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“Why’s life gotta be so hard?” he asked me that first day as tears filled his eyes, and he lowered his guard. “Am I being punished?”
All I’ve ever wanted for Jester was to lift some of the burden from his shoulders. Help him see how life wasn’t all bad. Inspire him to desire more than a meal and somewhere warm to sleep.
Jester holds a special spot in my heart. He became family and a trusted friend. Yet, over the years, he pulled away. First, when his son died. Then, when we lost Betty Boop. By the time he took notice of Talon, I felt more like his boss than his family.
I kept Jester and my daughter apart for years. Then, Talon and Emma were raped and nearly killed by a bunch of frat assholes who assumed the wild girls wouldn’t be missed.
As Talon and Emma struggled to survive, the club quietly killed the men. When Jester got wind of the final one’s location, he refused to wait for anyone. Instead, he hunted down the asshole and got himself locked up.
I remember arriving at the jail located outside the Born Villains’ territory. Jester’s big size clashed with the janky, small-town cell. He looked at me with the same confused expression I’d seen on his face as a kid.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Jester said to me that day.
Fortunately, the asshole who nearly killed my daughter and Emma had a reputation. The prosecutor knew a jury was bound to lack sympathy for the dead guy, not that Jester was particularly sympathetic, either. A deal was hatched to give him eight years. He’s getting out early on account of good behavior.
Though I’m glad he’ll be free, I can’t shake my fears about Talon and him. Despite her nearly dying and his time locked up, they still expect to be together.
“I want your daughter,” Jester told me years ago. “I think she can love me.”
By then, Talon had healed physically and planned to get her patch. She was already calling herself “Sister Sass.” The idea of her big personality being swallowed up by Jester didn’t sit well with me.
“Talon’s got a tough heart,” I explained to Jester. “She’s survived a lot, but you have the ability to break her for good. If that happens, I’ll end you.”
Staring at me through the video screen, Jester said without hesitation, “If I destroy that beautiful creature, I’ll want you to end me.”
Now, there’s nothing to keep Jester from making his move. Talon’s twenty-five. Still too young for a man in his forties, but no longer a child. Jester will soon be free to make his claim on her.
As we near the prison, I glance at my daughter. Sister Sass stares out the window, likely thinking about her future.
Though she loves Jester, she’s never really known him. And Jester doesn’t know Sister Sass. He fell for Talon a lifetime ago, before she nearly died, got healthy, and earned her patch. For years, she’s been pushing people’s buttons to prove she’s tough. I don’t know how much Jester will enjoy her pushing his buttons.
We arrive at the prison’s visitor parking lot to find it filled with other waiting families. Sister Sass doesn’t bolt out of the SUV once we’re parked. She sits quietly, making me wonder what’s got her tongue.
“He’s bound to be weird for a while,” I warn her. “He’s been locked up for too long to be the same.”
“Do you think he blames me?” she asks, startling me with her honesty.
“No, he can never blame you. You’re the person he needs most.”
Sister Sass’s dark brown eyes flash to me, searching for a lie. “No, I think that’s you.”
“No, it used to be Betty Boop. Now, it’s you.”
“But I’m not her,” Sister Sass says, sounding on the verge of tears. “I’m nothing like her.”
“He knows that. He wanted her to be his mom. He doesn’t want the same thing from you.”
Sister Sass regains her composure and asks, “Do you think I’ll make a good mom?”
“Yes.”
“I’m really selfish and rude.”
“No, you’re not selfish.”
After we share a chuckle over her rudeness, Sister Sass stares wistfully at the prison.
“Do you wish Luca and Ghost waited to go to Texas until next week?”
