by Bella Knight
He grinned. “Yes, Ma’am,” he said. He plugged in his seat belt, and so did his mama, and they dropped them off at the apartment house. Rota went up to show them to their apartment.
Tori and Skuld then went with Thorn to get Thorn’s brother. The mother was sitting on the stairwell, nodding off. They walked right past her. Inside the place was trashed, dirty clothes and dishes everywhere, and the works for drugs right out on the table.
Thorn rushed past them, and found Rudy in his room, eyes closed. “Rudy, what ya doin’ home from school?”
Rudy opened his eyes. He looked exhausted. “I tried to clean up, really I did, but she started screamin’ an’ told me to go to my room.”
“Let me see,” said Thorn. Rudy held out his hand, and Thorn, Skuld, and Tori saw the hand was cut and bruised.
Tori’s face went still. “I gotta…” She pulled out her phone and started texting.
“Who?” asked Thorn, angling her head toward the phone, making her braids clack.
“Someone we can trust,” said Skuld. “Not looking to jam you up, just getting custody away from her.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “We’ve done this before.” Her eyes went grim. “Unfortunately.” She turned to Tori. “Glove compartment.”
“On it,” said Tori. She pocketed the phone and bounded out the door and down the steps.
“Where she goin’?” asked Thorn.
“Get the first aid kit,” said Herja. She arranged herself near the door. “Start packing.”
“We’ve got nothin’ ta…” said Thorn.
“Shoulda thought of that,” said Skuld. She texted Tori. “Tori will bring up the bags we use for groceries. Get your stuff in piles, ready to go. We’ll have to move fast.”
“Where we going?” asked Rudy, his face terrified.
“You work for us now,” said Skuld. “The rules are, homework gets done. You’ll have chores, like cleaning up your room and setting the table and sweeping the floor. Those’ll rotate, your sister will have hers to. Four hours school, two hours chores, four days a week. Rest of the time… well, you’ll have to work extra to get some money for an online video game subscription. Or, come up to Henry’s farm. Work with the ponies and horses.”
Thorn went through things, piling them on the bed. “Rudy, you see anything too small, you pull it out with your good hand and throw it on the floor. Can you do that for me?”
Rudy nodded, and stared wide-eyed as his sister went through his things. Tori came back up, cleaned and bandaged Rudy’s hand, and helped pack Rudy’s room. Skuld and Thorn went to the pitifully small pile of makeup and clothes on shelves near the couch. They threw them into the bags and shouldered them.
“Let’s go,” said Thorn. “Wait, we need pots or pans or…”
“All provided, including the first month of food. But, we’ll have to stop off and get more kid things, like mac n’ cheese,” said Herja. “Wait, either one of you got a birth certificate or social security card?” Tori gave her a flat stare that said Skuld was crazy. “Alrighty then,” said Skuld. She took a single step and put her head in the door. “You done?”
“Yes,” said Rudy, pulling himself up. “This a group home?”
“No, an apartment house,” said Tori. “These ain’t social workers.”
Skuld choked a laugh. “Certainly not.”
They went out to the stairs, avoiding the cockroaches. Gregory was on the stairs, a very large Bannon directly behind them. “I gotta…” said the woman nodding off on the porch.
“Sign here,” said Gregory.
Tori ran back up into the apartment and came back down with a little glassine baggie filled with a white powder. She held it in front of her mother’s nose. “Sign, and you get more goodies,” she said.
“I…” Her mother, the one with the gray skin and sunken eyes, signed. The woman snatched the glassine bag, tore it open, and put a little on her lips. “Good stuff,” she said. “That’s ma girl.”
“Not anymore,” said Thorn. “And, you should know. You just used our rent money to buy that shit.”
They ran out, toward the van. Some guys strolled up, with laid-back postures, baggy shorts falling off to expose baggy underwear, and do-rags on their heads. “Were ya goin’ wif de white folks?” said one of them, fingering the gun in his waistband.
“Razor, done goin’ to some otha group home,” said Thorn, looking sad. “Separatin’ me from my brotha again. Be back in six months, or mebbe three this time.”
“See ya,” said Razor.
Tori, Thorn, and Rudy got into the van. Skuld closed it. Gregory and Bannon got back in Bannon’s company car, a wide-eyed starlet in back, with a narrow-eyed Jamie Choi next to her. They rode off, eyes everywhere, until the ladies arrived at the apartment.
