Chapter 31b. Mortician #3
“Get the fuck off your pity train, Bailey,” Chester snapped, over Bailey’s bullshit.
“I don’t know what the fuck has gotten into you and blinded you to reality.
Get some fucking help. You’re pathetic. Meggie hasn’t done you a fucking thing.
Get off her ass. When she comes home and you hand her bullshit that upsets her, I fucking swear you will leave. How you leave will be up to you.”
Bailey gasped.
“Please shut the fuck up,” Chester continued. “Please? In case you haven’t realized it, your mother is the head of our extended family, not Meggie. Why the fuck does Roxy sit at the end opposite Christopher?”
“Because he wants Meggie close,” Bailey answered. “That’s obvious.”
Roxanne drew in a deep breath. “Bailey, baby, you matter to all of us, but your husband and children most of all. This boy loves you. If only you knew how much. You have his heart, his loyalty, his everything—”
“Everything except another baby.” Rubbing her temples, she glared at Harley. “Because of you,” she spat, then directed her angry eyes at Mortician. “Everything except the reassurance that you’ll come back to me. That Outlaw won’t summon me and tell me you’re dead.”
“Bailey, none of us know when we meeting our maker, baby,” Mort said quietly. “But I’m here now. Don’t dwell on what might be. Dwell on what is. How much I love you.”
She smiled thinly. “Just not enough.”
“Instead of pressing me for another baby, why not love the ones we got,” Mort growled.
“You want another daughter? You barely deserve the one we got. I been staying away from Harley in consideration of you, but she need us. And you know what? You a grown woman. Her mama. If you can’t get your goddamn ass off your fucking shoulders and be there for her, then fuck you.
I’m not turning my back on her for a woman whose lost her fucking mind. ”
“Get out, motherfucker,” Bailey spat. “You’re a fucking liar. The kids are almost grown. If you’re killed, they’ll leave sooner rather than—”
“Unless you got a hit out on this motherfucker, what makes you think he’ll be killed anytime soon?” Roxanne shouted. “When did you become such a morbid bitch?”
“You lied to me, Lucas. You won’t give me another baby. Now I’m wondering if it’s only because it’ll upset sweet Harley.”
Harley bowed her head at her mother’s sneer.
“You didn’t tell me the entire truth about Bash or Cleaner—stupid fucking name—or Meggie.”
“And you know the fucking truth?” Mortician said, so fucking fed up, he was ready to call Kendall and take her up on her offer to start divorce proceedings.
“Yes, motherfucker!” She jumped to her feet and jabbed him in the chest. “Yes! I know Bash wants to kill Meggie. You’re always around her, so what does that mean for you?” She swiped at her tears. “I know Cleaner—Roddie—is Sharper’s son and wants his share.”
Mortician widened his eyes.
“That’s right. I know, Lucas! I know! I know! I know! I know Patricia Donovan was a psychopath and I know you and Outlaw are cousins. Your fathers were cousins.” She jabbed him again. “And I know Meggie and me are cousins. Our fathers were brothers.”
Blood roared in Mortician’s ears. Each word Bailey spoke pelted him with the force of a rock.
Her sobs broke the unnerving silence. He glanced at Roxanne, at the horror and betrayal in her eyes.
Harley was teary-eyed, blinking at Bailey, as horrified as everyone else while Lou and Kaleb gaped at their mother’s meltdown.
“I know what Sharper Banks did to you, Mama,” she said tightly, not finished.
“And I know about the names Logan Donovan called you. The way he tried to force you. The way he did force Lucas’s mother, Meggie’s mother.
I know about the fucking setup that broke up you and Daddy.
I know every rotten, stinking detail that no one thought I should be made aware of. ”
“Who told you all of this, Mommie?” Harley whispered in a broken voice. If what Bailey said was true, that meant she was CJ’s second cousin on Bailey’s side and his third cousin on Mort’s side. “How’d you find out?”
