Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Bodyguard

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 05:

Jasper POV

I had been watching him for two hours. It was eleven PM. He wanted to be here earlier when the court was full. Full of neighborhood players talking shit to each other. I think.

To be honest I didn’t understand 90 % of what any of them were saying. I felt like I was in another country.

Bella begged him not to. He argued that he grew up playing at this court and it was a part of him. Bella argued that the part of him would be full of wannabe ballers and gangbangers lookin to make a name by playing Tyrone Gavin and probably taking cheap shots at him. He didn’t need an injury or worse. I wasn’t sure what could be worse until I saw the guys playing. Several near stabbings and shootings were barely averted. Police showed up once, never getting out of their patrol unit, just watching. The crowd dispersed and as soon as the police unit drove off the players were back. I saw four separate fist fights in which blood was spilled. I counted twenty two drug transactions and ten business transactions for sex. I couldn’t blame Bella for not wanting him to come. It was a madhouse wrapped around a neighborhood game complete with high stakes gambling.

He argued that he could handle anything. She said she would be coming to. He agreed not to come. Smart guy. At 9 Bella drove by with Tyrone’s mother Donna and saw the court was empty. Fifteen minutes later Ty walked to the court alone. Peter and Charlotte were on the roof of an apartment building across from Donna’s home, so I decided to watch this man. The man the woman I loved, was in love with.

I watched him from the shadows while he shot the basketball over and over again. He missed twice. Over one hundred shots and he missed twice. He didn’t move slowly either. He moved as if an opponent only he could see was in front of him. He had worked up a sweat after ten minutes. His heartbeat was racing. A slam dunk here and there. Twisting in the air, ball between his legs. Making jumpers with his eyes closed. I admit I was impressed. Very impressed. Despite his size he moved with more grace than any human I had ever seen.

He took a last shot, the only sound the swishing of the net and the ball bouncing on the concrete.

I knew I should stay away but I couldn’t. I had to talk to him. I had to know if he was worthy of her. Not to say I was but… I knew she loved him. Her feelings were hard to pick up the older she became but I felt love for him from her despite that. Him? I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Last night I got close enough outside to feel everything inside. It was only the two of them in the living room, the rest of the house in bed. The love I felt from him towards her staggered me a bit. I thought maybe he might one day move on. Big time athlete celebrity looking for the next conquest.

I was sorely mistaken. He was absolutely devoted to her.

I had done my research. I had a lot of time on my hands in Mexico. His father robbed a liquor store when Ty was two years old. The man he robbed the store with shot the clerk. The clerk returned fire with a shotgun from behind the counter. His partner dead the young man could have run. Instead he stayed and attempted to save the clerk. The clerk died regardless and Tyron Gavin was sentenced to life in prison with no parole, leaving his girlfriend Donna Taylor to raise her son by herself. She had worked for the US postal service in the mail sorting department for 16 years. She had gotten married once and became pregnant. Before the baby, Jeff, was born, his father was killed by a stray bullet in a drive by shooting walking home from work. Donna Taylor had worked two jobs at times over the course of Ty’s life, taking waitressing and cooking jobs when she needed too. She placed him on travel teams and traveled with him all over, finding the money and time to make sure he got the skills he needed. To improve what was already there. Ty didn’t exactly have it easy himself.

When he was 16 his best friend was shot and killed while he and Ty were a block away from this court. He died in Ty’s arms. Ty worked at a grocery warehouse from the age of 16 to 18. He was at work every morning to load trucks at 5 AM. Then to school, practice and home for school work or to this court. He was a smart guy lookin at his GPA both in high school and college.

I knew his life. But I had never talked to him. It was time. I threw my hood of my jacket on top of my head and walked towards the concrete slab he was now resting on, sitting on top of his basketball. He didn’t acknowledge me but instead picked up the ball and began shooting free throws, swishing each one, picking up the ball and doing it again.

“Evening.” I offered. He didn’t turn. I was sufficiently covered with my hood that he shouldn’t notice my… otherness that puts off most humans.

“Wassup playa? You get lost?”

“Nah. Just out for a stroll.”

“That right? I saw you watching.”

That was a surprise. I thought I had stayed in the shadows pretty well.

“That so?”

“Yep. Round here you learn to keep one eye on your surroundings at all times no matter what you are doin. You been watchin me since I got here. You want an autograph or just need a friend?”

I chuckled a bit. He and Bella belonged together I sadly noted. He was as observant as she was.

“I’m good with autographs today. Just wanted to watch you work.”

