Chapter Five

Seth’s dad hadn’t yet seen him in the braces. Seth figured it was bad enough that he had to look at him sitting like a dead fish in his wheelchair. Watching him robo-hobble around his physical therapist’s house seemed like a little much to subject him to.

“So this is adjustable,” his therapist was explaining as she helped Seth strap himself into the device. “Our goal here is, obviously, for Seth to gain his musculoskeletal strength back, but the challenge is that he can’t do those strength-building exercises without the ability to keep his legs straight.”

“So, you’ll loosen the springs as he gets stronger.” Seth’s father was standing in the living room with his arms crossed and his head tilted to the side.

“That’s the plan, sir,” Seth said. “They’re pretty stiff right now.”

“It’s working for you, though.” That was not a question.

“Yes, sir,” Seth said. He hadn’t been this nervous in a long time.

“We’ve done a lot of prep work for today,” his therapist said, a proud smile on her round face. Her name was Kristina, she was a round and good-humored ex-stripper, and she was every nurse Seth wished he’d had in the hospital all rolled into one. “Your son has one of the best attitudes I’ve ever seen in a patient.”

“He’s a tough motherfucker,” Cody said. He was standing in his habitual spot behind their father. “He comes by the clubhouse, any chance he gets, he gets up out of that wheelchair and walks as much as he can.”

“As long as he’s not overdoing it.” Kristina gave Seth a sideways look. “You’ll only make your recovery longer if you strain a muscle that’s already weakened from your bed rest.”

“Yeah, I know,” Seth said. “I just...I just gotta remind myself what it’s like, you know?” Screw muscle strain. There wasn’t gonna be much of a point to PT if he went totally insane from being stuck in that fucking wheelchair.

“All right, so now that these are attached, we’re ready to do our correct strengthening exercises.” Kristina stepped away from Seth’s wheelchair to grab the walker. “Our most recent short-term goal was moving from a rollator to a walker, and once he’s using the walker on a daily basis we can hopefully progress to a cane.” She didn’t mention that Seth was still barely able to get around with the walker, and it hurt like a bitch every step he took.

Still. Progress.

Without a word to his father or his brother, Seth gripped the bars of the walker and hauled himself up out of the wheelchair. He was getting used to trusting the support of the leg braces.

There was kind of a rhythm you had to get used to with the walker, as well. Push, slide, step, step, push, slide, step, step, lather, rinse, and repeat, until he’d walked to Kristina’s kitchen and back.

“It’s getting a lot easier,” Seth said.

“You look a hell of a lot better, that’s for sure.” His father’s eyes lit up like Christmas had come early. “Man, fuck that surgeon.”

“Ninety-nine-point nine percent of the people in Seth’s situation wouldn’t have been able to do this,” Kristina said. “I honestly attribute all of this to his attitude.”

“He’s a Novak,” Cody said. “You can’t just put a Novak in a wheelchair.”

“Come on,” Seth said. “Are we gonna go outside, or what?”

“Now, we have to be extremely careful getting out to the pavement.” Kristina led the way to her front door and the AstroTurf ramp that led from her stoop to the street. “If...oh, for Christ’s sake.”

As she opened the door, she’d brought two cop cars into view. They were parked directly opposite her house, rear bumper to rear bumper.

“Fuck ‘em,” Cody said. “I’m not in violation of a goddamn condition…”

“No, they do this all the time,” Kristina said. “If they had anything, they’d get out of their cars.”

“Typical.” His dad walked out Kristina’s front door and stood on the sidewalk, feet spread and arms crossed in front of his chest while he stared the cops down.

If Seth hadn’t been determined to go on a walk down the street before, he was completely unstoppable now. Slide, step, step. Slide, step, step. Kristina walked behind him, and his brother walked at his side.

The cop on the left opened his door and stepped out of the car. He sidled across the street with his thumbs hooked into his belt.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen!” he said.

“Is there a problem, officer?” Seth’s dad didn’t budge from his spot.

“Oh, just some reports of gang members gathering at a home in the neighborhood,” the cop said. “Some home-based medical practice that’s under investigation for distributing opioids.”

