Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“His name was Jameson, but everyone called him—”
“Slick,” Bishop finished. “Well, damn. We lived with him when I was in like first or second grade.”
Mike nodded. He stared across the lawn at the white azalea bushes as he remembered that pivotal time in his life. A time when he was truly happy regardless of how messy his life was. When he came home… there was nothing but peace.
“You were seven, B. And yeah, everyone called him Slick. By the time I was twenty-two, I was head SGT at Arms in the Devil Wreckers.”
Trent whistled, and Bishop’s chest deflated. Sergeant was the third highest-ranked position in a motorcycle gang, and to have that title so young, his boys probably assumed that Mike had done some pretty deplorable shit to work his way up that despicable ladder.
“Slick came in as a hang around, but it wasn’t long before I found him working right under me.” Mike curved his mouth into a wry grin. “He was cunning and smart as fuck. Could weasel his way out of anything, and that’s why we called him that. It’s why I started calling him that.”
Jameson had slithered his way beneath Mike’s skin and into his heart in the sneakiest, most unfair way there was, and Mike hadn’t stood a chance.
“Y’know, they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Mike shook his head and stared at Bishop. “That’s bullshit. It’s through his kid.”
“I remember him because we were always doing stuff. He’d take me to the park, the zoo—he took me to a ball game once. He walked me to school every morning, and he…” Bishop trailed off as if all the missing pieces were falling into place.
“He made sure you did your homework, and he cooked dinner for you… healthy fuckin’ dinners.” Mike couldn’t help the slight tilt of his mouth anytime he thought of those years. “He even went to a parent-teacher conference once. The school hadn’t been able to reach me for weeks, so he just… he just stepped in and did it and made sure you were able to stay in school.”
“Where were you?” Trent asked.
“I was the sergeant, T, so I was at the club day and night, keeping shit in check. That was my job, and it was the only way I knew to pay the rent and keep my li’l homie fed.”
“Man… so you two started…”
“After a while… yeah.” Mike inhaled and let it all out before he continued. “I would come home from dealing with drunk assholes and chaos at the club, and he’d have dinner ready for me and shit. You’d be tucked in your bed and safe. While I ate, he’d tell me what you and him did that day, and I just remember looking forward to that small moment of peace I got every night… from him.”
“Did you love him?” Bishop asked, again getting straight to the point.
“When I think about it now, I believe I did,” Mike could admit. “But back then, I wasn’t ready to be a father, leader in a gang, and in love with a man at twenty-two years old.”
“So…”
Mike threw his hands up as if he’d given up. “So, I blew it.”
“How?” Bishop was pacing now.
“Slick wanted out of the club. He wanted to move far away and live as lovers someplace where no one knew us.”
Bishop stopped.
“I wanted to so fuckin’ much, but I got scared, I don’t know. Yeah, I had a kid, but I wasn’t ready to be a family man. The way Jameson was talkin’ terrified the shit out of me, B. Going legit, buying a home together, starting a joint business, paying taxes… fuck. I mean, who does that in their twenties?”
“So you just let him leave?” Trent asked.
“Let him! He was grown. I didn’t want him to, but… I…”
“You what?” Bishop dug harder.
“He said he had to go and I could stay if I wanted to, but he wanted to take you with him so you’d have a better chance in life… and I snapped. I told him I’d kill him.”
“Damn,” Trent sighed.
“He knew about all the illegal shit I was doing in the club, and you and him had grown so close I thought he was going to try to go through social services or something to take you away from me. But after I said everything I did to him, he left quietly.”
Bishop came and stood in front of him, and Mike wasn’t going to remain sitting while his son towered over him. He met Bishop’s disappointed glare and told him what he wanted to know.
“I told him if he took you, I’d hunt him down and kill him slowly… in front of you.”
“Jesus fuck, Mike,” Bishop said through clenched teeth.
Mike absorbed the justified disappointment in his son’s eyes. He was sure Bishop and Trent knew that he had to do some deplorable, evil shit as the enforcer of the Devil Wreckers, but Mike hated that his boys knew just how vicious he could be if he was upset or, god forbid, if someone threatened what he loved the most in this world.