“Sam, I could really use someone like you full-time,” Judge, the man in charge, told me. He was well put together; and he obviously didn’t belong on this type of boat, but the man knew how to fish for those special creatures. He told me he had been in the business for over twenty years. He also told me that he wasn’t stopping any time soon.
“I have to get back home now,” I admitted.
“Well, I hope whatever it was you were running from is long gone by now.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said. We exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes. He said if I ever needed a job, or anything else, to contact him.
I made it back to the Res the next evening. I walked into an empty house and just sat down on the couch in the dark. There was a soft knock at the door and then it creaked open. She left the door wide open and came and sat next to me on the couch. I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her on her forehead. A few of her tears dropped onto my shirt. I kissed the side of her face about five times really fast. I nuzzled her neck and she squealed.
“I missed you, Patty Mae,” I told my baby sister.
“We all missed you too,” she said. She made me watch some chick flick with her on TV and talked the whole time. The screen door opened, and the light came on. Mom, Dad, Sheen, Sheen’s wife, his kids, Kanoke, Grandma, and a few other cousins and friends came in with a ton of food. Everyone hugged me and welcomed me home. No one mentioned or even remotely gave the unspoken subject any attention. This was family, and they knew how to take care of me. A few hours later, everyone started leaving and the house began to quiet down. Sheen and I helped my dad to his bed next door. As usual, he was pissy drunk and could barely walk. We got his shoes off and him into the bed. Mom would have to undress him herself.
“Welcome back, Bro,” Sheen patted me on my back. I nodded back.
“I’ll be back over here first thing in the morning. I’ve got to fill you on some shit. You won’t like it, but you have to know,” he said. I nodded, and then we went our separate ways. I walked back into my house just as Patty was leaving.
“See you tomorrow,” she chimed, kissing me on the cheek. “Hey, apologize to her, will ya? She’s been a nervous wreck since you’ve been gone,” Patty pointed back to my house.
“I will,” I promised. I walked back in, and no one was there but Mom; and she was in the kitchen washing dishes. I came up behind her and wrapped her in a big hug. She stood there and cried in my arms for a long time. I rested my head on her shoulders until she finished. She patted my arms; when she was done, I pulled away and walked out of the kitchen.
“I’m going to go shower and go to bed,” I called behind me.
“Don’t you ever do me like that again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Sheen was at the house bright and early the next morning just like he promised. He had a yellow folder that he set down on the coffee table in front of me. I leaned over, picked it up, and read the papers on top. Apparently, Albert A. Albertson II and Albert Albertson III were new business owners, and these were their business licenses and permits for fish and wild game hunting.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“Go through everything in that folder. You’ll see.”
I did what he said, and I flipped the documents and papers over to the opposite side of the folder. I saw over a few dozen photos showing a stage of some sort being built, and a lot of boats being painted with the blue and white Albertson’s logo on them; some shots showed all the salmon and crab they had caught. The next set of pictures showed two of my boats wrecked and stripped; images of a red head, a black-haired, a blonde man, and then shots of the blonde-haired guy carrying a sledge hammer as all three men ran up the docks away from my broken boats. The next set of pictures was of Elle and the blonde haired guy from before, he was holding her pregnant belly.
“That’s Albert Albertson III. He goes by Bert. He was the mastermind behind this shit, and we believe he had someone whispering in his ear. His soon-to-be baby’s mama, Elle,” Sheen growled.
I stared at the picture of Elle with the blonde guy for at least five minutes. The rage inside of me finally made it to the surface. I was going to kill the blonde boy; and I knew Sheen would let me. “Let’s go.”
“I got a truck outside,” Sheen said. We went outside, and there were three trucks: a Jeep, a van, and a dozen cars waiting on us. The first truck’s passenger door opened, and I climbed inside. Sheen hopped in the truck bed with the rest of guys. All three trucks had full cabs and truck beds. I wasn’t sure about the Jeep or the van, but I bet they were crammed full as well.
Kanoke drove the truck I was in, and Loon sat next to me. No one said a word; we just all rode in silence. Kanoke’s phone rang and he spoke our native language – Umallupi – into the phone. Kanoke made several turns and everyone trailing us followed. We passed a corner store with the familiar blue and white logo I had seen earlier. Two of the cars following us pulled off at the store, but no one said anything. We made it to dock and everyone behind us started jumping out the vehicles before they could even stop completely.
There was a row full of identical boats with the Albertson’s blue and white logo on them. The crew started beating and tearing them apart. I was about to step in and help the guys out, but Sheen, Loon, Kanoke, and dozen other guys stopped me.
“Let them fuck up the boats; they know how to do it so they can’t be repaired,” Sheen said. We all just stood there watching them. Kanoke’s phone rang again and he answered. He hung up and handed all of us with long hair ties. We all started pulling our hair back as vehicle began pulling up. We heard feet running on rocks and then there they stood; about eight guys to our twenty. As soon as they saw us all standing there ready, they turned and started running back the way they came. We chased them and caught them before any of the pussies could get back into their vehicles.
