Lost MC (The Nighthawks MC Book 4)

by Bella Knight

  They went back to try the movie again. “No goat-moving?” asked Juan.

  “’Fraid not,” said Nantan. “But, I’m probably getting roped into helping winterize a house.”

  “Sounds awesome,” said Juan. This time, the peanut butter cup ice cream was eaten, and the movie was watched.

  They curled up on the couch. Juan stopped the movie. “I hope this doesn’t sound odd,” he said. “May I brush your hair?”

  Nantan shrugged. “Sure.”

  He got a brush and comb, and he sat on the floor on a cushion at Juan’s feet. While they laughed at what the characters did, Juan brushed out his hair and combed it back. He kissed Nantan’s neck, and Nantan groaned. They kissed for a while, then continued to watch the movie. Nantan stroked Juan’s hair.

  “Not tonight,” he said. “But soon.”

  Juan smiled. “I get to watch all sorts of movies in the meantime,” he said. Nantan laughed. They kissed and held each other. “May we do this tomorrow night?” asked Juan. “I won’t be able to be here for two days because I have a convention.”

  “Sundays and Mondays are my days off. We’re going on a ride to Lake Mead. Want to come?”

  “Sure,” said Juan. They kissed again, and Juan left.

  A breeder came by to look at Jumper, as did a woman named Jennifer who was looking for a jumping horse for her daughter, Amber, a coltish girl with huge eyes and a big smile. Jumper whuffed into Amber’s auburn hair, and Gregory and Inola helped her to saddle Jumper for a ride. The girl had brought a helmet and was wearing English boots. Henry got on Arrow because he knew Jumper’s tendency. Amber laughed, a silver-bright sound, as she took Jumper from a walk to a trot, then to a canter, and on to a gallop. The horse obeyed her every command of hand and knee. They set up a jump, and the horse took it beautifully. Amber brought her back to a walk, and stopped in front of Jennifer, watching from the fence.

  “What do you think?” asked Jennifer.

  “She’s mine,” said Amber. “If you’ll buy her.”

  They paid considerably less than they would have if she hadn’t been a rescue, but quite enough to keep the farm in the black for a while. Inola helped prepare her for travel, wrapping and booting the mare’s feet. They kept most of her tack, as the mother and daughter had their own quite expensive bridles and saddles.

  No one had time to get sad, as half an hour after, Henry went in to teach at the Nighthawks school, then they got a call for a rescue of two horses. Inola and Jeffrey went along with Imala.

  The others managed to work on their GEDs. News of Nova and Jaci’s defection in two months had spread like wildfire, as did the news of Honi and Imala’s probable defection to work with Tito. Tocho and Micco worried until Nantan explained to them that they both excelled at looking after the crops, with a delicate touch, and that both Inola and Henry had praised their work with the horses.

  “If you want to stay after you get your GED, I’m sure Henry would take you.” The boys visibly relaxed. They went in for another huge dinner, laughing and joking.

  The horse rescue party managed to save both horses and came back well after dinner. The gray mare was terrified, her eyes rolling. Tocho ran over to stroke her, give her his scent. He calmed her, got her into a stall. Micco got the other one, a pony with a cream neck and tan over its withers. The dispirited pony barely wanted to walk. Everyone else made sure the horses had feed and water.

  “Sorry I’m late,” said Juan, coming into the greenhouse.

  “You have to put booties and a head thing on,” said Nantan.

  “Good God,” Juan said. “Do you have every single kind of plant here?”

  Nantan laughed, picking the potatoes and putting them in a round basket. “Grab some gloves, and I’ll give you the rundown.”

  Juan listened and took out potatoes as Nantan showed Juan his world.

  “This is absolutely amazing,” Juan said. “And the system tells you when it needs anything?”

  “I actually wanted to ask you about that,” said Nantan. “I’m trying to listen to the plants. They all take different LED lights. I want to find the struggling plants, and find a LED that they like better, if there’s nothing wrong with the nutrient mix, temperature, and humidity.”

  “You could install two different colors, and see which one they like best. Maybe a sensor that measures the plant height in one box versus the height in another box?”

  “We’re solving problems together! This is so cool!” said Nantan.

