chapter Thirteen
“Liam, you got a call.”
Rolling out from underneath the car he was working on, Liam sat up quickly. His first thought was Denise needed help. Grabbing his cell phone, he saw he hadn’t missed any calls from her, but that didn’t mean that everything was okay. It surprised him that his hands shook as he picked up the shop phone.
“Yeah,” he answered gruffly, fear making him sound more harsh than he had intended to.
“Liam?” the small voice that asked for him sounded thick with tears and heavy with fear.
He wracked his brain trying to figure out who it was. The person knew him well enough to call him at work. “Mandy? Is that you?”
She sniffed, and he could almost see the nod he was sure she gave. “Yeah.”
Being in a motorcycle gang, he’d not had much experience with kids at all, much less teenage girls. He waited a beat for her to tell him what she wanted. But when he realized it wasn’t coming, he tried to soften his voice as he asked, “Honey, what do you need?”
Tears started in earnest, and she blabbed a mouthful of words – none of which he could make out except for the name Drew. He heard shuffling on the other end and then another female voice.
“Sir? My name is Stacey Young, and I’m the secretary at Warren County Middle School. Sorry to bother you.”
“That’s alright,” he answered, confused as to why they had called him.
“We tried to reach Denise, but her phone went straight to voice mail. When they had a change of address here at the school, you were added to their emergency contact information.”
He hadn’t been informed of that, but he could understand why she had added him. He also figured she had turned off her cell phone while she was doing the job for the club. “Okay, and what can I help you with?”
“There’s been an issue with Andrew today. He and another boy got into a fight, and we need someone to come get him. He’s been sent home for the rest of the day and will possibly be expelled,” she explained matter-of-factly.
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what Mandy had to do with this, but he figured he would save time and just ask questions when he got there. “I work a few miles from there. I’ll be there soon.”
Cursing, he slammed the phone down and looked at Tyler, who gazed at him, eyebrows raised. “I gotta go, Drew got into a fight at school.”
Tyler laughed. “Good luck on this one, Daddy.”
Liam felt his breath hitch. That’s exactly what this felt like, he was going to pick his son up at school after getting into a fight. He wondered if he should punish the boy, but he felt so inept that he didn’t know how he was supposed to handle this situation.
“Yeah, thanks. I think I’m just gonna have to wing it. If Denise calls, can you tell her where I am? They called her, but she didn’t answer.”
“Will do. I’ll cover for you with the old man too.”
Tyler was the type of friend that everyone should have. “Thanks man. See ya later.”
“So what you’re saying is he’s in trouble for stickin’ up for his sister?”
Liam was getting more pissed by the minute, but he was trying hard not to show it. He’d even left his cut in Tyler’s truck, which he’d had to borrow when he realized he’d let Denise take his.
“What I’m saying, Mr. Walker, is that we can’t stand for fighting of any kind within the school, and, regardless of how well meaning it was, he will need to be punished. He’s being suspended for three days.”
Glancing over at Drew, Liam took in the dried blood on his mouth and nose, the torn shirt and the torn jeans. He’d seen the other boy as he had walked in and Drew had definitely given as good as he had gotten.
“Mr. Tucker, I’ll sign off on it as long as you assure me that the other boy is punished not only for the fighting but also for the lewd comment he made to Mandy.”
“Now, we all know that boys will be boys,” Mr. Tucker stuttered.
“Boys do not tell young girls that their ‘tits are hot’ and then ask young girls if they ‘give head’. I think we can all agree on that.” Liam fought to keep his voice even and calm when he wanted to rip the kid from limb to limb. “The fact of the matter is, that should be reported, and I’m assuming you aren’t going to do that because this other child’s father is on the school board. So let’s just make a gentlemen’s agreement that you will suspend that little shit for six days, and if he ever comes near her again I’ll take care of it. Forget letting her brother beat his ass.”
Mr. Tucker had the presence of mind to realize that Liam wasn’t kidding. “I think we can agree on that.”
“Fine, let me sign his paperwork and get Mandy, and we’ll be out of here.”