Bannon got out. “You ladies…”
“Thanks for the assist,” said Tori, getting out of the van. “And, I’m contemplating your offer. Seriously love what I’m doing, though. Think I’ll run my own garage, do some extra gigs.”
“Seriously want you full-time, but I get it,” said Bannon. “Call me.” He handed her his card. He got back in and was gone.
Thorn and Rudy dragged their way up the stairs, with Skuld and Tori behind them with the rest of their things. They burst in, and Orange came running up, to help.
D’Shawn was in the kitchen, eating cereal. “You… Rudy, you all ‘ight?”
“Yes’m,” said Rudy. “Hey, D’Shawn. Whatcha eatin’?”
“Cereal,” said the boy. D’Shawn held up a tablet. “It be charging. Yours is ova dere.” He pointed to a cabinet. Rudy ran up, and soon had a box in his hands.
“You two,” said Skuld, her voice low, to Orange and Thorn, “Type in what you need for the boys. I want sizes, from shirts to underwear, shorts to shoes. These boys are going to get what they need, right now.”
“You don’t have ta…” started Orange.
“Shut ya mouf,” said Thorn. “Dese people are pros.” She held up the paper Bannon had slipped her. “Got me custody of Rudy. Now, we be workin’ fo’ dem, pay dem back, but dey is good people. Dey wanna help, we let ‘em. For da boys, not us.”
“Done had D’Shawn when I was twelve,” said Orange. “Guess we due for a break.” They input the sizes into Herja’s phone. “We get phones, too?”
“Burners are in the cabinet. Don’t let the boys have them, and we have to pick up two more tablets for you two, now that the boys took them,” said Skuld.
“Henry’ll let them go to the Nighthawks homeschool,” said Tori. “They’re Nighthawks now.”
“What’s a Nighthawk?” asked Orange.
“A motorcycle club. We’re Valkyries. We’re here to teach you how to protect yourselves and your boys from anyone who may want to hurt you or them. The Nighthawks are Ghost’s group,” said Skuld.
“And mine, for now,” said Tori, “But, I may be a Valkyrie yet.”
“And we’re Nighthawks now?” asked Orange.
“Yes,” said Tori, slowly. “You don’t have bikes, but through Ghost, you are.”
“That big guy was scary,” said Thorn. “The one that talked to you.”
“Bannon,” said Tori. “He would kill anyone that hurt you or those kids. We don’t cause trouble,” said Tori.
“We do sure as hell end it, though,” said Skuld.
Ghost went back to work. They left Rota with the two apartments, and then went hunting for boy stuff. They hit up a Wal-Mart. Skuld called Henry. “Already heard about it from Gregory,” said Henry. “We’ll have someone pick the boys up in the morning and take them back.”
“Good,” said Skuld. “They broke into the tablets meant for the females.” She put two more tablets in the cart.
Henry laughed. “Boys will do that. Same educational software. Have the boys bring the blank ones I know you’re buying, and we’ll install it.”
“Good,” said Skuld. “Now, tell me what five and seven-year-old boys who have become little adults (way too damn fas
t) need, in Wal-Mart.”
“Jeans, shoes, socks, underwear, sweats, Legos, a box to put the Legos in, Legos people, metallic cars, basketballs, soccer balls, a board game like Trouble or Hungry Hippos, and Uno cards. Those foam basketballs and baskets that go on your door. We’ll get the baseballs and gloves and stuff later, bring them to school for them. Exactly the same as Ryder, actually.”
Herja laughed. “She’d eat a foam ball, and you know it.”
“Posters. Go superhero for now. Can’t go wrong with those. We’ll find out who else they like, music or sports stars, or movies, later.” He stopped talking in order to think. “You need pods.” He sighed. “Callie is gonna have a cow. Looks like I’ve got to get a plan from her, either do some babysitting or hire Nico and some Wolfpack to do it.”
Skuld pointed out things, and Tori threw them into the cart as Herja scooted around, getting the things as Henry told her to do. She came to a halt. “Good Odin, that’s a lot of Legos.”
“Go for the space set. We’ll get them into being astronauts,” said Henry. “We get them loving that, we’ll get them loving math.”
“On it,” said Skuld. “Anything else?”
