by L. Ann Marie
"When you move your fingers to talk it's called signing. It's a language like English or Portuguese. It's called sign language. So Uncle Danny will give you words and you will sign them for Darren." Jessie and Ben nod. Arron and Victor just look at Ben.
"We'll get in trouble for signing. But we want Darren to be strong so we'll do it today." Aaron tells him.
"You won't get in trouble here. You're brother needs to have people talk to him just like you do. Can you imagine if no one talked to you for a long time? That would be lonely. You'd feel like no one cared. When you learn, that means he can talk too. He's your big brother. Brothers look out for each other. He won't be able to do that for you if he can't talk to you."
Aaron asks, "Are you Brothers?" I'm just finishing signing what Ben said and tell them to hold up to finish what Aaron asks. Fuck this is harder than I remembered. I tell Ben to go ahead.
"We are Brothers. We have a whole club of Brothers but these are some of my closest Brothers right here. We look out for each other. When one needs something we all help out." He waits for me holding his hand up before Aaron says something else. I nod to Ben.
Victor surprises me, "Www, we look ou, ouuu, out for each other." He turns around and lifts his shirt.
"Fuck." Steve growls. Victor scoots behind Darren.
"He's not mad at you, grownups don't like seeing kids hurt." I say and sign it as best I can. Darren signs back, 'he tried to stop dad from hitting me. I told him he's too small.' I tell them what he said.
Jessie and Little Ben go to them. Jessie holds Darren's hand, Little Ben moves Victor back to his place and keeps his hand. "Sometimes you need friends to help. We can't stop your dad but we can hold your hand. When I'm scared Little Ben holds my hand. It always works. I can still be scared but I'm not alone no more." I try to sign it all, I'm blinking like crazy glad the guys are on my right. Darren signs, ‘thank you friend’. Little Ben says what he signed. Fuckin kids. I check the time.
I sign and say, "We need to meet Ms. Kate at the diner for dinner. How about we wash up and get ready."
"Little Ben goes to Steve. "Can we go too dad? Our friends need us. Their moms sick and they're scared." I see Steve's throat moving. He looks at Ben.
"Yeah, we'll all go." Ben tells him. The boys bring them in to wash up. "Fuckin kids." I follow Steve in while Ben calls Tracy and Sam.
We meet Kate and Tracy at the diner. Sam moved tables for us to sit together. Darren asks Kate about his mother as soon as he sees her. "I was hoping to bring you to see her after dinner. She's still very sick, I left Doc to watch over her until we get you in to see her." She answers, I sign. He looks scared. 'I tried to stop him. I know she hurt. He hit me small, pushed me away. He hit her big. I'm sorry, I tried..." Tears are running down his face. I stop his hands, lifting him, holding his head into my neck. Ben is behind me, I go around him and walk out the door." I walk him back and forth along the side of the diner until he calms down. Little Ben brings me napkins, puts his hand around my wrist giving it a squeeze and goes back inside. He stays quiet for a couple of minutes. I put him down and squat beside him cleaning his face. I sign, 'What dad did is wrong. You and brothers little. Dad is big, strong. He wrong hurt woman and kids. Wrong to make your fault. Mom hurt to help you. Grown up means help kids and moms. Dad wrong not Darren. You brave help mom, Victor brave help mom. Good try help but bad to be hurt. I mad dad hurt you. Me and my brothers help you and brothers and mom. Yes?' He signs, 'yes' and hugs me. I lift him back up and bring him to the table. Jessie has two seats beside him. "Uncle Danny this is for Darren." I nod and put Darren down, he holds my hand while we walk to the seats. "Arron ordered Darren's favorite chicken and mac & cheese, can you tell him?" I smile and sign. Darren smiles and thanks them.
I sit blowing out a breath. Kate grabs my hand, I look at her. "Doc called, mom’s in surgery." Fuck!
Ben gives me a sad look. "Is Doc still at the hospital?" He asks Kate. She nods. "Can you keep them for a few days if they need it?" I look at Kate.
"If my husband agrees, I would love it, for however long." She smile but has question in her eyes.
"As long as it takes." I smile. She gives me that big fuckin smile.
"I'm going to have Doc to get the lawyer there; he can do the paperwork so they aren't placed with the other parental unit while she's out." Fuck. I didn't even think they could go back to the piece of shit father. Kate nods.
