Lifting her into his arms, he danced her around the room. Unashamedly, he cried when the song ended much too soon.
Her arms tightened around his shoulders.
“I love you, Papa.”
“I love you, too.”
Calder buried his face in her hair, smelling the sweet scent and taking a minute to regain his composure before he lowered her back down to the floor.
Sex Piston stood up. “Kids, you can all go upstairs, and Beth and Lily will put a movie on for you.”
Calder saw Crazy Bitch coming toward him to where he stood in the middle of the room as the adults shooed the children upstairs.
“Enjoy your dance?”
“Yes, it’s something I’ll always remember. Thank you for helping her. She looked beautiful.”
“That’s not the only thing you’re going to remember tonight. You ready to get frisky? I told Dozer to play our song when the kids are gone.”
The beat that filled the room was very familiar.
“Hot thang! How low can you go?”
Calder started to move, matching her movements with every beat.
“Let’s go crazy and find out.”
Harley licked at his tasty blue snow cone while he walked until he finally sat down on the bleachers.
The young boy he had sat down next to looked over at him strangely before he turned his head back to the football game.
His little legs swung back and forth as he continued eating his snow cone. “My name’s Harley. What’s yours?”
Again, the boy looked over at him, but only for a second, seeming to be bothered that a little boy Harley’s age would disrupt his football game with his friends. “Uh… Ricky.”
“My sissy Star knows a Ricky in her class.” Harley paused for a moment so he could lick a trail of blue that was starting to fall down his hand. “She says he’s a meanie who won’t leave her alone. Does that mean you’re a meanie, too?”
This time when Ricky looked at him, his head didn’t turn back to the game. “Are you lost or something, kid?”
“No, my daddy’s right there.” He pointed one of his little fingers at Stud, who was surrounded by a big group of bikers.
You could hear Ricky gulp, even over the crowd. “Th-That’s your d-dad?”
“Uh-huh, and that’s my cool uncky Calder.” Just like perfect timing, Star had been picked up by Calder and placed on his shoulders. Even though you could see some pissed-off faces in the crowd that now had their views blocked, no one dared to open their mouths.
The young boy now wiped at the beaded sweat that fell down his spikey hair.
“Uncky Calder wanted to teach that meanie face Ricky a lesson when Star came home crying, but Daddy wouldn’t let him.”
You could hear the exhale of relief, only to be replaced by fear once more when Harley swung his little legs harder as he continued.
“Daddy said they’d have to wait till he was older to teach him a lesson.”
Terrified, Ricky looked at Stud, who was now searching the bleachers until his eyes landed on him and Harley. The sweat coming from his spikey hair now poured down while Stud walked toward them.
“Don’t worry; it’s not uncky Calder comin’ over.” Harley smiled, showing his little, blue-stained, sharply pointed teeth. “Daddy won’t hurt you till you’re a man.”