MC: Callahan

by L. Ann Marie

  “Everyone is keeping the kids home. Security is an issue the old ladies are taking up with Ben. We have three incidents where boys were hurt and Security was guarding them.” She looks unsure.

  “I agree with you. So does VP. The problem is that there isn’t enough HS to cover family Security.”

  She looks relieved. “Maybe we should keep the kids right here on the compound. Prospects are always around and Security hasn’t lost anyone from here. It’s always when they’re away from here.”

  “I’ll talk to VP.” I kiss her and go to the office at the back of the house. After two hours my paperwork is caught up and I have two Prospects coming to help watch the kids. Walking down the hall, I hear the kids playing in the yard. When I go out I see some of Cloud’s and Danny’s kids with Hawk, running around. Little Ben and Jessie are sitting under the tree, talking to Ricky. Sheila and Joey are pushing Sandy and Jacob on the swings. Ally is braiding Brenna’s hair at the picnic table. Elizabeth is watching. I don’t see Nancy.

  I sit on the deck and watch. Alex and Victor are practicing Martial arts with Jason, Diego, and José. Devan is climbing a tree where Jeremy and Aaron are sitting on a branch with their legs dangling. Darren walks through the yard from Cloud’s with Brantley and Taylor following. They go right over to little Ben and sit, making a circle. Ricky laughs at something Darren signs. Jessie looks pissed. I wonder what they’re up to. They get into a series discussion then stand. Little Ben looks my way and walks toward me. “We’ve got some work to do, Uncle Tiny. I’ll have Jessie, Darren, Taylor, and Brantley with me.”

  “Where’s Nancy?”

  “She went to the shop for a couple of hours. She’s meeting the old ladies and Pres for a late lunch. I told her I’d keep an eye on them, but we need to get down to the Club. You got them?” He looks so grown up when he’s serious.

  “Yeah, I’m taking them swimming. Prospects should be here soon.”

  He nods. “Evelyn is sending lunch from the Sub Shop. Kate set it up before she left. It shouldn’t take us too long. We’ll meet you at the beach. Millie’s got the babies. My dad has HS over there. Pres and Kate have ‘friend’ with them,” he says. They were watching the kids. They’re plenty old enough. I don’t know why I’m surprised.

  “I got them go do what you have to do,” I tell him. He throws chin and walks with the others through the trees. I get up and find a ball we can use for kickball. We play until lunch shows. Christian takes the Little Brothers their lunch and meets us at the road. I get a head count and tell the Prospects, Chet, and Chase who we have and where the others are. Once we hit the beach Jeremy and Jacob are running. Chase empties his pockets, throws his stuff down and chases after them, making me and Chet laugh. He turns and throws us the bird, then catches up to them in the water, heading toward the raft.

  I have Diego keep his shirt on, getting funny looks from the kids. The older ones play in the water with the prospects and Chet. I’m making a sand castle with the little ones and Diego when Danny comes down. “Got a delivery coming. They’ll be setting up down the beach and floating pieces over.”

  “What is it?” I look down the beach and see men and machines where VP’s old house used to be.

  “A floating dock with slides and shit. I need to get back. Bull is over there. He’ll keep them straight then stay with the kids on the dock. It will give you extra eyes.” He turns and walks back to the house.

  “All righty then,” I say to myself. Floating dock with slides and shit. Victor and Devan run down the beach toward all the activity. Chet catches and stops them. More kids go over to watch. A Prospect pulls a pop up and brings them shade to sit and watch. I keep the little ones busy with our castle until a boat pulls part of the dock over to the raft. Chase gets the boys back to the beach and they stand by us and watch.

  “This is going to be awesome,” he says, looking at the boys. I laugh. He’s like a big kid. I tell a Prospect to get some blankets from the bin by the deck and we set up a place for the little ones to take a nap. With dry clothes they lie down in the gazebo without a problem. I leave a Prospect with them and walk to the older kids, watching the pieces be set up. The slide is being blown up right in the water. There’s regular slide, but it’s mounted to a wooden dock that’s being pulled by the boat. The Brothers are crazy, but it’s a cool kind of crazy.

