Chalk by Lily J. Adams
Chapter Eleven: New Livelihood
Chalk
“Are you enjoying working at the hospital? You seem to have stepped right into your dream job. All your hard work has paid off.” Lucy and I had walked down the block to sit at the wharf to watch the ferry boat take the passengers out around the bay. Her hair was billowing around her face from the wind coming off the water making her even more beautiful to me. She just seemed like a new woman, someone I wanted to rediscover.
“I love it. The patients are a real hoot, there are so many lovable characters there. I’m always a little sad when they leave. Originally, I applied for the emergency ward, but they didn’t want me to be too overtaxed.”
“I think that speaks to your nurturing spirit, and the whole thing seems like it was meant to be. You can even walk to work, right?” I wanted to know about her life and all the smaller details. We had years’ worth of catching up to do and I enjoyed hearing her talk.
“I get in my daily exercise, that’s a definite bonus.”
The heartbeat of our foundation as friends was still there, and we were picking up right where we left off. The stroll down memory lane brought up all the nostalgic moments, but we were in the hangman position romantically and I had these other background issues at the club, keeping me up at night.
Lucy picked up on my thoughts. “Seems like there’s something bothering you. Can you tell me about it?”
She’d always been able to pick up on my moods and I didn’t know if telling her about club business right now was a good idea. “A couple of things, but nothing the Rebels can’t deal with. I don’t want to bore you with the details.” Keeping it light was the best thing to do.
“I want to be bored with the details. I want to know about your life too. Not just mine.” She kept pressing.
Angie and Lucy couldn’t be more different. The strength of my feelings for Lucy were deeper than I realized. A hissing sound blew through my teeth as I wrestled with telling her the real deal at the club. “Okay, I do want someone to talk to about it. I’m running this pool competition at Wheelz and it’s bringing in pretty good revenue for us as a club. We take walk-ins sometimes, and there’s this guy, Rocky.” I raised my arms, stretching them out behind my head and dropping them down again. “I found out through Angie that he’s not what he seems.” My eyes drifted to Lucy.
She registered what I was telling her right away. “Okay, so does that mean he’s a danger to your club?”
“He’s a problem because he seems to be with the Devil Riders. It’s a long ass story that involves Ink’s girlfriend and an unpaid casino debt. Anyway, that’s raised the alarm, and now the Road Warriors are sending in their spies.” Tiredness over the situation rang through my voice. She would have to know because regardless of how distant we seemed to be, she could be in danger.
“Can’t you get rid of him and tell him he’s not able to play or make up something?” she suggested.
Whirring thoughts about Sarah’s safety came to my mind as Lucy’s questions triggered me. “Better we keep him close, so we can assess his next move. We’re hoping he slips up and gives us some new information that may be useful.” My fingers pressed into the back of my neck to relieve the tension. Just talking about the scumbag made my skin crawl.
“I’m concerned about Sarah. How can we protect her if this is going on? How can you and the guys be around him knowing what you know? Isn’t that creepy?” Lucy stared at me, waiting for a clarity.
I couldn’t exactly provide that, but I wanted to. “I feel better that we can keep an eye on him actually. It’s better if you can see your enemy.” My eyes drifted to the water to calm my own frazzled nerves and to stop Lucy from seeing that these thoughts of Sarah’s safety crossed my mind as well.
“Is there anything else? That doesn’t explain how Sarah is going to be kept safe, especially if he knows where you go and when you leave the club.” Shaky panic projected in her voice.
I felt like I was in the hot seat. “That’s enough. We do have some overhang from the cartel we used to deal with, but that’s a price we’re living with. We are a legitimate club, we run community bike workshops for youth, and that’s been amazing for all of the guys. The bars, the real estate, all of it is putting us on the right path. You should come down to the club and meet some of the old ladies and you’ll see how normal we really are. We’re a strong unit. A lot of the others have families too. They don’t wanna risk anything happening to their kids either. Trust me.”
“I would like that. I can see for myself. I’m free tomorrow night,” she added.
To break up the strained conversation, I made a little joke. “Damn. That’s not the right day for me to show off my pool skills. The pool competition is on Wednesdays.” I grinned. I couldn’t stop thinking if I had to defend my family, it would to the death.
She didn’t exactly appear in the mood to grin with the news, but the etchings of a smile touched her lips. “I can’t believe you’re still playing after all these years. I remember your skills, I wonder if I can still play.” She mused. When we were dating, we used to go to pool halls a lot. Lucy ended up being a pretty good player because of it too. I taught her a lot of trick shots and wondered if she remembered them.