“Johnnie,” Mortician said without being told, the only motherfucker with the balls or the incentive to so thoroughly fuck with him.
“This morning,” Bailey confirmed. Her nostrils flared and she studied Mortician. “Harley isn’t welcomed back here unless she truly apologizes to me and you aren’t welcomed back unless you agree to leave the club. Now, get out.”
Mortician had never hated a motherfucker as much as he despised Johnnie.
He wanted to snatch that fuckhead and drag him to the meatshack, then rip out his goddamn spine since he’d long ago lost his fucking heart.
However, any time the members didn’t support Prez using the might of the club to protect Meggie, Mort knew if he fucked up Johnnie because of Bailey, he’d be marked for death.
“Bailey, baby, none of us knew anything about what you said,” Roxanne started, sniffling and swiping at her wet cheeks.
Knox had taken position behind her, his hands on her shoulders.
“I knew about Cleaner,” Mortician confessed.
“Not that he wanted some of Sharper’s money.
” He thought of the video. For the first time since he’d hurt his goddamn eyes and ears watching and listening to that travesty, he smiled.
“My mama money,” he amended, wondering what happened to the actual documents.
“Indeed,” Knox said, and they shared a look.
“I knew Cleaner probably Sharper son, but I haven’t confirmed it. I don’t give a fuck, Bailey.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He just said why,” Roxanne told her, her eyes wet and vulnerable. Somehow, she managed to hold herself together to talk sense into Bailey. “He don’t give a fuck. Motherfucker probably wasn’t anywhere on Mort’s mind.”
“At some point he must’ve been. Just as what you went through…” Bailey shook her head. “All you ever said was you’d been around a while. Seen a lot. Lying to me. Knowing you didn’t give Daddy a chance—”
“That’s enough, Bailey,” Knox said sharply. “You aren’t blaming your mother for what those fuckheads did.”
“But I am blaming her for not telling me. No wonder you always made excuses when Daddy lied to me over and over again. Promising to show up, then not doing it for one reason or another. You knew you’d fucked up.”
As if she couldn’t predict what the fuck would happen if she pushed her mama, Roxanne jumped up and slapped the fuck out of Bailey.
“Half the shit you’re saying, I never knew,” Roxanne said in a thick voice, ignoring Bailey’s wide-eyed shock and the thin trail of blood dribbling from her nose.
“K-P never opened his fucking mouth about being related to Big Joe. Neither did that motherfucker. The only thing I knew about was what happened to me and that didn’t include a fucking setup between K-P and the woman I found him in bed with.
Had I known…” She raised her hands in supplication. “Bailey…baby…”
“Had you known, you two would’ve been together and he might’ve still been alive.”
Roxanne started to shake her head, then thought better of it and looked at Mortician. He already knew what she’d say. While he appreciated her consideration, Bailey needed to hear everything, so he nodded, his heart broken.
“I wouldn’t have stayed, Bailey,” Roxanne whispered tearfully.
She glanced at Zoann and bowed her head.
“I couldn’t deal with Logan Donovan. It was dangerous for me.
But I also couldn’t deal with the comments from the other women.
I was too immature to handle their bullshit.
” Blinking, she glanced at the ceiling, sniffled, and looked at Bailey again.
“K-P loved his club, sugar. It was so fucking dangerous for him. Even if there was no Logan, no women, no distance, we would’ve separated.
I didn’t want the pain of one day receiving a call that he’d been killed.
It didn’t matter. I was still devastated when he was killed. But I’d never give him an ultimatum.”
“Of course not. You just fucking left.”
“I just fucking loved him enough to step out of the way. I didn’t ask him to choose. I met him in the fucking club, Bailey.”
“Good for you. Lucas?”
It took a moment for Bailey calling his name to break through Mortician’s numbness.
“I’m going to LA,” she announced. “I’m taking the boys.”
