“He was quiet at first,” Demon says, his brow creased. “He didn’t come out of his shell until he was patched in.”
“He can speak without thinking at times,” Beef contributes. “Even I’ve noticed, just thought he was being an ass, but some of the things he comes out with…” He shakes his head. A fleeting smile crosses his face but disappears quickly.
Yeah, Lizard can be quite a laugh. But what if the inappropriate things he says aren’t deliberate, but unintentional because of injuries in his head? Doesn’t affect the way I think of him but is worrying instead. Has my brother been struggling and I haven’t fucking noticed?
“If we accept her story at face value, I don’t like that she needs support, and the man who should give it can’t step up and provide it. Christ, if I wasn’t around for Theo, I know everyone here would help.”
“She’s a brother’s woman. She’s got his name on her back. That shows at one time he was fucking serious about her.”
Demon nods at me. “It would appear so. But why does he block her out now? She’s a good-looking bitch, but you say he didn’t look twice at her?”
“Maybe he doesn’t fancy her?”
I bark a short laugh at Beef’s suggestion. “She’s got tits, an ass and a pretty face. When have you seen Lizard want more? No, anyway, what I meant, there was no recognition there at all.”
“Fuck.” Demon lowers his head into his hands. “What happens when a brother cuts an old lady loose? Never experienced it, so don’t know. Do brothers step up if they just grow apart? If she’d stepped out on him, it would be different, but if we’re to believe what she says, she’s been faithful to him all these years. It isn’t her fault the man who made vows to her can’t keep them himself.”
“Are you saying, Prez,” Beef starts, “that we’ve got responsibility for her?”
“I think,” says Demon slowly, “that we need to handle this with kid gloves. If Lizard is still recovering from a serious brain injury, I think we need to step carefully. Confronting him with the truth might do more damage than good. But I don’t want her to leave thinking we’re not going to help her. This is Lizard’s kid we’re talking about. What if one day he remembers, and he discovers his boy in juvie, jail, or worse, six feet under when it could have been prevented?”
Put like that, I agree with Demon. What do we do when a brother isn’t around to do what needs doing, or, in this circumstance, can’t cope? We step up.
Demon raps the table twice. “We’ll get her to bring him here, tomorrow after school. They can stay for the weekend.”
“Er, Prez, it’s party night tomorrow and Saturday. I’m not sure that’s suitable for a kid.”
“Oh come on, Mace. You can keep it PG when he’s around. The kid will have to go to bed at a reasonable time. Vanna and Cas can have my room. Vi and I don’t use it much, it’s easier with Theo to stay at the house.”
“So he stays for the weekend, what then?” Beef sounds confused.
I, too, look at Demon, interested in where his thoughts are on this. I’m listening as he replies to the VP. “Sounds like the kid needs to learn a few home truths which his dad isn’t in a place to share. So, we take him under our collective wing.”
How the fuck do we do that? Well, hopefully Prez has got some ideas even though his lad can only just walk. I suppose we were all Cas’s age once, guess we’ll have to fall back on that.
A quick text to Vi brings Vanna back to the office. When we tell her the plan, she’s at first overwhelmed, then thankful when we give her our reasoning, then her face falls.
“Lizard might not recognise Cas, but Cas will recognise Lizard. Or will when he hears his name. Demon, this will not go well.”
We hadn’t thought of that.
“Mace.” At my name said in that tone, the words following bound to be an instruction, my eyes snap to Prez. “You go to Denver, tomorrow. Speak to Cas, explain about his father, then bring the boy and Vanna back here.”
“Me?” Christ, I’m no child whisperer. I know fuck all about talking to a kid.
“Yeah, you, Mace. You know everything. You’ve met Vanna. You know Lizard. And you because you’ll lay it on the line for him and won’t speak down to him. Kid who’s hotwiring cars and looking at juvie? He needs to hear it as it is and not with sugarcoating.”
Vanna’s face has hope written there for the first time since I met her a few hours ago. She turns to see my reaction. What can I say but raise my chin and give them a yes.
