Hard Corps (Selected Sinners MC #7)

by Scott Hildreth

  “Believe me, I will,” she said with a laugh.

  “Peaches?” she asked as she poked the peach with her fork.

  “It’s dessert, but I kind of had to do it at the same time on the grille. I was about out of gas. They’re grilled with brown sugar sprinkled on them,” I said as I motioned toward her plate.

  “Well, it looks great,” she said.

  “I’ve got the right steak,” she said as she lifted a piece of the meat to her mouth.

  “That’s good, because I don’t think I could eat a piece of medium-well steak, even if I tried,” I said.

  “It seems like it’s still almost alive,” she said. “I don’t get it.”

  I shrugged my shoulders as I poked my fork into my salad. “Maybe it’s a man thing.”

  “I think so,” she said. “And it’s got something to do with life, death, and everything in between.”

  I’d never looked at it that way, but she had a good point. Men eating their steaks half-raw could very well have to do with something primal within us. As I cut into my meat and the little remaining blood ran onto the plate, I decided she was right.

  We enjoyed our meal, and the peaches – as I had hoped – were a huge success.

  “These peaches are good,” she said as she shoveled them into her mouth.

  “I’m glad you like them,” I said.

  “I don’t like them, I love them. I’m going to have to tell mom about them. You just grilled them?” she asked.

  “That’s it. I bought ‘em fresh at the store, cut ‘em in quarters, and grilled them until they were slightly soft. Then I just sprinkled the brown sugar on them,” I said.

  “Well, they’re great,” she said.

  “And this entire thing,” she said as she waved her hand toward the table. “It’s just. I don’t know. It’s too much.”

  “It’s dinner. It’s a necessary part of the day,” I said as I poked my last peach with the tines of my fork.

  “Well, most guys don’t do things like this,” she said.

  Well, maybe they should.

  I looked up from my plate to see her gazing into the small bowl hoping to find a peach that didn’t exist. Finally, after she realized they were truly gone, she sat up straight and exhaled a sigh of frustration.

  To anyone else she probably appeared no differently than she did on any other day. To me, she seemed to be more beautiful than ever. I didn’t look at her with eyes more capable of seeing, or with a mind more open that it had ever been in the past, but she was truly different. I sat and admired her until she met my gaze. As she returned my smile and brushed her hair over her ears, I raised my fork and offered her my peach.

  “It’s not the last one is it?” she asked.

  I nodded my head. “Last one in the house. I cooked them all.”

  “I don’t want to take your last one, you eat it,” she said.

  I shook my head and wiggled my fork slightly, careful to keep the beloved peach from falling to the table.

  “I want you to have it” I said.

  “Share?” she asked.

  “Sure,” I said as I reached over the table and handed her my fork.

  I fully expected her to eat half the peach and hand me the fork in return. Instead, she lifted the fork to her mouth, bit into the peach, and pulled it from the tine. With the peach half in her mouth and half out, she leaned over the table.

  Without speaking, our mouths met. The sugar-coated peach was nothing compared to the sweet kiss of her lips, something I seemed to yearn for from the very moment our last kiss ended.

  Resting on my elbows and hovering over the center of the table, I kissed her fully and passionately, while the sweet taste of the peach lingered throughout the length of the kiss. Long after the taste of the peach was gone, she broke the embrace.

  I opened my eyes and gazed in her direction. She tilted her head, stared up at the ceiling, and mumbled to herself as I lowered myself into my chair.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I don’t want this to end,” she said.

  I shook my head. “It won’t.”

  “You make my stomach go crazy each time you kiss me. It’s just too good to be true,” she said.

  “I think that’s just what happens when two people are really meant to be together,” I said.

  I truly believed what I told her. Kissing her was more satisfying than anything to me. No other woman on earth could provide me the feeling of satisfaction that Katie provided me by simply kissing me, and not only did I know it, I wasn’t afraid to admit it.

  “Kissing you takes me somewhere else. Somewhere nice,” I said.

