by Bella Knight
They went back to Callie and Baby, and found an outdoor Mexican restaurant that brought out platters of tacos and enchiladas in salsa verde and a pitcher of sangria. They sat under the shade of a huge tree. They ate until they could hardly move, and they laughed until they cried.
Baby looked on, confused. “Why you laughin’?” she said. “Life sucks.”
Ghost looked at Baby. “You gon’ die, right?” she asked Baby.
“Yeah,” said Baby.
“Might as well be in da sun, livin’ large,” said Ghost.
“When you come from nuffin’,” said Killa, “When you see somfin’ pretty, you learn to say, ‘That be good, that be pretty.’ Ain’t that much pretty, girlfriend. Gotta see it, enjoy it, own it.”
She took a necklace out of her pocket, and gave it to Baby.
“Bought you dis, girlfriend,” she said. “It real silver, gotta feather. Feather, to the Egyptians, meant truf. You find yo truf, you be happy.” She handed over the silver chain studded with turquoise, with the silver feather on it. Confused, Baby took it out, and put it on.
“What you want for this?” said Baby.
“See, dat’s da problem,” said Ghost. “You fail to unnerstan’ that you in a fam’ly now. You make money, you buy de nice things, you give it to yo sistas.”
“Got some for you, too,” said Ivy, handing Callie a smaller version of Henry’s silver feather earrings.
Baby exclaimed, opened them, and put them in her ears.
She started to cry and said, “You give me so much, and this is so beautiful, and this day is so nice.” She wiped her tears with her napkin. “Nobody been that nice to me. My parents kicked me out when I got pregnant. Wouldn’t see Grace.”
“Fuck them,” said Ivy. “We see her, and she’s beautiful.” They hugged.
“Hate to break up your Hallmark moment,” said Bella, “but Henry better go pick up that dog poop. Your corgi really likes that tree.” They all laughed.
They went back to the hotel for a nap. The dogs piled around the people, and they slept in the afternoon heat.
They woke up, and most of them hit the pool. The bruised and cast ones, Baby and Callie, sat by the pool in chaise lounges, applied ice packs, and drank cold drinks. Ghost and Killa waited on them hand and foot until Callie laughingly told them to shoo. The former gangbangers both had lovely bodies; with black, red, and purple tattoos on their skin. They slid into the water, and went back and forth like fish, despite having grown up in the desert. They both also had scars, puckers from bullet holes, cuts from knives, and the lacework of abuse scars on Alicia’s (Killa’s) lower back.
“What happened to them?” asked Callie, sipping a strawberry smoothie.
Ivy and Bella laid on lounges as well, sharing a little table in between them. Ivy had a strawberry mint drink, and Bella had something creamy and green with a kiwi slice floating on top.
“Street life,” said Baby.
“Alicia’s dad beat her and turned her out to turn tricks with his friends,” said Ivy. “That piece of shit is lucky he’s not still alive for me to get my hands on him.”
“Ghost sold drugs since she was seven,” said Bella. “Lookout, then sales. Who’s gonna arrest a little kid? She got beat up, things got hot for her. Ace took her from Leticia as a favor. Turned out she’s got small fingers that are perfect for getting in and fixing fiddly parts in engines.”
“They together?” asked Baby.
“Have no idea,” said Ivy. Ghost and Alicia were on the other end of the pool, and laughing and splashing water on each other. “Be nice if they were.”
Bella sighed. “I miss Inola. She’s keeping an eye on Gregory and Katya. They’re a fucking mess over Dimitri.”
“Who is Dimitri?” asked Callie.
“One of us, until he betrayed us,” said Bella. “He killed himself when he got caught.”
Ivy sighed, “His sister was sick. He could have come to us for help at any time, but he betrayed us, then took the coward’s way out.”
“I take it no one has told the boys yet,” said Bella.
A car door slammed, then Pavel yelled, clearly, “Nyet!”
“Looks like they told them,” said Bella.
“I’m on it,” said Ivy, putting on her wrap and silver sandals.
The boys were in front of the SUV, with mutinous looks on their faces. Lily hustled Grace away.
