Twenty-Eight

**

Beetle woke frozen except for his chest and upper legs, they were warm. When he lifted his head, and felt the bundle in his arms, she was more cold.

Lifting Kamryn he stood stiffly, made sure he was right on his feet, then walked towards the bedroom.

“I need the loo now. A cup of tea and some food”, she said lifting her head sleepily.

“Sweetling, your timings lousy”, he murmured. “I built no fire, the house is crispy cold and my nuts are still recovering from being squashed for the last few hours”.

“Then the loo and a glass of milk?” she asked hopeful.

“Course! Here, I’ll drop you at your first stop and meet you back in bed”.

“Craig?”

“Hmmm Sweetling?”

Silence.

“Thank you for not asking”.

“Will, in bed now we’re both awake, half anyway”.

“Was he a bad man?”

“The worst”.

“You’re not mad or sad or glad or afraid ... of me?”

“Fuckin’ proud. Go to the loo, brush your teeth, hell! wash your face all I care. I’ll get you that milk just get back in bed”, he said placing her down on her bare feet.

Shivering Kamryn looked up at Beetle who seemed to be a Goliath at that moment, perhaps it was her vulnerability she thought staring at his sleepy features and gorgeous blues, his big bulky frame more intimidating than at any other time.

“Am I on the most wanted list?”

“Fuckin’ jeez Ryn. You’re on our Top List of Assassins baby. I’m scarin’ ya’ I know but is all I can say. You saved our fuckin’ lazy arses with what ya’ did. I’m talkin’ slop ‘cos I’m tired. Quick, take a piss, do ya’ thing and I’ll meet ya’ there”, Beetle said pointing at the huge, sumptuous bed.

“Okay Beetle”.

“Okay short one end”, he said rubbing the top of her head.

Ryn went into the bathroom and did her thing quickly because she was blowing fog from her mouth while sitting down. Rinsed her mouth, washed her hands and splashed her face quicker than she could say, ‘Yep! Done’.

Sprinting to the bed, she jumped up and covered her whole body, head included, while shivering beneath the big, puffy down doona.

“I assume your in there ‘cos it’s movin’. Not that I see a lump, you’re too small”, Beetle said with a smile in his voice, placing her milk on an old set of drawers beside his bed.

Beetle pulled off his windcheater, removed his jeans and climbed into bed wearing a pair of black jocks, careful when he peeled back the bedding not to let too much warmth escape.

“Come. Let me hold you. I’m a little warmer Ryn”, he said sliding his arm beneath her small frame and pulling her halfway across the bed towards him.

They remained silent for a few minutes until Kam spoke.

“This your place?”

“Hmmm”.

“Had it long?”

“Hmmm, I have”.

“Come here often?”

"Is that your usual?"

"Huh!"

"Pretty poor pick up line baby, I've already fucked ya".

"You are unbelievable! I meant the house Craig!

Beetle chuffed; he was only joshing with Kam to lighten the mood.

“When I can. Needs a lot of work. Time’s been the hardest, haven’t got enough”, he said taking a huge breath in and letting it out slowly. His chest expanding, lifted Kamryn’s head up and then down, his heart beating a soothing rhythm in her ear.

“Did you bring me here because of what happened?”

“What did happen Ryn?”

Straight to the point ...

“I went walking. Just looking around because the place was so quiet. You were asleep and there was no one else that I wanted to talk to”.

“God baby”, Beetle said wrapping his arm more firmly around her waist. “I wish you were the one sleeping and it was me walking around. Not that I would have, most likely be trying to get back in that snatch that I need a license for tbh”.

“You’re such a big kid, I swear”, Kam said, slapping his chest. The action reminding her of her sore hand, her clenching and unclenching not going unnoticed by Beetle.

“Hurts. You did some damage sweetling. Ain’t gonna lie, he got what he deserved. Just goddamn sorry it was you who did him in”.

“Who was he?”

