Page 78 of When The Noise Stops

They filed into my apartment. Too big for the space. Too many of them. Tiny sat on the couch. Hawk took the chair. Sully leaned against the wall. Deacon stood by the door.

"This is about Maggie," Tiny said.

I rolled my eyes. "I told Ronny not to tell you. What exactly is going on between you two that you talk all night on the phone and gossip?"

Tiny shook his head. "Don't change the subject. We don't like Maggie."

"Okay."

"No, you don't understand," Tiny leaned forward.

"We don't like her. She treated Grizz like a puppy. Like something she could kick when she was bored and call back when she needed something."

I sat down across from him. Listened.

"He loved Gabby," Tiny said.

"From the day she was born. She wasn't his. Everyone knew that. But he didn't care. He was there for everything. Every recital. Every parent-teacher conference. Every fever. He was her father. Maggie took her. Just to hurt him. Because Grizz was starting to pull away. She didn't even want Gabby like that; Grizz was the parent. She just didn't want him to have her."

I felt something tighten in my chest.

"He told me everything but that last part."

"She's going to cause you trouble, Lila," Tiny said.

"That's what she does. She sees something good, and she finds a way to ruin it. She's gonna see you and Knox and she's gonna try to poison it."

"I'm not with Knox."

Tiny looked at me. Didn't say anything.

"We're friends," I said.

"That's all."

Tiny nodded slowly.

"Okay."

"Okay."

"But if she comes for you," he said, "we'll make sure she doesn't."

"What exactly are four white bikers planning to do to protect me from a white woman?"

All four of their eyes went wide.

I kept going; they were stressing for nothing. In Archie's world, I'd dealt with worse.

“If the police come, all of us going to jail. A Black woman and four white men against one crying white lady. We lose”

Tiny frowned. "Don't joke about it, Lila. She's evil."

"And I can fight, and I've got bail money."

Before they could respond, we heard Knox's door open.

Tiny stood up. The others followed.