“Pool,” said Ivy.
Lily nodded, and said, “Let’s put your swimsuit on and meet up with your mom,” she said.
“Who’s Dimitri? Why are they so angry?”
Ivy knelt down and looked Grace in the eye. “Sometimes the people we love get stupid, really stupid. We still love them, but it makes us angry.”
Grace nodded and said, “Like with Mama’s boyfriend.”
“Yeah,” said Ivy, “you can be sure she won’t pick a guy like that again.”
Grace grabbed Lily’s hand and nearly pulled her off her feet. “Bathing suit!” she said. “I want the blue one!” She half-dragged Lily to the elevator.
Ivy rose and went to the boys. “Frenzy, Runner, this is club business, and not for the rest of the world. Take a walk with me.”
The boys listened to Ivy and remained silent.
She met Ace’s haunted eyes and said, “Go see to your lady.”
She took them to the Riverwalk and walked it with them.
She explained the truth and said, “Dimitri had a sister. She was dying of cancer. He sent all his money home. That’s why he went on such few rides with us, and why he took on tutoring jobs, like with you, Pavel.”
Ivy held her hand on each boy’s shoulder, walking between them. Her head was head down, right at the same level with their ears.
“He did not tell me!” said Pavel. “My parents have, they… had money and connections.”
“He did,” said Ivy. “Only your father had other plans.”
She took them to a bench and sat them down. She crouched in front of them.
“He murdered your mother. She sent you to the US, to the school, to keep you safe.”
Pavel’s shoulders shook. Keiran put his arm around his friend and new brother.
“She is gone,” he said brokenly.
“Yes,” said Ivy. “You’ve lost three people, your mother, your father, and Dimitri. I am so sorry. Dimitri could have talked to us, to his club family. I would have… any of us would have sold our own bikes to pay for his sister. But, he didn’t ask. I swear we didn’t know.”
“My brother would have taken me out of the fancy school to pay for it,” said Keiran. “I would have been okay with that. I would have missed you, but I would be okay with that.” His eyes narrowed. “Why the fuck didn’t Ace tell us Dimitri was dead?”
Ivy said, “Pavel lost his mom and his dad in one day, and he knew Dimitri was behind it. Your brother was trying, in a very stupid way, to protect the two of you from learning that Dimitri killed himself. I’m sorry, it was stone stupid, but he was trying to help.”
Pavel cried for a while, then asked, “What will happen to me?”
“Ace didn’t tell you?” said Ivy.
“Pavel was too busy yelling,” said Keiran.
Pavel barked out a little laugh. “Da,” he said.
“Ace got custody of you, Pavel, the same as having custody of you, Keiran. You both have a big brother that will look out for you, and you’re both brothers now.”
“Lies,” said Pavel. “My father, he never gives up his hold on me. I am like… how do you say, ‘a possession.’ Not a real boy to him.”
“He wants you to be mini-him,” said Keiran.
“He kind of had to,” said Ivy. “He’s in jail for kidnapping and murder. They have so much evidence he’ll have to plead guilty.”
Pavel breathed out, “He cannot see me again? Cannot take me away?”
“No, absolutely not,” said Ivy. “You’re in our family now, and no one gets you but us.”
“Do I drop out of school?�
�� asked Keiran. “Two of us there… it’s expensive. I’d rather Pavel go. He likes it a lot there. And now we have therapy dogs to train.”
“No,” said Ivy. “The club is doing really, really well. Your brother owns part of it. It’s why I could afford to shut our doors for a short time, and pay everybody vacation money. In fact, we’re booking really good acts. Packing the house.”
“But it won’t last forever,” said Keiran.
“Maybe, maybe not,” said Ivy. “But by then you two will have jobs, and go to college. Work in pizza joints and bookstores and be poor students like everyone else.”
Keiran pretended to be horrified. “No Harvard for me?”
Ivy snorted “If you think we can afford sixty thousand dollars to go to school, then Harvard is the last place for you. A mental hospital, maybe.”
Even Pavel snorted at that one. “So, we not go to Harvard. Why go? We do well, maybe work in a casino, maybe have our own company.”
