“I do.”
He extended his hand. “Congratulations, Brother.”
I shook his hand. “Thanks.”
The garage door opened, and Eddie stuck her head through it. “Dad? Can I go shopping with Joey and Sandy? Sandy’s driving.”
“If Sandy’s driving, I’m fine with it.”
Joey stuck her head underneath Eddie’s arm and smiled. “Percy? Is it okay if I go with the girls?”
“Okay by me. I’m just hanging out.”
“I’m going shopping,” Sandy said.
“Have a good time,” Smokey said.
The door closed.
I looked at Smoke. “Notice two of the girls asked, and one didn’t?”
“Sandy doesn’t need to ask my permission to do shit. She’s an adult.”
“Joey’s an adult, but she asks out of respect.”
“She asks out of fear.”
“Bullshit.”
“That’s my opinion.”
“Your opinion is bullshit.”
“You’re an intimidating prick, P-Nut. You might not see it, but you are. I’m sure she asks out of fear. Fear of you doing or saying something derogatory.”
“What would she base that fear on? She’s never seen me angry. Never seen me act like a damned fool. All she knows is that I’m a 1%er.”
“You beat her dad half to death, didn’t you?”
I shrugged. “Stepdad.”
“Point made.”
“Your point is bullshit.”
“I made it nonetheless. Think about it.”
I considered what he said, but soon dismissed it. After hearing the car pull out of the driveway, I sat down on the bench. “Can we have a serious talk?”
“I thought we were.”
“We’ve been bullshitting. I want to have a serious fucking talk. Is that possible, or do I need to go talk to the Prez?”
“Speak your mind.”
“It’s off the record.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“This ain’t club business. It’s yours and it’s mine.”
He shrugged. “Okay.”
Remember that chicken-shit cocksucker, Tank? Prospect that ended up being a ATF agent?”
He glared at me. “He was my fucking prospect,” he snarled. “And, he ended up being a fucking fed. How the fuck would I forget about him?”
“Just asking,” I said.
“What about him?”
“Got him in a box in Temecula.”
His face contorted. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you just said you’ve got him in a box. In Temecula.”
“Not really Temecula,” I said flatly. “More like outside of Fallbrook.”
He gazed at the floor, shook his head, and then looked up. “You know where he is?”
“I just fucking told you where he is. I mean, not exactly, but pretty much.”
His eyes shot wide. “You’re serious?”
“Serious as a dose of cock cancer.”
“You know where he is?”
I chuckled. “You know where he is. Now.”
“I fucking knew it,” he exclaimed. “You’ve been bullshitting me for two months about this. I knew that prick didn’t just disappear--”
“I never lied to you. Not once.”
“Don’t doubt that a bit, ‘Nut. Never have, and I’m sure you never will. But you skate around the truth when you don’t want to give an answer.”
“Maybe you ought to learn how to ask questions.”
“Maybe you ought to learn how to answer ‘em.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Is he dead?”
“Not sure. Haven’t been there in two days. Could be, I suppose. If he ain’t dead, he’s probably pretty thirsty.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. But he was alive two days ago?”
“When I left, yeah. Him and a couple tarantulas.”
His eyes thinned. “What in the fuck?”
“Trying to decide what to do with him.”
“He’s in a box?”
“Big fucker. One of them storage containers. Like the construction companies use.”
He let out a laugh. “You’ve got him in a metal container in middle of the fucking desert?”
“Not in the middle, no. Kind of on the edge.”
“What have you been doing with him?”
“Just fucking with him, kind of like you do the monkeys at the zoo. Questioned him for a few weeks. Then I started making my plan to do something with him. Just can’t decide what that’s going to be.”
“What are your options?”
“Suppose there’s two. Killing him, or keeping him.”
“He’s not a fucking puppy,” he said. “You can’t keep him forever. They’ll come looking for him sooner or later. Surprised they haven’t yet.”
“Been sending ‘em texts and emails. They think he’s on the lam.”
“You’ve been sending who texts and emails?”
“His wife. And, the feds.”
“You’re out of your fucking mind. God damn, ’Nut. Where do you come up with this shit? You’ve got an ATF agent in a metal container in the desert, and you’ve been fucking with him for 2 months?”
“Pretty much. Yep.”
“And they think he’s run off or something?”
“Yep. Took his cell phone when I kidnapped him. I put the battery in and send ‘em a message when I’m in different places, then take it back out. Keepin’ ‘em on their toes. Sent ‘em one from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then from just outside of Mesa, Arizona. Couple a few weeks ago from Chula Vista in a shitty part of town. Sent ‘em one from outside a bar in the SD a week ago. Told ‘em he was chasing down a lead on a Savage who was running meth and pimping bitches.”
“You’re fucking nuts.”
“They think he’s nuts. Ought to see some of the messages they send back. Been pretty fucking entertaining.”
“Jesus Fuck, ‘Nut.”
He seemed to digest the entirety of it all for a few minutes. After he finished his beer, he sat on the bench beside me. “Get any good information out of him?”