“Love the hell out of them,” said Henry.
“No problem,” said Skuld.
They went to pay, a mound of things in the cart. “Wait,” said Henry, in Skuld’s ear. “You get school supplies and backpacks?”
Skuld groaned. “They need pencils and pens, notebooks, protractors and calculators?”
Henry laughed. “Calculation is done with tablets. Yes, pencils, pens, notebooks, backpacks. Go blue, or black. Maroon. Boys like dark, dramatic colors. And, a drawing tablet for each one, oh, and colored pencils.”
“Any art projects?” asked Tori, stealing the phone from Skuld. “There’s a stained-glass kit…”
“Wait a bit,” said Henry. “Those boys are traumatized. Now they’re in a brand-new home among strangers. Oh, twin bedding. Color code it, black for one boy, blue for the other. Or maroon. Keep the washing apart. Get all the bedding in one bag, save you some time.”
“Got it,” said Tori. “We’re going to need a second cart.”
Skuld took the phone back. “Anything else? Other than snacks like fruit roll-ups and stuff?”
“Think that’s it,” said Henry. “Go pay. Do you need…”
Skuld growled into the phone. “I train the best of the best. Rota and I have been talking about this for a while. Shut. Up.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” said Henry. “I would hire you, but I can’t figure out how to have you train people in self-defense.”
“Self-defense while sitting on a Harley,” said Skuld. “I’ll think of something.”
“Okay,” said Henry. “You need anything…”
“I’ll call, but doubtful in the next twenty-four hours.” They went to pay, pushing together. Tori ran out to bring the van around. They filled up the back and went back.
They found everyone in Orange and Thorn’s apartment. Rota was cooking up some pasta for dinner. The boys shouted and jumped up and down as they surveyed their new loot. Orange and Thorn calmed them down with fingers to lips. Orange and Thorn plugged in their new tablets to charge, and Little Bit showed the boys how to do laundry.
“Cool, don’t hafta use coins,” she said. They tried to stuff in all of their new clothes at once, but Skuld waded in, laughing, and showed them how to separate laundry into lights and darks. The room was soon filled with the smells of garlic and butter. Little Bit and Blue explained how Tori had taken them to get bread, peanut butter, and jelly for the boys, and a baguette for dinner.
“Sorry, honey,” said Skuld. “Never went near the food, except for snacks.”
“I forgot the snacks,” said Rota. “So, our two heads did the job.”
“You two… togetha-togetha?” asked Blue.
“Yeah,” said Rota. “Ghost has a lady named Killa. Calls her ‘Wifey.’”
“I’m dat way,” said Blue.
“I’m not,” said Little Bit.”
“Don’ worry,” said Blue. “You kinda like my little sister.”
“Naw,” said Little Bit. “I just don’t wanna…”
“You don’t have to,” said Tori. “I haven’t wanted to in a while.”
“Why don’t ya got legs?” asked D’Shawn.
“IED. A bomb. Blew them off.”
D’Shawn raised his eyebrows. “Got shot at. Neva got blowed up.”
“You join da military, like da Army or da Navy, it could happen,” said Blue. “I been thinkin’ ‘bout it, ta pay fo’ da school.”
“I wanna be like Bannon,” said Thorn. “He tough. I kin protec’ us that way.”
“We protec’ each otha. We a fam’ly now,” said Blue.
“Damn straight,” said Skuld. “I’ll be by twice a week for your lessons.”
“Ka-pow!” said D’Shawn, kicking out his foot.
“You’re doing it wrong,” said Skuld. “Let me show you your center.” She went over and stood in-between the two excited boys. “Now, put your thumb in your bellybutton.” They did it, laughing. “Now, go down three fingers. That’s your center.” She bent her knees and wiggled her butt. “Feel that part, that place where your gravity is? That’s your center.” They both found their centers. She stepped out and faced them. “Now, roll like you’re in a rolling chair.” She moved her butt back and forth. They did the same, laughing. She widened her feet to two shoulder lengths apart, and then had them roll around.
“What this good fa?” asked D’Shawn. Tori went up and took over for Rota. Rota came over and took a swing at Skuld’s face. Skuld wasn’t there, having moved over, feet shoulder length apart. Rota swung the other way, and Skuld wasn’t there.
