Chapter 2
Knocking on the door, I waited for him to answer.
When he didn’t after a solid minute, I knocked louder.
I hated to use the doorbell, but I would.
I knew he was home. He said he was when I texted to see if it was okay to stop by. I was about to press the button when I heard the deadbolt click and then another one. Slowly, the door opened. Sitting in his wheelchair, smiling up at me, was my best friend, Tiago. It was damn good to see him. Things had been crazy at work, so we hadn’t seen each other for a couple of weeks.
Entering, I locked the door behind me before bending to give him a one-armed hug.
“Damn, did you get uglier since the last time I saw you?” I asked.
It was a running joke of ours.
He snorted.
“I had to in order to downplay how fucking ugly you are.
I swear, you’re gonna die and be awarded the ugliest man ever to live award.”
“Fuck you.
I’m an Adonis,” I retorted.
“In your dreams,” was Tiago’s comeback.
We glared at each other for several moments, then burst out chuckling.
He swung his wheelchair around expertly and headed deeper into his house.
I followed him.
His place was renovated to make it accessible for him to live independently.
It had been Moondog’s house. When he died, of course, it was left to his son. We’d lost Moondog a year after my dad. Every time I was here, I still half expected him to walk into the room and join our conversations.
Tiago eyed me as I sat on the living room couch.
“You were thinking about Dad, weren’t you?” he asked.
“Yeah, I was.
I still expect him to pop out of a room and start talking.
I miss the hell outta him and my old man.”
“I do, too.
Sometimes, I talk as if he’s here and watching me like you would a ghost.
I know it’s nuts, but I do it.
I swear, sometimes I feel his presence,” Tiago admitted sheepishly.
“Buddy, I do the same thing with Dad.
No shame in it.
Mom says she does it, too.”
He sighed as if relieved.
“Well, thank God for Momma Jamila.
She proves we’re not insane, or at least not totally.
It was great to get your text.
We need to catch up. Grab us a couple of drinks, and let’s talk.”
I got up and went to the kitchen.
As I got our drinks, I teased him about how lazy he was.
He teased why not make me do some work this month.
After I returned and we settled with our drinks, I told him what had been happening at work and about my recent talk with Mom. I rambled for a while, and then I stopped.
“Enough about me.
I want to know what’s been up with you.
You haven’t been to the clubhouse lately.
We’ve missed you,” I informed him.
I knew it was tough for him to be there and think about how he could’ve been a part of it.
But we didn’t allow him to wallow in self-pity or isolate himself.
No matter what, he was still family.
“I’m sorry, I know I haven’t been.
I told Diablo I was sorry to miss the last celebration.
I need to stop by and see everyone.
Seems like, from what you said, Jaycee is thriving.”
“She is, and she asked when you’re coming back.
She loves to read books with everyone and tell them about school.
You have to see how much Chasin has grown already.”
He shook his head.
“It’s hard to fathom Diablo being married and a dad to two small children.
Never expected that.
Dad would be stoked to see it.
He always said Diablo was made to be a family man.”
“It’s great, but we’re talking about you.
How’s work?”
Tiago’s college degree was in computer networking.
It allowed him to use his degree and do it from home without physical labor.
Years ago, after the accident, he’d gotten an entry-level job and was now the company’s lead networking engineer.
He’d gone back to college and gotten his master’s a few years after the accident, too. He made a very decent living.
He told me about his latest project.
It was huge and required him to work overtime like crazy, which was the main reason he hadn’t been around.
He swore it was almost done, and then he’d go back to a regular schedule.
“I hate that it’s making you work so hard, but I know you love it,” I said.
He smiled.
“You know I do.
Our dads were right to insist we have degrees.
If I hadn’t had one, God knows where I would’ve ended up, especially after Dad died.”
“You would’ve been here.
No way we’d let you go without, Tiago.
You’re family.”
“I know, but it feels weird, Scorpion.
To be at the club without Dad and not being officially associated with it is an odd feeling.
I’m not a prospect, member, or actual blood relation to anyone.”
“You’re my brother, no matter what.