Jessie asks me to talk for Darren. I kiss Kate and talk for Darren. Before we leave Doc calls, the lawyer emailed the papers, mom's out of surgery and signed them, the doctor witnessed, the lawyer is getting them signed by a judge. With all the hospital paperwork and the warrant for the dad, they say the judge will have no problem. Kate breathes a sigh of relief. "It would have taken us days to get that done, thank you Ben." He gives her a chin lift.
Thank fuck. We drive the boys to the hospital to see mom. They crawl on the bed being careful. It is a practiced move that pisses me off. I follow Doc out to the hall, he hands me the paperwork. “It’s an emergency custody order. They have no other family. Mom has a half-sister, 20, hasn’t seen her in years.”
“Thanks Doc. Victor has some bruises on his back and kidney area. Darren is having trouble walking. I don’t know what else is wrong with him. Can you look at them?”
“I can take them in the next room. Let me get a nurse to ok it.” I nod. Handing the papers to Kate, I tell the boys Doc is going to look at them in the next room. They look nervous but Darren signs ‘ok’ to them. They calm.
Doc takes Aaron first I sit on the chair beside the bed. He has a couple of bruises but nothing too bad. It looks like normal 4 year old kid stuff. I take him back telling Darren he is perfect. He relaxes. I take Victor over. Doc sees his back and winces. When he touches a bruise Victor sucks in his breath and tears fall. I hold his hand. “Doc.” He looks at Victor’s face.
“Fuck.” He stands and walks to the door. “I need to get a friend of mine up here. I need tests run.”
I nod and explain it to Victor. He cries silently, just like Darren. I lift him and hold him against my chest pacing back and forth. Doc comes in with another doctor. He sees the bruises on Victor’s back coming closer to me he pulls the band of his pants lower. He calls a nurse in and tells her what he wants done and walks to the door. “Can you check his brother before you go? He’s having trouble walking. Walks with a limp. It would be easier to do tests if I was with both of them. The older boy is deaf.” He looks pissed but nods. I carry Victor over to get Darren. When he sees the lower bruises he cries. Fuck I should have put his shirt back on. I explain and he walks with me. The doctor calls another nurse. He examines Darren and orders more tests.
Fuck I want to kill their father. I carry Victor over and let Kate know where we're going. She nods with tears in her eyes. I kiss her, she hugs me loosely with Victor between us. Doc stops in collecting us. I walk behind the wheelchair Darren is in. When we get to X-ray I explain what the tech says to him as best I can. I step out with Victor for a minute then I put Victor on the table and push Darren out. While we wait he tells me he's sorry. He didn't know Victor got hurt bad. These kids have tears in my fuckin eye again. I hug him to me then sign it's not his fault. We go back in for Victor. I carry him back to the room while Doc pushes Darren. Kate is in the hall holding Aaron. Her eyes are red. Aaron is asleep on her shoulder. Fuck we've only been gone maybe an hour. Darren wants to know what happened. "She's back in surgery. Her heart stopped." She tells me softly. Fuck I look at Doc, I don't know what to do here. He talks to a nurse and comes right back to us.
"I need help here Doc." I'm really begging him to fix this.
He nods and brings us into the room the boys were checked in. He looks at me. "She had massive amounts of internal bleeding. Her heart stopped. She's back in surgery but it doesn't look good. I would soften it but tell them the truth. You need to keep their trust."
I look at Kate. "Please." Tears are running down her face.
"If ever I needed advice it is right here, right now. I wish Little Ben and Jessie were here." I look at Darren. He's watching everything, he looks terrified.
"I'll call Ben. I think your right. The boys can help." He walks out.
Darren signs, 'talk me.' Fuckin hell. I put them both on the bed. I talk and sign, "mom is bleeding inside. She lost a lot of blood. Her heart is having trouble working. They have to operate again to try and fix her.' Victor cries, throwing himself at me. Darren asks if she'll be ok. I sign I don't know. He cries grabbing my waist. I sit and pull them both to me.
