Her Escape

S i x

*My baby Stephen James is Whale (Jonah)*

"You can't change what you refuse to admit"

Walking into my room I go to the painting that's hanging over head of my bed and take it down. Behind the frame is a opening in the wall and the inside is filled with bottles and an assortment of drugs. I haven't touched the drugs in about year because they never helped.

I unscrew the top of bourbon and pour it into my coffee. The strong taste burns my throat and warms my stomach once I take a long sip. I lay down in my bed allowing the intoxicating taste of bourbon , bitter taste of coffee and the sweetness of cherries to whisk me away to place that I can't explain.

After 2 hours of being in my own little world I change into a sports bra and yoga pants for my training session. When I get to the in home gym I see Jonah already there wrapping his hands.

"Sup Whale" I say loudly with a wide grin. To only receive a huff of annoyance in return. When I met Jonah for the first time and was told his name I went into hysterics. I had thought about the old bible story of Jonah and the whale and how Jonah looks more like the big ,horrifying whale than a scared man pleading to God for his mercy. So from then on his name to me was Whale.

"You're late and you reek of booze," he replied in a flat tone. Whale isn't a smiles and rainbow type of person and his appearance screams it. His extremely large biceps are completely covered in tattoos , his permanent glare always attached to his face and his tall stance of 6'6 assists with his scary image.

"That's my natural scent," I say sarcastically.

"Yeah ,what ever. Get in the center of the mat," he barked.

"Someones panties are in a wad." I intended for my jokes to annoy but amuse him. Yet for some reason today all my comments are just making him angrier.

" I'm not playing around with you today Luka now get on the mat and get ready to fight." Whale shouts, his dark eyes looking stone cold.

" I haven't even wrapped my hands yet," I say defensively my anger starting to peak through too.

"No hand wraps for you," he says while turning his body to face me, squaring up. "Now hit me."

And I did putting all my force behind it.

Jonah and I fought against each trying to gain the upper hand and to take each other down. Whale would stop and point out the things that I've done wrong and explain what I should've done better but every time it seemed that he was mad that I'd made a mistake in the first place.

When we were done I was tired and some places throbbed in pain but I've learned to ignore it over the years. I bent down to pick up a water bottle from the ground only to freeze in my tracks once I feel the barrel of a gun being pressed to the back of my head.

"What the f-" I began to say.

"You're being held at gun point. What do you do?" Whale asks me. His voice dark and stern.

Oh so this is a test.
I pull my arm back about to elbow him in the chest.
"Wrong. Bang.You're dead. I can see the movement of your arms so I can easily pull the tigger before you even touch me." Jonah says scolding me.

I tried to lunge to the ground and reach for the weights in the corner.

"Bang. Wrong again. You're dead before you touch the weights." He yells at me.

I stand up from the floor and glare up at Whale. He's lowered the gun to his side and is glaring right back at me.

"What is your problem today?" I yell, releasing the frustration that he caused.

" The guys told me about the assignment you're going on tonight and Luka the Jokers , they don't mess around. This isn't a late payment collection or a quick hit and kill. Its serious, they could kill you." His normal dark, icy eyes seemed to almost melt while he spoke. The hard exterior that I've come to know began to falter.

"Careful Whale. You almost sound like you care about me." A small smile forms on face. My words seemed to snap him back. The ice in his eyes froze over again.

"I don't. I just don't want you to get killed and it's on me because I didn't train you properly," he retorted.

Mhmm sure.

"Well train me then oh wise teacher," I say. The corners of Whale's mouth tug upward in an almost grin but he drops his head and shakes it trying to hide his amusement. When he lifts his head back up the half smile is gone and the series face is back. Meaning back to business.

"Turn around."

I did as commanded and I then felt the cold barrel of the gun pressed to my head again. This time he instructed me the proper way to get out the situation and talked me through different scenarios like if the gun was pointed in front of me instead of the back.

When we were done I sat down on the bench while Whale began to put back on the shirt he discarded during our work out.

"How's the wife and kids?" I ask and the question causes a genuine smile to break out across his face. The mention of his family is the only thing that will cause it. He has a beautiful wife and 2 boys, a 4 and 6 year old.

"Good. Really good actually. The boys were just talking about the other day that they want to be like there daddy and get tattoos," he says with a laugh.

"Awe cute, but tell them that if they want to be like their auntie Luka I can teach em how drink but make it look like they're completely sober." The face Whale made was completely priceless. If looks could kill I'd be dead 6 times over.
I started laughing so hard I knew my face was turning red.
"I'm just kidding. Dang!"

"Yeah sure you were. You alcoholic." He wasn't sending me the death look anymore ,but he wasn't smiling either.

"Hey I'm not an alcoholic. Drinking is something I like to do. Its a hobby, so I'm just an extremist in my hobby." I reply smugly.

"What ever Luka." Whale gets up and heads for the door ,stopping before he leaves. "Be careful for real," and with that he leaves out the door. Only a seconds passes before he pops his his back through the door opening.

"Oh and tell Aaron I got kids to feed ,so Ima need to get paid for dealing with you 2 times a week" he says with a smirk and wink, then his head disappears. I continue sitting on the bench ,listening to the sound of Whale's footsteps retreating from the door.

I go upstairs to shower, washing away the sweat and grime of the training session. When I'm done I wait for the time to get dressed and head to the meeting room to make preparations for tonight.