As Vanna gets up to leave, Demon asks, “You okay to drive tonight?”
A fleeting smile. “Roads will be quieter so, yes. Lindy said Cas wouldn’t mind waiting up for me, he’s playing Call of Duty right now.” Her face twists as if she’s not too happy with that. But hey, he’s a kid, and like any others ignores the eighteen-only label.
She leaves, Demon indicates I should stay. He’s quiet, thoughtful for a moment, then he says, “We can’t risk mentioning any of this to Lizard. Fuck knows I don’t know how to handle someone who’s got such a huge fuckin’ hole in his memory. I’ll get Cad digging into his medical records, see what he can find out.”
“Do you reckon his therapist would talk to us?”
“No, but he might talk to Vanna. Lizard won’t be seeing the same one as he’s not in the same area.”
“Fuckin’ therapist told her to stay away.”
“Might have been the right advice for his patient, Beef.”
“Yeah, but not for his kid. It’s all fucked up, Prez. Sounds like that kid needed his dad in his life.”
“Kid’s got us now, Beef.” Suddenly, I’m determined to help.
“Cad knows and the three of us.” Prez’s eyes rest on me, then Beef’s. “Let’s keep this to just us four for now. Liz won’t want his business spread around the club, and I don’t want people treating him differently or making allowances for him. To us, Liz is the same man he’s always been. We’ll see how this plays out, and see how we can help this Cas, whatever way the cards fall.”
My thoughts have gone from thinking Vanna was playing some game to get, I don’t know, support for her kid that maybe wasn’t even Lizard’s, to agreeing we’ll step up and do what we can to fill the void that Lizard can’t.
She seems a decent enough woman, one who’s cared for Liz from a distance all these years. Could we somehow thrust them together, even if he never remembers the past? Get this family unit mended?
Problem is, I just can’t see it. Lizard has always been adamant he doesn’t want a wife or a kid, so how can we push both onto him? A grown kid at that, who’s trouble by the sounds of it.
I walk out of Demon’s office and the first person I spy is Ink. I’m halfway over to him with the greeting of Leatherneck on my lips, which will garner the response of Ground Pounder as I was in the Army, and he in the Marines, when it hits me. Lizard was a Marine, yet I’ve never been tempted to tease him in the same way. Why not? Probably because Ink and I discuss our service and are proud of the time we served. Liz is far more reserved about his tours. Because he can’t fucking remember. With new information in my head, I realise a lot of things suddenly make sense.
The next day I take my truck which I use more often in winter and try to avoid for the rest of the year, and drive to Denver, the GPS guiding me to Vanna’s house just as she’s leaving.
“I’ll be back soon. All I’ve got to do is pick him up from school and bring him here, probably having some argument on the way. Make yourself at home, there are the makings of coffee in the kitchen—”
She’s rambling again, I cut her off. “You go get the boy. I’ll be fine, okay?”
I stare after her car as she drives away. Shows how much she’s worried about her kid; she’s just left a strange man in her home. Her reaction to the Satan’s Devils is warming, most civilians run a mile from us. I think it’s a sign of the regard in which she holds, or held, Lizard. That even changed as he is, if he’s a part of this MC, we won’t bring trouble to her.
I take the opportunity to look around. If I’m going to help the kid, learning his environment can only help. I immediately see she’s doing her best with the little she’s got. Nothing looks new, but everything’s clean and tidy. The television in the living room is old, but probably functional. The sofa is comfortable and the room has a welcoming vibe. The kitchen cabinets are stocked, but with cheap unbranded products. The boy’s fed, at least. All these years she should have been getting support, but I doubt Lizard has paid any. She could have proved their relationship like she had with me, but at first, I suspect she hoped he’d come around to accept it, without DNA tests and the like. Then, she probably just became resigned that it was her on her own. Still, it looks like she’s done the best for her kid.
The latter thought comes when I step into a different realm, Cas’s bedroom. He’s got a good monitor and a fairly new model Xbox with games galore too. Any money she has, it seems to have been spent on him. Kid probably doesn’t appreciate the half of it.
