CHAPTER 2
Maverick
After working for a few hours at the garage earlier today, kicking back at the bar seemed like a good idea.
I’m now second guessing that decision as Grayson heads straight toward me, wiping his hands on a shop towel.
I look up from my beer as he gets closer.
Son of a bitch. Now what? Most of the guys are around today which means more possibilities of them talking to me.
I don’t dislike people, really, I just hate to be bothered when I didn’t invite the conversation.
This chapter of Carnage does a Sunday dinner every week, which is something I’m still not used to. We’re not required to attend but most everyone does. It makes me uncomfortable and being that today is Sunday, everyone is hanging around waiting to eat together.
Family dinners aren’t exactly something I grew up with.
I’m a man that has been on the move since before the word ‘man’ even applied.
I haven’t had a real home since I moved out of my mother’s piece of shit trailer when I was fourteen.
Even that, I’d hardly consider a home. The president of the Carnage chapter in Tennessee is a man called Phoenix and he’s the one that took me out of the hell I grew up in.
Phoenix was sleeping with my mother, an easy feat accomplished by quite a few of the locals.
When he showed up one night to pick her up, he found her beating on me with a soup pot.
I was tall at fourteen, but was still a skinny thing.
Even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have fought back.
Where I came from you were taught to never disrespect your mama.
Forget about hitting her back, so I cowered.
I was on the floor in the kitchen up against the olive-green-colored fridge that barely kept the food cold, with my arms covering my head as best I could.
She was pissed off that I had burnt tomato soup.
It had filled the trailer with smoke and a putrid smell while she was trying to get ready for her date.
“You stupid motherfucker! I’m supposed to be leaving in ten minutes and this smell is going to be all through my clothes!
” Mama took the pot from the stove and tossed it into the sink causing the soup to splatter all over the kitchen and me.
The red liquid burned the skin on my arms and my left cheek causing me to cry out.
“I’m sorry!” I yelled as I backed away. The pain on my arms was intense, but I was more concerned about what was going to come next. “The garbage was full, so I took it out and then the dog ran off. I knew you wouldn’t want Greta to get lost.”
“So, you’re too stupid to make a can of fucking soup and take the garbage out at the same time? Or is the goddamn dog smarter than you? Is that it?”
I backed away further. “I. I don’t know.”
“Of course you don’t, cause you’re as dumb as your damn daddy. Now look at this fucking mess!”
I immediately got up and moved toward the paper towels. “Don’t worry mama, I’ll clean it.”
“No!” She grabbed the pot out of the sink and pointed it at me. “You’ll just fuck that up too.” She came toward me and I retreated until my back hit the wall. She raised the pot and smacked me across the face with it.
I cried out and she hit me again. I fell to the floor and tried to shield myself as best I could, but the blows kept coming as she screamed at me. “Useless! You’re a worthless piece of shit that can’t do anything right!”
“Mama please! Stop! Mama!” I begged and pleaded as tears streamed down my face. My little sister ran into the room crying. The pot stopped in mid swing as my sister sobbed watching me try to protect myself.
“Mommy! Leave him alone!” My baby sister’s voice was the only thing that made Mama pause for a brief second.
Just as she raised the pot readying to hit me again, the screen door flew open and Phoenix rushed in. Mama’s eyes widened. She quickly tossed the pot back into the sink and glared down at me.
“Sorry baby,” she said to Phoenix. “Gonna take me a few more minutes to freshen up. My boy here can’t seem to manage to cook a can of soup without practically burning the place down.” Her voice turned as sweet as syrup and I wanted to throw up.
Phoenix was a big man, wearing a leather vest. His size appeared even larger standing in the tiny kitchen of our dilapidated trailer. His long brown hair was back in a ponytail and his mustache made him seem like he was scowling, even when he wasn’t.
He ignored what mama said and stared down at me. “Get up.”
I stood, covered in soup, bumps, and burns. I sniffled and met the man’s eyes, unsure of what was going to happen next. I wouldn’t put it past a man my mother was seeing to continue the beating for her.
Phoenix’s voice rumbled, “this the first time this happened?”
I shook my head, trying to hold back the tears.
“Go get your shit and meet me outside.”
I stared at him for a moment and then turned to my mother.
She sneered at me. The disgust on her face every time she looked at me was there.
I weighed what to do for just a brief second before I passed my mother and went down the hall to my room.