I had my eye on one in particular; a tall thin blonde who ran faster than the rest. I chased him into the woods and caught him before he got too deep. I tackled him and went straight for that pretty face of his.
“I don’t want her. You can have her. My parents would never let me be with her. She’s all yours, I don’t love her or that damn mutt,” he screamed frantically. The way her said her, like she was some Bitch off the street. I stopped for a split second and then I smiled at him.
“Don’t kill me; please don’t kill me. My dad has a lot of money and he’ll give you whatever you want. Please don’t kill me!” he screamed.
He wasn’t even really trying to block my punches. He just kept pushing at my shoulders. Maybe the guy didn’t know how to block a punch in the face. I got a dozen more punches in. He started spitting up blood and then the vomiting started.
I laughed at him. “That’s all you got, boy? A couple of punches and you’re throwing up.”
“She tdidh thith,” he spit out. His front teeth were missing on both rows now. His speech was off a little, but I knew what he was trying to say -- Elle did this. I got about six more punches in before he was unconscious.
“Samson!” I heard the yelling from the road. I got off the bloody blonde, spit on him, and then ran back. The small clearing looked like a battle field. All of my guys were standing. We loaded back up and got the hell out there. When we reached the main road, we heard a bunch of sirens and passed a few rangers flying down the pavement. Kanoke sped up.
We passed the corner where the store used to be, but now it was covered in flames and the white and blue familiar logo was on the ground; burned to a crisp. That made me smile, and then I started laughing and couldn’t stop. Kanoke and Loon joined in after a beat or two.
The reservation was buzzing when we got back. Almost everyone from the entire reservation was at the community center, and everyone wanted to know exactly what happened. A few of the guys had recorded the big fight. I got so many “welcome backs” and “we’ve been waiting for you to handle this” statements. We were all pumped up about the fight.
“Hey, let
me talk to you for a minute,” Loon said in my ear. I nodded and got up from the table of elders. We walked outside and headed for the beach.
“Since we’ve taken them out completely, we’re going to have to step our game up.”
“What do you mean?” I asked
“Albertson’s had a huge crowd and now someone will need to come in and collect all that business.”
“We’re doing fine,” I brushed his suggestion off. I had Wi-Fi on the boat while I was away and I had been able to keep up with all the money coming in and out in the bank. We weren’t hurting at all.
“I understand that, but you could do more than fine,” Loon said. I thought about that, and then I thought about a bigger client base.
“More boats, more workers, more business…more money,” Loon advised.
“And more problems.”
“Not anything we can’t handle.”
“We will need a bigger boat,” I teased.
“Hella big,” Loon laughed. We hashed out the plan on going bigger. Kanoke joined the scheme by bringing in the possible new employees.
The three of us were sitting at my kitchen table a few days later, working on our new business plan when Sheen came to the doorway looking dumbfounded.
“I can help,” he said. We all nodded and kept talking.
“I can start tomorrow,” Sheen announced. We all turned to look at him and then he walked out the door.
“What’s with him?” I asked.
“Cera’s pregnant,” Kanoke whispered. Sheen’s wife was now pregnant with their fifth child.
“He needs more money?” Loon asked.
“Yep, lots more. Cera got strict orders for bed rest from the doc. Sheen’s going to need to hire someone to help them with the kids.”
The next day I woke up to a banging at the door. I stomped over and yanked it open. Elle was standing there looking like hell. She rushed up and slapped the shit out of me.
Chapter 3
I put one hand on Elle’s face covering every inch of it. She was an arm’s length away from me and digging her nails into my forearm.
“Stop it, dammit!” I yelled.
“I hate you. I hate you so damn much!” she screamed. Elle started scratching her nails down my arms. It hurt like hell and it was way too early in the morning for this shit.
“Elle, fucking stop!” I snapped. I yanked my hand away and gripped her upper arms. Elle kneed me and her narrow knee felt like something sharp digging into my dick.
“Fuck, Elle!” I yelled. I pulled her over to the couch and sat her down; half way sitting on her to make her be still. She jerked and flailed, but I held her down. Her stomach was so big, and I didn’t want to hurt her, but she was attacking me.
“You tried to kill him; you tried to kill him!” she cried.
“You tried to fucking ruin me and my family! Why would you do that shit to me? Why Elle? You cheated on me, Elle. You…not me. Why would you do that shit to me?” I shouted.
The door swung opened, and I turned around to see Mom and Dad standing in the doorway.
“Lil Samson, don’t hurt her!” Mom yelled frantically.
“I’m not! Get her crazy ass out of here,” I said. Mom ran over to the couch and Dad stayed in the doorway still catching his breath, looking like he was about to puke. Mom tried switching places with me, but as soon as I let Elle’s arms go she came at me again. She jumped off the couch and fell over me. I caught her so she wouldn’t hit the ground. She climbed on top of me and started slapping me in the face and chest. Elle was crying; screaming that she hated me and wished I were dead.
“Elle, stop this right now!” Mom yelled and tried to pull Elle off of me.
“It’s all your fault; you messed up everything!” Elle screamed at me. She was sitting on top of me now hitting me over and over. She must have been wearing herself out because I could barely feel her hits.
“What?” I asked her.
