MC: LaPonte (11 page)

Walking in the door I’m
surprised by everyone greeting me with a ‘Brother’ or a slap on the
back. I see Patches and move over to him. We’ve gotten close since
he was stabbed and I was shot. When I got out of the hospital I
started walking over to see him. He started taking walks with me to
the garage, at first to chat with the Brothers, then to the beach
and around the yard. He’s a good kid but without family. It feels
good to hang out with him, he reminds me of Rich. Rich even asked
him to move into the second room and share the expenses with him. I
think Patches likes the idea of Rich hanging out there when he
comes home. I like the idea that he’s tethered to someone and not
going through life alone.

“Danny, glad you made it.
Did you take out any bikes?” He smiles. Fuckin comedian.

“Not yet. The day is still
young.” I tell him. He laughs. "You still coming for dinner?" He
nods with a smile.

Caroline comes up and
leans against me. I step away and look down at her. Luke's standing
to the side of her. “Sorry Caroline, I’m taken.” She sucks in a
breath, shock is evident on her face, she hasn't seen me since I
was shot. I don't have a bandage covering the scar anymore, that's
enough to shock any one. Without a word she turns and is gone. I
look at Patches put my hand on my face and laugh. He cracks up. “I
guess I scared her away.” No one else from the club or my family
react to it, not even the boys. I forget how bad it
looks.

He slaps my back, “She’ll
get over it. Not sure they like the new and improved you though,
you don't pay them any attention.”

“Guess they’ll have to
live with it. I’m taken and a candidate for phantom of the opera.
Don’t see either one of those things changing anytime soon.” I say
with a smile realizing its true and I don't care who knows. I
notice Luke walking away.

“Good to hear Brother.”
Pres says, I whip my head around sucking in a breath from the pain
of skin stretching. I put my hand on my face then take it down. He
came up on my blind side. Fuck I moved too fast. “I didn’t
remember, Danny. I’ll remember next time.” He’s smiling. I nod;
glad he didn’t make a big deal of it. “You told me you were
thinking of selling your company. Did you and Kate make a decision
yet?”

I lean closer to him, “I’d
have to learn how to do everything over, depth and distance aren’t
easy yet. Kate agrees that I should step back to being architect
since I don’t have the same problems on the computer.” I tell him
in a low voice trying to keep it between us.

“I have a job I hope
you're interested in. See me after church.” He squeezes my shoulder
and moves out of my field of vision. Fuck. A new job with a new
handicap really isn’t something I’m looking for.

When I turn I notice Tiny
and Petey standing to my right at the bar. Fuck, I need to remember
to stand the other way. “Tiny, Petey.” I nod to them.

“We’ve been here since you
walked in Brother. I didn’t want to do what Pres did, but fuck,
someone’s had your ear since you got here. I just wanted to know
how the mirrors are working.” Petey asks. I hold my face and laugh,
then tell them about my driving experience so far. I almost took
out my bike. They laugh at that. I give them my new driving theory
and thank them for putting the mirrors on, telling them they
help.

“Hey we got the perfect
track for you to practice on.” Tiny says.

“Where’s it at?” I’m more
than willing to practice. I want back on my fuckin bike.

"The old police station.
Pres is looking at buying it. It has a training course already set
up. I can arrange for a new lock in the meantime. I’ll get you a
key when it’s on.”

“That’ll work. I’ll have
to stop by surveillance and see when the traffic’s light so I can
drive there. Thanks Brothers."

Everyone starts moving to
the meeting room. The club's grown bigger than Pres expected and
Brothers are standing along the walls. This works for me, I stay on
the right so I can see everyone without being surprised from the
blind side.

Just as Tiny said, Pres is
buying the old police station. Security will move there once the
building is done. He's also buying the old bread building. Fuck.
Jess must be playing the market again. Most of the business is the
same. I'm glad I haven't missed much. They're looking for an
officer to replace Dave. They want names to consider by the next
meeting. Church is dismissed but I stay where I am and wait until
Pres is free.

