Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Misty
The man folded himself into my small SUV and pretended it was nothing. The fact I even had a car was a luxury in this city. I swallowed my emotions down. Besides Adelaide, and maybe Mrs Gonzalez, not a soul had stood up for me since I left her dad. My family was even confused. I couldn’t tell them, as humans they wouldn’t understand. To them, I had ruined my chance at a proper, respectful life with a husband and kids.
I wound through the streets towards the school, windows down and the radio on providing a low background hum like I preferred it.
“Why does she take the bus in the morning, but you pick her up?” Beck asked.
“Because the kids waiting for the bus give her a hard time, the ones on her bus aren’t the issue, it's the ones waiting for theirs in the afternoon. Honestly, I’m trying to avoid her getting into trouble. She finds enough of it. She won’t tell me what the issue is, just that if she has to wait with them for the buses, she’s going to level them. So, she has no issues going to school on the bus, which is great because I can’t get there on time, but she won’t elaborate on what the issue is with the other kids waiting for it,” I explained. I knew I was doing the right thing, but I couldn’t help but think my little girl was dealing with a lot more than she was willing to let her human mama find out.
“Look, I’m going to try my best to help you take the piece of shit down, just understand that at the end of the day, Cricket is my priority. I love Adelaide, but she would want me to think of Cricket first, always.
“Understable,” he agreed. “That’s why she wanted to leave you out of this. I only came to you because I didn’t see another way, and I knew you would want him to pay. So I figured I would give you that opportunity, not to mention I’ve devoted my life to this. I know the other things you are up against.”
“Why?” I asked, rounding the bend in the pick up line.
“Because I once failed someone I should have protected, and it costs me every day,” he said, defeated. It was clear to me that was all the information I was getting on the subject. I was surprised he told me as much, I had a feeling he didn’t explain himself to just anyone.
“Guess you were at the right place at the right time for us,” I observed.
“I wasn’t for her.” he muttered. I wondered if he meant to say that out loud so I dropped it.
“So Divide is full of wolf shifters?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Yes, I only know because they are bikers, a lot of shifters are. But I’ve heard about them, their alpha runs a tight ship.”
“Do you think she's safe there?” I wondered.
“Let’s hope Jake’s people are as good as he was. Just like people, shifters come in all sorts as you have first hand experience of,” he pointed out. “So Cricket doesn’t have a shifter guardian?” Beck asked.
“Don’t know what ever the fuck that is, she has me and Ads, I guess Ads was her person and didn’t even know it. I realize now why they seemed to understand each other on a different level, but no, I haven’t met a shifter that knows what they are that I felt comfortable with being something like what I’m guessing you’re meaning,” I explained as we moved up to the pick up queue. Cricket was bouncing about excitedly and dove into the car when we pulled up, her hair returned to the frizzy mess it usually was.
“Beck!” she said excitedly.
I’m sitting right here kid, ya know. I thought, absorbing the blow.
“How was your day?” I asked, pulling myself out the hurt of being dismissed, while I pulled out of the queue and headed home, ignoring the fact that there was no ‘hi mom’ as best I could.
“It was great, we are learning about mammals. I have a report to do and I have to pick a predator.”
“Oh, what do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know yet, can you help me research?”
“Of course,”
“What’s for dinner?” she asked.
“Valentina gave me a load of leftovers from yesterday,” I let her know. “So, we can have our pick from whatever, I just have to pick it up from the kitchen on the way up. We can make some fresh tortillas tomorrow,” I let her know.
Her eyes lit up as I caught them in the rearview mirror. She loved cooking with me as much as I loathed cooking, but I knew it was time she craved with me. I figured this was as good a time as any to fill her in on our guest.
“We will have to make extra, señor Beck is going to stay with us for a while,” I let her know.
Beck and I both winced as she squealed.
“Otisa oso! \[little bear\] easy on the ears por favor \[please\],” I chided.
“Oops, sorry,” she said, covering her mouth. “I was just excited, I have so many questions!”
“Don’t hound the poor man,” I insisted.
“It's fine, she has to learn from someone, better me than them,” Beck insisted.
My heart fluttered, he wanted to teach her about the things I had no clue how to explain, about herself. I pushed the sappy feeling aside and reigned in my emotions, focusing on the road.
Beck and Cricket helped me take the offerings Mrs. Gonzalez left us upstairs. On the weekend I didn’t have to babysit the crock pots, so my kitchen was free to cook. But I wouldn’t be doing that tonight. I took a stack of the tortillas Valentina had given us and began erecting tacos out of the leftover meats and beans, I drizzled some oil in a pan and fried them all crispy. We were all full and Cricket had wandered off to bed after asking an obscene amount of questions about being a bear to Beck.
I called over my shoulder to him, as I washed the dishes. “There are towels in the hall closet if you want a shower,” I let him know.
He lifted an armpit and sniffed. “Do I stink? he asked.
“No, but it's there if you want it.” I informed him, chuckling to myself, before turning back to my dishes. I heard him rifling through his small bag before his footsteps wandered down the hall. A moment later the shower turned on.