BARR: a bay falls high novel

by Kidman, Jaxson

  Hiding alone together.

  The way it was always meant to be.

  Like forever had found a way to slip back within my reach.

  * * *

  Mel was on her chest, the sheets pulled down to the small of her back, leaving me with no choice but to sit up in my bed and stare at her all night long. We had shared a drink after finishing our alone time and she made it very clear she wasn’t moving from the bed until morning.

  And there wasn’t a single objection from me.

  In fact the only thing that was pissing me off was my phone vibrating from the floor.

  Still tucked away in the back pocket of my jeans.

  I reached for Mel with my left hand.

  The touch of my fingertips to her back made her gasp and her skin shivered and tightened.

  “Sorry, love,” I whispered. “Didn’t mean to scare you. Just needed to make sure you were still there.”

  “I can feel you staring at me, Barr,” Mel said.

  “Your point?”

  Mel turned her head and looked at me. “I’m here. I’m not some ghost. I hope not. Because that means you would have slept with a ghost.”

  “That’s the kind of freaky shit Kip is into I bet,” I said.

  “I’d rather not talk about Kip when I’m naked,” Mel said.

  “Good point. I’m going to grab a smoke and my phone. The way it’s going off it’s either Pres or Tinsley. And if it’s Pres, it’s because Tinsley is telling him to text me. You should get in touch with Tinsley and Ruby too.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Mel said. “This bed is so comfortable. I’m not moving.”

  “I don’t blame you, love,” I said.

  I climbed out of the bed and walked to get my jeans off the floor.

  As I walked, I stepped on what once was the bag of ice I gave to Mel.

  Now water, the bag opened with a loud pop! sound that not only scared the hell out of me and made me jump, but when I brought my right foot back down, I stepped on the bag, in the water, and guess who fell right down to their ass wearing nothing but their birthday suit?

  Yeah. Me.

  “Barr!” Mel yelled as she popped up from the bed.

  She held the blankets to her chest.

  I looked back at her. “I slid on your fucking ice.”

  Mel just started to laugh.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Don’t ask how I am.”

  “I hope you didn’t break anything,” she said.

  “Funny,” I said.

  I sat on the floor and reached for my jeans.

  My phone was buzzing again.

  I curled my lip, pissed and embarrassed that I slid on water.

  “Pres, what the fuck do you want?” I yelled into the phone.

  He said one sentence and ended the call.

  I threw my phone across the loft and down the steps.

  “Barr, what was that about?” Mel asked.

  I reached for my cigarettes and hurried to light one up.

  Mel touched my shoulder and I jumped.

  “Barr…”

  I looked back at her. “Enjoy your night, love.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Mac’s at BFH looking for me.”

  eighteen

  I wasn’t sure I felt the tension I did ever as I walked to the large window in my room. Pres and Kip were in the middle of the room, standing side by side, waiting.

  Up in the loft, Tinsley and Ruby went to sit with Mel.

  Figures, right? I have all three in my bed and I have to leave…

  I grinned and caught my blurry reflection in the window.

  My mind racing dirty like Kip’s and trying to focus like Pres… all the while living the life of Barr.

  I backed away from the window and swallowed down everything I knew about Mac and BC. This wasn’t a time to travel into the past or show any kind of apprehension. I had brought this upon myself. And the Rulz.

  As I passed by the steps to the loft, I gave a nod. No way I was going back up there. Mel was stuck between standing strong and breaking down. I had helped her get dressed and told her Tinsley and Ruby were coming over to stay with her. When she didn’t ask a single question as to why, that’s when it hit me that she understood what the Rulz were. But it also pained me because she had already been through something like that at Brooks Crest.

  I walked out of the bedroom and led the way outside to Pres’s SUV.

  He got behind the wheel. I got into the passenger seat. Kip slid across the backseat and sat forward, his head right between Pres and me.

  I lit a cigarette.

  Pres started to drive.

  I rubbed my jaw after the first drag. “She’s been through this before.”

  “What?” Pres asked.