I quickly grabbed as much stuff as I could carry and headed back to the kitchen where Phoenix and my mom were now screaming at each other.
But, as I paid attention to what they were actually saying, I realized it wasn’t about me.
It was about my little sister, Tatum. She didn’t care if I left, but her? That was a different story.
The last words Phoenix said to her were, “I’ll leave her here for now, but I’ll be checking in. If she ever has one single mark on her, I’ll take her too and nobody will ever find your body.”
From then on, I was raised by Phoenix and the brothers in the Rockland, Tennessee chapter of Carnage.
While it is filled with good, decent men, it doesn’t have the family feel that exists here in Dogwood Creek.
Family dinners were a rarity and I guess that’s because only one member had a permanent old lady.
Grayson interrupts my trip down memory lane with a clap on the back. “Hey. Sophia just texted that her and Kaya are on their way.”
I lift my chin to him in acknowledgment, but don’t say anything. He gives me a nod and heads into the kitchen. An electric charge runs down my spine.
Kaya.
The dark-haired, tight-muscled, short, little demon girl, that has had me in knots since the first night I saw her, is on her way.
When I first arrived in Dogwood Creek a lot of shit kicked off.
There was a lockdown soon after so I got to spend quite a bit of time with her.
Now that all of that is over, I barely see her.
We’ve been playing a back-and-forth game for the last few months.
She hops in my bed and then immediately pushes me away.
She made it clear from the beginning that she doesn’t want anything more, but I’m not buying it.
I know there’s something there, I just don’t know how to get her to see it.
“You good brother?” Deuce asks from beside me.
“Yeah. All good,” I grumble. I take a swig from my beer, not liking the sweat I feel gathering in my palms. Just the thought of seeing that girl gets me on edge and I don’t know why.
There is just something about her that makes me possessive in a way I’ve never been before.
I mean shit, I was only here for a few days when I told every other guy here to stay away from her.
I’ve never done that, never felt the need.
I’ve fucked club whores an hour after they left a brother’s room and it’s never bothered me, but Kaya?
Just the thought of some other man’s hands on her makes me irrationally angry. My jaw tightens.
“Why’s he so uptight this time?” Leo says as his ass lands on the stool next to his dad.
This fucking guy. Everything seems to be a joke to him.
You can tell him and Riker are buddies. The two seem to be in a constant battle for who can make the most jokes.
Maybe it’s because of my past, but I’ve never been comfortable with people like them.
I may laugh a bit, especially after a few drinks, but to be honest, I just don’t mesh with people like them.
Maybe it’s because I wish I was more like them.
I wish I could see the lighter side of things. I just don’t.
Deuce holds up his beer. “Bitches, am I right?”
I don’t say anything but I hold up my beer and tap the glass to his in a toast. Bitches is right. Or at least one anyway.
After draining another two beers and listening to Deuce, Leo, and Eli chatter on about club girl drama and the Iron Petal’s renovations, the front door opens. I turn to see Grayson’s twins, Joey and Emily run inside followed closely by Sophia and Kaya.
My stomach instantly squeezes at the sight of Kaya in jeans and a black henley that shows off her cleavage.
I have the urge to rush over to her and make her button it up higher, because if I’m seeing her tits, then these other assholes are too.
My nostrils flare at the thought of any of them enjoying the sight of her soft breasts.
Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with me?
I stand and turn toward her. She is absolutely gorgeous. Dark hair, dark eyes, and the sexiest little body I’ve ever seen. As I take her in, her eyes are on me, but when I start toward her, she puts a hand up before I even get close.
Kaya rolls her eyes. “Can you not start already Maverick, I just got here.”
Her raspy, sultry voice has my dick jerking, even though what she’s saying instantly pisses me off. I clench my teeth. “So, you decide to be a bitch the minute you walk through the door?”
Her eyes widen and I take a step back. Fuck. Maybe calling her a bitch wasn’t the right move.
Kaya huffs and storms past me into the kitchen.
I stand motionless as I watch her dark hair sway back and forth with each stomp of her tiny feet.
The room goes quiet and I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.
I hate being the center of attention. The silence grows into the raucous sounds of my brothers busting on me.
“Damn brother!”
“What the hell did you do?”
I ignore the idiots.
Sophia passes me with a look of both pity and annoyance as she rushes into the kitchen behind her friend. The twins shriek as they run around the pool tables chasing each other while I stand stock still in the center of the room not sure what to do next.