Page 58 of Conan
I stick around for a bit longer as the boys shoot the shit and the girls run around like little tornadoes wreaking havoc in their room. I say my farewells and see ya laters, then head out to see if I can catch Risk.
As I was worried about Risk doing, he’s taken off. Told Marcum he needed a few days to clear his head. “Should I go see if I can locate McKenna and find out what she’s doing in these parts?” I ask my brother.
“No,” Marcum states. “I think we need to take a backseat to this and let it play out.”
“That’s a dangerous game you’re playing, Marcum,” I warn.
He groans, tossing his head back against the chair rest, and rubbing his temples. “I know, Xavier. Those two have a lot of unresolved feelings and conversations they need to get out and clear the air over. If we keep running interference neither one of them will be able to move past this and start living their lives.”
“But at what expense? Anybody near them is liable to get caught in the crossfire and that could blow back on the club.” I don’t know why I’m issuing this warning to him, we all have the mental and physical scars from the last time those two were in the same room together.
“Judge Parsons called me this morning,” he tells me.
“How are things going? Are the kids gonna be able to stay here without any ramifications from the state?”
“Things are… iffy,” he says, sighing.
“How’s that, Marcum?”
“Each kid has to have a blood relative listed on file so he can push things through with the courts. That’s a lot of kids for one of us to take on,” he informs me.
“Marcum,” I say his name, leaning forward, placing my elbows on my knees and cupping my chin as I give him my full attention. “We’ve already taken them on, what’s a sheet of paper? Once you’re club, you’re club. That’s all there is to it.”
“They need legal guardians, Xavier. It’s the only way we can keep them here with us and not send them into the cesspool of case workers, foster homes, and all the other headaches that come with bringing social services into the fold. If they step in, we’ll never be allowed to have face time with any of them until they are eighteen and have been taken off their dockets.”
“We can’t do that to them,” I sneer.
“And we won’t, even if Luna and I have to take full responsibility for all of them,” he growls.
“Can’t do that,” I hiss. “For one, those kids have no relations between them so it wouldn’t make sense, and there’s no way in hell that the state would give you custody of six kids in a three-bedroom house.”
“Well, they won’t give them to you in a two-bedroom apartment,” he contends.
“You're right, they won’t. So now, we need to go into problem solving mode,” I stress.
He smiles at me before saying, “The women are already on it.”
“And what have they decided?” I ask, almost scared to do so.
“I’ll just tell you this, we need to let whoever’s manning the gates know to expect a delivery of doublewides tomorrow.”
“No shit!” I convey, my brows raised into my forehead.
“No shit,” he repeats. “Congratulations, Xavier, you’ll be an official homeowner as of this time two days from now.”
“Who else is getting a home besides us?” I ask.
“Me and Luna. You and Demi. Auto, and Hemi. We’re the only ones without records and that somewhat resembles the kids.”
“Have Hemi and Auto already agreed to that?” I probe.
“They have. Hemi will be moving his stuff into our house, and we’ll be taking one of the new ones,” Marcum tells me.
“Then we have a plan,” I state. “Just tell me what I need to do and where I need to be and when.”
“As I said before, our women are on it, and I’ll be the go-between with them and Parsons.”
I chuckle, because all I can think about is that this entire situation is fixing to bring a lot of havoc to our lives. At least now we don’t have to worry about soundproofing the room they’re currently using.