  Bull comes over to us. “The rest is going to the town beach. They said to give them another thirty minutes to anchor everything down then you can let the kids loose.” The kids cheer jumping around, making a damn racket.

  I look at Chet. “Can you run to my house and get some Popsicles for them?”

  “Yeah, I need some help, though. Christian, why don’t you give me a hand?” He starts walking up the beach toward Danny’s. He’s Christian’s guard. He won’t leave him. I’m glad he takes it seriously. Nothing like regular Security.

  With Popsicles in them and new sunscreen on them, they’re sitting on the beach, waiting for the go from the guys in the boats. They pull one last wooden dock over and we all laugh. It’s got a dog house mounted on it. Christian thinks this is the coolest thing ever. A boat comes to the shore and a little guy gets out. Chet and Chase are standing in front of the kids. When he gets closer I put my hand up and walk to him with Bull. He stops and nods. “The dog can’t go on the floating docks because of the blow up pieces. He’s got his own raft that he can watch from. I never saw a dog need a raft, but it’s what we were told to do.” I nod.

  “He’s a service dog,” Bull tells the guy.

  “That makes a little more sense. The dog can’t go on the rafts, though.”

  “He won’t,” I tell him.

  “The town’s pieces should be done in an hour or so. We dropped the wooden docks on the other side of the fence already. Let Mr. Knight know the guys appreciated the tip.” He smiles. I guess it was a big tip.

  Wait. “Mr. Knight?” I thought Danny did this.

  “Yeah, Ben Knight,” he says, looking at me weird. Bull laughs.

  “Fuckin’ kids,” I say, smiling. “Thanks, I’ll tell him.” He gets back to his boat and motors away.

  I look at the Brothers. They’re all smiling. “They bought the town a water park.” The kids cheer. “Go play, you’re giving me a headache.”

  Everyone splashes through the water and out to the new toys. Christian and Chet get Hawk set on his raft and swim to the others. I tell Racks, my other Prospect, to go play lifeguard. Bull and I sit under a pop up, watching the kids run wild. I’m glad the slides point into the center. It makes watching them easy for Racks. Little Ben, Darren, Jessie, Ricky, Brantley, and Taylor come running down the beach and right out to the rafts, causing a new flurry of activity out on the water. My little ones are waking up, so I get them taken care of with the bathroom and Popsicles. The Prospect helps me get them out on the rafts. I play for a while then sit under the blow up canopy and just watch, thinking these kids are going to sleep good tonight.

  VP, Danny, and Bob come out with a cooler and hand me a beer. I throw chin and take a much needed drink. “Guy told me to thank Mr. Knight for the tip.”

  Danny laughs.

  VP looks at me, not knowing what I’m talking about. Danny hits his arm. “The other Mr. Knight.”

  I watch his face and laugh at the emotions he’s running through. “Fuckin’ kids.”

  He gets up and starts playing with the kids, then they all do. The Brothers are having as much fun as the kids; it’s good to see them relax for a while.

  Pres comes out with the boy. He has his shirt on too. Once they get on the dock the boy runs to Diego and José. Pres sits by me and grabs a beer from the cooler. “Did you get his name?”

  “Yeah, Chin, but he wants to change it. That’s what the man called him. He was sold to the pussy. Parents died in Hong Kong. He lived on the streets. He was picked up and shipped here, then sold. He has no papers, nothing identifying him.” His voice is monotone. He does that when he’s upset. He doesn’t let his voi
ce show how much he’s affected.

  “Fuck, what are you going to do with him?”

  He runs his hand through his hair. “Fuck if I know. Kate doesn’t want him in care, but they would get him legal documentation. I need to talk to Danny.”

  He wants to keep him. “You know he’ll do what Kate wants. He’s never denied her anything,” I say, smiling.

  “This is different, though. Both of them will need counseling to deal with what they’ve lived through. It will be like Tess all over again. Chin isn’t in the country legally and we can’t point a finger at the pussy. The Brothers took care of what was left of him.”

  I think about that. “I’ll take them to therapy. It may be good for me too.” I look away from him. He’s the only one who knows what happened when I was a kid. It’s why I didn’t have to deal with the women when we were running flesh. “They won’t do better than staying right where they are and you know it. Geek should be able to come up with paper for him. You wouldn’t even have to adopt him.”

