Dirty Secret Baby

by Alycia Taylor

  “Listen to me; you’re going to be fine. Can I tell you a little secret?”

  He nodded. A little tear fell down his face, and I wiped it away.

  “I’m going to go and see your daddy.”

  “Daddy? Please, can I come? Please.” I hated the desperation in his voice. I hated that I would not be able to give in this time. This was something I had to do without him.

  I shook my head. “I’m not allowed to see him. You know what Duke is like. But I’m going to go and talk to him and see if he can help us. I have to be careful, and I have to be quick. There’s a guard waiting at the front door, so I’m going to sneak out the bathroom window. I’ve already checked it, and it will be easy to do without anyone seeing me. I’ll come back the same way, and nobody will even know that I went out. You’ll be fine here. Duke is not here, so you can just stay in bed and pretend to be sleeping. Okay? I have to make sure that I get to Daddy without anyone seeing me. I’m only telling you all this because I know that I can trust you and count on you. Do you understand?”

  Bobby nodded. He seemed pleased that I had told him the truth and that I was treating him like a big boy. “Will you be quick?”

  “My darling, I’ll be as quick as I can. But like I said, Duke isn’t going to be here, so you’ll be fine. Okay?”

  “Can I put a pillow under the duvet, so it looks like you are sleeping too in case anyone comes in?”

  I looked at Bobby and shook my head in disbelief. Where did he learn something like that? “You’re a clever kid. That’s a great idea. I tell you what: if you stay here like a good boy and if I manage to talk to your dad, I promise you that we can go and get you a dog soon.”

  “Really?”

  It probably wasn’t the wisest thing to say to a kid that would hold me to this promise. But if anyone deserved a dog, it was Bobby. I nodded. “Really. I love you, Bobby. And I’m sorry about all of this. I’m doing the best that I can.”

  He nodded again. “I know you are.”

  I waited until Duke was gone and the house was silent. I helped Bobby make a makeshift body in the bed and then kissed him goodbye. He looked frightened, and I hated leaving him, but it was the only option that I had. I had to at least get the word out to Axel. I put a dark hooded jacket on, snuck out to the bathroom and climbed out. The escape was easy, and with everyone watching the race I didn’t have to worry about anyone looking my way. I climbed into the car and drove off to the race. I didn’t have the keys, but my years around the club had taught me a few tricks, and I knew how to hot wire a car with ease. Now the only concern I had was getting to Axel on time and not bumping into Duke.

  I spotted Axel right away and was grateful when I saw him alone. I drove right up to him as he stood by his bike and called him over. At first, he didn’t seem to know who I was, which was a good thing. I wanted to make sure that from a distance nobody would know it was me. If even just one person from the opposing team recognized me, I was going to be in trouble. And I was in trouble it meant Bobby would be in trouble.

  He walked up to the car and gasped.

  “Savannah!”

  I put a finger to my mouth. “I’m not supposed to be here. Quickly, get in.”

  He got into the car and immediately took me in his arms and kissed me. His soft lips against mine made me tremble. I felt my body melt into the chair. I almost gave into the kiss but I had to be quick, so I pushed him away.

  “I can’t stay. Listen, I’m here because I overheard Duke and Jock saying that they were going to sabotage the race.” The words tumbled out of me. I had to get them out as quickly as possible in case someone came past and saw us.

  “What? Are you serious? How?”

  “They’re going to do something to your bike. Is there any way you have a spare bike somewhere that you can switch to at the last minute?”

  “Uh, actually. . .yeah, I can use Spike’s. He bought his along too.”

  “Good. And you’re fine to race with it?”

  “Yeah, I’ve used his bike so many times.”

  “Switch when the race starts. Okay?”

  “I can’t believe you came to tell me this. How did you get away?”

  “I snuck out the window,” I said. “I had to take a chance, Axel. I couldn’t let you do this race without knowing. I’m just so glad that I managed to get here on time and pull this off. I can’t let them see me. He’s such a coward. First, he makes Jock race instead of him, and then he makes a plan to do something to your bike. He’s a scared and stupid man. So stupid that I overheard what he was saying.”

  “It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you so much. So much. Where’s Bobby? It was torture seeing him the other day. I hope he doesn’t hate me.”

  “He doesn’t hate you. He could never hate you. I told him the truth about where I was going today. I had to. He’s such a good boy. He’s in bed now, waiting for me. Thankfully there’s nobody at the house except for the stupid guard watching the front door.”

  Axel chuckled. “You thought of everything. I don’t want to leave you. I just want to stay here with you.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to leave either. But you have a race to do, and I have to get back.”

  “Are you okay though? I just need to know that you are fine. I’ve been going out of my mind not being able to talk to you. I worry about you and Bobby every single day. He hasn’t done anything to you, has he? Please tell me hasn’t.”

  “We’re fine. We hate it there, and we hate Duke, but we’re fine. And don’t worry, he hasn’t done anything to us. I won’t let him.”

  “The race is about to start, and it’s quick. Stay and watch it. I want you to see it.”

  “I’ll do my best. But I can’t be seen.”

  “Don’t worry. Everyone is watching the race. I better go. Thank you for the warning. You’re amazing; you know that?”