“Yeah? Work is almost over. My woman probably sittin next to her momma and mine worried about my safety right now. This ain’t the best neighborhood in case you didn’t know.”

“I’ll take my chances. If it ain’t the best neighborhood what are you doing out here?”

He finally turned around and winked at me.

“I grew up on this court.”

“Not a house?” I asked. He laughed a little.

“I was raised in a home. But this place. This ugly ass patch of concrete? This is where I grew up. This is where I started playing when I was ten years old getting knocked around by convicts. This is where I learned that nothing is easy and nothing is given to you. You have to take what you want. Sweat for it and bleed for it. Nobody is gonna give shit to you.”

“Sounds like you learned a lot.” I said casually.

“It also teaches you to protect what you got. You gonna learn one of two things round here. Either that life is precious or life is cheap. What do you think man?”

I wasn’t prepared for that question.

“I would say that I have learned that life is precious. I didn’t always think that way but… it’s what I believe now.”

“Yeah? Me either. I spent a lot of time thinkin life was cheap. You take what you can get out of it before it takes you out. Know what I mean? Thought that for a long time.”

I honestly did not expect this conversation to take this route. Perhaps Mr. Gavin was even more interesting than I first assumed.

“So what changed your mind?”

“What else? A woman. The woman. Man through high school and my first two years of college I took whatever piece of ass that wanted to throw themselves at me. Blondes, brunettes, white, black, Asian, Mexican, didn’t make a shit to me. If they was hot and willing so was I. Strap it and wrap it and pound the shit out of it. But I had this friend. This girl that became such a part of my life I hate to think about the times she wasn’t in it. She started off just my best friend but then she became… everything. Suddenly it wasn’t me, it was us. I didn’t think about what I could get. I thought about what I could get for her.”

“She sounds pretty special.” I said quietly.

“Man you got no idea. She wasn’t what I thought I would wind up with. She wasn’t no blonde with fake tits or some sista with a sweet ass. I mean her ass is amazing. But nah, she is this tiny white girl with beautiful brown hair and these deep chocolate eyes. Makin love to her… is like animalistic. When two souls meet and become one, you feel me? She is so slim but she has this fierceness in her eyes. It’s like I want to consume her every time I am near her. And smart? Man she is smart. Sassy. Don’t take no shit from nobody. Sometimes she looks at me in bed and I just want to fall to the ground and worship her.”

“Sounds great.” I said quietly clenching my fists. I wasn’t angry. I was… angry at myself. Maybe? Ironically I didn’t know what I was feeling.

“Brotha great don’t even start. You ever had someone you would burn the world down for? I mean someone you would take a bullet for. Kill for? She is that for me. Then she did something I hoped for but never expected. She said she would marry me. Now I find out that she is pregnant with our child. This kid I gotta meet. The two of us combined you know? I realized how damn precious life is. All of a sudden you got these worries that hit you. How you gonna keep them safe? What are you going to do? What wouldn’t you do? I used to worry about being an NBA all star. Makin paper, being the greatest ever, getting respect. Now I worry about how I’m gonna hold a little baby in my big ass hands and not hurt him or her.”

“A woman can change things, that’s for sure.” I told him. I turned and walked slowly away. I heard enough.

“Where you goin man? You want to play a little one on one?”

“Basketball’s not really my game.” I told him as I continued to walk away slowly.

“So you vampires only stick to baseball?”

That caused me to stop.

“You ain’t 6’5 so I’m guessing you aren’t Emmett. Doin an Eminem impression with the hood doesn’t seem like Doctor Carlisle’s scene. I already met Eddie. I suppose that leaves one person. Nice to meet you Jasper.”

Ty POV

He turned around a lot slower than he had too. He was good at hidin his face in the shadows of that hood but I knew I had caught him off guard.

“How did you know?”

“Bout six years ago a pro named Jimmy Foster, worked for the San Antonio Mob, came down here and shot a dealer named Jose Luca six times in the chest in Pearland. He drove about three blocks from here and dumped the body hoping it would get blamed on gangs or some shit.”

“So?”

“That’s the last time a white guy ever came here voluntarily at night. You didn’t look homeless and lost and you didn’t look scared. Figured you must be one of them. Why don’t you tell me why you are watchin me? Or better yet, why you watchin my woman?”

“I… I have two friends…” Yeah I know bout his friends.

“Thought there were more than two?”

“Not them. I left them. Anyway one of my friends had a feeling that Edward might do something to place Bella’s life in danger.”

“So?” I asked.

