Chapter 12 – King of Pirate Island
The next morning, Ashley woke at dawn.
The recovery ward was relatively open and quiet. Sky, Kaz, and dozens of other kids slept sprawled on every available chair or bed. A few had even crashed on the floor.
Ashley remembered how the techs had insisted on checking her out in the ward. She'd stayed with them and so had the underdog victory celebration. The techs were forced to stitch her up under raucous conditions, but their only instruction for the patient was to take it easy and stay awake for a couple hours, to avoid a coma.
Hambone had reasoned that company would help her stay awake and that ingesting and/or spilling alcohol would serve as disinfectant/painkiller.
Sky too insisted the victory celebration stay in the recovery ward.
The place looked like a frat house after finals, empty bottles and cups stacked anywhere there weren't sleeping kids.
Ash looked across the room to where Geoff and Sky slept.
Movement caught her attention.
Across the room, a tall man in a white lab coat stood with his back to her. He was pulling supplies from a cabinet. He closed it and turned to look directly at her.
Morgenstern kept his features blank as he made eye contact with the young girl.
Likewise, Ashley didn't react with either a smile or a frown.
Closing the cabinet, he turned and walked out.
A few minutes later Geoffrey woke and saw his sister. "Hey, Ash.”
"Hey, kiddo," she replied.
Geoff smiled.
Ash struggled to get out of bed. Her entire body ached. Her forearms were in so much pain it hurt to use her hands. When her legs took up her weight, they screamed in protest. She limped over to Geoff's bed.
"Are you okay?" she asked, brushing his hair back from his forehead.
"I'm okay," he answered. "How are you?”
"I'm okay," she replied, smiling.
Ashley looked around the crowded room. She gestured to the sliding doors of an outdoor patio. "Wanna go outside?" she asked.
"Sure." he answered.
Ash and Geoff slipped out of the crowded ICU and onto the outdoor patio. They leaned against the railing as the sky gradually filled with light.
"Did you fight them to get my shirt back?" Geoff asked.
"No. They took your shirt and pushed you down those stairs because of something I did.”
"What?" he asked.
Still groggy with sleep, Sky stepped out onto the patio. "Hey you two," she said.
"Hey, Sky," Geoff answered.
Ash smiled, glad to see they had become friends.
"Geoff," Ash said. "Lethal knew you were my brother. He took your shirt because I beat up a friend of his who was hurting Sky.”
"What happened?" Geoff asked Sky directly.
Sky took a deep breath. "This guy, Carver, was pushing me around and Ashley broke his neck.”
"You broke his neck?" Geoff asked his sister, astonished.
"I didn't mean to," Ash offered.
"Yes, you did," Sky said. "And I'm glad. He was an asshole.”
"You broke his neck?" Geoff asked.
"She kicked him and his whole damn head spun around backwards.”
"What?!" Geoff exclaimed.
Hambone stepped out onto the patio and lit a cigarette. He was clearly not awake yet and suffering from a hangover. He stood at the railing, smoking and coughing, but otherwise ignoring the Ashley, Sky, and Geoff.
Sky watched him for a moment and then turned back to the stunned Geoffrey. "Get this, he's still alive and now his shit is stuck on backwards." Sky pantomimed Frankenstein, but looked over her shoulder, as if her head were twisted around.
Geoff and Sky laughed. Even Hambone smiled.
"The Doctors don't know what to do," Sky laughed.
Geoffrey cracked up.
Sky grinned at Ash, who smiled in spite of herself and rolled her eyes.
"Did you just roll your eyes? Don't roll your eyes. I'm not making this shit up. I couldn't if I wanted to, no one would believe me." Her voice had taken on a new seriousness.
Sky turned back to Geoff. "So, Carver's buddy, this little weasel Otai, goes and gets a bigger kid, Marco, to try and beat up Ash. This idiot, Marco, he comes by and tries to hassle her. Man, she broke him down into six little pieces. They're fighting, she's doing alright, so he pulls a knife. She took it away from him, broke his arm, and made him apologize.”
Sky knelt to look Geoff' in the eye. "Tell me, do they call her grasshopper?"
"Grass-who?" Geoff asked.
Sky stood up, "Is she some Top-Secret Ninja-Warrior or what?”
"What do you mean?" Geoff smiled, well aware of his sister's prohibition against telling anyone of her training with Sifu Pan.