“Officer, this man is my patient, and these two are his immediate family.” Tracey bustled up the sidewalk to speak to the cop directly. “You can investigate my practice until the cows come home, but these men aren’t breaking a single law in this state or…”

“Hold on, now,” the cop said, raising his hands. “We just wanna ask a few questions about this situation.”

“Okay,” Kristina said. “Are we free to go?”

“Now, ma’am, let’s not make a scene, here.”

“I’m not making a scene,” Kristina said. “I’m asking if we’re free to go.”

Now, neighbors were starting to come out on their porches. People had phones in their hands.

“Are you aware of the charges currently pending against your patient?” The cop put air quotes around patient, like Seth was faking this.

“I’m not answering any questions without my lawyer,” Kristina said. “Am I free to go?”

“Who’s paying for that lawyer?” the cop said.

“Am I free to go?” Kristina said. She looked across the street. The cop looked across the street, too.

Three high school girls were standing on their front stoop, phones out and recording.

“You know, I feel that this is really disrespectful,” the cop said. “My colleagues and I are trying to protect this town from a group of known violent offenders, and…”

“Sir, are we free to go?” Kristina didn’t get taller when she was mad. She got wider.

His father and brother were now standing more relaxed; Cody had lit a cigarette. Neither of them was dumb enough to open their mouths while Kristina was taking the heat for them.

The other cop car whooped its siren once.

The cop in front of them looked back and nodded. “Look, I got another call I gotta go to,” he said. “Just know that I have a camera, too, and in law enforcement we don’t think this kind of attitude is very cute.”

“So, I’m free to go?” It was barely a question at this point.

“We’ll be back.” The cop turned around and walked to his vehicle. One of the high school girls blew him a kiss as he got in and slammed the door.

Both cars turned their lights on and went tearing out of that street as fast as their interceptors could take them.

“Fuckers.” Cody shook his head and turned around. “You’re making ‘em nervous, brother,” he said to Seth. “You’re a dangerous man in those leg braces.”

“Damn, I must be.” Seth grinned from ear to ear as he made his way from the AstroTurf to the sidewalk. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this kind of pride well up in his chest. Maybe he was gonna come back into the game.

***

If the cops were nervous about seeing Seth out of his wheelchair, Miss Mary on the Elevator was on the verge of shitting herself when she saw him slide-step-stepping up to her on two feet.

She kept looking at him with her mouth flapping open while they waited for the elevator to come down to their floor.

“Sup?” Seth said, giving her a nod.

“Uhm.” Mary looked away from him and gulped. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Don’t sweat it,” Seth said. “I’m not fu...I’m not used to these either.”

“Not very comfortable, huh?” Mary said, managing a tiny smile.

“Beats the wheels, though.” Seth looked her up and down. “You don’t look like you have braces…”

“I used to,” she said. “I have spina bifida.”

“Oh,” Seth said. “Uh, that sucks.”

Maybe that wasn’t the reaction Mary was looking for. She spent the rest of the wait, and the elevator ride, looking at the floor, and she slide-step-stepped to class as far ahead of him as she could manage.

Getting to the classroom was doable with the leg braces. It wasn’t fun by any stretch of the imagination, and he was half out of breath by the time he was in the classroom. It was doable though and it would keep getting more doable if he just kept doing it.

Professor Miller kept his poker face on when he saw Seth. He was sitting at his desk, typing something on his laptop while the students filed in.

Seth grabbed his seat—literally—he had to whip the chair around so he could sit down in it at the desk. His backpack—much lighter now that he’d gotten a laptop—hung on his walker.

He figured it was a good idea to leave the poor professor alone while he was teaching. The students who were still coming to class could get obnoxious, and Miller was usually sort of happy to see Seth after class.

The class wasn’t boring though. The lectures talked a lot about the cool rock formations and places Seth knew from growing up around here. Miller got sidetracked easily, especially when the students got him on a tangent on purpose, so it wasn’t like Seth was struggling to keep up.

