Chapter 39 – Mortician
Sitting at the table in the kitchen, Mortician sipped his coffee, absorbing the silence of the house. He needed to go to Roxanne’s and ask if she’d heard from Bailey. He also needed to get his boys’ belongings from his mama-in-law’s. He needed to talk to Harley.
Val called a little while ago and updated Mort on both Harley and Zoann. Mort was happy for Val, even as he wished one of Bailey’s unplanned pregnancies had been successful.
Harley didn’t want to come home. Val had overheard her talking to Zoann before CJ picked her up in Meggie’s Lexus and headed to school.
She’d told Zoann she was only returning out of duty, but she no longer felt as if she belonged in the house.
Her mother, she said, only allowed her to come back recently and then she’d wanted to bar Harley from everyone. She no longer trusted Bailey.
That cut through Mort so fucking deeply. His baby girl, his pride and joy, felt like an outsider in her own fucking house. In the pretty room that she and Bailey decorated together.
“Mort, Harley said she wants to stay and help Zoann, since she don’t have any girls there. And, fuck, Harley’s sob broke my fucking heart. She said if she hadn’t been so mean to her mama and supported her when she wanted another baby, she would still love her.”
Lighting a cigarette, Mort tried to forget those words.
Wondered how he could let Harley know that none of this was her fault.
He didn’t know how Zoann had responded, but she was a very practical chick.
She probably advised Harley as best she could and made some of the points that Mort wanted to convey. Harley would listen to Zoann.
The ringing of his phone interrupted his musings, and less than a second later, the doorbell sounded. The back door opened, and Roxanne stepped into the kitchen. He looked at his phone.
Meggie girl flashed across the screen.
The doorbell rang again.
Roxanne gave him an enigmatic look, then headed to the coffee station. “You want me to see who’s visiting or will you?”
Suppose it was Kendall? She might’ve returned to the club to talk to him. Or that stupid motherfucker she married.
The doorbell rang again.
Turning, she sipped her coffee and met his gaze. “Kendall’s not back yet.”
A noise escaped him and his eyes flared in surprise.
“Get the fucking door, motherfucker. And don’t fucking think about lying. I got a fucking nose and I know your fucking cologne.”
“Roxanne—”
“Get the door!” she snarled.
Swallowing, he slid out of the chair, his head hung. By the time he opened the door, Bunny was almost to the main walkway.
“Bunny?” he called.
She turned and lifted a covered plate, walking closer. “I brought breakfast to you.”
He forced himself to smile. “I appreciate it.
She handed him the foil-wrapped plate.
“How you and my brother doing?” Mort blew out a heavy breath. “How you doing, baby?” That was the most important question. Digger had fucked up. “If you need anything, I’m here. That fool lucky to have you.”
“We’re in a much better place,” Bunny said. “I’ve forgiven him and he swears he’ll never do anything like that again. Right now though, he’s worried about you. He hasn’t talked to you since Sunday morning.”
Guiltily, Mort hadn’t thought about his brother since Sunday morning. “I’ll call him later.”
“Do that. I have to get back to Gunner. He’s with Bishop right now, but it’s almost time for his nap.”
“Okay.”
She hugged him. “Bye, Mort.”
He watched her leave. She did look happier, more at peace. He closed the door and then stared at it, remembering all the times Bailey walked into the house, anxious to tell him about her day or make up “pretend” stories so she could share information about her patients without violating HIPAA.
Turning, he walked back to the kitchen. Roxanne was sitting at the table, and his cigarette had burned itself out. He wouldn’t bother with another one.
“Where’s your baton?” he asked, trying to break the ice when what he’d done was inexcusable.
She glanced away.
“I’m sorry, Roxanne. You don’t know how much I regret what I did.”
“It doesn’t change what the fuck happened.”
“I know. And I…don’t turn your back on Kendall.”
“If I would’ve turned my back on her, I wouldn’t have let her in my fucking house,” she snapped. “I recognized your fucking cologne on her immediately.”
Fuck, man, she sounded like a disgruntled librarian, ready to beat his ass and lock him in a fucking closet. He lumbered forward, heavy-hearted and heavy limbed, and sat across from her. He no longer deserved a spot at the head of the table. “I’ve never…”
“Been a fucking cheater?”
Shame poured into him.
She snorted and sipped her coffee. “I love my daughter, Mortician. Dearly. I don’t appreciate any motherfucker fucking over her.”
“Especially me, her husband.”
“You know what’s so fucked up? You know why I’m so fucking angry with me and you?”
“Because you trusted me and accepted me as part of your family.”
