Her Kinsman-Redeemer

by Darlene Tallman

  “Hey, Dad. Thanks for getting me, Toby couldn’t stay late,” Thad said.

  “No problem, Son. Never has been and never will be.”

  “So…what’s for dinner? I’m starved. Coach wants us to make sure we carb up.”

  “I’ve got some of the best spaghetti I’ve ever had in a container in the back for you,” he replied as he navigated out of the parking lot.

  “Your spaghetti isn’t that good, Dad, and you know it,” his son said, already reaching in the back for the container. “Uh, Dad? Why are there two carseats in the back?”

  He chuckled a little before saying, “Angelina has two little girls and I’ll be taking her around tomorrow to the businesses to meet the managers.”

  Thad perked up-he had never heard that tone in his dad’s voice before and knew it had something to do with the woman he had heard relocated up to the North Georgia chapter. While he didn’t remember his mom at all and was grateful to the old ladies and his grams for all they had done for him growing up, he had missed having a mom. Someone who would listen to him and give him advice about girls and hold him accountable. “So is she the one who made the spaghetti?” he finally asked.

  “Yeah, I stopped by to make sure she didn’t have any problems today while furniture shopping and she asked me to stay. She’s a nice woman.”

  Thad thought about what his dad had just said. He couldn’t remember a time when his dad mentioned a female. Like ever. Sure, he talked about and to the old ladies, but they were family. Well, this one was too, he guessed, but it was different. “Hate I missed yesterday, Dad, but Coach wanted that extra practice for tomorrow,” he said.

  “You missed some good brownies that she brought. But Eva said she planned to bring them every week so you won’t miss them again, I’m sure.”

  “You didn’t bring me any?” he asked, the sound muffled by his mouthful of spaghetti.

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full. No, I didn’t. You snooze, you lose.”

  “Dang, Dad, that’s kind of harsh, don’t you think?”

  “Nope. Now, you got any homework you need to finish up? With the meet tomorrow, you may as well go ahead so you don’t get behind.”

  “Got some reading to do and I figured I would get that done once I shower. Practice was intense today and Andy got hurt, so we all need to be ready to up our runs,” he finally said, having polished off the container. “Damn, Dad, that was some good spaghetti!”

  Zeke glanced over at his son and saw him licking his lips. He could give him shit about cursing, but why bother? Instead, he simply said, “Use your words, Son. Use your words. And remember, some girls don’t like guys who curse every other sentence.”

  He caught himself as he nearly rolled his eyes-his dad hated when he did that-and simply said, “That was not used as a curse word, Dad, but as an exclamation of appreciation!”

  Zeke started chuckling-his boy had a point because damn it had been some good spaghetti!

  ***

  With Thad off showering before he did his homework, Zeke grabbed a beer and headed out to his back deck. Taking a long pull, he thought again to what Dex had told him before he left. “Listen man, Laser was my best friend and I know he loved her in his own way, but she deserves more than what he gave her. Will you do me a favor and keep an eye out? She’s young and attractive and I just don’t want anyone to take advantage of that fact. It’s not my story to tell, but she had it rough before we came along, and I’ve watched her grow into a confident young woman. Renda and I want the best for her and have been praying that someone would see what we see.”

  He thought about Gayla. They had been young when they hooked up and when she found herself pregnant, he had done the right thing and married her. But a few years into it, she had decided she wanted “more” and had left him and Thad to make her own way in the world. He hadn’t gotten a divorce, convinced that no mother would stay away from her child, but she had ended up dying. Looking back objectively, he could see that they likely wouldn’t have lasted, she was needy, sometimes manipulative, and very self-centered, all qualities that he didn’t like in anyone much less a woman. His thoughts then drifted to the woman he had met the day before and he inwardly smiled. She had to be scared shitless, coming to a new town and into a new chapter knowing no one and yet she had a smile for everyone she met and was already displaying loyalty to the MC.