  “All of it. Seeing me leave in the middle of the night to handle business. It got the best of us before. Ruined everything. I was walking away and she was waiting for me. But I wasn’t walking fast enough.”

  “And she didn’t wait long enough,” Kip said.

  “Which isn’t her fucking fault, Kip,” I said.

  Kip grabbed my shoulder. “I know, Barr.”

  “I got a call from Brando that some shit was going on,” Pres said. “Last thing I wanted to hear was his goddamn voice while I was alone with Tinsley…”

  “Oh, baby,” Kip said.

  I looked at Kip and he put his hand over his mouth.

  “I told him it better be for a good reason he’s calling me,” Pres said. “It was. BC was at the football field. They drove onto the field. Did a couple burnouts. Just for fun. And then Maverick said something and…”

  Pres shook his head.

  I swallowed hard. “Fuck. How bad?”

  “He can still talk,” Kip said. “And see. And he has all of his limbs.”

  “And he can run,” Pres said. “But when he looks in the mirror he’ll remember not to get mouthy with BC.”

  “He’s lucky they didn’t kill him,” I said.

  “Mac made it clear he was looking for us,” Pres said.

  “Us,” Kip said as he grabbed my shoulder again. “Hear that, Barr? Us. So don’t take this on yourself.”

  “I did this,” I said. “There were other ways I could have gotten to Mel. If I really wanted to. I let the time just keep building up. I didn’t care. Even though I did care. I don’t fucking know. When I left…”

  I went silent.

  They let me go silent.

  I had to find my words.

  All of them.

  The cigarette helped me do that.

  “When I left, it was without a fight,” I said. “Mac tried to build it up that I abandoned them. Left them high and dry. The reality is that they jumped me and wanted me out. Which was fine by me. I was getting out of BC anyway. I was going to be with Mel. We were going to take off together. But I fucked that up. And when I couldn’t find her… there was a part of me that believed she had gone on to something better too.”

  I took a breath.

  “You came back here and look what we did,” Kip said.

  “It’s not that,” I said. “If I stayed and did what I wanted to do…” I looked at Kip. “Mac wouldn’t be alive right now.”

  Kip sat back and didn’t say a word.

  “So we finish this thing up for good,” Pres said.

  “There is no finishing up for good,” I said. “That’s the thing. All of this shit… East vs West, HCH, BC…”

  “Then we make it known we’re not taking any shit in our town,” Kip said.

  “I went up there and started this,” I said. “Because I just assumed Mac hurt Mel.”

  “Just the same as what Cole did…”

  “That was different,” I said. “Stop bringing that up, Pres. Mac took the heat for that too.”

  I looked at Pres and he kept his eyes focused on the road.

  He knew what that meant.

  If things were going to be right or fair, then…

  Then it meant
not only did I deserve to get my ass kicked - I deserved to be kicked out of the Rulz.

  * * *

  Mac knew everything.

  He knew where to park in the BFH lot where there were no cameras.

  Leaning against the front of an even bigger SUV than what Pres had, Mac took a drag from his cigarette and flicked it into the air.

  He blew smoke and didn’t move an inch.

  Of course not.

  Why would he come to me? He would wait. And he would attack.

  That I knew.

  “Stop here,” I said to Pres.

  Pres listened. “Let’s go.”

  “No,” I said. “Let me talk to him first.”

  “Alone?” Kip asked. “Not a chance.”

  “We’re all deep in this,” Pres said.

  “Just listen to me,” I said. “Let me talk to him. Just me and him. Nobody else is there right now. This goes way back, okay? When I started what became BC, Mac always wanted to change the game. He wanted to push forward. Hard. He knew he was stuck at Brooks Crest for a long time.”

  “I’m opening my door,” Pres said.

  “One hint of anything and we’re there,” Kip said. “I don’t care what happens.”

  I opened the door and Pres grabbed for me.

  I looked back and he had his fist out.

  Kip put his fist to Pres’s.

  I nodded and put my fist to theirs.

