And it ended, not with Kristy agreeing that Tatiana should be with her dad, who she adored and clearly felt safe with, something she didn’t feel with this Knuckles guy, and have some time away from school to rest and heal.
Instead, it ended with Buck inviting Kristy to, “Do whatever the fuck you gotta do, bitch,” and disconnecting the call.
Minnie’s voice carried on in my ear.
“You bring her to the office and Lorie, Pinky, and me’ll bring in Debbie. Debbie and us, we’ll help her outta that dark place.”
“Is Debbie a social worker?”
“No, Debbie’s an ex-’ho who hooked up with Riot.”
I blinked at Buck’s, rather attractive, I had to admit, paisley comforter cover that had dense swirls and curves of rust, gray and blue with hints of cream.
An ex-’ho?
As in…
Prostitute?
Then I breathed, “Pardon?”
“Debbie’s solid. Shit life. She was raped when she was fifteen. Went off the rails. Got hooked up with some bad people, bad shit. She’s clean now and her and Riot are tight. They got married last Christmas, big fuckin’ party. She’s livin’ the good life now. She saw the other side and she’s there. Ain’t no dark places for Debbie.”
I knew Riot. He was a member of the Club. He had lots of long, curly hair, a big barrel chest, wasn’t very tall and had an easy smile.
He was advancing toward middle age and not the way Buck was, looking younger than his years. Riot looked exactly as old as I figured he was, maybe older.
He didn’t work much out on jobs, he mostly worked in the store, but he came in regularly for coffee, cupcakes or cookies.
Last, he seemed a good guy of the Ink and Cruise variety, funny, teasing and could be gentle.
Gash, Minnie’s man, wasn’t funny, teasing and could be gentle. He was rough, had an edge and an attitude, like his woman.
My eyes scanned the room and fell on Buck’s photo frames.
When they did, for some reason, my legs went out from under me and I scooted off the bed, going to the dresser as I said, “So, you think she’ll be okay talking to Tatie?”
“She’ll be good with her. We’ll all be good with her, Clary. The family’ll see her through.”
I stared at Buck’s photos.
I’d dusted them and the dresser just that day.
Right then, I lifted my hand and made adjustments, moving photos so I could see them from behind other photos, shifting frames, my eyes running over them all.
“So,” I said softly into the phone, “the Club is family?”
“Yeah, babe, the boys, a brotherhood. Tighter than blood. Unbreakable. Even when they don’t get along, like now, it evens out, and it’s all good. They all know that, they just gotta work through their issues. We’re along for that ride. We hook up, we’re in. The brotherhood is the most important. Brothers then bitches, you know it, you live with it. But I been hooked up with assholes out there in the world and I’ll take my brother and his family anytime, rather than playin’ those games out there.”
I had to admit, being burned by Rogan and watching Tia get abused by Esposito, she had a point.
“Tighter than blood?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she answered.
“What about children?” I asked.
“That’s different, babe, kids are kids.”
“Oh,” I muttered, not actually getting it, then asked, “The brothers aren’t getting along?”
There was silence then, “Buck hasn’t shared?”
I adjusted a frame, not really looking at it. “No.”
“Uh…maybe I should let him do that.”
My hand arrested on a frame, and I whispered, “Is it bad?”
“They’re a brotherhood, Clary, but that don’t mean they see eye to eye on everything.”
Oh dear.
That didn’t sound good.
I knew the members now, and knowing them, I would guess a difference of opinion would manifest itself in far more dangerous ways than out in “the world.”
I stared at the frames. The people in them, save Buck, Tatiana and Gear, I didn’t know, and Buck hadn’t told me.
At the same time, I thought about what Minnie said, trouble in the Club, and I had no idea. And Buck had mentioned different uses for women, but he wouldn’t enlighten me, even though I’d asked. Further, there was the situation where Tatie had busted up a car and got caught joyriding, and he hadn’t told me that either.
It seemed there was quite a bit Buck didn’t share.
I now lived in a complicated world I didn’t understand, making the decision to enter that world during a trauma and without the information I needed, and now I was stuck.
There were things I didn’t like, things I didn’t get and things I wanted to know, and where I was, I had no right to know until Buck deigned to tell me.
None of this was good.
And none of it I could do a thing about.
“Clara, are you there?” Minnie called.
I adjusted a frame.
“I’m here,” I said, felt a presence, turned my head and saw Buck, wearing jeans, a T-shirt, boots and a very cool leather jacket with a bunch of patches on it I’d never seen him wear before, striding into the room. “Buck just got home,” I told Minnie, my eyes watching him approach me.