“Just that he’s a shit hat. All he had was Meathead being a felon in possession of a firearm. After that, he was just trying to see who else he could set up on a crime. You were next on is list.”
“Tough believing a man who lies for a living. Those fuckers lie to whoever they’re setting up on a crime, and then when they get in court, they say, I was lying then, but I’m telling the truth now. Might not ever know what the real truth is.”
“Pretty sure I know the truth.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Poked a cucumber up his butt. Did a little water torture after I researched it. Put a couple rattlesnakes in there with him one day. Fucker’s scared to death of snakes, for what it’s worth. And scorpions. Tarantulas, too. Doubt he’ll ever eat a cucumber, either.”
“You poked a fucking cucumber up his butt?”
“Couple of ‘em.”
He chuckled. “And you said I was the weird fucker.”
“Least I know better than to disfigure the prick. Could have pulled his teeth, spooned out one of his eyes, or cut off his toes, but it’d look bad later.”
He spit out a laugh. “Spooned out an eye?”
“Uh huh.”
“You’re worried that’d look bad?” he asked, his tone sarcastic.
“Yep.”
“Bad how? Other than the fact someone spooned his eyes out.”
“It’d look like someone’s been torturing him. When I’m done with him, I want to make it look like a suicide or something. Get him all liquored up, and then toss his drunken ass off a bridge or push him in front of a big truck on the 5. If he was missing toes or teeth, they’d know something was up. Then, they’d come looking at our MC for it. If he gets drunk and steps in front of a truck full of avocadoes, nobody would be the wiser.”
“So, when did you become an expert on torture and such?”
/> “Been reading about it.”
“Did the terrorist torture manual give you the cucumber idea?”
“Nope. Came up with that one on my own.”
“Rattlesnakes?”
“That one was mine too. So was the tabasco sauce. And, the goat.”
“I’m not even going to ask.”
“Probably best you don’t.”
He tossed his empty beer in the trash, and got another. “Rotten bastard. I’ll volunteer to toss his ass off the bridge when the time comes.”
“When the time comes, I’ll let you know.”
“Enough about that for now. Are you planning on bringing Joey around the fellas?”
“Sure am.”
“No shit?”
“Told you things have changed. They have.”
“Glad to hear it,” he said.
“Not as glad as I am to say it.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means what it means.”
“It means what it means,” he said mockingly. “Some things never change.”
I accepted Joey as she was, and neither expected – nor desired – any changes on her part. She accepted me, wholeheartedly. I wasn’t changing to please Joey, and she wasn’t changing to please me.
Some things simply didn’t need to change.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Joey
“Try this with this.” Sandy handed me sleeveless top and a pair of leggings. “I think that little peplum will look cute with leggings.”
Sandy was Eddie’s stepmother, and she was pregnant. With twins. She couldn’t have been any cuter. She stood my height, was still very thin despite being pregnant, and barely had a noticeable baby bump. With her blonde hair, large boobs, and perfect posture, she could have been a model.
I reached for the clothes. “Huh?”
“Cute. I think they’ll look cute. Try them on.”
“What’d you call it?”
“Call what?”
“The top.”
“Oh. I grabbed a peplum.”
“Peplum?”
“Yeah. And a pair of leggings.”
“Peplum. That’s a funny name.”
“You’ve never heard of a peplum?”
“No. I uhhm. I haven’t.”
She scrunched her nose. “Really?”
It may have sounded crazy to her, but I grew up with a stepfather who never took me shopping, and most of the clothes I wore were purchased online. I wasn’t versed on the names of all things female.
“I just…” I offered an innocent shrug. “I haven’t shopped much. Weird family.”
“My dad takes me shopping all the time,” Eddie said. “You can come with us. Shopping is fun, even if you don’t buy anything. Sometimes I go for an entire day, and he’ll even sit and wait at the fountain for me.”
Eddie was Smokey’s 17-year-old daughter. She was petite, curvy, had beautiful brown hair, and talked 1,000 miles-an-hour. She was energetic and fun. I hoped, over time, that we could become close friends.
“Sounds fun.” I raised the clothes. “Let me try these on.”
I’d already set aside a pair of jeans and two tops. Excited to see what a peplum looked like, I carried the clothes to the dressing room and tried them on.
The floral-pattern top was sleeveless, fitted at the top, and flared at the bottom. In my eyes, it was perfect. It accentuated my boobs and flared at the bottom, giving me more of an hourglass appearance than I already had.
I turned to one side, and then the other.
The dressing room door rattled from someone beating on it.
“We’re waiting,” Eddie said. “Come on.”
I opened the door and stepped out.
“That’s sexy,” Sandy said.
Eddie looked me up and down, and then grinned. “I like it.”
I looked in the full-length mirror at the end of the corridor. “I think I like it, too. These pants are comfortable.”
“Tell me you’ve never worn leggings,” Sandy said, her tone sarcastic, but playful.
“I haven’t.”
“Oh, my God,” she said. “That’s crazy. Leggings are the best. I couldn’t live without them.”
I slid my hand up my thigh and glanced in the mirror. “They’re really tight.”
“They’re leggings,” Eddie said.
