“That isn’t as reassuring as you think. You can still get into a hell of a lot of trouble here.”
A sly smile spread across her lips. “If I stayed completely out of trouble, then what will you do?”
If Raven stayed out of trouble, it would keep me off Wrecker’s radar. It seemed like every other day, Wrecker was yelling at me for one thing or another that Raven had gotten herself into. She was like a fucking toddler running around causing havoc wherever she went. Thankfully, she wasn’t rubbing off on Mayra. She seemed to just chill and read all day.
That was a chick I could handle.
Raven was too much for me.
“I doubt she’ll be up anytime soon. She was talking in her sleep again last night.” Raven shook her head. “I doubt she gets much sleep with how she tosses and turns all night.”
“She don’t sleep good?” I asked.
Raven shook her head. “She hasn’t said she doesn’t, but if I were her, I know I would sleep in everyday if I spent half of the night tossing and turning like she does.” Raven pushed away from the table and walked into the kitchen off to the side of the bar. “If she’s not up in a couple of hours, I would check on her.” I heard her coffee cup drop into the sink.
“Me?”
Raven laughed. “Uh, yeah, you. Like I said, you’re her keeper.” She grabbed her laptop she had set on the bar and hitched her thumb over her shoulder. “I’m gonna chill in the back courtyard for the day. Try not to bug me.” Raven took off down the hall that led to the back of the clubhouse, and I hung my head.
“She giving you a hard time again?”
Fuck. Wrecker.
I did not need him on my case right now. It was only seven thirty in the morning. “I think that’s the only thing your sister knows how to do.” I looked up and watched Wrecker sit in the chair Raven had just vacated. I didn’t want either one sitting across from me right now.
“Plans for the day?” he gruffed.
“Same as yesterday. Keep an eye on Raven and Mayra.” There wasn’t anything else for me to do. I was stuck on babysitting duty since my fuck up at Oakley’s club.
“Where’s Raven?” Cora stormed into the common room holding a brush in one hand and a banana in the other.
I pointed in the direction she had gone. “Out back.”
Wrecker eyed up the brush in hand. “You need something from her?”
“Yeah.”
“And that would be?” Wrecker drawled.
Cora huffed and shook the brush at Wrecker. “None of your business.” She swept through the room and down the hall toward Raven.
“Too many damn chicks in this place.” He shook his head and sat back in his chair. He raised his arms and folded his hands on top of his head.
“At least you got a place to go to get away from it all.”
A huge smile spread across his lips. “Yeah, where there is a chick waiting on me.”
“Chick?”
Oh hell, here we go. Alice must have ridden in with Wrecker this morning.
“Morning, Alice,” I called.
Alice walked over to us and slammed her bright orange purse on the table. “So, I’m a chick now?”
“Boink said morning to you,” Wrecker pointed out.
Her eyes snapped to me. “Morning, Boinky.”
“It’s Boink, doll,” I reminded her just like I did every time she called me Boinky.
She nodded. “Yeah, it is. But you’re Boinky to me because even though your road name is as ridiculous as Boink, I feel the need to make it even more ridiculous, Boinky.”
I was never going to get her to call me Boink. “What if I told you what my real name is?” She would still probably find a way to make that into some absurd name, but it was worth a shot.
She shoved her fingers into her ears. “La, la, la. I can’t hear you.”
Wrecker grabbed her arms and pulled her hands down. “Babe, can you keep the crazy at a minimum until I get a cup of coffee down my throat?”
“You think maybe you cannot call me ‘chick’ like I’m just some woman walking off the street?”
“You weren’t this sassy this morning when I had my head buried between your thighs.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “You’re right. That’s because your mouth was too busy to be talking.”
Leave it to Alice to not even be embarrassed by the fact that Wrecker had just announced he got her off this morning. I pushed back from the table and grabbed the coffee pot off the bar. “You need a cup, Alice?” I asked.
“Does a bear shit in a picnic basket?” Alice retorted.
