by Erin Osborne
She blamed these men for the hell she was in and wanted her husband back. The way she used to blather on, you’d think these men killed my dad. But, when she was slightly more coherent, I’d hear her say things about runs and clubs and things like that. Everything points to him being in a club of some sort. I wonder if it’s the club around Brighton Hills.
We all know they’re here; they frequent the town on a regular basis and make sure the drugs and crime rate are down. Hell, they usually run any dealers or pimps out of town as soon as they find them. Brighton Hills is their territory and they keep it safe. I’m not sure if my dad was ever a member of them or not, but I’d like to find out. Too bad I don’t have any run-ins with the guys in the club. They don’t tend to frequent the daycare or school. And I only go to the store while Karson is at school, while they’re probably still sleeping.
The club in Brighton Hills is the Kings Vengeance MC. Women in town go to their clubhouse on the weekends to have a wild night with a biker. Men in town want to be in the club with them. Most of them don’t have the balls to actually talk to anyone in the club though. I’ve heard whispered talks about their parties; sex in the open, drugs, loud music, and anything else you can think of. That’s never been my scene and I won’t go near anyone doing drugs now. My mother taught me a life lesson about being around people that use, and I don’t need to be near them ever again. So, I stay far away from the club even though I’d like to know if my dad was a member. I want to know if I have any family out there or just hear stories about the man my dad was before his life ended way too soon.
The last five years have been rough to say the least, but I don’t regret keeping Karson with me at all. He’s the only bright spot in my life and I’ll do anything for him. Karson is a smart and loving boy. He’s just very quiet because of the trauma suffered when our mother was still alive. The doctors have tested him for everything they can think of and nothing is wrong with him. It’s just he’s quiet and doesn’t speak when he doesn’t have to or doesn’t want to. But, once he’s decided to talk to you, Karson is a funny kid and we laugh all the time. He just doesn’t talk around everyone.
My only friend is Santana and she doesn’t understand everything I’ve given up to be with Karson. According to her, I should be out partying and living my life the way a twenty-year-old normally does; partying, going to bars, going out on dates, and things like that. I’m more than happy to stay home and only go out occasionally when Karson and I go out to dinner. Or for ice cream when he’s done good in school. Santana has a loving family and doesn’t know the hell I grew up in. I haven’t told her that part of my life because I’m sure it would chase her away faster than I could blink.
Santana isn’t from Brighton Hills originally. Her family moved here when her grandmother got sick and passed away. They inherited her house and couldn’t imagine selling it to a stranger. So, they uprooted their lives to move here. Her mom works at the bank and her dad is a manager at the only car dealership in town. She has a younger brother and sister and her parents dote on all of them. The way I grew up is not anything she could ever begin to understand. So, I don’t try to explain anything to her about my past and growing up.
“Karson, are you up, honey?” I ask, walking into his room.
We had a bad night last night. Karson wasn’t feeling well and was up most of the night getting sick and running a low-grade fever. He got better in the early hours of the morning so he’s not going to school today, but he’ll be going to work with me. I’m allowed to bring him with me when he’s sick. Karson usually lays on a mat behind my desk and stays away from all the kids, so they don’t get sick.
Karson is still lying in bed, but he is dressed so that’s something. I pick him up and head to the small kitchen where a piece of dry toast is waiting for him to try to eat. I’ve had a small cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal already so I’m just waiting on Karson to get something small in his stomach so we can leave. It’s a little bit of a walk to get to the daycare so I get his stroller out of the closet and open it up before getting his bag and placing it on the handles of the stroller.
Within fifteen minutes, Karson and I are walking out the door. I’m already late for work and no one answered the phone when I called to let them know I’m running behind. It’s going to be at least another fifteen to twenty minutes before I get to work and clock in. Today is not going to be a good day at all.
Karson doesn’t talk or point out any animals we happen to see like normal. I know he’s still feeling like crap and I feel horrible I can’t do more to make him feel better. So, I keep up a steady conversation because I know he’s listening to me. I point out the squirrels, cats, and dogs in yards. When we get close to the daycare, I hear the rumble of pipes. Karson perks up and looks around for the source of the sound. He loves listening to motorcycles and other cars and trucks when they’re louder than normal.
“Bike!” he says excitedly, pointing a finger behind me as he sees them round the bend in the road.
I turn my head briefly and see several members of Kings Vengeance riding toward us. The only reason I know is the leather on their back and the man in the middle of the pack. None of them wear helmets while they ride in town because they don’t have to. There’s no helmet law in Brighton Hills and they take full advantage of it. I couldn’t ever imagine riding a bike with no helmet to protect my head. But, since I’ll never be on the back of a bike, I don’t have to worry about it.
As the bikes get closer to us, they slow down. I’m not sure if it’s because of the speed limit or Karson’s excited face still peeking around the edge of his stroller. The ground rumbles beneath my feet as I stop to bend over the top of the stroller and pull his blanket up further around his little body. It’s warm out, but I don’t want to risk getting him any sicker than he already is.