“A copper who was hired, we think, to take out Mal”.

“Noh!” Kam breathed, looking up at Beetle disbelievingly.

“Yep! Prez, Frost and me picked him up a few hours earlier, brought him back to question. Had him in our dug out but he killed Timber, was trying to escape by hot wiring the van. You stopped that from happening. Saved Razors a hella headache”.

Silence.

“Sweetling?”

“Did you know my great-grandma was a member of the Viet-Cong? She was forced to join as a young girl when her entire family was murdered in front of her eyes. She had no choice then but to follow and do what she was asked”.

“That’s pretty raw Ryn”, Beetle said sympathetically, holding the back of her neck soothingly.

“It was ... Anyway, she fell pregnant and had my Grandma a year later in ’67. Fled the country and went to Japan after the war ended to escape prosecution, not that she was a willing participant, she just believed no one would listen if she told them the truth”.

“Might be right on that one. U.S and Australian forces to this day wouldn’t truly know who’s who. Lies come easily and truths don’t I’m afraid. Seen that for myself”.

“Any way Great Grandma married a Japanese man who adopted her daughter. Treated both Great Grandma and my grandma with utmost kindness. Grandma lived there till they died, when that happened, she returned to Vietnam as a young woman, trying to reconnect with her past heritage, something like that. Anyhow grandma was trained in the ancient art of Ninja by her adopted father, my great grandfather. The very same technique that was passed on to my mum who then taught me”.

"As it turned out, Grandma returning meant hardship. She had no family and the country was still hated by the world, even though they merely tried to survive like everyone else, right or wrong I'm not judging anyone. Grandma eventually married a Vietnamese businessman who owned a small trading store”.

“Made a small profit, kept them both in a simple life without anything extra. When they had my mum, Mai. They didn’t have enough money to send her to university. Even though she studied hard and eventually got a degree, most of that degree was paid for by a wealthy family who had asked my Grandfather, the small business owner, for Mai’s hand in marriage when she turned eighteen”.

“Because she was still at university, the family agreed, begrudgingly to wait until she was older. They had no intention of her ever letting her use her knowledge or education, they just wanted her as a trophy wife and to claim my grandfather’s business. It was on prime land. Land that they eventually got, without the marriage”.

“How come?”

“Mum refused to marry the son of that upper class family; said he was an entitled pig. Treated mum poorly, spoke to her in a bad way. She kept turning him down which distressed her own father however her mum taught her, what my mum taught me. The traditional art of Ninja, Japanese style”.

“She met my own father, Bob online, and the rest is history”.

“That’s a pretty brave line of woman Sweetling”, Beetle said, thinking about what he had just heard.

“I told you because I am too. Brave. My heritage has been branded into my soul since my birth. I killed rather than be killed. He was going to shoot me. Can’t outrun a bullet, just outsmart one”.

“Ryn?”

Kam told Beetle what she did, how she offered the apple, acted simple and then huffed down in the dirt. When he ignored her for a second when the van started, that’s when Kam had pulled out her blade.

She also said when she knew he was no longer breathing, that she zoned out.

In truth she remembered everything, even the tears in Beetles eyes when he covered her with his body and spoke those words only he wanted her to hear.

"I dunno what to say Ryn. Just that I'm proud. Takin' a life ain't easy. Been there, done that! Know what's done is done, finished. Ain't gonna come back and bite ya' is all. They gotta go through me, Stone, hell Frost. And every other fucka associated with our M.C. Women included. You, if ya' want. After what happened. Just say the word and your in. Fully fledge!"

"What does that mean?"

"Edge is still a green stick, gotta 'earn and learn' as a prospect. If he ever becomes a member, the silly fuck, then comes the 'learn then earn'. You become a one percenter. You baby are a 1%'er if you want".

"Because I killed someone?"

"Not just, you saved Razors. That means more than killing someone baby", Beetle said engulfing Ryn more fully into his chest.

**