by Bella Knight
"Shit, woman," said Tito. "Then why am I here?"
She held up a finger, touched her ear, and answered the phone. "Desert Construction and Rehab, Eir speaking. How may I help you?" She gestured to Tito. She whispered, "Nico's calling from Bao's phone." She hit a button and the phone in Tito's ear buzzed.
"Bruiser," he said.
Nico groaned. "You know I hate that name."
Tito grinned. "Fun to piss you off, though."
Nico said, "Supplier's late. Went to Home Depot and got what we needed. On time, under budget." It was their mantra. Words to live by. The other one was, "If you hesitate, you're lost."
"Of course you did," said Tito. "And what's going to piss me off?"
"Ran out of Gregory's money. Had to dip into ours to get all the garages and the houses. No expensive stuff like bike elevators, either. Paired Franco and Reyes for Mesquite, Kestros and Wanakana for Tonopah, Davis and Yan in Hemet --partnering with Randy at Rainbow Construction in California. And he's got two of his people too --and Buzz Construction in Bullhead City; made Sergeant Havek the project manager with Buzz Construction in Bullhead City. Buzz is ex-army. Should get along great. We want him back to be a project manager here. He's studying for the project manager exam. I'm afraid Buzz will steal her, but it's a risk we have to take. We're spread too thin as it is."
"Fuck me," said Tito, staring at the new project manager board Eir was pulling up. It was loaded with the new names and partners for each of the out-of-town jobs. "You're going to be putting in a lot of miles."
"No, we're alternating. My wife is planning a wedding, and Dragon Mother is trying to get her to either commit homicide, or suicide. Plus, we both have kids, dude. I watch them a lot."
"You've also got the Wolfpack on your side, and grandparents who actually help. I love my Mamacita half to death, but she causes more trouble than she fixes."
Nico sighed. "Hire the Wolfpack, and send your mamacita on a cruise. Tried that with Dragon Mama, but she knew damn well I was trying to get her out of the way. Will get her out of the way on a spa weekend right before the wedding --before she gets herself dead. My mother is a fucking saint. The way the light of my life tells it, my mother gently supported whatever decision the light of my life was willing to make. Saw her light up with a simple sheath, with a shimmery gold wash on it. Dragon Mother freaked out, said it wasn't Chinese. The light of my life said that she would wear a Chinese jacket, frog toggles, and a high collar over it and all, and she knew just the seamstress to make it happen. Her mother went so full-bore-Chinese-crazy that she was escorted from the shop. Bao went back, ordered the dress, had it altered, and has refused to go to all the teas and whatnot. The ones Dragon Mother wants her to go to, because they're veiled attempts to get her to pick these peoples' businesses for her wedding. She's already chosen her Chinese merchants, and most of the merchants are Chinese. Her mother wants her to drop people she's already chosen, because Mommie Dearest made promises to people without saying a word to her daughter. She's lost face, and wants it back, come hell or high water."
"Life sucks. Now, if you're done moaning, can you figure out this alternating schedule thingy?"
"Eir and Tanvi are on it. I've got Hemet tomorrow. Have a nice day!" He hung up.
"Fuck you," said Nico into the phone. But he was gone.
He went to call two suppliers while simultaneously planning a trip for his mamacita and her best friend, Luisa. That would get her out of the way when he was taking all these trips, and the Wolfpack could help out his wife in peace. And, come to think of it, he could do all the things around the house he wanted done. He could hire the Wolfpack to help, without Mama hanging over him telling him what to do and how to do it.
Despite the fact he had his own construction business, Lupe firmly believed her son was still seven years old. She couldn't live on her own, with severe arthritis in both knees and hips from a lifetime of scrubbing floors. He loved her, worshiped the ground she walked on, but she made getting anything done without interference, impossible. He found a mystery book tour, and added spa treatments, as many as she and her friend so desired. It was worth it, to get the things done they needed to get done. Then, he'd take his wife when all these jobs were done, right after Ricki's graduation. She wanted to be in the marines. He sighed and called another supplier.