Seagulls squawked above our heads, and the irrational fear of them pooping in my drink made me move my cup under my chair. I gave her a smile. “We can always find out tomorrow night. We can play a couple of games if you want.” I felt excited at the possibility of spending more time with her.
“What about Sarah? Who is taking care of her while we go out?” The worry-wart part of Lucy floated back in, letting me know she wasn't 100% in the trust zone with me to handle things with our daughter – or maybe it was a mom thing.
“I’ll get Teresa to take care of her for the night. I’ll text her in a little bit. Don’t worry, she’s in good hands,” I reassured her.
“Then I know she’s safe. Sounds like everything is sorted out. Wheelz, here I come.” Her smile was forced.
Well, I hoped to make it genuine in the future.
I shaved up in the mirror with my electric razor, making sure I got the extra hairs underneath my chin.
The story with Angie didn’t help either, I was kicking myself that I didn’t just come out and tell Lucy the truth about it. That there was nothing there to tell. Not on my part anyway. And why didn’t I? Truth be told maybe I didn’t want to risk my heart again. Just like my worry over Sarah having her heart broken by her mother going away all over again. Maybe I was still too gun shy. When Lucy got sick and then faded away to almost nothing, it about killed me. Then one day, she slipped away to another place geographically. Years had gone by. I kept busy raising my daughter and being a part of Wheelz, being a Rebel Saint.
I’d never gotten over her and even the striking momentary attraction to Angie Carmichael couldn't dampen that. I ran my hand over the close shave I managed with a self-satisfied smirk and dabbed some cologne on my neck.
“Dad! The door. The door,” Sarah called out from the living room. My little munchkin was never far away.
“Check the peephole, it’s probably your Aunt Teresa. Go ahead and check,” I called out back to her then I brushed my teeth. She knew not to open the door to strangers. My daughter was independent and liked to do things for herself, including climbing things, so I put her climbing to something productive for us both. I heard the chair scraping as she put it in front of the door. I chuckled. “Who is it?”
“Dad, there’s a man outside. There’s a man! Dadddd! He’s near the front with a bike.”
I dropped the toothbrush mid stroke without even wiping my mouth as my adrenaline and protective mode struck. “Get away from the door now! Get down and get behind me,” I commanded as I swept her behind my body to shield. My chest was thumping with blood thundering through my ears. I flung the wooden chair out of the way, peeping through the hole. I only caught the back of a bike moving away from the curb. I saw the matte black helmet and the all-black bike.
Sarah was tapping on my thigh. “Dad, Dad who was it? Was that your friend?”
My daughter. So innocent. So naive.
I vowed to keep her safe from harm as long as blood was running through my system. I dropped down on a knee and held her tiny shoulders. “You did good. Always check the door. That was not Daddy’s friend, maybe it was the postman and he forgot to deliver the mail. And that’s why we always check the door first.” I hugged her in close, I didn’t want to scare her any more than necessary, but I wanted to let her know that whoever the hell that was, had been no friend of mine.
Devil Rider? The cartel? Road Warriors? The enemies were stacking up, so it was hard to make an assessment. My brain got to working as I thought through how to protect the house and making sure I was strapped until this madness was over.
“Come back here with me and you can talk to me about school while I brush my teeth. I didn’t finish.” I smiled at her, but my pulse was still beating hard.
I continued to brush my teeth as Sarah started humming as if nothing had happened.
Another knock came at the door and I saw her turn, but I tugged at her shirt. “Let me handle it. Go to my bedroom for a minute,” I directed, pointing in the direction of my room.
“Why, Dad? Why?”
“Just do it.” I didn’t want to snap, but I also didn’t have time to argue.
She went to my room and threw herself onto the bed.
I moved to the door in stillness. I was three paces away, my heart racing. More pounding on the door, this time with a flat palm until…
“Yoo-hoo! Are you guys playing dead in there or what?”
Relief flooded my system. My sister was at the door. My eyes closed for a moment.
Sarah flew past me. “Aunty! Coming! I can let you in,” she cried out as I let her open the door.
Teresa’s beaming face was on the other side of the door.
I looked around her to see if there was anyone else out there and the street was clear. I didn’t want her worrying either so I tried to tune my face to neutral.
“Hi sweetie. How are you?” Teresa asked Sarah.