“You did this to me. You did this to me, Lil Samson!” she cried and then collapsed on top of me. I sat up and scooted her little body into my arms. I lifted her from the floor. Mom ran to the kitchen and Dad came into the house. I put Elle on the couch and Mom came back with a wet towel. She put the towel on Elle’s forehead and I rubbed her hands with mine. She was burning up. I sat down on the floor in front of the couch.
Dad handed me one of Elle’s flip flops that he found at the door. The other one was in front of the couch. Elle’s feet were so swollen, and her belly was so round. She wore a soft pink long dress that draped to the floor. Her shoulders looked sunburned in her spaghetti strapped dress. Mom told us she would be right back. She was going to call Elle’s mom and one of the medicine women. I turned around and saw Dad looking uncomfortable in the doorway. He was just standing there in his boxers with his dick hanging out of one leg.
“Dad, maybe you should go get some clothes on.”
He nodded and walked back to the house. Elle stirred, and all of my attention was back to her. She coughed and then rolled over and faced me.
“I hate you,” she whispered.
Her face was so serious that I couldn’t do anything but chuckle. “I get that. But why do you hate me? I should be the one doing the hating here.”
“Because you stopped loving me.”
“Why would you think that?” I turned the towel over on her head so it would be cool.
“Because you never came to see me at my grandparents’ house.”
“Elle, I never come to see you during a healing process. I can’t bear to see you like that.”
“But you were different this time; I could tell you didn’t love me anymore.”
“I never stopped loving you, Elle.”
I put my head down on the couch cushion near our intertwined hands. Elle pulled one of her hands away from our bond and ran her fingers through my hair until the hair tie stopped her. I pulled a hand away from her and yanked it out, ripping some strains of hair with it. She ran her fingers all over my hair and massaged my scalp.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. I turned my face over and stared her in the eyes.
“You hurt me, Elle. You hurt me.”
She looked back at me and the house was silent. A car pulled up, and then we heard footsteps. The door opened as someone walked in.
“Elle?” I heard her mom call. Elle’s eyes never left mine. The door opened again, and someone else walked in.
“Move, Lil Samson,” Elle’s dad demanded. He tried moving me to the side, but I wouldn’t budge.
“The baby,” Elle whispered.
“What about it?” I asked.
“Could you have loved it?”
I knew how Elle’s head worked, and I knew exactly what it was she was asking me.
Her dad pushed at me again and I let him this time. I moved out of the way, and he reached over me and picked Elle up from the couch. She didn’t let go of my hand.
“Lil Samson?” her dad said. I looked up at him. He was standing up and I was still sitting on the floor. He nodded at our intertwined hands, and I let go. He walked toward the door. She twisted in his arms to stare at me. I stared right back at her.
“Daddy, wait,” Elle begged when they reached the door.
“Tell me,” she begged.
I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded. She started wailing in her father’s arm. They made it out the door and into the yard before I heard Elle screaming for me. Her mother stood there frozen on the couch. I followed her mother’s eyes and then I saw what she was staring out. The light brown couch cushion was covered in blood.
“I’m sorry,” she told me, and then she walked out the door shutting it behind her. I got up from the floor, went back the bedroom, and got back into bed.
An hour later my mom woke me up.
“Elle’s in labor.”
“Okay,” I said sleepily.
“I will go with you if you want to go.”
I squinted my eyes so I could see my mom better through the beaming sun
. “I don’t.”
“Lil Samson, she’s asking for you.” Elle’s mother Nona had called mom.
Elle was over there asking for me, that rat bastard wasn’t even there for her. I couldn’t believe this shit. He knocks Elle up and just leaves her.
“Where’s her baby daddy?” I asked Mom, sitting up on the edge of the bed.
“He’s at the hospital too; but he’s in his own room down the hall from Elle. Lil Samson, he’s been there since yesterday. The boy can’t get out the bed. He has broken bones all over. They say he’s in a cast from head to toe, she paused. “They’re not sure they will make it,” she whispered.
“Shit.” I felt bad now. He was in that hospital bed in that full body cast because of me. And now Elle and her baby were in danger because of me; she had gotten so upset from what I did to that rat bastard.
“I’ll go with you if you want me to.”
“Alright, let me get dressed.”
I went to closet and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. We climbed into my truck and headed for Olympic Memorial Hospital. It took us half the time as normal to get there. Mom got all the info from the nurse’s station before we arrived. We walked in the front door and Mom made a hard right. I followed after her. All the walls’ colors started changing from white to pink and then blue. I guessed we were in the baby center because the walls had big balloons and storks painted on them.
Mom went to a counter and the lady handed her a stack of blue foamy-looking fabric. She said something to us and pointed down the hall. We went through the doors into the delivery ward, and a security guard stopped us immediately. Once Mom gave him the scoop, the man let us pass. We got to another counter and had to show our IDs and sign in. The attendant told me to go and put the foamy stuff on over my clothes in the bathroom next to her office and wash my hands when I came out. She pointed to the sink and buzzed me through, yelling for me not to touch anything.
The Enclave of Jyme (G Street Chronicles Presents) Page 3