Nico had to set the office to rights, first. All the dental equipment had been moved, but all the little offices were just weird. He knocked out some walls, got the Soldier Pack and Wolfpack in for cleanup, and to paint. Their favorite office furniture consignment store looked like it got robbed after he got through with them. YYY got two, corner-mounted, project screens hung on the walls, and both a new assistant and a receptionist. They had the place jumping, hired a bunch of construction people flowing in for construction season. He turned four-day workers into permanent ones, once he saw what they could do, and then started working on getting people certified, and getting some apprentices in to help (and to learn something).
The Hemet thing was banged out quick, because the garage just needed to be cleaned and painted, with the equipment installed. And Sergeant Liya Adams, Private First-Class Benny Bagan, and Lieutenant Chandra Lavan were put up in a hotel as they cleaned their own three-bedroom house, not even six blocks away from the garage. It was a cookie-cutter, low, white house with a tiled roof, and a two-car garage. Just perfect for three motorcycles. Bad renters had knocked holes in walls, stuffed up the plumbing, and left wrecked furniture behind. After that, squatters had done the rest. They brought over some Wolfpack to fill up a dumpster, do demolition, and fill up the dumpster all over again. The electrician checked everything, the plumber snaked out the pipes, the brand-new drywaller and tiler went to work. Davis and Yan moved over to Tonopah to finish things up there, then all four descended on Mesquite.
The soldiers painted their own house, inside and out, went to the consignment furniture store and bought them out, moved in, bought three new bikes to refinish with money earned from other projects, and settled in to work. They were making a profit within a month without dipping too far into savings, and worked for Habitat for Humanity and the soup kitchen as well. They did so well that they scouted and bought another auction house with Gregory's money. They even brought on Staff Sergeant Tamon Tadeki, Sergeant Rain Koblaski, and Lieutenant Federico Ulan, and started running two shifts, and working on bikes in the garages, too.
"That's fucking great," said Nico, and hung up the phone. He called Tito. "Bullhead City's a mess. Fucking idiots didn't get the proper paperwork for a business. Tanvi is kicking ass and taking names. I was all set to send the herd in Mesquite there, but now we're getting backed up."
"Can you pull the plug on Buzz?"
"Wasn't him; was his office manager, and Buzz fired his ass. Buzz says it'll take until Monday or Tuesday to get it straightened out."
"That just means they can't do business yet. They can still build bikes in their garage, can't they?"
Nico sighed. "I should have thought of that. Sorry. No law against working on bikes in your own garage. I'll tell the herd to stampede to Bullhead City, and get things knocked out there."
"Chill out, man," said Tito. "We've done a ton of work. And, the punch list on my own house is nearly finished, and I found a duplex to move in my mamacita, and her best friend Luisa. Far enough away that she won't be looking over my shoulder. If she hates it, we'll sell it, start over. We can get a caregiver to help, as well as all of us, but she's gotta go."
"My starlight's Dragon Mama is doing the Chinese freezeout. No talking, nothing. The thing is, she's also not spending time with Hu. Hu thinks it's her fault, and she cried yesterday. At some point, I'm killing her. With my hands around her little, Dragon Mother neck."
"Jail is bad," said Tito. "Now, call your posse, and tell them to get down to Bullhead City and finish the house, first."
"Thanks for talking me down, Tito," said Nico.
"I hear ya," said Tito. "You got her the hell out before
marriage. Wish I'd done the same."
Six Wolfpack came down to help with the household stuff, and his two oldest who were still living in the house. Paco was at a robotics conference and living with his uncle Camilo. They fixed sticky doors, stopped drips, repainted the kitchen, fixed the grout, added a ramp front and back (so anyone in a wheelchair or having trouble negotiating steps could visit), and eliminated a closet to put in a spa tub in the master bath. Then, they put in wardrobes in the wide bedroom to compensate, installed shelves, and had enormous amounts of fun installing a deck. They rotated through six parishioners the church had identified as needing much the same work, minus the spa tub or deck. They installed rails, replaced shingles, and even called a roofer when Alo put his foot through the roof.
He was deeply embarrassed. "Dude," said Tito, "Better to have done that, now. During the six inches of rain a year we get in the same five minutes? Could have flooded the house."