  “Fuck these guys,” Pres said.

  “Yeah,” Kip said. “Fuck them.”

  I grinned. “Nobody fucks with the Rulz.”

  I lit another cigarette as I walked toward Mac.

  We were the same height, same build, but everything about him was dark and dangerous. The color of his hair. His eyes. The way his face snarled all the time. And yet when Mac tried to look happy, he still had that complete bad boy vibe to himself that drove a lot of girls crazy.

  All things considered, Mac and I could have really been close friends. If we had just met in the middle, we could have controlled everything.

  “How’d you like the field?” I asked him.

  “Might need to invest in some grass seed,” Mac said.

  “So I heard. I’m sure I’ll get shit for that one.”

  “Nah,” Mac said. “One of your guys got a little mouthy but we took care of his mouth.”

  “We?” I asked.

  The SUV doors opened and out came BC.

  I laughed to myself as they moved like they were in some biker show or something.

  Taz. Raf. Aric. Les.

  And they were ready for a fight. Baseball bats, knives, ready to leave their mark on me.

  I looked over my shoulder and saw two other guys standing at Pres’s SUV.

  “Just to keep things real,” Mac said. “Plus, I’m working in some new guys. See how they handle some heat. I mean, the Rulz… that’s real shit.”

  I looked at Mac and nodded. “Yeah, it is. So do we want to dance around here or just get to it?”

  “You know me, Barr, I don’t dance,” Mac said.

  I laughed. “That’s true. You never appreciated the moment, Mac. The buildup. You just went for it all.”

  “Except with the ladies,” Mac said. “I can drive them crazy for a long time. Just ask Melody.”

  I stepped forward and Aric swung his bat - sort of gently - and hit me in the stomach.

  “Watch yourself, Barr,” Aric said.

  The hit to the stomach made me lose my breath for a second.

  Mac laughed. “Come on, brother. What did you think would happen there? Huh? You left her in pieces, man. You were supposed to go to some music show or something, right? She was going to become something and you ruined her. Just like you tried to ruin BC. With your bullshit games and parties. Trying to be the tough guy. The cool guy. Right?”

  “And what are you, Mac?”

  “I’m the guy,” Mac said. “That’s what BC needed.”

  “So you’re cool with getting involved with the shady stuff… like the black bags you’d move around, right? Bumping up against Claire and her secret business stuff. And I’m still just curious what happened in HCH…”

  “With my main man Ryland?” Mac asked.

  “Oh, he turned out just fine,” Taz said. “Nothing to worry about there.”

  “He’s been quiet lately,” Raf said. “I wonder why…”

  Mac just stared at me. With a cold hatred that took me back to memories I didn’t want to relive again.

  I looked at Les. “I guess you owe me one. Then again, what you fuckers did to me, I still owe you all one.”

  “Then let’s figure it out,” Les said.

  He pulled out his knife and Mac put his hand out. “I think Barr is right here.”

  “I’m always right, Mac,” I said. “Always have been. Always will be.”

  “But you left. And you left so much behind.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.”

  “You really just showed up again, huh?” Mac asked. “Over Melody. Sweet, sweet, Melody. Or… Mel. Right? Or… Ody.” Mac laughed. “You never realized how weak you were around her.”

  “Do what you have to do, Mac,” I said. “All I know is that she’s safe now. She’s away from you. And everything to do with her mother’s life.”

  “Yeah, I know about that life, Barr,” Mac said. “Melody told me all about it.”

  “Hell, we even went to visit,” Aric said.

  “But her mother kept her clothes on,” Taz said.

  “Probably a good thing,” Raf said. “Gravity did not treat her well.”

  I stayed calm.

  Mac wanted a reaction.

  He thrived on it.

  Slowly, they all started to surround me. Making a circle around me, leaving me in the middle as I smoked my cigarette.

  “Did you find who you were actually looking for?” Mac asked.

  “I did,” I said. “Took care of that. You really left her hanging there, didn’t you?”

