Page 22 of Scythe's Salvation
Albertson stands, shakes all of our hands and gives Tamara his business card. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I have the DNA results. Then we’ll push to get the hearing on the dockets as quickly as possible.”
With that, he leaves, while Brick, Tamara, and I sit there musing over all we’ve learned. Brick finally taps the top of the table and says, “I’ll keep at Hawg to see what he’s found.”
“Beast and Selah are searching as well,” I remind him.
“We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve we haven’t utilized yet, but if push comes to shove, we’ll protect you and your boy, Tamara. Make no mistake about that, okay?”
She nods then says, “Thank you. Who knew that Scythe making an appointment would lead to all of this?”
Brick shrugs then gets up and heads toward the back, likely to check on Hawg. I turn Tamara to face me and say, “The best is yet to come, sweetheart. Now, how about we head out to lunch?”
“Sounds like a plan. As I tell Chance all the time, let’s blow this popsicle stand!”
While lunch wasn’t as long as I would’ve liked since she had a client to get to, I still managed to give her some of my background. Realizing that we both came out of the system broke down some more of her walls. Her experiences weren’t as traumatic as mine, thank goodness, except for the night she was kicked out of her foster parents’ home.
“There I was, just turned eighteen, with two suitcases filled to overflowing with all of my belongings. I didn’t have a car, so I walked about a mile until I got to Amara’s house to see if she knew where I could go and get help,” Tamara explained. “When Memaw opened the door and saw me with my snotty, tear-soaked face, she dragged me inside, made me tell herwhat happened, then immediately set me up in one of the spare bedrooms she had. After that, she called the foster family, chewed them out, and then she called my social worker to advise that I had moved. After that, the checks, which still came because I was enrolled in school, came to me. Memaw wouldn’t let me pay for anything. She made me save that money for when the baby came, only I didn’t need it then either. Because she organized a huge baby shower at her church, and we got everything we could’ve needed. The state paid for my massage therapy school, as well as the state test. It’s something they do for foster kids, apparently. Between the stipends I got while in school, plus the money I earned working part-time, I was able to put down a hefty chunk of money on my house.”
I shake my head because after she told me all of that, I let her know that I thought she was a warrior, stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. Her blush told me she hasn’t gotten many compliments, something I plan to change.
Brick comes over and drops a beer in front of me. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“Just thinking about what Tamara shared with me. She’s a fucking strong woman.”
He looks around and says, “We’re surrounded by them, brother. Every one of our ol’ ladies, as well as the ones in the Cedar Creek crew have gone through things that most wouldn’t survive. They’d succumb to it and either turn to alcohol and drugs or take their own lives. But these women? They keep rising, like a bunch of phoenixes.”
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Tamara
My phone chimesas I am waiting for my client to come out of the room. Looking at it, I see it’s from Scythe.
Hottie Biker: Hey, babe, I’m going to be out of pocket for a bit. Brick just called church.
Me: None of y’all strike me as the religious type, Scythe.
Hottie Biker: You know what I mean, woman! I just wanted you to know because I thought that maybe I could bring over pizza and dessert later for dinner for all three of us if that was okay?
Me: Hmm, let’s see. A night without me having to cook? You’re on, biker man.
Hottie Biker: I kinda like you calling me that. We’ll revisit this later, okay?
Me: Gotta go, my client just stepped out.
“How do you feel, Portia?” I ask as she walks toward me.
“Very relaxed, thank you,” Portia replies.
There’s something about her name that seems familiar to me, but I haven’t been able to put my finger on it just yet. “Would you like to book another appointment today? Or, if you want to wait, you can always go to my website and do it online. It automatically syncs to my calendar, so you don’t have to worry about me getting double booked or anything like that.”
“I think I’ll go to the website, I need to make sure I have childcare sorted first,” she says.
“You have children? I’ve got a little boy myself,” I reply, just as my phone rings. Seeing it’s Selah, I excuse myself and walk away. “What’s up?” I question.
“You need to get her out of there now, Tamara,” Selah says instead of saying ‘hello’. “She’s not who you think she is at all. She’s the woman who’s married to your ex, Chance’s sperm donor.”
“Shit, shit, shit, what do I do? Do you think she knows who I am?” I sputter out.
