Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
Eight
Selkie and I take all the kids for dinner at Myrtles, but this time we let them run rampant at the buffet.
They’re sitting at a different table being loud, obnoxious, and gravitating between arguments and laughter.
It makes me emotional to watch them. It’s like Hell’s Jury jr. They’re their own little club.
What’s even more interesting is that Henri is flanked by Brielle on one side and Oscar on the other side. They’re talking like they’re normal. Like there’s no bad blood.
Selkie sees it too. “Oh my god. We can send them back to school.” She swipes at a fake tear. “I’m so fuckin’ happy!”
I nod. “And it didn’t go too badly. Telling them about us.”
“I wouldn’t count on that being over. They were starving so not really in their right minds. At some point, they’re gonna realize what we said, and go sideways.”
She’s right. “Guess we didn’t really explain to them the future plans. That we’re not making them live together for a while.”
“Probably should,” Selkie murmurs as she takes a sip of her coffee.
My phone rings just as I empty my cup. “Yeah,” I say.
It’s Joker. “Where the fuck’ve you been. We got church, asshole.”
“Since when?” I reply in a dead, flat voice. Asshole I am not. Except for attacking Hash in front of the kids and taking Henri to the meeting with Kozlov. Maybe I am an asshole.
“Since I’ve been texting you for the last two hours.”
I flip to my texts. A ton of them “Shit. On my way.” I toss five bills on the table as I get up. “I gotta go,” I say to Selkie.
“Well, I’m gonna have to go with, aren’t I? And one of the kids.”
“I’ll go with you,” Sean volunteers.
I’m half-tempted to make Oscar and Henri come as punishment, but I’m fucking sick of both of them.
I mutter thanks to him as I let him in the truck.
He shrugs. “Better than riding with Ash. I’m not sure he actually knows how to drive.”
I decide to park that for now.
We get to the clubhouse in record time and Sean looks conflicted when he gets out of the truck. “Did you teach Ash to drive?” he asks me.
The kid has a sense of humour. Who would’ve thought?
I give Selkie a quick kiss and leave her standing outside. One of the great things about Selkie is that she doesn’t need coddling. She’ll head inside and pour herself a drink if she wants one.
When I get to church, all the brothers are there including Hangman who looks like he wants to skin me. “Where the hell have you been?”
I try to think of an excuse that won’t sound like shit.
Hash gets out in front of me. “Taking the kindergarten out for food.”
I slump into a chair. “Too fucking soon, Hash. I’m not done with you.”
A hush goes through the room. Even Hangman seems speechless.
“What?” I exclaim. “What the fuck’s wrong?”
“Your fuckin’ sitting in Rider’s chair.”
And yellin’ at people. And looking like my face isn’t a block of wood. Now I get it. “Where’s Rider?” I deflect.
“Hospital,” Joker replies. “Apparently, he got too close to the llama again.”
The brothers break into laughter.
Guess he’s not hurt bad if the guys are finding it hilarious.
Hangman scowls as he looks closely at Hash. “Llama get you too?”
Hash shakes his head. “I accidentally walked into Eight’s fist.”
“Had it comin’, asshole,” I mutter.
A murmur goes through the room because I don’t lose my cool. I don’t sit in chairs. I don’t fuckin’ raise my voice.
“What the fuck were you doing knockin’ Hash around?” Hangman says.
“It’s Hash,” King laughs. “What do you expect?”
I sigh, figuring it’s time to come clean. “When we raided the 311 Boys clubhouse, Lola and Benji were right in the middle of inking Oscar and Henri. Our little shits hid it from us, but Hash found out and took them to Sailor Jerry’s to clean them up before they got infected.”
Hangman glances from me to Hash, then back again. “And how is that a problem?”
Hash clears his throat. “The tats looked like a pile of shit, I tidied them up a bit.”
I get pissed off. “You didn’t just tidy them up. You gave them fuckin’ Hell’s Jury tats.”
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” Joker says.
Hash takes out his phone and thumbs through his pics, then hands the phone to King, who’s next to him. “First one’s before, second one’s after.”
As the phone is passed around, there are a lot of snorts and sniggers.
It finally gets to Hangman, who keeps flippin’ back and forth.
Then he looks at me. “Why you got your panties stuck up your ass? This is a good fix.” High praise coming from the prez.
