Behind the Scenes: Book 0 (MC) (10 page)

I’m at the shop before Little Ben. “Hey Amanda. Will the ink stop his skin from bubbling in the sun?”

She shakes her head no. “Last year it was fresh and still working its way to being his. It turned red with those dots because of that—not anything else. He covered and it had a chance to heal without any outside damage. This year the ink will make a difference but not for the reason you’re thinking. The scars would always show and color different than the rest of him. Each piece would be a different color. With the ink you’ll never see it again.” I nod thinking about that. “He doesn’t see them anymore Jessie. The ink will help with that more than anything else.”

I’m fuckin’ shocked. He doesn’t see them? “No Brother. I haven’t seen them since last week and I’ve been here twice since then.”

I spin around. “That’s good Little Ben. I’m glad.” Fuck I wish I didn’t see them.

He pulls his shirt off and lays down. “Fuckin’ nice Amanda.” I feel my eyes burning and look closer. “I don’t see them either Brother. It’s so fuckin’ good to see only the ink.” Amanda walks toward the back. I wipe my eyes. When I get my shit together I sit. “I’m happy it works Little Ben. It’s a good design too.”

“Yeah. My dad says it’s a work of art.”

Amanda comes in and I throw her chin. She nods getting her gun set and ear buds in then starts.  “How much longer?”

He smiles. “Two more sittings. She’s finishing the spots on the yellow to make it gold. The next two are shading on the outside for the 3D effect.”

“It already looks 3D buts she’s doing an orange color making the yellow really look gold.” I shake my head smiling. Amanda is an amazing artist.

“She is.” His eyes snap to mine. “She wearing buds?” I nod. “Fuck. That’s the second time here.”

He’s going to out himself but it’s been fuckin’ forever and I don’t get the secret. “Maybe it’s how it should be.”

“Would make my life easy if it was.” He’s disgusted.

Since I don’t know the whole secret I’ll take his word for it. “You jump on the summer classes?”

He laughs then stops. “I think Pres had a talk with someone. They offered only classes we’re taking did you notice that?”

I crack up. My fuckin’ father is the shit. “I didn’t. I was just so fuckin’ happy to be done with a semester in two months. I didn’t even look at what else was offered.”

“We’ll be done by Christmas.”

I smile. “That feels good Brother. I’ll be so fuckin’ happy to be finished. I think it would have been better to stay in the school and take the course work there. We could have tested out of everything and been done already.”

He looks at me and I wait. “I’ll mention it to Pres. I think you’re right. You put up a hell of a fight to get on campus but everyone sees it was a struggle to make it work. He may go for it with the testing out.”

I nod smiling. “I did fight but we watch kids go off to college all the time. We got two leaving Little Brothers for school just this year. Even Chris and Lee are gone. I wanted that experience. If I didn’t have to work I would have had it.”

He laughs. “You didn’t have to work Jessie. You could have gone anywhere.”

“With a fuckin’ shadow.” I jump in.

He rolls his eyes. “You worked because you wanted the training. VP would have trained you when you got back.”

He’s right. “I always feel like I’m a step behind everyone. I didn’t want to be three steps behind.” I wasn’t leaving him to go through this alone either.

He looks in my eyes. “You know VP worked with Baxters. When they all got back they offered him a job. The one Jake does now. He refused them four times while the drug wars were going on. Pres told me he asked him why he stayed. VP said he wouldn’t leave Pres to walk the road alone.” He gives me a minute to take it in. “Thanks for walking with me Brother.”

Fuck. I look at his back blinking. “You wouldn’t have left me.”

He laughs. “That’s what my dad told yours.”

I crack up. It’s fuckin’ weird but I laugh. “You still don’t have the words?”

“No. Jeremy says I will but it’s not time.”

It seems odd to do the whole thing and leave the ribbon and space for the words empty but I guess it’s the way it should be. “I can’t even see the outlines Little Ben. It’s amazing what she can do with the ink.”

“Yeah. I haven’t looked since I didn’t see the block scars anymore. I’ll wait until it’s done.”

I look at his eyes. He’s smiling. “That’s good. We needed to see it too.”

He nods. “Yeah. Ricky said it and I got it then. It was important to everyone to see that day fixed.”

“Yeah.” I think back and it doesn’t seem so big anymore. I look at Amanda but she’s watching and wiping. When did it become smaller in my mind?

“When you didn’t see the scars Brother. The ink works in our heads as much as on the skin. It’s how it worked for me too.”

He’s right. “Get the fuck out of my head. I got enough shit without you in there too.”

He laughs. “You seeing Jess again?”

Shit. “I don’t know. Darren isn’t into the whole good girl thing.”

He makes a noise. “You’ve known her for years. When exactly has she given a good girl persona?”

I think about that. “Never. She’s never thrown guys in our face but she’s never done the good girl thing either. She’s not shy or embarrassed.”

“Maybe Darren sees things different than you do.”

“Yeah. I’m out next week. When I get back I’ll find out.” He doesn’t say anything making me wonder if he knows something I don’t.

“We need to plan time with Ricky. Maybe the cabin, hiking, fishing, something. He’s off for the summer.”

“I could do a week away.” I’ll need to clear it so many fuckin’ ways but I will.

“I’ll work out the schedule. The ‘rents have shit going on. Maybe we can meet up with them or take the next week. Get ahead of your classes so it’s not a problem.”

I smile. “I will. I’m a week ahead now. Down time away is so fuckin’ boring.”

He laughs. “I’m just keeping up. I need a day to get ahead.”

