Chapter 43 – Kaia
Jana: Did you get the blunt?
Kaia: Not yet.
Jana: Can it be tonight? I’m lonesome. Diesel is at the house with his brothers. Please? You’re my friend.
Kaia: Let me see what I can do.
Although CJ invited Kaia down to the basement to bowl with him and his brothers, he declined.
Diesel was attending. That fuckhead would make Kaia miserable and he wanted a clear head to finish filling out the applications to all the schools he’d like to attend.
He even submitted one to UCLA as well as top design schools in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland.
Meggie instructed him to assemble a portfolio of his work.
Kaia never kept his drawings so organized.
Once he moved into his own place, he’d thrown away most of his tablets in the interest of space.
He had to tell her the truth. If any of his applications progressed to the next stage, he didn’t want her to expect something he couldn’t provide.
He didn’t want to hang out with Jana tonight. She’d probably cry and complain about Diesel. Kaia just wasn’t in the fucking mood to hear about that motherfucker. Maybe they could watch cartoons and minimize their conversation.
Putting his boots on, he grabbed the key to his room and his cell phone, then went in search of Bishop.
The house was so fucking quiet. Usually, it was only this still in the early morning before the day began.
Otherwise, the place buzzed with activity.
It was never boring. Day to day, Kaia didn’t know what to expect.
He checked the den but didn’t find Bishop so he went to Bishop’s room and knocked.
After three tries, Kaia headed to the media room on the second floor. Still nothing.
A depressing thought occurred to Kaia. Maybe Bishop was downstairs with the Caldwell boys. He wouldn’t run into problems, since Diesel liked the dude. Bishop was accepted in a way Kaia never would be.
Sighing, he turned and walked down the stairs again. He’d check the library and then head to the club. Potter might have a blunt to sell him.
The built-in shelves, filled with books of all types, continued to amaze Kaia.
The library was big but decorated in shades of cream.
A couch and coffee table sat in front of the fireplace.
Three pairs of overstuffed chairs with little round tables were in various spots.
There was also a wooden table with four matching chairs, one of which Bishop sat in.
He raised his gaze to Kaia, then immediately returned to reading.
“What?”
“I was wondering if you had a blunt to sell me.”
Bishop didn’t look up. “All out. Sorry.”
“Fine, dude,” Kaia said, starting to turn.
“I have a question for you, Riggs.”
Kaia gritted his teeth, but took the bait and closed the door, walking to the table where Bishop sat. “About Rebel, I suppose.”
“It’s best not to get involved in her business. Her father and brothers won’t take kindly to that.”
“Then what is it?”
“Are you taking Meggie’s offer for school?”
“Why?” Kaia asked suspiciously. Other than ‘hello’ and to issue orders, Bishop didn’t talk to him. “It isn’t my fault she made the offer, so don’t blame me—”
“I’m not.” Bishop snapped the book closed; it was a cookbook. “Do you know how you dreamed of football?”
“It was art first,” Kaia admitted.
“I always dreamed of being a famous chef. Even when I dropped out of school and became a petty criminal to bring in more money than fast food joints were paying, I clung to that.”
“As long as you have hope, you have purpose.”
“I agree, then I met Mortician. When I saw him, I knew I was going to die.”
Kaia lifted his brows. “You fucked over the club?”
“I worked for a motherfucker who fucked over the club,” Bishop corrected. “Mortician shot the fuck out of three motherfuckers right in front of my fucking eyes and didn’t flinch. I’d never seen anything like it. When he waved me over with that big ass gun…fuck, bro, I almost shit myself.”
“I would’ve at least pissed myself,” Kaia said, snickering.
Bishop smiled. “I was seventeen. If it was three weeks later, I would’ve been eighteen. I don’t know if he would’ve shot me or if he would’ve looked at me and asked how old I was. He tied me up and searched the house for the stolen drugs and money.”
“Oh goddamn.”
“Exactly. I don’t know what the fuck those motherfuckers were thinking, trying to fuck over the Dwellers. I only wanted to help my mother and my siblings. As the man of the house.”
“You were a kid.”
“I’d gotten involved in very grownup activity against her wishes.
Mortician called Val, and he came with Digger, Cash, and Stretch.
They cleaned that fucking house like…fuck, they are fucking professionals.
Mort marched me to the van and put me right next to those dead bodies.
I just knew I was dead, too. I’d survived the shootings at the house…
I thought I was in for torture. He brought me to Outlaw, though, and told him the full story.