  A noise behind him had him turning to see Thad, fresh from his shower, coming through the door with a fresh beer and a bottle of water, his book tucked under his arm. He smiled, thanking God for the goodness that was his son. They weren’t “buddies” but he enjoyed being around his old man just chilling and he knew that when he was no longer in “dad” mode, their relationship would expand further. Settling into the chair beside him, Thad handed him the beer and opened his book. “Dad?”

  “Yeah, Son.”

  “Sorry for giving you shit earlier about the carseats. If I met someone who cooked that well, I’d put carseats in my vehicle too.”

  He shook his head at his son’s statement. “She’s taking over the books and while she has an SUV, it’s a smaller one and I’d be cramped so this is easier. I’m picking her up in the morning and introducing her to the managers so she can unravel what Jay did and get us back on track.” The MC wasn’t hurting, not by a longshot, but it still galled him that they had trusted Jay to look after their best interests and he had burned them like he did. He was glad they weren’t a club that took retribution on themselves, choosing to let God handle it.

  “Looking forward to meeting her, especially if she cooks like this!”

  They settled into a companionable silence, the only noise the occasional flipping of a page as Thad read for his assignment. Zeke enjoyed the quiet but he had something on his mind and wanted to feel his son out before he did anything about it.

  “Thad?”

  “Yeah, Dad?”

  “I know I haven’t dated much. How would you feel if I started dating?”

  Thad stopped reading and looked at his dad-really looked at him. He saw a man who was confident in his own skin, who knew how to lead others while not being overbearing. He knew his dad probably got lonely and after thinking about it for a few minutes, he finally said, “Dad, my mother has been gone a long time and you’ve never really dated since then to my knowledge. There’s no way I can expect you to remain single for the rest of your life because honestly? I don’t think that’s what God has planned for you.”

  Out of the mouths of babes he thought as he stared at his son. “I just don’t want to do anything that will hurt you, Thad,” he responded. “I know it wasn’t easy growing up without a mom around.”

  “No, it wasn’t, but that wasn’t your fault, Dad. She made a choice to leave us,” he said, matter-of-factly. “And honestly? From what I’ve heard, you two probably wouldn’t have lasted.”

  Deciding it was time to go back to safer topics, Zeke simply said, “We will never know the answer to that one, Son. Suffice it to say, I am thinking about dating again and just wanted you to know. Now, what say we go raid the fridge and see what else you can carb out on?”

  Chapter Eight

  With the girls bathed and down for the night, she headed into her office to get the few boxes unpacked. Once the books were up on the shelves, she arranged the pictures and knick-knacks around, knowing that some would move into the living and family rooms after the furniture arrived. At least the boxes are emptied she thought as she broke them down and carried them out to the garage. She made a mental note to ask Zeke if there was someplace they could be stored in case another Brother or family had need for them.

  ***

  Back in the house and changed for bed, she decided to look over what she had found again which led to more searching. Hours later, eyes burning from staring at the computer screen, she sat back satisfied. Not only had she found where and how the monies were siphoned, but she knew where they were sitting. She looked at the clock and saw it was going on ten so
she sent a quick text to Zeke instead of calling him in case he was in bed already.

  Angelina: Zeke? It’s Angelina. I’ve found the money.

  Zeke: Really?

  Angelina: Yes. I’ve printed everything out so that we can go over it in the morning.

  Zeke: Sounds good. Now, go get some rest, please.

  Angelina. I will, just wanted you to know. Good night.

  Zeke: Good night, Angelina.

  ***

  He thought about her text as he prepared for bed. She was definitely more than he had expected and he decided he would let Dex know in the morning how glad he was that she had relocated. As he drifted off to sleep, he felt peace deep within.

