“Yeah, I’m beginning to think we need to give these women mental evaluations, not a test run of their bodies,” I say.
“No shit, brother. Have to agree with you on that one.” Our conversation stays on the crazy bunnies that have been brought into the club. Some are no longer here, and some are new. Either way, they’re all a rock loose of the gravel pit. It can’t be helped though, not all of the women in the world, men neither for that matter, were given brain cells that actually work. There’s been a few times that I’ve actually questioned if those I’ve crossed had been dropped a few dozen times on their heads as babies. It’s the only thing that makes any goddamn sense.
I swear I’m surrounded by more dumbasses than a man should be subjected to. Just the other day at the hardware store, I had to dumb down my conversation with a clerk. How the fuck do you work with cutting wood and shit when you have no clue how to measure said shit? I had to get his measuring tape off his side and school him in the difference between feet and inches.
Just as I go to tell my brother this story, the clubhouse door flies open and Cameron comes running in, baby strapped to her chest in some sort of torture device looking thing, but what captures my attention, is the trek of endless tears falling down her cheeks. “The fuck,” Country says as he rushes around the bar to check on his friend.
“I need Gunner, I need him right now,” she stutters out through her sobs. Her crying like a hysterical female gets the baby going. It’s a melody, one I prefer not being on the receiving end of.
“Cameron,” I call out her name as I approach her like one would a wounded animal. “Everything alright, darlin’?”
“No,” she methodically moves her head side to side, nearly giving me whiplash and I’m not the one whose head is about to go flying off their damn neck.
“Want me to take baby girl?” I ask, worried about the baby's safety.
“Cam, baby, what’s wrong?” I hear Gunner approaching behind me. I gladly step aside and let him take his woman and daughter over from here. She whispers something to him and he ushers her down the hall and they disappear behind the closed door of his office.
“Think everything’s okay?” Country asks me.
“By the look on her face, I’m thinking probably not. Who’s on Cameron duty and where the fuck is he?” I ask, looking for someone to come trailing in behind her. With Jamie, the sick fuck, still out there, we’ve been vigilant when it comes to her safety. The mystery behind Cameron’s birth and this so-called omen, or what-the-fuck-ever it’s called, is ridiculous. Who gives a damn if a baby girl was born during a full moon and all this other shit attached to it? So what if she was foretold before her time… the poor woman doesn’t need to be anyone’s sacrificial lamb. I’m pretty sure around the world, she wasn’t the only girl born during that day and time. How the fuck do they know she’s the one that’ll end their tribe?
What-the-fuck-ever.
They’re cowards as far as I’m concerned, you don’t kill an innocent because of what may happen, you ride that shit out.
“Tyson has Cam duty today,” Country answers as he skims over the log behind the bar.
“He better show his face, or he’s gonna get knocked the fuck out,” I answer, now worried that maybe something bad happened to him and that’s why she’s freaked the fuck out.
1
Kruger
“Kruger, we need you in my office.” Gun sticks his head out long enough to call out for me before popping his head back in.
“Good luck, brother,” Country grunts out, giving me a sympathetic look. What the fuck is he worried about? It’s not as if I’m going in there and facing a firing squad or nothing.
Crazy ass motherfuckers.
As soon as I make it to the jamb of his door, I take a second to breathe in a lungful of fresh air. There’s no telling what the fuck I’m gonna walk in on here. Is this all about that Jamie prick and his tribe, or is it something more sinister? These days, none of us are breathing easy, always looking over our shoulder and around the corner, not knowing what enemy we’re gonna happen upon.
Nothing is set in stone with this life we’ve chosen to live. We knew we wouldn’t be living the nine to five type of lifestyle. It’s the adrenaline and unchartered waters that calls to each and every one of us. We’re a band of misfits, never being accepted into society and most of us were always the outcast growing up. It’s why the concept of brotherhood and family appealed to us individually on a higher level. Most of us were born renegades, outlaws if you prefer; whichever terminology is used, describes us to a fucking ‘T’.
As soon as I gather my wits about me, I lightly knock once on the door, not wanting to disturb baby Mane, because it sounds as if she’s finally settled. I don’t hear any wailing coming from behind the closed door, but I do however hear Gunner demand my entrance. “Everything okay, brother?” I ask him as soon as the door shuts behind me.
“Wish I could say it was, Kruger. Take a seat.” I’m fine with that demand until a tumbler of liquor is set before me. Ah, shit, this ain’t gonna be good… not good at fucking all.
“Is it that bad?” I ask, taking the crystal glass and tossing back every morsel. “Give it to me straight, Gun.”
“Cam, take baby girl out of here, would ya?” Gun makes it sound like a question, something she’ll make the ultimate decision on, but truly it's a command that she follows direction.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stick around?” she questions, looking from her daughter to her old man, while never once making eye contact with me. What the fuck did I do wrong now?
“Yeah, babe. There’s gonna be some cursing, some smoking and drinking. Don’t wanna expose my daughter to that shit. Now get gone.” He stands up and helps her gather the baby and her things. He gives her a small kiss on the top of her head before smacking her ass and sending her out of the room.
