Well here it is, the final chapter of Paper Tiger. You need not be cranky with me, though, because Tyler will be back in a new story. After you read this chapter, which ends with no cliffhanger and a fond moment with our hero, I'm going to jump slightly ahead in the saga of Tyler's life because there's a lot of mundane things that we do that make for a boring story week after week. My thanks to those of you that write frequently and especially to Kelly and Ben whose crazy idea inspired the continuation of the story. The new story will be posted soon in the adult friend's directory.
Daniel Lund Rimshotsplanet@hotmail.com
Paper Tiger: Conclusion
The day they buried Rocky the weather fit the mood perfectly. A light drizzle was just enough to make the muggy humidity irritating to the few that gathered at the graveside. Brian Peterson, doctor and long time friend of Rocky stood near the black Lincoln Town Car they'd arrived in and gave Tyler and Carlos some space. He looked out across the cemetery and noticed a few of the guards as they moved unobtrusively through the headstones and watched the pair of mourners.
Tyler sighed and jammed his hands in his pockets. The glistening oak casket that contained the remains of his lover and mentor was covered with tiny droplets. The family's priest babbled something about walking in the valley of the shadow of death, but Tyler couldn't be bothered with such nonsense. He had little reason to believe in any god.
It took a minute to register that the priest had stopped talking and was standing with Carlos. Tyler looked up, embarrassed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hold things up." He said quietly and moved over to stand by Carlos.
"You didn't." Carlos put his arm around Tyler's shoulders and turned him towards the car. "Let's go home. We need to get ready to leave for Mexico."
"I should've gone with you mom's suggestion to bury Rocky with Manny. It would've been right." Tyler opened the back door and slid in.
"It was a suggestion, Tyler. Everyone understood that you wanted him here with you. You should be able to come here and see him if you want to." Carlos got in beside him and Brian got in the front passenger seat. "Momma was only offering, not demanding."
"I know. I just couldn't be that far away." He looked up at Carlos and tried hard not to cry again. "Like it matters." He swallowed hard.
"It does." Carlos patted Tyler's knee and nodded at the driver. "Actually, this one was the easy one. Wait 'til you see dad's funeral. Man, those Mexicans can really wail."
Tyler laughed despite himself. "That's mean, boss."
"No it ain't." Carlos chuckled. "You wait. They'll scare you to death."
"No shit." Brian chuckled and shook his head.
"Hey!" Carlos leaned up and flicked him in the back of the head. "I can make fun of 'em. I'm related. You're just the doctor."
"Just the doctor. Right." Brian turned and stuck his tongue out.
Back at the Western Palace, Tyler let himself in the empty apartment and closed the door, leaning against the wall. It was really hard to be here alone. Everywhere he looked, he saw Rocky. By the couches, at the table, out on the deck, in the bedroom. With Herculean effort, he stuffed his feelings down and went into his room to change and pack.
It was after nine when the phone rang, startling him out of his selfish thoughts. "Rockport." He said, then had to swallow a lump in his throat, his mind hearing Rocky say the same thing. It was Angelique Salieri. "Oh, hey Angel." He listened as she spoke and rubbed his forehead. "Actually I'm getting ready to leave in the morning with Carlos. I probably shouldn't have told you, but fuck it, right?"
He crossed his legs and sat down on the floor in one smooth motion and leaned against the wall. "Look, Angel, I explained that. You're a great person, and I really like you as a friend, put I can't love you. I'm gay. You know that." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
"I know your dad died, too. I told you, I'll always be there for you and the baby, but I'm not going to miraculously change my mind. I'm sorry." By now, his usually short temper was getting plasma fused, and he grimaced as she went on and on. "Enough, okay? I told you the truth and you want to believe something else, so go ahead and believe what you want, okay? It makes no fucking difference at all." He tried to keep the edge out of his voice. "I really have to go, Angel. I'll call you from Mexico City and check on you." He hung up the phone, carefully placing the receiver so as not to slam it down.
"Jesus Christ!" He hollered and balled up his fists. "Can anything else get fucked up?"
Parker Timmons sat in the small concrete cell with his head in his hands. His head pounded with each beat of his heart, and wave after wave of nausea twisted his stomach. His normally neatly parted blond and brown streaked shoulder-length hair was sweat matted and dirty, and his clothes were covered in grime.
Last night he had come in to town with a group of students from the archeological dig outside Mexico City to celebrate his 21st birthday, and he could only see vague shadows of memories for the entire night. How he ended up in jail was a total loss.
