“Gotta run, call if you need anything,” Tommy says looking to my sister who sips a cup of coffee as casual as can be.
“Bye, Tommy. We’ll be out of your hair later today when I can get us moved to a hotel.”
“Oh no!” Sass shrieks. “If you do that, we’re all gonna be in trouble. Rhett wants you here for as long as you need to stay.” She looks at me softly. “Jenni, I do hope you will stay. We have all missed you.”
Jami lets out a giggle. “I would like to stay, Ms. Oleander,” my traitor sister states, knowing I can’t deny her. “This is a beautiful home.”
“This is one of the first Rhett and Tommy did together. Before this was an old trailer they crashed at to go fishing. Hurricane Matthew wiped out the dock a few years back. Well, Rhett said if he was spending ten grand on a new dock, he was gonna have a nice crash pad. Hidden beauty, this place. We all love to sneak down here for the quiet from time to time.”
I look around and admire the work. “Rhett builds houses?”
She pours herself a cup of coffee. “No, Tommy does the building. Rhett is in real estate, he buys places, gives Tommy the design and the budget, and together they turn it around into a beautiful home again.”
“I don’t know why this surprises me. Rhett has always seen the beauty behind the rust,” I mutter, thinking of how he loved to find junk cars in garages and barns and tell me how he reimagined them.
“House flipping has made both boys good money. Rhett says that mailbox money will be my cushy retirement.”
“Mailbox money?” Jami asks.
“Rentals. Rhett has found some places, and we invested. He oversees the property management, and we get a check each month for the rent. He calls it mailbox money since you get paid but don’t go to an actual job. I don’t care what he calls it if it keeps him focused and happy.”
Well, I’m happy to know Rhett has found something he’s good at.
“And this house?”
“This is Rhett’s retreat. When things get intense, he comes here for the quiet.”
I nod in understanding. This place gives instant peace, even though I can’t explain it.
“I’ll be gettin’ outta your hair. Just wanted to give you a hug, Jenni. We sure have missed you,” Sass says moving to me and embracing me.
Tears fill my eyes thinking about how she’s always taken me in.
“Remember tellin’ you,” Sass remarks while tugging on the messy knot on top of my head, “God gave me boys, so I could one day have beautiful daughters to love on without having to teach them about hair and makeup.”
We both laugh.
She doesn’t know it, but she was more of a mother to me during the few years I dated her son than my own mother ever was.
“You sure did a good job on my prom,” I remind her.
“Good memories, Jenni. I hope to have even more with you now.” The longing in her voice pulls at something deep inside of me.
“Don’t know if we’re gonna stay, Sass,” I give her the truth.
“Jenni, I just want to face him, and then I’m ready to have a good life in Haywood’s Landing. We don’t have to leave,” Jami retorts, and I give her the look.
The one that says shut-it right now.
“Jami, I don’t know about staying here. We’re going to see our dad, then figure out what comes next.”
“Jenni, you haven’t been happy since leaving Haywood’s Landing. He’s taken enough from us; he doesn’t get to ruin home.”
I nod because I’m not having this argument with her in front of Rhett’s mom. Especially because no one knows the childhood Jami and I had, and I’m not really in the mood to share all of that ugly with my ex-boyfriend’s mom.
Sass studies us both. “Take your time, Jenni. Don’t make quick decisions.”
“I won’t,” I assure her.
She leaves, and I take a shower frustrated that my sister really thinks we can have a life here.
It’s time to face the past in order for my sister and I to truly figure out our future.
A future I don’t think will happen in Haywood’s Landing.
15
Rhett
This is family.
“Rhett,” Tommy says my name as I twist up from scrubbing the clubhouse toilet.
“Yeah,” I mutter standing. This is the kind of shit I hated when I prospected before. I felt humiliated to do the bitch work.
Now, well, it’s not my favorite task but I’m not bitter. I need to pay my dues. I have to eat crow for a while so I can prove my willingness to do whatever it takes for the club down to scrubbing the shit off the walls if necessary.
