MC: Callahan

by L. Ann Marie

  I shake my head. I need to let it go. If they had taken him, I would be hurting. There’s something about the boy that I fell in love with right from the start. He’s a good kid living a hard life and he’s doing okay, he’s smiling and happy. Soon he’ll be ours. Ben said by the end of the week. I’m glad we don’t have to go to court; he’s a damn mess right now. I was so scared then so happy he was alive; it was a roller coaster of a day. Poor Jess hasn’t been home yet. Elizabeth has been at Kate’s then CJ’s. With the compound in lockdown the kids are all at home. I’m picking up Elizabeth and Sandy from CJ’s as soon as I’m done here. I start moving a little faster with a smile. We have a slumber party planned. The boys are excited about sleeping downstairs tonight.

  “That’s the last of it. I can get this priced and hung if you want to get going.” She’s such a good worker.

  I break the box down and smile at her. “Yep. I’m excited for our first slumber party. I think I’m more excited than the kids.”

  “Go, I got this. Will the Prospect take the deposit again?”

  I didn’t think about that. “Yeah, I’ll call Tiny to make sure, although he doesn’t forget stuff like that. He was headed to the hospital to see little Ben, it may have slipped his mind.” I pull my phone and it rings in my hand. “I was just about to call you,” I say with a smile.

  “Nancy, Tiny was in a fight at the hospital. They took him downstairs. Jessie, Darren and I are with little Ben. Security won’t let me out.” Ricky says with steel in his voice. He’s pissed.

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. I’ll call as soon as I know what’s going on. Stay with little Ben and Security, it will be okay. I need to hang up so I can call CJ, but I’m on my way.”

  He takes a breath. “Okay.” He sounds so young.

  “I will be there soon. I’m out the door now,” I say, running to Brink, my HS guard. “I need to get to the hospital in the city.” He shakes his head no. “Tiny is in Emergency and I need to be there, you can call it in and let them know I’m on my way or sit here and wait for instructions. I’m going.” I spin around, get to the SUV and floor it out of the lot and down toward Main. He follows.

  I run through the doors and up to the nurse. “My husband was brought down from upstairs. There was a fight.” She looks at me for more, but I don’t know anything else.

  “Fuck no!” I hear Tiny yell.

  “I found him,” I tell her and follow his yelling. He’s pissed at someone. When I push the curtain open I’m shocked. He’s full of blood. My feet don’t move. “Nance, it looks worse than it is.” I nod and force my feet to move toward him. “How did you know?”

  “Ricky has your phone, he called me. He was pissed.” My voice sounds small, funny.

  He nods then winces. “He’s a good kid. He’s probably in pain. He hit one of the pussies with his cast. Useless damn Security didn’t catch the pussies going into the room.” He stops talking as the doctor puts another stitch in his head. I have no ideas what to say.

  “Your husband is quite the hero, Mrs. Callahan,” the doctor says, looking up at me.

  “What happened?” Again my voice sounds funny to my ears.

  “I’m okay,” Tiny says, squeezing my hand.

  “He stopped a knife from hitting one of the kids with his arm. Luckily nothing major was hit. He has two broken knuckles and this cut on his head. Other than that he’s fine like he said.” He shakes his head, looking at Tiny like he’s nuts.

  “I need you to go up to the room with the boys. Let them know everything is okay. One of the pussies took off. The other two are somewhere in the hospital being taken care of. I’d like to know where, so I can take care of them.” He gives the doctor a look.

  The doctor smiles. “They won’t be going anywhere anytime soon; they were wheeled out on stretchers with multiple broken bones. The police had them cuffed to the bed when I saw them.”

  Tiny ignores him. “Take Brinks and go up to little Ben’s. I’d feel better knowing you’re safe with more than one HS guard.” I bend and kiss his cheek where there isn’t blood dripping. When I turn Brinks is standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He doesn’t look happy.

  Not giving a shit, I walk by him and out to the elevator. We ride up in silence. When the doors open I see Security and police everywhere. I don’t stop and no one stops me until I get to little Ben’s room. There’s freakin’ blood all over the place in the corridor, and at the door a cop tells me I can’t go in. “My son is in there. My husband told me to come up and stay in the room with the boys because there’s still one guy running around somewhere.”

