The moments went by and the pounding continued, and it terrified me, especially when Denise got fed up and yelled, “I’m going right now to call the cops. This is fucking kidnapping.”
“Della-Ray,” Nichole began. “We should let her in. Calm her down. If she calls the police, we’re done for. She has a legal right over Jess.”
I raised a wide-eyed haunted gaze to her. “She’s never taken care of her. Not even once since she gave birth to her. And now you want me to hand my baby over to her?” Does Jess even mean anything to you?”
“You’re not thinking right. We need to diffuse this situation before it escalates out of control.” With a frown, she circled the bed and headed towards the door.
But I couldn’t think rationally. “Don’t you dare open that do— No, Nichole!”
She twisted the lock and the door swung open to reveal the man waiting at the door.
Impatience was written all over his face. He came into the room and I shot to my feet, a scream erupting from my throat. “Don’t you fucking touch me, or her!” Jess began crying once again, and I rocked her against me. “If you dare touch her, I swear to God I’ll kill you.”
With a heavy sigh, he turned around and exited the room, leaving Nichole and me clutching Jess. There was sadness in Nichole’s eyes. I hurried straight for the door, banged it shut with my free hand, and twisted the lock, leaving only both of us in the room.
“They’re going to call the cops Della-Ray!” Nichole said.
“For fuck’s sake, Della,” Denise called from outside. “Don’t be such an ass. She’s my child and I’m taking her. You can do it the easy way or the hard way.”
“Don’t hand her over,” Nichole said suddenly.
I looked at Nichole in surprise. “I thought you wanted me to?”
“I did, once, before I realized no one can love Jess more than you. Denise doesn’t care about Jess at all. I didn’t tell you she was coming because she said she wanted to surprise you. She had a new man she wanted to show to you and she also wanted to look in on Jess and see how she was doing. Everything was going so well for about fifteen minutes after she arrived. She never said anything about an adoption agency until she heard Jess call you Mommy. It’s just pure jealously that’s making her take Jess away from you, even though she doesn’t want Jess and she can see how much Jess loves you.”
Even at that tense moment, I felt a surge of joy that Nichole hadn’t betrayed me.
“What do we do?” she whispered. “Do you want me to call my boss and ask him to come help us? He has a lawyer and everything.”
“No.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket, as I rocked Jess to buy her silence and began to scroll desperately through my call log for the day. I found his phone number and prayed to God that it would ring when I called him. It did, but he didn’t pick up and it rang until it disconnected. I wouldn’t give up. “Pick up you bastard,” I whispered, and tried again. And again. Until finally, there was a response on my fifth attempt.
“Della-Ray?” he said, surprise and urgency in his voice.
My knees almost gave out in relief. “I need you!” I cried out to him. “They want to take Jess away from me. Please. I need you right now!”
“Who wants to take—”
“I’ll tell you when you get here. “Please ... please just come over right now as fast as possible. I’m in Jess’s bedroom, opposite from mine. I’ll owe you for the rest of my life, I swear it.”
There was no hesitation in his voice as he answered, “I’m on my way.”
Della Ray
I had never ridden so fast through the night.
In fifteen minutes, I was at Della-Ray’s door. A car was parked outside in the driveway, but to my relief it didn’t belong to anyone I knew from the club. I pounded on the door and it was pulled open almost immediately by her roommate. I spotted her as I left Della’s bedroom the last time I was here. She was sitting in the kitchen and our eyes met, but not a single word had been exchanged between us.
“Where’s Della-Ray?” I demanded.
She jerked her head towards one of the doors. There were two others sitting on the sofas and staring at me, but they weren’t my concern. I headed straight for Jess’s bedroom, and they both jumped up to come after me.
“Hey!” the woman called.
“What the—?” the man said, grabbing my hand and pulling at it, as I reached her door.
I was in the worst mood I could possibly be in so at the rude contact, I looked from the place on my arm that the scrawny brute who was holding back to his face.
“Who the hell are you to just barge into someone else’s house?” he asked.
I then noticed he took a step back at the icy look in my eyes. “If you touch me again, you’re going to lose that hand,” I stated quietly.
His hand dropped off as if I had electrocuted him. Calmly, I turned to tap against the door. “Della-Ray!” I called out.
“Bone!” she answered immediately. The relief in her voice was palpable. “You’re here.”
“Yeah, open the door.”
I could hear her rushing to it, fumbling with the key before she was able to pull it open. The state she was in made my heart slam against the walls of my chest. Her eyes were red and her face was streaked with tears. Even her hair looked disheveled as Jess was asleep in her arms.
“What happened?” I asked, taking a step inside. “Did anyone touch you?”
She shook her head, but gave the audience behind me a dark look. Carefully placing the child on the bed, she came to the doorway. After ushering me out, she locked the door behind her, and turned to me. “Thank you so much for coming, Bone.”
“What’s going on?”
“That’s my sister and her man. They want to take Jess away—”
“That’s right. I’m that child’s mother, and I’m calling the cops,” her sister threatened. “You’re going to be in real trouble today. The both of you!”
