ROWDY
Once I freed myself from Jennifer and Lupe, I couldn’t find my woman. I ended up wandering like a lost kid.
As the boys slept in their nursery, I overheard my parents bragging about their amazing qualities. Still wandering, I walked past my uncle Ford telling someone about a testicular injury he caused a guy back in the day.
I spotted Dillon kicking the ball around the backyard with her cousin, Sutter Cane. Out front, Nine chased Ben down the street. Though I considered asking what was going on, I felt restless and didn’t want to goof around.
Wandering in and out of houses, I spotted Kat and Maria surrounded by foxes who acted like the twins were curious creatures to be studied. Zadie was leading the weirdness, but I assumed she was happy to know her brother had found a normal woman.
I ended up back at my parents’ house. Pax saw me standing near the nursery and nudged me toward the back door.
“Run free, kiddo,” my dad insisted while blocking my attempt to check on the boys. “You know they’re fine. If you want to peek, use your phone.”
Forced outside, I spotted Clint and Rock talking quietly in the corner of the yard. In the next yard, Kat spoke with Nova and Lula. She looked so relaxed and happy. I wished I felt the same.
Embracing my sullen mood, I walked over to my president and VP and asked, “What’s the word with Bob?”
Rock grunted. “The fucker’s paranoid and rides everywhere with other people.”
Hiding his irritation better, Clint explained, “We hoped to set up a car accident. Get him alone somewhere and end him, but that hasn’t been easy.”
“Do you think he’s on to you?”
“No,” Clint replied quickly. “We think he’s afraid of Zodiac and the Black Rainbow.
The other two dipshits are also twitchy lately.
Since the fight in the quarry, they’ve skipped their usual rides down to Baton Rouge to see their families.
I suspect they know Zodiac won’t be satisfied with a simple beating. ”
“If we hit Bob, won’t Zodiac get the blame?”
“Yes,” Rock said instantly. “He knows they’ll hit him back.”
“Is he okay with starting a war and putting a target on himself?”
Clint glanced in the direction of Elle, who was pretending to fight Sabrina near the patio. Zodiac remained close to his woman as usual.
“I don’t know.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Clint’s gone soft, just like you,” Rock said and shrugged when our president frowned at him. “Elle living in Baton Rouge puts an obvious target on her.”
“Going after Elle would be suicide,” I said, winning a nod from Clint. “There’d be no walking it back.”
Rock shrugged and glanced at Elle. “It only takes one reckless asshole to take the shot.”
“So, we do what, then?” I asked.
“Wait,” Clint muttered. “I don’t want to be the reason my sister gets hurt. Zodiac is likely worried about the same thing.”
I glanced at Kat in the other yard. She was listening to Lyric as the girl danced around her.
Seeing everyone happy around me, I had no interest in battling with anyone right now.
My defenseless sons needed to grow up and see the world.
My woman was just settling into her new life.
The last thing we needed was violence to break out.
“Normally, I’d say you two were fucking weak and needed to grow a set of brass balls,” Rock told us in his usual charming way.
“But I’m not sure what happens if a war breaks out.
Are we looking at Bob’s family coming after us?
Or will the former Black Rainbow guys arm up and attack?
Even Zodiac can’t answer that question.”
Thinking about the former Black Rainbow members, I pointed out, “Most of those guys who were screwed over by Zodiac are old now.”
“They’re the same age as our parents,” Clint said.
“Yeah, but imagine if someone like Zodiac took over the old Little Memphis club and shoved out our dads. Would they have gone down quietly if Joker wanted to keep the club? No, but these Baton Rouge fucks were too scared to face off against Zodiac and his loyal guys.”
“So, you’re saying they won’t have the balls to fight us now. Not even if those three assholes ended up dead, and they knew we did it.”
“Basically.”
Rock exhaled roughly, sounding annoyed. “Zodiac has his people ready to go to war. We might want to prepare the foxes and the whipped men in the Crimson Guard to be as ready.”
“What do you mean by ready?” Clint muttered at him, and I sensed this was an argument they’d shared before. “Should I lock Ivy in the condo? What about my mom? How about yours?”
“My mom can handle whatever they throw at her.”
Shoving Rock, I snarled, “One day, you’re going to care about someone who can’t handle whatever gets thrown at them. When that happens, I’m going to laugh at the dehydration you get from crying so much.”
Without missing a beat, Rock insisted, “I refuse to fall for a nice nurse or a petite rich girl or whatever Nova is. I’m planning to stay single until I die. You’ve already promised to hang out with me at the nursing home.”
“And I will keep that promise, you piece of shit,” I said and patted his shoulder. “And I’ll bring my hot wife with me to remind you what you missed out on.”
“Sure. Have her bake me something.”
I narrowed my eyes and hollered, “Oh, she’ll bake you something fucking fantastic! It’s one of Kat’s many qualities!”
“Why are you yelling?” Sabrina yelled at us. “Is this something that needs my presence?”
“No!” Rock yelled back.
“What?” Sabrina hollered at Elle.
“He said he wants your help!” Elle yelled back at Sabrina. “Also, he thinks you smell like butt wipes!”
Rather than join us, Sabrina chased after Elle, who took advantage of her nonpregnant body to hightail it out of the yard.
“That was close,” Clint muttered. “I didn’t need her to yell at me for being both a wuss and a hothead.”
Calm again, I asked, “Did my other big sister offer any advice on the situation?”
“Lula suggested we wait. If we hit Bob, Aaron, and Vinny first, we’ll have a tougher time negotiating peace later.”
“What peace?”
“The kind of peace that keeps us from having to wipe out entire bloodlines while they try to do the same to our families.”
Rock’s gaze scanned the area where many of our friends and family talked and laughed together. His parents might be back in Rawlins, but they remained obvious targets.
“Fine,” Rock said, letting his sensible side take over. “We’ll wait and see what happens. Maybe these guys are so nervous, they’ll behave. But you know we can’t let them fuck with us even one more time, or we’ll look like sloppy bitches.”
As his gaze focused on Elle tackling Sabrina in the next yard, Clint nodded. His sister would be the most obvious target if violence broke out between us and the Baton Rouge assholes.
“Talking to you guys made me feel worse,” I said and walked away.
Rock yelled out, “Go cry to your mama!”
People looked over to see if his comment was the start of a fight. I kept walking before jumping the fence separating this yard from my parents’ place. I headed straight for Kat and wrapped her in my arms. Pressing my face in her soft hair, I finally shook off my shitty mood and smiled.
“Withdrawal’s a bitch,” I murmured and kissed her.
“Withdrawal from what?” Vanessa asked from nearby, where she jumped in the bouncy house with Skylar and Lyric. “Nicotine?”
“I was missing my woman,” I told my sister.
“Aww, I want to fall in love.”
“You will,” Lula promised.
Reassured by our big sister’s words, Vanessa returned to goofing around with the girls. I also felt comforted by how relaxed Lula behaved. I didn’t want to think about danger, but standing out in the open left me edgy.
My neediness left me worried I couldn’t protect Kat and our boys if they were ever in danger. Kat had transformed the man capable of biting off a guy’s nose into a soft, silly bitch.