94 - Jasper

*We screwed up. I know we did. Maybe more than some parents, maybe not as much as others. But everything that we did, was because we love our kids. Make sure that they know that. - Jasper*

Camille kept looking for the handbasket that she was certain the world was going to hell in. Nearly a third of the population of the entire world had died because of this crazy pandemic. The country was protesting the treatment of its people. The leaders of the country were fighting with themselves.

The Saints were grieving the loss of Brute along with nearly a half dozen other brothers. The Eagles had also lost members, and Dawg had already been hospitalized twice. She had heard that the Renegades had also lost members, but did not recognize any of the names that Evie and Darkness said. Not even the Cajuns were immune from losing brothers and family members.

Because of the restrictions, she had not gone home for Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. There were nightly calls with her parents and she and Priscilla talked and texted every day. The family group chat lit up her phone numerous times an hour. The one between her and her friends was almost just as active.

The chat with her, Darkness and his niece and nephews was also very busy. Everything from new high scores on Mario Kart to Nickie sending her latest book obsession. Mitch loved to send her funny memes and YouTube videos. Vin was constantly asking about Massachusetts and if she knew anything about MIT. Other than the fact that it was in Cambridge, she did not know much more.

Camille had not seen her family since Becks’ funeral. Homesickness and cabin fever were not a good combination. Her insomnia was getting worse, and the bookshelves were overflowing. Along with her schoolwork, she was reading an encyclopedia and a fiction novel every day.

She and Tink went for several walks at all hours of the day now. They went for walks in the dark of the night and as the temperatures neared and then crossed the triple digit mark during the day. The humidity got to her more than the heat did, the eternal clamminess of her skin was almost more than she could manage. But she hated being cold and the hot southern summer was a pleasant change from the cold winters of central Massachusetts.

Because she enjoyed being outside, Darkness built her a small rolling desk on the back porch so that she could work outside. Currently, she was sitting on the outdoor couch with her laptop on the small desk in front of her. An outdoor ceiling fan circulated the air above her and a pedestal fan blew directly on her.

After reviewing her history exam, she submitted her final and considered her final summer course completed. Rolling the desk out of her way, she stood up and went inside to fix herself a glass of sweet iced tea. Before living down here in the south, she never would have thought about drinking sweet tea. Now she could not imagine tea without sugar.

Settling back on the wooden couch with thick cushions, Camille rested her back against the arm of the couch and her feet on the cushion in front of her. Her mind wandered across the changes that the world had gone through and wondered what else would happen.

Her phone rang and looking at the screen that declared JASPER – DARKNESS BROTHER was calling, a sense of dread filled her. Although she no longer considered him an adversary, she also did not consider him an ally. They spoke from time to time, and she knew that he would have called Darkness first. If Jasper was calling her, his brother did not answer.

A week or so ago, Jasper called to let them know that Keisha was in the hospital as a patient. This had led to Camille and Jasper speaking more often because he was concerned about what would happen to his three children. The calls became daily when Keisha had been placed on a ventilator the day before yesterday.

Knowing what could happen if she answered the call, made her want to ignore the phone. But whether she answered or not, it would still happen. She knew this. And if the kids needed them, she could put their differences aside.

Grabbing the phone off the nearby table, she answered the call and dreaded what was coming. “Hello?”

“Camille?” Jasper’s voice was strained and tired, hesitant, and sad. That one word told her so much in what she heard and not what the other man said.

“Yes? Do you need Darkness? I mean, Amos.”

“No, not yet,” he coughed on the other end of the line and a sense of foreboding settled around her. “I, uh, Keisha, um, she, um, she died this morning.”

“Oh, Jasper,” she sat up and placed her drink on the nearby table. “I’m so sorry. Is there anything that we can do?”

He wheezed a few times and his breathing was rough, “Were you able to get the issues resolved with the custody?”

“Yes,” she took a deep breath, not wanting to ask her question and even more afraid of what the answer would be. “Jasper, are you sick?”

He coughed again as if to answer her question. “Yes, but I’m going to keep working as long as I can.” He coughed again. “I, uh, um, I think you guys, um, may need to come get the kids.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to Amos when he gets home. We’ll need to make some adjustments here. There’s not enough room for them at this house. Let me find out when school starts here, and we’ll plan around that.”

“Sounds good,” Jasper agreed. “I talked to Marvin; he’s going to tell the other two.”

“Jasper, you need to tell them.”

He coughed and took several ragged breaths before he told her. “Camille, I’m never leaving this ward. Not on my feet.”

The other words that Jasper said brought tears to her eyes. Choking back a sob, she promised to do the best for them.

“Jasper,” Camille said softly, “call your kids. Don’t let them regret not being able to say goodbye to both parents. Tell them that you love them. Let them hear that from you, not me."

“I will,” he promised softly just before they ended the call.

After hanging up, she briefly closed her eyes and let the tears flow down her cheeks. Her best friend had lost her mom at the beginning of the year. It tore Priscilla up. Her death broke Camille’s heart. They had had time to prepare. They had been able to say goodbye.

Keisha’s children did not have that luxury.

What were the last words that they said to each other? Were they words spoken in anger? Would they be words that would haunt the kids for the rest of their lives?

These thoughts were running through her head when Tink perked up from where he lay on a cooling pad on the deck of his doghouse. Just before the sound of motorcycle pipes began to fill the air, he jumped up and ran towards the gate by the driveway.

She swiped the tears away as Darkness pulled into the driveway and Tink happily greeted him. The dog bounced up and down as the man came through the gate and scratched him on the top of his head. Darkness made his way over and sat on the couch, ordering Tink out of his lap. Picking up the glass, he drained the nearly full glass of watered down sweet, iced tea.

“Jasper called me,” he finally said.

She nodded, “He called me too.”

“He annoys the hell out of me…” Darkness sighed.

“But he’s still your brother,” she smiled at him. After the issues with Allison, Camille completely understood where he was coming from.

“Yeah,” he agreed with a slow nod.

“I know we talked about it, but now we need to implement.”

“Yeah,” he stood up and held out his hand to help her to stand up.

They went inside and she checked the chicken that was in the clow cooker on the kitchen counter. Moving around the kitchen with ease, they each finished getting their dinner ready and then sat at the table while the pasta and vegetables cooked.

“We definitely need a bigger house,” he said as she powered up her tablet.

“We do,” she agreed, “I have an idea. Jenna was saying that they were having a hard time renting her parents’ house. It’s six bedrooms with a home office and two living areas.”

“It’s a big house,” he agreed.

“But that would work for us. We need to have room for each of them and places for them to study. From what I’m hearing, school is going to be hybrid this year.”

“Hybrid?” he asked.

“Half at home,” she grinned at him, “half at school.”