I try to remember myself at fourteen. I, too, was a little shit, I’m certain of that. Maybe Prez choosing me to come here and deal with Cas is the universe’s form of retribution.
I’m drinking a coffee by the time I hear Vanna’s car pull up in the driveway, grimacing at the bitter taste of the cheap brand. I lean back against the counter, in line of sight of the front door.
It opens.
“I don’t understand why you took another fucking day off. It wasn’t fucking necessary.”
“Don’t swear,” Vanna says tiredly, and I suspect this conversation’s been going on since she collected him.
“You call in sick? And you tell me not to fucking lie!” Cas’s half turned to speak to his mother and hasn’t yet noticed me.
“I took leave,” she tells him. “I don’t lie.”
“Fucking hell.”
“Watch your language,” I snarl, causing Cas’s eyes to snap to me.
They widen, his eyebrows rise until they meet his hairline. I suppress a grin. He’s six foot and the image of his father, well, when he was younger that is. Any doubts I may have had over his parentage immediately disappear. His hair flops over his forehead and is redder than Lizard’s. He probably gets the colour from his mom, and, like her, his face is freckled. But it’s his features, his nose and his cheekbones that are all his dad’s.
“Who the fuck are you?”
He might be tall, but I’m taller. I’m also a heavily muscled man, from the neck down covered in tattoos. I’m probably not who he’d expect to find standing at the kitchen counter in his mom’s house.
Wisely, he takes a step backward which brings him up against his mom. I notice her hands rise and clasp his biceps as if comforting him.
“I asked who the fuck you are, and what you’re fucking doing here?”
“Watch your language,” I bark again. I may not have risen to Sergeant-Major during my time in the Army, but I’ve been at the other end of enough orders to mimic the tone. “If you ask again properly, then I’ll tell you who the fuck I am.”
“You’re swearing,” he challenges.
“I’m a fuckin’ man,” I respond. “But I’ll do you a deal. What new game do you want?” He stares at me sullenly, clearly unable to understand, so I make myself clearer. “You got an Xbox? Come on, there must be a game you want to get your hands on?”
His eyes grow even wider until they resemble saucers. “Er, the new Call of Duty?”
Tugging at the chain that attaches it to my belt, I take hold of my wallet, open it and take out three ones, slapping them down on the counter. “I swear, I pay. You swear, you pay. You don’t swear? I’ll buy you the game, anyway.”
He swings around to look at his mother, but she’s relaxed and unconcerned. In fact, I see her mouth twitching at the corners as if she’s trying not to smile. Then his gaze returns to me, and his expression is guarded. “You still haven’t told me who you are.”
I nod, as he’s asked without punctuating his statement with profanity.
“Are you a friend of Mom’s?” Now he looks suspicious.
“No,” I reply, noticing how he steps slightly more in front of Vanna, and he takes a small move up in my estimation. It’s a protective gesture, whether conscious or not. “I’m not a friend of your mom’s. But I am a friend of your dad’s.”
Chapter Seven
Vanna
Oh no!
This is so not how I expected this to go. I thought Mace would ease Cas in gently, not drop this on him all at once.
I was impressed when Mace had given Cas a reason to stop swearing—the equivalent of a swear jar. Why had I never thought of that?
Now I’m totally horrified. So yes, if Mace had said he was a friend of mine, Cas would have gotten all the wrong ideas, but coming straight out with he’s a friend of his father’s will immediately make Cas’s hackles go up.
My hands are still on his arms, no longer reassuring, but ready to hold on should he try to get out the door. Not that I’d have much chance at physically stopping him, but I’d make a darn good attempt.
While Cas stands stock still, and I stand stunned, Mace leans back comfortably as if he’s used to propping up the kitchen furniture in my home. When Cas moves, it’s not to run, it’s to move closer to the stranger in the room.
“A friend of my dad’s? Then you’re not welcome in this house. Tell him, Mom, tell him to go.” My son makes his desperate sounding appeal without turning around.
