Page 7 of Risk
I rub my temples and answer, “Only if you have some alcohol to add to it. I’m getting a migraine.”
He pulls a flask out of his cut pocket and bounces it from one side to the other through the air. “I’ve got you. I always come prepared.”
“Then I’ll take a large. Make sure they only fill it three quarters of the way,” I order as I pull out my pack of smokes and light one up before walking toward the designated smoking section.
Damn addictions. They’ll get you one way or another.
You have to walk a damn mile to get to the appointed area, maybe I should invest in one of those vapes I see others using. It’d be a helluva lot more convenient and they get more accommodations than we pack smokers do. For one, they don’t permeate the air with a cloudy plume the way cigarettes do so it’s reasonable why they do it at facilities like hospitals, but it’s still damn inconvenient.
As soon as my ass hits the bench I release a moan. My feet have been bugging me all day. The job I had last night was standing only, for sixteen straight hours, so my poor heels have been giving me fits with aches and spasms—I’m getting too fucking old for this shit. Maybe I should invest in one of those soaking tubs and some Epsom salt? Of course, I’d have to hide that shit behind closed doors or I’d be the laughingstock of my brothers.
As I take a drag in the dark, the end blazes with red ash. I’m mesmerized by the sight so I jump when a car comes screeching into the emergency room drop off. A woman, who looks somewhat familiar to my overworked mind, jumps out of the driver’s side, nearly tripping over her feet, and rushes around to the passenger back door, flinging it open. “It’s okay, Phoenix, Nana’s got you, baby boy.” It’s then that I hear the tortured squalling of a toddler. The painfilled cries reverberating from his tiny chest has my heart zip lining up into my throat. That anguished sound is one that has everyone in the proximity jumping into action. Which is exactly what I do.
My sudden appearance at her side has her gasping as she clutches the kid’s head to her chest, it’s buried to the point that I can’t see his face. Her eyes widen when she takes in the patches on my cut and when she gulps, I frown. But being who I am, I dismiss her apparent prejudices against me and ask, “What can I do to help, ma’am?”
“I’m sorry,” she apologizes. “You caught me off-guard. You weren’t there a second ago.”
“It’s okay. I understand,” I express. Then I nod down to the boy that has her body slumping from his weight. “Do you need me to go get somebody? A wheelchair, or an orderly, perhaps?” I don’t offer to carry him myself because she’s in mama bear mode, and when a woman gets to that stage, she’ll tear your throat out in protection of her cub.
“If you could just shut the door for me, that would be wonderful,” she acknowledges, twisting on her feet and heading toward the doors. She doesn’t wait to see if I’ll do as she asks, there’s only one thing on her mind and it’s not the potential theft of her vehicle.
I shake my head when I peer inside and see the keys still hanging from the ignition. I’m not a genius, but even I know that’s a bad idea. Deciding to be a good samaritan, I shut the back door that she left open and head over to the driver’s seat. Tritan comes out of the dark and startles me. That’s twice in less than twenty minutes, I really need to snap out of my funk or I’m going to end up on the wrong end of a blade.
“What’cha doing, man?” Tritan asks, giving me a skeptical look.
“A woman just came through with a boy who’s bleeding like a stuck pig. She ran into the ER so I’m trying to do the right thing by parking her car, locking it up, and taking her the keys. Do me a solid?”
“What’s that?” he asks, tilting his head down so he can look me in the eyes.
“Go let her know what I’m doing so the cops aren’t called on me. Let her know once I have it in a spot, I’ll bring her the keys.”
“Alright,” he agrees, holding out the cup of coffee he grabbed for me. I thank him with a nod of my head, forgetting that he was supposed to doctor it as I take a sip of the bitter brew. It’s black, just the way I like it but it must not be from a fresh batch if my tastebuds are an indicator. But as he starts heading in the same direction as the lady did, I notice the female’s purse laid on its side on the passenger floorboard.
Reaching over, I grab the strap and call him back to me. “She’s going to need this for his insurance and billing. Hand it to her when you tell her what I’m doing.”
“Swear to fuck, Risk. If I get bitch slapped by a purse wielding woman, I’m going to slit your tires and make you trek it back to the clubhouse on your feet,” he grumbles.
“Just do it, man. Stop being a pussy.”
“I’m not a pussy, fucktard,” he contends. “Women don’t like strange men carrying their purses. You owe me one.”
I roll my eyes at him as he turns his back on me. When did we become scared of women half our size? We’re hardnosed men who ride bikes and used to tear down towns.
Some of my brothers need to find their backbones because this shit is getting pathetically ridiculous.
CHAPTER
FIVE
McKenna
Mom calledme from the hospital last night. She had to take my precocious boy to the hospital because he’d gotten a hold of her pocketknife and decided to play knight, enacting a one-man sword fight. She had told him to go into her purse to get his action figure out of it, and instead, he found her blade that was tucked into an interior side pocket and it made him curious, like most shiny things do—I’d swear under oath that he was a raven in his past life.
The toy he was sent to recover was the new one I’d just bought him, and he’d tucked it away inside her bag for safe keeping, or so he claimed. He’s notorious for stashing things when he’s told to put them up but wants to keep them nearby. Couch cushions, drawers, and behind the television are where she finds them when she cleans.
For obvious reasons, I couldn’t meet her there. Thankfully, she didn’t really want me there, she thought it would make him more unruly and upset than he already was. She did let him callme once they were released and he told me all about the nice man in the vest that helped his nana. I inquired more, wanting further details, but Mom explained he only helped her with her car so she could get Phoenix into the ER without worrying about leaving him in the waiting room and parking it.
My bottom lip is still raw from how brutally I chewed on it after she confirmed he was from ‘that club’ that moved into the territory.