The doctor finds us this way. Doc explains what's going on. "I need consent to treat them." Doc shows him the custody papers. He hands a clipboard to Doc. "Darren has an old injury. The top of his femur healed wrong. To correct it he needs surgery. This is not a new injury. This needs to be fixed but it doesn't need to be fixed today. He is bruised on his lower back like Victor. That is probably causing the limp to be more pronounced." Fuck, thank God. "Victor has trauma to his kidney. I want a urine sample. There is no internal bleeding. I just want to be thorough. His lower back shows swelling. They shouldn't do strenuous activity. Without additional trauma, the lower back will recover fine." He touches Darren's head. "You have very brave boys. I'll send the nurse in for the urine sample and with some paperwork."
I thank him as he walks out. I take a deep breath and let it out. Kate gives me a sad smile. "It's not so bad, right?" She asks, I can only nod. It's fuckin bad, his leg was broken and never set, both with bruised lower back is probably from being kicked, but they're not dead.
Darren asks what the doctor said. I turn so I can see him and sign to him all that was said. He takes a breath and ask if Victor is good, no blood means good. I smile telling him he is good. He nods. Fuckin seven years old worrying about his brother bleeding internally.
The nurse comes in, I take Victor to the bathroom doing what the nurse said and getting the sample. I hope to fuck there's no blood. We get all the paperwork and are taken to the surgical waiting room. Ben, Tracy, Steve, Jess, Little Ben and Jessie are waiting for us. I sit Victor on a seat and sign to Darren why we're here. Jessie holds his hand, Little Ben hold Victor's. Tracy takes Aaron from Kate and sits beside them. Thank God he's sound asleep. Doc comes in and sits. I hold onto Kate, I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to do.
After an hour of waiting a doctor comes in taking off a mask. Kate holds my waist tighter. We can see before he opens his mouth. He shakes his head saying he's sorry. Darren lets out a noise. Jessie holds him while he cries. Victor cries with no noise and Little Ben puts his arms around him. The doctor keeps talking, Kate goes to Victor, lifts him and sits. Little Ben hugs them both. Ben thanks the doctor. I copy what Kate did and Jessie hugs Darren and me. We sit until the boys calm.
I look at Ben. "What do we do?" I see him struggling.
Little Ben touches my arm. "Love them Uncle Danny."
"You're strong,” Jessie touches my face, "they need your strong now. It’s time to let it show." He tells me. I look at Kate.
"Fuckin kids." Steve says and walks out.
"You have custody of them. You need to decide if you want to keep it or turn them over to the state." Doc says. I can hear the emotion in his voice.
"I can't do that Danny. You know what it's like. I can't do it. I'll quit. I know it won't be easy with the baby, but I'll do it." She begs me. I nod. I couldn't do it either.
"You won't do this alone; you don't have to quit Kate. The MC will help, we'll all help." Ben says to her tears in his eyes.
Jess and Tracy tell us they'll help. "We don't have enough beds at the house but I'd like to borrow Jessie and Little Ben if that's ok with you. We'll figure it out. Maybe let them all sleep in the living room?"
"I'll get you some air mattresses Brother. They can stay. Kate the police need to know what happened here." Ben says.
"Doc, can you call Anita?" She asks, kissing Victor's head.
"I got the Prospects moving their clothes over to your house. They only have two days’ worth of clothes. Doug is going to pick them up some basics. The Brothers will move the toys from the shelter house to your garage." Doc tells me as he's typing on his phone.
I stand up with Darren in my arms. I thank Jessie and ask if he will stay with us tonight. He nods. Little Ben says he's staying too. Doc takes Victor. Ben takes Arron from Tracy. The girls hug crying in each other's arms. I follow everyone out. As we're walking to the main door Darren makes a noise. Everyone stops. I put him down and squat beside him. He signs, 'where going'. Fuck I didn't tell him. I sign and say, 'your mom signed papers telling me and Ms. Kate to take good care of you. We're going to my house. Jessie and Little Ben too. They will help fix our hearts.' He nods but looks back. He signs, 'Mom angel.' I sign yes. He holds on to me, I lift him and we leave with fuckin tears in my eye again. Fuckin hell.
Chapter Twenty Six
One week...
Patches is cutting wood for me. Steve and Luke are nailing the pieces I laid out. We're on the last section. Tiny and Prospects are painting. Fans are set up everywhere drying the paint that was put on earlier. The flat paint should dry quickly. "How did you come up with this one?" Luke asks.
