REBEL

Chapter Forty Three

The Gaines family was a little overwhelming. Ok , a lot overwhelming. But even before they stepped into the house that smelled of food and pipe tobacco Rebel could almost inhale the love. It made him so envious of Dom to have a family like this. His own family was not like this. Sallie was not mother knows best or even mother kinda knows best. She could be fun but loving and compassionate wasn't really her thing. And Emily had married into a similar family. Not that he spend time with any of them. He just had checks deposited in Sallie's account. And he preferred to ignore his sister's family. Emily knew why. She could deal with the why. She made her choice in life.

Ariel Gaines was a small woman with an enormous personality and shrewd eyes. She scared him a little but he still liked her especially when she examined him with one long assessing look and then pulled him to her for a long warm hug. She smelled like bath salts and very strong perfume. He hadn't wanted the hug to end.

The brothers Anthony and Marco seemed nice and friendly and very loud although Ariel told them to lower their voices inside especially with company present. It amused him that they did instantly. He didn't need to be Einstein to know who wore the pants in their house. Anthony ( Call me Tony , little bro ) was bold enough to ask if he was actually queer because Cassie had swore he was and his wife was never wrong. As Rebel flushed and tried to avoid answering the question both Dom and Cassie proceeded to turn on Mr. Call Me Tony , Little Bro and had him running. The other sister in law Marie was the only aloof and quiet one. She was tall and anorexic looking skinny in a silk blouse and short black skirt and spiked heels. She mainly sat on the sofa surfing Amazon or EBay or Etsy on her latest IPhone when she wasn't jumping up to run fast to the bathroom with her long manicured hand over her mouth. Marco explained that his wife was pregnant and the whole family promptly started laughing.

The triplets were another element altogether. He knew their names but couldn't tell them apart. He didn't think anyone could tell them apart even their parents Anthony and Cassie. One kept eyeing his pockets. Another asked him if he wanted to see her switchblade that she found on the street. One refused to talk and just eyed him like he had stolen her lunch money.

The one he really liked from the moment they were introduced was Dom's father James Gaines ( or Pop as he was told to call him because everyone called him Pop ). Pop was quiet and looked like Dom and Anthony but older with a few lines on his dark face and more strands of grey in his close cropped black hair. He walked with the aid of a wolf headed cane due to arthritis in his knees. Pop leaned on the cane , eyed Rebel for a while and then shook his hand strongly. " Enjoy your music , son. Glad to have you in my home. So you my son's new friend ? "

Rebel looked around to make sure that Dom hadn't heard his father. He hadn't. Dom was too busy arguing with his brothers and Eric Fletcher over football.

" No , sir, I'm just a client in need of body guard services. "

Pop smiled gently , reminding him so much of Dom. " Client ? Is that what ya'll calling it now ? I'm seventy years old , boy , but I'm pretty hip to the modern world. I see how my boy looks at you. I still look at my Ariel that way and ain't no client feelings involved I'll tell you. "

He wasn't sure how to feel about Dom's friend Eric who kept his eyes narrowed and his body tense every time Rebel came near his fiancé Reese. Reese seemed nice though once he got over being awestruck by Rebel. He enjoyed talking about music with the parents , Cassie , Dom's aunt and Reese. Even though Ariel said that she wasn't interested in some of that nonsense trash they do now.

" No offense to you , Rebel , " Ariel said from her comfortable perch in a dark red overstuffed armchair by the big picture window in the living room. Dom had warned him that that was her chair. Do not sit in it , he had whispered. " You good but I like my old stuff. Nothing gonna change that. "

" No offense taken , ma'am , " he said. " I like the old stuff too. "