Jinx (Kings of Carnage MC) - Chelsea Camaron Page 0,21
on a bike when you can shift wrong and crash us both. I’m not big on road-rash, babe. You want the job, I’ll be back to pick you up. If you’re gone when I pass back through, then I’ll have your answer.”
Rather than wait for her to ask me anything more, I head back to my bike. Pops needs me and I’m still a little ways out with traffic.
When I get to the hospital I go straight to the Emergency Room since that’s where he’s usually at after a fall. They do the checks to make sure he didn’t break anything or get a concussion before sending him back to the assisted living facility. Since he’s registered to the facility they don’t always give him a room. Most of the time he’s here for an overnighter and they can monitor him in here since he doesn’t usually make it a full twenty-four hours in the place.
I hate hospitals. The smell of the cleaners, antiseptics or whatever, it all puts me off. Fresh air is good for the soul. The waiting room is full of people in different states of distress. There is a man with a towel wrapped around his hand saturated in blood with a woman three seats over holding a toddler close to her chest rocking the child who seems flush with fever. A row over is a teen girl puking into a bag with her father sitting beside her shaking his head.
Going to the check in desk, I give the receptionist my father’s name. She tells me he’s in bed eleven down past triage. I don’t bother asking anything else as I make my way to through the double doors and back into the flurry of activity in the bed area. Finding bed eleven, I walk in to see Pops sound asleep in the hospital bed.
He’s much smaller like this. As a kid I remember thinking, my dad is so big he can take on anyone. His brown hair is thinning now but he still keeps it shaped in the military haircut he maintained through all his years in the Army. His face is clean shaven making the wrinkles of time stand out.
When did he get so old?
I know I’ve watched him deteriorate, but really taking him in right now, I can’t stop the pain from building inside.
I was born an orphan. Arthur and Kalini have always been honest with me about my past. Kalini knew my biological mother and used to babysit her when she was small and Kalini was a teen. Kalini was like a big sister to her and when she found herself giving birth in her childhood bedroom, Kalini was the first person she thought of.
Of course, I was grown before I learned those small details. When Kalini died, my biological mother came to the funeral. Arthur introduced us. I didn’t say much because what was there to say. She left me on a porch. Sure, I had a better life because of that, but still my mother gave me away. She left me without knowing when I’d be found. While Arthur and Kalini gave me everything they had to give, I’ve always been left with this feeling inside like I’m not complete. I can’t explain it, but something isn’t fulfilled even though I want for nothing in life.
Hawaii is a beautiful place to live, but it’s also dangerous. Since I am Samoan I fit in with the islanders easily. Thank God for a tan because in my teen years being a white kid in our area meant getting your ass kicked just because of the color of your skin. There are gangs everywhere and the tropical paradise of Hawaii is no different.
There was a time before Arthur got stationed in Georgia where I was spending my time with some thugs on the island. I felt myself going down the wrong path, but the feeling of belonging was far too strong to resist. The shit they expect someone to do to join didn’t work for me. Again, I’m an eye-for-an-eye guy, but I’m not some senseless killer. To commit an act of violence on an innocent stranger just to pledge some false loyalty didn’t work for me back then and it doesn’t work for me now. Moving us to Georgia before I ended up hooked on drugs or behind bars was my saving grace.
Leaving Hawaii I vowed to leave behind the grudge I had for my biological mom. So when she showed up