  They installed red LED lights over each half of one tray of struggling plants, blue LEDs on the other half, and set up the sensor. It only took Juan a few minutes to program it.

  “We make a good team,” said Juan.

  “We do,” said Nantan, and he kissed Juan.

  They barely made it up the stairs and into the apartment before Juan had Nantan’s shirt over his head. Nantan took off Juan’s shirt. Juan held Nantan’s face in his hands, kissing him deeply. Nantan ran his finger down Juan’s biceps to his fingertips, making him groan. Juan slid one of his fingers from Nantan’s chin to his groin, making him kiss harder. Nantan stroked his fingers down Juan’s back, making him groan into his mouth. Juan undid Nantan’s jeans, and Nantan unzipped Juan’s chinos. Juan kissed his neck. They each kicked off their jeans. Nantan held Juan close, stroking his ass, making him throw back his head. Nantan kissed Juan’s neck.

  They made it into the bedroom. They stroked and kissed each other, and Nantan took off Juan’s boxers, and Juan took off Nantan’s blue underwear. They laid together, propped up on pillows, kissing and stroking each other. Juan grabbed Nantan’s cock and stroked it.

  “Wait,” said Nantan, and reached into a side drawer for condoms.

  “Just so you know, I’m HIV negative, and I get tested every six months.”

  “I am free from it as well,” said Nantan, opening a condom and rolling it on Juan, and rolling another one on himself.

  They came together, kissing and stroking. Juan held Nantan’s balls in his hand and slid down on top of him. They moved slowly, carefully. Juan came, and then Nantan slid into Juan. Nantan came in great gasps, then, when he could breathe again, got some wet wipes off the nightstand and cleaned them both up. They took a shower and held each other close. They put on underwear and Nantan’s T-shirts and watched a comedy, shaking with laughter. They popped popcorn and drank sodas and kissed, with laughter on their lips.

  Turnover

  Jeffrey’s mom moved to Reno, following a bookkeeping job. Everyone relaxed, as she had been a nervous woman, jumping at everything.

  “You’re growing up real-good,” she said to Jeffrey. “Take care of my boy,” she said to Henry. He nodded. She got on a bus, and went off into the night.

  The air began to be chilly at night when Jaci and Nova moved out, after Nova’s birthday bash. They had taken two more goats over to Aquene and Bianca’s place, and the house had needed little more winterizing. The small barn and paddock were expanded; it took less than a day. They rescued a little donkey and a painted pony; Jaci and Nova could now visit Henry and Inola’s farm. Henry saw them off with a hug. He brought over their things in the truck while they walked over their animals.

  There was a big push to help Honi pass his GED; he was the last one to pass. Henry had insinuated that no one would be allowed to leave until they passed, but he never lied outright. Honi and Imala each rented rooms in the city very close to Tito’s company, and entered the apprenticeship program. They all came back to help Micco and Tocho build rooms into the lofts of the old barn over the hydroponics operation, a tough job because they couldn’t touch the original hardwood.

  Wyatt brought a new Wolf Pack; twin brothers Nino and Tico, boys Awan and Tate, and girls Lupi, Meha, Wyanet, and Yasmine. They exited the van like clowns stuffed into a clown car. Micco and Tocho showed them where the restrooms and their rooms were, and, one by one, they all dropped off their backpacks or duffels, used the restroom, and came back out to where Jeffrey was walking the
previously-terrified gray mare. She turned out to be a sweet girl who actively begged for apples.

  “This is amazing,” said Awan, a tall boy with his hair back in a braid. “Do we get to ride the horses?”

  “We rescue them first,” said Inola. “A horse may be terrified to be touched or have been starved or beaten. We are training the smaller ones to work with kids with autism.”

  “Cool,” said Yasmine, a girl with a round face and slightly tilted eyes. “Can we go out on a rescue?”

  “Absolutely, on a rotating basis,” said Inola.

  “I heard we gotta grow stuff,” said Tate, a boy with short, brown hair and a tight mouth.

  “Yes,” said Inola. “We grow what we eat, and sell the rest.”

  “Where?” asked Meha, a girl with cinnamon skin, and hair braided all the way down to the small of her back. “I don’t see any crops.”

