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“Stop!” Tyler screams out, wild panic in his voice. “This is my shed, and you have no right to destroy it. No right!”
Dad just gives him a cold stare and calmly rips away another slat. Stacks of cash fall forward at the sudden removal, and they crash to the shed’s floor. Even more cash is stacked up in rows, waiting to be counted.
So, I think to myself. Tyler didn’t just hurt Mindi. He’s been fucking over the club, playing us for fools. And for a while, too, from the looks of things. A burning rage claws its way up from my stomach, choking me.
My arm lashes out, the butt of my gun making contact with Tyler’s temple, and he hits the floor with a surprised grunt. I pull back my leg and let my booted foot make contact with his side. I kick him over and over, enjoying the muffled groans and short screams of pain. I punish his ribs repeatedly until I physically feel something break. A grin spreads across my face, and I relish the rush that gives me. I keep kicking him until Dad holds up a single hand. I know that’s my signal, so I step back so the president can find out what he needs to know.
Dad looks down at the bloodied heap on the floor. “Where’s my dope, you brainless, dickless idiot?”
Tyler doesn’t reply. Dad asks him again, this time putting a hole in the kneecap I threatened earlier. Tyler begins crying. Meanwhile, I watch intently as Glacier gathers up every stack of cash he can find. He puts it in the bags our dope came in that are piled in a corner of the storage shed, then he loads the rest of the dope up too.
“One last time.” Dad’s voice is low and edged with impatience. “Where is my dope?”
“Fuck you,” Tyler spits out in a stupid show of defiance.
Dad grins without amusement and gives a shrug. “I’ll see you in hell.” Then he aims and fires a shot into Tyler’s throat. Blood bubbles up as he gurgles and flops. We watch in silence as his movements get slower and slower while the puddle of red gets larger. Finally, he’s still and silent. Dad sends Glacier back into the trailer to take care of the two men in there. We hear two shots, and he’s back in less than five minutes.
“Fuck me, I wish he’d given us the intel he had,” Dad mutters as we’re moving the bags out of the shed.
“It doesn’t matter now, does it?” Glacier questions. “I mean, we have the cash and what’s left of the dope.”
Dad just shakes his head. “It does matter. It Tyler has been crossing us, it means the client will be waiting for a delivery. And if whoever the client is feels the club owes them something, well, it could cause problems.”
Glacier and I exchange uneasy glances, and Dad nods at our understanding.
“Yeah. Let’s get back to the clubhouse, boys. We have some thinking and planning to do.”
12
Mindi
Tired of being in the bedroom, where I still spend most of my time, I decide to go to the kitchen. I’ll make some food for the clubhouse. For everyone to have free access to. Maybe that’ll help me get back into a routine.
I put water on to boil for eggs, then pull out everything else I’ll need. I move quickly, falling back into the familiar rhythm of kitchen work. I make quick work of shredding two rotisserie chicken breasts and draining several cans of tuna. I put the chicken and tuna in separate bowls, then begin chopping onions and pickles, adding salt and pepper and mayonnaise. When the eggs are hard-boiled, I peel and chop them, toss them in with everything else, and add some spices. I mix it up, taste it, and adjust the tuna salad, adding a touch more garlic. I taste it again and deem it perfect.
I’m tearing off plastic wrap to cover the bowls so I can refrigerate them when the noise of clicking heels sounds behind me. I turn and see Misty and Trixie standing in the doorway. I raise my eyebrows at them, and Trixie shoots me a somber look, her eyes full of something unreadable. Misty, on the other hand, comes strutting in.
“You know,” she begins in a morally superior tone, “what you did was super fucked up.”
This bitch. Like I need her to tell me what I did was wrong. Like I need her to judge me. I feel guilty, and I know I always will. I cry myself to sleep every night. Not just because I kept the baby from Fist, but because in just over a month, our daughter would have been born. Now we’ll never know the person Rose Marie Monroe could’ve been. That will forever be a wound on my soul and on Fist’s.
The last couple of weeks have been okay for us but not perfect. I doubt our relationship will come close to perfect for a long time, but I’m so grateful Fist is willing to try. That we’re working on mending us. Sometimes I just don’t get it. Fist should’ve thrown my ass out and told me to fuck all the way off.
But he has a heart. I find it funny that his name is Fist, a road name given to him by his father because he’s the first one to throw a hard punch, but his heart is his best quality.
While I’m thinking about the irony of his name, I spot Trixie giving Misty a judgmental look. I briefly wonder why, but then Misty opens her whore mouth again.
“I mean, I’m shocked Fist even took you back after what you did. You should be on your knees in gratitude that he chose to overlook your lying about being pregnant and then losing his baby.”
“I didn’t lie about being pregnant,” I say quietly.
Her eyes widen. “You didn’t tell him, which is a lie of omission. And that’s just as bad, just as wrong, as everything else you did. I just can’t believe he let you stay after you healed up.”
“Why?” Trixie cuts in and pops her hands on her hips in an aggressive manner. “Why can’t you believe Fist took Mindi back? Is it because when shit went down with you, he ended things?”
My head swivels from Trixie to Misty and back again. Misty’s face is flushed a dull red, and her hands are clenched into fists. Trixie looks at me and sees the confusion in my eyes. She speaks again.
“You didn’t know?” she asks. “Fist got Misty pregnant a few years ago. Just a slip-up, one of those things. Except Fist was ready to take responsibility for that baby and was looking forward to it being born. A few weeks before she was set to deliver, Misty went on a trip to see her parents.” Trixie put the last three words in air quotes and continued, “When she came back, she wasn’t pregnant, and she didn’t have the baby. She’d adopted him out without Fist’s knowledge or consent.”