They fucking grilled me. While they were doing that, they did a background check on me and saw the story I told them checked out.
Outlaw gave Mort permission to take me under his wing, but only if I wanted it. ”
“We know what you chose,” Kaia said, wondering why Bishop was revealing his history.
“Yeah. I never thought I’d get luckier. Until Megan hired me to work in her house.
” He nodded to the cookbook. “Allowed me to indulge in my passion. Allowed me to sit at the table like I’m family.
They’re all so cool to cook for because they don’t mind experimenting.
As long as I also have kid-friendly foods in case Axel and Gunner don’t like what I prepare, she gives me free rein.
She spoils my sister’s baby. No, my sisters.
My mom…everything I dreamed of her having, a fucking easier life, Meggie is allowing me to provide. ”
Kaia understood. She was doing the same thing for his family.
He was sure she needed the help. She had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders.
But she went above and beyond simply because she cared about those closest to her and wanted the world to be a better place for them.
However, he still didn’t understand why Bishop wanted to know if Kaia had accepted her offer about school.
“Meggie offered to send me to culinary school,” Bishop announced. “All expenses paid by Mortician and she’d give me an allowance. Two grand a fucking month just because…because they want me to have an alternative.”
“That makes sense.” Kaia shifted his weight. “She’s had a really hard time accepting CJ’s determination to be anything other than a biker.”
“Yeah, bro. She’s a very logical woman, but the reality slapped her in the face. The danger. The death. The deception.”
“For a third generation of her family,” Kaia said.
“That’s quite the fucking legacy, bro. She has to wonder when will it stop and how will it end for her boys. And her daughters.”
It sounded as if Bishop had more to say, so Kaia prompted, “But?”
“But I accepted my altered future even before she asked me to work for her. My dream became an abstract idea or a fond memory of a na?ve motherfucker. Mortician is handpicking his successors. He wants me to be a top enforcer. He…I love my niece. I’m her father figure.”
“Isn’t she a small baby?”
“It doesn’t matter. A father’s love begins from day one. My sister’s baby daddy is a raging prick. I call home every fucking day and I visit at least twice a week. If I leave, then what?”
“You can do online classes.”
“That takes discipline, Kaia. The type of focus and dedication I no longer have. I’m living my dream every fucking day in Meggie’s kitchen. Then I get to go to the club. Ride my Harley. Be close to my family. Fuck a bunch of willing girls.”
“It sounds like you already have your answer then.”
“Again, are you accepting the offer?”
“Does your decision depend on my answer, Bishop. Dude, our situations are completely different. Meggie and Mortician are doing it for you because they want you to realize your dreams. She’s doing it for me…” Kaia shrugged. “Not for the same reason.”
“She wants you away from Rebel because of Fia,” Bishop guessed.
“Yeah.”
Studying Kaia, Bishop’s gaze fell on Kaia’s baldness and he shook his head, folded his arms. “Do you know why I’ve been so fucking pissed with you?”
“You just jumped on the hate Kaia bandwagon?”
“No, because you’re a stupid motherfucker. You accepted CJ’s offer and trusted Diesel.”
“I didn’t know he was a fucking pervert!”
“Until I moved in, I mistakenly thought that Rebel was a girl with a crush. Most of us thought that. Torrin would kill anyone who said Diesel felt a way about Rebel. But even if that wasn’t the case, you knew CJ set her up to meet you.
You knew Diesel and Outlaw before you crossed paths with Rebel.
You knew how they were toward Reb and Meggie.
You’re playing both ends to the middle because you like the fucking danger.
You don’t think about her being a fucking kid who trusts you. ”
Kaia couldn’t think of a response.
“I was friends with Rebel. Much closer than we are now. We texted each other and laughed and joked, but I have a fucking sister not much older than her. I wouldn’t have crossed any lines with her.
When Diesel married Tabitha and ghosted Rebel, that crushed her.
It was bad enough he suddenly moved out, but he wouldn’t talk to her either.
Not only did she see a lot of shit at the club, she watched how CJ and the rest of her brothers and cousins acted and were treated.
She was stonewalled at every turn, so she only had Diesel to obsess over. ”
“Someone said she had a crush on you.”
“She did, but I like living and I have morals. She’s like a rose. The more she blossoms, the more exquisite she becomes, but she’s sheltered and na?ve. That won’t change anytime soon.”
“Not if she goes away to college.”