Business at the Ball had been great, and membership for the upstairs club was up even more than it had been under Valentina’s management. The guys and I had been able to use the early earnings to purchase a little house, with enough space for all eight of us. Ella didn’t know, not yet; it was a surprise. I fingered the object in my pocket. Another surprise.
Smiling, I caught Lester’s eye, who was keeping a careful watch over the activity upstairs from the wall. He and Chris had taken to their new roles as the Ball’s bouncers like fish to water. The members of the Ball had never been safer than they were under Lester and Chris’s watchful eyes. They both had a knack for spotting potential troublemakers long before they had a chance to cause any disturbance.
Saul appeared at my side suddenly, and I startled a little. “Nervous?” he asked, with a little smile.
I took a deep breath and nodded, swallowing hard. “Are you?”
“I think we all are,” Saul said, looking around. “Almost time now, isn’t it?”
“Getting there,” I agreed. Unbeknownst to Ella, the Ball had put out an announcement a week ago that tonight, the venue would close at midnight for a private event. I smiled. A very private event. One with just eight attendees.
Chris wandered over, quickly followed by Lester. “Quiet night tonight,” Chris remarked, and Lester agreed.
“Haven’t had to issue so much as a warning. Seems like word is getting around that trouble of any kind isn’t tolerated under the new management.”
I smiled. Of everything we had achieved together, I was most proud of this: the space that we had lovingly built back up to provide a safe refuge for anyone who needed it, anyone who felt they couldn’t live authentically outside the walls of the Ball. Valentina may have been a criminal, but the space she had created for the community was precious. It was a shame that she hadn’t been able to see past what it could do for her to see what it meant to those around her.
Valentina had pleaded guilty to criminal arson and insurance fraud, and was unlikely to see the light of day for some time. We had all attended her sentencing, watching as she studiously avoided looking at us. She looked pale, sallow, a shadow of her former confident self. “I almost feel sorry for her,” Ella had whispered, and I’d squeezed her hand, reflecting that it was so like Ella to feel sorry for the person who had caused us all so much pain. Personally, when I looked at Valentina, I could only feel contempt. But of course, Ella had a gentler, more forgiving nature than any of us. It was just one of the many, many things we all loved about her.
Jason joined us, pulling me away from my reminiscing. “I just saw Ella,” he whispered, glancing around to make sure we weren’t overheard. “I don’t think she suspects anything is up.”
“She’d better not,” grumbled Howie as he and Darren joined us. “I’ve nearly given myself an ulcer from the stress of keeping her from figuring anything out.”
I looked around at my six closest friends, reflecting once again on how they’d saved me, how lucky I was to have them in my life. If all went according to plan, soon we would be bound to each other for life, closer than brothers. Suddenly, I knew I needed to say something. They needed to know how I felt. I cleared my throat, drawing their attention to me.
“I just wanted to say . . .” I began awkwardly. “That I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to get along with—”
Howie snorted. “You’ve been a miserable git, you mean.” Saul elbowed him in the side. “Not lately, of course,” he amended quickly, and I smiled.
“It’s true,” I agreed. “But you all stood by me, even when I didn’t deserve it. You made sure I made it through the hardest time in my life, and now we have Ella.” I felt myself beginning to choke up. “And I don’t know what I did to deserve her, or any of you, but I’m so grateful to have you all anyway.”
The others shuffled their feet, unused to such a display of emotion from me. “We love you,” Saul said gruffly. “We’ll always be in your corner.” He clapped me on the back.
“I hate to break this up,” Darren said, checking his watch. “But it is almost midnight.” At that, Chris and Lester slipped off to discreetly encourage those patrons who were still milling around to start wrapping things up. Before too long, the club was almost completely empty.
Ella emerged from her back office, looking worried. In a nod to the Ball’s strict dress code, she was wearing a simple black latex dress, which clung to her body in all the right places and suited her perfectly. She only broke out the dress we all loved so much on special occasions. She hurried to my side. “Where is everyone?” she asked, confused. “It’s still early, it’s never this empty on a Saturday.”