What made it worse was that he only spoke and understood bits and pieces of the Spanish language, and his attempts to get a hold of someone that spoke English were greeted with laughs from his captors. He knew the bastards spoke English. They were just screwing with him. He hoped.
His cell was an eight-foot square room, rough concrete, with and open window secured with bars. He sat on a metal cot with no mattress, and there was a bucket in the corner, presumably the toilet. He shook his head and instantly regretted it. One thing was for damned sure. Someone had given him tequila, and he'd never forget it. The great grand-fucker of all hangovers had been his only company for the last two days.
It was getting dark outside, and he glanced at the bars and towards the moon. Somewhere to the south was a tent with his sleeping bag in it, and a box with food and some cokes. He groaned miserably at the thought and slowly stretched out on the hard cot, draping his arm over his eyes. Happy birthday, asshole, he thought as he drifted to sleep.
The day after they arrived in Mexico, Manny was buried in a lavish funeral over seen by the priest that married him to Carlos' mother, Rose. There were dozens of attendees, people from the small town the Rivera's called home outside Mexico City, and a huge meal was served at the Rivera home afterwards. There was a lot of laughing, crying, and even some singing, and Tyler found himself hoping he was so well loved when he died.
His thoughts drifted back to Rocky and the lonely service in Vegas, and he felt guilty for not letting the family bury him here. Carlos' sister Megan found him sitting in the garden near the family cemetery sitting on a stone bench feeling sorry for him self.
"Still watching daddy?" She asked quietly and sat down. "I thought you might be out here." Megan was not much older than he was at twenty-three, and was a student of history at UCLA.
Tyler smiled at her and shook his head. "Thinking about Rocky. I should've let you guys bring him here." He snapped the small twig he'd been fiddling with and dropped the pieces. "He should've been here with Manny."
"Maybe." She said as she looked out across the enormous backyard of the Rivera Villa, watching the children running and playing and the adults laughing and eating. "I think he would rather be near you, though, if he could choose."
Tyler looked up at her. "Really?"
She nodded. "He spoke of you constantly when he was with us. We traveled with daddy fairly often, and he always kept us informed about the brave boy general, El Tigre'." He smiled and she laughed lightly. "We knew about you and him a long time ago. Daddy said it wasn't anyone's business, and we accepted that. He loved you both a lot."
"Me too." Tyler swallowed hard and fought back tears.
After a long pause, she stood up and held out her hand. "Come on, Tiger. This party's a snooze. Let's go into town or something."
"Let me get some guys together." He stood up and took her hand, appreciative of her friendship. "It'll only take a minute."
"I think that the famous El Tigre' is all the guard I need. Remember, this is home. No one would dare touch us here." She winked and led him towards the house. "Go put on shorts and a t-shirt. It's to hot for suits today, and daddy would be in the pool."
Parker sat against the wall with his knee up and rested his arm on it, staring numbly at the wall. Another full day had past, and still he had no idea what was going on or what would happen to him. They had fed him a warm nasty sandwich and a can of weak soda, and he hadn't finished either one. His shoes were in the middle of the floor, and his shirt hung tied to the bars, blocking some of the sun and heat from the window.
He had asked again about a lawyer or an interpreter or something, and had gotten the same hearty laughter thrown in his face. The guard had been wiping tears from his eyes as he walked away, and Parker heard the laughing all the way down the corridor.
Right about now was the lowest he could ever remember being, and he fought the urge to bawl like a baby. Disgusted, depressed, and feeling like a caged rat, he stood up and moved to the window to try and get some air.
"I like this." Tyler waved his arms out to take in the small town. "This is about the quietest place I've ever been." They walked down a neat little street towards some shops. He carried a bag for her that contained some sunglasses and a shirt she'd bought for a friend. "It's like the Mexican Mayberry or something."
"Close." Megan laughed. "I don't think the sheriff would like the comparison, though."
"Damn. The gutters are swept. It's amazing." Tyler stopped and looked at a table with leather wallets and trinkets on it, and smiled at the shopkeeper as they walked away. They moved past an alley or a sort of narrow street, and he stopped to look down the passage. "What's down there?"
"City offices and the jail, I think." She stopped and put her hands behind her back. "I don't remember going there before."
As Tyler watched, a pair of arms extended out of the wall, a perfect optical illusion, and he laughed. "Did you see that? I looked like those hands came out of a solid wall." He took a few steps closer to the arms.
