Ryan
Hiding in the bathroom stall at the hospital, Harley drew in deep breaths, competing images running through her mind. CJ covering her eyes as he led her into the treehouse on his sixteenth birthday. All the flowers and the lights. His beautiful smile and handsome face.
She’d been in the bathroom for so long, reliving all her past transgressions and thinking about some of the people she’d wronged, she’d lost track of time. But one face kept morphing into the other.
CJ. Daddy. Mommie. Lolly.
Aunt Zoann had merely yelled from the kitchen, “Harley, the permission slip for your field trip is next to your book bag.”
Once Harley responded, she hadn’t spoken to her again.
Half an hour later, after Harley had showered and gotten ready for bed, Pillar of Earth demanded…
Demanded…
Harley sobbed, so very miserable. She’d given him what he wanted.
Yet, today, he demanded more. The moment her phone beeped in the cafeteria she knew who it was.
Nardo never texted her. Since she stopped being friends with CJ, Rebel, and Mattie, they didn’t either.
Mommie, Daddy, Lolly, and Aunt Meggie left her alone, too.
When CJ took her in his arms and hugged her, Harley thought she was dreaming. It had been so long since he’d touched her with real friendliness. Even after his overdose, he’d pushed her away.
Perhaps, though, Rebel and Aunt Meggie’s near deaths had as profound an effect on CJ as it had on Harley.
The news she never expected to receive jolted her.
Made her consider her own mother and their fractured relationship.
Reminded her of all the times she’d spent with Aunt Meggie and Rebel as part of their family.
For the first time in forever, real concern for CJ overrode Harley’s animosity.
Molly didn’t matter. Nor did Jaleena. Or any other girl CJ might’ve been interested in. It was all him. CJ.
She wanted him. Not Ryan. Not Nardo. She didn’t want to undress in front of a camera or live in fear of what Pillar of Earth might do. She didn’t want to expose herself.
Another message came through and she started trembling. She didn’t have to read it to know the filth it contained, directing her to shameful acts made worse by all the bruises Nardo’s fists created.
Another message arrived. Then another. And another.
“NO!” she screamed, sobbing wildly, pounding her fist against the stall. “Make them stop!”
But she had no one to help her. She either had to comply or suffer even more dire consequences.
Pops stepped aside so Harley could enter the cabin first, although Ryan wanted to shove her aside, run to his room, and never look at her again.
He could barely stand the defeat in her pretty eyes or the slump in her shoulders.
Nor could he think about Willard’s other demands.
Pig-eyed motherfucker was unhinged. Harley’s continued torment aside, Willard insisted Ryan find a way to invade Mattie’s privacy.
“I have to get to the rectory,” Pops said, watching Harley trudge into the house and nodding to Ryan and Devon to follow her in. “Outlaw driving Meggie’s Lexus, and I don’t know if his mind is on anything, especially the fucking road.”
Pops closed the door but didn’t move out of the hallway. Sniffles punctuated the silence.
Devon rolled his eyes. “She’s crying again,” he said with disgust.
“Girls are emotional,” Pops replied.
“Harley’s dramatic,” Devon said flatly. “She wants attention.”
She needed help, but Ryan couldn’t blurt that without incriminating himself. Once he got Molly back, he’d undo all the hurt he’d caused Harley. And Rebel for that matter. CJ didn’t know half of what Rule saw and still he’d accused Diesel of adding to Rule’s distress because of Rebel.
If CJ ever found…if Diesel ever found out…Ryan shivered.
“You cold, boy?” Pops asked.
Unable to do much more, Ryan shook his head. He needed a redirect, so he changed the subject. “Did you know Uncle Christopher killed Nyx?”
“No shit?” Devon said.
Pops widened his eyes. “When the fuck he saw that bitch to fuck her up?”
Devon nodded, his sudden sadness lifting. “What Dad said. You must be mistaken, bro.”
“Fia, Tennysee, and Tauriel couldn’t fake their fear,” Ryan said. “Uncle Christopher shot the fuck out of Nyx for bad mouthing Aunt Meggie the same night as her initiation.”
“But…” Swallowing, Devon’s throat worked and he shook his head. “I thought…I thought…Nyx promised she’d back off.”
Offering cigarettes to Ryan and Devon before taking his own out of the pack, Pops didn’t speak again until they were lit. “A bitch like that won’t ever learn, son. I know you liked her—”
Puffing on his cigarette and releasing the smoke, Devon lowered his lashes. “I-I wanted to make her my old lady when I turned eighteen.”
“Yeah, that would’ve been a firm no.” Pops flicked ashes on the floor.