  He looks at me for a couple of seconds. “Tiny is your husband?”

  I nod. “Yes, Ricky is my son and little Ben is my nephew.”

  Brinks steps up to us. “Pres is on his way. VP and LP1 are in the hospital.” I watch the cop.

  “Fuck, Knight is here!” He moves aside, pulling his phone and I walk through.

  I step around the blood and make it to Ricky, giving him a hug. I hug Darren and Jessie. Little Ben looks tired and battered. I kiss his head. “You’re all okay?”

  They nod. “Tiny is getting stitches on his head. He broke some knuckles and was cut on the arm, but the doctor said it didn’t hit anything major. Steve and Danny are looking for the man that ran off; they’re here in the hospital somewhere. The two men that didn’t get away are cuffed to beds somewhere being treated.”

  Ricky laughs, looking relieved and signs while he talks. “They won’t be going anywhere. Tiny broke their arms and I think one guy’s leg.” He points to the wall by the door. There’s blood everywhere and two big holes in the wall. “They probably have concussions too. He’s a ff—friggin’ maniac when he’s pissed.”

  Jessie laughs. “He broke their noses too. He was pissed and said he was doing maximum damage like they did to us. He was mad.” Darren nods with a smile.

  “He said you hit one with your cast. Do you need that to be checked?” I ask, not really wanting to hear about the men who were trying to hurt them. I have no sympathy for them and I don’t need the details.

  He looks at the boys, then his shoulders slump. “I think I do, but it can wait.” I nod.

  “How are you doing, little Ben?” I ask. He’s sitting on his bed just listening.

  “Better. I think I’m going home tomorrow. I’ll be glad to get out of here.”

  I nod and look back at the mess by the door. “I’m going to get someone to clean this up.”

  Darren puts his hand on my arm then signs. ‘They won’t let anyone in here to clean until little Ben is moved. They won’t move him until Jess or Pres comes back. They went for showers while Tiny was here.’ I sign back, ‘Okay.’

  I pull a chair away from the blood and sit. “I’m here until someone shows.” They nod.

  “Dad said Ricky’s papers should come in tomorrow,” Jessie tells me.

  I smile and look at Ricky. “It will be official.” He nods, smiling. “We should do something special.”

  “The family day is coming up, we could do it then; all the Brothers always show for that,” little Ben says.

  These kids are always happy for everyone. They’re all smiling like they won the lottery. “I’ll talk to Tiny to set it up, but we can still have a dinner or something. It’s not every day we get to add someone to our family.” I know Tiny has a new cut for him with the Club kids patch and Callahan on it. Penny has shirts for all of us and I have a leather wristband with our name for him, but it doesn’t seem like enough. It’s a special day that should be a once in a lifetime memory for him.

  Danny comes in with a smile. “Heard you had some excitement.” The boys laugh, Ricky and Jessie holding their sides.

  “You could call it that. Tiny is nuts, Uncle Danny. He was telling us what he was doing while he beat the snot out of those guys. He left them with their heads stuck in the wall, then another guy came in with a knife. It was crazy.”

  Danny laughs. “Did he tell you about
maximum damage with minimum exertion?” My mouth falls open. Seriously?

  They nod. Darren signs they want to learn more about that. Danny nods. “We’ll get you scheduled with him over the summer. Anyone get hurt?”

  Ricky looks down. Little Ben says yeah. “Ricky needs his arm looked at. He hit a guy across the face with his cast. I wouldn’t be surprised if he broke it again. He hit him hard.”

  Danny smiles. “I’m sure Tiny could have handled them but good fuckin’ job, Little Brother, always use what you’ve got.” I’m at a loss here. I want to tell him to shut the hell up and don’t encourage them, but they need to be able to defend themselves too. Our world isn’t easy because we keep the gangs and drugs out. If anything, it’s harder than most. “I’ll take you down to get that looked at. VP has the last guy, so you’re safe here. Pres is downstairs with Tiny. He’ll be up soon.” He waits at the door for Ricky. “They’ll be moving you soon, have your stuff ready for that.” Little Ben throws him chin and slides off the bed gently.

