Otis (24 page)

EPILOGUE

The small room, fitted with two chairs, one medical examination bed, and an Aplio 500 ultrasound machine had three occupants. A pregnant woman, lying on the examination bed, had her gown lifted to the bottom of her swollen breasts. The man, seated beside her and holding her hand in his, stared anxiously at the display screen.

The Physician’s Assistant moved the wand carefully along the woman’s stomach as she gazed at the screen.

“There’s the head,” she said as she touched a button on the keyboard, taking a still photo of the image.

“And the legs. Hold on a minute and we’ll see if…” she said as she moved the wand up and down slightly.

“This will be cold,” she said as she squirted lubricant onto the woman’s stomach.

After repositioning the wand, pressing it into the bottom of the woman’s stomach, she gazed at the screen.

“If you don’t want to know the sex, don’t look,” she grinned.

“We do, Mrs. Buckly,” the woman responded as she glanced at the man as he nodded his head eagerly.

“Call me Debi,” she said.

“We do Debi,” they said in unison.

“Well, see this?” she said as she motioned to the screen with her free hand.

The man and woman nodded their heads.

“Hips,” Debi said.

“And
this,
” she sighed, “His penis.”

“Boy?” the man said as he shifted his eyes from the screen to his wife.

“He’s definitely a boy. No two ways about it,” Debi chuckled as she pressed the button to take another still image of the screen.

“Sam?” the man sighed as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“We’re having a little boy,” he said, “I can’t wait to tell my parents.”

His wife nodded her head as she gazed at three dimensional depiction of her son on the screen.

Down the hallway, on the other side of the entrance to the small clinic, four men stood anxiously talking. Dressed in jeans, boots, and leather vests adorned with the patch of the motorcycle club they represented, they stood out in clear contrast amongst the women in the lobby. After a few moments the large man with a beard turned, grasped the door handle, and opened the door slightly.

“Can we come in?” he asked the receptionist seated a fifteen feet away at the admissions desk.

After a moment with no response from the receptionist, he cleared his throat and repeated the question.

“Hey
you
. Behind the desk. Can we come in?” he asked.

She shook her head and forced a smile, “I’m sorry. The ultrasound area is reserved for the husband, wife, and the immediate family,” she explained.

He turned toward the other three men, “Family only.”

The tall muscular man with olive colored skin shrugged his shoulders, “Well open the fucking door, Biscuit. We’re her brothers.”

The bearded man opened the door enough to fit his head between the door and the frame.

“We’re her brothers,” he whispered.

The receptionist peered through the opening and shook her head in disbelief. The three men, other than sharing the same taste in clothes, appeared to be from four different regions of the world. As she studied the men, the bearded man opened the door a little more, giving her an unobstructed view of the men standing behind him.

She tapped her pencil against the desk as she studied the four men, “Brothers?”

“And the name of your sister?” she asked.

The bearded man turned around and consulted with his friends for a moment. After a short discussion, he turned toward the receptionist.

“Steve and Sam Milner,” he responded.

The receptionist shook her head, “I don’t know. We’re forced to adhere to the policy. Family only.”

“Otis!” the bearded man screamed into the vacant corridor.

After a few seconds he screamed again, “Otis!”

The man, still seated beside his wife, turned his head away from the monitor.

“Did you hear someone scream my name?” he asked.

His wife nodded and tilted her head toward the door.

The man stood and opened the door slightly, peering through the crack and down the hallway as he did so.

“What are we havin’?” the bearded man screamed.

“Boy,” the man whispered in response.

“What?” the bearded man shouted again.

“Boy!” the man responded in a more distinct tone.

“A fucking boy? Did you say we’re havin’ a boy?” the bearded man hollered excitedly.

“Yes,” the man whispered in response through the opening.

The bearded man turned to face the other three men.

“Pay up motherfuckers. We’ve got us a boy,” he grinned.

As the bearded man turned toward the door once again, he opened it entirely and stood in the opening. The three men behind him each reached for their wallets.

“We all wanna see him. Gal here won’t let us come down there. Tell her it’s okay,” he shouted.

The man extended his raised index finger and turned to face the exam room.

“Fellas are down there. They want to come in and see our baby boy,” he grinned toward his wife.

Debi turned to face the man as she furrowed her brow slightly.

“I’m sorry, we can only allow family,” she sighed.

The woman glanced up from the exam table and gazed at her leather vest hanging on the hook beside the door. On the back, a Selected Sinners patch with two ribbons, clearly stating her designation with the club.

Property of Otis.

“They’re my brothers,” the woman stated.

“How many?” Debi asked.

“Here? Four,” the woman grinned in response.

Debi nodded her head, “Have them come down. I’ll call the desk.”

The man peered through the door and waved his arm toward the bearded man, “Come on down.”

The bearded man swung the door open and waved toward the men standing anxiously behind him, “Come on fellas, uncle Biscuit’s having him a baby boy.”

As the men stormed down the hallway, Debi gazed over her shoulder toward the pregnant woman.

“So you have four brothers?” Debi asked.

The pregnant woman glanced up at her leather vest and shook her head.

“No,” she responded.

“I have thirty three.”