Epilogue One
Ruby
Standing graveside, the wind whips through us this New Year’s Eve. Snow falls from the sky, accentuating the look of desolation on all our faces as Grave gives his eulogy. His gruff voice gets interrupted by the rumbling sound of an engine piercing the quiet.
Everyone turns as a green, large, lifted, brand-new four-door Chevy pickup pulls up with a covered motorcycle in the bed. Its windows are darkly tinted, and when the door opens, a running board pops out, a booted foot steps on it, and the person jumps down.
She’s an average-height woman with long, dark dreadlocks past her shoulders, who walks right over to us, takes a rose from the bucket, then approaches Boost’s casket.
“Sorry I’m late, Daddy.” She leans over and kisses the casket, then places the rose on it, and steps back.
None of us know how to respond.
She turns back to Grave. “Continue.” Her voice sounds as if she’s from Australia or New Zealand, but looking at her face tattoo, I recognize it as Pacific Islander; she also has a beautiful medium-tan complexion.
Lyra moves toward her, and the woman takes her hand. “Hello, Lyra,” she says softly.
“Lio?”
We all stop.
This is Lio? Mal couldn’t find a male Lio related to Boost, and my dad said he only knew that they were a child, nothing else.
The funeral continues, and I can’t stop crying. Ben holds me tight against his side, and I tremble from the chilly air against my wet face. I try to hold back the shivers, not wanting Ben to insist we leave, worried that I’ll get sick.
As soon as Grave finishes up, I walk over to the woman. “Lio, I’m Ruby. I’m so sorry for your loss; your father was protecting me when he was killed.”
She pulls me into her and hugs me tightly. “I know all about you. He spoke fondly of you. I hate that I cut him off, but I couldn’t see him only once or twice a year anymore; I had to focus on school and life.”
We head back to the clubhouse where everyone celebrates Boost and his life.
Lio didn’t return with us because she said she had to get back to town to finish moving into her new apartment and put her bike into storage for the winter.
I left my number with her just in case she needed anything and tried to tell her the club would help her, but she shook her head and walked away.
I worry she blames me or the club for her father’s death, but that’ll be something I’ll need to discuss with her later on. I hate that she lost her father and didn’t know him the way I did.