Page 5 of Scooter's Endgame
“Mama?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Why’s Daddy so mad at you?”
“I’m not sure, baby. I think he’s just having a bad day.” My brains scrambles to find a way to explain to my sweet boy why we need to leave the only home he’s ever known. Out of nowhere, inspiration strikes. “I have an idea. How about you and me, we go on an adventure.”
Luke’s little face brightens as he looks up at me. “An adventure? To where?”
“Well, that’s the adventure. Finding someplace to go – you know, a bit like a vacation. Just you and me. What do you think?”
“Yeah. That sounds like fun.” He hops up and down on the spot.
“Easy there, slugger. We don’t want you to get sick again. That’ll ruin the adventure.”
“Okay, Mama.”
“Come on then,” I say, urgency tugging at me. “Let’s go get you packed up so we can get going.”
In little more than an hour, I’ve got all our stuff packed – well, the stuff I can take with, at any rate – and we’re ready to leave. I’m trying my best to keep panic at bay, since I have no idea where we’ll go.
I’ve managed to squirrel a tiny bit of savings away for a rainy day. Living with my mother taught me to always be ready for anything. But heaven knows, it won’t last forever. In fact, it won’t last long at all. So, first order of business is to find somewhere for Luke and me to stay, and then I need to find a job. Stat.
Lord only knows where I’ll find one of those since I haven’t worked in over six years. Not since Jeff knocked me down the stairs and I went into premature labor. But that’s tomorrow’s worry. For today, I need to find somewhere for us to go.
3
SCOOTER
Kathleen and Luke have been on my mind for days. I’ve been hearing rumors around the base about Gonzo and some side piece he’s been fooling around with. And that pisses me off. He’s got a good woman to go home to, but instead he’d rather step out on her. The dumbass is too arrogant – or stupid – to appreciate what he’s got.
I check my watch and see its almost lunchtime. Making a snap decision, I impatiently wait for the time to tick by before I grab keys out of my locker and head for the car. I’ll pop in at the house to see how Luke’s doing after his hospital visit.
I pull up to the curb outside the house and am confused to find the house completely empty. Not even curtains remain to cover the windows and shield the rooms within from passersby. What the hell?
Just a few days ago, I dropped a woman and her child off at this very house, and now there’s no trace that anyone’s even lived here in ages. I cycle through surprise, confusion, and then worry.
I’ve heard that the man has not only managed to gamble everything he owned away, but he’s gotten involved with some seriously sketchy people. All I can do for now is hope she and the boy are all right until I can find out where they’ve gone.
I make my way back to the office, thoughts of Kathleen in the forefront of my mind. I’ll never forget the first time I saw her as long as I live. The base hosted a family day, and we’d just finished the obstacle challenge.
We whipped Gonzo’s team, again, and the man was hopping mad. The more we ragged on them, the more riled he got. Even his team leader couldn’t calm him down. Just as he was ready to throw hands, this vision walked up to him with the most radiant smile. A few choice words and that light winked right out.
Red-hot rage flooded my veins, and I had to walk away to avoid giving the jackass a beat down for all the world to see. But the look of devastation on Kathleen’s face haunted me for weeks after.
The thought of love at first sight had always been a laughable concept. Until the moment I laid eyes on Kathleen. Sunlight cast a halo of liquid fire around her auburn hair. I have no idea what they call the complicated-looking do she had going on in her hair, all I do know is that it looked damn good on her.
When she turned those distressed doe eyes on me, I was a goner. Cheesy as it sounds, I literally felt the moment it happened. And if I’m brutally honest, I think I could have silenced my conscience over stealing another man’s woman if I hadn’t spotted the gentle swell of her belly. But I draw the line at breaking up a family.
At the time, I firmly believed every child deserves to have their father present in their lives. Unlike mine, who took off first chance he got. Knowing what I do now, I’m not so sure I believe that anymore.
For the rest of the afternoon, I brood. Conversation ebbs and flows around me, I contribute where needed, but otherwise I’m quiet. Lost in thought. When it’s time to go home, I grab my stuff out of the locker, but before I can exit the room, Knight calls out to me.
“Hey, Scooter. Got a minute?”
“Yeah, sure. What’s up?”
Lowering his voice so only I can hear him, he asks, “Everything okay? You’ve been very quiet this afternoon.”