That’s enough without adding in that your dad was a brother.
I know it’s hard for you.
I wish I could make it easier.”
“Hey, don’t take it on your shoulders.
It’s my issue.
Nothing that anyone at the club has done.
Although now that one of you has fallen into marriage and fatherhood, it might be more interesting to come around. I wonder who’ll be next. Everything you’ve all said about how the other MCs have found their partners, it seems that once the president drops, the rest start.”
“True, it has for the others.
If that’s the case with us, I think it’ll be Butcher or Wolverine.
I told you how Wolverine acted with Jauhnna.
He’s ready to settle down. Butcher is older and has made it clear that he’s not opposed to having an old lady and even kids. It’ll probably be one of them.”
“I don’t know.
Maybe it’ll be you,” he said, grinning.
“It could,” was all I said.
“Would you be okay if it were? You sound pretty calm about it.”
“I’ve thought about it.
The other night, I was thinking about it and what I wanted in a woman.
I’m not against it if she’s the right one.
You see the way Diablo is with Jauhnna. They fit. It would have to be someone like that.”
“Well, shit, I was teasing you, but I can see you’re serious.
I think it’s fucking fantastic, Scorpion.
I’d love to see you with an old lady and kiddos,” Tiago said happily, but there was a shadow of sorrow in his tone.
“If I’m going to settle down, then it’s time for you to start looking and do the same.”
He shook his head, and the sorrow was now evident in his expression.
“You know that’s not possible for me.
I’ll live vicariously through you.”
“Like hell, it’s not possible.
Your injury didn’t affect your ability to have sex.
You told me that you could get it up and have even had sex,” I reminded him.
“Sure, I can get it up, and if the situation is right, I’ve had sex.
The women I had sex with were willing, so they could say they did it, or they had some kind of kink for a paraplegic.
They exist, believe me.
They’re not women I’d want for a partner, which leaves the ordinary women. Who in their right mind would want to tie themselves to life with a man who’s in a wheelchair? A man who can’t walk, carry her, or even have sex in every position under the sun. It takes planning. No one wants that,” he said dismissively.
“Sex isn’t everything.
There’s intimacy and companionship.
If you got to know each other and fell in love, she’d be more than willing to do whatever was necessary to make sure you both have a sex life.”
“That’s a lot of things that would have to align to make it so.
And what if they did, and she wanted kids? There’s only a low chance that I can father kids normally.”
“Then you can go the medical route or adopt.
Tiago, I don’t mean to badger you, but I don’t want you to rule out the possibility and be so convinced it’s impossible that you miss the perfect woman if she enters your life.”
Tiago was silent for a minute before he replied.
“I hear you, and I promise, if a woman who meets all those criteria waltzes into my life, I’ll snatch her up and marry her.
But you have to swear that if one meets your list of attributes, you’ll do the same.
Who knows, maybe one day, our children will be best friends like us.”
His sorrow seemed to have receded.
I leaned over with my fist out.
He gave me a fist bump.
The rest of my visit went smoother. Later, we had dinner and watched a movie together before my visit ended.
Once I was back home, I wasn’t in the mood to see if anyone was at the clubhouse.
Instead, I stayed in my house.
I ended up going back to the past.
In particular, the day we found out about the other driver’s fate. The one responsible for almost killing my best friend and leaving him a paraplegic for life. Even to this day, when I think about it, I was infuriated. Proof that life was fucking unfair.
We gathered at the rehab center, waiting for Officer Hardy to arrive.
Moondog had chased him enough that he could no longer deny his request to know who the driver of the car was and the details of the wreck.
Fortunately, Tiago made it through surgery.
But he was left with a spinal cord injury. The doctors said it was a partial one, which meant he might be able to have some feeling and such, but it was unlikely he’d ever recover enough to walk.
The news gutted Tiago.
To join the club, you had to be able to ride a motorcycle.
He was angry and not willing to hear anyone say that, at least he was alive.
For him, it was the end of the world. I tried hard to cheer him up and to keep his mind off what he didn’t have, but he was sinking into depression, and none of us knew what to do to help him.