The able-bodied parishioners helped, and the church members came out for the sanding, staining, cleaning, and painting. They also installed tile and even (in the case of an old woman with scarred wooden floors) re-sanded and stained her floor. They ate pizza and drank five flavors of water and Gatorade. They cracked so many jokes they had to put up a joke ban for at least thirty minutes during roofing, just to prevent anyone from putting another foot through the roof.
Nico decided to have a come-to-Buddha moment with his mother-in-law, right after he came back from Bullhead City. He was hot and dusty, but did a drive by of the triplex where his future mother-in-law resided. He saw his wife's car. He went to a coffee shop, ate a meal, and washed up in the bathroom, and then he swung back. As he did it, he noticed that his wife's car was gone. Dragon Mama was sitting on the steps, staring at nothing. He rode up, put up his helmet, and strode over. He sat down on a step, opposite her.
"I will be at the wedding," she said, curtly. "And I will visit Hu. That is all you need to know." He nodded, got back on the bike, and went looking for a flowering plant, a box of chocolates, and chocolate-cookie mint ice cream, just for his lady. And in that very-particular order.
Acceptance
Mike loved getting up in the morning, now. What used to be fuzzy recollections of the present, combined with the bizarre in danger/but want to go back dichotomy, had left him. He got up wanting coffee, a big breakfast, and the laughter around the breakfast table. But, PT first, as Gunny (both Gregory and Gunny Hacayon in Basic Training) would say. So, he got up, pulled on shorts over his boxers, and a T-shirt over his head. He put on his sock, then his blade, then the other sock, and one athletic shoe. He slithered down the stairs and out the back door, stretched, and pounded out a circuit in the dawn light. The horses neighed as Inola, the only other one awake, went into the barn to feed them. She turned, then waved. He waved back.
The PT went well, with a wide trail cleared of stones. He'd worked hours in his downtime --walking them and clearing out the rocks with his walking stick. He could walk, jog, and run, all without thinking about it, now. He even jumped over a small stream. He came back sweaty. He slipped in the back and up the stairs, and caught the shower in the hallway. David and Henry had one, and so did Inola and Bella --and baby Ryder. He hurried because he could smell the bacon. He was glad of his habit to bring clean clothes to the shower, because on his way down the hall Bella opened her door, put Ryder in his arms, and shut the door again without a word. Ryder babbled and clutched at his shirt. He smiled down at her.
"Morning, sunshine," he said. She cooed.
He walked down the stairs at a more sedate pace than his usual one. Vi exclaimed and kissed the baby's head. "Growing so fast, that one," she said. Ryder signed "hungry." Vi smiled. "Of course, little one, your Cheerios await."
Mike put her in her chair, grabbed some applesauce from the giant jar --Nantan made it --and spooned it into a small plastic cup. He added a baby spoon, and played "helicopter" with the applesauce. Vi gave him a sealed cup of coffee with cream, and a touch of cane sugar, just the way he liked it. He sipped it as he fed the baby, then was able to feed himself as Vi put out multicolored Cheerios on the tray, just for Ryder to eat. He ate bacon, biscuits with honey butter, home fries, and a single egg scrambled with cheese, and bits of bell pepper.
He got up, put his dishes in the dishwasher, and said, "Vi, amazing as always." He kissed her cheek and she giggled. He went over to Ryder and kissed her head. She giggled too.
"Quit kissing my girl," said Henry. Ryder signed "H," her word for him. He went over and kissed her cheek, making her burble and reach for him. Henry said, "Have a great day hunting the wild bell pepper," to Mike as he topped off his coffee and doctored it. Henry cleaned up Ryder and drew her into his lap, and she hugged him tightly.
Mike smiled. "Have fun with Monkey," he said, and waved two fingers. Ryder waved back, and giggled into Henry's neck.
Henry accepted his bowl of oatmeal (with brown sugar and honey) and a side of bacon from Vi. He washed it down with his very own sealed cup of coffee. Mike waved again, grabbed his tablet, then stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him.
Inola had the ponies in the yard, and Damia was up at the crack of dawn currying them. He waved to them. Inola waved back. He went to the greenhouse, and began checking all the electronics on his tablet. He checked all the lights and gauges, and created a checklist of the plants needing harvesting. He started with the pumpkins, which seemed to grow faster under LED lights. He worked his way to the gourds, then the squash, and then the watermelon. He had bushel baskets in the aisles on a small hand cart. He filled up the cart, then pushed it out to the cutting center.