"I don't know if that's such a genius idea." Megan warned. "If it is the jail, Mexican bad guys are just as bad as American ones."
"It's like an old western." Tyler smiled and looked at the barred window as he got closer. "Don't they use windows?"
"Not in the summer." Megan sighed. "We should really be going."
"You speak English!" A voice cried from the barred window. Tyler jumped and damned near pulled his pistol from its customary place in his right cargo pocket. "Oh, God, please help me! They've kept me in here for three days, and they won't tell me what they're going to do!"
Tyler looked into a pair of terrified blue eyes that apparently belonged to a guy his age. The guy was reaching out towards him, pleading for help, and Tyler was thinking that under other circumstances this would be funny.
"What did you do?" He asked the kid in the cell. "Why are you in jail?"
"I don't know!" Parker wailed. "I remember going out with some friends and getting drunk, and I woke up here with a black eye and a lot of bruises."
"Sounds like he had it coming." Megan said quietly. "Please, Tyler, let's go."
"No, wait!" Parker reached out to them and pleaded. "I need your help, please. Can't you call the American Embassy or something?"
"That would really piss them off." Megan pursed her lips. "You want a life sentence for a bar fight?"
"Your family is pretty respected around here." Tyler said quietly. "I'm going to see at least what he's charged with." He turned to go towards the door.
"Thank you!" Parker clasped his hands together. "Oh, Jesus, thank you!"
"Shut the fuck up, dim wit." Tyler glared at the kid. "I didn't say anything about getting you out or anything else. I said I'd see what the charge is. Maybe next time you feel the urge to be a fucking idiot in public, you'll stop yourself."
He turned and walked in the door followed by Megan. A short well-groomed Mexican man in a dark brown uniform looked up from his paper and stood up when he saw Megan. "Sen'or, Sen'orita." He greeted them with a smile. "Can I help you?"
Tyler smiled back. "There's a loud mouthed snot in your cell by the alley.
Can you tell me what he's charged with?"
"Did he bother you, sen'or?" The cop became angry and shot a glare over his shoulder.
"No, but he asked us to call the embassy for him, and I thought that sounded kind of stupid. What could he have done that an embassy would give a damn about?" Tyler played it glib, like a joke, and leaned against the wall. "Is he a murderer or something?"
"No, no. A drunk. He can't pay his damages, so the judge said to keep him here." The cop looked at Megan and smiled again. "Are you sure he didn't bother you, miss?"
She looked at Tyler and sighed. "Actually, I think he worked for daddy. I thought I recognized his face."
Tyler caught on and nodded. "He looks familiar."
"And who is your father?" The cop asked uninterested. He sat down at the desk and adjusted his belt.
"Manuel Rivera." She said and sat in one of the chairs across from the desk. "He liked to hire the college kids and help them make it through school."
The cop's eyes nearly bugged out and he leaned forward. "Sen'orita Rivera, I am very sorry. I had no idea who you were." He put the best sympathetic face on he could. "My deepest sympathies for you and your family."
"Thank you." She sighed and looked down at the floor, and Tyler rolled his eyes.
"Would you mind if we paid his damages?" Tyler asked. "I'm sure Manny would want his kids accounted for."
"You work for the Riveras?" The cop asked and opened his desk drawer. "What do you do for them?"
"Security." Tyler answered smoothly, and froze his expression when the cop looked up, offering a slight grin. The cop blinked twice and hurriedly looked into the drawer.
"I certainly wouldn't want to keep the boy from his job." The man said and produced a set of keys. "I guess the time he's been here was enough." He opened the door near his desk and headed down the hall. Tyler snickered into his hand and leaned down to kiss Megan on the cheek.
"Brilliant." He whispered.
"Thanks." She grinned up at him. They looked towards the door as the cop came back in leading the dirty and disheveled former prisoner.
"Again, please accept my apologies, Sen'orita Rivera, and my sympathies for your family." The man said. He turned to Parker and scowled. "You would do well to learn to control yourself when you're drinking, sen'or."
"It will never happen again, officer. I guarantee it." Parker said. "Gracias." He followed the other two out into the street and pulled his shirt on. "Oh my god, do I owe you guys big time."
"Just go back to whatever you were doing and don't piss anyone off." Tyler said, scowling. "They're just looking for idiots like you."
"Can you get back all right?" Megan asked.