“So?” he seemed confused.

“You ain’t with them anymore. Even if you were seems you would be helpin whatever Eddie has goin on. His sister, your wife, wants her back in the family right?”

“I’m not with her any longer. I wanted to keep an eye on Bella. Make sure she stays safe.”

“Why?” I pressed.

He said nothing.

“Yeah that’s what I thought brotha.”

“What exactly do you think?” he asked sharply.

“I don’t think, I know. You in love with my woman.”

“What makes you say that?”

He didn’t deny it.

“Say it. Play your cards. Let’s get everything out in the open. You didn’t come out here and watch me ball for two hours cuz you a fan. You didn’t approach me just to find out if I loved my soon to be wife. You lookin for something.”

“I guess you could say I felt guilty, I tried to kill her once. I feel bad about that.”

“No you didn’t.” I told him straight up.

“Bella didn’t tell you?” he was off guard again.

“Bout your little birthday party mishap? Yeah she told me. But I want to hear it from you. So why don’t you tell me why?”

“She cut herself…”

“No I want you to tell me the real reason you pretended to attack her. Bella told me out of all of them you were the only one she ever sensed was really dangerous. She said Edward told her to stay away from you a lot. That means you must be a bad mothafucka. That means if you wanted her dead she would have been dead. See after Bella told me all this shit I made love to her. Sometimes when I make love to her I become lost in her. All emotions, no thought. Other times bein inside here where I belong makes me think. Centers me I guess you could say. So I took it all in. You was there when she bleedin in that ballet studio. No way you lost it over a paper cut. So tell me. Or you want to hear my theory?”

“By all means.”

“Bella said you play around with people’s feelings. That’s kind of fucked up by the way. I imagine you didn’t want her with Eddie. Wanted her for yourself. You attack her and make him feel guilty, Ya’ll leave. You was probably planning on comin back but Bells takes a dive off the cliff and Eddie and Alice come runnin. She don’t take Eddie back and you guys stayed. So I know you fucked with his emotions to get him to leave her. I can’t figure why you didn’t come back and grab her.”

“I didn’t want her.” He told me solid.

“Bullshit.”

“No bullshit. I didn’t want her… then.”

Now that was interesting.

“Pray continue brotha. Tell me what changed.”

“You didn’t know Bella when we first met her and you wouldn’t have recognized her if you did. She was funny and smart. Shy and unsure of herself. No self esteem. Clever. She figured out what we were on her own. I wanted to kill her to protect our secret. Rose did as well. But the others wouldn’t allow it. So she became part of the family. In a way.”

“A way?”

“She wasn’t one of us. Edward refused to turn her. He wanted to keep her human. He didn’t understand though, she wasn’t human. She had become a vampire’s pet. I felt for her. So I did what I had to do to get him away from her.”

“But you didn’t want her?” I asked to be clear.

“Not until we came back. When Edward figured she would fall at his feet and she dumped soup over his head, she became the person she was meant to be. Fierce, confident, fearless. She became the woman you love.”

“And that was when you decided you wanted her.”

“Yep. So I kept Alice angry at me. Edward was too far gone. I wouldn’t be able to make him feel like staying away any longer. He was more obsessed than ever when she turned him down. But I could get rid of Alice. I was tired of her. So she told me to leave, thinking it was her idea. I broke away once we were done with Forks. Bella moved to Arizona and I… I went to Mexico.”

“A bright ass place for a guy who sparkles in the sun.” I commented. “Also pretty close to Arizona.”

“Yeah it is. Fact is I wanted her.” He admitted.

“Wanted?” I asked to be clear what tense we were talking in. He didn’t take the bait.

“Anyway I have checked in on her over the years. No big deal. You know she is an amazing person. I want to keep her safe.”

“Why didn’t you go after her?”

“Because being a vampire… it would only work if she was like me. Ty imagine a life where you don’t eat. You stay in the shadows. You don’t sleep. You can’t even get drunk if you want to. You have two choices. Kill people or kill animals by biting through their fur and sucking the blood from their smelly hides. You can’t really work. You can’t have kids or see your family grow. You are stuck. Stuck in a limbo that never ends. You either live forever watching the world go crazier every year while you go insane with it or you die in a violent fight where another vampire tears your limbs off and sets you on fire. Does that sound like a life? Sure we are strong. Yes we are fast. That novelty lasts for about two or three years. Then it doesn’t matter any longer. It’s boring. I didn’t want that for her. She is more than that. You know this better than anyone.”

