Chapter 6 – Rebel
Once again, Rebel almost lost her life.
Once again, she debated her culpability in a struggle that would’ve resulted in her watery death if she hadn’t prevailed.
She was back in the room reserved for Momma, a place Rebel had been in not that long ago. Aches plagued her. Whichever fuckhead she’d fought the most had abused her belly and kicked her at some point. She was in a lot of pain, but she wanted to be home.
Recycled air, beeping machines, a window that revealed a waning day, and two hospital beds in a larger than normal room surrounded her. As hospital room went, it was part standard fare and part special privileges, but still couldn’t compare to the comfort and luxury of her suite.
Tears slid down Rebel’s cheeks and she growled, slapping them away, angry and heartbroken.
After discovering her boyfriend cheated last week, she’d cried buckets in the privacy of her room, unable to believe his betrayal.
She’d gouge out her own eyeballs before she ever allowed Kaia Riggs to see her pain because he’d fucked one of her biggest haters. Again.
He’d sworn she was the most important girl in the world to him. And, yet, he’d hurt her deeply. Not by accident either. On purpose. She’d told him what she thought of a cheater and he hadn’t cared.
Beyond the doors of home, she pretended she wasn’t devastated. Somehow, over the past few days, she’d made peace with her new status in life: single. She’d planned to sign up for the teen dating site and keep watch for when another handsome guy dropped out of nowhere as Kaia had done.
She’d know her brothers and father set her up again, which CJ finally admitted to because Kaia finally copped to it. Old news. How she met Kaia wasn’t important anymore. They were done. She hadn’t even wanted to be his friend because she’d spent the week hating him and missing him in equal parts.
But life was short, proven to her time and again as she struggled to reach her birthday in thirty-three days.
Death sank his claws into her when Rule tried to drown her and hadn’t released her.
It would shock her if she turned fifteen.
Even if she saw May 15th this year, today convinced her she’d never reach sixteen.
A sob escaped her and she clapped a hand over her mouth. She feared death. She feared the unknown. And…
“Do you want some water, Reb?” Seven remained in her room because Diesel had left her to do whatever. She’d still been in the ER when he walked out and she hadn’t heard from him since. “A cold towel?”
“No, thank you,” she said hoarsely, exhausted and heartbroken. Terrified. She didn’t want to die. She had so much she still wanted to do in life. “I want Momma.”
Every now and then, DeLuca checked in, which surprised Rebel since he was a…whatever? Prospect? Probate? She didn’t know what they classified him as, but so far, she hadn’t seen her parents, Kaia, or her brothers.
“Meggie and Outlaw are on the way, babe,” Seven said gruffly. “Do you want me to stand in the hallway? Give you a little peace?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said around sniffles.
“Aww, don’t be like that. You’re a little firebrand. Don’t let bullshit bring you down.”
“I almost died,” she said around a sob. “It isn’t bullshit.”
“Only two ways you can be. Dead or alive. You didn’t die.”
Swiping at a tear, she glared at the wall, her back still to the biker. “Not for their lack of trying. First time because Momma has Spidey senses and this time because I called Diesel after his card declined. That fluke saved me.”
“Then chalk it up to your Guardian Angel during her job.”
“One day, she might be napping and then I’m fucked.”
He laughed. She found nothing funny.
“And Meggie didn’t have Spidey senses. She had a mother’s intuition. Leagues better in my book.”
“Momma’s the best mother a girl could ask for.”
“She’s strong and brave. Like you.”
Rebel snorted. “I don’t feel very brave.”
“You’re just tired, babe. Once you rest, you’ll see things differently.”
She wasn’t so sure about that. The first time she almost died, her twin had a mental breakdown. She’d never been a ‘victim’ before. “This is so different because it was random. I was only trying to save Jana.”
“No trying it in, Rebel. You succeeded. She’s alive and so are you because of you. That’s something to take pride in.”
“I guess so.”
“I know so. I’m sure Jana can’t wait to thank you.”
A smile broke through Rebel’s misery and she nodded, forgetting their past grievances amid their shared trauma.
“I’m turning twenty-five in a couple weeks. I have a long scar down my stomach from where I was shot seven times. I coded on the table, but the doctors revived me. Mom says it’s because she’s a God-fearing woman.”
“And you’re a fucking idiot. Wouldn’t you want to change your life after almost losing it?”
He snickered, and she glanced over her shoulder. He wasn’t as tall as Diesel, but he had obsidian eyes and jet-black hair that complimented his swarthiness.
“You’re laughing, but I’m serious.”
“I know, babe, but what’s life if you don’t live on the edge? Diesel is sponsoring me. He told me to keep my eyes open for any prospects between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.”
Facing the wall again, Rebel frowned, until she realized Diesel’s MO. He was searching for potential members who would support CJ.
“Diesel represented me in a couple of cases. He invited me to party at the club with him and his friends, and I liked what I saw.”