"Um, actually, I have no idea where I am." Parker offered nervously. "There's a sort of bus that brings us into town from the digs, and I have no idea where it stops. We weren't in this area."
"Great." Tyler rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You two wait here and I'll go get the truck so we can rescue tweedle-dumbass here again." He turned on his heel and walked down the street.
"Wow. He really doesn't like me, does he?" Parker asked, watching Tyler walk away. Now that he was free again, his mind began to work somewhat sluggishly, and he recognized Tyler as one damned attractive male. Parker had always liked boys, and he knew a pretty face when he saw one.
Megan shook her head. "It's not you. He's had a lot happen to him lately." She looked at her companion and smiled. "I'm Megan by the way." She held out her hand.
"I'm Parker, or Park for short." He smiled and shook her hand. "Listen, I really appreciate what you guys did. If I can repay you somehow, I'd like to." He tucked his hair behind his ear. "I don't know what you guys told him, but thanks."
"Just looking out for the under dog. Actually, it was Tyler that decided you needed rescuing, not me. He saw you arms sticking out of the window." She chuckled a little. "What his reasons were, I have no clue."
Tyler pulled up in one of the family's trucks and they got in. Parker and Megan chatted about the dig he was at, and the fact that he was from Vegas and UNLV. Tyler more or less ignored their passenger, receding into his own thoughts. They ended up driving Parker all the way to the campsite since they couldn't find the bus or where it stopped. It was well past dark when they made it back to the Rivera Villa.
Tyler didn't sleep well, tossing and turning. The pattern was familiar the last two weeks since Rocky died. He cursed himself for not being there, and he hated himself for not being able to help Manny. Over and over he saw Manny's eyes roll up into his head. Disgusted, he threw back the covers and slid out of the sweaty sheets, pulling on some jogging shorts. He grabbed his cigarettes, which he had smoked a lot more of in the last few weeks, and headed through the house to the patio and pool.
It was cool outside, but not cold. He looked up into the barely lightening sky and sighed before lighting a smoke. Somehow at this insane hour, there were still house staff up and around, and before he sat down in one of the loungers, one of Rose's house boys had set down a fresh cup of coffee and left him the serving pot. He thanked the man as he left.
Tyler sat for several long minutes and sipped his coffee, looking out over the huge garden and yard and towards the mountains beyond. He liked it here, and could understand why Carlos liked to come home. That thought made him think of being in what he considered to be home, the apartment in the Western Palace, and he swallowed hard.
He felt so lonely, even though the Rivera's had gone out of their way to make him part of them. Alone in a sea of people, that's what it felt like. Tears ran down his cheeks, ignored, as he brought Rocky up in his mind for the millionth time.
He heard the scratch of footsteps and remembered in a flash that he'd left his pistol in the house. Right now, they were vulnerable, and everyone knew it. He scowled and was getting ready to run into the house when he saw a familiar face coming back from the little cemetery. It was Carlos. He took a deep breath and eased back in the chair, swiping at his eyes.
"Hey, Tyler." Carlos smiled slightly as he walked around the pool and took a cup off the bar for some coffee. "You're up way early, mister general El Tigre'." He sat down and sipped at his cup.
"So are you, mister newly elected god of Las Vegas." Tyler smiled and reached over to clasp Carlos' hand for a few seconds. "How ya doin', boss?"
Carlos snorted and smiled. "Same as you, dickhead. How d'you think?"
Tyler nodded and lit a cigarette. "So, fearless leader, when do we go home?" He exhaled and rubbed his palms into his eyes. "We got a lot of shit to do."
"We ain't going home right away. We've got to go meet with the other families and make everything cool with them." Carlos yawned hugely. "Make sure all of dad's alliances are still there."
"Why wouldn't they be?" Tyler was disturbed by the thought that a house may not be friendly anymore. "They don't have any reason to call you an enemy."
"Hey, I think you're right, but guess what? People do weird shit, man. The best I can hope for is that everything is the way it was. I'm gonna need you to watch my back. Are you still with me?" Carlos met his eye, and Tyler never hesitated for a second.
"Like you had any doubt." Tyler shook his head. "No reason to be insulting."
"I wasn't." Carlos grinned and took one of Tyler's smokes. "I knew what the answer was."
Tyler yawned and stretched. "Did you hear the message from Brian? The baby's due anytime now. He has Angel at the Palace until we get back. She seems to be happy with the attention. She never got much from her dad."