  Chapter Nine

  When her alarm went off, she realized quickly that it was going to be “one of those days” and felt as if she was behind the power curve trying to get through her shower, get dressed and get the girls up and going. Hearing the doorbell, she rushed to grab the door and barely glanced at Zeke standing there. “Hey, good morning, I’m running a bit behind. I’m sorry. Come in, we should only be a few more minutes.”

  Sensing her distress, he followed her into the kitchen where he could see that for whatever reason, the girls weren’t being cooperative with their breakfast. He sat down next to Melora and started talking to her. “Hey pretty girl, are you giving your Momma a hard time this morning?”

  Melora looked at him wide-eyed before she grabbed a handful of oatmeal and flung it to the floor. He held in his laughter because he could see how upset Angelina was getting and went to get some paper towels to clean up the mess. “Cherub? If they’re not hungry now, trust me, they’ll eat when lunch is served at the daycare. They may not be that hungry right now.”

  She looked at him. He didn’t look upset or strained or any other kind of distress that she was feeling. Instead, he was calmly cleaning up the messes the girls had made and once that was done, he went and got first one and then the other and took them to the sink to wash their face and hands. The girls weren’t always like this first thing in the morning, but every once in a blue moon they got finicky. Never had she been more grateful for an extra set of hands than this morning. “Thank you,” she finally said as she worked to clean up the rest of their breakfast mess. “I think you’re right about them eating at lunchtime. I swear more landed on the floor than in their mouths.”

  He glanced at her as he put the girls down and said, “I commend you for doing this on your own. I had a hard enough time with one and you do it with two.”

  She smiled at him, saying, “Most mornings go a bit smoother than today, that’s for sure. I think it’s all the changes in a few days that has them off a bit. I hope they won’t be a problem at daycare.”

  “They’ll be fine. Marta runs it and has a way with kids. She’ll have them playing and laughing and giggling in no time.”

  “Oh! I met her yesterday. It’ll take me a bit to put the faces with their names, but I’ll get there. Just one of my quirks I think and when I meet a lot of folks at once, like yesterday, names escape me completely.”

  “You’ll get them, don’t worry.”

  Gathering her purse and the files and the girls’ bag, she looked at him and said, “I think we’re ready. Again, I’m sorry we’re running late.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Cherub. We’ve got all day, remember?”

  Cherub? What? Why was he calling her that she wondered? Deciding against asking right now, she walked out the front door with the girls and when he was also out, locked the house up and headed toward her SUV.

  “Uh, Angelina, thought we could take my truck.”

  “Oh! I’ll just get…”

  “No need, I got carseats already so we’re all set,” he told her, taking Cailyn’s hand.

  She looked at him in total astonishment. “You got carseats for your truck?”

  “Yup,” he replied, working to get the little girl into the carseat as she came around to the passenger side and put Melora in.

  “But…but why?” she finally asked.

  “Because your SUV is kind of small for my height and I know that we will be working together to straighten things out and will need to go to the businesses at times. This way, you don’t have to worry about swapping your seats in and out,” he told her. By now, he was at the passenger door waiting to help her in, something she appreciated since it was up off the ground and she knew her gracefulness wouldn’t extend to getting into his truck without help.

  “I wouldn’t have minded swapping them out, Zeke,” she said softly. “There wasn’t a need for you to go to that trouble or expense.”

  “Cherub, it wasn’t any trouble. By the way, Thad was very appreciative of the spaghetti last night.”

  “Oh! I’m so glad. He wasn’t there Sunday, was he?”

  “No, his Coach called an extra practice for today’s race. Seems one of their guys is injured so he wanted to get in some conditioning work and a run in preparation.”

  “That’s good-like I said, I get faces down pretty easy and will match them to the names, but I was worried I had met him and forgotten already!”

  ***

  As they headed toward the daycare, he glanced at her and saw a profile that he could get used to looking at every day. God, where did that come from? He pointed out things he thought might interest her and showed her where the park was at, thinking it would be a good place to take the girls.