I got back to getting ready and shrugged on my jacket over the top of my collared shirt. I turned my wrist up to check the time. I had promised Lucy I would be there in ten minutes, so I had to make tracks. “Hey sister, sister. I have to run. I promised Lucy I would be there about now. If you see anything, I want you to call me, okay?” I rushed my goodbye with her, still distracted about what I’d seen.
“Why would I need to call you if I saw something?” Teresa asked with a confused expression.
Sarah was already playing near the couch, and I had to keep my comments light, so I didn’t alarm my sister. “I saw something…a sketchy bike outside hanging around. Call me ASAP if you see anyone around, that’s all. We got a few things going on at the club. Not trying to scare you, just call me if something is up.”
“Okay, I’ll keep a lookout.” Teresa’s face flashed with a look of confusion for a moment.
I knew she didn’t quite understand, but I had no choice but to warn her. I kissed Sarah, gave her a quick hug and drove the short distance to Lucy’s house. I honked the horn, waiting for her to come out, and my nerves went right back to being fraught.
A couple of minutes later, Lucy stepped out looking breathtakingly gorgeous.
I coughed because her adorable girl-next-door look combined with a touch of sensuality was knocking me out.
She wore blue jeans fitted to her slim legs, a white linen collared top with lace flowers around the edges of the sleeves, and comfy boots. Her silky black hair shone almost blue black. She opened the car door and immediately flooded it with her soft, floral scent.
“Hi.” I beamed as I let her know with my eyes I appreciated her.
“Hi back.”
She did the same to me, boosting my ego a little bit. Now the shaving effort felt all the more important. “Good day?” I cranked the engine and rolled us on toward Wheelz.
“Yep. Even better now.” A tender glow touched her eyes as she paid me the slight compliment.
“That’s good.” I smiled. I didn’t talk about our daughter and the incident. I needed to keep that to myself until I found out who it was. I wanted the night for us, just this night to see her relax.
When we got to Wheelz, the vibe was as I wanted it to be. Chilled and low-key. ‘Sweet Home Alabama’blasted out through the speakers, giving Wheelz a down home Mississippi feel. I felt grateful for the way the night was kicking off.
Mia and Numbers approached us not long after we walked in.
“Hey, Numbers, I haven’t seen you in a while. Mia, hey,” I said.
Lucy stood beside me, casually looking around.
Dread crept up on me because she would soon cross paths with Angie. I should have diffused that situation already. I never even dated the woman but I never admitted this to Lucy either. Kicking myself for being a chicken shit.
Mia smiled back as she sipped her clear drink in hand. “Hey Chalk,” she replied kindly, waiting a beat for an introduction.
“This is Lucy, Sarah’s mother. She’s living here now, and I’ve brought her down to meet the ladies.” An awkwardness seemed to flow in my introduction and I felt the heat in my cheeks. I wanted to say, ‘This is Lucy, the love of my life,’ but we definitely weren’t back there yet.
“Ah! Wow, I was so sorry to hear about everything you went through. You look like you’re doing well now.” Mia smiled.
“It’s been a long road of recovery, but I’m back on level ground now,” Lucy explained.
Mia put her at ease, I could tell. Now hopefully, she knew Wheelz wasn’t some dark, dangerous dungeon with weirdo bikers. We were just normal, everyday people having a good time. I let some of the angst inside of me go.
“Great to hear. You want a drink?” Numbers asked. “I’ll grab a round for us all, then you can meet Harper and Jaz. She’s here, right?”
Mia put her head on Numbers’ shoulder. “Yep, she’s here tonight.”
“A beer would go down fine,” Lucy answered, taking in the surroundings of the bar.
“Great, be back soon.” Numbers moved off to the bar.
Two other ladies came over to greet Lucy. I saw Bear and Angie talking in the corner, and I wanted an update on the story. I felt torn to leave Lucy until Jaz and Harper walked in. She would be okay with them. I touched her elbow to get her attention. “Hey, I’m just going to talk to Angie about the story. I have to check on a few things. Settle in and the girls will answer anything you wanna know.”
A cloud traveled over her face when I mentioned Angie’s name.
“It’s for the story,” I repeated quickly, not knowing if she was irritated by it. I hadn’t seen Angie so much. I’d tried to avoid being around her due to the confusion rattling my brain.
Her sweet brown eyes shone back at me. “Okay. Do what you have to do.”
