Chapter Thirteen – Kendall #2
“Exactly. Prioritize. He says to prioritize stuffs. Sometimes you got to move stuffs from first place to another spot.”
“You do, but I don’t think he expects you to rearrange, er…” Kendall tangled her fingers through her hair. “Uh, death.”
“Fucking motherfuckers up who got to die?” Axel shrugged. “I’m not CJ. I don’t got a problem carrying out executions. You can’t be a leader like that, but I hope he learns. He’d make a cool Prez.”
Kendall nodded. “I think so, too.”
“CJ thinks I need to know my place, but so does he. He doesn’t realize he’s Outlaw’s son.”
She thought about the cunts who’d tried to kill CJ because he was Christopher’s son. “I think he knows.”
“No,” Axel insisted. “‘Cause if he did, he’d know he only has to answer to Dad. That’s why the members don’t…
they don’t…” He shrugged. “They like him, but I don’t think they think he’s hard enough.
Me and my men? We’re standing on business early.
We demand respect now so when we join they won’t ever doubt we’ll fuck a motherfucker up. ”
“How does this relate to you wanting to blow up your uncles? They’re adults.”
Axel gave her a disapproving look. “Club code, Aunt Kendall. Loyalty, respect, and freedom. Uncle Johnnie and Uncle Cash betrayed my dad. And my dad is the club. He’s also the head of the family, so those two motherfuckers betrayed us and the brothers.
Disloyalty and disrespect. That means the freedom has been thrown out the toilet. ”
“Out the window,” Kendall corrected, unable to stop herself.
He glared at her. “Out the window,” he spat, sweeping her with a look of disgust.
“I think you’re misinterpreting freedom. It refers to the open road mainly.”
“Nuh-uh,” Axel said with a decisive shake of his head. “It means freedom. Free to think how you want. Free to like who you want. And free to be however you want.” He thought for a moment. “Like Uncle Cash and Uncle Stretch.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kendall asked slowly, unsure how much Axel understood.
“Are two dudes married a lot?” he demanded.
“Uh–”
“I don’t think they are. I only know of Uncle Cash and Uncle Stretch.
I’ve thought a lot about it. They have rings on their fingers like Mom and Dad and they live together.
And that’s ‘cause my dad let them be married. What does that motherfucker do? Go with your man and stand against my dad. He has to die. Case fucking closed.”
Axel understood more than Kendall gave him credit for.
“You shouldn’t look at them differently because they’re married,” she said.
Axel snorted. “I don’t care about that,” he said with indignation.
“Remember about the freedom? That’s part of it.
Besides, Dad doesn’t care. But if a man is disloyal and disrespectful then he’s a bad weed and has to be seeded out because he threatens everyone’s freedom.
No motherfucker is going to trust another motherfucker if Dad’s officers and family members are betraying him.
Sooner or later, everybody’s going to be afraid to say stuffs because they might be traitors to Dad or to Uncle Johnnie and Uncle Cash.
If you can’t say what’s on your mind, then how can you have loyalty, respect, or freedom?
CJ doesn’t understand that because he keeps stuffs in.
Uncle Johnnie doesn’t understand it because he thinks he has more. ”
“More what?”
“I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.” He studied her then began pacing. “You love Uncle Johnnie?”
“Unfortunately,” Kendall blurted.
His eyes twinkling, Axel smiled. “I’d be embarrassed, too, but I can forgive you. Let the record show that I think you deserve better than him. Just like Aunt Fee. My men and me found a nice brother for her. We can find one for you too.”
Kendall laughed. “Thank you, sweetheart, but no.”
“Are you staying with Uncle Johnnie?”
The direct question startled Kendall and killed her humor.
“I called Diesel again. He’s worried Mom might not come home. Might divorce Dad.”
“That won’t–”
“I hope not. Mom loves Dad a lot. She puts up with a lot from him and us and the club. As bad as Dad is, he is waaaayyyyy better than Uncle Johnnie, so you must put up with a lot of stuffs, too.”
Kendall’s shoulders slumped, though she didn’t respond.
“If you have to leave him, don’t go too far because we all love you and we would miss you a lot.”
Her nostrils flared and her eyes stung.
Axel gave her a thoughtful look. “I’m kinda hoping you do leave,” he confessed, eyeing her. “Then, Dad can go ahead and kill Uncle Johnnie ‘cause you won’t be there to save that motherfucker’s life.”
She didn’t want Johnnie to die and she didn’t want a divorce. She wanted him to straighten the fuck up.
“Your nose is all red,” Axel announced. “Probably from all the wine you drank.”
“Probably,” Kendall agreed, getting to her feet. “I’m going to freshen up. Meggie, Rebel, and Winnie should be back from the airport at any minute.”