I opened my mouth to answer, but I didn’t have one. I snapped my mouth shut and grabbed an extra cup.
“Woman, what in the hell are you talking about?” Wrecker rumbled. “Why would a bear shit in a picnic basket?”
“Yogi Bear.”
And this was a glimpse into the twisted mind of the prez’s ol’ lady.
Wrecker leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. “Yogi Bear steals picnic baskets to eat the food inside, not shit in them.”
Alice tilted her head to the side. “Really?”
“Yeah, babe.”
Alice crossed her arms over her chest. “Learn something new every day,” she mumbled.
I set the two coffee cups in front of them. “I’m gonna check in on Mayra.”
“How is she doing?” Alice grabbed the coffee pot and filled their mugs.
“Uh, same as she’s been. Doesn’t talk to me. Stays in her room all day.”
“Sounds like you got a piece of cake babysitting job,” Wrecker laughed.
“Half easy,” I corrected. “Your sister likes to keep me on my toes, and you yell at me every other day for shit she pulls.”
“Raven never was an easy one to control,” he chuckled with a half-smile on his lips. “I can see if Clash can help out with her. Things are in limbo right now with a few things so I’ve got the guys to spare.”
Wrecker was in a good mood this morning.
This never happened.
“You sure?” Half of me wondered if this was a test or possibly an April Fool’s joke. Though it wasn’t April.
“Yeah. I’ll give you a little bit of help, but Mayra is all yours. You brought her into this shit, so you can figure out what the hell is going on with her.”
That right there was the problem. I wasn’t even sure that she had a problem. Did she just want to stay with Raven to get out of Oakley’s grasp, or was there something else going on with her? “I didn’t exactly bring her into this. She seems to be attached to Raven.”
“Now that is something I find hard to believe,” Wrecker chuckled.
Alice reached over and slugged him in the shoulder. “She’s your sister,” she hissed. “Perhaps if you would be a little nicer to her, she wouldn’t be…well…her.”
Wrecker and Alice started bickering about Raven. I grabbed my coffee cup and headed down the hall to Mayra’s room. I was just given a get out of jail free card when it came to Raven, and I didn’t want to stand around for too long in case Wrecker changed his mind.
I knocked on Mayra’s door and sipped my coffee waiting for her to answer. I tried the handle when she didn’t respond and pushed it open.
The same fruity, sweet scent that hit me every morning when I came to check on Mayra assaulted my senses, and I inhaled deeply. I had to admit that either Mayra or Raven smelled damn good.
“What do you want?”
Obviously, Mayra had heard me knock but she chose to ignore it. “Checking up on you.” I looked at the bed and laughed. “You think you got enough pillows?” Six pillows were piled at the head of the bed, and there were two sticking out the bottom of her blanket.
The blanket at the foot of the bed flew back, and Mayra’s head peeked out, glaring at me. “Did you really wake me up to talk about pillows?” Her black hair was messily piled on top of her head and a scowl was on her lips. Even pissed off at me for waking her up she still was pretty as h
ell.
“Not my intention, but here we are.”
She tossed the blanket back over her head. “Go away, Boink. I don’t need protecting right now unless there is a clown in my closet coming to kill me.”
“I haven’t checked, but if you want me to, I will.”
She scoffed, and I imagined she rolled her eyes. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Why not?” I walked over to her dresser and picked up a small figurine she had sitting there.
“I don’t know. I just didn’t.”
“Raven said you were talking in your sleep again.” I held up the little statue of Snoopy and rolled him between my fingers. An odd thing to have sitting on your dresser.
“Raven talks too much,” she grumbled.
“She’s just worried about you,” I said absently. “What’s with Snoopy?” I turned back to the bed holding up the statue.
She whipped back the covers from over her head. “Why are you going through my stuff?”
“I’m hardly going through your stuff when the thing was sitting out in the open.”
“It was my mom’s.”
“Was?”