  They talked about inconsequential things, he told her how long he had been a part of Heaven’s Sinners and when he had taken over as President. She told him how challenging it had been going to school with two newborns and how grateful she was for the old ladies, especially Renda and her closest friend, Debbie, whose old man, Pongo, was the South Georgia chapter’s secretary.

  “I’ve got to ask-how did he get that as his road name?”

  She started to giggle and then burst into laughter. He didn’t think he’d heard anything so musical sounding in his life and was transfixed for a few moments. Finally composed, she said, “His youngest child loved watching ‘101 Dalmatians’ and he got to where he could quote whole sections of the movie. One day, when he used a quote in Church, Dex looked at him and told him that from now on, his name was Pongo and it stuck!”

  He laughed, more at her telling of the story than anything before he said, “A lot of the guys don’t have road names. It’s not something we necessarily require, but occasionally, one sticks and we give it out, y’know?”

  She nodded. Several of the guys in South Georgia didn’t have road names, but there were plenty who did so she was used to how they rolled.

  They reached the daycare and he pulled in and as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he came around and helped her down and then went and got Melora out. She tried not to be disloyal to Laser’s memory, but there were so many things he didn’t do for her and opening her doors was one of them. Walking in behind him, she saw the woman she had met the day before and smiled.

  “Hi, Marta! I’m so glad you’re here. The girls will remember you and that should make it easier for them to stay,” she said.

  “They’ll be fine, Angelina, I promise. And I have your number in case we run across anything we need help on, but I’ve been doing this all my life now. Is there anything I need to know?”

  “I’ve started potty training them and the daytime accidents are minimal. I’ve found that if I take them before and after they eat, the success rate is greater. Also, I do use a pull-up during naptime but am about to stop that soon.”

  “Well, it sounds like they’re on target. We have the lead instructor in their room and she’ll work on some basics like colors and shapes, nothing too strenuous but we try to get them ready for the four-year old Pre-K room. There are four helpers in there because that is the age when so many are potty training, so they should be good there as well. Any food issues? Particular dislikes?”

  She thought for a few moments before saying, “They’ll eat just about anything and hav
e no known allergies that I’m aware of right now. They kind of goofed off at breakfast so I think they’ll be hungry by lunch!”

  “Looks like we’re all set. I’ll call if we have any issues. Do you want to see their room?” Marta asked.

  “Yes, please. C’mon, sweet girls. Let’s go see your new class!” she said.

  Once again, Zeke held Melora’s hand as they walked to the three-year old classroom. Seeing the bright colors and the toys that were arranged by interest, she knew the girls would have a good time. As she leaned down, she hugged and kissed them both before saying, “Momma will see you two in a few hours okay? Listen to your teachers and remember your manners.”

  “Yes, Momma.”

  “Okay, Momma.”

  Leaving them was hard and Zeke could see her take a deep breath before she smiled brightly and looked at him, saying, “You ready to go?”

  He nodded at her and put his hand on the small of her back to guide her back out the door, never expecting to feel the zing of something shoot up his arm. He saw her shiver slightly and wondered if she had felt it as well, but didn’t ask. Once again, he helped her into the truck and she smiled gratefully, saying, “It’s a downside being this short. Thanks for the lift up, Zeke.”

  He smiled up at her and replied, “Anytime, Cherub. Anytime.”

  What was with the ‘Cherub’ comment she wondered. As he got in, she cleared her throat before asking, “Zeke? Several times now, you’ve called me ‘Cherub’ and I was wondering why?”

  Well damn he thought. She wasn’t afraid to ask the tough questions after all. “Does it bother you?” he asked her.

  “No…not really. I mean, Dex calls me Angel, Laser called me Lina, most of my friends either call me by my full name or variations, so I answer to a lot of things,” she finally told him. “But you still didn’t answer my question. Why?”

  “Because you’re petite. Because despite your petite size, you have a fierce protectiveness that surrounds you with regards to your girls. Because you have an angelic face.”