  “Brother, I haven’t been thinking. Shit. Is all this hitting you hard? Fuck, of course it is. That’s why you beat the fuck out of the pussy. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. If you need time to handle all this, you take what you need. I’ll set the therapist up for all of you.” Hands running through his hair, he’s aggravated that he missed something.

  “I’m okay, Ben. I had a few rough nights, but I got through them. I’ll take the therapy with the boys. It can’t hurt.”

  “I’ll set it up, Brother.” The old ladies come out, ending our conversation and I’m relieved. I don’t want to drag it all out again. Associate Dave and Driscoll are here with their old ladies and kids. When I head in with Danny to get some food grilling, we pass the rest of the compound people and babies. Rich hangs back with us to let me know about the pussy. I don’t tell him I already know. I let him finish and thank him.

  Kate, Nancy, and Pres come in and straight to us. “I already know what you’re going to say and it’s a yes from both of us,” Danny says with a smile.

  “I’ll get it taken care of,” Pres says and turns around, going back in the water. Danny cracks up.

  Kate stands in front of him and kisses him; Nancy does the same to me. “Thank you, big Tiny.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  One month later...

  “Uncle Tiny, we’ll be done afore the fire?” Niko says. Why he picked Niko is beyond me. Of all the names in the world he picked a camera. I have to admit it kind of fits his Asian look.

  “Yeah, Niko, we’ll meet everyone at the Diner, then we’ll go to the beach.”

  He relaxes and smiles at Diego, signing something I miss. They laugh, making me smile. It’s been a hell of a month; we had to get CJ to change her contract with DSS so we don’t get any more kids. Seven is enough for me. Nancy wasn’t happy, but I’m not adopting every fuckin’ kid in the world. Pres and Danny can have the rest of them. Tess says we are good with what we have, so Nancy let it go. Niko talks pretty good now. Diego still just makes noise, but he signs pretty close to perfect. The boys work with him all the time and I still do our fifteen minute talks. He’s smart and picked it up fast. Aleena recommended a specialist. She was right; he has damage in his throat. For right now we’re leaving him alone. He needs surgery to fix it but it’s not guaranteed to work.

  We get to therapy and the boys go in one office while I go in the other. After fifty minutes I come out feeling good. He thinks I need to come back when I feel the need. Doing the therapy three times a week worked well for me. At first I wasn’t happy with it. I’d leave pissed at the whole fuckin’ world. That only lasted two weeks, then it was a cake walk. I’m surprised my Brothers put up with my shit without throwing tampons at me. Love the fuckin’ Brotherhood. I sit and wait for the Little Brothers.

  The boys’ therapist comes out to talk to me; they’re both learning that what happened to them was wrong; no one should have touched them that way. Last week they talked to me about it being bad. I explained it was the grownups that were bad not them. They both looked relieved. I called the therapist and told her about it so she could go through it with them. Today she says they got it. They drew pictures of the bad men, then tore them up, throwing the bad away.

  I smile all the way to the Diner. We’re early, so Sam takes them in the back with his little girl. They color new pictures for the wall by the register. I laugh when Diego writes ‘good man’ on his picture. He even gave Sam ink and piercings. Lana thinks it’s funny and hangs it in the center. He writes like a three-year-old, but he’s getting it.

  Everyone shows and we eat, making it to the beach before it gets dark. The kids are excited and running wild. The old ladies have them, so the Brothers sit in the patio. I tell them about the boys’ bad men pictures, then Sam’s picture, making them laugh. “It’s good you caught that, Brother. It could have taken the therapist forever to find that guilt,” Cloud says. I nod, not knowing what to say. I lived it but don’t want my Brothers to know.

  “I have Diego’s papers coming tomorrow. You’ll have another Callahan on your hands.” I could do another. I throw him chin. “Does anyone know what the Little Brothers are up to?” he asks. I control my face while everyone looks around, not saying anything. I almost laugh when VP looks at me innocently. “The older boys have been secretive. It makes me nervous,” Pres says and I know he’s not buying our innocent act.

