27 | The Friend Mac
I t’s been a week since Raydene passed. Everyone has rallied together to help support Violet, Doc, and Sin. Luc made a public announcement letting all her fans know that Raydene passed away.
People have been asking about Dexter, but his whereabouts are still unknown. We know the truth, but we can’t confirm it without a body. As of right now, he’s a missing person.
Sin hasn’t left the clubhouse at all and barely leaves my room. She’s the one with nightmares every night now. Dealing with the loss of her sister and killing a man. I know Peshkov deserved it, but the brutal way she did it has me concerned. She hasn’t spoken about it, and I haven’t pushed her either. I want to be here for her.
The girls have helped out a lot. Snow finally got her to take a shower and come downstairs to hang out. When Doc or Violet visits her, she tries to pull herself together. I think it’s because she knows they are hurting just as much as she is. They had twelve years with Raydene. They were Ray’s rock when she was gone.
That’s why I’m hoping my surprise for her will pull her back to the living.
“When is she arriving?” Shy asks, sitting next to me at the bar.
Finishing my beer, I reply, “She should be here anytime. I told her the celebration of life would be next week.”
We decided to have two parties for Ray. Friday would be at the White Wolfe Lounge for close friends and family. On Saturday, it would be for all of her fans at Club Spin.
“I’m not too keen on the Reapers all coming to the celebration. Having them in our town makes me nervous,” Shy explains.
“Yeah, well, Ray was like family to them. I think there will be a lot of unwanted out-of-towners this coming week,” I say, knowing damn well people from all over who loved Ray and her music will come to mourn her.
“What is Sin going to do?” Blink asks, sitting on the other side of me.
Lifting my beer to my mouth, I reply, “What do you mean?” before taking a sip.
Blink leans on the bar, looking over at the two of us. “What I mean is, are you going to let her be seen? Like at the celebration of life at Club Spin. It’ll get out Cindy’s alive.”
“She said she doesn’t care anymore. That she’s done hiding…” I pause, finishing my beer. “Plus, I told her she’s not leaving me, and I would protect her.”
Cash and Wolfe walk up and take a seat at the bar.
“Are you two ever going to go home?” I ask, fucking with ?em.
Cash bellows with laughter. “Nope! I like it here.”
Wolfe chimes in, “Well, now that you mention it. We’re going to be making some changes, so you might be seeing more of us, but that’s for another day.”
Shy taps the bar with his beer. “Hell yeah.”
I glimpse over at my best friend and question him. “What the fuck? What changes? How come I don’t know about this?”
Shy smirks. “Brother, we’ve been a bit busy.”
“Well, after next week, it better be the last celebration of life we have and for now on there need to be more celebrations of weddings,” Wolfe states.
I pat my brother on the back.
“It’s coming up. Are you ready?” I say to Shy.
“Been ready since I was eighteen years old,” Shy replies with a big smile. “But I’m thinking Quick’s will be before mine.”
We’re all laughing, giving each other shit about marriage, when we see a Kawasaki Ninja pull into our driveway.
“Is that a woman?” Cash bellows with excitement as two of our new prospects walk toward the bike.
“Sure looks like a woman or the fucker’s tiny as shit.” Blink laughs.
We watch the woman talk to the prospects, removing her gear as she dismounts from her bike and follows the men to the front door.
Whatever she tells the prospects must be good because they both escort her inside. We all swivel around to greet this mystery woman.
The woman’s helmet comes off when the door swings open, and a head full of dark brown kinky curls emerges.
“Christ!” Blink chokes.
“Damn, shorty.” Cash smirks.
The woman’s fitted in head-to-toe leather, showing off her voluptuous figure. When her eyes adjust, she sees all of us ogling her.
Shy asks, “Can we help you?”
The woman’s smile gets more prominent as she approaches, unzipping her jacket, and says, “I’m looking for Mac.”
Then I realize this was my girl’s surprise.
“Aw, shit,” I boom. Standing up, I question, “Phoenix?”
Her smile turns to me, then proceeds to check me out. Phoenix huffs and waves her hands like she’s hot, and says, “Damn. You’re fine as fuck. No wonder my girl doesn’t want to come back.”
I laugh. Moving to greet her, I extend my hand to her, but she swats it away and hugs me.
When we embrace, she rasps out, “Thank you for calling. How’s our girl?”
“Damn, shorty, can I have a hug?” Cash chokes out from behind me.
Phoenix pulls away. “Only if you bite,” she says with a wink, teasing him.
Yeah, she’s going to fit in here really good.
“Later,” I say over my shoulder as I throw an arm over her shoulder, guiding her to the elevator. “I need to go surprise my girl before she sees us on camera.
All the men are booing and making comments that I could’ve at least introduced them and shit. I can’t help but laugh.
Once we’re in the elevator, she turns to me and asks, “How bad is it?”
“How much do you know?” I counter her question.
She quirks an eyebrow. “I know it all. I know about her past.”
I remember Sin telling me she doesn’t know the name and so forth, but this woman definitely knows more than she’s leading on.
“It’s bad. It’s why I called. You’re her only friend,” I say when the elevator dings. I motion for her to stay while I look around first.
I knew Sin was taking a nap when I went downstairs, but I wanted to make sure she wasn’t walking around.
I motion for Phoenix to follow me. Once we’re in front of my bedroom door, I turn to her and say, “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad you called me,” she replies genuinely.
Opening the door, I see my beautiful girl sprawled out on the bed, watching TV. I smile when she looks over at me.
I say cheerfully, “Hi, beautiful.”
She smiles back. “Hi.”
Leaning against the door, I have Phoenix hidden next to me.
I say in a playful tone, “I gotta surprise for you.”
She giggles, replying, “You do, do you? Can I have it now?”