I said nothing. Nothing else needed to be said. I had the few loose ends I needed to tie this shit up with a bow.

“So what are you planning on doin? Keepin watchin from the shade?”

“Yeah. I won’t bother ya’ll unless it’s necessary to save…”

“Nope.” I stopped him.

“Nope? You don’t want her protected?”

“Nah. You ain’t gonna be watchin from the shadows. Give us the week. My momma done had her quota of crazy white people with Bella’s momma to last her a while. When we get back to Arizona come on over to our place. If your friend thinks Eddie is up to something we need to get our heads together.” I told him.

“That right? Aren’t you afraid of me playing with her emotions? Or yours?” Fucker actually smirked.

“Her name will be on my dying breath. Mine will be on hers. You may be good but you ain’t good enough to fuck with that. I doubt you would anyway. Not if you love her the way you say you do.” I told him honestly. “In the meantime let’s talk about my last conversation with Eddie and a bitch named Victoria.”

“I would love to hear about that.” He took a breath for the first time and looked at the buildings around us.

“You know I remember when all this was pasture.” He told me.

“That right?”

“Yeah. Before I was turned I grew up in Houston. It was a lot smaller then.”

“How old was ya?” He couldn’t have been too old.

“19.”

“Yeah? You work on a farm or what?” This could be interesting. Guy who grew up in my city when the city was just starting.

“Nah. I mean yeah I did but when I was turned I was in the service during the war. I was the youngest major in the Confederate army.”

Oh that’s… wait…

“You wanna run that by me again motherfucker?”

Bella POV

“He should have been back by now.” I told Donna. She acted like she wasn’t worried but I caught her glancing at the clock and the window. She lost a husband on these streets while she was pregnant with Jeff. She knew my concern.

“Ty gonna be alright Bella. Just relax.”

“You don’t sound relaxed.” I noted.

“Give it another twenty. We will go check on him then.”

I sat back in the chair and tried to ignore the knot in my chest.

“How you feelin?” Donna asked me.

“Tense. I just want him home.”

“Bella I know… just try to relax.”

She sat down across from me. Renee had gone to sleep with Phil and Siris in the extra room.

“So we need to talk about the wedding.” Donna suggested/told me.

“Yeah, I’m probably going to wait until after the baby is born and I can try to get a bit of my figure back.” I told her offhandedly.

She said nothing. I stopped staring at the door and glanced at her.

She was staring at me.

“Girl you mean to say you expect my grandbaby to be born out of wedlock?”

“Uh…”

She kept staring.

“You see…”

She was still staring. I had her grandchild in me. She wouldn’t hurt me as long as the baby was inside me. Be brave.

She was still staring.

“With this semester and the draft and then by the time we could, I would be huge and I really don’t want to be… huge…”

Why wouldn’t she stop staring at me? Where the fuck are you Ty?

“I mean it takes a while to plan a wedding and I want it to be really nice… for Ty… and…”

She just crossed her arms. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“What!? Say something!”

“Bella I know you are washed in the blood. What would your pastor say?”

“I… wait… washed in what?”

“Bella marriage is a holy bond in front of God. I know you been saved. Don’t lose your focus on God girl, over an issue like your figure.”

“I’ve been saved? From what?”

“Ty told me you two go to church every Sunday in Tempe. Pastor Jefferson right?”

“Uh… right?” Damn it Ty!

“Why you seem confused girl? Ty said ya’ll been going to Second Baptist since ya’ll been together. Pastor George Jeff… motherfucker how did I not see that? I’m gonna kill that boy if the gang bangers ain’t done it already.”

Donna took a deep breath and crossed herself. Then she smiled. Maybe the crisis has been averted.

“That’s fine. That’s good. You two can get married at the church Ty grew up in since I’m guessin you ain’t got one. We was going to go in the morning anyway. You can meet Brother Webb. We can talk about the wedding after service.”

“Wait… did you say church? Tomorrow?”

“It’s Sunday ain’t it? Oh that’s right. You don’t know about church on Sunday cause my son is a damn liar. It’s okay. It will do you some good. You won’t have to drink no wheat grass or anything.”

“Okay…”

“So you want to get married before you turn huge right?”

“I was thinking after.” I tried.

“Sure. Then Ty gonna be traveling with his team and commercials and travel and everything else. Fore you know it your son is gonna be old enough to be his Daddy’s best man. Give him a bachelor party and everything. Look Bella I had two boys. I wasn’t married with Ty’s daddy and you know how that turned out. I tried to do right with Jeff’s Daddy but God decided to take him. Bella the one regret I have is not havin my boys grow up in a normal house with a normal family. A married momma and daddy in a secure relationship. You and Ty got a chance to start that off for your kids.”