“Maybe have a therapy dog company,” said Keiran. The boys looked at each other, then shook hands.
“My God,” said Ivy. “The birth of entrepreneurs.”
She thought they would be too depressed to eat, but the boys wolfed down enchiladas at a nearby restaurant and went through a pitcher of soda. She texted an “all-okay” to Ace and Lily. Then, the hollow-legged boys wolfed down double scoops of ice cream. They bought a selection of ice cream and sorbet cups on a platter on dry ice for the group.
Ivy hauled them back, handed over the ice cream, and Henry took them up to their rooms to change into shorts. The dogs laid beside or under the chaise lounges on their beds, content to snooze in the sun. The ice cream and sorbets were a big hit. The hotel turned on club music and brought out big beach balls and floaties. They added another great water basketball and a net for the kids. They all got in the water, except for their bruised sisters, who snacked on raspberry and lemon sorbet and laughed together.
Ivy whirled around when she heard Baby laugh, a musical sound like silver bells. Henry and Bella also stared.
“Shit,” said Henry. “That girl be breakin’ hearts and takin’ names once she heals up.”
“More like notches on the bedpost,” said Ivy, sighing. “She wants to take up my previous profession. She’s already put a bid down on an auction on a trailer.”
“Fuck,” said Henry. “Who’s gonna drive the truck to pick it up?” They all laughed.
They decided not to go anywhere. Ace and Henry went out and hunted up some barbecue, and came back with enough food to fill all the patio tables. The little lights in the palm trees in the courtyard lit up. The dogs hunted for dropped scraps of ribs, or chicken, or pulled pork, and the boys, Grace, Ivy, and Henry took the dogs for walks after dinner. They indulged in a wide variety of sodas in different flavors, like pineapple, grape, strawberry, cream soda, and root beer. The root beer had Ace going out for ice cream and plastic cups, and they all had root beer or cream soda floats. The music led to dancing.
Baby said she wanted to watch movies on television, so Ghost helped her to the elevator and back to the room, carrying her computer on her own back. Ghost came back and danced with Alicia who was less like her nickname Killa, now. Alicia laughed, her eyes shining.
Ivy danced, then caught her breath by taking the chaise abandoned by Baby next to Callie.
“You need anything?” asked Ivy.
“No,” said Callie. “You all wait on me hand and foot. I feel like a queen.”
“That’s how you’re supposed to feel,” said Ivy. “You are an extraordinary woman. What have you been doing for work?”
Callie stared into her cup, having consumed the ice cream. “I worked in convenience stores, first under the table, then I was an emancipated minor at sixteen. Didn’t exactly tell them about Grace, though. Didn’t want them taking her away from me. When I turned twenty-one, I started working in liquor stores, and made a little more money. Had some other girls with kids, we took care of each other’s kids on our days off.” She stared off into space. “It was hard. Didn’t want to be a child abuser, leaving her home alone. But childcare for people like us just doesn’t exist. Had neighbors to help some, too.”
“That’s behind you,” said Ivy, her hand on Callie’s good arm. “No one will ever hurt you again.”
“I won’t let them,” said Callie, fiercely. “Grace deserves better.”
“So do you,” said Ivy beaming a wide smile.
“Me?” said Callie. “I’m just some idiot who got pregnant at fourteen.”
“Fourteen-year-olds are idiots,” said Ivy. “Especially those from catholic homes.”
“Yeah,” said Callie. “We never had much, but we were Filipino. My dad and mom are really, really catholic. Told me to marry the boy. He wanted nothing to do with me. I told them that the boy didn’t want me. My dad hit me across the face and told me to get out forever.”
“Fuck them,” said Ivy. “You succeed, you do great in your life, you get yourself happy, then you make a great life for you and Grace. That’s the best revenge.” She took a drink of her Coke. “Fucking idiots. Throwing a fourteen-year-old out on the street. Would you throw out Grace?”
Callie looked horrified. “No! I’d tell her she was an idiot, maybe yell a bit. But throw her out? Fuck, no!”