“She’s dead, Boink. So yeah, was.” She sat up and glared at me. “Put it down before you break it.”
I gently set it back down. “Calm down, M-baby. I promise not to break it.”
She rolled her eyes at the lame nickname I had given her. “Okay, B-dick.”
She caught me off guard, and I busted out laughing. I bent over, wheezing. “Mayra…you can’t…that’s not…” I gasped.
“Not a fan of B-dick? How about B-douche or B-asswipe?” She flopped back onto the bed, and I stood up straight.
“Maybe stick with Boink,” I smiled.
“I suppose that is even more embarrassing than B-dick.”
“I’m not even sure what the hell is going on here?” I ran my fingers through my hair.
“I’m tired, and you’re trying to have a conversation with me before I’ve had even one cup of coffee. It’s not going well, and all I want is for you to either go away or go away and come back with a cup of coffee.”
I nodded. “You know, this is the most you and I have talked since you moved into the clubhouse.” And I had to say, she was a hell of a lot more sassy than I thought she was. When Wrecker told her should could stay at the clubhouse, she had been meek and extremely quiet. The exact opposite of Raven, who had thrown down the gauntlet to Wrecker saying she was only going to stay if Mayra did.
“Still talking,” she murmured.
“So, you’re saying if I give you my coffee, I can stay?”
She peeked over the top of the comforter. “Black?”
I nodded.
“Why do you want to stay?”
Because I didn’t have anything else to fucking do. I shrugged. “Thought you might want some company.”
She warily looked at me. “What are you going to do if you stay?”
I looked around the room. There wasn’t a hell of a lot in here. We had stuck Raven and Mayra in the last open room of the clubhouse. It was large, but that was about the only thing the room had going for it.
No windows. One wall that didn’t even have drywall. A TV that sat on the floor along the wall.
It looked like Mayra and Raven lived in a frat house from the eighties.
My room was in better shape than theirs. “I’d say watch a movie or something, but I don’t even think that TV works.”
She snorted. “You would be right. Raven and I tried messing with it the other night, but we couldn’t get the thing to turn on.”
I mentally started a list of things I needed to do, and fixing her TV was toward the top. “Change of plans. You get up, get dressed, and meet me in the common area.”
“And then what are we going to do?”
I didn’t have a fucking clue what we were going to do, but I figured I had better odds of finding something to do out there than being in her sparse room. “Come out there and you’ll find out.” I held up the mug of coffee. “And your coffee will be waiting for you out there.”
Mayra moaned and groaned about having to get out of bed, but she didn’t say she wasn’t coming. I made my way out the door to the sound her feet hitting the floor.
She may be pissed to be getting out of bed, but I was, at least, getting her out of her room.
It was a win, and I was going to take it.
*
Chapter Three
Mayra
I shouldn’t have told him my mom was dead. The more people knew about me, the greater the possibility of the Banachi’s finding me.
I couldn’t let that happen.
After I tossed on an oversized gray sweatshirt and black leggings, I threw my hair up into a bun and headed to the main room of the clubhouse.
I spent most of my time in the room given to Raven and me while only venturing to the kitchen when I needed coffee or food.
Every day, Boink did come in to check on me, but most times, he asked me if I was okay and if I needed anything then he was gone. Today was different, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
From what I had gathered about him from Raven and the couple conversations I had walked in on when trying to get coffee or food, the guy was harmless. He was the goofy one of the club who was more times than not the butt of most jokes. He was friendly enough, but I had barely any interaction with him even though he was in charge of watching Raven and me. I assumed he spent most of the day keeping track of Raven because while I stayed in my room ninety percent of the time, Raven did not.
Now today, he came into my room, and he talked a hell of a lot more than ever.
I grabbed my phone and shoved it in my back pocket. I could just stay here and ignore him, but as much as I hated to admit it, I was getting sick of these four dingy walls.
Before I changed my mind and barred myself in my room, I headed down the hallway. The sound of voices drifted to me, but before I could change my mind and hightail it back, Nikki spotted me.
