The Hell Hounds: Landon

Chapter One: Allison

Chapter One: Allison

It was a chilly morning for Arizona, I hadn’t had to many of these since moving in June. I wanted to take advantage of it, making my coffee I go out through my bedroom to the little patio that looks out on the street. There isn’t that much going on in town at six thirty in the morning and I enjoy the quiet. It’s not very often that a single mom gets a quiet morning. I try to wake up as early as possible so that I can have me time before Joey wakes up. He is my joy, my life. It’s been me and him since I had him.

          Looking over at the sunrise I sip my coffee and listen to the quiet. I moved Joey here because I wanted to have change of pace, and I figured that it would be easier to explain to him later why his dad has chosen to not be a part of his life if he’s not fifteen minutes away. I don’t know what happened between us and I would rather not have to think about that right now. The only part of our lives back in Oregon that I miss is my friend Claire. She had been there through everything from my awkward fourth grade phases through Joeys first two years.

          She helped me move here and get the place. Even stayed for a week and helped us unpack. I am hoping that she will move here later, but she has her gran there and I know she won’t leave till she knows that her gran will be okay. Trying to move on to other happier thoughts I think of Joeys upcoming birthday he will three in a month, and I need to start planning the party. Claire will be coming to town and he has some friends or playmates at daycare I want to invite.

          As I drink my coffee and think more about his party, I hear a faint rumble. Tempe isn’t a bad place to live but there are some gangs in the area and there is a local motorcycle club, the Hellhounds MC. While most of the people that know of them don’t have all negative things to say I have done my best to stay out of their way. I look out on the road and see four bikes coming down the road. None of them are wearing helmets and the mom in me is cringing.

          They drive through and don’t notice me looking down on the street from my second story balcony. I finish my coffee as the pass and look at the time, seven fifteen, didn’t realize that a biker club would even be able to wake up this early on the Saturday morning. I turn to go back inside and start some chores while I wait for my prince charming to wake up. I get a load of laundry done, dishes cleaned, and the living room done before I hear a little voice “mommy”. I smile set down the toys I just grabbed off the floor and head to his room at the end of the hall farthest from the front door.

          Opening his door, I peak my head in and see he has stood in his crib and has his blanket in one had. I still have him sleep in the crib mainly because I can’t afford to get him a bigger bed. I don’t want to do a toddler bed and then must turn around and buy a twin later. I am trying to get a twin bed that sits low but all of them are over six hundred dollars. Walking over I lift him out of the bed and smiles at me. “mommy” and puts his head on my shoulder.

          He’s not light but I enjoy carrying him and know that in time he won’t even hold my hand. We move back to the kitchen and put him in his booster seat at the small dining table and go to get him his breakfast. He’s not a picky eater so I choose fruit and oatmeal that only takes a few minutes to prepare. Looking over Joey is looking out of the window at a pigeon that perched on the seal.

          “Breakfast is coming. Okay Baby.”

          He turned to look at me “Otay mommy.” He turned back to the window while I finished putting the fruit together and used the warm water from the electric tea kettle to make the oatmeal. I took him the fruit and he dug in. Going back for the bowl of oatmeal my phone rings. Looking over I see it’s my dad Vincent Dawson. Smiling I answer the phone “Hey dad how’s your morning going.”

          I sit down at the table and smile at joey who makes grab hands for the oatmeal. “I am good wanted to check on you and Joey before I head out for work. I will be gone for a week this time.”

          “I know, we will be fine. I am all set to go by your house and let chunky out. I will check the mail and keep an eye on you’re the fridge for anything that may expire before you go back.”

          “Why don’t you take what you want back to your house while I am gone? That it doesn’t get wasted.”

          He knew that I struggled from time to time with just moving here not that long ago I had drained my savings to get here and only had a waitressing job for the time being. “I think I will take you up on that. I have a shift tomorrow for most of the day so I will go by in the morning for chunky. Your neighbor said that he could handle tonight.”

          “Thanks sweetheart. Give Joey my love and I will call you later tomorrow night to check in.”

