Chapter 38 – Christopher
As Knox rushed behind Roxanne to take her home, Christopher realized how much she’d given up a lot for Bailey.
Only for it to come to this. Roxanne had left her ma, her other daughters, and her son.
Saying goodbye to her own circle of friends, her extended family, and everything she’d known.
Christopher understood her despair and her sacrifices.
She hadn’t known him, Mortician, Digger, and Val.
She hadn’t known Megan, Bunny, Zoann, or Kendall.
They could’ve been the same type of motherfuckers to Bailey as she’d encountered during Logan’s time.
She did all that after Bailey left her to escape her abusive ex-motherfucker, who was threatening to kill her.
More than wanting to build a relationship with K-P, Bailey wanted to protect Roxanne.
But all she needed to do was open her fucking mouth and things might’ve been different. For her, her ma, and Mort.
Christopher loved Roxanne like she was his own ma, even if she was older than him by only eight or nine years. But it was the way she carried herself, the respect she demanded, and the wisdom she offered. However, if Bailey had never moved to Hortensia, he wouldn’t have gotten to know Roxanne.
Johnnie crawled from under the table, got to his feet, and stumbled to a chair , bruised and bloodied, his usual state nowadays. “I can’t lose my wife,” he said. “You have to talk to her, Christopher.”
“What the fuck you want me to say?”
Desperation crept into Johnnie’s eyes. “Anything. Tell her how much I love her. She can’t leave me.”
“Get the fuck outta my face.”
“Where is Kendall? Tell me. Please.” Johnnie raised his phone. “All her trackers give the house as her last known location.”
Fuck, that wasn’t good. “I don’t know where she at, Johnnie,” Christopher admitted. “I ain’t talked to her recently.”
“Christopher, please—”
“What, Johnnie?” Christopher roared, worried about Kendall and pitying Johnnie when he was the last motherfucker who deserved concern.
Except Christopher knew about love, the desperate kind that left a motherfucker suffocating when his woman tired of his bullshit and walked away.
“Christopher—”
“Fuckin’ what? What the fuck you want me to say that I ain’t been tellin’ you all these goddamn years? You chose Kendall and you ain’t ever been fuckin’ good for her.”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry.”
“No the fuck you ain’t. You not still handin’ me that fuckin’ bullshit.
You not sorry for a motherfuckin’ thing.
Not constantly fuckin’ with Kendall. Not bein’ a fucked-up fuckhead to your girl.
Not tellin’ Rory to be his own fuckin’ man.
And not settin’ me the fuck up to be fuckin’ killed, so fuck you.
You not sorry for nothin’. Fuck you, Johnnie.
I hate the fuck out of you. I hate the fuckin’ sight of you. ”
Johnnie lost his color and glanced around.
The sudden silence heightened Christopher’s anger.
“Fuck you,” he said again, thinking of the photos he’d kept of Megan, the ones Christopher shredded.
That motherfucker had the nerve to want help with Kendall when he’d repeatedly fucked over Megan.
“You fuckin’ obsessed with my fuckin’ wife, so what the fuck you did, Johnnie?
” He nodded to his captive audience, men he’d once trusted completely.
“Told these motherfuckers you and Megan fucked? What? She cheated on me with you? You know what the fuck that mean? You fuckin’ betrayed Kendall with her. ”
Absolute horror dropped into Johnnie’s face. He was the most braindead motherfucker Christopher had ever fucking met.
“You don’t fuckin’ think, John Peter. You just fuck up shit and then expect everybody to look the other way. I was the motherfucker who always cleaned up your bullshit. Always. Whatever the fuck it was, it was me who fuckin’ protected you.”
“What do you want me to do?” Johnnie said, close to tears. “I miss you. Our bond. Our friendship. I miss Kendall. I’ll do anything. Whatever you want me to do.”
“Die. I want you to fuckin’ die. I fuckin’ despise you.”
Johnnie tipped his head down and shuddered. “Please?”
“Please what, motherfucker? Tell me. Cuz please ain’t cuttin’ it. So, what? Please, kill you? Please have your fuckin’ back? Please think you got a fuckin’ brain? What the fuck you’re pleadin’ for?”
“I don’t know,” Johnnie whispered. “I don’t—”
“No, you don’t, and that’s your whole fuckin’ problem. Since you ain’t had me, you latched onto Bash.”
“Christopher—”
“Fuck you.”
“Fine,” Johnnie said in a tired, broken voice. “Hate me if you will, but please don’t let me lose Kendall. Please, help me. I’ll get on my hands and knees and beg you.”