  I stand up and tell him, “I’ll get your stuff, little Ben.”

  He slowly turns to look at me. “I got it. I need to move and since I can’t walk the halls, this walk will have to do.”

  I sit, feeling useless. Jessie gives me a smile. “How do you like being a foster mom?”

  I smile, thinking of the kids. “I love it. I can’t believe we got such good kids.”

  Darren frowns and signs, ‘That’s because the other parents wouldn’t let them do anything. They learned to move when they were told to.’ This is the first time I’ve heard anyone say a bad word against them. I’m surprised but don’t say anything. Jessie slaps his arm and points to little Ben, who is signing, ‘Not a good idea, leave it alone. The kids will learn from us now. It might be better that they had it so strict.’ Darren nods to him then looks at me signing ‘sorry.’

  I nod and sign, ‘Old ladies don’t do the gossip thing, so we’re not tearing each other down, but sometimes it’s hard to know what is gossip and what is cause for calling in help. It is a fine line that we all have trouble navigating.’ He nods with a smile and signs that he thinks the old ladies are cool. I smile and thank him.

  Jessie helps little Ben. They have everything on the bed when Ben comes in. He hugs all of them and asks little Ben if he’s ready to move. With a nod little Ben reaches for his laptop and Ben stops him. “They’re taking the whole bed. You can just walk behind.” He puts the laptop down. “Your dad got the last guy, he’s over at Security. I’m here until he gets here, around dinner time; he’ll be staying the night.” Little Ben nods and rolls his eyes.

  Orderlies come in with Tiny. He’s cleaned up and looking better than the last time I saw him. Someone gave him a clean shirt. I breathe a sigh of relief. He notices and smiles at me. “Danny is with Ricky. He needs his arm set and a new cast. Not one single complaint.” He shakes his head, smiling.

  Jessie laughs. “He’s afraid you’ll throw tampons at him.” Everyone cracks up but Tiny.

  Darren signs, ‘He’s Badass.’ Ben and little Ben agree, making Tiny smile proud. Men are so funny.

  Chapter Ten

  One month later...

  It’s Family Day and the Kids Center is packed. I like seeing everyone and being able to chat with friends away from the shop, but I’m not big on crowds. Ricky is so proud. Patches has a banner up welcoming him to the family and a table set up for gifts. The Brothers are a little crazy with presents and there are so many it gets overwhelming. He wants to wait to open them until he can make a list for thank-yous; someone taught him well. Doc took him outside earlier and had a talk with him; I was surprised but glad that he came in happy.

  Some people are here from out west. Jess, Kate, Kelly, CJ, Amanda, Tess and I are sitting with Jenni. She looks a little overwhelmed but hangs right with us. The men are bringing food. Jenni’s husband Wayne is with Cloud, Geek, and Dave, so little Ben serves her. Darren serves Kelly and Jessie serves CJ. We all smile at her. She seems so surprised. I can’t blame her, we aren’t your normal MC, thank God; we are so far from what they were when I met Tiny.

  Ben gets up and talks on the mic, thanking everyone and congratulating Ricky and us. Sandy runs to him when he mentions Ricky. He lifts her and she yells she has a brother, making everyone laugh. Tiny goes up and collects her, and Ben continues, once he says, “Do whatever the fuck makes you happy.” Everyone starts moving around and talking again. I’m watching my gentle giant chatting with our daughter.

  CJ waves at me. I look at her, not realizing she was talking to me. She smiles. “You are like a love struck teenager.” The table laughs. I nod because it’s true. “I was asking if now that Ricky is adopted you want to add a boy or girl to your line up. I have to fill five beds under the contract; we can look for another long term placement.” I hadn’t really thought about it.

  “Yeah, I don’t want a revolving door. I’ll wait for long term.”

  She laughs at me. “It won’t be a long wait; what age group do you want?”

  I think about that. “Sandy’s age in a girl, the boys age in a boy or Sheila’s age in a teenage girl. That should be broad enough criteria to find me a decent kid.” She nods and types on her phone.