“Good.” I winked at both Harper and Jaz as they waved, then I moved over to Angie and Bear. Bones, Smoke and Coyote had joined her and were talking with such animation I knew in the pit of my stomach drama was brewing. “Hey everyone, what’s shaking over here?” I asked.
Bones lips were pressed into a grim line as Bear listened on.
I mouthed hello to Angie.
She slunk over to me and ran her finger down my arm. She tilted her head in a ‘don’t-you-want-me’ way?
My smile was weak as I forced myself to step to the side.
“The Road Warriors and the Devils are teaming up to try and purchase the casino,” Bones replied. “Angie utilized her digging skills to find out for us.”
“We’re having a hard time catching a break. Insanity. How’d you find out, Angie?” I inquired, trying to keep it professional with her.
“I have a street source in Biloxi that told me the Road Warriors were upset about casino dealings and there was some sort of payback needed? I know they own that casino over there already.”
Bones, Coyote, and Smoke held neutral expressions.
While we were getting Angie to write the turnaround piece, we didn’t want to blow Jaz’s cover and the fact that the Road Warriors wanted redemption for stolen money from their casino. There was a code between us all. We all nodded without giving anything away.
“Strange,” I replied. “I think it’s gone too far. We might wanna figure out a way to let this guy go.”
Bones nodded. “I wanted to know where he lived and who he ran with, but he was vague with it. He did let slip that he knew about the strip joint. Maybe I could find out more from the dancers, or get Harper to gain the scoop. He’s gotta go.” The final curtain on our not so hidden enemy was about to be drawn.
“Yeah, I get a bad feeling every time he comes in here,” Coyote said with his wide open stance and crossed arms. “We gotta move him on. Shut down the communication. Say we ain’t got no spots available. Something like that.”
“Agree with all of it. We gotta put this to vote, Bones?” Bear asked in his deep voice.
“Nah, this is an easy one.” Bones shook his head. “I know Hawk wasn’t keen on the decision in the first place. At least, I got a lead to the strip club and we can sniff around.”
I looked around to see Lucy’s back turned but I could see Jaz, Harper and Mia smiling and laughing. She had them in the palm of her hand. “I want to make sure she’s okay…” I murmured.
“She’ll be fine,” Smoke said affectionately with a chuckle. “The girls will take her under their wings like they do everyone. Mother hens, that bunch.”
“True.” Bones smiled. “Angie, when’s this piece going to be done? Got a draft ready?” he asked.
“Just about there with a few finishing touches, then you can read it,” Angie said with pride in her voice.
“Looking forward to it. If it was anything like that mudslinging article you wrote against us, I can only guess we’re in for a treat,” Bones teased her.
The rest of us smirked.
Angie threw up her hands with a wicked grin. “Hey, that’s what I do. Journalism at its finest. My job is the best, what can I say? And now thanks to y’all, I got a spin-off story brewing with Mia connected to that slime bucket Road Warrior friend of yours. So many secrets and I’m going to find them all.” Her eyes glazed over with fierceness. If anyone could solve a mystery, it would be her.
I studied her. I liked her but not the way she wanted. I needed to let her know that. Dancing around it was not working. Not for me and not for Lucy.
Angie approached me after her victory speech. “Hey stranger. You’ve been kind of distant lately. Everything been okay with you?” she asked, reading my eyes.
I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Lucy talking to the girls and laughing. I let the ball of tension in my stomach go. “Yeah, everything is sweet, Angie. How about you?” I answered, keeping my distance.
She could see my stiff shoulders and the edging away from her. Her forehead creased as a result. “I see you’re not so keen to see me on a personal basis. Am I right?” she asked, although she was still giving me her lethal look of seduction.
“Damnit, Angie. You’re hotter than this Holbeck heat, but I got a lot going on. I hate saying this but I just want friendship. I’m a two-for-one special with my daughter.” I hoped I was being casual enough to let her down easy.
Angie shrugged as if it didn’t mean anything and flipped her long locks to the back. “Suit yourself. You’re missing out on a good time. I can tell you that much.” She snapped her fingers with a giggle at my rejection.
I shook my head and smiled at her flippant response. Turning to peek at the women again, I caught Lucy’s eyes on me. A wave of feelings rushed through me when I looked back at her. Not even from the past, but from the new Lucy. The improved version. She was so different, more grounded, sure of herself, nurturing. Damn, I had it bad and she wasn’t even aware of it. Well, time would change that.
I intended to make my life whole again.
