Page 33 of Broken By It

“Yeah, but I’m gonna be hungry and thirsty.”

He nods, “okay,” looks to me, “come on dad, we gotta go get Udon noodles and boba for Zizi when she gets patched up.”

Kids are resilient. How bad will all of this impact him long term though?

Again, my mind races with so many thoughts and I can’t seem to find my center. Reluctantly, I leave Maritza to get my son out of the atmosphere. I don’t know the kind of pull the Son’s have, but they have kept the cops away. Honestly, I don’t have the energy to ask questions.

Once we are outside, I take a deep breath. “Gotta make a call, Hollis,” I explain before clicking the contact and lift the phone to my ear.

“Update me now!” Ruby yells into the phone.

“She’s stable. They have a doc with her to remove the bullet now. I don’t know details of what went down yet.”

“And Hollis?” Ruby asks calming down a little bit.

“He’s with me and fine. Your daughter is an amazing woman, Ruby. She wouldn’t let anyone near him and kept him with her until my arrival.”

“Dia?” he asks, and I hate that I don’t have an answer.

“Honestly, don’t know. Busted is on the way to address that.”

“Take care of your son. We’ll see you in a few hours. Keep me apprised of my daughter, Karma.”

“Yes sir. Let Mariella know something about kiwi. Maritza said it will explain everything if you tell Mariella that.”

Sure, I was supposed to call Mariella and not her dad, but as a parent, I wouldn’t want to be told by another kid of mine. Out of respect for who Ruby is I called him direct.

I look to my son and pull him close to my side for a moment. Hunter walks out of the room and over to me before I can sort out a ride.

“Karma,” he calls out and I give him a chin lift. “Wasn’t sure who was who exactly, so I was takin’ a guess. I’ll give youthe quick brief and then you can be on your way. Anna’s car is just up the road, walking distance away. Here are the keys,” he extends his hand with them for me to take. “Once Doc gets the bullet out and Maritza stitched up, we’ll use our van to move her to the clubhouse. We can set y’all up in a room for her to be under Doc’s care until it’s safe for her to travel. Stone put in a call; we bought the Oasis on a cash sale. It will ward off some questions. It will also allow your club a place to stay since the calvary is riding in.”

I don’t say anything just listen. He’s right though, the club is on the way down and not just Haywood’s Landing.

“Eventually, the women and your kid will have to make a formal statement with the cops, but we have them on payroll. We’ll control as much of it as we can on our side.”

I nod. I want to be mad that he didn’t rush in to stop O’Leary from taking Dia and Emmalee. But I’ve also been in military situations where even though the danger was high, patience prevailed. This was a situation where the long game was more important than the short. If he had rushed in outnumbered, everyone could be dead including my son.

I’m on edge worried about Maritza, but I have to trust these people because my options are limited.

Tossing a hand up to dismiss Hunter, I take my attention back to Hollis. “Wanna get something to eat?” I ask my son walking in the direction of the laundromat where Anna’s car is.

“Not really, but we gotta get Maritza what she asked for,” he replies, “Hey, dad?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t want to get mom’s car. I don’t want to leave Zizi. Can we sit here and wait? When she’s okay we can get her noodles and tea real fast.”

I pull him to my side giving him a squeeze. “You betcha. In fact, I’ll use one of those apps and get the shit delivered to us. That way we have it for her, but don’t need to leave.”

We go to a bench in the pool area not far from her room. “What can I do for you Hollis? This is a lot to take in.”

He looks to the sky like he’s trying to put his thoughts together. “I don’t understand why mom did it.”

“Neither do I.” I give him the truth. I know I’ve been given the quick version of Anna owing money to someone and being roped into making contact with Emmalee Van Etten because she was the key to getting the millions back that her dad stole from Patrick O’Leary. The world I live in, I understand the players like O’Leary and the lengths they will go to in order to recover what belongs to them.

“I should have called you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put Zizi in this. It’s my fault she is hurt.” He hangs his head down.

It’s my turn to look to the sky for some unknown answer. “None of this is your fault, Hollis. I’ll spend the rest of my days doing anything for you to know that. As for not calling me. I understand it. I get that you were worried about your mom getting into trouble. None of us could have predicted what she was into.”

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