  “I won’t put it in until tomorrow or we’ll have calls all day from placement,” she says, still typing. I turn and watch my boys playing with Aaron and Jacob. Scanning the room, I notice everyone is smiling. It’s good to see after the fiasco with the kids.

  * * *

  Tiny

  Thank fuck this day is done. I’m on the patio with Danny, Bob, and Cloud. We’re all quiet, watching the light play on the water. “Little Ben took his shirt off today. The doctor did a good job,” Cloud says.

  “Mandy is going to tattoo him when he’s ready. She’ll do like with Tess and camouflage the scar tissue,” Bob tells us.

  Danny looks over at them. “He’s not sure about covering it yet. He says he can’t think of a design that he wants, so he mustn’t be ready for it.”

  I huff. “Smart fuckin’ Brother.” They agree.

  “Sunday’s the day for him. The Little Brothers are excited. I’m so glad the Brothers calmed down before he got the cut. It would have been a nightmare with them bitching about losing money and him getting a share,” Danny says.

  “I think they realized they were collecting and not working anymore. Me and CJ were at the Club Thursday night with Jake and Zack. Some of the Brothers were talking about it. They’re feeling like they let the others down.” He smiles. “One Brother was bitching and the others shut him down, said if you don’t go to work, you don’t get paid. The MC shouldn’t be any different.”

  Danny looks over at us. “Good, I think Ben was right to let the Brothers handle it themselves; Officers involved in that whole bitch-fest would have fucked it up. I’m glad they accepted it and little Ben as an Officer. Only HS knows all the shit that the Club Kids do but still the majority accepted him. VP was fuckin’ proud.”

  “Is he back to good now? He was red for weeks. Jess was getting worried,” Cloud asks.

  I want to answer, but I don’t want to say what I think. Danny does it for me. “He was pissed at himself for not finding the last four. Three ended up at the hospital for another go at the boys, or at least little Ben. He took it hard that he wasn’t there to protect him. He wasn’t red, just pissed. Once he found the last guy he relaxed but wants to step up Security’s training. They didn’t stop the guys from going in the room. Thank fuck Tiny was in there. Every one of those boys but Darren was still hurt.”

  Bob laughs. “I had them down in the Club the other day. They were talking about old school fighting. It was cute. They’re going to mix what they’ve learned so they can use both as a defense. Fuckin’ Jeremy was defending with everything he could pick up. That kid is a riot when he gets going. Ricky stood there with his mouth open when Jacob and Alex were playing off of Jeremy; all I could do was laugh. Little Ben explained everything to him, but he couldn’t stop
watching the Little Brothers.” We all sit with smiles, picturing the Jackie Chan moves they would have been doing.

  I stand. “I’m out.”

  “Sam’s going with Lana for the appointment tomorrow. VP’s at the Diner. He thinks he’s a good waiter now.” He laughs with Bob and Cloud. All I can think is God help the Brothers. “Could use someone to deliver his orders,” he says with a big smile.

  “He threw half the fuckin’ Brothers out last time. How the hell does he figure he’s a good waiter?” I can’t believe he’s going to let him help again.

  They all laugh. “He wasn’t that bad. With that many people he did good only offering two different plates. I had Sam get me set up with extra eggs and pancake mix. It will be fun,” he says like it’s a fuckin’ ride along the coast.

  “I got the run to the high school in the morning,” I tell him, looking for any damn excuse to get out of it; a Security run behind the boys is a good excuse.

  He smiles, shit! “Good, you can make it for the breakfast rush.”

  I walk out, mumbling about crazy ass Brothers. I hear them laughing, but I don’t stop.

  Nancy’s already in bed when I get home. She smiles when I walk in the room. “I always like when you’re happy I’m home.”

  She smiles bigger. “I’m happy I’m awake when you get home. There was a time when it wasn’t a question, now I feel lucky.” She laughs. “Was Ricky still up?”

  “Yeah, he’s exhausted. He came up when I did. He’s not even close to being done,” I say as I’m getting undressed. Half the garage has boxes of gifts from the party. They should just get the kids gift cards.

  “He didn’t want help. I tried. I think Joey and Christian are coming over tomorrow to help him.”