He squints. “Hey, there’s even HJ in the wings. ”
“And you said no one would notice,” I growl at Hash.
Hangman looks between us. “Why no color?”
“Need to heal,” Hash replies. “Then I’ll bring them back in.”
Over my fuckin’ dead body, I wanna say, but I know a battle lost when I see one. “All the kids want one now.”
King protests. “They’re too fuckin’ young for that shit.”
Trigger pipes up. “Think of it like microchipping.”
We look at Trigger like he’s grown a horn.
“What the fuck are you on about?” Hangman says.
“That’s what Evanee does to dogs and cats. Microchips them. Then they can be tracked down if they go missing.”
“The strawman finally got a brain,” Reaper says with a grin.
Trigger gives him the finger.
Hangman turns to Coyote. “Can kids be microchipped?”
Up until now, Coyote’s been quiet, enjoying the banter, but now he looks like he’s seen a ghost. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Of course, it’s a fuckin’ good idea. Hash gives them tattoos. We’ll get Evanee to microchip them.”
Joker leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “Prez, Evanee won’t microchip them because she’s a vet not a doctor and I’m pretty sure from a professional standard, she could get in trouble.”
Hangman grimaces. “What the fuck’s wrong with your mouth? Shit’s spilling out of it.”
Joker grins. “Sometimes I can actually be a grown-up.”
“Stop it,” Hangman demands. “I don’t like it.”
“Can’t Dicer do it?” Rocky asks.
Right, the drunken doctor. “He’s not getting anywhere near my kids,” King snarls.
“Coyote can microchip them,” Zero suggests.
“Not a bad idea,” Stark adds. “After what happened last night, we would have got there in time to prevent the tattoos from happening at all.”
Coyote studies him. “Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?”
Finally, I put an end to the insanity. “Which of your women are going to agree to this bullshit?”
“We should get them microchipped too,” Hash says. He doesn’t care one way or another, but he’s Hash. Likes stirring the pot.
“Yeah, I like that idea,” Hangman says.
“Are you kidding me!” I exclaim. “Selkie would pummel me into the ground if I even suggested it to her.”
“Why the fuck would you want that cunt microchipped anyway?” Hangman snarls. “I thought by now you’d have had enough of her!”
Reaper, Rocky and Trigger share uneasy glances. “Probably shouldn’t call her a cunt, prez,” Joker says.
“Why the fuck not?”
I’ll call him on the cunt part later. Right now, I need to set the record straight. “Because I haven’t had enough of her. We’re staying together.”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Hangman roars. He’s on his feet, his face red. His hands clenched. “You want her to be your ol’ lady?”
Everyone tenses, thinking they’re going to have to throw themselves at Hangman to keep him from killing me.
“Eventually, yeah,” I say blandly. “And don’t you think you’re being a little over the top? She’s not worse than X.”
Reaper gets insulted on behalf of his girlfriend. “Selkie’s pretty much worse than everyone. Even Hangman.”
Hash doubles over in laughter. So do King, Zero, Reaper, Trigger and Rocky. Coyote smirks and Stark covers his mouth to hide his grin.
Joker is the only one not amused. “Asshole,” he says to Reaper. “We were just getting Hangman under control.”
“Fuck you,” Hangman says to Reaper. “And fuck you too,” he says to Joker. “This is me under control.”
He has a point.
Hangman slumps in his chair and covers his face as he shakes his head. When he looks up, it’s at me. “Tell me you’re fucking with me.”
“I’m not,” I reply, trying for my stony look, but Hangman looks so demoralized I can’t help but feel for him.
“No,” his says as he thumps his fist on the table. “No. No! No!! I can’t take this! We’re being invaded by the pussy brigade. And the bounty hunter, she’s gonna bring us all down. How do you know she’s not an inside agent?”
I snort. “Selkie, an inside agent? She’s the worst bounty hunter I’ve ever seen.”
“She has no subtlety,” Stark says.
“And doesn’t know how or when to shut up,” Rocky adds.
“And her kid’s just as bad,” Joker says. “Henri would betray her mom in a heartbeat.”
“Are you guys done?” I snarl.
Hash shakes his head. “She tried to kick me in the nuts.”
The room settles down. “What’s wrong with that?” Trigger asks.