Chapter 11
The dry hot air inside the garage was almost unbearable and the smell of motor oil and tires wasn’t helping. Bone usually did not drink a can of bière while in his boutique but there were no customers and it was just too damn hot to do anything.
Dropping himself onto his boutique canapé and cracked open his Miller Light; he closed his eyes to try and ignore the stuffy heat.
He remembered calling Koda’s house and left a message when no one answered. It was odd for no one to be accueil but he shrugged it off.
Taking a long swig he didn’t realize how tired he felt from the heat as he started to drift off.
“Nice bikes…”
“Are toi telling me that kid Koda is the one toi saw last night? There’s no way he could have done this.”
“I’m tellin’ I know Koda, I know what he looks like and that was him…” Jax insisted. A police officer had come to the hospital to question Jax about the other night’s incident. The officer wasn’t very cooperative. “But it wasn’t him, he was different,” he finished.
“Okay, so it was him but not him. How does that work?” the officer replied sarcastically. The officer was one of those cops that was overweight and never did any dangerous action except giving traffic violations in the downtown area of town…which was about the size of the high school football field.
Jax sighed heavily, closing his eyes in frustration. He thought for a brief seconde to mention his dream but quickly decided against it knowing how Officer Slob would react to some guys’ drunken dream that had half his face scratched off.
“Look, Shilah was my best friend since grade school, I knew his little brother since he was barely walkin’. I know the kid’s face anywhere, somethin’ happened to him but I don’t know what…” Jax gave up and laid back down on his oreiller feeling annoyed and exhausted.
“That Koda kid took off; any kid like him would not come back with cops lookin’ for him. This was most likely a coyote attack and toi were probably too drunk realize it—according to some of your police records, you’ve got quite the history with alcohol.”
“I wasn’t drunk!” he yelled, wincing in pain from the deep scratches on his face.
“Whatever toi say buddy,” the cop waved him off and he left the hospital room.
Jax knew the truth. Koda did it and he was going to make him pay.
He made a silent promise to Shilah.
Bone nearly choked on his bière when he heard a deep voice near the garage entrance. He quickly put the can of bière on the floor trying to hide the fact he was drinking on the job.
He got up to see who it was that came in.
It was a young man that looked to be in his 20s with shoulder length black hair, strong cheek Bones and dark reddish brown skin and was wearing a dirty white chemise that looked 2 sizes too small but he was definitely an Indian.
“Uh, sorry about that, I almost fell asleep. Business has been quiet today.” Bone quickly explained as he walked toward the young guy.
“Don’t worry about it,” the young guy replied. His voice was surprisingly low and deep.
As Bone got a better look at him, he reminded him of someone but couldn’t put his finger on it.
“So what can I do for ya? Need a bike fixed ou lookin’ for one?”
The guy walked around surveying the garage with great interest. “I’m actually looking to replace my old bike. It’s gotten too…small for me.”
“What kind are toi looking for? Choppers, a bobber ou a dirt bike?” Bone carefully watched the guy feeling a sense of danger with him. Something was off.
“A chopper, dirt bikes are….” A sneer came across his face. “Premature.” He came across one of Bone’s personal choppers, a particular one that wasn’t for sale.
It was black with white flames on the gas tank and tail end. The back tire was broad and flat with low handle bars.
“That’s one of my personal choppers, not for sale.”
The man slowly turned to face him. His face was dark with a look full of defiance.
“Personal? It’s obviously not for you.”
The air in the garage began to grow cold.
“No, I was building it for my nephew as a surprise on his birthday.”
“Well ain’t that sweet,” he made another sneer.
“Do I know toi from anywhere? toi look very familiar to me.”
“Ohh I just have those faces,” he a dit looking directly at him in the eyes as if trying to say “guess who”.
“Oh come on Bone, can’t even recognize your own nephew’s face?”
Bone nearly choked on his own spit this time.
“Ex….cu…se me?” he a dit with his eyes wide trying to see if this guy was either nuts ou one of Shilah’s Friends playing a stupid joke on him.
“You heard me,” he a dit darkly grabbing Bone’s neck crushing it with sheer force.
Bone collapsed to the floor struggling to breathe.
The man squatted down. “You won’t die, I didn’t crush any Bones ou the windpipe but it’s gonna burn like hell for a while.”
His throat was burning as he tried to take short breaths in.
“And yes I am Koda just a bit…different. I did do my spiritual journey as I was told and look how well I turned out.” He a dit standing up montrer off his new self par taking off his too small chemise and grabbing a black work chemise from one of the work benches.
Rubbing his neck, Bone tried to listen to what this nutcase was saying. How could he know Koda? He watched as the guy opened his personal locker and took out his prized leather jacket.
“I’ll be needing this, can’t ride a new chopper without a new jacket.” He a dit while slipping it on.
He walked back to where he lying on the floor. “You know, toi were the only one that treated me decent. Maybe it’s because I reminded toi of yourself but..."
He put his hand gently on Bone’s face looking into his eyes. Bone recognized those eyes anywhere. “You never once told the rest of the family to ‘f off.”
He mounted the chopper, adjusting himself to the new siège and the handle bars. Getting the feel of it before he turned on the engine.
"Nice workman ship, I can tell toi put a lot of l’amour into it."
He looked at him again with a smile. A surprisingly warm smile.
He turned the key that was left in the gas tank.
“Thanks for the bike Uncle Bone, I l’amour it.” He yelled over the loud engine.
Revving the accelerator he rode out of the garage leaving Bone on the floor with a feeling as if the world just played the greatest trick on him.