“Mayra! Girl, where in the hell have you been?” she shouted.
I plastered a fake smile on my face and folded my arms over my chest. “Hey,” I called meekly. Karmen was sitting at one of the tables with Cole in her arms with Cora and Wren seated across from her. It was apparently an ol’ ladies get together I had just walked in on.
“Hot damn. You actually out of your room or just coming for coffee?” Cora teased.
I looked around for Boink, but I didn’t see him. It had been a trap. He knew if I came out of my room and all of the girls were here, I wouldn’t be able to run and hide. Damn him. “Uh, I just…Boink said…”
“Boink is out in the garage, I think. Pipe said he needed help with his bike or something.” Nikki put her arm around my shoulders and steered me over to the table. It was like she knew I was likely to make my escape if someone didn’t keep a hold on me. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
I wasn’t a breakfast person. I would have about three cups of coffee and then by noon, I was ready to have something of more sustenance. “Not hungry, but I could go for some coffee.”
“Coffee we can do, but you’re also going to get breakfast. Alice is cooking up a skillet of eggs and a shit-ton of bacon.”
“It’s only three pounds,” Alice hollered from the kitchen.
“She acts like three pounds of bacon isn’t a lot,” Cora laughed.
“If all of the guys manage to make it back in here before she finishes it, it really isn’t going to be a lot. I’ll be surprised if we even get any.” Karmen lifted Cole and propped him on her shoulder. His eyes were closed, and he had a blissful smile on his face. “He’s in a milk coma,” she murmured when she noticed me looking at him.
I had never been around babies much, and little Cole fascinated me. He was so tiny and fragile but still commanded the attention of anyone in the room. “He’s so tiny,” I whispered.
“Wanna hold him?” she asked.
I shook my head and took a step
back. “No, no. I don’t want to wake him up or anything.”
“Cole sleeps like a rock. Of course, Karmen and Nickel would have the most well-behaved baby ever.” Nikki shook her head. “Lucky bitch.”
Karmen managed to flip her off without waking up Cole. “Don’t bad mouth my baby or you’re gonna put bad juju on you when Pipe finally gets you pregnant.”
Nikki shook her head. “Oh, hell no, girl. Don’t put that whole pregnancy thing on us. I am not ready for a baby right now, and I don’t even know when the hell I will be. I’m a fan of having my dirty-talking biker to myself.”
Karmen pressed a kiss to Cole’s temple. “I still have time with Nickel,” she pouted.
Cora laughed. “Riiight. When you manage to be in the bed sleeping for the two hours in between feedings?”
Karmen glared at her.
Cora held up her hands. “But I bet those two hours are amazing.”
“Who wants bacon?” Alice walked out of the kitchen with a large plate piled high with bacon and a coffee cup in her hand. “Someone go grab the pan of eggs and the toast.”
Nikki pulled me toward the kitchen and pushed the plate of toast into my hands. “You take that. I’ll grab the pan and a cup for you.”
I wanted to tell her no and run back to my room, but I figured one of them would chase me down and haul me back to the table.
Cora was sliding plates to each open spot at the table while Wren had a handful of forks. “I won’t toss these around like Cora is tossing plates like frisbees,” she laughed.
I sat down next to Cora and spotted the full pot of coffee which happened to be sitting right in front of me. The cup Nikki had promised appeared in front of my face, and I snatched it out of her hand. Alice tossed two pieces of bacon onto the plate to my left, but I only had eyes for the coffee pot.
“Pretty sure you’re going to fit in just fine around here,” Karmen laughed.
I grabbed the coffee pot and looked up to see everyone staring at me. “Uh, why?” I looked back down at the coffee pot and filled my cup to the brim.
“Coffee, girlfriend. You’ve got the same affection for it as most of us.” Cora grabbed the pot from me and topped of her cup. “I live off this shit when I’m on a deadline.”
Fallen Lords MC: Books 4-6 Page 17