Sky continued, "Maybe an Ultra Fighter from the cosmic-rift, sent here to protect us from assholes and bullies and whatever?” Sky laughed, "Come on, Ash, what's you're secret word?"
"Okay, wait. This I know for sure." Geoffrey said. "Ash is not an Ultra Fighter from the cosmic rift. I watch that show!" He surreptitiously turned to his sister. "You're not an Ultra Fighter, are you Ash?”
Ash tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow, trying to be serious. She laughed a little, but it hurt her face to smile.
"Cause if you were,” Geoff said. “I'd catch you in your uniform once in a while and think you were just a crazy fan. But I never caught you in your uniform, not even once.”
"That's just cause I'm good." Ash smiled, taunting her little brother.
Sky and Hambone both burst into laughter.
Hambone leaned forward and interrupted with his cigarette. "Shit. The way you put down Lethal and Mo, you are the top dog now," he said.
"Whatever," Ash said, disturbed by Hambone's interruption.
"Yeah. Right. Whatever," Hambone answered.
Sky and Geoff stayed quiet.
"What's your deal?" Ash asked, confronting him.
"What, me? Nothing," Hambone answered. "But let me just say this... There are a dozen hyenas here, all waiting to take Mo's place, and a dozen Lethals all dying to earn their rep. A rep they're going to earn on your ass.”
Hambone took a drag from his smoke. "The Devils, Mo and Lethal, they pretty much ran the show. But don't mistake them for a keystone, they were more like a grenade pin. Mo was the leverage behind a dozen truces. Nothing happened without his approval. You got a beef with someone, you save it for Saturdays. It was working too. Without him; it all blows up. This right now, this is the delay, before everything explodes.”
"Did he approve Carver trying to rape Sky?" Ash asked.
Hambone leaned back against the railing and looked over at Sky. "Indirectly. It's all about keeping the peace.”
"You mean getting a piece," Sky replied.
Hambone laughed. "Yeah, well, that's why they say: don't let anyone do you any favors. There's a big power vacuum now and it's gonna get ugly before things get sorted again.” Hambone gestured with his cigarette, "Like it or not, as of last night, you are the new King of Pirate Island.”
"That's ridiculous," Ash said.
"I agree," Hambone laughed. "But that's where it stands.
"I have no influence here," Ashley said.
"You keep telling yourself that," he smiled. "There's this guy, Mongo. Him and his crew, they used to be with the Lions, but some shit went down and now the Lions are gone. Now, Mongo and his crew, they won't take on new colors, won't side between the Dragons, the Devils, or anyone else.
"See, Mongo knows, that if he does go with anyone else, he's coming down a few pegs. Right now he's got fifty guys behind him, so everyone just lets him be. The problem is that he can get fifty guys around him. The only reason he can do that, is because he's the only guy to ever beat Mo.
“Until last night, that is.
“Mo beat Mongo half a dozen times, but one time, Mongo laid him out cold. I bet you money, he's the first guy comes looking for you,"
"She did kill Lethal," Sky pointed out.
“My point is." Hambone spread his hands. He took a drag and spoke through the smoke. "Mo and Lethal were the only thing keeping Mongo from raping half this fucking place. And there's dozens of Mongos. Maybe they didn't actually beat Mo, but they're thinking, maybe they could’ve. Sky, you know I'm right,” he said.
Shy shook her head and looked away.
Hambone counted on his fingers. "Slick Rick, Mendoza, Pug, Little Ollie, Big Bat Benson. Oh, that's not even mentioning the fact that Mo was the one bartered our current truce with the pigs.”
"That's just a rumor," Sky asserted.
"I don't like the guy, but I know that shit to be true. I had friends go down on that shit! He put a hard stop on those motherfuckers and he did it public.”
"You don't know that was why," Sky said.
"Yeah, well, fuck. I guess, technically. But when a man gives a reason for cold stomping four mutha-fuckers to death, I take him at his word. Whether the pigs were selling the grammars or not, he thought so. And if that's what he'll do to ‘tards he thinks are slaving little kids, then that guy is alright by me.”
Hambone took a deep breath. He lowered his voice and continued. "Obviously you guys had different issues. If he'd been trying to rape me, I think I might have had to reconsider my opinion of the man. But I'm not in that position.”