Mom wasn’t home to order them into cleanliness.
“Your mama and aunts couldn’t stand that bitch, and you would’ve been caught right in the middle.
” More ashes rained onto the hardwood floor.
“Trust me when I say that’s not a fucking place you want to be, caught between the club girls and old ladies. ”
Copying his father, Ryan flicked his ashes.
The house always smelled of lemon oil and pine wood.
It was rustic and down-to-earth. Home, a place Mom made special.
Somewhere he’d grown to appreciate in recent days.
He might not have lived in a palace like CJ, but Ryan and his brother wanted for nothing.
His parents gave them a good life. He grinned.
“You sound like you’re talking from personal experience. ”
“Unfortunately,” Pops grumbled, and puffed on his cigarette again. “Almost lost Zoann because I couldn’t keep my cock out of club girls.” Holding his cigarette between two fingers, Pops pointed at Devon. “This shit even worse. You would’ve pitted Nyx against Puff.”
“But you would’ve stuck up for me, right, Dad?”
Pops flicked more ashes and laughed with exaggeration before his humor abruptly died, and he shook his head. “Fuck no, Dev.”
Devon threw his cigarette on the floor and stomped it with his boot. They hadn’t gone to school today, so they weren’t in uniform. “But I’m your son, and this would be a club matter.”
“Nope, this would’ve been a dick matter. There’s no fucking way I’d get on Zoann’s bad side because of your cock. Especially since they have so many other club girls around.”
“I liked Nyx, though. She wanted me, too, Dad.” Devon shoved his hands into his pockets. “Why can’t you act like Uncle Christopher does with CJ?”
Pops took a final few puffs, released the smoke, and discarded the cigarette like Dev had.
“Although it was Outlaw’s final decision, we all had a hand in bringing in CJ and the other boys, but it was wrong.
It didn’t seem so at the time because, fuck, we all know CJ will one day take over the club.
Why not let it be earlier? But that kid is stressed, and don’t know up from down.
Club life is a lot for a grown motherfucker.
And Rule…” He shook his head. “All you need to do is give a kid who see women as saints or sluts and always using the bible like a weapon, access to club girls who’ll do anything for money, drugs, and status, to confuse him more. ”
Guilt slammed into Ryan, different from what he carried over Harley. “I-I never looked at it like that,” he whispered.
“None of us did,” Pops said sadly. “Meggie knew, though. She made it her life to take care of her children. She would be the one to know if they ready or not. We just saw her as overprotective. But, fuck, I think CJ’s road to the presidency is going to be harder the way we helped Outlaw to do, then if we would’ve just listened to Meggie. ”
“Is that why she’s so mad?” Devon asked.
Long ago, Ryan had stopped paying attention to his brother’s moods, but news of Nyx’s death clearly affected Devon. Unlike when they walked in, his little brother’s distress was plain to see. Perhaps, Ryan shouldn’t have blurted the news. He hadn’t realized how much Dev liked Nyx.
“If Outlaw can just understand he, we, betrayed her because of another bitch, shit might get back to normal,” Pops said, glancing at his watch.
“I think he does,” Devon said bitterly. “He killed Torie and now Nyx because of Aunt Meggie. Obviously, he’s trying to make up to her.”
“Those two bitches needed to fucking die,” Pops barked.
Devon glowered at him.
“Drop the fucking attitude, Devon,” Pops said with less annoyance. “And, yeah, he understand on the fucking surface. It just haven’t sank in yet. He still not getting that he never helped no other bitch, the way he helped Torie.”
Ryan thought about that for a moment. Whatever else he might’ve envied about CJ—rightly or wrongly—loving, present parents wasn’t it.
They all enjoyed a stable home life with mothers and fathers unafraid to show their affection.
Over the years, he’d heard that Pops, Mom, and their other family members took their cue from Uncle Christopher and Aunt Meggie.
He put nothing and no one above her. Not his sisters.
Not the Triplets. Not the twins. And not CJ.
Absolutely no one.
Stomping out his cigarette and ignoring his sudden unease, Ryan sighed and exchanged a glance with Devon. “It isn’t Aunt Meggie’s fault. Uncle Christopher is seeing clearer, meaning he’s almost back to normal so motherfuckers will die if they fuck with his wife.”
Oh, goddamn.
“Do you think Uncle Christopher liked-liked that nurse, Pops?” Devon’s question saved Ryan from explaining why he suddenly felt as if he’d throw up and then faint.
If he felt shook, he could only imagined how he looked. Certainly, the depth of fear invading him showed on his face.