Irritated by the racket, I focused on her sister. I would never have thought she was Della’s sister. Harshly bleached hair, heavy make-up and dressed like a slut, she was the exact opposite of Della. She looked like she had lived a hard life. “Can you not see that your sister is upset? Where’s the sisterly love, lady? Can you please give her a bit of time to calm down?”
She gave me a sulky sour look in return, but shut her trap.
I turned back to Della-Ray, but the tears wouldn’t stop running down her eyes. She was so visibly shaken that I wanted to hurt her sister and that excuse for a man she had brought with her. I pulled Della into my arms and held her close to my body.
“I’m so sorry,” Della apologized for her outburst, but when I saw that she couldn’t stop, I tightened my hold on her and rested her head on my chest to calm her down.
I rubbed her back gently. “It’s okay,” I said softly. “I’m here now.”
She settled into my embrace and I ran my fingers through her hair. I turned to her friend whom I found watching us with deep interest and surprise. “What’s going on?” I asked.
She immediately snapped to attention to explain, “She wants to take Jess away with her and dump her in an orphanage.”
Della-Ray started sobbing again.
“It’s nobody’s business what I do with her! I’m sick of fucking do-gooders and busy bodies trying to tell me what to do with my own daughter.”
“What makes her your daughter?” I asked. “Where have you been for the last four years? As far as anyone with a brain can see, Della is more of a mother to her than you’ve ever been. So how dare you barge in here unannounced and attempt to just take her away? How can that be good for your daughter? Della is all she’s known since the day she was born.”
She was shocked and wide-eyed at my accusation. “Who the hell are you?” she asked.
“That’s none of your business and not what should concern you tonight,” was my response.
“Wow,” she went on. “Della-Ray, you have someone to fight your b
attles for you now? I suggest you be careful. He looks like he could slit your throat in the middle of the night.”
Just then, we heard sirens blasting through the air as they arrived at the house.
With a victorious glance, her sister rushed to the door to welcome the officers in.
Della-Ray looked up at me with fear in her eyes, I told her not to worry.
She still let go of me to turn around to welcome them. They had barely arrived at the house before her sister began to sing her song and I honestly couldn’t believe that they were related.
The officers glanced at me as she made up accusations about my forcing my way into the house and threatening them all to which Della-Ray immediately tried to defend, but I held her arm back, and shook my head to discourage it. There was no need.
When she was done with her complaining, the officer in charge turned to me, one eyebrow cocked. “Miller?”
“I’ve got it all handled,” was my simple response.
“Family dispute then?” his partner asked.
I nodded.
“Sure.” With a polite tip of their hats at me, both men turned around and exited the house.
Her sister stared after them in shock.
So did Della-Ray. “What just happened?” she asked.
“We’ve had some run-ins,” I explained briefly. “They’re familiar enough with me. Come take a seat,” I said to her and holding her hand, I led her over to the sofa. “You both need to talk about this. You love Jess and think she is best with you, but your sister is her mother after all. Talk about it.” I settled her on the sofa, then turned to her sister who was still fuming at the door. “You don’t want to settle this?”
The man she was with headed over to sit opposite Della. He patted the area next to him.
We all looked towards her sister, but she refused to comply. Her jaw was set in a stubborn line.
“What’s the real problem here?” I asked. “Della’s taken care of Jess since she was a baby. Why the sudden need to take her to an orphanage?”
“First, tell me why the hell I have to explain myself to you?” she sniped.
God, help me, I wanted to shake some sense into her, but thankfully Della’s friend stepped in, “It’s my fault. I was the one who originally gave Denise the impression that Della Ray wasn’t coping with the financial stress of taking care of Jess’s medical bills,” she confessed.
I could see the outrage bloom on Della’s face, but I held her hand tighter to indicate that she should let it go and calm down.
Ignoring Della’s expression, her friend looked straight at me. “Jess was not living and it hurt me to watch her keep struggling just to make ends meet. My intention was to call Denise and tell her to make contributions towards Jess’s care instead of acting as though she didn’t exist, but it seems she would prefer to put her in an orphanage.”
“I still can’t understand why I can’t do with my child as I please,” her sister piped in.
“I know what your problem is,” Della yelled. “You feel guilty and you’re afraid that Jess will eventually come to resent you. Your pride is threatened and instead of finding ways to take responsibility for her, you want her to be abandoned all over again, and make your incapability someone else’s problem.”
“How dare you talk to me that way?” her sister spat, her eyes shooting angry sparks.
I understood what was going on now and knew that it wasn’t my place to decide what the outcome would be. “Della,” I said to her. “Let’s not drag this out any further. You’ve heard from your sister and since she is Jess’s mother, you have to consider her option.”
“But—” Della began.
I shook my head at her, then turned to Denise. “What would Della have to do to convince you that she is capable of taking care of Jess?”
That threw her. It was clear she hadn’t given it any thought at all. “I just want what’s best for her,” she said finally. “A good family. A good education. Her medical bills paid.”