“No. I mean they’re tight and comfortable.”
“That top makes your boobs look…” She pressed her hands to her hip and raised her brows. “Huge.”
“They don’t need any help,” I said with a laugh. “They’re ridiculous.”
“They’re real, right?” Sandy asked.
“Real? Yeah. Why would anyone do this to themselves?”
She pressed her biceps into the sides of her boobs and twisted her mouth to the side. “Oh, I don’t know.”
“They aren’t?”
“Really?” she laughed. “You thought they were real?”
It never crossed my mind that Sandy’s boobs were fake. I wasn’t a complete idiot, and I did realize people got implants, but I didn’t know anyone in real life that had. At least I didn’t think so.
“Uhhm. Yeah.”
“Seriously?”
“Uh huh.”
“Awwe. Thank you. But no. They’re fake.”
She was wearing a sleeveless top with cleavage that would rival my work uniform. I glanced at her boobs, but tried not to stare. “They look great.”
“I like you,” she said.
I grinned. “I like you, too.”
“What else do you want?” Eddie asked.
Since receiving my raise at work, I’d saved all my wages, less food and fuel. Nonetheless, I needed to save as much as possible so I could get my own place to live. I couldn’t stay with Percy forever, and I knew it.
“I think this is enough,” I said. “We can come back some other time.”
“Do you like Starbucks?” Eddie asked.
“Coffee? I love coffee.”
“Me too.”
Sandy rubbed her belly. “One cup a day for me.”
Having girlfriends was something I always dreamed of. My lack of confidence about my leg – and my stepfather’s violent temper – prevented it from ever being a reality. Shopping with Eddie and Sandy was one of the best times I’d ever experienced.
“Maybe in a few weeks we can come back?” I said, my voice filled with hope.
“Just say the word,” Sandy said. “I’ll go shopping anytime. I’ve got issues.”
“Issues?”
“I’m a clothes whore. I’ve got more outfits than…” She looked me over. “I bet you could wear a bunch of my stuff.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” I said. “You’re skinny.”
“We’re basically the same size.”
We weren’t, but it was nice hearing it. “I don’t think so, but thank you.”
“I’ll pick some stuff out for you. Most of it’s not going to fit me for a long time.”
“Thank you.”
We walked to the register, and I handed the clothes to the salesman.
“Did you find everything okay?”
“Yes, thank you.”
He rang up the clothes, folding each of them carefully afterward. After the last article was placed in the bag, he looked at the register.
“The total is $207.41. Cash, or on your card?”
I reached for my wallet and grinned. “Cash.”
I handed him the money. I’d come a long way in the last few months. Although the journey wasn’t anything I’d planned, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. As far as I was concerned, my life couldn’t get any better.
I paid for the clothes and accepted the bag, eager to find out what Percy would think about my choices.
As we walked toward Starbucks, I turned toward Sandy. “Have you ever been on a poker run or anything?”
“Several, why?”
“Oh, I was just wondering.”
“There�
�s one coming up in a few weeks. San Clemente, Santa Ana, Riverside, Palm Springs, and then through Temecula. Two hundred and fifty miles. It’ll be a back breaker.”
“I love riding.”
“Have you ever gone that far?”
“I’ve gone over eight hundred miles in a day.”
“Jesus,” she said. “You’re hard core.”
“I like riding.”
“You must.”
“I bet P-Nut will take you on it,” Eddie said.
He hadn’t mentioned it, and I now wondered if he was going to take me around the clubhouse, his other brothers, or to any of the MC’s functions. As kind as he was, he was also very private and reserved about the club.
“Oh, I’m not worried about that.” I motioned toward the Starbucks across from us. “Let’s get a cup of coffee.”
“I’m just saying, I’ve known P-Nut forever. Like, forever. Him and my dad are like best friends. He comes over almost every day, and he’s never brought a girl over. He’s never even hung out with a girl. I’ve never seen a girl on the back of his bike. He’s never even mentioned a girl. Nothing. You’re the first. And, just so you know, I’ve been waiting a long time for this to happen.”
Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any better, it did. Her words filled me with pride, and gave me hope for the future.
“Yeah,” I said. “Me, too.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
P-Nut
Although the blinds were closed, the early morning sun seeped through the cracks and provided enough light for me to know that a new day had arrived. I rolled off the edge of the bed, being careful not to wake Joey. After a successful dismount, I turned to admire her. Her naked body was half covered by the blanket, leaving her entire back and one side of her cute little ass exposed.
She was a remarkable woman. Her beauty was only a part of what made her so, but it was sure something I enjoyed gawking at every time I had an opportunity.
Chances like this never came often enough.
I stood at the edge of the bed and stared blankly at her, wondering when she was going to realize I was too old, too rough around the edges, or too damned ugly to continue a relationship with.
I hoped the answer was never, but I had my doubts.
A woman like her never stayed with a man like me for long. Men like me were a stepping stone to life’s bigger and better things.
She lifted her head and fluffed her pillow. After burying her face into it, she sneezed, and then turned to face me.
F*CKERS (Biker MC Romance Book 7) Page 92