“Ain’t makin’ a motherfuckin’ difference cuz once you get your way, you’re gonna find something else to fuck me over with.”
“I love Kendall,” Johnnie said, not denying the charge. “And, I swear, I never thought about what it would mean if you were kicked out. I swear. I wasn’t thinking.”
“You never fuckin’ do.”
“I’m sorry. I…please don’t make me lose Kendall. Help me to convince her to stay. Please. She’ll listen to you.”
Scowling, Christopher relented. He’d already left a message for her to call when she sobered up.
Hopefully, tomorrow, after a night away to clear her head, she’d comply.
Fuck. She might realize he suspected what happened and ignore him out of shame.
“Ima talk to her soon, but not cuz of you. It’s cuz of her.
I don’t think she should be away from us.
She fallin’ apart and isolation ain’t fuckin’ good. ”
Johnnie nodded and swiped at a tear. “I can’t believe she’s leaving me.”
Mortician’s face remained blank. Not a motherfucking peep. Not one smile or flinch.
“You never fucking think where Kendall’s concerned,” Val said. “What you should think about, goes the fuck over your head. Stupid shit, though? Like Prez and Mort sleeping with her? Yeah, that shit stay on your mind.”
Christopher slid his gaze from Mortician to Johnnie.
“Don’t take away her role as club attorney, Christopher. My wife earned her position.”
“So you say now,” Christopher responded. “You gave her all kind of fuckin’ grief when it first happened.”
“I shouldn’t have allowed my jealousy to blind me,” he said. “I should’ve applauded her accomplishments.”
“You fuckin’ think?”
“What the fuck bringing this change now, Johnnie?” Val asked the question Christopher wanted an answer to.
“After all the fucking shit you did. Destroyed us, our close-knit group. Almost ruined Outlaw’s marriage and sent Meggie away.
And what you did to Kendall, Mattie, and Rory, another level of fuckeduppedness. You suddenly seen the fucking light?”
“The moment the peace agreement was signed, I regretted it,” Johnnie admitted.
A motherfucker at another table gasped. Another assfuck choked. Diesel bared his teeth and Val gaped at the stupid fuckhead. All valid reactions, reflecting the emotions rolling through Christopher.
“I’m so sorry,” Johnnie finished.
“Keep that shit, John Boy,” Val barked as fed up as the rest of them. “Kendall left once before because of the bullshit you handed her. What the fuck made you think she’d stay if you kept fucking with her?”
“Because I love her and she needs me. I need her and she loves me. I told her…I thought if I threatened our kids…Jesus Christ.” He buried his face in his hands. “What have I done?”
“Fucked up,” Val said.
Underfuckingstatement.
“Why…what tipped her over the edge?” Johnnie finally looked at Mortician. “Talk to her, Mort. Please? Tell her she has to stay.”
“That’s not my place, Johnnie,” Mort said, averting his gaze.
“If it’s because of Bailey, I’m sorry. Tell me where she’s at. I’ll go and talk to her myself. Or I can call her—”
“Stay the fuck away from my wife,” Mort growled, the first real emotion Christopher had seen from him that day. “As for Red, I can’t tell her what the fuck to do about her marriage. I don’t have that fucking right.”
“She listens to you more than she listens to me most of the time,” Johnnie said, skirting fuckheadedness again. “If you have any ideas on how to get her to stay, tell me. It’s the least you can do.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Mort jumped up and stormed to Johnnie.
He stood and narrowed his eyes, flexing his hands, preparing to punch or draw his gun and shoot.
Mort didn’t care. He thrust his face into Johnnie’s. “You fucking drove her to this, and now you whining like a bitch.”
Johnnie took a step back, his anger rising and mixing with his panic. “Back the fuck up. If you aren’t going to help me, leave me the fuck alone, fuckhead. Don’t think you know my wife. I love her. You just fucking pity her.”
Rage flickered across Mort’s face, the only precursor to his punch to Johnnie’s gut.
It shocked the fuck out of everyone, but the second blow got everyone out of their stupor.
Christopher, Val, and Diesel rushed to Mortician and pulled him away, before the enforcer fucked up anymore.
Laying hands on the VP warranted a punishment.
“What the fuck was that about, Mortician?” Christopher asked, shoving him toward his chair.
Glaring at Johnnie, Mort jerked away.
“Sit the fuck down, assfuck,” Christopher commanded, needing to get shit under control before it further spiraled.
Anger blazed in Johnnie’s eyes. “I’ll ignore your violence in the interest of my marriage. Kendall would side with you.”
“’Cause Kendall got sense,” Mort snapped.