“First rule,” said Skuld. “If someone tries to hit you, get the hell out of the way. Then, you have time to figure out what you want to do next. Run. If you’re defending someone else, you’ll have to fight. But, that has to be a decision you make. Not some random thing. Most people freeze and get hit. You’ve got to learn to move.”
The boys’ jaws were open. Thorn and Blue nodded. Orange and Little Bit also had their mouths open. “Tuesday n’ Thursday?” asked Thorn. “I’ll learn me whatever you wanna teach.”
“Me too,” said Blue.
“Me three,” said Little Bit.
“I’m in,” said Orange.
Steam rose from the sink as Tori poured out the pasta. She took the jar of sauce out of the microwave and sat it on the counter. She said, “D’Shawn, Rudy, wash up and set the table. The rest of you, wash up after them.” There was a chorus of “Yes, Ma’am,” and the boys rushed to comply.
The boys were picked up for Nighthawks school in the morning, and Herja and Callie came over. Callie measured the rooms, sent an e-mail to Tito, and the women all sat down at the round table. Callie had brought two chairs with padded booster seats for the boys. She then tested the women in pairs. One pair put on sweats and did the same centering exercises as the boys had learned the previous night, and the other pair were put into an online high school program.
“This is different from any other school you’ve been to,” Callie explained. “You watch videos, and read stuff, then you do what you’re asked to do to prove you understand it, like write a line of code or do a math problem, or even write a sentence. Watch the videos until you understand what the teacher is talking about. The idea is to work you into passing the Nevada End of Course Exams, so you can get a high school diploma.”
She held up a little apple timer. “This is a Pomodoro timer. Pomodoro is Italian for ‘apple.’ You work for twenty-five minutes, you stop for five to ten minutes. You take a break, stretch, go to the bathroom, put a load of laundry in or take one out. Then, sit down. Do it again. Take a longer break at two hours, get a snack, drink some water. Then, sit back down. At four hours, no more school. Read if you want; there’s a reading list you have to get through for high school, but don’t worry about that yet. Then, Ghost and som
eone from the Wolf Pack will show you what you’ve got to do for work.”
“What do we have to do for work?” asked Little Bit. She was with Thorn at the table.
“Making miniature Harleys. Most of the Wolfpack who do it are girls, and most just do it on the side. They’re getting super-busy with college, and they want to pass it on to you. As you get better, you’ll take more and more of the work. You’ll be melting metal and plastic, and then pouring them into molds. Then, you’ll take them out of the molds and put them in a box for Ghost. Ghost is working on 3D printing for the parts, but that tends to take time. Eventually, both apartments will have a 3D printer or two. Just set it, then come back later when it’s printed to print another one. By then, you’ll be learning how to put the miniature bikes together. Then you’ll take on other jobs, like cleaning houses or doing construction, or helping moms with babies, or carding or washing alpaca or angora wool, or spinning it to make it into soft yarn. Or maybe you want to build big Harleys. Whatever you so desire.”
“Easier to get it on your back,” said Blue, sadly.
“Nope, it isn’t,” said Callie. “I married an ex-hooker. She said it hurt her in places she is still finding. It certainly wasn’t easier. She lost so much. She did it for her daughter, who has autism. Eventually, she bought a bar, goes dancing every night and slinging drinks. Still not easy, but everything she’s done, she’s done for her family.”
Blue smiled. “Okay,” she said.
Callie looked down at her breasts, and then back up again. “Besides, you get old, and things start to sag. Not a long-term solution to your short-term problem of making enough money to live on. Most of us put together jobs, like a jigsaw puzzle, and make really good money. Bella bar backs and illustrates book covers. Ghost has the big-Harley and little-Harley businesses. Ghost builds Harleys and has babies for people who can’t have them. Katya has twins and a daughter, and is going back to school, and does the ‘baby-thing-for-other-people’ thing, too. Richard makes Harleys and works on making books in his native language, Zuni. Gregory runs the protection business with Bannon, and also does some building stuff on the side. I teach, raise four and a half kids, we share one, have a household, and make pods. It’s a lot of work, but we have time for vacations like rides and cruises, and to get our kids whatever they need.” There was a knock on the door. Nico came in with Richard, a load of melamine, and tools. “Hey, guys!” she said. The men hugged Callie and Herja, and then went in to make the pods in the bedrooms.