“And you chose the road name of ‘Seven’ for what reason?”
“I’m the seventh kid.”
“You’re joking.”
“Not at all, babe. My parents had five more after me.”
“Well. Goddamn. Uh—”
“That’s some serious fucking,” he said cheerfully.
“So fucking gross that you think about your parents fucking.”
“I can’t help but think about it when I have three brothers and eight sisters. Besides, we lived in a very small place. I heard them fucking on more than one occasion.”
The visuals were disgusting, considering how many kids her parents had. Rebel wrinkled her nose and changed the subject. “The club had a ‘Seven’ already.”
“He’s dead, so no hard feelings.”
“It doesn’t creep you out?”
“I’m not so easily spooked, sweetheart.”
“Aw, damn,” she teased with a dramatic snap of her fingers.
Seven’s phone began ringing, so he excused himself. The moment he left her alone, Rebel’s despair returned. She didn’t want to keep reliving Jana’s abuse that forced her to intercede. She didn’t want to remember the chilly water threatening to become her cold grave.
The door opened and she turned to see who it was. Not Diesel, Seven, DeLuca, or any of the other guards who’d been with them, but her father.
“Daddy,” Rebel cried, bursting into tears drawn from the depths of her soul.
He hurried to her and wrapped her in his arms, allowing her to cry and babel about everything from Kaia to Rule to almost dying today.
Again. He hugged her and stroked her hair just as he had when she was a small girl.
He smelled of leather, smoke, and aftershave with an underlay of soap. Familiar scents that soothed her.
“I don’t want to die,” she finished, trying to control her tears and clinging to her father. “I’m so scared, Daddy.”
He tightened his hold on her. “First time I got shot I was about seventeen. I was fucking terrified cuz I was on my bike and I thought I was gonna wipeout. If those fuckheads woulda circled back, they probably woulda killed me because I ain’t remembered to take care and pull my fuckin’ piece.
I was closer to Ma, so I went there. It was a thigh wound.
I was cryin’ and panickin’, so fuckin’ afraid I was gonna die. ”
Releasing her father, Rebel rested against her pillow and met his gaze. “What did Grandma Pattie do?”
Daddy shrugged. “Did like always when she thought I was too hard to handle. Called Big Joe.” He smiled sadly.
“Ironic I almost died cuz she wouldn’t take me to the hospital herself and I lost a lot of fuckin’ blood.
A lot. Big Joe stayed here with me for three fuckin’ days.
Until I was outta danger. Then he told me to fear livin’.
Death is peace. Death is free of pain and worry.
Livin’ is the motherfucker. One’s inevitable but both are inescapable.
You got to live to die, but it’s how the fuck you live that makes the difference.
It was no fuckin’ use wonderin’ about the other side, especially since we knew the direction we was headed when we bit it. ”
Rebel pursed her lips.
“I wasn’t too happy at that message either, Reb. It wasn’t a pep talk.”
“No, it wasn’t.” She didn’t understand what Big Joe, or Seven, meant. If she breathed, she lived, so of course it was inescapable. “Was he trying to make you afraid of life, too?”
“It was a reality check. It was a reminder that how I lived this life dictated how I entered the next. That’s when I realized how deep into the club I already was.”
“Aren’t you agnostic? Do you believe in an afterlife?”
“Even before your ma influenced me, I believed in Satan if not God. I didn’t disbelieve. I just saw more bad than good. I couldn’t understand the concept of a benevolent bein’ if I never saw it myself. But you believe, dontcha?”
She nodded.
“You kind and you loyal. You almost gave up your life…” He paused, swallowed, and glanced away, shifting his weight.
“Ain’t no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend.
” Sighing, he leaned down and hugged her again.
“I woulda killed that cunt, but you woulda had nothin’ to fear.
You woulda been in Heaven with Patrick.”
Swiping her cheeks with his rough fingertips, he kissed her forehead and straightened.
“If you’d killed Jana, I would’ve died for nothing.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Thinkin’ about you dead make me wanna throw up, but I know you need to talk.”
“I don’t want to think about me dead. I was just making a point. Jana’s a victim, too.”
Daddy nodded. “I know, baby. I wouldna thought about that though. I just woulda shot the fuck outta her.”
Of course Daddy would have. He reacted, then considered his actions. Her father would never change. She smiled. “Where’s Momma?”
“She had to go to the nursery for something.”
Panic surged into Rebel. “Jo’s okay, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, Reb,” Daddy answered, not going into detail. She was too tired to probe further.
Before she spoke again, Kaia walked in and stopped at the foot of her bed. Dark circles ringed his eyes and he looked pale and gaunt. His hair was starting to grow back, but it wasn’t the luxuriant mane it had been when they met.
“Can I talk to Kaia alone?” she asked.
“Ima go to the nursery and check on your ma and Jo,” Daddy said, kissing her cheek, throwing Kaia a hateful look and walking out.