“Fuck it’s good to hear that. Finally I’m not the one playing catch up.”

He gives me a look. “We need this week. I’ll make sure it happens. You, Darren and Ricky all feel and say the same thing. You’re all right there when you’re called on, you all excel at your positions and you all feel like you’re a step behind. When did it become a competition?”

Fuck he’s right. “It’s not a competition so much as Darren’s older and smarter than I’ll ever be. You’re you and Ricky gets everything so fuckin’ easy.”

He laughs. “You train grown men trying for Security. You do jobs no one else can be called on. You ride like you were born on a bike. You’re smart as fuck finishing school in half the time and you don’t think everyone thinks the same thing about you being a step ahead?”

I play that in my head. “Never once.” I laugh. “Point taken.”

“Jessie we’re all different. I think we were meant to be different with special abilities the others don’t have. We fit together like gears, when one doesn’t work they all don’t, but put together we run. Outside of the KC what other kid our age does what we do?”

“None, no strike that maybe Dakota.”

He nods but doesn’t say anything. Dakota is younger than us but you’d never know it. He’s like Little Ben with abilities we don’t talk about. The Little Brothers don’t have that. We really are freaky kids. I’ll never admit to it though. He laughs.

The kids are running all over making me smile. I love when they’re all here playing like kids should. I pull my shirt off and Amanda holds my arm looking at my back.

“Keep it covered in the sun but you don’t need it covered in the shade. Make sure you’re keeping the cream on it.”

“I will. My dad’s been putting it on at night for me. The ink fixed more than the scars on my back. Everyone that sat with me was thrown relief seeing it. Thank you Amanda.” I hug her and get that she knows. Fuckin’ old ladies are smarter than we think.

“I’m glad you like it. I’ll check the color in a couple of months. Let me know if you notice changes or you get your words.”

I bend and kiss her cheek. “I will thanks.” Bob comes up behind her and I smile. He’s got nothing to worry about but he’s making sure I notice him.

“She finished.” I turn and show him my back.

“Fuckin’ nice babe. I like the glow around it. Did you use your glow in the dark?”

She laughs. “No he didn’t want it. I can’t get anyone to use it.”

I shake my head. “The last thing I want is to draw attention to it.”

Bob laughs. “Too fuckin’ late for that Brother. It’s another work of art.”

“Wow that’s awesome LB,” Victor says touching my arm. “I want the MC logo like yours but I like this one.”

I throw him chin. “You wait until you know exactly what you want and where you want it. Then get it. It took me a year to decide on this one. I’m glad I never put anything on my back.”

He watches me and I know he’s paying attention. “I’ll wait.”

Amanda laughs. “Fuckin’ kids.”

I throw them chin and sit with my dad and Pres. “It looks good Little Ben.”

“Thanks Pres. I’m glad it’s done.”

He nods. “Everyone is. It took away the horror of the day and gave it a happy ending.”

“Yeah.”

“I got a call from the college. They need Security training. You’ll need to set that up with them. It’s in an email. VP signed off on Jessie. He’s still got our training on his schedule but the rest of his time is yours to schedule.”

Fuckin’ perfect. “We’re taking a week. Just inner circle. We need to spend some time connecting. Changes have everyone unsettled. I need us settled before it becomes a problem.”

My dad watches me. Pres nods. “When? I’ll clear the schedules.”

I love that he made it easy. “After the beach. We’ll go to the cabin so it’s easy for Security.”

“I’ll pave that way. Women?”

I shake my head no. “Just us. No distractions. We may go out but no one at the cabin but us and Security.”

He nods. “I should have done that when we got through the drug wars. It would have fixed the little shit that popped up.”

My dad looks at him. “Easy lookin’ back.”

I laugh. He’s right it’s always easy looking back. “When is Jessie back?”

“Anytime. He’s back but was waitin’ on Cloud to get him home.”

Good. I hate out of the country shit. How the fuck do we get him if something goes wrong? “Wouldn’t have gone if he wasn’t good.” He’s thinking Jessie’s better than he was at his age.

I nod standing. “I need to talk to Christian. He’s got shit coming down. Thanks Pres, Dad.”

Pres looks concerned. “Let me know if I need it.”

“Always Pres.” He throws me chin.

I find Christian and Hawk sitting watching the kids with a smile. Something is coming up. I watch him from the side of the patio. We have time. I’m relieved and look out at the kids. Everyone is growing up. I feel the change of growing into the men we will become and smile. Kids and adults work well together. We got this. When I look back at Christian he’s watching me.

I walk over and sit with him. “We do but it’s not always easy Little Ben. The next one hurts all of us.” He’s got tears in his eyes. Fuck. “Not outside. Inside. It’s bad.”

I hug him. “You know what the ink did?”

He nods. “It fixed you.”

“No Brother. It fixed us. Everyone sees how it ended now that it’s done.” He sits back and looks at me then nods. “I was just looking at the kids and adults here. We can get through anything. We know how to fix shit when it hurts us. We do that together. I didn’t know the ink would fix everyone. Amanda did. We have men and women that help us get there. We will fix the next thing just like that, with the help of our fathers, we will get through it.”

He wipes his eyes and Hawk lays down beside him. “Together.”

I mess his hair up. “Always Brother.”

About the Author

A former account executive, mother of three and grandmother of two. L. Ann lives in central USA where she found herself unemployed and having too much time on her hands. She decided to spend some time going back to her first love, writing. An avid reader herself, she found stories floating around in her head that were just waiting to be written and thought she would test the waters. It’s been a wild ride.

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