Ashley raised her head. "As long as I'm the boss here, there won't be any more rapes," she said. “There won't be any turning girls into junkie prostitutes and pimping them out. Mo draws the line at selling kids into slavery? I draw the line at enslaving them here. You're not in the business of exploiting kids for profit, are you, Hambone?”
"No.”
"You don't run a whorehouse where girls are raped and then addicted to drugs, do you?”
"No.”
"Then what do you care if I kill-off your competitors?” Ashley asked.
"Hey, go nuts. All I'm saying is that it's people pimping themselves out, is how it looks to me. I don't go for that. I don't deal drugs either. Weapons, contraband, smuggling, protection, escapes, that's our racket. But let me ask you this... People selling themselves, how are you going to solve that? You gonna outlaw sex?”
"People are going to do what they're going to do," Ash asserted. "But forcing anyone to do something, that I can stop. People are not a commodity to be bought and sold. How they market their own services is none of my business.”
"What are you going to do? You're a kid. You're a fighter sure, but you're still just a kid. You're not the cops. You're not God.”
"Not yet," Ashley said.
Hambone took the last drag off his cigarette and flicked it over the rail. "I'm sorry. I'm being an asshole. Forgive me. I'm hungry, I gotta get some food. You guys want to have breakfast with me? I promise, no more shop talk. I'll be cool. Not another word." Hambone opened the door and held it for them.
Ash gestured for Geoff to walk with her. She put her arm over his shoulder.
"I'm starved," the boy said.
Together they went looking for food.
Dante and Dr. Mallus walked through the medical ward, their hands folded behind their backs. Dante still wore the butterfly bandage across the top of his nose.
"Is that something I should to take a look at?" Dr. Mallus asked, gesturing to Dante’s bandaged beak.
"Not unless you want one of your own.”
The surgeon smiled and shook his head. Despite his affable manner, it was clear he wasn't the least bit interested in actually helping Dante. His eyes told the truth, Dr. Mallus lived for other people's pain.
Marco, Carver, Ronnie and Mo all occupied beds within a stone’s throw of one another, but far too drugged to be aware of much.
Dante gestured to the unconscious Mo. "How bad is it?" he asked.
"Several arteries, ligaments and tendons were severed, it will take some time for him to heal.”
"So his bare knuckle career is over?”
"For the immediate future.”
"Scouts and sponsors aren't interested in the distant future.”
"I suppose not.”
"You tell him yet?" Dante asked.
"I gather when he wakes, he will be aware of his predicament.”
Dante nodded.
"You, know, this could be seen as an opportunity,” the doctor offered.
"Spit it out," Dante snapped.
"We could augment the joints, replace the cartilage, tendons and ligaments with more durable materials. Recovery would be a little longer but that’s the only downside.”
"The cost?”
"Three hundred thousand, give or take, but it's best not to skimp on materials.”
"Whatever it costs, start as soon as possible.”
"Of course," Dr. Mallus nodded.
"And Ronnie, what about his eyes?" Dante asked.
"New lenses won't be ready till Thursday, which is unfortunate. The procedure will be more painful once the body has begun healing.”
"Well then let's make sure it's Thursday and not Friday.”
"Every effort, I assure you.”
"Marco?" Dante asked, nodding toward the sleeping gangster.
"The damage to the hand and wrist were extensive. Once the swelling goes down, we'll pin it. He'll be wearing a brace for some time. The right shoulder was dislocated, significant damage to the surrounding tissue.”
Dante nodded.
"Your friend with the… " The Doctor twisted his head, referring to Carver’s broken neck.
"Carver.”
"He's in tremendous agony. We can't reset the vertebrate until the muscles relax. They're locked around the displacement, possibly protecting him from further injury to the twisted spinal cord. We've done everything we can, but it's been over forty-eight hours. We were hoping for some improvement, but we're just managing his pain.”
"And?”
"And nothing. There's nothing we can do. Once his body adapts to the condition, it may become irreversible," the doctor explained.
Dante scowled.
Mallus raised his hands. "I have a colleague in Austria. He may be interested. I've already called him, but it's a long shot.”
"Please and thank you, Doctor," Dante handed him a thick envelope.
"And thank you, sir," Dr. Mallus pocketed the envelope.
Dante nodded and left the ward.