"You better watch your ass on that one, Tyler. I still don't know what happened with you two, or how she ended up pregnant, but that's going to be a bitch of a situation before long." Carlos tapped his ashes in the ashtray and shook his head. "She' a fucking psycho, just like her old man."
"Actually, she's more of a scared little girl." Tyler leaned back and yawned again. "I don't know what to do. She says she loves me, but I can't love her back, you know? I still love Kelly, and I always will."
Carlos nodded. "He was my brother." He chuckled and looked up at Tyler with a wistful smile. "You are too, you know."
"Thanks."
All most one month later to the day, they landed in Las Vegas after visiting seventeen homes in twelve states and three countries. Tyler was truly sick of the family's private jet, a 727 with three bedrooms and a comfortable layout that was beginning to feel like a flying prison.
They had six men with them while they traveled, and it took three Suburbans and the limo to get them from the airport. Megan had left them in New York and had gone back to school in California, and Rose had stayed in Mexico.
Tyler was amazed how close he'd gotten to Carlos. They fought, they argued, and they played poker 24\7 when not with someone from the other families, and Tyler seemed to slip silently into Rocky's old place as captain of the guard. He was never questioned by any of the guards about this. They all knew better than to piss off Carlos. They could also see the same absolute power and luck in Tyler's eyes that they'd seen in Rocky's. He knew what he was doing, and he did it first.
Tyler irritably tossed his shoulder bag into the trunk of the limo and pulled out his cell phone. "Julie, its Tyler. I need to talk to Brian." He waited while the doctor was located, helping with the other bags. Finally Brian answered. "Hey, Lucy, I'm home." Tyler quipped and took a last look around before allowing Carlos out of the plane. "How's our little girl?" He listened and held the door for Carlos, climbing in behind him. "Got it. We're moving, so about twenty minutes." He hung up the cell phone and turned to Carlos. "Angel's in labor. She's screaming bloody murder for me. Has been for about twelve hours."
The boss laughed out loud. "You poor bastard. I pity you."
Tyler's hands were suddenly sweaty, and his heart pounded. "I can't believe it. It's about time." He leaned back in the seat and exhaled forcefully. "Now what do I do?"
Carlos laughed and told the driver to head for Talberg Warnen Hospital, a private hospital located in southern Las Vegas that catered to the wealthy and famous. Brian as well as the two other doctors that worked for and on the family owned most of it, and based their practices there. It was a sure bet that he had Angelique there.
"Relax, Tyler. You're kind of pale." Carlos chuckled. "You'll make it."
"God, I hope so."
Tyler and Ross, one of the elite trusted men of the family, headed into the hospital as soon as the limo stopped moving. Carlos decided to go back to the Palace and get clean clothes for him and Tyler and come back. When he pulled his car into the parking garage, an armed security officer took the keys and parked the car. A lady at the main desk directed him to the third floor.
A nurse was coming out of the room number he'd been given, and she stopped Carlos from going in. "Are you family?"
"Yes, I am." He grinned at her.
"Ms. Salieri has been given something to help her sleep. She can have visitors in the morning. Doctor's orders." The nurse was pleasant but seemed very no nonsense.
"What about Doctor Peterson and the father?" He asked.
"They're in the nursery Lounge. Down the hall to those big wooden doors." She smiled and walked over to the nurse's station.
Carlos thanked her and jogged down the hall. After what ended up being two sets of doors, he found Brian and Tyler sitting at opposite ends of a large couch. Tyler had kicked off his sandals and was sitting in his shorts and tanktop from the plane. Brian wore scrubs and sat with his feet up on a coffee table, resting his head on his fist.
Tyler looked up and offered a dopey grin. His face beamed, and it was easy to tell he'd shed a tear or two. He lifted a blue bundle carefully, behaving as though it were glass, and showed his prize to Carlos. "Kelly Manuel Rockport. Rocky for short. Seven pounds, three ounces, and twenty inches long."
"It's a good name." Carlos swallowed hard, surprised that he would get choked up so easily. He leaned down and kissed the baby's forehead. "Welcome back, Rocky."
Epilogue:
Little Rocky soon became the center of the world at the Western Palace, where he lived with his mom and dad. A sort of peace was achieved between Tyler and Angel, and with the rest of the world. Rocky and Manny were gone, but not forgotten.
The vacuum caused by the death of Little Tony Salieri and the complete dismissal of the family by his daughter caused incredible upheavals. But that is another story.
Coming soon: Paper Tiger Book II: Tiger by the tail