  “I try,” I said and smiled at him. It felt so good to see him again. I’d missed his face.

  He kissed me one more time and climbed out the car. I watched him walk over to Spike. Spike turned around briefly and waved at me. I waved back. I watched them switch bikes and saw him heading to the start line. My desire to watch the race overcame me and I decided to stay and see who won. My heart was beating so loudly in my chest it was hard to hear anything. I thought back to that first race I had done with Axel. I remembered how happy I had been that he hadn’t gone easy on me just because I was a girl. Axel had always seen me as an equal. It was one of the things that I had always liked so much about him. The memories came flooding back now. How he’d exchanged the pink slip for a date. How we’d raced to the pub. How connected I had felt to him from the very moment I had laid eyes on him. Please win. Please win.

  I listened to the roaring of the bikes' engines and watched as they sped off. The crowd went wild. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I climbed back into the car and drove to the end, just in time to see that Axel was crowned victorious. A tear fell down my face in happiness. He did it. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but I could only hope that his victory meant that he would get us back. Either way, Duke had not won. I couldn’t wait to go home and tell Bobby. I had to get out of there before anyone saw me. I had to get back to my son.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Axel

  I won.

  I knew I would. Especially after seeing Savannah and finding out that they had planned to sabotage me. All that did was fuel my fire. They never saw me switch bikes with Spike. So when I got there at the start of the race and saw the smirk on their faces, I simply smiled at them and waved as if I had no idea what was going on. Nothing could stop me from winning. When it was over, I went to talk to Duke, but he was gone. He sped away so fast I didn’t even get the chance to talk to him. Jock stayed behind and handled it like a big boy. He was impressed. He clearly thought that I had won despite the sabotage, and he was looking at me like I was a rock star.

  I went home with Pop that night. I thought of going right
to Duke’s, but I needed to calm myself down and wait for my moment. But I only managed to get a few hours’ sleep. By five thirty in the morning, I was wide-eyed and ready to go. I found Pop in the kitchen. He smiled when he saw me and handed me a coffee.

  “You’re up early,” I said.

  “Yeah. I’m always up early. But I especially couldn’t sleep today.”

  “Me too. I want to go now.”

  “Have some coffee and go. Why wait?”

  I looked at Pop in surprise. I had been sure he would tell me to wait until later. “Really?”

  “Yeah, for sure. Go out and get her. It’s probably better if you go there early and take him by surprise like this. It won’t give him the chance to even think things through. You did well my boy. I was very proud of you last night.”

  I smiled at him. “I saw Savannah last night.”

  He frowned. “Savannah? What do you mean?”

  I told him the story about how she had come to warn me and how I had swapped bikes with Spike. I had forgotten that he hadn’t known about it. After the race, we had all been so swept up in me winning that I had forgotten to tell them about the sabotage.

  “I was just so lucky that Spike was there with his bike. And lucky that Savannah managed to come and warn me. She took a big gamble. And she left Bobby behind when she came to tell me. Poor kid must’ve been so scared at home alone. I’m so proud of him. He’s a good kid that. And Duke is just the worst sort of man,” I said.

  “Wow. I guess I’m not surprised. I had no idea. Goes to show how little attention I pay. I know what your bike looks like. I know Spike’s is similar, but there is a difference. Well, if I didn’t notice, then they certainly didn’t notice. Anyway, even if they did, it wouldn’t matter. That’s not going against the rules. Wow, they have some nerve trying to sabotage the race. Especially since you were supposed to race Duke in the first place. Not only did he send someone else to race, but he still wasn’t confident enough to do it in a fair way. Shocking.”

  I sighed and took a sip of my coffee. “Yeah. Well, this is it. I’m going to get her back.”

  “You’ve got this, Axel. Just remember to keep calm. That is the key to winning against Duke. He lets his emotions get in the way, but you don’t have to. Keep calm and get her back.”

  I waited until just before six and made my move. When I got to the house, it was quiet. The only person outside was the bored looking guard. I laughed when I saw him. Here he was trying to do his job and Savannah had snuck off anyway the night before. When he saw me, he groaned.

  “What are you doing here? It’s so early,” he said quietly. He didn’t want to wake the house up.

  “I’m here to see Duke,” I called out loudly.

  “Duke is asleep.”

  “Well, wake him up.”

  “Really?”

  “If you don’t wake him up, I’m going to scream until he gets up anyway. So you might as well do it peacefully.”

  “Really?” he asked.

  “Really. And you should know by now that I’m not joking. We both know why I am here.”

  The guard looked at me to see if I was being serious, then sighed and went outside. At least I was giving him something to do. The guy must get so bored standing out there for so long. He was the same guard I had seen the last time. I wondered when he got a break. Five minutes later, Duke came out looked bleary-eyed. I could see that he had spent the night before drinking. He looked as if he had only gotten a few hours’ sleep. His clothes were rumpled, and his eyes were bloodshot. I could see them even from the distance we were standing. I hoped he wouldn’t get too close to me because I didn’t want to even know what his breath smelled like. He stumbled out the house and looked at me.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he said. As usual, his voice was loud. I had never met anyone with such a loud voice before.