I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong here, but I find myself reaching for the pack of smokes sitting on Gun’s desk. Pulling one out, I immediately light it and sit back, waiting to find out what’s happened and worried that my life may ultimately change after this conversation. Wanting to prolong things, I say, “We need to talk about the new bunnies. I know when we kicked the old ones out, we stated we’d keep an eye out on the new girls… that Janella bitch, she just won’t stop trying to ride my dick. She doesn't take no as an answer. She pushes and pushes, she’s looking for a patch, brother. She’s gonna trap some poor unsuspecting soul and we’ll be stuck supporting the bitch for the rest of her days.”
“I’ll call church later this week and tell the men about your suspicions. They’ll have to bring their own dick gloves to any future parties with the women. From past lessons we know that if one’s thinking that way, then they have others on the same damn train of thought. Are you done stalling; can I talk about why I called you in here?”
“Don’t know, man. That look on your face has my balls shriveling and my dick trying to hide in my gullet,” I answer, taking in a long hard tug on my cigarette. My eyes stay trained on the ashes forming at the tip of the stick. That feeling of dread wraps its arms around my heart and furiously works to squeeze the life out of it. I now know that this is all about yours truly, and the only person who could ignite this sort of conversation would be Stella.
What’s happened to her now?
Is she safe?
Did those fuckers put hands on her again?
Question after question runs through my mind.
Stella
I can’t seem to get my eyes to open, the incessant beeping in my ear is grating on my last nerve. But I can’t speak to tell whoever is present to shut that annoying thing off. I’m fucking mute, I can hear things happening around me, feet shuffling on the ground, people talking… even though I don’t understand a word they’re speaking. My entire body feels as if it’s been pounded on. Did someone attack me? What the hell is going on? My mind begins to race, and the more I become freaked out, the louder the beeps a
nd chimes become.
There’s something vital I’m missing, something I’m not remembering, but it’s a blank void in my memory bank. It’s important whatever it is, I know it is. Why can’t I remember?
“Stella?” I hear a soothing voice call out. “It’s alright, everything’s going to be just fine. Settle down, you need to rest.”
“Stella? Who the hell is that?” Just as I begin to stress out again, something cool enters my arm and I find myself floating in a cloud of ease. My mind settles and my body relaxes. I’ll think about it all… later.
Kruger
“Stella was in a head-on collision tonight,” Gun carefully informs me. It takes a second to sink in, but when it does, I find myself jumping out of my chair and send it flying back behind me. I can hear it topple over, but don’t stop long enough to set it back to rights. No, I begin pacing the room, thinking about Stella and her current predicament.
“Is she, is she..?” I don’t finish the thought, it can’t be, I’d feel it in my soul if she was gone.
“No, brother. She’s alive, but has been unresponsive so far. There’s more,” he goes on to say. I’m not sure how much more there can be than that, but as I pace the room, my hands come up and begin running over my face.
“Just give it all to me, Gun,” I request, knowing he needs to get it all out so I know what I’m dealing with here. “Don’t procrastinate, brother.”
“She wasn’t alone,” he hesitantly informs me.
“So she, what, has a man?” The thought alone has my blood boiling. I know I sent her away to find her future, but never thought I’d have to hear about it.
“Seems so, he didn’t make it. He was dead on impact,” Gun states, but I have a feeling there’s so much more he’s not shared with me yet.
“And?” I wave my hands through the air, needing him to spit it the fuck out.
“A boy, a small boy. Just a bit younger than Mane is.” As he says this, my world begins spinning. Either Stella moved on very quickly, or she was fucking around with one of my brothers.
“Who, Gun? Who's the damn father? I’m gonna tear them limb from limb,” I maliciously insight. To think that one of my brothers was fucking around with her right under my nose sends waves of shock throughout my system. How dare someone poach on what was presumed to be my territory.
My person.
My property.
She was hands the fuck off to these fuckers and every single one of them knew that. During her duration on the compound, I made it crystal fucking clear that I’d chop the hands off of any one of them if they laid one finger on her body.
Then, I get the shock of my damn life, when he states, “You’re listed as the father on the boy’s birth certificate. Anything you wanna share with me, brother?”
“Say what now?” I question, needing him to affirm what he just spewed.
“Did you and Stella fuck, brother?” he asks this as if I’m an imbecile.
“Don’t you think I’d remember sticking my cock in her cunt? I had a dream one night, and let me tell ya, if that’d been real life, I would’ve claimed her right there and then and never allowed her to leave my sight.” As I issue this, that dream comes front and center in my mind.
Could it be?
Surely the fuck not. I’d have had some evidence on my cock if I’d had it raw inside of her. It was just a dream… right? Fuck me.
“I see you’re second guessing yourself now. Either way, I think you need to get to the bottom of this and find out for sure if that boy’s yours or not. Cam and I are heading that way within the hour, will you be riding with us?”
“Who called Cam and told her? This isn’t some twisted way someone’s come up with to get us out there in the open, is it, Gun?”