“Cas,” I make do with addressing his back, “listen to him, please.”
“He’s not saying anything I want to fucking hear.”
“I’m keeping count,” Mace says, mildly.
“And I don’t give a fucking damn.”
Suddenly Mace stands. He’s taller than Cas, and far more heavily built. As he pushes away from the counter, my son takes a step back. I don’t blame him.
“Stay right where you are,” Mace demands.
Christ. Is that man’s voice loud? And commanding. He might not have been speaking to me, but I’m rooted to the spot.
“I want to talk to you man-to-man, and you’re going to listen. You old enough for that, or do you want to go play with your toys?” He sneers the last word.
“I’ll listen if it’s anything I want to know.” Cas tenses but replies. I suspect only I can hear the sliver of nervousness in his voice.
“Not the way this works, boy,” Mace sneers. “Men listen to facts, then make up their minds. Filtering out the unpleasant shit,” he pauses, opens that wallet and slaps another dollar down, “means you’ll remain ignorant all your life. You want to be treated like a man? You sit and have a discussion.”
“Why should I when I already know what you’re going to say? Mom’s obviously asked you to talk to me, so I can guess why you’re here. You’re going to tell me I shouldn’t have hotwired a car. That I shouldn’t have crashed it—”
Mace snorts. “You shouldn’t have gotten caught, and before you steal a car, you should learn to fuckin’ drive.”
As a dollar slams down, my lips curve. Cas is going to have his new game in record time.
Cas, though, is stunned. “Who are you?” he says at last, almost in a whisper.
“Name’s Mace. I’m the enforcer for the Satan’s Devils MC.”
My feet now under my control, I walk further into the room so I can see my son’s expressions. He’s looking confused.
And disbelieving. “Where’s your cut and motorcycle?”
“I came in my truck for reasons I’ll tell you soon. And even if I was on my bike, I’m based out of Pueblo. Wearing my cut out of area is disrespectful unless it’s been cleared that I can fly my colours in your town. Respect is a code that I live by. You give me respect, I give it back. Disrespect me or mine? Then you’ll soon wish you hadn’t.”
I may not agree with everything Mace is saying, especially when he essentially told my son hotwiring a car wasn’t wrong but that getting caught was, but this conversation is ex
actly what my son needs. Getting told what’s what by a man. A man who’s demanding respect.
I’ve tried, but I’m Mom.
Suddenly Cas grins and asks hopefully, “You gonna show me how to drive?”
“Nope,” Mace replies, popping the p. “Not if you’re going to steal cars. Something you shouldn’t do, or only when absolutely necessary. You know who you stole that car from?” When Cas shrugs, Mace continues, “What if they had a sick kid, or a sick ma or pa? What if a friend called, needed his or her help urgently? What if they couldn’t work as they had no transportation? What was your need, Cas? Was your need greater than theirs?”
Another shrug, but this one not quite so certain.
“What was your need?” Mace asks again.
A pause then, a defeated, “I was bored. Just wanted to see if I could do it.”
“Happy to teach you how to hotwire most models of cars, Cas, but only if you promise to only ever use those skills when it’s life or death. Deal?”
Well I’ll be damned. As Mace steps forward holding out his hand, Cas steps forward and shakes it. “Deal.”
“Few things for you to agree to, Cas, if you’re going to be my friend. You never, ever take a man’s ride. You never even touch a man’s bike without permission. You never put your hands on another man’s cut, even to move it so you can sit down. You understand?”
Cas nods. He looks serious, taking it all in, but curious as well, not understanding why Mace is telling him this.
Mace raises his chin and then jerks it in my direction. “You, me and your mom are driving back to Pueblo soon as you’re packed. You’re staying the weekend on the Satan’s Devils’ compound. I’ll show you the bikes, take you on the back of mine if your mom’s agreeable.”
“What?” Cas looks to me, his eyes shining. “This for real, Mom?”
I look toward Mace. Cas hasn’t put two and two together yet. Not surprising, I hadn’t told him Lizard is a biker.
Devil's Spawn: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #6 Page 6