He didn’t have to wait long for the classroom to empty out after the lecture. Even Mary was scooting on out of there within a minute of Miller dismissing class.

Seth took his time packing up his laptop and getting back out of his chair. He turned toward Miller, and Miller was watching him.

“You’re out of the wheelchair,” he said.

“Most of the time,” Seth said. “Got some leg braces to help me learn to walk.”

“Congratulations.” Miller was looking him up and down, his body leaning back a little like he wasn’t sure whether to run away or not.

“You seen any UFOs lately?” Seth cracked a smile and leaned on his walker.

“I was biking in the dark and swallowed a bug,” Miller said with a little hint of a smile. “Does that count?”

“You ride?” Seth scooted closer to Miller’s desk.

“I just have a mountain bike,” Miller said. “I live up in the hills, so my friends and I will go out on the roads when it’s a full moon.”

“Tight,” Seth said. “What part of ‘the hills’ are you at?”

“Um.” Miller froze for a moment. “It’s up on the National Forest,” he said. “I rent a little cabin from a friend of a friend.”

“That’s kind of a drive home isn’t it?” Seth said.

“Yeah, I guess,” Miller said. He closed his laptop and put it back in its case. “I don’t mind, though. There’s never any traffic, and the scenery’s nice.”

“Gives you some time to come up with new tattoo ideas,” Seth said.

Miller laughed. “I can’t afford to come up with many more,” he said.

“How’s that back piece coming?” Seth scooted closer to the desk.

“It’s coming,” Miller said. “Obviously I can’t show you.”

“You wanna go somewhere you can show me?” Seth grinned and raised his eyebrows.

Miller’s face turned red instantly. “Seth, I’m your teacher,” he said.

“You’re not even as old as I am,” Seth said. “Give me a break.”

“You give me a break,” Miller said. “I’m old enough to know what trouble looks like when I see it.”

“Yeah, but I’m fun trouble,” Seth said. “C’mon.”

“Don’t you have another class to go to?” Miller pointed out the door.

Seth sighed and shook his head. “Yes, sir,” he said as he turned around. “See you next class.”

***

He wasn’t sure if it was the pain meds he was taking for his aching legs, or if it was the rush of actually going and flirting with a guy. Whatever it was, he found himself in a better mood than he’d been in for months.

The guys at Watty’s were over the novelty of Seth walking around like a cyborg with a bad attitude. It was nice to go somewhere and not be stared at by everyone who passed by. He didn’t have the balance to play pool yet, but he could support himself on his walker well enough for a game of darts with Mikey Gniewek.

“I don’t know, man, she’s pulled some crazy shit before,” Mikey was saying. He was paying more attention to his beer than the darts. “She won’t let me come to the doctor’s appointments. Hasn’t shown me an ultrasound.”

“Oh, man,” Seth said. “That shit’s fake.”

“Why would she do that, though?” Mikey said.

“I don’t know why she’d do something like that,” Seth said. “All I know…”

The door burst open and Seth’s father stormed inside, Cody and Nick behind him.

His father walked up to Seth’s table and set some keys down on it. “We got club business,” he said. “Seth, you and Gniewek follow in the van.”

“What’s up?” Seth said.

“We’re evicting those fucking hillbillies from the grow on Armijo Road,” he said. “They’re gonna be a pain in the ass and we need to save all the Club property we can.”

Seth didn’t know how to describe the glow of pride that spread through his whole body as he picked his keys up and hoisted himself up to his feet. “Is there a piece in the van?” he said.

“Take mine.” Seth’s dad pulled his handgun out of the back of his waistband and handed it to him.

Seth took it and nodded. “Thank you, sir,” he said.

He was familiar with Brenda and Robby, and he knew from experience that they were big-mouthed crackheads who would put their hands up and run as soon as they saw that the Double Eagles were serious about getting their property back. Seth’s role in the situation was probably just going to be glaring at them and dangling his dad’s handgun out the window while his brothers filled the van with whatever they could salvage of their grow op.

That was fine by Seth. Back in business was back in business. He wasn’t going to let his pride ruin the best day he’d had in months.