“Cam’s old boss called her as soon as he heard. She left a forwarding number and address for her last check. She, the boss, and Stella were tight during Cam’s time there. He’s an old fuck, but respects the hell out of our women. He knew that Cam would wanna be there and help Stella on the road to recovery.” I let that ‘our women’ thing slide for now. All I know is that there’s gonna be hell to pay for keeping my son away from me. I don’t care how much she was trying to protect herself; you don’t keep a man from his seed. End of motherfucking story. She knew better, it’s why she hid from me.
“Yeah, brother, I’ll be riding out with you.” I stand up and leave the room. Heading up to mine, I get a bag out and begin packing clothing and essentials. I’m not leaving until my son is released to my custody. Stella wants him, she’s gonna have to come find me. He will never be leaving my sight as long as I live, she’s gonna have to move this way if she wants to stay and be an everyday part of his life. Because there’s no way in fucking hell I’m gonna have my boy living in another damn state. How can I protect him, father him, if he’s not in front of me?
Looks as if I’m taking my truck, no way I can bring a baby back on my bike. Fuck, I’ll need one of them safety seats too, need to ask Gun about where to get one and which one’s the best.
Fuck, I don’t even know his name or when his birthday is. The more these things come up in my mind, the angrier I get. Since my name is on the birth certificate, I’m thinking it shouldn’t be too hard to obtain custody of him while his mother recuperates. I don’t want to keep her from him, but I’m not gonna make things easy on her either.
Cam’s gonna go ballistic, but seriously, what does she expect outta a man like me? She had to have seen this coming the moment she found out Stella hid my boy from me. This entire thing is fucked the hell up.
I never pictured Stella being a vindictive bitch, but here it is… all laid out in black and white in front of me and I can’t argue the point.
There’s no going back now, it’s gonna be balls to the wall and I will not turn a blind eye to this shit.
Stella started this mess, I’m gonna be the one who finishes it.
2
Kruger
We’ve been on the road for hours; I’m following Gunner and Cam’s vehicle and see Cam’s hands waving around in the air like a damn lunatic. She must be giving Gun the what for. Doesn’t matter, that’s his woman, he can reign her ass in, I’ve got my own to wrangle. The more miles that get eaten up behind me, the more anxious I become to hold my son in my arms.
That night might still be a dream state for me, but the more I think about it, the more I’m consumed with that thought that it happened. Stella wouldn’t mark my name down as the father if it wasn’t the damn truth. My mind also wanders to this fucker that was in the car with her… who the hell was he? Was he playing the role of Daddy to my boy? Was he allowed to see all the firsts I’ve missed?
Fuck, I shouldn’t be traveling down this road. The poor asshole is dead after all, but I can’t help but be envious and pissed off at all the things he experienced that I missed out on. My anger should be solely for the one person who did all of this, who purposely and maliciously kept a father and son apart.
I hope that my boy isn’t scared of me when I hold him and see him for the first time. Is he old enough to get scared of strangers? Shit, I don’t know a fucking damn thing about my own kid. How am I gonna go in that hospital and proclaim to be his dad? I’d think you’d need a name of the person you're looking for in order to be led in their direction. Fuck, should’ve grilled Cameron more before jumping into my truck ready to hit the road.
My only thought at that time had been getting there and making sure my kid and his mom were gonna survive the crash. She needs to survive so I can wring her damn neck myself dammit.
Stella. Damn her, she’s floating up a shit creek and there’s no way I’m gonna give her the paddle to make her way to shore. I know I should be a gentleman and wait to confront her about the why’s of the things she did, but I’m so aggravated that I may need to take a breather before my eyes land on her. Being in the same damn room is gonna play havoc on my temper.
It takes us driving straight through to make it to the hospital. It�
�s late at night, I’m sure visiting hours are over by now, something else to crawl through my skin. I have to be in the same damn town as she is and not see her. I thought I’d have time to cool down before we made it here, but I seem to be seething with anger, even my hands are shaking. Maybe a night away from her is called for. I need to talk to Gunner and get him to talk some damned sense into me.
I’m surprised when we pull up to the same motel that I traveled with Gunner to when we found out that’s where Cam had been hiding out. I sit behind the wheel and toss my hands up in the air at Gunner. He dismisses me with an eye roll before pulling Cam across the console and kissing the daylights out of her.
I mean, really, can’t they do that shit later? I need someone to give me some answers before crashing. As they open the doors to their truck, Cameron grabs Mane out of the backseat while Gunner grabs their bags. I grab mine and keep my trap shut as I follow them inside.
Some mousy little thing with a head full of blonde hair calls out Cameron’s name. “Cam, oh my God, girl, look at you.” She runs around the desk and pulls Gun’s woman into her arms. “Wow, look at that precious baby! She looks really close to Jaggar’s size.”
“Who’s Jaggar?” I ask, and Cam shoots me a wide-eyed look as soon as the question leaves my mouth.
“Your son,” she answers, still being short with me. She needs to get over her beef with me, we’re a damn team and we need to pull together right now. I may not be going in to see Stella with a rainbow flaring out of my ass, but I plan on waving the white flag until she’s released from the hospital.
Shattered Trust : DreamCatcher MC Page 2