The Enclave of Jyme (G Street Chronicles Presents) (13 page)

“I need a new bed; pronto.”

“What kind do you want?” she yawned.

“A big one.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do about that.”

“Thanks.”

“What are little sisters for?”

I hung up the phone and the front door swung open. Mom gave me a quick glance and went straight to the fridge with a casserole of some sort. She didn’t say a word to me, just started doing her kitchen thing. I went up and gave her a bear hug from behind. She patted my arms and dabbed at her eyes.

I showered, ate and then headed out to the market to see what was going on. Loon had told me they had started working on Thursdays because the business was in such high demand. When I arrived I was impressed; everything was running like a well-oiled machine. The guys looked great, and the crowd was huge. A few regulars recognized me. Sheen and Kanoke were working the line, but Loon was nowhere to be found.

I went to the RV in the back and found Loon sitting at the table with a pile of papers in front of him.

“Hey, I need you to sign off on a few things.”

“Alright,” I replied. He pushed over papers with little green tabs all over them. The tabs all said
sign here
. I signed away. Loon was the money man; and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have this small fortune.

“What’s up?”

“I just saved you fifty thousand a year.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

“Don’t mention it. You look good. This new look fits you so much better than the other. You must introduce me to your tailor,” Loon praised.

“He’s a weird little guy,” I admitted.

“Most of them are.”

I signed all of the papers that Loon sat in front me. Loon began telling me about all the guys. He said he had to hire four new guys for backup. They were working five days a week now. The guys were all dog-tired, but everyone was pulling their weight. He said Sheen was having a hard time at home and that he would probably have to find another place for a while.

“Hire more guys; this time just for fishing purposes only so the guys can rest. And as for Sheen, he can move into my house and can stay as long as he needs. How are you and Mom doing with everything else?”

“We’re doing alright. Your mom is having a hard time; but I think that’s mostly because of you not being here. But she understands you’re doing what you have to do. She may not like it, but she understands.”

“And you?”

“I get it, man. I pulled away so many years ago, and I haven’t looked back since. I will never forget where I come from, but I want more out of life.”

“I don’t want more; I need more.”

Loon nodded.

I talked to each and every guy on the crew. Everyone said they were happy if tired. I told them changes were coming and they would see the difference by next weekend. After Loon and I straightened everything out, I went back out to the grounds and helped the guys out a bit. I fell right back into the routine like I hadn’t missed a day or a beat. It was nice hanging out with the crew again.

Sheen, Kanoke, and I headed back to the Res on the ferry. Patty called and said my new bed was being delivered this afternoon. I wanted to be there and make sure they took the old one with them and dumped it somewhere. On the ferry ride back, Sheen was talking a mile a minute, but Kanoke was quiet. I looked back at Kanoke in the review mirror and he looked mad as fuck. I knew not to bother him when he was like this. Kanoke was the type of person who would let you in when he got ready.

We made it back just in time. About five minutes later, the delivery truck showed up. They took the old bed down and removed it from the house. Once the bed was out of room, it felt empty. I grabbed the broom and swept before they brought in the new bed. Kanoke came in my room and leaned against the dresser. I looked over at him, and he was staring at the floor where the bed was.

“What’s up, man?” I asked while I swept up the last of the dust onto the dustpan.

“You tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on with you anymore.”

I glared over at him as one of the delivery guys came in with the legs to the bed and another with the rails. They started putting the bed pieces together and I moved out the way.

I went and stood by Kanoke. “What are you talking about?”

He shrugged and we just stood there watching the men. They left to get more pieces to the bed.

“Why are you getting rid of your bed?”

“It’s time,” I told him, a little annoyed.

“Dude, he doesn’t want to sleep on all of Elle’s cum stains,” Sheen yelled from the front room. I laughed, but Kanoke didn’t grin or chuckle.

“What’s up?” I asked again.

“I don’t know. New ride, clothes, haircut, you disappearing for a month. I don’t know, man.”

“You got a problem with me making a few changes?” I asked.

“A few? Man, I don’t even recognize you anymore.”

“Man, stop,” Sheen yelled from the front room.

“I’m just saying your little cushioned life has really changed you.”

The men came back with more railings and Kanoke fell silent again. I left the bedroom and went into the front with Sheen. I sat in one of the chairs and stared at the TV Sheen was watching. Kanoke came in the room, sat in the other armchair, and stared at me.

After a few beats, I couldn’t stand it anymore. “What the fuck!” I yelled.

Kanoke just kept looking at me. I could tell something was cooking inside of him, but I was at my boiling point too.

“You think you’re better than us?” Kanoke asked.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked him.

“You left us. You left us here to fucking rot, and I thought we were friends, Lil Samson!” Kanoke yelled out.

“Man go on somewhere with this bullshit. We’ve been friends since we were shitting in our diapers.” I told him annoyed.

“We’re not friends. We’re fucking family, bitch.” He told me.

“Oh so now I’m a bitch?” I asked him.

“You’re acting like one,” Kanoke said.

“So who am I supposed to be?” I asked him, since he was the only one talking.

“You fucker! You’re supposed to be you!”

“Who in the fuck gave you the right to tell me who I should be?” I asked him.

“You’ve changed and I don’t even know you anymore.” Kanoke told me.

“So, me trying to better myself, and me trying to get more out of life than just this…” I turned around in the small room as a gesture. “This makes me a bad person?”

“No, it makes you a sellout,” Kanoke said.