  “You know why I’m here,” I said calmly.

  Obviously, just seeing me there set him off because he began yelling and screaming at me like a madman. His voice reverberated throughout the quiet morning air, and soon people from the surrounding houses came out to see what the commotion was. Most of these people were members of the club. Families who had moved out of the clubhouse but still wanted to be close. I looked around at them and smiled. This was exactly what I was hoping would happen. Duke might be many things, but he would not want to look like a coward in front of these people. For now, though, I had caught him when he was feeling most vulnerable, and he was not coming off like the strong leader some of the people saw him as. Right now, he just looked like an old man who did not know how to handle his alcohol.

  “I’m sorry about the noise everyone. I only came to talk to Duke, but I didn’t expect him to react this way.”

  Duke swore loudly, and I saw a lady cover her child’s ears.

  “As you all know, I raced Jock last night. That, however, was never the official plan. The plan was for me to race Duke. But he didn’t want to do it himself, so he got Jock to do it instead. The reason was simple: if I won, I would get to take my girlfriend and my son back,” I said.

  “You raced me to prove a point,” he said. “You raced me so to gain respect.”

  I smiled. “That’s where you’re wrong. Yes, I wanted to race you so for the respect. But you didn’t race me. You chickened out. Now, are you going to be a coward in front of all these people that look up to you? Are you really going to go back on a deal you made? Are you that kind of person? Or will you be a man and so the right thing?”

  I looked at Duke and waited for him to say something. He muttered something under his breath and then swore at me again. A woman yelled out, “Duke!” to reprimand him and I saw him flush. Duke was not used to people looking at him in that way. He wasn’t a nice man, but he was well respected in the club.

  “Everyone, I just want you all you know that my girlfriend is the lovely Savannah. You all know her, and you all knew her father. She has no problem with this club and no problem with Duke,” I said. I needed to lie a little to get them on my side. “But she wants to be with me. Bobby is my son. The only reason she never told me was because I am a part of a rival motorcycle club and she knew what problems it would cause. But when her father died, she decided to come and tell me. We fell in love all over again. She came to live with me, and I was the happiest man you’d ever meet. I mean, you’ve seen Savannah; who couldn’t love someone like that? But Duke here doesn’t want her to live with me. He’s got her trapped inside that house.” I paused for effect. I heard the women gasp. “Now, all I ask is for Duke to give her back to me. After all, what kind of a person does this? Who bets for someone’s freedom? How could you be so careless with her life? Especially if you consider her to be one of your own? Do the right thing, Duke. Don’t just do it for me. Do it for Savannah. Do it for this club. I know how much all these people mean to you. Do it for them.”

  Duke looked around at all the faces watching him. He was waiting for them to take his side, but nobody did. There were too many families watching him. Too many young children and women. He knew now that I had talked him into a corner. He knew that if he didn’t do the right thing, he would be ousted. The head of the club needed to be respected by all. He could do a lot of things, but the moment he lost that respect, it was over. Duke was a very proud man. He wanted to be head of the club for the control. For the way that people revered him and followed his every move. He would not want to give that up. He stood there, looking at everyone and then looking at me. And then, he walked inside. I stood there, hoping and praying I had done the right thing.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Savannah

  I knew there was something going on outside. I could hear Duke screaming. I tried to listen to what other voice I could hear, but I couldn’t make it out. I was too nervous to think that it might be Axel. But it was so early in the morning that I figured it wouldn’t be him. But if it wasn’t him, then who was Duke shouting at. Duke probably had a lot of enemies so I should
n’t be surprised. But he generally liked to put on a front in front of people. Only a few of us got to see what he was really like. Unfortunately, I was one of those few. Everyone else looked up to him. After all, he was the head of the club. This wasn’t like him at all. I could hear that he had been drinking. And after losing the race last night, he was probably in a very bad mood.

  “What’s going on?” Bobby asked. The two of us had been asleep but woken by the noise.

  I shook my head. “I have no idea, but I’m not going to go out and find out either. I think it’s best if we just lay low and hang out here.”

  Suddenly the shouting stopped, and I heard footsteps coming my way. Bobby looked at me in shock, and I pulled him towards me. It was clear that the footsteps were coming towards our room. Why did Duke have to get me involved in all of this? When he walked into the room, I noticed his bloodshot eyes. Even his face was red.

  “Get up!”

  I looked at him in shock. “What’s going on, Duke? We’re up. We’re up! We heard you shouting.”

  “Get out of that damn bed. Get your child. Get your things. Right now.”

  I stood up with shaking legs. I had seen Duke upset before, but I had never seen him as angry as he was at that moment. I didn’t know what was going on, but all I knew was that I didn’t want to go anywhere with this drunk and angry man.

  “We’re not going anywhere,” I said.

  “Get up and get out!” he yelled.

  Get out? Was he kicking us out? I threw our things into a bag, and I picked Bobby up. Together, we followed Duke outside. I could feel Bobby shaking in my arms, and my heart went out to him. He could sense that I was scared too. I didn’t like him to see me afraid. I always wanted him to think of me as brave. But there was no way of hiding it now. We were both scared of Duke.