  “We grow ours in a building,” said Inola, pointing to the repurposed old barn. “In a white recycled cloth medium, with no soil, with a nutrient mix.” I’ve heard too many of Nantan’s lectures, thought Inola, her hand on her rounded stomach. “Nantan grows them hydroponically.”

  “Can we train the horses?” asked Wyanet, nervously shaking out her hands.

  “Of course,” said Inola. “The idea is for you to do everything on this farm, while getting your GED. You’ll learn new skills; every one of our previous graduates have jobs. Two stayed to help with our huge bumper crops; local restaurants buy a lot of produce, and since we don’t grow our food in any fertilizer, it is organic. You’ll be picking a lot of crops, but not out in the hot sun with bugs eating you alive.” They all laughed. “You’re going to eat lunch in an hour; go pick what Nantan tells you to.” They all headed out to the building.

  “Great Spirit help Nantan,” said David.

  Inola laughed and grunted. “Ryder is kicking,” she said.

  David smiled. “That one is strong.”

  The new Wolf Pack helped Gregory pack up the truck with produce, cucumbers, and potatoes, including lettuce and spinach, herbs and spices, corn and squash. Gregory and Micco drove them to Bianca and Aquene’s for packaging, while skimming off “imperfect” produce for their own food. Tocho herded the teens toward the house with the baskets of food. The teens streamed into the kitchen to “help.” Inola got them to wash up, then cut up potatoes for home fries and make salad. They had steak, home fries, and a cucumber, tomato, and bread salad. The teens ate as if they had not eaten for weeks. They signed up on the home chores chart, and those working with the horses followed Inola and Jeffrey to the paddock to get the horses in and feed and water them.

  “Good group,” said David to Sister, after Yasmine and Tate, who were on cleanup and dishwasher duty, left.

  Sister made a sign that meant “mmph.” She had been learning sign with her own tablet, delighting in reading books and on finding YouTube videos on the intricate needlework she used.

  She refused to answer any questions about her name or where she was from but was perfectly capable of ordering people around the kitchen.

  David laughed and went out to shovel manure —manure they sold for a tidy sum to gardeners for those who didn’t use hydroponics to farm. The teens moaned about the manure until David explained it kept the horses in vets and shoes. The kids went off to find their new tablet computers in their pods, pre-loaded with their GED study software. They ended up in the common room, sitting on bean bags, eating popcorn and drinking sodas. They slept at a reasonable hour, most being unused to shoveling horse shit.

  They were awakened bright and early, with chores —feeding horses, getting the horses out to pasture, and collecting eggs from the henhouse, then they ate a huge breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, and biscuits. They all did some GED coursework, then picked produce and loaded the truck again, then back to more study before lunch. The afternoon had them learning how to walk the horses, rub them down, check their hooves, put on hoof oil, curry and feed them. They slept like the dead at night.

  Tribal elders from two reservations came to see the operation, finding out all the little ways to make money, from hydroponics, to horse rescue, to manure sales. Inola and David took turns showing them around. They all went into a collective smile at the new sweat lodge on the mountain, and feasted on fruit, fresh bread, pulled pork, waters, and sodas. The elders laughed at the speed at which the food was inhaled by the teens. They all went home to shower and bed; the elders slept at the main house.

  In the morning, the elders headed out to see Bianca and Aquene’s harness and goat cheese enterprise. Then they went to Ace and Lily’s place to see their dog-training operation; the couple now had four rescue dogs who were all eager to learn.

  David received a call late in the day. “Looks like the elders think Henry is some sort of Ghost Dancer. He got teens to work and learn new trades and get their GED. Then, we have rescue animals that we rehabilitate and train, we grow food for the whole res and sell to Las Vegas, and they love the dogs too. They think they have many new ideas. The casino allotment can help pay for a hydroponics farm, and many more will have jobs in several reservations.” He grinned. “They will get abandoned farms and make them useful again.” He looked at the newest rescue pony, happily munching away on grass. “We have shown them what can be done. I think that Nantan is ready to break up his farm; even with all of Las Vegas he can’t sell that much. I think the Arizona res will get a few flats, to get them started.”