Steve comes over to me,
"Jess is wanting you to get married next month." He doesn't like
that idea by the sound of his voice.

"I already told her we're
waiting for the baby first. She's doing good on the meds, I know
she'll try and do too much. Once the baby is born we'll tell her
the date. Kate's got Tracy and Peg to help keep the load off her;
almost everything is decided and settled. Kate has a couple of
things for Jess to do but its calls and checking lists. Just don't
tell her." I love my sister but she's too fuckin stubborn
sometimes.

He nods. "Thanks Brother.
Didn't want to bring it up yesterday. Not into fightin my wife over
this."

"Kate isn't budging on
this so she has no one to fight with, we all agree."

He nods, "Little Ben says
you’re helpin him with a shed for his bikes."

"Yeah, he talked to me
yesterday about it." I'm going to need some help with this. Fuck, I
hate to ask.

"Wouldn't mind makin it a
Brothers project like the truck with Rich." His way of asking me,
that was easy. He wasn't spending time around me; I'm glad that's
changing I was starting to feel like a fuckin leper.

"Thank fuck, I was just
thinking I'm going to need help." I look over his shoulder and
lower my voice. "I'm not so sure about using saws right
now."

"Could do the cuttin. Not
sure about layin it out though. Could ask Pres."

I hold my face and smile.
"I can lay it out, I'm pretty sure if I'm building a shed for
Little Ben, Jessie will need one too. We might as well schedule the
three of us to do both."

"I'll work it out with
Pres and get times." He looks behind him.

Pres comes up on the side
of him. "I'm glad you waited Brother. I have a problem keeping up
with the fuckin buildings. We're buying more that will need work on
top of the roof on transport and a new furnace at the daycare
before winter. With more members, more buildings, more businesses,
I can't keep up. What I need is someone to take care of all the
building needs. The emergencies, the preventative maintenance, the
new construction. Fuck, everything, it's all piling up on me. I
have no fuckin experience in how to take care of this shit before
it’s a problem. Are you interested in a Building Supervisor
job?"

"Fuck yeah. I was hoping
it wasn't something I'd have to relearn." Thank God.

"I asked Jess for a report
on our properties for you. She said I couldn't just give you a
report. She told me about your dyslexia and the color coded
spreadsheets. Just give her a call and let her know you're in. She
can't get you running until Wednesday. She's redoing the Prospect
sheets for Tiny; he's new to the sheets so she's working with him
Tuesday. Once she gets you the sheets, she said you can add to them
yourself, yeah?"

Fuck I didn't know Tiny
was dyslexic. "Yeah, I've been using them for years. Wednesday is
fine. I need to settle a few jobs and run plans for a house in
Bristol."

He smiles, "Thanks
Brother, I don't think I can take another fuckin phone call from
these people. They know less than I do."

I hold my face and smile.
"I'll take care of it Pres."

"You still have pain?" He
asks.

"Yeah, smiling and
laughing still pulls. Can't eat a bag of chips yet either." I
smile. "It will ease in time." I hope. Geek calls for
him.

"Good, thanks for taking
this Brother. I'll get you set up with Jake at HR, just stop by
there sometime this week." He turns and is gone. Wow, the perfect
job just fell in my lap. I look at Steve.

"Guess the shed talk will
hold til he's not so busy." He says with a smile.

"Yeah." We walk out
together.

Chapter
Sixteen

One month...

"She's beautiful Jess. I
don't know how you get anything done. I'd want to sit and stare at
her all day."

She laughs. "You learn to
get your stuff done while they sleep. When she's awake I spend my
time loving everything about her."

Little Ben runs in ducking
in the bathroom. Jess laughs. I wonder what she's laughing about.
He runs back out and over to me. Putting his hand on Elizabeth's
head, he bends and kisses her cheek, "love you my little baby
girl." I laugh with Jess when he runs out the door.

"That is the freakin
cutest thing I have ever seen." I'm still laughing.