  “I feel the same way,” she said as she stood from the table.

  I stood from my seat. “Hand me your plate. I’ll get it. I’ve got one more thing.”

  “I’ll help you,” she said.

  I shook my head. “It’s a surprise.”

  “Crap. I hate surprises. Okay,” she said as she handed me her plate.

  I carried the dishes to the kitchen, opened the freezer, and removed two dishes of raspberry sorbet, being careful not to mix them up. As I carried them to the dining room, I fought the urge to smile.

  “Here, maybe it’ll help you forget the peaches. It’s just a small dish,” I said as I handed it to her.

  “It’s cute,” she said.

  I sat in my chair and slowly ate my sorbet as I watched her eat hers. As her ball of raspberry-flavored dessert slowly disappeared, I wondered if I had possibly given her the wrong bowl.

  “Theres…” she said as she shifted her eyes to her bowl.

  “Something in here. It’s…” she placed her spoon to the side, lifted the bowl and peered inside.

  She shifted her eyes toward me.

  I shrugged my shoulders and attempted to act preoccupied. As I caught a glimpse of her fishing in the bowl with her fingers, I glanced over the table.

  She pulled the bracelet from the dish and held it between her thumb and forefinger, dangling it over the table. Raspberry sorbet dripped from the end of the string of diamonds as she stared at it, still obviously not knowing exactly what it was. It looked like a small string of red beads.

  “What’d you find?” I asked.

  Her lack of response prompted me to stand, grab my glass of water, and walk to her side.

  “Here,” I said as I reached for the bracelet.

  I took it from the tips of her fingers, rinsed it in the glass of water, and wiped it as clean as I was able in her napkin. After drying it off fully, I placed it in my palm and extended my hand.

  She gazed into my hand, gasped, and shifted her eyes upward. As she stood from her seat she turned to face me, opened her mouth and said nothing. She stood with her mouth agape and her eyes filled with surprise as I carefully clasped it around her wrist.

  She didn’t speak. She really didn’t have to, her eyes said everything words would have been able to, and even more. As she leaned forward, I was fully aware we were about to kiss once again, and nothing, at least at that particular moment, could have made me happier.

  The kiss was more magical than the kiss prior to it, and far more passionate than any kiss I had ever experienced. I think, on that night, Katie gave me a part of her that she had been reserving for when she realized I had given her all of me there was to offer. It had nothing to do with the bracelet or the diamonds, it had to do with my heart, and hopefully she realized I had given her no less than my heart and soul.

  I had no more of myself to give her, she was the recipient of all I had to offer her, and all I could do was hope having me in her life was enough to please her half as much as she pleased me.

  As our lips parted and our eyes met, I was sure of one thing and one thing only.

  I had truly been blessed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Early Winter 2014, Austin, Texas, USA

  The entire group paced the hospital waiting room floor, waiting for an answer. Ripp insisted on being alone with Vee during
the birth of their child, and that the sex of the child be a surprise. After over two hours of no news whatsoever, the crowd was growing weary.

  I walked to the car seat, gazed down at Casey, and shook my head. “Get that little Marine out of that shit you got him wrapped in Kace, you’re smothering him.”

  Kace stopped pacing and turned to face me. “Keep your hands off of him, Alec. He’s sleeping. You can hold him later.”

  She turned toward Shane. “How long are they going to be in there? I popped mine out in like ten minutes.”

  He might have been sleeping, but he looked uncomfortable. It appeared she had him dressed for a Canadian vacation, and although it was technically winter, it was winter in Texas, and the temperature outside was 65 degrees.

  “I know he’s hot, he’s got to be,” I said as I reached into the car seat.

  Kace stopped pacing and pressed her hands to her hips. “Stop it Alec, you’re going to wake him up.”

  As I pulled him from the seat his eyes opened, closed, and opened again. After a few more sessions of opening and closing, he opened them, did his best to focus on me, and gazed up at me with one eye looking directly at me and the other looking toward the wall.