“Swear you’re the best fuckin’ prospect this club has ever seen,” he jokes.
“Fuck you, Tommy Boy.”
He points to the toilet brush in my hand. “No one gave you the order, you’re doin’ the shit jobs because you want, what? A gold star sticker? Big brother, we outgrew Momma’s chore chart a long fuckin’ time ago.”
Red comes around the corner and sees us. He immediately laughs. “Damn, Prospect, I gotta say no one chooses to scrub toilets. Impressive.”
I shake my head as Tommy exits the room. Red doesn’t follow, and I wait wondering what’s coming as he looks at me.
“Rhett, you don’t have to punish yourself.”
“Not what I’m doin’.”
He stands in the doorway so I can’t leave. “I watch you. When the brothers enter, you hang your head and serve. Rhett, you got nothin’ to be ashamed of.”
“I beg to differ.”
He throws his hands up. “Oh, because you drowned your issues in drugs, that makes you less of a man? Pussy, alcohol, gamblin’, fuck, even work, men all choose different ways to push down their pains. Yes, you made some poor choices based on a chemical dependency. Addiction is a disease. It’s an ugly one, but like someone getting a second chance after cancer, you fight for your life, dammit. There is no shame in that, Rhett. I don’t give a fuck who tells you otherwise.”
I could almost cry. I don’t because I’m not about to be weak. Red and I are close in a way I never expected. In fact, all of my family have become this new support system I never realized I could have had all along. It’s been nice.
Red continues, “The man you are today, I’ll stand beside you with my head held high and tell the world you are my brother.”
Needing to lighten the mood because this shit is getting way too deep for a fucking bathroom, I smirk. “Say it,” I tell him, “say I’m your favorite.”
“Fuck you,” he jokes as we leave the bathroom.
The clubhouse is a simple warehouse-style building with an open floor plan. Making our way to the front from the four restrooms in the back, we pass the kitchen to our right. In the vast space of the common area, I make my way to the bar as Hellions file in, some settling in the corner to play pool or darts.
As a prospect, I’m expected to be at the bar ready to serve.
Sermon just ended, so some brothers are pulling away while others unwind here.
I miss going to the cave and knowing what comes next. But I need to be patient and show my loyalty to the Hellions.
A couple of guys want beers, so I pull the bottles, pop the tops, and pass them along. My phone rings, and I answer it.
“Oleander,” I greet, not recognizing the number.
“Hey Rhett, this is Brandi from Hawkins Creek Campground. I’m sorry to call from my personal phone, but I thought you should know. We have an environmental guy from the county here,” she whispers.
“Where are they?”
“Jason is talking to them. Something about a soil sample.”
“Oh hell, okay.”
My dad looks at me. “You good?”
“Yeah, but I gotta go handle this at the campground.”
Years ago, I convinced my grandpa to buy this forty-acre plot nestled in the woods off the main streets. It used to be a trailer park, so the permits were grandfathered in to have more than one hom
e per septic tank. Since Haywood’s Landing is a small town, we don’t have city sewer. Having those permits meant opportunity to have a campground for people wanting to visit the crystal coast of NC but have the comforts of their own truly mobile home. With the tiny house movement, we have actually found ourselves keeping a steady revenue stream from long-term rentals as well.
“Take off, you’re fine. Business is important. We’re done for now here, anyway.” My dad gives me the dismissal I need as a prospect.
“Tommy Boy,” he yells out to my brother. “Go with Rhett.”
Tommy gives a nod. We both give quick goodbyes to everyone in the clubhouse and climb on our bikes.
I may be a realtor, but I still ride my Harley everywhere I can.
The campground isn’t far away. By the time we arrive, the environmental man is ready to leave with his sample. I give him my card so he understands who he is to contact should he need anything further concerning the tests.
Since we have so many units, the county regularly conducts these tests to make sure all the septic tanks are in working order and we aren’t creating environmental hazards.
Personally, I think it’s just for this man and the others like him to have some excuse to keep their salaried jobs at the county. I also think little pricks like him get off on trying to have some kind of control over men like me. I don’t give a fuck what his sample findings are, this is business. I’ll do what is necessary and move on. We don’t have to compare dick sizes.
