192 - Momma Dee and Nobody

192 - Momma Dee and Nobody
Come on, Rosie. We need to fly to Massachusetts so that I can find my husband number four. Or maybe just a bad decision for a night. For you or me, probably you. – Momma Dee

Camille turned in the backseat to watch Rosie’s expression as they approached the Shack. Darkness drove the large car around the curve, and the large building and parking garage came into view. As it became clear that this was the infamous Sinner’s Shack, Rosie’s eyes went wide and her jaw slack.

The three-story building had two long wings on either side of the central hub that jutted out slightly. Long banks of windows framed in black metal against the tan bricks indicated the different floors. A five-story parking garage sat nearby with what looked like several small buildings scattered across the top level.

“What… what the hell is on top of the garage?”

Camille laughed, “Tiny houses. They got put up during Covid for some of the nurses and other essential workers. I think that there are a few for rent right now.”

“Damn…” Rosie mumbled.

“Wait until you see the restaurant,” Darkness said as he turned and rolled to a stop at the gate. He put the car in park and then used the crank to roll the window down.

The prospect on duty grinned at Darkness and then leaned down to look in the car at the woman in the passenger seat. He had pale skin with a scattering of freckles and bright red hair that brushed his shoulders. His new cut had a prospect front rocker that was still crisp and stiff over a plain blue T-shirt.

“Miss Dee, Nessie has yah room all set up fowh yah,” he said with a hard south Boston accent. “Yah, just let us know if thehe es anything that we can do fowh yah.” Tapping the window frame, he smiled at Darkness and pointed with a nod of his head. “Pahk tha cah oveh by tha truck fowh Wilson's.”

Darkness nodded as he put the car back in gear and pulled through the gate as he rolled the window. As soon as the window was rolled up, he started laughing. “Damn, I thought your accent was bad when you were upset.”

“Yeah,” Camille agreed as she and Rosie laughed in the back seat. “That was, damn, that was bad. Maybe I was in the south too long.”

“They don’t all sound like that up here, do they?” Momma Dee asked.

“No,” Camille shook her head and then realized that the woman could not see her doing that. “That’s got to be the kid from Boston that Priss was telling me about.”

Darkness backed into the spot next to the Wilson’s tow truck and started chuckling. “How would he say tow truck?”

“No idea,” Camille said and smirked. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

The car came to a stop and Darkness grinned at his wife in the rear-view mirror. “I haven’t backed up into a parking spot without a camera in quite a while.”

“Not sure that I ever have, other than the Heaven.”

“I learned to drive in a 1972 Oldsmobile Land Boat, please don’t ask me what it actually was, I don’t remember,” Rosie admitted with a wistful smile. “It was battleship gray and had this backseat that could fit six friends with three more up front with me.”

“Lots of memories in that land boat?” Momma Dee asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Friends you’ll never forget and nights you'll never remember,” the older woman observed.

“Here’s to more of those,” Camille offered Rosie a fist bump. “With new friends.”

Rosie smiled at her friend, “Thanks for inviting me up.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“Are you two done?” Momma Dee demanded. “I heard there’s hot shirtless men inside.”

Camille laughed as she removed the seatbelt and opened the door. “Come on, Momma Dee, let’s get you inside so that you can grope some hot shirtless men.”

“I’m going to try to avoid the groping,” Darkness said as he also got out of the car.

“We’ll leave that to your wife,” Rosie agreed, stepping out and opening the door and undoing Momma Dee’s seatbelt. “I’m sure that we can find plenty of shirtless hot guys for us to make some bad decisions with.”

Momma Dee got out of the car and held onto Rosie’s arm as they moved to the front of the car. Darkness took her other arm, and they slowly made their way to the nearby front door. Toad met them at the door, and he held the door open for them.

“Momma Dee, welcome to Sinner’s Shack. My name is Toad; I’m the club president.”

“He’s married,” Camille interjected. “And wearing a shirt.”

They walked inside and Darkness guided her down the short ramp. At the end of the ramp, she shook his grip off and walked towards something that only she could see. Darkness could feel the presence and looking up, he saw that Nessie was approaching, also looking at the same place that Momma Dee was looking.

“So much sadness,” Momma Dee observed. “What’s your name, boy?”

Toad started to say something but both Darkness and Camille indicated that he should not. Nessie stepped up next to Momma Dee, a look of sadness on her face.

“Nonsense,” Momma Dee told the air in front of her.

Placing a gentle hand on the old shoulder, Nessie softly spoke with her lyrical voice, “All he ever tells me is that he’s Nobody.”

“No, boy,” Momma Dee shook her head. “You are somebody. And somebody on this earth loves you… then I will love you.”

“Come with me, lass,” Nessie said taking her hand. “I have someone else for you to meet.”

“I hear you have hot shirtless men,” Momma Dee said as she was guided to the bar.

“Yes, ma’am, we do.” Nessie whistled to get someone’s attention. Several Saints moved towards her.

“So, I now have a matching set?” Toad asked.

“Ebony and Ivory,” Darkness smirked.

“You could have warned me,” the president objected.

“I brought you a nurse too,” Camille gently pushed Rosie towards him. “Toad, this is Rosie.”

She held her hand out, “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” he shook her hand. “We have a room for her on the second floor; there’s a nurse right across the hall and a nursing student in the next room. Thought you might like a little down time. We have a room for you on the third floor, or we have three tinies that you can choose from.”

“I don’t know if I want to walk up five flights of a parking garage to get home.”

Toad chuckled. “Each tiny house has a parking spot and an empty spot to do whatever you want. And there’s an elevator. One of the tinies is on the ground, the overnighters liked them down there to create a false night for them to sleep.”

“That makes a lot of sense.”

Siobhan walked over and hugged Camille and Darkness before looking at Rosie. “I think we met down south, I’m Siobhan.”

“Rosie,” she said, offering her hand.

Siobhan grinned as she pulled her in for a hug.