Page 31 of Shadow

Kansas sighed and shook his head before asking. “How are you feeling, Shadow?”

“Sore, but I’m good.”

“I wanted to thank you for coming for me,” Kali said, reaching for my hand. “You didn’t have to, but you did. Because of you, I am alive.”

“No. You would have survived. You are a survivor, Jinx. I know that now. What I did…” I said, my voice trailed off as I looked away. I couldn’t look at her. She looked so much like her brother. They had the same eyes. I took her brother from her. That was on me. She should punish me for that. That was the least I deserved.

“You righted a wrong, Shadow,” Kali whispered. “And if you will let me, I would like to help you.”

I looked back at her with tears in my eyes. “Help me?”

“By forgiving you.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“It’s not your decision to make, Ezekiel. It’s mine. Your hands may have taken the life of my brother, but you weren’t responsible. The mind is a funny thing. When I was lying on that floor in the barn, all I saw was my brother and that he had come to save me. He told me he loved me. I now know that it was you. A true killer wouldn’t have thought twice about coming for me. But you did. That makes you an honorable man. A good man. People make mistakes all the time, Shadow. It’s what we do afterwards that makes us the people we are today. And you, my friend, are not a killer. So yes, I forgive you.”

“You shouldn’t,” I muttered. “I’m evil.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just lost. I know that feeling. I was too until I found Kansas. I think if you let me, I can help you find where you belong because I believe there is a place for you, Shadow.”

“You really think so?”

Kali nodded. “I do.”

“She’s right, Shadow,” Kansas agreed. “Maybe you should hang around here for a while.”

I looked at my sisters, who were all silently crying and nodding. Turning back to look at Kali, I nodded. “I think I’d like that. Thank you.”

“When the doctors release you and you are ready, come to the clubhouse. Open invitation. Don’t even need to call beforehand. Just show up. We’ll talk more then,” Kansas stated firmly.

“Thank you, Prez.”

I don’t know why I called him that. He wasn’t my President but the more I thought about, the more I realized it just felt right.

I spent the next few days in the hospital before the doctors felt I was well enough to go home. However, having three sisters hover and baby me had me wishing the damn bullet had killed me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my sisters, but fuck me, were they a handful when someone they loved was hurt. To make matters worse, that fucking geek Nevil got a lot of laughter out of my misery. The second I was on my feet again, I was going to beat that big bastard’s ass.

“Zeke, you can’t ride your bike!” Charity huffed, standing in my way.

The fuck I couldn’t!

I wasn’t dead yet.

I’ve been home for three days now and I needed out. If I didn’t feel the sun on my back and the wind in my face soon, I was going to lose my shit. Hope had made it her fucking mission to feed me all the latest organic and natural herbal shit she could find. According to her, she was tired of me polluting my body with the pharmaceutical industry’s latest killer. I wasn’t even going to mention the slop she had been making me eat.

Charity hovered like a mother hen. Which was funny, considering I was fucking older than her. But nothing stopped her. Every twitch, every sigh, every little movement, and Charity was there fluffing my pillow, adding another blanket or checking my temperature. We were in Northern Texas. What the fuck did I need three fleece blankets for? Was she trying to give me heat stroke?

Then there was Faith. The one sister I thought I could count on to have some common sense. Boy, was I fucking wrong. Whenever I balked or complained, Hope or Charity would go get Faith and then I would stare into her eyes as she dared me to challenge her. She may only be five months older than me, but she owned that shit and never let me forget it.

Now I understood why Dad was happy when he’d walk in the front door after visiting Shirley and the girls.

A man could only take so much.

“I’m going, Charity. Get out of my way.”

“No, you’re not!” my little sister stomped her foot. “You’ve only been out of the hospital for a few days. You need to let your body rest and heal.”

“It’s been a week, and that’s not including the time I spent in the hospital. My incision is healing just fine and if I don’t ride soon, I’m liable to do or say something I will regret. Now get out of my way.”

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