          “You know that you don’t have to check up on us. We are fine and love being here it’s so much more than I thought it would be.”

          “I know but still after leaving you when you went to college and having everything else happen…I just can’t help it.”

          I sighed knowing that he felt guilty, “You didn’t abandon me, and my choices were my own. Go have fun and check in when you can okay. Love you Dad.”

          I could hear his sigh through the phone, “I will just please make sure that you are okay and if you need anything else call.”

          We said goodbye and disconnected. During the phone call my little prince charming decided that the oatmeal and fruit need to be mixed. He now had it all over his face and the table. Laughing at his mess he looks at me leans over and puts a dirty hand on my face.

          Laughing I realize what kind of day it will be, “It’s going to be long day ain’t its little man?”  He just laughs and continues to play in his food. It’s going to be a fun day off. I debate on what I want to do with him as we clean and get ready for the day. Deciding that we will have some fun at the park and shopping before we come home to settle in for a movie, I finish getting us dressed and out the door locking up tight before we go.

          It wasn’t that hot when we left at ninety-one degrees so I decided that we would head downtown and walk the shops in Tempe market. Making the short fifteen-minute drive I park my Mazda and get Joey out. We make our way down the street stopping at a few shops with trinkets and toys. Joey does great for a while and we stop for ice cream. He is so happy most of the time and even though I am tired a lot I don’t feel like it’s hard to be single mom. Maybe it’s just the fact that I only have one but it’s not something that I think of a hardship, he’s the best part of my life.

          We sit down at the park and finish our ice cream. “Mommy can I go pway?”

          His face and hands are covered in ice cream. I laugh, “Sure, just finish your ice cream first and let mommy clean you up.”

          He smiles big and nods his head enthusiastically and scarfs down his ice cream cone. I shake my head and get the wipes out of my purse, “Come here and let me clean you up.”

          He jumps out of his seat and stands in front me at the picnic table and I proceed to try to make him look half presentable. When I am done, he turns and runs to the play area where three other kids are playing. I get up and move closer to the bench that sits on the edge. There are two other women here with their kids. Both are beautiful and as I sit down on the other end of the five-foot bench one of them turns to me.

          “Hi, I am Deanna and this Astrid.” Her voice is soft, and her smile seems genuine. She must be at least five-seven and petite. Dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Her friend is the same but maybe an inch or two shorter with blond hair and green eyes. Feeling a bit intimidated that I look like I rolled out of bed through on the first thing I saw and walked out the door, I turn and talk to the lady.

          “Hi, I am Allison must I usually go by Ally.”

          “Is the little one yours” Astrid asks.

          “Yes, his name is Joey.”

          Deanna smiles at me and looks at the kids, “he’s adorable. I have two here. That’s Annabeth and Vincent.” She points to the boy and girl. Looking at them I realize they are identical twins.

          “Wow, I don’t know if I could have handled having twins. Those must have been some long nights.”

          Both of them laugh, “Oh yea, me and my husband really felt it for minute, but our family pitched in a lot to help.”

          “My little boy is Daniel Jr.” Astrid smiles at the kids and they play in the jungle set up. I wasn’t surprised that Joey was okay playing kids he isn’t shy like me. He doesn’t mind talking to other kids. I am pretty sure it’s because he has been in daycare since he was three months old. We sit in silence for a minute, then Deanna starts to ask more about me and Joey.

          “We haven’t seen you here before are new to the area?”

          “Yes, we moved to Tempe about three months ago. We used to live in Lakeview Oregon. Just needed a change of pace for a while.”

          “Wow that must be a change. How’s the family adjusting to the weather?” Astrid asks.

          “Oh, it’s just me and Joey and I am pretty sure he is enjoying the fact that he will be able to play outside all year around with out his boots and jacket.” We all laugh a little at that. I hope that they don’t ask about his father. I really just don’t like to talk about it.

          Deanna is the one to ask, “If you don’t mind what happened to Joey’s dad?”

          I let a heavy sigh, not wanting to be rude I look over them. They both have curious looks. “It’s not something that I talk about. He chose not to be here and signed over his rights. Joey hasn’t met him or started to ask.”