“I hope they hurry up,” Axel grumbled. “A man’s hungry.”
“It won’t be much longer,” she promised and hurried away, barely making it to her room before she burst into tears.
Mid-sob, her phone rang. When she saw the ‘801’ area code, she sucked back her tears and answered.
“Thank you for returning my call, Bash,” she said, voice husky with misery. “I hope you aren’t angry I asked to reschedule.”
He was silent for a moment before he cleared his throat and said, “who do I have to kill?”
“I…what?”
“You’re crying. Someone has upset you. Tell me now and I’ll shoot them. Would you like a souvenir? Nothing too gruesome. Maybe, just an eye?”
Hysterical laughter bubbled up in Kendall. Only his uncertainty matched the insanity of his offer.
“It…” She swallowed, completely off her game. She shouldn’t have accepted his call when she felt so vulnerable. Maybe, she shouldn’t have called him at all and left with Georgie to make tomorrow’s appointment. She sniffled, hurt, confused, and angry.
“Fuck, Kendall,” Bash roared. “Who the fuck has you so upset? Talk now,” he demanded as if he had a right. As Johnnie once would have. “If you don’t tell me what the fuck is wrong, I’m going to start picking off fuckheads.”
“I’m fine,” she gritted. “I just want…” Johnnie. She wanted Johnnie, but her Johnnie, not the man he’d become. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me.” He sighed. “And as much as I hate to admit it, it matters to Johnnie.”
“Ha!” she blurted. “If only it did.” Cursing under her breath, Kendall winced. “Forget I said that. Are you open to rescheduling?” she asked briskly. “A personal matter took me out of town and–”
“Does it have anything to do with the brainless blond?”
“You call Johnnie a brainless blond?” she asked dubiously.
Bash snickered. “Ah, princess, that question speaks volumes.”
“It certainly does! It shows how little you know my husband.”
“Nope,” he countered. “It shows just what a stupid motherfucker he is.”
Kendall’s mind whirled but came up with no answers. “How so?”
“Meggie is a blonde.”
“And?”
“And, baby, she didn’t enter your mind when you heard ‘brainless blond’. You immediately thought of Johnnie.”
“A faux pas. You shouldn’t read too much into it.”
“You’re loyal. I like that, but I assume Johnnie is pitching a man baby bitch because he feels as if you’re being disloyal to him.”
Kendall refused to respond.
“You don’t have to answer, sweetheart,” he said gruffly. “I know my little brother. If you’re meeting with me, it’s likely on behalf of Christopher.”
“Not entirely,” she said morosely. “I have my own questions for you.”
“I’m almost certain if you’re helping Christopher, Johnnie is having fits. Too used to getting his own fucking way.”
“Perhaps.”
“I want to ask you out on a date now that I’ve found out why you had me all geared up to ride to Hortensia and then you fucking canceled.”
“A date? I know I’ve had a bottle of wine but do you mean like, uh–”
“A romantic date,” he supplied. “That might lead to fucking. Nothing I’d like better than to fuck you.”
Kendall drew herself up. “This conversation is over!”
“Wait! That came up wrong. You’re a high-class bitch, huh? Will you really make me say I want to make love to you?”
“You don’t even know me,” Kendall said, too shocked not to respond. “Besides, even if I was single, which I’m not, you want to hurt people I love. My baby girl. My sister-in-law. My niece.”
“What if I told you I’d back off if you give me a chance?”
“My answer is still no. I love Johnnie. I have made so many mistakes and I’m paying for them now.
” Kendall felt as if she was losing her mind and the only two people with the capacity to focus on her were unacceptable.
If Axel wasn’t a child, her nephew would’ve been perfect.
Bash, meanwhile, was an enemy to Mattie, Rebel, and Meggie.
Not to mention the club. “You can’t pretend fucking me would change your murderous path. ”
“Suppose it could?”
Kendall made herself calm down and focus on Bash’s words. “So you do plan to kill us,” she whispered.
“No,” he said. “I want…does it really matter what I want? I know all about Johnnie and Meggie’s history. I’d think you’d celebrate her death if that was my goal. You’d have no more competition.”
“If that motherfucking fucking stinking miserable fuckhead motherfucker I married put that in your head, I’ll fucking kill him myself,” she snarled, so livid with Johnnie she could’ve torn him to fucking shreds.
Bash howled with laughter. “Welcome back, gorgeous.”
“Johnnie has a big fucking mouth. I can’t wait until I see that fuckhead.”
“Keep going. I love your dirty talk.”
“Shut up,” she snapped. “You’re just like him.”
“Hold on, Kendall. I resent that.”