“She doesn’t have to go home,” Mr. Tucker argued.
“I’m not making her sit here today after what she’s been through. She’s a sensitive kid.”
Within minutes Liam had signed all the paperwork and signed the kids out, and they were headed down Louisville Road. Both of them were quiet as they sat next to him.
“I’m not mad at you two.”
“Mom’s gonna be,” Mandy whispered, tears already in her eyes.
“For what?” Liam asked, not understanding.
“She always tells us to walk away,” Drew answered. “To not rise to anyone’s teasing.”
Liam could see where she was coming from, but he happened to agree with Drew on this. He wouldn’t let anyone talk about Roni like they had talked about Mandy.
“For what it’s worth, dude, I would have done the same thing had some f*ckwad messed with Roni like that. Shit, sorry. I shouldn’t cuss.”
Mandy giggled, covering her mouth. She was an innocence that he hadn’t had in his life – ever. So untainted by the outside world.
Drew was the complete opposite. He knew reality and just accepted it – probably to shield Mandy from it.
“We won’t tell,” she assured him.
“Are you alright?” he turned his attention to her brother.
“My nose and mouth hurt, but I’m okay,” he shrugged. “My hand actually hurts worse than anything.”
Liam glanced down at the boys hand and winced. “You got him good, didn’t ya?”
Mandy giggled from her spot next to her brother. “He hit the floor and wiggled around for a minute before getting back up.”
Liam couldn’t help it, the giggle was contagious. He laughed with the two of them.
“Did you two even eat yet?” he asked, glancing at the dashboard clock.
They both shook their heads no. “Well c’mon then. Let’s get y’all some lunch.”
Slowing down against traffic, he signaled and pulled into Donna’s Country Store. The three of them walked into the building together and went up to the counter, checking out what was in the hot case. “Looks like we got pizza rolls, slices, and maybe some chicken wings,” Liam mumbled. “What do you want?” he asked, looking at Drew.
“A couple pizza rolls.”
He motioned to the cashier behind the counter to grab those for Drew. “And what do you want, darlin’?”
She wrinkled her nose at the pizza. “Can I get a sub?” she asked, eyeing the menu board of sub sandwiches.
“Yeah, whatever you want.”
The kids’ eyes widened. Those words hadn’t been spoken to them in a very long time. It dawned on Liam that Denise probably hadn’t been able to do this for them, and they were unsure what they were allowed to get. Perhaps they didn’t feel comfortable asking him for something. Tapping the counter, he went down the aisle and grabbed two bottles of soft drinks and a large bag of chips. He added onto that a couple of chocolate bars, because he figured everyone liked chocolate bars. Once back to the counter, he ordered a sub for himself for good measure. When the total came to over $20 he saw their mouths drop open.
“It’s okay,” he assured them, pulling his wallet out of his pants. He laid a couple of bills on the counter and waited for his change. “Drew, why don’t you go clean up a little bit in the bathroom,” he motioned to the men’s restroom.
With Drew gone, he and Mandy stood holding their purchases in silence. He had absolutely no idea what to do with a girl, and the silence was awkward.
“Can you make sure Drew doesn’t get in trouble?” she asked him out of the blue.
“What do you mean? He’s already in trouble at school.”
“With Momma. She’s gonna beat his butt. I just don’t think it’s fair. He was protecting me, and if he gets in trouble, then I should too.”
They reminded him so much of him and Roni that he had to smile. “I’ll take care of it. I promise.”
“You keep your promises don’t you?”
She looked at him so shrewdly, he blushed. He didn’t want to lie to her, ever. “I try to,” he answered honestly.
Reaching over, she hugged him around the waist. It took him by surprise, but he hugged her back the best he could with the bags in his hands.
Drew came out of the bathroom looking much better, and they all went and got in the truck. As they drove back to the shop a song came on the radio, and Drew turned it up, he and Mandy singing along. Unable to help himself, Liam sang along too. Never before had he wanted to accept someone else’s kids as his own. But these two were special, and he would never forget this being the first day he’d ever thought of himself as a father.