  “Stop that, or they’ll stick,” I said with a laugh as I wiped the tips of my fingers over his eye lids.

  When they opened again, his eyes were right where they should be.

  “That’s more like it. Now, let’s take a walk,” I said as I walked to Katie’s side.

  “You ready to be an aunt?” I asked as I leaned forward and kissed her.

  “I feel like I already am,” she said. “But yeah, I’m pretty excited.”

  I nodded my head and smiled as I bounced Casey in my arms. After a few seconds, he began to fuss.

  “He needs me to sing to him, I’ll be right back,” I said.

  I walked to the windows, tilted him to the side so he could see the street lights outside, and began to hum.

  “You ready for our song?” I asked.

  His eyes said yes.

  “Here we go…”

  As we paced the floor, I began to softly sing the Marine Corps Hymn.

  “From the Halls of Montezuma…”

  “To the shores of Tripoli…”

  “We fight our country's battles…”

  “In the air, on land, and sea…”

  “First to fight for right and freedom…”

  “And to keep our honor clean…”

  “We are proud to claim the title…”

  “Of United States Marine…”

  I continued to pace the floor, not paying much attention to anything other than the baby in my arms. After a few laps across the floor, I shifted my eyes down to Casey. He was fast asleep, but that by no means meant he wasn’t listening to his favorite uncle.

  “You see, as Marines, we’re first to fight. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere. As soon as you wake up, I’ll tell you a story about the night Gunny Marshall and I got drunk in Okinawa, Japan. You’ll appreciate it when you’re a little older,” I said.

  “You will not, Alec. Don’t fill his head with stories about your drunken escapades,” Kace snapped from across the room.

  I glanced toward Kace and grinned, not realizing I had walked close enough for her to hear me. “Just reassuring him he’s safe in my arms.”

  The unmistakable sound of someone running down the hallway echoed throughout the hospital. All eyes shifted to the door.

  “You motherfucker’s ready?” Ripp screamed as he stepped in front of the door.

  “Michael!” his mother gasped. “Don’t say that in the hospital.”

  “It ain’t a church, Ma. And it ain’t the dinner table, it’s a fuckin’ hospital,” he said as his eyes darted around the room.

  He tossed his hands in the air and widened his eyes. “So, you ready for the news?”

  Apparently he didn’t like the lack of response from the crowd and was attempting to develop interest.

  “Ready!,” Katie hollered.

  “We’ve been waiting for three hours, spill it,” his father bellowed.

  Katie walked to my side, squeezed my arm, and waited for the report.

  “Eight pounds and fifteen ounces. Almost a nine pounder,” he said. “And both my little girls are doing just fine.”

  “A girl?” Kace shouted. “Vee had a girl?”

  “We had a girl, she’s ours,” Ripp responded.

  “Congratulations, Brother,” I said with a nod.

  “A baby girl,” Katie whispered.

  “What’s her name?” Kace and Mrs. Ripton asked at the same time.

  Ripp remained standing slightly inside the door, and looked like the ring leader for a circus who was making his announcement to the crowd. With his shoes covered in protective booties and still wearing the Tyvek paper suit, it was hard for me to take him seriously.

  He waved his arms like an excited child as he responded. “Three at a time can come see her, and her name is Jessica Ann Ripton. We’re gonna call her Jessie. Jessie and Casey, has a nice ring, huh?”

  I held Casey with Katie at my side, not necessarily as interested in the birth of Ripp’s daughter as much as I was in holding my nephew. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, or that I was even insensitive to the event, it was more a matter of prioritizing.

  Katie was my first commitment, and she was the most important thing to me. Casey was my second, and he was equally important, but his needs were different. I had always done a pretty good job prioritizing my commitments, and the majority of my devotion was currently cradled in my arms.

  “How’s Vee?” Kace asked.

  “Vee’s doing great,” he responded. “I need to get some cigars; we need to celebrate.”