Maybe if he knew what happened and why, it would lessen his depression.
When questioned by the doctors, us, and the police, he told the same story.
He had no recollection of the wreck.
He remembered going for the ride and being out at Anastasia State Park, but that was it. His next memory was waking up after surgery. The doctors explained that he may never recover his memory, or it could come back gradually or all at once.
They’d transferred Tiago to the rehab center two days ago.
It had been three weeks since the accident.
I thought that it was fast to discharge him, but the doctors said he was stable and the only thing to do was work on his rehabilitation.
He may never walk, but there was a lot more he had to learn to do. His whole life changed.
The center was nice enough to let us use their conference room for the meeting.
We didn’t want the cops to speak to Tiago alone.
Whatever they had to tell him would be traumatic.
We wanted to be here for him. The whole club hadn’t come, though they wanted to. Dad, Mom, Moondog, Diablo, and I came for it.
Tiago was in a reclining chair on wheels.
He still had trouble sitting upright.
The staff made sure that he’d been medicated before bringing him in.
Even if he couldn’t feel his lower half, he had pain elsewhere. We chatted as we waited. Tiago ignored us and stared blankly out the window at the garden outside in the courtyard. I went to him and sat.
“What’re you looking at, brother?”
He shrugged and mumbled, “Nothing.”
“For it being nothing, you sure are concentrating.
Is there a pretty woman out there?” I teased.
He glanced at me.
“If there was, I couldn’t do anything about it.
You would have to go charm her panties off.” I heard his bitterness.
“I don’t see why you can’t.
Man, I know I’m not in your shoes, and I can’t imagine how difficult it is, but don’t give up hope, Tiago.
Plenty of people with injuries like yours live wonderful lives.
You heard the docs.”
He shook his head and muttered, “Yeah, yeah.”
I was about to say more, but the door opened, and everyone got quiet.
In walked Officer Hardy.
Over the past few weeks, he’d been decent to us and given us what information he could.
We didn’t mind him. However, seeing his asshole partner, Officer Wiley, with him made me want to swear. We’d only had a few interactions with him, and he always had an attitude. Wiley was automatically biased against us because we were bikers.
Moondog stood.
“Welcome, Officer Hardy, Wiley.
Please have a seat.
Scorpion, will you bring Tiago over to the table?”
As I pushed his chair over, I saw Wiley eyeing me.
The club had quietly held a patch-in ceremony for me a week ago.
It was decided not to wait for Tiago to get home.
We feared seeing everyone partying and congratulating me would make him more despondent. I told them we didn’t need to do anything, but Moondog insisted.
It was at the patch-in that I learned my road name.
Dad was Cottonmouth, after the poisonous snake.
He could be deadly when needed, and he snuck up on you.
The club played off it, but rather than giving me a snake name, they decided Scorpion fit better. I liked it and was trying to get used to being called that.
I got Tiago situated and then took a seat next to him.
Wiley was checking out my cut.
He scowled.
I resisted giving him the middle finger. The fucker irritated me. Instead, I concentrated on Hardy.
Officer Hardy faced us.
“I know you’re having therapy, which can be extremely taxing, Mr.
Luna.
We’ll make this as quick as we can.
Your father and the rest of you, er, family, have been asking about the other person involved in your accident and the circumstances surrounding it. We didn’t want to mention anything until we’d finished the investigation. We’ve done that.”
He paused to allow us to speak, but no one did, so he continued.
“The other driver involved is underage.
As such, we cannot disclose that person’s name without the express consent of the parents.
What I can tell you is that the findings indicate that it was very dark and the driver was out late.
They’re a new driver and not experienced with night driving. The driver stated that it wasn’t until they were right up on you that they saw you. They attempted to avoid hitting you, but they overcorrected. The car swung too far and then fishtailed, causing it to spin partially. The spin hit the back of your bike, sending you down the embankment.
“As you can imagine, the other person was scared and confused.
It took a few minutes to get control of themselves enough to get out and check on you.
When they noted your condition, they had to walk a good distance to call for help.
