Ro turns, looking at me, and sighs. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I know he’s talking about everything regarding the club.
“Yes.” It’s not even a question.
“You don’t have to. Look, kid, all of this… it will—”
I can’t help but cut him off as I laugh out. “What? It will change me?”
“Yes.” Him and Axe both say it as a matter of fact.
“I’m not a kid anymore. And you don’t know the things I’ve done or will do.” I let out a sad laugh, shaking my head. “The most important thing Mom taught me was that no matter what, you protect the people who you love. That you protect family. And I may not be able to protect them, but I can sure as fuck get revenge for them.” I look around the room once more before finishing. “That’s why everyone was so terrified of her. They knew if they fucked with the ones Caroline loved, she was ruthless. You’re worried about this shit changing me, but I was raised in this. This life, it’s my goddamn legacy, and I can’t let Ash’s infamy die in that fucking parking lot.”
Ro looks at me and just sighs. I know he’s not eager about all of this. And I know the only reason Axe is back is because he feels like he has to. “He would care if you were happy.”
“Well, I’m not fucking happy, so there’s that. This is what I know I need to do. And you’re right. I already know that if I didn’t want this. If I just wanted to keep my head down and finish school, get a fucking boring ass job, and work until I die, they would want that for me. But I don’t. I never belonged there.” I shrug, looking back at them. “And I see that he never talked to you about it, but we had already talked about me joining the club.”
“You did?” Both Ro and Axe look at me and I nod.
“Yeah, right after I graduated, I had already gotten into school. I didn’t want to go, but… I mean we had compromised. He told me to go to school and finish and then we’d seriously talk about it.”
“See, he wanted you to finish.” Ro mumbles.
“Yeah, well, another part of that agreement was he was supposed to be here. So.” I pause as I shrug. “We both failed to fulfill part of our agreement.”
I can feel how uncomfortable that they grow. I know what I just said makes me sound like I’m whining about them dying, and fuck, maybe I am. But it’s barely been a month, aren’t I allowed to complain about it just a little?
“What exactly did we do here?”
“A couple of different things.” Axe shrugs. “Well, that is, until Dyno accidentally blew himself up.”
“When was that?”
“A few years ago.”
“After Khan?”
“Ugh, it was the same time.” Axe shrugs. “He had come up here for them to test out something new he was working on. The explosion threw Khan back with enough force that he landed and it severed his spinal cord. Dyno, well, he was too close, still.” He shakes his head. “There was nothing left of him when your dad and I got out there. The only reason we were able to find Khan was because they used the same test site.”
“I didn’t realize you guys are the ones who found them.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think it really was an accident?”
“What are you saying?” Ro asks from behind us.
“Just thinking, what better way to take out the club than to take out the Prez and the guy who makes the explosives?”
“And drugs… their primary source of income.”
“What drug?”
“MDMA.”
I can’t help but laugh as I shake my head.
“What?”
“Pretty sure I took some of it a couple weeks ago.”