We ride around checking on things while we’re here and Tommy gets a text. He looks at his phone, and I watch his face not liking what I’m seeing.
“What is it?”
“Jami and Jenni are going to see their dad,” he mutters.
“Fuck!” My chest tightens.
Jami and Jenni do not need to go near Ezra Rivera. He was a dick when Jenni was a teen. She hated him. But now, they do not know the monster they are going to walk in and find. Everyone knows he beat their mom. She stopped trying to hide the bruises long before she ended her life.
He doesn’t stop being a dick at home. No, it’s everywhere he goes. He gets drunk and has been in more than one altercation with locals.
My instincts scream that Jenni needs me. Everything inside of me needs to stop her from going to see him.
A thought hits me, and I give Tommy the signal to follow me. We hit the road, and as we pass by the Rivera home, I fight every urge inside me not to pull up behind her car in the driveway. The clubhouse isn’t far, I tell myself. Twisting the throttle, I push on, and we get to the clubhouse where I notice all the key people I need are here. Thank fuck. Time is not on my side so I need to get the club to back me and get to Jenni.
Rushing in, I don’t even stop to ask to speak.
“Red,” I call out, and he looks to me.
“What, Rhett?”
“Jenni and Jami might be in trouble.”
“Might?”
“They’re goin’ to see their dad.”
He shakes his head. “Fuck, there’s no might to that.”
My dad and Tripp come over to where Red stands with me.
“Don’t ask for shit, but know if I go in there on my own, I’m gonna do something stupid. I don’t wanna do anything to jeopardize the club.”
Red nods. “We’re family. We do this shit together.”
“Whoa, boys,” my dad says. “Rhett, I’m not trying to be a dick. But I gotta remind you two. We got rules. You wanted to earn your rockers again, I respect the fuck outta that, but you are not a brother. Your business, we can’t just jump in. We move out as a unit, I stand behind it, but that call has to come from Tripp or the club voting it to pass.” I know my dad is doing his duty as VP but this shit stings. In the past this would have sent me spiraling into the place in my mind where I’m not good enough and he’s punishing me. Right now, I’m clear minded and mature enough to know this is about the club’s risk factor as a whole and not making rash decisions.
Red turns and stands in front of me. The anger radiates off him. “I’m his sponsor. On my word, we’re takin’ his back. My brother is solid. Been spending weeks doin’ shit jobs when we all know he’s earned his cut long fuckin’ time ago. He fucked up, yes, but fuck, we all do. He doesn’t get a life sentence. Now, he’s got a care for a girl, and if he’s gotta claim her for us to roll in, then so fuckin’ be it, but as a fully patched brother and the fuckin’ Treasurer, I’m saying we ride the fuck out and deal with the details later.”
I have never realized how much I loved my big brother until this very minute. When the world should have given up on me time and again, he never has. I will forever be in his debt.
Tommy steps up. “Fuck this shit, Dad. Get what you’re sayin’, but just sayin’ that’s some bullshit. Since you wanna get all technical, fine. I got my rockers, Jami’s mine. There. Now you got your technicalities. I don’t really give a fuck, but Rhett cares about Jenni and Jami, and they need us. So, are we done with the bitchin’ like a bunch of women? Because frankly, if I had been the lead, Rhett and I wouldn’t have pulled in here, but we would have stopped at the Rivera house puttin’ a cap in Ezra Rivera to end all the worries for good. My brother made the right fuckin’ call, now we take his fuckin’ back.”
In this moment, I get it.
The brotherhood.
I’ve done everything wrong my whole fucking life until right now.
I’ll be damned if I fuck any of it up ever again.
It finally clicks, and I can finally breathe again.
16
Jennissey
This is a pain so deep, I swear it scars my soul.
Standing at the front door to the trailer I left behind so many years ago, anxiety fills me. My palms sweat and my hands tremble. I turn to my sister whose face is determined as she raises her hand to knock.