An ambulance, the fire department, and the police were dispatched. Once they arrived and assessed your condition, you were transported to the hospital.”
“What about that driver? Were they injured? What is going to happen to them?” I asked.
“The driver of the car wasn’t injured, other than bumps and bruises.
They refused treatment.
When the parents arrived, they backed up the refusal.
As for what will happen to them, the DA has reviewed the case. He concurs with the recommendation of the experts who assessed the conditions at the scene and the mitigating circumstances.” Hardy paused again.
I knew in my gut we weren’t gonna like what he was about to say.
He was taking a deep breath.
His shithead partner beat him to it.
He had the goddamn audacity to smirk as he spoke.
“It was an unfortunate accident which might’ve been avoided if you had worn reflective gear.
You were on the road in the dark.
No one would expect you to be there.
It was a slightly foggy night, and the driver was new. It’s the DA’s decision not to press charges against the driver. There will be a fine, and community service hours will be required. Their driver’s license will be suspended for six months.”
“What the fuck!?” I shouted as I stood.
The others were muttering, scowling, and swearing.
I felt Dad’s hand on my arm.
He was on the other side of me.
I knew he was cautioning me, but this was bullshit! I had to say it.
“This is a truckload of shit.
Someone runs Tiago over and almost kills him.
He’s a paraplegic because of it, and all that person gets is a slap on the hand and a fine.
Whoever it is should do time and be held accountable.”
“Sit and be quiet.
No one cares what you think,” Wiley said acidly.
I glanced over at Hardy.
He wore a pained expression.
I pointed to him.
“You’d better get your partner out of here before he gets more than he bargained for.
No one wants him here, and we sure don’t need to hear his mouth.”
“Is that a threat?” Wiley asked, popping to his feet.
His hand rested on the butt of his gun.
I had news for him.
If he thought a gun made me afraid of him, he was about to be rudely shown otherwise.
“There’s no need to argue.
Scorpion, please have a seat.” Those soft words came from Diablo.
No matter how upset you were, you didn’t ignore your president, so I slowly sank back in my chair.
Once I was seated, Diablo added, “I agree.
Officer Wiley’s attitude during this entire investigation has been less than civil.
Please have him leave, and then we can conclude this talk. I assure you, Officer Hardy, you are more than safe with us.” Diablo emphasized the you part.
Wiley sputtered and tried to argue, but Hardy saw the wisdom in the request and sent him packing.
As soon as he left, Hardy shook his head and sighed.
“What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room.
If asked, I’ll deny I said it.
First, as for Wiley, his attitude has bothered me.
I filed a report about it. If you want, I suggest you come into the department and do the same. Will it do any good? I think it might. Our chief of police, Trembley, seems to be an honest guy. If nothing else, Wiley will be put on notice about his attitude. You’re not the only ones he’s displayed one with.
“As for the driver, I can tell you that if you truly believe that the DA is wrong, you can talk to a lawyer to see if you might have a civil case, since there won’t be a criminal one.
You could sue the family for Mr.
Luna’s medical costs, lost wages, pain, and suffering.
If found guilty, you could see a significant amount. I will say that I spoke to the driver several times and saw nothing but remorse and horror at what occurred. They wanted to visit you, Mr. Luna, in the hospital. The parents and their lawyer decided it wasn’t a good idea.”
“How can we sue if you won’t tell us the name of the person who did this to my son?” Moondog demanded.
“I can give you the parents’ names.
You can go from there.
I know you’re angry, and I don’t blame you.
But I want you to remember… if you or anyone in your club tries to seek retribution for what happened, you’ll be the ones who end up in jail,” he warned.
“Officer Hardy, I can assure you that no one in our club will seek retribution, as you call it.
As you can imagine, we have things to discuss.
Tiago’s care is our priority, so we must consult a lawyer.
If you have those names, we’d like them before you leave. We can’t waste time,” Diablo said.
I was seething inside.
As Hardy finished up and gave the parents’ names to Moondog, I vowed that when I found out the identity of the actual culprit, I’d make sure their life was hell.