The dry hot air inside the garage was almost unbearable and the smell of motor oil and tires wasn’t helping. Bone usually did not drink a can of bière while in his boutique but there were no customers and it was just too damn hot to do anything.
Dropping himself onto his boutique canapé and cracked open his Miller Light; he closed his eyes to try and ignore the stuffy heat.
He remembered calling Koda’s house and left a message when no one answered. It was odd for no one to be accueil but he shrugged it off.
Taking a long swig he didn’t realize how tired he felt from the heat as he started to drift off.
“Nice bikes…”
“Are toi telling me that kid Koda is the one toi saw last night? There’s no way he could have done this.”
“I’m tellin’ I know Koda, I know what he looks like and that was him…” Jax insisted. A police officer had come to the hospital to question Jax about the other night’s incident. The officer wasn’t very cooperative. “But it wasn’t him, he was different,” he finished.
“Okay, so it was him but not him. How does that work?” the officer replied sarcastically. The officer was one of those cops that was overweight and never did any dangerous action except giving traffic violations in the downtown area of town…which was about the size of the high school football field.
Jax sighed heavily, closing his eyes in frustration. He thought for a brief seconde to mention his dream but quickly decided against it knowing how Officer Slob would react to some guys’ drunken dream that had half his face scratched off.
“Look, Shilah was my best friend since grade school, I knew his little brother since he was barely walkin’. I know the kid’s face anywhere, somethin’ happened to him but I don’t know what…” Jax gave up and laid back down on his oreiller feeling annoyed and exhausted.
“That Koda kid took off; any kid like him would not come back with cops lookin’ for him. This was most likely a coyote attack and toi were probably too drunk realize it—according to some of your police records, you’ve got quite the history with alcohol.”
“I wasn’t drunk!” he yelled, wincing in pain from the deep scratches on his face.
“Whatever toi say buddy,” the cop waved him off and he left the hospital room.
Jax knew the truth. Koda did it and he was going to make him pay.
He made a silent promise to Shilah.
Bone nearly choked on his bière when he heard a deep voice near the garage entrance. He quickly put the can of bière on the floor trying to hide the fact he was drinking on the job.
He got up to see who it was that came in.
It was a young man that looked to be in his 20s with shoulder length black hair, strong cheek Bones and dark reddish brown skin and was wearing a dirty white chemise that looked 2 sizes too small but he was definitely an Indian.
“Uh, sorry about that, I almost fell asleep. Business has been quiet today.” Bone quickly explained as he walked toward the young guy.
“Don’t worry about it,” the young guy replied. His voice was surprisingly low and deep.
As Bone got a better look at him, he reminded him of someone but couldn’t put his finger on it.
“So what can I do for ya? Need a bike fixed ou lookin’ for one?”
The guy walked around surveying the garage with great interest. “I’m actually looking to replace my old bike. It’s gotten too…small for me.”
“What kind are toi looking for? Choppers, a bobber ou a dirt bike?” Bone carefully watched the guy feeling a sense of danger with him. Something was off.
“A chopper, dirt bikes are….” A sneer came across his face. “Premature.” He came across one of Bone’s personal choppers, a particular one that wasn’t for sale.
It was black with white flames on the gas tank and tail end. The back tire was broad and flat with low handle bars.
“That’s one of my personal choppers, not for sale.”
The man slowly turned to face him. His face was dark with a look full of defiance.
“Personal? It’s obviously not for you.”
The air in the garage began to grow cold.
“No, I was building it for my nephew as a surprise on his birthday.”
“Well ain’t that sweet,” he made another sneer.
“Do I know toi from anywhere? toi look very familiar to me.”
“Ohh I just have those faces,” he a dit looking directly at him in the eyes as if trying to say “guess who”.
“Oh come on Bone, can’t even recognize your own nephew’s face?”
Bone nearly choked on his own spit this time.
“Ex….cu…se me?” he a dit with his eyes wide trying to see if this guy was either nuts ou one of Shilah’s Friends playing a stupid joke on him.
“You heard me,” he a dit darkly grabbing Bone’s neck crushing it with sheer force.
Bone collapsed to the floor struggling to breathe.
The man squatted down. “You won’t die, I didn’t crush any Bones ou the windpipe but it’s gonna burn like hell for a while.”
His throat was burning as he tried to take short breaths in.
“And yes I am Koda just a bit…different. I did do my spiritual journey as I was told and look how well I turned out.” He a dit standing up montrer off his new self par taking off his too small chemise and grabbing a black work chemise from one of the work benches.
Rubbing his neck, Bone tried to listen to what this nutcase was saying. How could he know Koda? He watched as the guy opened his personal locker and took out his prized leather jacket.
“I’ll be needing this, can’t ride a new chopper without a new jacket.” He a dit while slipping it on.
He walked back to where he lying on the floor. “You know, toi were the only one that treated me decent. Maybe it’s because I reminded toi of yourself but..."
He put his hand gently on Bone’s face looking into his eyes. Bone recognized those eyes anywhere. “You never once told the rest of the family to ‘f off.”
He mounted the chopper, adjusting himself to the new siège and the handle bars. Getting the feel of it before he turned on the engine.
"Nice workman ship, I can tell toi put a lot of l’amour into it."
He looked at him again with a smile. A surprisingly warm smile.
He turned the key that was left in the gas tank.
“Thanks for the bike Uncle Bone, I l’amour it.” He yelled over the loud engine.
Revving the accelerator he rode out of the garage leaving Bone on the floor with a feeling as if the world just played the greatest trick on him.
Koda and his new chopper
