, because Ash was wearing nothing more than a pair of long briefs. Beside them, Cy was also wearing just his jeans; they were a lot looser and hanging a little too low. Cessily was curled up against his side, holding her robe closed over her chest.
Billy had a gun in his hand and his tattoos on full display because his briefs didn't cover much. Beside him, Darnell had an equivalent amount of ink on his body, a slightly smaller gun, and loose cotton boxers. Even Berto was showing more skin than I was used to seeing, but while he was lacking a shirt, he had on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms. Emily, Faith, and Zeke were all wearing normal sleep attire: tanks, tees, and sleep pants.
We were a mess.
Which was why the first giggle slipped out. It made everyone turn and look at me like they were concerned about my sanity, so I tried to wave them off. Unfortunately, it didn't really help much. The worried look stayed, so I did the only thing I could. My phone was already in my hand, and the camera app was already open, so I lifted it up and took a picture.
As if the flash explained what words couldn't, everyone realized that we were all but naked and standing out on the porch in the middle of the night. Cessily opened the front door and ordered everyone inside. Darnell herded Emily and Zeke before him, making it clear that they were included in that. My guys stood to the side, waiting for me, and then we walked in last.
"Okay," I said, "since this is too early to be awake, Zeke and Faith can go upstairs and get a couple more hours of sleep." Then I turned to look at Emily, surprised to find her clutching a fire extinguisher like a weapon. "You're more than welcome to the couch. I have some extra blankets and pillows around here."
"She can use my bed," Berto offered.
"Excuse me?" Zeke asked.
Berto just lifted both of his hands in surrender. "Because I'm about to head into my office, so I won't be using it anyway," he explained. "Well, Cy's office, but he's been letting me use it."
"I'm awake now, so I won't be going back to sleep," Billy announced. "I'll keep an eye on the yard. We can't do anything about this until the sun comes up, so everybody go get a little more sleep."
Just like that, everybody started dispersing as quickly as we'd all come together. No, I didn't think that most of them would go to sleep easily, but even lying down for a few hours would be better for the kids than trying to go to school with not enough sleep. I yelled after Berto to show Emily his room - and get some clothes - and headed for the living room, dropping onto the couch.
Darnell claimed the spot beside me, flapping his fingers because he wanted to see my phone. I didn't have to say a thing, just passed it over, and he started scrolling through the images. Luke, Ash, and Cy all sat down on the couch across from us. In a few more minutes, the house was starting to settle down as people went back to sleep - or at least bed.