No way would they get away with this scot-free.
The end of my best friend’s dream was worth more than a fine, community service, and a suspended license.
Coming back to the present, I saw the time.
It was past time to go to bed.
I had work in the morning.
Obsessing over what happened after that fateful meeting didn’t change anything. Even thirteen years later, I was disgusted with how it ended.
***
I sat at my desk, looking at the paperwork I had to finish.
I loved automobiles and had been tinkering with things since I was a kid, and Dad showed me how to change the oil in our car.
As I got older, I learned more skills from him and others at the club.
When he and Moondog gave Tiago and me the ultimatum about getting a four-year degree before we could patch into the Horsemen, I considered only one degree: automotive technologies.
I could learn very little from the technical courses I didn’t already know, and I’d done several anyway.
This degree would prepare me to manage an automotive business.
After I graduated and got some experience and time under my belt, I was put in charge of the club’s garage—Horsemen’s Repairs.
We fixed all kinds of vehicles and bikes at the garage and provided a mobile mechanic service and towing.
We were booming and stayed busy almost constantly across all three business streams.
The downside was that, with everything being so successful, the paperwork and management side of it had grown, too.
It wasn’t often that I got my hands dirty like before, and I missed it.
Turbo helped, which did relieve a bit of the load, but he was more mechanical than bookwork-inclined.
Grumbling to myself, I kept plodding through it.
An hour later, I was feeling better about it.
I would leave the rest for next week.
It was Friday, and I was dying to get my hands on something greasy.
Tossing my pen on my desk, I got up and headed to the garage bays.
That was where the fun stuff happened.
Even if it was close to the end of the day, everyone was still hard at work.
They liked to leave as few jobs for the following week as I did.
We were open Monday through Friday, eight to six.
On Saturdays, the garage was open from eight to noon.
I typically didn’t come in on Saturdays unless I wanted to work on something, which was nearly impossible to do during the week.
“Uh oh, look out.
Here comes the boss.
Better stop sitting on your asses and get to work,” Turbo said.
He was standing next to a truck, wiping grease from his hands. The others were under the hood or undercarriage of a vehicle.
“From the looks of it, everyone is working except you, Turbo.
You’re standing there wiping your hands, pretending to have worked,” I teased.
He looked affronted.
“Surely, you don’t honestly believe that.
I do three times as many things as the rest of these guys,” he retorted.
“Who’re you trying to kid? And who are you calling a guy?” Henna asked.
She was our only female mechanic, but I’d dare any man to go up against her.
She’d grown up with all brothers.
Her dad treated her like another boy, teaching her the same as her brothers.
She was squinting at Turbo from under the hood of a truck.
The other mechanics all laughed.
Jun, Anton, Dirk, and Dion stopped to watch the show.
Turbo held up his hands.
“Whoa, I was just messing around, Henna.
You know I didn’t mean anything by it.
I like to give you all a hard time,” he explained.
“How about I give you a hard time there, Turbo? I bet a wrench up alongside your hard head would do it.” She waved the wrench she held threateningly in the air.
She climbed off the bumper of the truck and stalked toward him.
She was a petite woman, standing five feet three inches.
At one of our family days for employees, her husband warned us that she didn’t take guff off him either.
They’d been married twenty years.
They were a loving couple with two teenage sons. I watched as she came closer, and Turbo ran for it, being more intelligent than he looked. She swore at him. The rest of us watched her chase him around the garage for five minutes. We laughed ourselves silly.
“Henna, if you kill him, then we’ll have to clean up the garage, and the little that he does do will fall to the rest of you to do.
I think it’s better to ignore him.
You know he’s only a few points over imbecile level on his IQ,” I eventually interrupted their game to say.
Henna came to a halt and doubled over laughing while Turbo stared at me and shook his head.
“That’s cold, man.
I’m your club brother, and you do me this way.
Damn, I might have to go where I’ll be appreciated,” he grumbled.
“Where would that be, Antarctica?” Henna snarked back.
They snipped back and forth for a while longer.
The rest went back to work.