  “Got ‘em right here, Ripper,” Kelsey said as he reached into his gym bag. “Brought several of both, just in case.

  “Alec?” Mr. Ripton asked as he held a cigar in the air.

  I grinned and shrugged my shoulders. “Still trying to quit.”

  He shook his head from side to side and tossed the cigar into the air. I cradled Casey with one arm and caught the cigar with the other. As I shoved the cigar into my back pocket, I glanced around the room.

  The excitement lingered heavily in the room. Hugging, talking, and Ripp’s repeated telling of the birth continued until his mother complained about needing to see the baby. After a short argument, Ripp decided to take his parents and Kace in the first wave to see the baby.

  I continued to cradle Casey in my arms, hoping Shane wouldn’t object. As Ripp walked out of the room, I wondered how many babies were born throughout the course of a typical day and if that number exceeded the amount of men killed in a normal day during the war.

  As Katie began to walk in my direction, her face covered with the satisfaction of being new aunt, I decided it didn’t matter. All that mattered at that moment was what was in my arms, and what was walking toward me.

  I was no longer at war, and I was no longer in charge of protecting Marines. My solemn duty, at least at the moment, was to protect the people gathered in the waiting room.

  And I intended to do that at all costs.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Early Winter 2014, Austin, Texas, USA

  In what was to be our pre-fight celebration, we left the kids with the grandparents and had gone out on the town the night before Shane’s heavyweight championship fight. He was an extremely humble man, and he certainly didn’t act like the celebrity he had become. He was soon going to be fighting in a match with tens of millions of people watching which would net him in excess of 50 million dollars if he won. To be in his presence, however, a person would have no idea he was any different than anyone else.

  I couldn’t help but admire his simplistic way of living life. His quiet and humble demeanor resembled mine in many ways. He was not one to tell stories about the events of his life, and didn’t care to brag about what his accomplishments were. Ripp was a completely different person, and I felt that Shane and I b
oth lived vicariously through him.

  After a late night of drinking and listening to Ripp’s stories, one of which was about him throwing up on his daughter after smelling her diaper, we decided to call it a night.

  “Big fight tomorrow, Dekk,” I said as I patted Shane on the back.

  Walking down the sidewalk with his arm over Kace, he glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Hope I don’t embarrass myself.”

  “All you can do is give it your best, Brother,” I said.

  “He’s gonna smash that dude,” Ripp said.

  Shane’s opponent, ‘Tick-Tock’ Brock earned his nickname from knocking out his rivals in a matter of minutes. According to his camp, the clock ticked past the seconds until the inevitable happened.

  He was massive, he was strong, and he was as mean of a boxer to ever step in the ring with anyone. But, in my opinion, he wasn’t as determined as Shane. All Shane needed to do was get angry. And making him angry wasn’t always an easy feat.

  “It’s not going to be that easy, Ripp. We’ll see,” Shane said as we walked alongside the parking lot where Vee had parked her SUV.

  The bar we had been in was in a district labeled Dirty Sixth, which was the east side of 6th street in downtown Austin, and earned its name from being a filthy place to be. The area was filled with bars and other forms of entertainment but deciding what to enjoy and what to avoid wasn’t always easy.

  Parking was disastrous, and remote parking areas were generally the only option. Luckily we had found one close to the bar we were patronizing, and by the grace of God, Vee’s SUV wasn’t stolen while we were in the bar.

  As we stepped into the parking lot, Vee, Katie, and I walked to the left side of the SUV, and Ripp, Shane, and Kace walked to the right side. Immediately after Vee pressed her key fob and unlocked the vehicle, the dirty side of 6th street emerged.

  “Oh my God! Shane!” I heard Kace screech.

  Her voice clearly conveyed her fear. I ducked down and peered through the windows toward the other side of the vehicle. Although I couldn’t see everyone, I was able to see all I needed to see.

  A man had a gun pointed directly at Shane’s head.

  “What happened?” Katie asked.