Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LEXI
NOW
T he waitress at the cafe came over and refilled my coffee cup for the second time as I continued to scroll through my phone, trying to find a gardening company to come and help me clean up the backyard. I had called the two local companies already but both of them were booked out and not taking on any new jobs, so I either needed to get someone from another town or figure out a way to do it myself instead. I started searching for a hire company that would be able to deliver a lawnmower and the rest of the supplies I could grab from the local hardware store.
Earlier this morning I met with a real estate agent who was interested in putting the house on the market and helping me with the sale. While he sat there going through photos and telling me all the work that needed to be done to get the house ready for sale, I tried to hold back the tears. I felt so conflicted with the house; a part of me wanted to stick the for sale sign in the front yard and drive straight back to New York, but I couldn’t ignore the other part of me that was screaming at me to keep the house. That house held every memory that meant anything to me; the amazing ones of Jay and I as children with our parents playing with us in the backyard, but also the heartbreaking ones I never wanted to relive. I just didn’t know if I was ready to say goodbye to the last thing I had left of my family.
I locked my phone and looked up as three men walked through the front door and went to order their coffee at the counter. My eyes instantly drifted towards the rugged black leather cuts they were wearing, but I didn't see the Viper logo. Instead, I saw a horse’s head stitched into the back of the cut. I couldn’t take my eyes off one in particular. He seemed to be the leader of the group and when he turned around, his eyes locked on mine and he smirked in my direction. The eye contact brought a wave of nausea to my stomach. I had never seen this man before but as I looked at him, all I could feel was anger and disgust. His hair was greasy enough that the slick bun he wore had not one strand out of place, even after being under a helmet. I could feel his eyes every time they drifted towards me as he made his way over to the table at the back of the cafe. I picked up my phone from the table in front of me and began scrolling again just to try and look busy enough that he didn’t come over to me.
The small bell on the front door rang as someone else walked into the cafe, and this time they were wearing the cut I recognized. Ryan and Haz walked straight through as if they owned the place, with a look of determination on their faces. I kept my eyes on Ryan and noticed how his jaw tensed as he looked at the three men sitting at the back of the cafe. His left hand drifted to the back of his jeans and to anyone else, it would have looked like he was just resting his hand behind his back. But I knew him and I knew exactly what he kept tucked into the back of his jeans.
I could feel the anger radiating off Ryan from over here and he hadn’t noticed me sitting in the cafe as he approached the table at the back. Their argument grew louder and all of the people sitting in the cafe gasped when Ryan slammed the man who was smirking at me onto the table. Once Ryan let go of his shirt and the three men began walking out the cafe, with Ryan and Haz on their heels, the manager came out and apologized to all the customers for the scene. Everyone began whispering to the other people at their table about what just happened.
I took my half full coffee mug from the table and headed over to the counter to pour the remaining liquid into a takeaway mug and finalize my bill. When I walked outside, I was slightly unsure if I was going to be walking straight into a street fight, which wouldn’t surprise me based on how angry Ryan was inside. I could hear the sound of the bikes as they drove down the main street and away from the cafe and I watched Ryan’s shoulders drop slightly in relief before I approached him. Once he saw me standing in front of him, I saw the slight panic in his eyes when he realized I was around for that argument.
It was something I had seen many times. Being around Ryan and Jay when they were younger meant I was pushed out of the way and to safety numerous times when a fight would break out, and most times the safety was Haz. Jay would joke that Haz was my protector; they wouldn’t even need to say a word to each other. All they needed to do was give Haz a certain look and he knew his job was to get me out of the way.
* * *
O nce I got home, I decided to sit on the front porch swing and read a book to try and relax, but I only got two chapters in before the exhaustion hit me and I closed my eyes.
I heard the loud rumble of engines and convinced myself I was dreaming, but they got louder and louder until I had no choice but to open my eyes to see where the sound was coming from. There were five black Harley’s sitting in my driveway with their riders all wearing Viper cuts. I looked for a familiar face among the group and walked straight over to the bike at the front where Haz was hanging his helmet on the handlebars.
“What’s going on? Why are you all here?” I questioned him as the other riders took off their helmets. I recognized some faces from dad’s funeral.
“Boss’ orders, baby Davis. Put us to work. We are here at your disposal.” Haz stood next to me and took off his cut, hanging that on his handlebars too. Before I could ask what he meant, a large black truck pulled into the driveway behind the bikes and in the back of the truck was two lawn mowers and other equipment that I didn’t know the name or the use of. Ryan got out of the truck and seeing him dressed so casually was not something I was used to. The Ryan I knew would never drive a car because he would only ever be on his bike. He wasn’t wearing his cut either; he wore black shorts with a white shirt and a black baseball cap that sat backwards on his dark brown hair.
“Boys, get this shit out the truck and two of you start in the front yard, two out the back and Haz, you need to finish off the garage.” Ryan took control and told everyone where to go the second he was out of his truck.
I was still standing there, confused as to what was happening while everyone moved to where Ryan told them to go.
“I told you this morning that we are here for you. I have the equipment and the men so let us help you.” Ryan was now standing next to me. He reached out and ran his thumb over my elbow before walking up the porch steps. “Show me where I can help inside.”
I turned around and walked past him to open the front door and he followed me inside.
The house was still full of junk and looked like I hadn’t even started cleaning up, even though I had started and was in the middle of putting everything in piles of what I wanted to keep or throw away. Yesterday I started going through one of the cupboards in the hallway and buried at the back behind an old blanket was a large box that was filled with my dad’s old photo albums and there was one in particular that I knew I wanted to show Ryan.
“I wanted to show you something, actually. Sit down, I’ll grab it.” I led the way to the couch and Ryan sat down while I sat on the floor and reopened what I left on the coffee table, spreading it out on the table in front of us. Ryan moved closer to take a look and sat next to me on the floor before reaching out to pick up one of the photos.
“Holy shit, is this us and our dads?” He held an old photo that had started to lose its color. The photo was of our dads sitting on their old school bikes as they both held their sons in front of them. Jay and Ryan were both holding onto the handlebars with grins that filled their faces. The boys would have been toddlers, not much older than four.
“Crazy, isn’t it? You all look so young. There are heaps of old photos in here of them when they were younger and when the Vipers first started. I thought you or your dad might want to keep them.” I passed him another one of our dads standing together in their very first denim jackets that my mom had stayed up all night stitching a red viper onto the back of. The same denim jacket was sitting in the box along with the photos and I picked it up and passed it over to Ryan. He ran his hand down the denim of my dad’s cut and a small smile appeared on his face.
“This is one of the very first Viper cuts. I can’t believe he still kept this after all this time. My dad’s was trashed and he ended up having to throw it away not long after they upgraded to the leather”
My dad had kept his most recent leather cut after the accident. It was usually something you needed to return to the club, but he had always hoped he could wear it again. It was still hanging on the coat rack near the front door.
“You should keep it. Take it back to the clubhouse,” I said to Ryan when he tried to pass it back to me to put back in the box.
“No, Lexi, I can’t take this from you.” He shook his head and folded the denim up and placed it on the coffee table.
“He would’ve wanted you to have all of this. It would mean so much to him to know that a part of him was still in the clubhouse. He loved you and the Vipers so much.” I felt my eyes start to water. Ryan looked up at me and I noticed the tears in his eyes as well.
“I loved him too, Lex. You, Jay and Scotty were my family. You still are.” He put his hand on my knee and I felt his thumb move softly before he blinked away the tears. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and stood up suddenly.
“I better go check on the boys. Haz is probably out there working on his own bike, knowing him.” He put one hand out to help me stand up before turning around and walking out the back door.