Damn. I guess I never thought about it like that. I wasn’t much for church. Renee’s quest for enlightenment had pretty much turned me off to anything of the spirit world. That and Jake’s ancestor’s ideas of arranged marriages by Taki Aha or whatever the fuck his name was.

“So what do you think Donna?”

“You what? Nine weeks along? That means you got about three to six weeks before you even start showing. Even at six weeks a girl your size ain’t gonna be showin much. Let’s shoot for four weeks. We can have it here. You find you a dress. I got some vacation time comin to me so I will fly down to help you if you want. Maybe the Queen of Sheba can come with me. We can get you set up. You got any girlfriends you want to stand by your side?”

Uh… yeah… this should be easy. I have friends. Of course that left girls I met in the last two years as I didn’t want any girls Ty had slept with standing at the altar with me.

So that left…

“Uh…”

“Bella?”

“Give me a minute.”

“Tell me you got one girlfriend that can be a maid of honor. Just one at least?”

“Give me a minute.” I mumbled. Emily. But with her would come… the rest…

I took two minutes and couldn’t come up with anything. Ty and I had friends. Friends we partied with. But not any real friends I felt close to. He was guarded around others and I just wasn’t interested in them.

“Okay. See if you can make a friend in the next four weeks. Do you have any idea of what kind of colors you might want?” Donna asked.

“Colors for what?” What the hell? I had thought a nice courthouse somewhere would be good.

“Brides maids dresses, girl. Color for the reception afterward. Flowers. Any of this ring a bell?”

“Reception? Like where we eat afterward and stuff right?”

“Yeah Bella,” she sighed.

“Donna this seems real complicated. How about we just go to the courth…”

She was staring at me again. Arms just crossed. She couldn’t hurt me. I had her grandchild inside me.

“Bella could I make an observation that you don’t really care how you get married?”

“You would be correct.” I said, glad that she finally understood.

“Then why don’t you let me plan this? I can handle the details. I’ll get you through it. If you want. Course I guess if you really want to wait a year or so…”

Did I? I really didn’t. But time. II just didn’t have time. Our last semester. Meetings, contract negotiations, doctor’s appointments…

“I just don’t see how a wedding could be planned in four weeks.”

“Girl money can make anything happen. This ain’t gotta be extravagant. Just a simple hometown wedding.”

Now she was smiling. Arms were uncrossed.

“Yes… but I don’t have any money. We don’t. Not until we sign…”

“I’ll pay for it. I’m Ty Gavin’s mother. Banks would be falling over themselves to give me a loan.”

“Donna I can’t let you take out a loan…”

“Oh your payin the damn thing.”

Oh. Yeah.

“Okay.” I told her.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay. We should probably look for dresses here though. You won’t have time to fly down within the next two weeks.” I told her. It would make Ty happy. Plus with Edward lurking I admitted I was a bit anxious to get married. Not that it would stop him but I would feel better.

“Great. Tomorrow is Sunday. Monday is New Year’s Eve. I can call a few dress shops around here to let us in. Our church has a reception hall that ain’t hardly used this time of year. All my brothers and sisters can provide the food. Ain’t no thing. My sister can make the cake. We can have this done. Probably the weekend before school starts. Ya’ll can start the new semester not livin in sin for once.”

The bedroom door cracked and I heard tiny feet walking towards me. Siris walked in with his sippy cup in hand.

“Wee grass?” he asked me holding up his empty cup. I suppose he had been sleeping.

“I’m not blending any juice for you. I wouldn’t even know how Siris. Wake mommy up.”

“Wee grass Bella. Thirsty.”

“How about water?”

“Wa wa?”

“Yes. It’s what most of your body is made of. Most of the Earth to. I can get you some water.” I explained. I was not giving my tiny brother the shit Renee gave him.

“I got a better idea Bella.” Donna said.

I saw an evil grin on her face.

“What would that be?”

“Your mother wants to be part of our community. Our heritage. Maybe we should introduce your brother to a staple of the diet of African American youth.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ty and Jeff grew up on it. They both turned out all right. I’m thinkin little Siris needs to experience…”

“What?”

“Kool Aid.”

I took a look at my little brother. I heard Mom snoring.

I shouldn’t.

It would be wrong. She was the mother… It was her decision…

Fuck it. She is always going on about trying new things.

“Let’s do it.”