“That isn’t it at all,” she said in a hard voice. “It’s Bailey. What the fuck she did and said to you. I was so fucking furious with her.”
“She told you?”
“Yeah, that bitch told me she lost her fucking mind. My words, not hers. If that cow called the police on you in that town with you in your cut, it could’ve ended badly for you.”
In more ways than one. “Neither that or anything she told me excuse what I did.”
“It doesn’t, but Bailey had absolutely no fucking reason to spout all that shit.
You held her down for years. Spoiled the fuck out of her.
Loved the fuck out of her and she turned against you.
I couldn’t believe my fucking ears. That’s why I’m angry with your motherfucking ass.
Because of the position you’ve put me in.
I’m angry with myself for understanding why you did it.
I don’t want to fucking understand. That makes me a fucking hypocrite.
Cheating is the worst thing you can do, Mortician.
” She pounded her fist on the table. “The fucking worst. Do you understand me?”
Unable to say anything else, he nodded.
“If Knox did it to me, there would be nothing he could say to make me forgive him. Nothing Joan or Hal could tell me. We’d be done.”
He swallowed.
“But I hate what Bailey did to you. Said to you. How she hurt you.” Tears lurked in her eyes, but Roxanne was tough. Even if she broke down, it wouldn’t be in front of him. “Do you want to be with Kendall?”
“Prez asked me the same thing.”
“That’s not a fucking answer. I guess he smelled your goddamn cologne, too.”
“Yeah.”
“Answer me, goddamn it,” she growled.
“No, but I can’t…I’m divorcing Bailey…”
“No, you aren’t. I think you still love that heifer. And she loves you.”
“Did she say that?” Despite everything, hope unfurled inside him. “When she talked to you?”
Lowering her lashes, Roxanne shook her head. “No.”
His gut twisted. “She still hate me then?”
“That’s the way she started off. Along with not to tell you anything about her or she’d take away my authorization, too.”
“Then how the fuck you think she still love me?”
“Because she does. She went from saying she loved you on the rare occasions we talked to hating you after Johnnie got to her. I hate that motherfucker.”
“You and the whole goddamn world. He got all this fucking armor because of Prez. No matter what he say, he just can’t bring himself to kill Johnnie.”
“He doesn’t have Outlaw armor. It’s Kendall.”
“If that’s true, she leaving that motherfucker. I can fuck him up.”
“You know she doesn’t want him dead.”
“Why? All the fuck he ever do is hurt her. I can’t see how she still love him. She deserve better.”
“Don’t you? And yet you love Bailey.”
“It’s different for me,” Mort said after a moment. “Kendall…fuck, man.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “She tried to kill herself once. I want to jump into a fucking hole and never come out, but I won’t fuck my own self up.”
“I tried to change Kendall’s mind about leaving last night but couldn’t. I hope the child comes back.”
If Johnnie did what Diesel advised and didn’t fuck it up, Kendall would return and kick that motherfucker to the curb.
“I don’t think she should be out there on her own, Mortician.”
“Me, neither,” he admitted. “Even with her kids. She love them, but Johnnie, as fucked up as he is, always kept her going. Either so she could spite him or stand at his side.”
“When she first told me, I was so fucking happy and proud of her. She’s leaving now because of what happened between you and her.”
Mort winced. “When Kendall was pregnant with Rory and walked away after that motherfucker forced Meggie to plan their wedding, Johnnie fucked two strippers that same fucking night. It was as if he was waiting for an opportunity to be with another woman. She hadn’t been gone a half a fucking day before he went to the strip club. ”
“That’s a shitty defense, motherfucker. She was still gone. Yeah, he could’ve waited an entire fucking day. A week. But the moment she walked out that fucking day, he became single.”
“Prez said I’m functionally single. So’s Kendall.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“That we’re both all but divorced anyway.”
Her outrage fell away and her despair returned. “Kendall still wasn’t sober when we found her under that fucking tree. How much had you drunk when she got here?”
“A lot. And smoked blunts.”
“Did you take her to your fucking bedroom?”
“What? No! That’s me and Bailey’s sacred space. Belonging to us.”
Anger crossed her face and she stood and slapped the shit out his cheek. “This entire fucking house is your sacred space. This is the house you had built for Bailey.” Huffing, she sat down again. “I’m so fucking angry with you.”
“Why is it all on me?” he growled, hurt and upset and just fucking tired. “Kendall share the fucking responsibility, too.”
She glared at him.
“Fuck, man, it’s true!” he grouched.
Her eyes narrowed. “Kendall isn’t married to that bitch I birthed, motherfucker.”