Leafort was there, pulling up that day's orders. "Pumpkin pie!" he said, seeing the fat orange pumpkins. "It's weird eating pumpkin pie without it being October, but some of our customers like it so much, they say they'll take them in, whenever."
"Especially the way Vi makes it," said Mike. "And the seeds make good eating. Where's Little Bear?"
"Like a bear, he likes sleeping in," said Leafort. "But he loves gutting those pumpkins. I'll text him, and get him out here."
"Good," said Mike. "Let's unload this cart. I'll have lots for you all to do, today."
"Busy is good," said Leafort. "Some of us want to stay, but we know we need to give our rooms to the next batch. Some of us are two weeks past getting our GED. Jason Yellowrock says he'll hire us to refinish his barn, and put us in loft apartments, two to a loft. His barn is huge, so that'll be six of us. Do you think Nantan will let six of us work here?"
Mike laughed. "Be stupid to turn down the work, even with getting a new Wolfpack. Someone's gotta train the cubs, right? And, we're not getting less business, we're getting a lot more. I've got more plantings today, in fact. The restaurants love the Indian corn and squash, and lots of other veggies. So, that's growers, order processing, preparers, delivery drivers, all twice a day. That's turning into a huge business. You ever thought about pooling your money and buying a delivery truck?"
Leafort grunted as they shared the work of getting a pumpkin to the processing table. "We were thinking a van. Big Tom on the res has one he wants to sell. We can put racks and baskets into it, and that will make separating and moving easier. To fill up whole carts for the restaurants."
"Have Bonnie or Ghost check out the van," said Mike. "Or Jake Red Moon. He's honest and fair, and you can work with him to fix it up."
"Okay," said Leafort. He pulled out his phone and sent another text.
Little Bear stumbled in, with a sausage biscuit in one hand, coffee cup in the other. "Uun," he said.
Mike laughed. "It's alive!" he said. "Bye, gentlemen, I've got a cart to fill."
"Not without me," said April Wyatt. She wore the same boots, jeans, and T-shirts that the boys did, but hers was emblazoned with a woman in a superhero costume. "Let's do this."
"Okay," said Mike. "Did you eat?"
April snorted. "Ran the other direction, so you didn't see me. Ran, showered, fed, just like you."
"Make a Valkyrie of you yet," said Mike.
April followed him in. She did her own check of everything from a checklist, then double-checked his list of what needed harvesting. She started on the grapes, and he finished off the gourds. They took a coffee break after twenty-five minutes, and when their alarms went off. Before they returned, they stretched as well.
"Are you in, on the living-over-the-barn thing?" asked Mike.
"Got a line on a house on the res, big enough to fit three of us," she said. "Just off the road to this property, too. Old woman that lives there does carding and stuff for the Goat Girls."
The Goat Girls raised goats for their milk, alpaca for their wool, and now had a few fat sheep, too. They also made the straps that held dogs in the boxes that Ghost and Killa made. The ones in Bonnie's shop for dogs to be transported on the back of Harleys. They had a woman that made rugs with them named Undine; she'd recently graduated from rag rugs to wool, and alpaca rugs after she spent time with the Navajo to learn weaving. Undine came back twenty pounds lighter and much happier.
"She needs someone to take care of her house, and she has a barn, too. We can fix it all up. We can spread out, do work here, delivery, and Tito loves us. We could help the Goat Girls with a bigger herd, making fancy cheeses for restaurants with delivery, too. Samma and Winnie want to do it with me, and get trikes to make delivery better, to hold up better on dirt roads. We all passed our GEDs last week. A lot faster than we thought, actually, but there wasn't much to do in the winter but study."
"Sounds good. Any of you want to work with Ghost and Killa?"
"I didn't think we could get in," said April. "They've got the Soldier Pack."
Mike waved his scarred hand. "I did it and survived. They run three shifts. Surely you can work nights, make deliveries in the morning, then crash."
April nodded. "Not up for doing respiratory tech, like Samma. And Winnie wants to clean teeth." April made a face that made Mike laugh.