  “We are well,” said Inola.

  “Yes,” said David. He looked at the horses some more. “I am so tired of it, Inola. The grinding poverty, the lack of resources, the loss of our language and heritage, our culture. Our young people with no jobs and a poor education, who cannot speak our language. It is as if our guts have been cut out, and strewn on the ground. One man, he brought us back. And I cannot thank him enough.”

  Inola put her hand on his arm. “And now it spreads.”

  “It does,” he said. “I hear Nantan has been asked to speak to the Apache.”

  “Let’s make a video,” said Inola. “Let’s make one in Paiute, and then one for everyone. We can get the kids to do it. If we put it on YouTube, we can make money if enough people watch it.”

  “Will this cost us money?”

  “I’m sure someone has an iPhone, and if they don’t, we can borrow one.”

  David looked at her, shocked. “What about sound?”

  “I have a mic I use for Skype calls. I get them from people who rescue abandoned horses.”

  David smiled widely. “Yes. We can do this.”

  “We can do this,” said Inola.

  The tribal elders swung back to learn how to install their new system, cannibalized from Nantan, in exchange for taking Mico and Tocho back with them to install and maintain the equipment —and for helping them get through their certificate in Horticulture Science. They were excited to go home and help their own reservation.

  Inola waited until they got into the groove of online classes, and rotation through helping Sister in the house. Then horse maintenance, and hydroponics to talk to them about the video. Then, she mentioned it off-hand to Awan, who loved to talk. Soon they were all over the paddock and hydroponics farm and barn and their own dorms, taking pictures, and writing dialogue. Tito gave up his extra phone for a week for them to shoot, and Inola had her laptop confiscated while the teens created the video during non-chore hours.

  They also went down to Bianca and Aquene’s place, where the goat-cheese business was going strong. Jaci and Nova had great flavors, and had entered the cheeses into several contests —and won two. They adopted two more goats. They also made and packaged webbing and strapping for a variety of needs, from attaching dogs to boxes on the back of bikes to strapping other things to bikes, to strapping animals into trucks for transport. Then even to transporting dogs in cars, safely. They made a lot of money partly because they were very useful, and partly because a lot of people wanted straps with their breed of dog printed
on it. They also sold solid-color straps. The FedEx guy became very used to picking up from the house.

  In addition, they prepared the fruit and vegetables for transport all over the res and Las Vegas. They added a veggie organic sandwich component, and local convenience stores became delighted to have fresh wraps and sandwiches to attract the veggie crowd.

  Several weeks later, Jeffrey asked to sit down with Inola and Henry after dinner. “I have a boyfriend,” he said. “Marco loves to go biking in the desert, like me, and he’s good with horses. I’d like to have him sleep with me. Ever since Mom moved to Reno for that bookkeeping job, I’ve been lonely. Marco is Hopi, and he doesn’t want to live on the res anymore.”

  “I know him,” said Henry. “Excellent choice.”

  “Thanks,” said Jeffrey.

  “I have also met him, and I agree,” said Inola. “Will he have an outside job, or work here?”

  “Tito likes him, he’s worked on some jobs. But, construction is generally not a year-round thing. So, I think he could help me, or work on hydroponics.”

  “Does he have his GED?” asked Henry.

  “No,” said Jeffrey. “He is taking the coursework on his phone.”

  “We’ll get him a tablet,” said Henry.

  Jeffrey sent a text, and Marco came over from the barn to the house. He was short but wiry, with bulging muscles. He had long hair pulled back in a silver ring. They sat him down at the table.

  “We appreciate you being here,” said Henry. “Get yourself on the chore chart like everybody else. I suggest you rotate to learn all the jobs. You may find out you like hydroponics or horses.”

  “I like dogs,” said Marco. “I know there is a litter with four corgis and the mom. I’d like to pick them up before it gets too late.”

  Henry reached in his pocket and handed over the truck keys. “You might be able to get there before they close.”

  Inola stood. “I’ll go with you and pay for the stuff.”

  The dogs got on fine with Henry’s corgi. In fact, Bess was very protective of the new lady, Tana. The teens fell in love with the puppies and often snuck off to see them when they were supposed to be studying or doing chores.