I walked the bays to see what they were working on, then stepped outside to see what was parked in the back lot that still needed to be done.
I was disappointed to see there wasn’t much. Turbo joined me.
“Get that look off your face.
Didn’t you see next week’s schedule? It’s bursting at the seams.
I doubt we’ll be able to take much walk-in business.
Scorpion, I think it’s time.”
I sighed.
“Yep, so do I.
We have church on Monday.
I’ll mention it then.
It’s not that I hate the success, but I’ll never get my hands dirty if we do it.”
He patted me on the back.
“You’ll find a way.
That’s the burden of making something a success.”
He walked off and went back to his work.
He was right, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
I walked around the outside of the building before going back to my office.
I was barely sitting when my cell phone rang. Taking it out of my pocket, I saw Tiago’s name. He never called me during the day. Wondering if something was wrong, I answered.
“T, is everything alright?”
“I guess it depends on what you call alright.
Am I alive and cheating death another day? Yes.
Am I at home? No.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the hospital.”
“Why the hell are you at the hospital? Did you have a doctor’s visit?”
“I got a last-minute one and came over.
The doctor took one look, and he sent my ass to the hospital.
They’re admitting me to the ICU.
There’s nothing to worry about. You know how they are.”
“The ICU isn’t nothing, Tiago.
What’s wrong?” I was standing and pacing.
“I’ve got a couple of wounds that aren’t healing.
It’s from all that sitting I’ve been doing.
I knew they were there, but didn’t think they were bad.
It seems they’re infected, and until they get them cleared of infection and start to heal, they want me in the unit. I knew if I didn’t call, you and the others would have a fit. Honestly, it’s nothing to get all upset about. Could I convince you not to tell the rest of the club?”
“T, you know I have to.
If I didn’t, they’d kill me, which goes double for Diablo and Butcher.
Do you want me dead?”
He gave a weary chuckle.
“No, I don’t.
Since I wasn’t expecting to stay, I wondered if you’d pick some things up at my place and bring them to me.
I hate to bother you, but you have a key.”
“It’s no bother, and I might as well bring them since I plan to come there anyway.
Send me a text listing what you need, and I’ll get it.”
“Thanks.
I’m in bed three.
You know where the ICU is.”
That was for sure.
I could never forget.
“I do.
See you within the hour.”
“There’s no need to leave work early.
Just whenever you get off and can find time to do it,” Tiago protested.
“I can and will leave now.
Send me the list.
It’s almost quitting time for me anyway.
I’m the boss. I can occasionally slip out early.”
He chuckled.
“Okay, it won’t be much, so you should be able to carry it on your bike without a problem.”
“Even if it’s not, I can get it to you.
Make sure you list everything you want.”
“I will.
Thanks, brother.”
“You’re welcome.
See you soon.”
After we hung up, I didn’t waste time sending a message to Diablo letting him know about Tiago.
Before Moondog died, he made Pres and me swear we’d watch out for his son.
We took our jobs seriously.
Diablo responded, saying he’d let the others know and asked me to take care of what T needed tonight.
The others would drop in over the weekend to make sure he was doing okay and if he needed other stuff.
With that out of the way, nothing was preventing me from leaving. I went to let the others know.
“I’ve got to bail early.
Tiago called, and he needs some things,” I informed them.
They all knew who Tiago was, so no one objected, not that they would.
Turbo caught me outside.
“Is he alright?”
“He’s in the hospital with an infection.
I’m gonna get some things from his house.”
“Do you need help?” His brow was wrinkled with worry.
“No, I got it,” I assured Turbo.
“Let him know I’ll be by in the morning to see him.”
“I will. Thanks.”
Turbo gave me a chin lift and went back inside.
I hustled over to my bike.
I fired her up and enjoyed the engine’s roar briefly before taking off.
It wasn’t far to Tiago’s house.
By the time I got there, he’d sent me the list.
I knew his house almost as well as mine, so it didn’t take long to find what he needed.
Packing it in one of his old gym bags, I was in and out in fifteen minutes. The ride to the hospital left me with time to think.