“True, you have the right of being Jess’s biological mother, but Della has been Jess’s guardian for a while now, and for abdicating your motherhood for so long, you also do not have complete right over Jess any longer. So, let’s give this a month. Now that Della knows what is important to you, she can work towards proving that she can provide all those things on your list and if she can’t then, you will need to inform her of how the adoption process can be made more acceptable to her.”
“I like the idea,” Nichole declared. “Let’s revisit this again after a month.”
I rose to my feet and looked at Nichole. “Do they have room and board with you for the night?”
“Uh. No. We don’t have any room.”
“Let’s go,” her sister’s partner said, and rose to his feet.
“How can we just leave?” her sister fumed.
“If you don't leave, I’ll throw you out right now,” I stated in a low voice.
She glared at me with venom in her eyes.
Her partner was eventually able to pull her out of the house and soon the door shut in complete silence.
“I’ll be on my way too,” I said to both the girls.
Della’s eyes filled with tears and I knew what she wanted to say, but that the words didn’t seem sufficient. With my thumb, I caught a tear as it rolled down her face. “You seem tough but in the end you’re just a crybaby, aren’t you?” I teased.
She lightly pounded her fist on my chest, and it made me smile despite the mess around us.
I turned around to leave but Della-Ray grabbed my arm, lifted herself up to the tip of her toes, and pressed a kiss to my cheek. She hurried off then and I was left staring after her. She was so cute I couldn’t breathe. Shaking my head, I turned and saw Nichole watching us. She saw me to the door.
“I misjudged you,” she said quietly.
I had a few words for her too. “You’re a good friend to Della. She’s mad right now though.”
“She’s all bark and no bite,” she said with a laugh.
I smiled in agreement. Then she closed the door. I got on my Harley and rode into the night, much, much lighter than I could have dreamed I would feel, given the day I’d had.
Della Ray
“I’m making you breakfast as an apology,” Nichole said to me as I walked into the kitchen the next morning.
I rubbed my eyes. “Why aren’t you at work?”
“Remember I told you I’m going to help you. Well, I told my boss, I have to get a part-time job and he said, he could spare me two days a week. So, I’m going out to find a job today. Who knows I might end up working with you at the diner,” she said with a smile.
I stopped on my way to the refrigerator and stared at her in shock. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. We’re going to make a plan of how we are going to care for Jess. Then we are going to call Denise, invite her over, and charm her into letting us have Jess. At the end of the day, she doesn’t want Jess, she just got mad because she had thrown Jess away as worthless and you had turned her into something special and she was jealous of that. When she knows it’s going to be both of us at the helm, she’ll slink away. I know women like that. They don’t have staying power.”
I smiled slowly at her. “You know, I was thinking exactly the same last night. Denise has always been a bit of a dog in the manger. She wouldn’t want a toy until I wanted it, but after a while, she would lose interest anyway. A month is a long time.”
“Exactly. So … have you called him?”
“Who?” I asked.
“You aren’t fooling anyone with the way you’re blushing.”
“No,” I said, and continued on my journey towards the refrigerator. I opened the door and searched through the contents. My cheeks were hot, just as they had been the moment I opened my eyes this morning and remembered the way he had stepped in and handled it all so effectively and impressively on my behalf. A sweet warmth had flooded my chest. I made sure to cool my face down bef
ore I pulled my head away and shut the refrigerator.
Nichole stabbed a sausage and put it on a plate as I remembered I had come in for a glass of orange juice. I picked up a glass, reopened the refrigerator and filled it with juice from the carton.
As I drank, she kept speaking, “You know, I think I may have judged him too quickly. He seemed so mature and … umm … hunky. The way he resolved the issue yesterday. Very mature. And that whole black t-shirt, black jacket, and black jeans vibe he had going on … Woah!” She scraped scrambled eggs onto three plates. “I thought you said it was just a one-time thing, but the way he rushed over because of you … that shows he cares.”
I shrugged, not willing to participate in this.
She turned to look at me with curious eyes. “And what’s the deal between him and the cops? How could they just leave that way unless they knew him? But how? They must trust his character, but how? And why? He’s a freaking outlaw biker. He even made the news yesterday.”
“They could be dirty cops,” I suggested.
She considered the idea. “Oh, my God! Yes, that would explain everything. I saw a program on TV sometime back and they were saying how all these small police departments were all under the thumb of the Mafia or the Biker clubs. That’s how they get their drugs into the state.”
I had heard enough. I didn’t want to hear anything else negative about Bone. He was a hero in my eyes at the moment and I wanted to keep it like that for a while longer. “Your bacon is burning,” I pointed out.
She scrambled off to the stove while I exited the kitchen. I helped Jess into her pink blouse, pink skirt and pink shoes.
“Is Denise coming to visit again today?” she asked, carefully tying her shoelaces.
“Um … no. Not today. She might be coming in a month’s time.”
“That’s good. Because I like her. She’s nice.”
“Jess, you know she is your real mother, right?”
“Yeah.” She looked at me and flashed me a brilliant smile. “But I still want to call you Mommy.”
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