“Go the fuck away,” he roars from behind the small door.
Well, his attitude hasn’t changed in all this time. Too many emotions run through me it’s making me dizzy.
Jami twists the door handle. It turns. Thinking on it, I don’t remember a time in my life where he ever locked a door. I don’t think our safety mattered.
My heart skips a beat, and I feel like it’s hard to breathe.
Pushing the door in, Jami walks right inside with me on her heels.
Our father looks up from his old worn out recliner. The navy blue t-shirt and jeans he wears are stained. His hair is thinning, and his eyes are sunken in. The man who used to intimidate me suddenly seems like nothing. The way he seemed so large when I was young feels ridiculous now. The power he’s held over me for so long, it all feels like wasted emotions, exhausted energies, and time I can’t ever get back.
“Well, look who the cat drug in,” he mutters, lifting the bottle of liquor to his lips and chugging it back.
“Dad,” Jami begins. “I need to face you.” Her tone is stern, and she’s holding herself together well, considering how I want to fall apart inside.
“Don’t call me that. Reckon it’s time to tell you. Since the bitch is dead now anyway, Jamison, you aren’t mine. So, don’t call me Dad.”
His eyes are stone cold as he shatters the world in which once knew.
When did she die? Why didn’t anyone tell us?
“What?” Jami stammers.
“Your Momma, she was a whore. She’s dead now. Buried her at that cemetery at the corner. Church people were nice since she found Jesus and gave her a plot. I’d just cremated her and threw her ashes in the trash since that’s what she was … trash.”
My sister lunges at our father, her hands going around his neck. “You piece of shit. You raped me over and over again. My whole life is fucked because of you. My mother isn’t trash, you are!”
Her words hit me like she’s punching me in the face. Raped her? Over and over again? The bastard that is Ezra Rivera most certainly beat the hell out of my sister and I ever chance he could, but I never knew he touched her like that. Is that what s
he’s been trying to tell me while she was at Peaks? God, no. My head hurts and the tears threaten to fall.
My stomach roils and I swallow back rising bile.
“Jami, stop!” I yell, wanting her to calm down and be rational. We need to go to the police. We need to turn him in.
“That’s my girl,” Ezra chokes out as he pushes Jami off him and rubs his neck. “Hennessey, you’re my daughter. You’re my pride and joy. You make your Papa proud joining the Navy.”
Oh my God. He thinks I’m still in the Navy. I’ve sent letters home each time we’ve moved to keep our mother updated on the off chance she wanted to repair our relationship. Yet, not once did she reply. His reaction tells me they didn’t even read them.
“You. Are. Not. My. Father. I don’t give a fuck what the DNA says. You have ruled this house with an iron fist. You put your hands on me and broke me as a little girl, but to know what you’ve done to my sister. You’re a sick motherfucker.”
He laughs sardonically. “What the fuck are you two gonna do about it? You can’t prove shit.”
My sister has tears streaming down her face as she begins to speak “The first time, I was thirteen years old. I had started my period. Mom was asleep from her meds. Jenni was at work. I tried to wake her up to tell her. Instead, you found me. Asked me what was wrong.” Jami inhales deeply. “I told you I needed pads, you said you knew just how to teach me about taking care of a woman’s body.”
I again fight back the need to vomit.
“Tight fuckin’ cunt. Got you first, unlike your whore of a mother,” he mutters, and this time, I lunge for him. I don’t give a fuck what happens to him but Jami will not live with the guilt of ending him. I will be the one.
He reaches into the side of the recliner just as I get my hands to his throat. When we shift, he escapes my grasp. Stepping back, I see the glint of metal as Jami cries out, “Gun!”
Jerking away, I try to stand in front of my sister, but she won’t have it.
We stand side by side in front of him as he studies us with a gleam in his eye. As a child, he seemed so much larger. Looking at him now, I don’t know how I ever thought he was someone everyone would fear. I should have spoken up. I should have done more for my sister.
Breathe for It: Hellions Motorcycle Club (Hellions Ride On Book 4) Page 11