“So where’s your ma and pa, Tammy?” Brooklyn asked.
“My mother died when I was a teenager. My father is in Singapore.”
“And he couldn’t help you?” Brooklyn took a seat.
“Huh, all he thinks of is himself.” Hudson tutted. “Always been the same.”
Tammy twisted her hands together. Inside, it was like bugs were crawling over her organs. Her father’s betrayal and his willingness to believe Gary over her were almost as painful as the beatings she’d taken. “No,” she said quietly and looked at the floor. “When Mom died, he traveled abroad more and more with work. Then he remarried, twice now actually. Gary called him often, told him I was a bad mom, a bad wife.”
“You’re a good mom.” Zak stopped fiddling with his t-shirt. “The best.”
“Yeah, she is.” Jayden ruffled his hair.
Tammy smiled at Zak. “Thanks, baby.”
“Here.” Brooklyn dug into a black backpack. “I have some things in here little boys might like.”
“You do?” Zak rushed to her side.
“You like drawing?”
“I sure do.”
“So here you go.” She set paper and pens and a pack of colored pencils on the table.
“What do you say?” Tammy prompted.
“Thank you.”
“And LEGOs?” Brooklyn asked.
Zak nodded eagerly. “Yes. Yes. A lot.”
“Good because I had some spare.” A plastic container full of bright little bricks was set beside the paper.
“Jayd, can I have a word?” Hudson nodded at the door.
“Sure, boss.”
They stepped outside.
Tammy took a seat. “This is too much, Brooklyn, really.”
Brooklyn set her hand on Tammy’s knee. “It’s nothing. What you have to understand is you’re blood. Hudson’s blood. He takes that shit seriously. So if someone hurts one of his family, the person that did the hurting had better watch out.” She lowered her voice. “Do you think your husband will or could follow you here?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve never mentioned this part of California to him.”
“Good.” She nodded at Zak. “So we should get him enrolled at school. I know the principal at Greenwoods. The compound kids go there. I’ll put in a call today.”
“What is the compound?”
“It’s the chapter’s base, along the road from here. Some of us live there, including Jayden, and it’s where club business goes down.”
“What’s club business?”
Brooklyn smiled. “Fixing up bikes and stuff.” She glanced at the window.
Two large figures blocked the sun. They appeared deep in conversation.