  “They have girls they meet. Security is with them, but they can’t talk about it,” Bob says helpfully. Pres nods but doesn’t question it anymore. We’ve all taken turns following them on dates; they always go different ways, always giving cover when we need it.

  Pres goes out with Patches and Cloud. VP looks at me. “Tonight, you got little Ben. I got Ricky.” I nod.

  “You both went out last time,” Bob says like he’s being cheated.

  VP’s head whips around to look at him. “Fuckin’ Danny left a mess. We don’t have clean up followin’ us.”

  “Guy was with a kid,” Danny says low.

  “The news picked it up, though,” I tell him. It was all over the fuckin’ place. That’s all we need.

  Rich chuckles. “I got video on this one, though. We’ll work it without the surprises.”

  Danny is pissed. “You want to go, go, I’ll stay and cover,” I tell him and look at VP.

  He rolls his eyes. “Fuckin’ pains in my ass. Fine. No fuckin’ mess!”

  Danny smiles. “You got it, VP.”

  Rich laughs. “You’re enjoying this too much,” I tell him.

  He looks surprised. “My dad’s funny. I wasn’t laughing about the Op. Getting these guys away from kids and keeping them away is a fuckin’ service no one will thank us for, but they’ll be thankful their kid stayed safe. Ops aren’t fun or funny to me. That’s why I can laugh at every other fuckin’ thing in my life.”

  “You’re right, Brother. I meant no disrespect. This hits too close for me to laugh about.”

  Danny is watching me. VP stands. “Need to get out there and show with everyone.” Bob and Rich follow him. Danny puts his hand on my arm, holding me in place, but he’s looking out at the water.

  “You know I was in care. You know I was in juvie, but I never told you why. I had a new big brother that thought I was his new toy. I stole a steak knife and stabbed him when he came in my room one night. I was put in juvie for two fuckin’ years because I wouldn’t be a fuckin’ toy. Nothing about this is just about those boys. Couple of years ago I told Rich. He knows what happened and he’s in it for me. VP is in it for you. Bob is in it for the boys. Not one of us is alone here.” He looks at me then looks away. “I don’t expect you to say anything; I’d prefer if you didn’t. I just need you to know why we all agreed to this when little Ben brought it to us.”

  Fuck. Never would I have guessed this. “Thanks, Brother.”

  I have to get out of here. I stand and walk out, not knowing if it’s the right thing to do, but I need to get away from him. VP is in i
t for me. Did Pres tell him? Fuck. I know he wouldn’t say anything, but fuck. I sit at the table, watching the kids and women. The Brothers started the fire and are standing watching it, but I’m watching the boys. Rich is right. They’re safer because of what we’re doing. I want to shut down every fuckin’ site that allows bidding on these kids. Everything is running through my head. I try to run through the shit from therapy. I was a fuckin’ kid. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t ask for the shit that happened. I beat the fuck out of the old man when I was old enough. I got mine in. Every single Brother has a story. Mine isn’t even so different from Danny’s. Every day we live and we live good. We make it better for the kids and women. That’s what it’s about. Taking the shit lives we started with and making it better for us, our old ladies, and our kids. I keep repeating it in my head until VP sits by me.

  “It’s true. When you was hittin’ the wall at Security I picked it up. Not just the boy, but you. Never said fuck to no one. Not my story to tell. My words aren’t good, but I got your back; always, in everythin’.” He stands, putting his hand on my shoulder and walks away. I smile. He does. They all do. I get up and join the others, grabbing a beer on the way. I love the fuckin’ Brotherhood.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Two days later...

  Nancy

  I’m emptying boxes with tears falling. I don’t even try to stop them. After hearing what Tiny’s been through, so many things make sense. His fear of being like the man that hurt him, the crazy advice shows, the showers he kept taking trying to clean it all away when he found out about Diego, his protectiveness of Sandy, his worry over everyone’s kids and who they spend time with. It all falls into place.

  I even understand why he didn’t tell me. I think it’s irrational, but I understand. He’s lived in the MC his whole adult life. They would never think less of him because of what happened to him as a kid. They wouldn’t judge him and neither would I. He’s become such a good man because of and in spite of what happened to him.