  “Oh, brother, she was so hung up on you,” Mac said. He moved toward me. “She’d make mistakes… Oh, Mac… oh, Mac… you’re so much bigger than anyone else… and then… she’d fuck up.” Mac got closer. “She’d say Oh, Barr…”

  I curled my lip.

  Mac grinned. “Does it feel different now? Because there was a lot of Melody to go around…”

  I grabbed Mac by his shirt and pulled him so we were nose to nose.

  Aric and Raf grabbed my arms and pulled me away.

  Or at least they tried to.

  Then Les joined the fun, putting his knife to my throat.

  “My turn,” Les said. “Want to get on your hands and knees?”

  “You’d like that too much, Les,” I said.

  He pushed the blade to my neck harder.

  “It’s okay,” Mac said. “Everyone just relax. See… this is why it could never work, Barr. You let that bitch into your head too much. I did you a favor. I chased her away. But she came crawling back for more. Now you’re defending her. About to lose everything again over her.”

  “She’s worth it to me,” I said.

  “How fucking sweet,” Les said. “My heart is aching for you, Barr.”

  “I think Les is getting hard,” I said.

  “What?” Les growled.

  “You still have that side to you, Barr,” Mac said. “I know who you are, brother. But rolling into Brooks Crest like that is not a good thing.”

  “So you rolled into BFH and made your mark,” I said. “On top of what happened with Cole. And Ado and Bain…”

  “They’re still hanging around,” Mac said. “Cole, not so much. He’s gone. For good.”

  That sent a cold chill up my spine.

  When Mac said the words gone and for good, that could have meant a lot of things. Meaning Cole could have been back home living in his parents high rise, living a life of nothing but luxury. Or it could have meant he was dead. Simple as that.

  “So is that what we do?” Mac asked. �
��Just keep throwing punches back and forth?”

  “We never did anything to you,” I said. “I know Cole wasn’t taking orders from you. Just like the Rulz… they had nothing to do with Mel.”

  “So it’s just you,” Mac said.

  “It’s you and me Mac,” I said. “Why don’t you tell your boys here to give us some space?”

  “This is better,” Mac said.

  “No, it’s not,” I said. “We have the past to work out still. Mel had nothing to do with it. For you or me. You didn’t go near her. You didn’t touch her.”

  “I didn’t want your leftovers,” Mac said.

  “Right,” I said. I moved forward and grabbed Les’s arm and shoved him away. “Fuck yourself, Les.”

  Aric jammed the end of his baseball bat into my ribs and I dropped to one knee.

  Taz put the end of his bat to the back of my head. “One hit, motherfucker, and you’ll be sleeping for a long time.”

  I looked up at Mac and smiled. “Can never stand alone, huh?”

  “Fuck you, Barr,” Mac said. “You’re trying to get to me.”

  “Caught me,” I said. I stood up again. “So what’s your plan, Mac? You want to start this war?”

  Mac curled his lip. “Last I heard you’ve been starting plenty. My boy Uly is all kinds of fired up because of you. The Rulz just can’t pick one girl and be happy.”

  “So you want to watch East vs West?” I asked. “Or better yet… go the fuck back to Brooks Crest and stay there.”

  “Send me back then, Barr,” Mac said.

  “You know what? I can do that. I’m going to walk away and go back to my house. I’m going to get some sleep. I’m going to hold Mel tight against me. And then tomorrow night I’m going to see you at the ditch, Mac. And we’ll work this shit out.”

  “I like it,” Mac said. “Now you’re thinking straight again, brother. That’s good. I worry about you, Barr.” Mac grabbed my face with his hands. “I loved you like a brother, Barr. I hurt because of you. Sometimes I miss you. But I’m going to have to destroy you. End this for good. Get rid of these memories. These feelings. Then I can watch East vs West. You pushed back on Uly. That’s great. I might leave a few pieces for him to pick at when it comes to the Rulz.”

  Mac stepped back and nodded.

  At the same time, Raf and Les swung their baseball bats, hitting me in the stomach.