When the bikes pass us, they’re going as slow as they can it seems. Karson has his hands over his ears to cut out some of the noise from the pipes. One of the men toward the front of the pack lowers his hand from the handlebar and waves at my brother. He excitedly waves back before shoving his fingers in his mouth, a habit I’m trying to get him to break.
My eyes catch the man in the middle of the pack. He’s got short brown hair that’s blowing as the wind surrounds them. I can’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses covering them. He’s also got a bandana tied around the lower portion of his face, like most of the other men. There’s a quiet strength about the man as my eyes don’t break contact with his body. I can’t tell from the clothes he’s wearing, but he looks to have muscles in all the right places. Damn!
No man has ever captured my attention before. Or sent a shockwave of sensations through me. But I’ve seen this man around town before and it’s always the same thing with him. I know nothing about him, but I still respond to him for some reason. It’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened in my life.
As the bikes get past us, I can finally tear my eyes from the man. They begin to speed up and their bikes get louder than before. If I thought the ground shook as they were passing us, it’s nothing compared to now. Thankfully, I don’t have time to think about it since the daycare is right next to me and I turn to go in the building.
“Good morning, Patty,” I say as I push Karson through the door.
“Oh, good morning, Sydney. Um, Diedre wants to see you in her office before you go to your room,” she tells me.
Patty is the receptionist for the daycare. She’s an older lady who loves to laugh and always has a smile on her face. While she smiles at me this morning, it doesn’t reach her bright blue eyes. I instantly know my morning is about to get worse. Nodding my head, I place a smile on my face and make my way down the hall and stop outside of Diedre’s office.
Diedre is the director of the daycare and she has been as lenient as possible with me. I’ve taken time off when Karson has been sick and brought him here with me after he started school when he’s been sick. She’s let me off when I’ve had meetings at t
he school or to pick him up when I needed to. Diedre is in her early forties. She’s got dark hair and brown eyes. She’s more serious than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. But, she’s fair, generous, and a great lady to work for. I’ve loved working here for the last five years.
Knocking on the door, I wait for Diedre to answer me. It’s not long before I hear her call out for me to enter.
“Diedre, I’m sorry I’m late this morning,” I immediately say. “Karson was sick last night, and I overslept when I finally got to go to bed.”
“Sydney, please sit down,” she begins. “I know your situation isn’t ideal. You’re a great employee when you’re here and I know you have your hands full with Karson. But I can’t keep giving you breaks and letting you take time off. The rest of the staff has to pick up the slack and it’s not fair to them. Sydney, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to let you go.”
For a few minutes, I sit in stunned silence. This is the last thing I thought Diedre wanted to see me for. But I guess I probably should’ve realized it was coming. So, I nod my head and try to blink away the tears. Clearing my throat, I stand up and put my hands on the stroller.
“Thank you for everything, Diedre. I’m sorry it came to this. And I truly appreciate everything you’ve done to help me out while working here,” I tell her. “I’m going to go gather my belongings from the room.”
“I’m really sorry, Sydney. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors,” she says as I leave her office.
Walking out of her office, I wipe away the lone tear sliding down my face. I square my shoulders and hold my head high as I walk into the room I’m usually in. There’s a box sitting on the desk in the front of the room already. Piper, another girl around my age is sitting with the kids. She’s reading a story to them as I make my way to the desk to find my things from the top of the desk thrown in the box haphazardly. What the fuck?
Piper grew up with me in Brighton Hills. She and I never got along because her family comes from the rich side of town. Even though we were both in cheerleading together, she was always trying to outdo me and rub her boyfriends and having sex in my face. For crying out loud, I’m still a damn virgin at twenty-three years old. Who is like that these days?
She’s got long, golden blonde hair with dull blue eyes. Her skin is always tan from the tanning beds and not from actually laying outside. Piper has wanted my job since the day she started here because I’m in with the toddlers. When she got assigned to the infant room, I thought the roof was going to blow off the building because of the fit she threw. Now, it looks as if she’s getting her wish and is trying to push me out the door as soon as she can. Too bad her daddy couldn’t throw money at this problem like he usually does for her.
“Oh, Sydney, I’m so sorry to hear about you leaving,” she says, plastering a fake smile on her face. “But your ill luck is my good fortune.”
Yeah, she’s still trying to rub shit in my face like we’re in high school.
I don’t bother responding to her as I finish gathering my belongings and make sure I’m not leaving anything of Karson’s behind either. I have a small box of things for him in here sitting under my desk. Thankfully, Piper didn’t touch it as I grab it out and her eyes go wide.
“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t take things from here that don’t belong to you,” she says ignoring the children around her.
“I’m not. These are some of Karson’s things from home,” I tell her, cutting my eyes to look at her before turning my attention back to the task at hand.
“I’m telling Diedre,” she says stomping out of the room.
Fuck her. Diedre knows about the box of things I keep here for my brother.
Finally, I try to balance both boxes on the handles of the stroller as I turn to leave the room. All the kids are still sitting on the carpet as I wave goodbye to them. Tears are falling down my face as I leave the room and almost run into Piper on her way back in. She glares at me and I ignore her as I stop at Patty’s desk and hand over my badge to her. There are tears in her eyes as I turn and leave the building.
