CHAPTER 223: KARMA’S A BITCH, AND SO WAS HE

A couple hours later, Zack received a frantic call from the front gate. The transit had returned and was requesting a medical team to assist with an emergency on board.

Madison and Zach rushed to the front gate. There by the front entrance door to the transit vehicle stood Lester, and he was beside himself. "Mr. Zack, I didn’t know what else to do. You told me to watch after him and get him back home, but we had problems—let me rephrase that, he had major problems. I didn’t know what else to do but to turn the transit around after my last drop off and head back, against company policy."

"Your rider and another customer had a few words about him sitting in the back of the bus. The other guy was almost seven-foot tall, blond headed and built. This guy didn’t stand much of a chance. With the new system, I don’t have cameras in the back yet, so I couldn’t tell you what went on until one of the other passengers said that two others helped your guy while the big blonde guy took his liberties."

"There’s so much blood back there I don’t know if he’s going to make it. Halfway through the trip here, he started moaning and crying and screaming that he was burning on the inside. I definitely know what that means—the other guy was human, and this older genman that you sent on the transit was in the process of his first time with the human."

Lex and the crew arrived and they took Efraim to the center so that they could pack him to help stop the bleeding and calm him down. The next few days was going to be difficult for Efraim at his age. Zach asked Madison to drive them over to Eddie’s place because they needed to speak.

Eddie was very calm about the incident. He often wondered how this kind of thing hadn’t happened before because Efraim was too proud of himself and always talking trash to others, especially humans. He wanted to protect his son during this bad time, so he asked Zack to take him to the clinic so that he could sit with Efraim as the first few days of the impregnation hit him. Jeremiah was concerned about his mate and offered to sit also—they would take shifts. Efraim might be a son of a bitch, but he was still Chadwick’s father and for that much deserved respect.

Efraim was in bad shape when Zach, Eddie, and Jeremiah arrived. Because there was no biological father, the burn process had caused Efraim’s temperature to spike, and he was packed in ice to help calm him.

After four hours, his temperature started to drop and Lex told Eddie to go to the house and get a little rest. He could be there beside him for the night, and maybe after they told Chadwick, he would want to see his father.

The next morning, Eddie called to check on Efraim before deciding to tell his son.

Eddie had Chadwick sit down and Jeremiah stood beside him. "Son, I got some news about your father and it’s not good."

Chadwick looked at his dad with nothing but contempt in his eyes. "Don’t tell me the old bastard fell off a cliff and died." His words caused swift action from his dad when he slapped his son upside his face.

"No matter what he is, you remember one thing—he’s still your father. Without him, you would not be breathing life. If I ever hear that again from you, you’ll get worse."

Chadwick apologized to his dad and asked what was wrong with his father.

"You know your father is a gruff person, and he doesn’t play well with others, especially humans. But yesterday it went too far. He and three humans got into an altercation on the back of the transit where there were no cameras. According to another passenger, two men held him down while the third man mounted him. He hurt your father on the inside, and now he’s carrying the human’s offspring. He doesn’t know it—he’s still out of it from the process. Lex has got his bleeding under control and his fever is down from the conception. I don’t know how, at his age, he will react that he’s carrying for the first time, and it’s a hybrid, because you know how he hates human mixes."

Chadwick looked at his dad and held his hand up. "Dad, I’m surprised that something like this hadn’t happened before. He was always bragging about how strong and how big he was, that no one would ever be able to mount him—not a genman and definitely not some weak human. I think it’s called karma, and he got his payback for what he did all those years ago to you and me."

"Maybe you’re correct, son. Maybe you’re wrong. But he has to handle the situation properly, and in nine months there is going to be a baby. There’s no doubt he’s going to birth it. If he leaves it, we can raise it, or he can stay on the Z1 if Mr. Zack will let him and he can raise his son. We will all support him, but he has to make the first choice and the first step because he’s going to be a dad."

Zach left everyone at the clinic to step outside for some fresh air when he noticed the transit bus was still there and Lester was just standing beside the door. He walked up. "Hey Lester, what’s the deal? Why haven’t you left yet?"

"Aw, they went and shut down my damn rig. They got pissed at me for doing the right thing and bringing your guy back. I was told to throw him on the side of the road and drive off and leave the piece of trash since he was nothing but a Genman. But they don’t know my life—they don’t know about Francis and who he really is. They think that he’s my wife."

"The company that I worked for almost twenty years now was bought out by some new corporation. They’re talking about cutting off this route just to harm the new development here."

Zack thought about the situation for a moment. "Lester, if I told you that I was buying four new transport buses—two totally rebuilt and two brand-new ones—would you come to work driving for me at the Z1? You know we have room for your family, so you don’t have to worry about being away from them so much. The buses will run here to the Township, to the city, and back to here, bringing new customers, new clientele to the museum, library, the restaurants, and to the Township for the new centers there. Plus we’re going to have new neighborhoods and schools."

"Mr. Zack, you don’t have to convince me. When I heard you were going to build your museum, library, plus talk about rehab and the community Township out there, I thought you were losing it and maybe you’d been out in the sun too much. But when I saw you break ground and the buildings going up, I knew that you had a plan. You know I have four boys, and Francis just told me number five is on the way. Denton needs to find a mate, and none of them are going to be allowed to cross with the old farmer’s precious Genmen herd. The only reason that Francis and I are out there is because we got a free house—he can sell off nectar. Denton and Irving both sell off nectar, and with the deal worked out with the old company, I got the transport residents to and from the breeding sessions along with my regular route. Now that that’s finished, we’re stuck. Hell, I can’t get home. Francis told me we would find a way to get me there and to stay put—asked for a room if I needed to from you. But sir, I need to get home to my family."

"Lester, don’t worry about that. You have one ride coming up, and if I know my situation correctly, my partner next door will be taking you home in style. And when y’all leave that old farm, the boss is going to regret the day."

"I don’t have any pay yet, Mr. Zack. Can you tell me how much the nectar brings here so I can tell you how much I can afford to pay?"

"Lester, let me ask you one thing—what are you getting per ounce over there?"

"Not really sure, that’s Francis’s department, so I can call him. Shit, my communicator’s dead, so I don’t know what to do."

Zack popped his open. "What’s your number? I’ll call."