          Astrid shakes her head in acknowledgement, “I get it, it’s hard my mom was a single mom when my dad walked out. She raised me and my sister on her own from the time I was seven on.”

          They don’t push any further on my life story and I am thankful. We let the kids play for another hour or so and make small talk. We take some pictures too of the kids and they ask if I mind them posting up the pictures. I let them know they can appreciate the fact that I may want privacy. As the kids get tired out its close to twelve thirty and Joey’s nap time. We start packing the kids up and make our way back to the cars. Me and Joey have a little walk back ours, but I exchange numbers with Deanna and Astrid.

          “Let us know when you bring him back and maybe we can meet you here. It was really nice to meet you.”

          “Thank you it was nice having someone to talk with today. If your interest Joey’s birthday is in a few weeks and I can send the information to you.”

          Astrid smiles, “That would be great, text us the details and we will make sure to be there.”

          We part and I am smiling I haven’t made a friend since I moved here but I think that they would be great friends if we keep in touch. Getting Joey back home, I realize he fell asleep in the car. I pick him up as stealthy as possible out of car seat and we make our way up to the apartment. Fumbling with the keys and him, my neighbor’s son comes out of their unit with the garbage. He’s a good kid with sandy blond hair cut short, he’s a senior in high school and lives with his mom and dad. “Hey, miss Dawson, do you need some help?”

          Grateful that he whispers I turn and smile at him. “That would be great Gregory. Could you unlock my door and I can get it from there.” He smiles one that probably makes him the high school girls swoon and takes my keys. He gets the door unlocked and pushes it open. “There you go.” Stepping back, he hands me my keys and grabs his garbage bag again.

          “Thank you, Gregory, can you let your mom know that I will drop Joey off at 7:30 tomorrow morning and pick him up at about one?”

          “Sure, thing I will be home too so maybe me and Joey can play some games or finger paint another wall.”

          “No, no, none of this time Greg. But I do appreciate you and your moms help so I will bring over a treat again since you all won’t let me pay you.”

          He smiles, “Brownies would be good, but my uncle is coming over so keep them here or he will eat them all again.”

          I laugh again and feel Joey stir, “Alright it’s a deal I will see tomorrow. Thank you again.”

          “No Problem, I’ll pull the door closed for you. “

          I walk inside and he closes my door. I move Joey to the couch as my arms had started to hurt and lay him down. I put the plush couch throw over him and go to the kitchen to start some tea.  Looking over Joey asleep I decide to go back out to the balcony with my book. I should have at least another hour to myself.

          The heat is still manageable, but I decide to take a bottle of water with me. Sitting in the big chair in the corner I set my drinks down and open my book. Realizing that I can’t concentrate on the book I set it down and look us over the town. Thinking about today it was a good day. Thinking of my neighbors and taking Joey over there tomorrow I smile. He loves Alex and Jack, when I first moved here, I had hired a teen to watch him on Sundays for my shift and during the first one she had invited a couple friends over, and Alex had been home.

          Hearing loud music, she came over to see what was going on. When the door opened, and she saw another teen with a beer and a girl lounging on the couch she had promptly kicked everyone out and taken Joey to her house. She grabbed my number from the fridge where I left if for the babysitter and called me. After reassuring me that Joey was fine with her for my shift I had nervously agreed. I couldn’t afford to leave, while we didn’t become hang out buddies, we did become neighborly and she offer to watch Joey for free if I baked her some goodies each Sunday. Baking was my passion, so I agreed and for three months they had watched Joey every Sunday.

          The Diner I worked at in Mesa was a family owed one. The people were great, and Sundays brought in a larger crowd from churches mostly. I was grateful that I could keep the shift. Having lost track of time I hear Joey in the Livingroom and get up to head back inside. We spend the rest of the day playing and watching TV. I baked the brownies with a fudge topping and milk chocolate morsels inside. They smelled amazing and I gave one to joey before bed.

          I lay in bed that night thinking about everything under the sun that I had to do. I realized as I drifted off to sleep that I would need to order his cake from Albertson’s tomorrow so that I would know it was done.