Today is the absolute worst day ever. Now what the hell am I supposed to do to support Karson and myself?
Stepping out into the sunshine, I let it warm my body from the inside out. Karson is sitting still in the stroller with his blanket in one hand and his fingers of the other hand in his mouth. Right now, I don’t have it in me to tell him no. So, I continue my balancing act as I walk away from the only job I’ve ever loved and toward the house I don’t know how I’ll be able to keep us in.
The pay at the daycare is decent. It kept a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs. But it didn’t give me enough to have extra money to put up for a rainy day. So, the first thing I need to do is find a new job immediately. Jobs here are limited and you have to have some sort of education to get your foot in the door. That doesn’t work for me because I don’t have anything other than a high school education. Unless . . . No. I cut the thought off before it can take root in my head.
Walking home takes forever because I have to continuously adjust the boxes. Just as I get to our house, one of the boxes falls out of my grip and tumbles to the sidewalk. My possessions scatter across the sidewalk at my feet and I can’t stop the tears from falling hard and fast down my face. It’s to the point I can barely see to pick everything up, including the shattered picture frame holding a picture of Karson and me on his second birthday. Today is not my day.
I pick everything up and finally make it in the house with Karson. After setting him up in his room with a movie and putting him in bed to rest, I walk to the living room and sink down onto the used sofa. The town newspaper is sitting in front of me. But I need a few minutes to wallow in my pain before I pick myself back up and figure out my next move.
Taking a deep breath, I lean forward and find the section with job listings. Scanning over the meek offerings, I see an ad for the local strip club, Legacies. They’re holding auditions tomorrow and I want to go. I’ve never stripped before or gone out dancing at a club, but I do dance in the privacy of my own home and I think I’m pretty damn good. Maybe this is what I need in my life. But there’s someone I need to talk to about this first. Santana. I’ll need her help if I’m going to do this. I can’t take Karson with me and there’s no one else I trust to watch him.
Mrs. Hanlan doesn’t live here anymore. She moved down to live with her son and his family in one of the southern states two years ago. I can’t blame her at all. This way she gets to see her family and have someone with her to help her out with things. I miss her every day, but I can’t blame her for getting out of here.
Chapter Two
Sydney a.k.a Delight
GOING TO THE landline in the house because I don’t have a cell phone, I dial Santana’s number. Other than my landlord, Karson’s doctor, and utility companies, Santana’s is the only other phone number I’ve memorized. She answers on the first ring and is out of breath as usual. She’s always running somewhere.
“What’s going on?” she asks in lieu of ‘hello’.
“Can you come over? I need to talk to you,” I ask her, a slight tremble to my voice I can’t quite hide.
“Be right there,” she says hanging up the phone.
Santana is loyal as hell and knows I only call her to come here when shit has hit the fan. So, she’ll stop by the store and pick up our favorite ice cream and other junk food before coming right to me. It doesn’t matter who she’s with or what she’s doing, for the most part, she’s always here for me. The same way I am for her. Though, in her case, it’s a matter of showing up without warning on my doorstep with a broken heart usually.
Because I have Karson with me, I don’t drink or allow alcohol in my home. Santana respects this. Well, Karson isn’t the only reason I don’t drink. I vowed from a young age to never become my mother so I stay away from anything that will make me even remotely feel like her. I never want to be out of control of myself or feel that way.
So, it’s not a hardship to not drink.
Getting back off the couch, I walk in to check on Karson. He’s passed out on his bed and the blankets are all twisted around his little body. As carefully as I can, I untangle him and cover him back up before shutting his movie off and leaving his room. He’ll sleep for a little bit at least so I can talk to Santana before making lunch for us.
Within twenty minutes Santana taps on my front door before letting herself in. Yes, she has a key and uses it when she needs to. I don’t ever leave my doors or windows unlocked in this neighborhood. It’s not the safest, but it’s the best I can do right now. And, I take every precaution I can. There’s a baseball bat by the front door and a knife in my bedroom.
I moved rooms when my mom died and took over her room toward the front of the house. So, if anyone breaks in, they’ll get to me before my brother. And there’s no back door to worry about so I keep the protection close to me and away from Karson. I don’t want him to accidentally hurt himself because I was careless.
“Okay, what’s going on, honey?” Santana asks, sitting down on the couch and dropping the bags to the table in front of her.
Tears fill my eyes and spill over before I can utter a word. I bury my head in my hands even though I know my body is shaking and she can hear me ugly crying. Santana scoots over next to me and pulls me into her arms. For a few minutes, we just sit in silence and I take the silent strength she’s offering me right now.
When I finally pull myself together, I sit up and wipe the tears from my eyes and face before turning to look at my only friend in the world.
“I was fired today. Karson was sick last night and I overslept. So, when I got to work Diedre fired me,” I say, feeling the tears threaten to come once again.
“I’m sorry, babe. What are you gonna do now?” she asks, pulling the ice cream out of one of the bags and handing me my favorite kind; chocolate panda paws.