I measure the last board and give it to Patches. "When I took the wall down I realized it still didn't leave much room for them to play. We watched a movie and they thought the tree house in it was cool. My head started working the plans into this space. I drew it out and started building. This gives them built in dressers shaped like trunks, all the beds off the floor and plenty of room for playing." I hand the last board to Steve. Patches starts moving the tools out.
Rob pokes his head out of Darren's bed platform. "Ready to test it out." We all watch, he holds the bar and leans forward. Holding his knees back he makes it almost to the center of the room. We all laugh. He lets the line go and stands up. "I think I'm a little too tall." The guys laugh at him again. "This is like the Home Makeover show; they're going to love it."
Tiny comes over, "We need a zip line that we can ride." Steve laughs at him. He's got to weigh over 350 pounds easily.
Petey calls me over. "What color on this desk?"
"Aaron is red and gold. Drawer fronts are opposite the base." He nods. "Darren is blue/gold and Victor is green/gold." He goes to Duncan and Luke to get them started.
Steve comes over to me. "They didn't have anything from their house?"
"No the father trashed it. There wasn't anything they could salvage. Anita was there, she said the guy is off the charts. He tore apart everything. She was lucky she found a picture of their mom still intact."
"You need help getting them toys and shit let me know." He's pissed.
"Thanks Steve." I tell him. Jess has handled my money forever. I'm not hurting and I wouldn't ask, but I'm not going to stop them if they want to spoil these boys.
I crack up as I hear Tiny yelling at a Prospect. "There ain't no fuckin black leaves. This is kids’ stuff, you paint with color. Kids don't need to be seeing that fuckin depressin non color." Steve laughs. Tiny looks over at us. "What? I watch Dr Phil." I hold my face and laugh.
"Don't know Dr Phil but you're standin there all in black yellin about it bein a non-color." Steve tells him with a big fuckin smile plastered on his face.
Tiny looks down as if this is news to him. Patches cracks up on the side of me. "I am. I need to get Nancy to get me some clothes." I laugh. Fuckin Tiny.
"Since I've known you all you wear is black." Luke tells him laughing.
"It doesn't show stains. With all these little fuckers running around I need color." Tiny barks at him. Everyone laughs. "Get back to work, this ain't no social hour. Them boys need a fuckin room to sleep in. Can't be good for their backs to sleep on the fuckin floor." Everyone starts moving again. Tiny looks at me and shrugs. Fuckin Tiny.
Another two hours and the paint is on, the tools are picked up. The beds are made and the ladders are attached. Ben, Jared and Doc come in with toys and pictures. Pat
ches organizes the toys into the right bins. Steve and Rob get the pictures hung. The Prospects get the rest of the bags for upstairs then work on the yard and garage stuff.
Anita comes in with the mom pictures for the platform walls. I asked her to make a copy for each of them. Patches asks to hang them. She kisses his cheek and hands them to him. He puts them up and walks out. "That boy needs a family." She says quietly.
"He has one. He just hasn't realized it yet. He's roommates with my son, comes for Sunday dinner, special occasions and just because. He just doesn't remember what family is like. He'll get it." I tell her. She kisses my cheek and walks out the door.
Once everything is finished we head down to the porch. The Prospects have coolers of beer waiting. "Thanks for all your help today. It would have taken me and Patches forever to get it done."
"We take care of our own." Rob says. Everyone says something back to him, I just smile.
Patches comes around the house, I hand him a beer. "You staying for dinner?"
"Yeah. I want to make sure the clothes get put up. Kate looked tired this morning." I smile and give him a chin lift. He's one of mine. Kate was tired because she was up early for me to inspect her jewels. I smile, they were working fine.
Ben slaps his back. "Good you're looking out for them Brother." Patches smiles and looks out at the water. Ben turns to me, "did the electrician finish putting the lights up?"
"Yeah yesterday. He even put one in the bathroom." I smile.
Tiny looks at me, "lights?"
"Darren can't hear if he's being called. The lights are hooked to a button like a doorbell. When we call him we hit the button so all the lights flash." He smiles at me. I look around. "Has anyone heard from them?" I ask.
"Last I heard they were at the mall. They had one car full and we're headed back in." Tiny says.
"Oh shit. Maybe I needed more dressers." I say almost to myself. They all laugh.