“I miss something?” I ask.
“Just betting on what you’d roll in here looking like,” Shadow explains.
“Dixie Rose gave me hell when I had to leave her in that plush honeymoon suite. She understood why, but damn she was going to make sure I had an ear full.”
“No, Ruthie rolled with it. Called her sister up and said she’d put the sex of the baby in an envelope, so we could find out together.”
“Everything good between them now?” Shadow asks.
“I have no clue. This was the first time she’s called her up. I hope the olive branch works. It’s just the two of them, and family should stick together.”
“As long as their crazy ass mother doesn’t get involved,” Echo says.
“I know. She knows to tell her she needs boundaries. Ruthie is a good girl. She’ll do the right thing,” I say.
The door opens and I straighten as the Hell’s Dominion crew begins to file in. With their blackout cuts, they blend in well. All their patches and information are done in black. I’m impressed. It’s a smart idea.
Stone stands. “Alright boys, let’s start taking this into Church.”
I study the other club as we make our way inside the room. Their faces tell a story of violence and cruelty. Scars line sun weathered skin, and the rotted out teeth speak of the meth they consumed to stay up for days at a time. They are hardcore. The top of the food chain when it came to money, cruelty, and power. It was like looking at an order of black knights. It’s standing room only by the time we close the door. I prop myself against a wall between Echo and Shadow to wait.
“I want to thank everyone for being here tonight. This isn’t my story to tell, so I’m going to hand it over to friends, to the club HD President, Scar.” Stone take a seat, and the room goes silent.
Scar is a fifty something man with meaty shoulders. A crooked nose, cold black eyes, and long brown hair threaded with gray. The jagged deep set scar that travels across his left eye explain his name. “I want to thank the Kings for their hospitality. HD appreciates you guys reaching out to us. It seems our problem fell off the wagon, binged on a cocktail of drugs, crashed and decided life wasn’t worth living in a cheap hotel. He strung himself up with his own belt. If I was there, I’m sure it would’ve been satisfying to watch the fucker that exposed our organization squirm like a worm on a hook until he pissed and shit himself and took his final breath. Now, we were all at the wedding, so as much as the pigs have a hard on for us. The alibi is solid. We plan on getting out of dodge tonight. If they want to track us across the states, they can, but we sure as hell ain’t going to make it easy on them.”
Laughter rumbles through the room.
Personally, I’m happy the bastard is gone. There’s just certain shit you don’t do. He crossed too many lines and it caught up with him. I’m worried about the effect it’ll have on my girl though, and how I’
m going to pull her out of the funk I know will follow. Pregnancy makes women mental. It makes me worry about her like a parent with a teenager. Jesus, Christ, I’m going to be someone’s dad. I take in the rest of Scar’s speech, but my mind is on my new family. She’s going to come home with an envelope that’s going to make this that much realer.
Time is ticking down. She’s four months. In five more months or less, he or she will be arriving. I’m not ready. A creeping panic rises up and winds its way through my body. I’m still a work in progress. How the hell am I going to successfully raise a little person? I blink. The training from therapy kicks in. I take a deep breath and think about the things I can control. She has not one, but two potential homes. We both make good money. We need to start getting shit ready.
Shadow nudges me with his elbow. “You, good?”
“Yeah, just making a shopping list.”
“O-kay,” Shadow replies with a sideways glance.
“Let’s get these boys stocked and on their way,” Stone calls out.
There’s a flurry of motion as men move to the door.
I wade my way in and over to Stone. “Pres, do you need me right now?” I ask.
He smirks. “Naw, go be with your girl and that babe. I want to know what it is.”
“Me too.” I clap his shoulder. “Thank you.”
I walk out front and text, Ruthie.
How did the doc go? –S
Great. The baby is fine. I got the envelope. –R
Where are you now? –S
Home. Rochelle is here- R