I couldn’t do anything but stare at him. One of my best friends, a guy that I considered family, was standing here talking to me like this. I walked toward the front door and then turned back to face them.

“I was testing the fucking waters for us. I want a better life and more for all of us. I’m the leader of this fucking pack. I step first, then you step,” I walked out the door. I knew Sheen didn’t disagree with everything Kanoke was saying because he stayed silent through the entire conversation. And that hurt me that they thought that about me.

I went to the delivery men and told them I was leaving and that I needed to sign whatever they needed me to sign. Mom came from next door and called out to me as I walked away from the delivery truck. I kept going, not turning back to face her. All I could think about was clearing my head fully. I needed to get a run in.

I wasn’t in running gear with my white Henley shirt, dark jeans and polo boots; but I went running anyway. When I made it to the beach, I took off my boots and set them next to a couple of boulders. I ran up and down the beach. I thought about why I came back, and I didn’t know why. I loved my family, but this reservation brought back so many unwanted memories. I thought I was happy with Elle, but that was all fake and I didn’t even really know what happiness with someone really was. My boys thought I was a sellout and my mother thought I hated my heritage. None of these accusations was true. I was not a sellout; I knew exactly where I came from and I loved my native culture; it made me the man that I am today.

On my way back to the house, I took the path through the trees instead. I sat in the middle of the clearing on a stump. I maybe should have told the guys what I was up to, but I wasn’t really sure of what that was myself. I hadn’t had a plan since I left. All I knew was that I wanted more than this, more than the reservation life. I wanted to be someone I could be proud of. And with the help of Zedd, that could happen.

It started pouring down with no warning. I sat there in the downpour for a while before I decided to get up and head back to the house. My boots sloshed in the muddy puddles. I heard a loud grinding noise and moved toward the end of the trees. The noise got louder and louder.

Chapter 8

I climbed over the big rock at the end of the road, the rain still pouring down, and I saw what was making the grinding noise: a dark blue sports car spinning in the mud.
Who the fuck was this, and why in the hell were they grinding in the mud like that?
They stopped spinning, and everything fell silent. The rain stopped almost instantly, and the car wasn’t moving anymore. I couldn’t tell if the driver was male or female. I stood up and walked over to the car. I wasn’t ready to go back to the house yet. Everyone was busting my balls for stupid reasons. They wouldn’t ever understand if I actually told them what I’ve been doing with my spare time. They would call me a sellout and tell me I was trying to be uppity. I didn’t want to hear that shit from them. I looked down at my caked, dirty fingernails and laughed out loud.
If Zedd could see me now.

I slowly walked over to the car, still trying to figure out if the car was local or not. It was freezing out and my fingers were getting numb. I rubbed my hands together and balled my hands into fists to keep them from freezing. When I got to the back of the car, I noticed the tags had one of those rental stickers on them. Sheen had just told me that the council was complaining about all of these tourists coming to the Res looking for fucking vampires and werewolves.
How stupid can people be?
If vampires and werewolves existed, I sure as hell wouldn’t go looking for them. And it was almost dark, why was this person looking for what goes bump in the night in a sports car?

I turned on the edge of the car and walked up to the driver’s side window and tapped on it. The person inside jumped and just stared out the front window. I looked in the same direction they were looking and saw nothing. But they looked as though they saw something there. I tapped on the window again, but the driver still didn’t turn or budge at all. I saw that the driver unhooked their seatbelt and then dug into a bag for something. I prepared myself for whatever was coming. This fucker wasn’t a local, and they didn’t fucking know me. This is my fucking turf and my community, and some crazy fucker was here trying to start some shit. I was ready to beat the living shit out of whoever this asshole was.

I beat on the window this time; this asshole needed to hurry the fuck up. It was cold as hell, and I was hungry. This fight was happening; one way or another. The driver pulled out a cell phone and then put it back down.

“Get the hell away from me, psycho,” a woman’s voice shouted. I stopped for second as I realized the driver was a woman. I chuckled a little under my breath and relaxed a bit. She didn’t have one of the Res visitor’s decals hanging on her mirror, so she hadn’t gone through the main gates.

“Your phone isn’t going to work up here,” I told her.

“Please just leave me alone; I’m just passing through and I got lost,” she said in a shaky voice. She was lost and scared and that made me feel bad.

“I’m not going to hurt you; I’m trying to help,” I paused until I saw her take a small breath. “You cannot be here; you are on private property. Visitors, who have not been cleared, are not allowed,” I told her in the nicest tone my throat would allow. She still wouldn’t look at me, and I knew me standing here talking through her driver’s side window wasn’t helping at all.

“I live right up the road. I’m going to get help. Don’t move. And don’t try to pull out anymore; you’re only making it worse,” I said in a stern tone. I wanted her to know I meant business because she was already stuck deep in the mud, and the more she tried to get out of it, the worst it would be getting her out. She nodded like she understood. I walked across the road and up to the house. I went inside and they started in as soon as the door opened.

“Aww, here he is. He’s finally cooled off and now he’s ready to make up,” Kanoke laughed out. He made kissy noises at me. I ignored him, walking toward the bathroom. I looked inside and there in the middle of the floor where my full-sized bed once sat, was a massive hell of a monster and king of all king beds. This bed looked manly and strong; and it didn’t remind me of Elle at all. And that made me happy.

“There’s a woman stuck in mud over across the road. You guys want to help me out?” They argued back and forth, pausing their game and putting on their work boots. When I came out of the bathroom they were both waiting on me. I walked past them and they followed me out.