"In about ten minutes
Jessie will come in and do the same thing. I'll never have to worry
about her with those two." She's so happy she glows.

"I'm so happy for you my
almost sister." She deserves to be happy.

"Any news on the date yet?
I can't wait until you have a baby I can spoil."

"Actually we were thinking
next month." I can't help my smile, I'm so damn excited.

She jumps up and grabs
paper and a pen. I laugh. "What's the date? I need to get
everything set up."

"Nope. It's a reception at
the community center, with the same caterer and photographer as
you. All you need to do is get me a cake. I don't want a house
though." I laugh. "Traditional cake with light pink flowers.
Whatever you think is best. Peg and Tracy are decorating the
tables. I'll need you at the ceremony though. Rich is Danny's best
man." I smile.

She looks devastated. With
Tracy's help we got it all set up so she wouldn't get run down. Her
arthritis has been kept in check with the new meds but if we don't
watch out for her, she goes overboard and pushes until she's
exhausted. "That's it, the cake?" She is not a happy
camper.

"Well, we need someone to
perform the ceremony too." I put on my best acting skills and look
thoughtful.

"I can take care of that.
I got your cake and the judge." She smiles.

"I am so excited." I kiss
Elizabeth's head.

"Me too, you'll finally be
legally mine."

I crack up. "Your brother
says the same thing."

"Where's the
ceremony?"

"The gazebo at Danny's
house."

"That will be beautiful
Kate, I'm happy for you and so glad you brought my brother back. I
love you both so much. Was he pissed that I told Ben about his
dyslexia? He didn't say anything to me." She looks
nervous.

"Not at all. Ben told him
about Tiny. I think when he heard, he realized how many people have
learning disabilities. It just wasn't a big deal
anymore."

"Thank God. Ben wanted me
to run a report for him but I knew he wouldn't get through it like
that. I didn't really have a choice. Nobody would even care, he's
proven himself with all he can do despite dyslexia. I'm sorry they
couldn't save his eye but I'm so happy the club needed him just
when he needed them. Like it was meant to be." We both look at the
door as it opens.

I crack up. Jessie runs
in, goes in the bathroom to wash his hands and runs over. He smiles
at me, I move Elizabeth to my lap. He holds her hand. "It's me,
Jessie. You're already growing baby girl." He bends and kisses her
forehead. "Love you." He runs out the door.

"There is not one single
person I can tell this to that would believe me. They are freakin
unbelievable. How did you get them to wash up before they touch
her?"

She shrugs, "Steve told
them the first time they held her that they had to wash up so she
didn't pick up germs that her little body couldn't fight off,
they've been doing it ever since. They take it very seriously." She
sighs. "They take everything very seriously, who am I kidding." She
looks confused.

"You still think they're
reincarnated old men that were best friends?" I laugh. She nods,
making me laugh more. I notice the clock. "Damn. I have to get to
the shelter." I kiss sweet little Elizabeth on her head and stand.
I get her in the bassinet and hug Jess. "I'm so happy for you Jess,
I'll see you Friday."

I walk to the back of the
garage; the shed is coming along quickly. The boys are nailing
shingles with help from Rob while the guys are putting up siding. I
kiss Danny and wave bye to the guys.

I get to the house ten
minutes before I'm scheduled. Walking in I check to make sure
everything is set up and ready for the woman and her two kids. Mary
took care of everything. I love that the old ladies volunteer for
us; they always go above and beyond whatever I ask. I hear a car
pull up and walk out to the porch.

Len and Karen get out. Len
stays with the car while Karen ushers the family in. Once we get
the paperwork in order Karen leaves and I show them around. The
Brothers set the garage up so kids can play without being seen.
They stay and play while I finish showing the house to the mom. I
tell her about the CNA that will change her bandages and promise to
pick her up in the morning for court. We go over the alarm and how
to call surveillance in case of emergency. I let her know I am five
minutes away and security will pick me up on their way. With a
wave, I leave her to start the healing process and head
home.