“Aahhh,” the man says as if he’s realizing something.
“Excuse these rude men. I’m Ruthie.” The redhead steps forward and offers her hand.
“Hi Ruthie, I’m Xia. We met working on the food truck,” I offer, wanting to drive home the fact that I’m not one of the women looking to barter.
“That has to be a cool job!”
“It has its ups and downs. I’m lucky to do what I love even when it gets crazy.”
“Sorry, babe. This is Skull and his old lady, Ruthie. Who’s got the twins tonight?”
“My sister. It’s been too long since we showed our face around here,” Skull says.
“Yeah, well having twins will do that to you,” Shayne replies with a grin.
“Two toddlers, man. That’s twice the brain power working to figure out how to thwart us,” Skull mumbles.
“I keep telling him their brains aren’t that developed,” Ruthie remarks.
“These are K.O.C. kids, believe me, they’re plotting,” Skull insists.
“Uh huh. We’ll let you get settled. I know how it is when you get off the road after a long trip,” Ruthie says.
“You’d better come back and mingle after you settle in,” Skull says.
Shayne smiles. “We will.”
The stop happens a few more times. Names swim in my head, and we stop in front of a man in a wheelchair with a brown-skinned woman at his side. My heart leaps for joy. In the sea of faces, there’s someone who resembles me. That means things have changed around here. Some of the worries dissipates.
“Hey, Freeze! What’s going on, man?” Shayne asks, suddenly animated.
He chuckles. “Hey, getting away from the rugrat for the night. Big sister is home and watching him.” They do a manly shake and hug, and the woman smiles at me politely.
“Freeze, Blanche, this is my girlfriend, Xia.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Freeze states, holding out his hand.
I shake his hand. “Likewise.”
I turn toward Blanche and do the same. She seems happy and relaxed. Her smile is full of encouragement and kindness. The women are making me think there’s more to the club than booze and women. I can’t deny they saved my arse when they showed up at the truck. If it helped produce Shayne, it can’t be all that bad.
“Welcome to San Mateo,” Blanche says.
“Thank you. Are you from here?”
“No, Georgia actually. But I’ve been living in San Diego for years.”
“My dad’s from Texas, so I very much get the Southern upbringing. We grew up in L.A., but my dad is so hardcore Southern gentleman you can’t always tell.”
She laughs. “Oh y
eah, Southerners can be like that.”
We chat for a bit longer before we make our way to his dorm.
“You spent a lot longer talking to Freeze.”
“Every time I see him it feels like a mini miracle. We almost lost him a few years back, and then when he found out he wouldn’t be able to walk again, he went through a rough patch. Thank God, Blanche is a physical therapist. Without her, he never would’ve gotten through it.” He shakes his head.