Tex’s Angel (Savage Legion MC #11)

Chapter 19

Clara

I notice that neither Rigs nor Tex are wearing their Savage Legion cuts this morning. I’m guessing that they don’t want to draw attention to themselves. Whatever the reason, it’s going to make our home visits go a lot smoother today.

We pull up in front of a large two-story house that has an institutional feel about it. Looking more closely, I realize it’s because there are metal bars over the windows and double steel doors, like a hospital.

We ring the bell, and I’m surprised to see Robbie and an older woman answer the door. “Are you from CPS? Mattie told us you were coming,” the older woman says with a smile.

Robbie races out and flings his arms around me. “Miss Clara!”

“I wondered what happened to you, so I decided to check it out and come visit with you,” I tell him brightly.

The older woman reaches out her hand. “My name is Ellen Ayers. My husband and I run this group home.”

“How many children are here?” I ask. The woman seems nice, but I hate to think of Robbie as one of many nameless kids in this institution.

“We have spaces for ten, but at the moment there’s six children here.”

I glance up at her and reply, “I’ll bet taking care of six kids keeps you hopping.”

“It surely does. We have weekend staff that come to help, so that means the kids get to do more on the weekends. Six is a good number, we can give them all personal attention, so it’s more like a family setting than a group home.”

We introduce ourselves individually and follow her into the building. Robbie holds my hand like he’s scared I’m going to disappear again. It breaks my heart that I’m the only link to his old life. I shoot Tex as quick glance and find he’s gazing at Robbie, clearly fascinated by his resilience.

We all sit down in a big living room with lots of kids’ stuff neatly organized around the room.

Mrs. Ayers asks, “What can we do for you today? Mattie said you had some questions about Robbie’s father.”

I speak up, “I’m Robbie’s former teacher and I reported his case to CPS. We’re still tying up loose ends and his CPS supervisor wanted us to talk with Robbie about a few things.”

Turning to Robbie, Mrs. Ayers asks, “Do you want me to stay with you until your friends are done visiting or can I go clear up the kitchen from breakfast? I’ll stay if you want me to.”

He turns to look at me and I tell him, “Your choice, Robbie. Either way is fine with me.”

“I’m okay, Mrs. A,” he says with a smile.

“Okay, but if you need me for anything just call my name.” Turning to us she murmurs, “All the rooms have cameras, and the security alarm will go off if there are any problems. Not that we have any kids with behavioral issues at the moment.”

I tell her politely, “I understand completely. Safety first.”

Rigs stands when she does, and says, “I actually might have a couple of questions for you, ma’am.”

Wearing all black with a big cross around his neck, Rigs looks every inch the community pastor. I guess I’m seeing him in a new light, because I’d only ever seen him wearing his leather vest. Mrs. Ayers smiles, “Of course, Reverend. We can talk while I work. I need to clean up after breakfast in order to get lunch ready on time.”

“Got it,” he replies personably and off they go. I notice that he doesn’t correct her about his title.

Robbie is looking at me, clearly waiting for me to say something. I start out by telling him, “You’re looking a lot better than the last time I saw you. How are you feeling?”

A dark expression crosses his face. “I’m feeling better. My mama fell asleep and didn’t wake up again and my dad ran away. When I got out of the hospital, they sent me to live with people who had a bunch of mean kids. I kept asking for my dad, but he never came for me.” Glancing away he adds, “I still have bad dreams of that house, and I wish they would stop.”

Tex reaches out to pat the boy on the back. “They will go away one day if y’all hang in there and keep talking to your therapist.”

His expression brightens. “You mean Jose? I like talking to him because we play games while we talk.”

“That’s really good, Robbie. He sounds like a really good therapist,” I tell him. “Jose sounds like a really good guy.”

“Yeah, he tells me none of what happened was my fault and I guess he’s right.”

“What makes you think any of it was your fault?” I ask.

His eyes dart around the big room as he answers. “Cause my mom died and my dad got really mad at me. He came to see when I was at the house with the mean kids and told me she was dead.”

So, his dad visited after his mother overdosed and somehow made Robbie feel like was his fault.

“Do you remember what he was mad about?” Tex asks.

Robbie shrugs and starts staring at a fishtank on the other side of the room. Rather than pressuring him, we just let a silence fill the space for a few minutes.

He eventually says in a low tone of voice. “He was angry at me for ending up in hospital and he was angry at all of you. He said she never would have died if you hadn’t taken me away from her.”

I quickly kneel down in front of him. “None of what your dad told you is true. Some of the medicine your mama took was spoiled and that’s why she died.”

Robbie’s expression lifts a little. “That’s what Jose says. I just didn’t know whether to believe him or not.”

“It’s true. I wouldn’t lie to you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, but why are you here? Did you come to get me? Can I live with you now?”

Tex moves forward to kneel beside me and explains our situation, “We’re not allowed to just take you home with us. That’s called stealing kids, and grown-ups get in big trouble for that. We might be able to get permission to take y’all out on day trips. How does that sound?”

His expression falls, “I know what day trips are. We go to a park with lots of dog poop and eat at the bad pizza place. It’s not a lot of fun but it’s some fun, I guess.”

I feel so sad for the little boy and have a thought, “I can ask Mrs. Ayers if visitors are allowed to take kids on day trips, if she says that’s okay, me and Mr. Tex might be able to take you somewhere nice.”

“I always want to go bowling. It’s fun and the food there is great.”

Tex picks up the slack. “When I was your age, I liked to go the arcade and play video games.”

Robbie shoots Tex a disparaging look. “I heard about those places they had in the olden days. We have video games here so I don’t want to waste time I could be bowling, playing games.”

“Well, y’all put me in my place,” Tex says with a smile.

I grin at Robbie. “I think you’re making a smart decision. Give me a week to see if I can arrange for us to go somewhere fun. I’ll let you know when I find out one way or another. Is that alright?”

He nods, “They’ll probably let you. One kid here gets to go out with the janitor from his old school.”

For some reason that shocks me. Then again if a janitor is a good role model and motivated to spend time with a kid who’s got nobody out of the kindness of his heart, why not?

“In that case, you’d best start planning your day.”

We come to our feet when Rigs and Mrs. Ayres come back into the room. She’s all smiles and says, “I hope you all had a good chat.”

Robbie speaks right up. “They’re gonna take me bowling.”

I rush to add, “We’re going to do that if it’s something that’s allowed.”

“As you’re a teacher and know Robbie it should be okay. Obviously, there’ll have to be a background check and drug screen, you’ll have to take a six-hour class on all our rules. Just wanted you to be aware that there is a process for making stuff like that happen.’

Rigs smiles at her. “I should hope so. If not, anybody could borrow a kid for the day.”

Mrs. Ayres chuckles. “Quite right. Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

That’s clearly our cue to get moving, so we start heading for the door and saying our goodbyes.