I nod my head. “Ah-ha. Are you ready?”
She moves to the edge of the bed with her feet dangling off it. “Yep.”
I step inside, and Phoenix follows me, jumping out from behind and yelling, “Surprise!!!”
Sin’s face goes from shocked to utter happiness. She flies off the bed, screaming Phoenix’s name. The girls embrace. I feel good, folding my arms over my chest. It’s so good to see that smile I love so much.
Sin glances over at me with tears in her eyes when they break apart, but this time, it’s from something happy.
“Mac, thank you so much,” Sin says, rushing over to give me a big hug and kiss.
“Anything for you, beautiful. I’m just glad to see this smile again.” I give her a kiss.
Sin turns back to her friend, and I tell them I’ll be downstairs and to come down when they’re done catching up. Walking out the door, I see they are already making themselves at home on my bed.
Once I’m back downstairs, the men start giving me shit and asking all kinds of questions. I catch them up on who Phoenix is, and they all give me shit for being pussy whipped.
An hour later, Sin and Phoenix make their way downstairs. We’re still hanging around the bar with Maze and more of our members are here. My parents, Hawk and his ol’ lady, Lish, have arrived. Everyone’s relaxed and having a good time, watching me play a game of pool with my old man.
Sin’s smiling, and I couldn’t be happier. Phoenix has taken her leather jacket off, and damn, the girls got some badass tattoos. She’s fully sleeved on one arm and a quarter sleeve on the other. And just like Sin said, she’s got the most beautiful phoenix tattoo on her shoulder.
Nothing like Sin’s, but still, it’s badass. Cash mutters next to me, “Brother, I think I’m in love.”
I scoff. “Brother, you fall in love with every woman you lay eyes on.”
Sin introduces Phoenix to my parents, and I finish the introductions not expecting Sin to remember everyone. She’s only met them once at the patch party.
When it’s time to introduce Cash, he steps forward and extends his hand. “I’m Cash.”
She looks at his hand before grabbing it and says with a teasing grin, “I thought you wanted a hug?”
Cash releases her hand and fires back instantly, “Always,” extending his arms to welcome her.
She giggles and moves in for the hug. Phoenix is attractive with honey-roasted almond color skin and dark brown eyes. She looks islander, but not sure which, but you can tell by her thick body and tattoos.
Sin jokes, “Cash, leave my girl alone. She just got here.”
Phoenix pulls away, giving him a wink. “Later.”
Cash beams. “Later, shorty.”
Everyone cracks up laughing, watching Cash make his move, but something tells me Phoenix might also have her sights on Cash.
Maze hollers from the bar, “Sin, get your ass over here. It’s shots time.”
Sin stares at Maze with a smile, giving her a wave. I lean down and kiss her on the cheek. “Go have some fun. I’ll be over once I’m done kicking my pops ass in pool.”
“Shit, son. Who do you think taught your ass how to play? Beat me, my ass. I’d like to see that shit,” Bear bellows with laughter, moving to take the next shot.
Sin turns to me, giving me a quick kiss before heading over to Maze, who’s already lined up a few shots.
The day kept getting better as the night unfolded. All the Spin It girls, along with my ma and her crew, are crowded around the bar watching Maze and Sin bartend together.
“Black Betty” by Ram Jam sounds through the speakers, and the girls squeal. I see my ma and Lish jump up and start dancing.
Sin has been showing Maze some tricks while all the ladies cheer her on and drink whatever they put in front of them. I’ve been sitting back just watching my girl do her thing.
Since Raydene’s passing, I can see how hard it is for some of our Spin It girls. I can tell they think of Ray based on how they look at Sin. She looks so much like Raydene in many ways, but then again, Sin is so different. They all are mourning their friend. Izzy has taken it the hardest.
I think losing Raydene has put a different fire under her. Instead of turning inward with fear, she’s turned that fear into anger.
As I stand around the pool table watching the women having fun, Shy walks up and hands me a beer. “She seems good today, yeah?”
I take the beer with a nod, thanking him.
Before I take a swig, I reply, “Yeah, seems so.”
Blink takes his shot, making the corner ball. “Seems like bringing Phoenix here was a good call.”
Again, not taking my eyes off Sin, flipping a glass and bottle in the air, I answer, “I hope so.”
I glance from Sin over to where Phoenix is sitting at the end of the bar with Snow. Snow is always the protector. My cousin is one of the most loyal girls and one of the fiercest.
I know she’s vetting this girl, getting a feel for her. Every girl here, my cousin has either grown up with or hand-picked herself and welcomed into our lives.
I smile.
Faith and she would have been inseparable. Snow has taken this pretty hard too. I know she’s thinking of my sister. I think every girl here can relate to Sin in some way. Snow lost her cousin, who was her best friend, so it’s like losing a sister. Izzy understands the aftermath of being taken. Violet has lost her husband and now her best friend. We’ve all dealt with so much loss.
My pops chimes in and asks, “Do you trust her?”
Instantly, I answer, “Nope.”
Shy finishes his shot and misses. “We’ll know soon enough,” he says, standing up and grabbing the top of a pool stick, giving Blink a head nod to let him know it’s his shot.
Dallas is doing one of his background checks on Phoenix. Cash started chatting it up with her earlier and got the dirt on her. Her name is Jessie Frisco. She goes by Jayjay or Phoenix.
“For right now, she’s put a smile on my girl’s face and got her out of the room. I’ll deal with anything else later. Right now, it’s all about my girl and making her happy.”
The girls are all cheering Maze on, who is trying to pour multiple shots like Sin did the other night. Sin is beaming behind her. When she glances over and catches me watching her, she grins. I pucker my lips, air kissing her, and she winks, mouthing, ‘Thank you.’
I nod and mouth back, ‘Always.’