“See?” said Ivy. “Quit using their lens to see yourself. You’re beautiful, and strong, and smart, and sweet, and you defended your child from a raging asshole. You’re the Valkyrie, not me.”
Callie snorted. “Wonder Woman was an Amazon, not a Valkyrie,” she said.
“See?” I told you-you were smart,” said Ivy. “Now, do you want some Coke?”
“If I do, I’ll never sleep tonight,” said Callie grinning.
“Sleep is overrated,” said Ivy. “Do it when you’re dead.”
“Get me that Coke, woman,” said Callie, laughing.
Ivy took her cup, brushing her fingers. They smiled at each other and, just for a moment, Ivy saw something in Callie’s eyes, something like hope, or joy. Or, maybe, a hint of something more, something Ivy could hold onto. Ivy stepped away and got the Coke.
The kids eventually went up to shower and watch TV and play video games. Henry and Bella went with them to supervise. Grace kissed her mother and ran up to find Finding Nemo on the hotel movie channel. A herd of dogs followed them up.
The music switched to late 90s pop, Matchbox’s “3 AM” and Shawn Mullins’ “Lullaby.” Later there was Tal Bachman’s “She’s So High.” Everyone settled into the new, relaxed groove.
Ivy was delighted to see Ghost and Alicia in the Jacuzzi, quietly talking and laughing. Ace and Lily kissed deeply, sweetly.
“Is everybody in love?” asked Callie.
“Happens a lot around here,” said Ivy.
“What about you?” Callie said. “You’re stunning.”
Ivy smiled and said, “That’s a long story.”
“You gave me the damn Coke,” said Callie. “Now I’ll be up all night! Spill.”
Ivy smiled. “I have a daughter, just like you, the same age as you. But she’s got severe autism. I married a guy who took care of us; I found him in bed with not one, but two, women. Would have been fine if he’d told me he wanted an open marriage, but I had a daughter everyone was telling me was fine… when she wasn’t. I couldn’t deal. So, he paid for her to go to this really great school. She says a word or two in sign language, has a little buddy there, loves a pony. I became a legal prostitute, found a club in the desert where I would be protected. It went well. One day I had enough, and bought the bar. Make more money there than I did on my back,” she said, “even with the dancers and cooks and cocktail servers turning into bartenders. Some bartenders do my books.”
“What?” asked Callie.
“Ace there is my bartender. His fiancé there, Lily, started out as a cocktail server for me, then turned into a bartender. Then I found out that I failed to read her resume correctly, and she does my books. Found me great su
ppliers, pays the taxes, gets everybody paid on time. Leaves me free to bartend or dance with the band, or go on rides like this.”
“Sounds like heaven,” said Callie.
“You ever thought about being a cocktail server? Or maybe a bar back?”
Callie laughed. “Bella wants me to bar back for her.”
“Do both, see which one you like more,” said Ivy. “Might as well fill up all the holes in the schedule, to give people time off that need or want it. The good news is that Henry’s school will have your daughter going to school on swing shift, allowing you to work without paying for a babysitter.” She sighed. “Damn,” she said.
“What?” asked Callie, concerned.
“If I’m your boss,” said Ivy, “I can’t date you. Sexual harassment.”
“What if we date before I work for you?” asked Callie. “Kind of a pre-existing thing?”
Ivy looked her in the eyes. “You have the job if you want it, or I’ll help you get one somewhere else,” she said. “This has nothing to do with whether we date or not.”
“Okay,” said Callie, confused. “Do you not want me? I’m kinda a wreck right now.”
Ivy laughed and spoke, “If you’re not a wreck, you don’t belong in the Nighthawks.”
“Am I in the Nighthawks?” asked Callie. “I can’t afford a bike.”
“Work for me, and you’ll be able to afford one,” she said, “but you probably need a car with Grace. And, yes, you gorgeous girl, if you can handle an ex-hooker.”
“Now who’s looking at herself with someone else’s lens?” asked Callie. “You are the real deal, Ivy. You’re smart, and strong, and beautiful. You make my breath catch in my throat, and…”
