The Best Purchase

8

Miranda listened to the music Ben had playing as he drove to the clinic.

Ben got out and walked up to her bike. "Oh it's just the chain, I can fix that when we get back to the house. "

She looked at him and decided then that he could probably fix anything. This was nice. Having him here was nice. She saw that her boss' car was gone and was glad. She didn't want to be dealing with him tonight.

"Okay let's head to the store," Ben said after putting the bike on the back of the truck. He knew that he was going to work on getting her a car.

Miranda walked inside the store while Ben stayed in the truck. She had a small conversation with the greeter. She was an older woman who was here constantly.

On the dairy aisle, she grabbed the ricotta and was going to make her way to the cash register when a familiar kissing sound startled her.

It was the sound used to summon a dog. The same way Santiago used to get her attention. Miranda stopped in her tracks and turned around.

And there he was just a few feet away from her. Whenever Miranda thought about him finding her or coming back to get her. She never pictured it on the dairy aisle of Walmart.

Santiago was dressed almost the same way she left him. Black wife-beater and army fatigue cargo shorts that were baggy as hell. He was accompanied by two of his boys. She guessed just in case a routine shopping trip turned ugly. Why would he be this far out of town though?

The three men stopped in front of her and coincidentally everyone on the aisle dispersed. Miranda glanced around and she didn't see any nearby employees either.

She moved to get passed him, but he hopped in front of her blocking her way.

"Hey, woman. I've been missing you." He said with a friendly smile. "You ready to come back home?"

Miranda backed up and stared. "Now that's no way to treat your man, come give me a hug."

To Miranda's horror, he reached out and pulled her into a hug. The scent of Marijuana filled her nostrils and she wanted to throw up but her body went still. "You looking good. Getting an ass again."

Miranda wanted to say because you were starving me but was too stunned to say anything.

She moved again out of his embrace but he held her by keeping his hands on her shoulders. "Still not talking huh?"

"I heard you were working somewhere around here. I had to come see for myself...but it figures. He probably needs the money now that he's not affiliated with Calis cartel anymore---what? You didn't hear about that?" He asked when he saw the confusion on her face.

"Word on the street is that he and two other guys turned traitor on his gang. I heard he snitched them out to the feds not before 4 bodies were dropped. Rumor is. He and his two friends shot them up and buried them where nobody could find them. The others went to federal jail."

Miranda was still silent. "Maybe you really should come home. I've come up in the world too. I used those guns from him to end the beef with Summerdale and I'm running all of that. I should do you a favor and rescue you from that weirdo."

"I don't need rescuing?" Miranda finally said.

"You sure about that," he said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

Miranda was a hundred percent positive that she would rather stay with Ben.  No matter who Ben was or what he had done.

"What the fuck is going on here?" She heard none other than Ben's voice growl