At the moment, Mort didn’t give a fuck if she left. Their marriage had limped along for weeks. It wasn’t the outcome he wanted, but it was almost a relief to finally have some sort of resolution.
“I want to stay with Dad,” Lou cried.
“Me too, Mama,” Kaleb said. “We don’t want to leave. Harley just got nice again.”
“Bailey, don’t go to LA,” Mort said. “I’ll buy you a house away from club grounds.
The kids been through enough. If you leave town, they’ll be miserable.
If Zoann…Chester…I’ll…” He turned to Prez’s sister, his thoughts so fucking jumbled.
“I’ll stay at the club until you find the house you want. Harley…if Chester…”
“Harley can stay as long as she wants, Mort,” she said softly.
Mortician smiled at her.
“I’ll stay,” Bailey announced. “Our kids don’t deserve to be apart from either one of us.”
“Thank you,” he said as the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it Dad,” Lou volunteered.
Knox nodded toward the bar. Mortician sure the fuck needed a drink. He needed a whole distillery. Knox had just poured their drinks when Lou led Grant and Mattie into the room.
They both halted.
“Uh, is this a bad time?” Mattie asked nervously, wringing her hands.
The way Johnnie eroded his daughter’s self-confidence was a fucking travesty.
“Harls, are you okay—?”
“You know she doesn’t live here, Mattie,” Bailey said, still riding her bitter bitch train. “So what do you want?”
Mort tossed his drink back, glared at his wife, and smiled at Mattie.
“We didn’t know she was here, Bailey,” Grant said coolly. “Ryan said her and Aunt Zoann went shopping or something.”
“She’s aunt and I’m just Bailey?”
Grant frowned. “You’re my sister. Why would I call you aunt?”
“Are you sure about that? I might be your niece given the fucked up family tree we have.”
“Uh—”
“Don’t worry about it, son,” Knox said.
“Why don’t I walk you home, Mattie?” Chester volunteered, sliding from her seat.
“Can I come, Aunt Zoann?” Harley asked.
“Hogzilla is on the loose,” Mattie announced. “Uncle Val was looking for her when we left.”
“She didn’t chase us, so she’s probably farther back in the woods than he thought,” Grant said.
“When will he turn that bitch into roasts and ribs?” Chester said crossly.
Mort got to his feet. “I’ll walk with you, baby.”
“If that bitch comes snorting her big ass toward us, shoot her,” Chester said.
“I’ll shoot in the air,” Mortician told her. “Val love that pig.” He looked at the boys. Instead of inviting them, though he had every right as their father, he turned to Bailey. “Let Lou and Kaleb come with me? I’ll bring them back safely.”
“It’s a school night.”
Mort nodded, pretending her hard stance didn’t sting. He looked at Grant. “You need to talk to me?”
“Oh, uh, it can wait.”
Mattie nodded.
Instead of pushing the issue of Lou and Kaleb, Mort went to his sons and hugged them tightly. “Mind your mama. Okay? Tomorrow, after school, come to the club like normal.”
“Okay, Dad,” Lou said sadly. “I love you.”
“I love you too, son,” Mort said gruffly, hugging both of them again.
He started to walk out, then looked at his wife, so miserable and alone, grieving for things she never should’ve discovered especially since she’d already been so overwhelmed.
He wasn’t sure what she’d do with the information.
He had to tell Prez and Kendall. Or, maybe, they already knew and was trying to verify the accuracy.
“Bailey?”
She didn’t look up, but he knew she heard him because she stiffened.
“I want us to work things out. The past couple of days, I had such hope. You wanted a baby and an apology from Harley. Both doable. Now, you want me to leave my fucking club when you refuse to meet me halfway. Refuse to give an inch.”
She folded her arms.
“Not a motherfucker alive promised tomorrow. Not a newborn or an old motherfucker. You smart enough to know that, so I think you just don’t want to be married to me anymore.”
Her eyes flared in surprise. “That isn’t true!”
“Then you need to fucking act like it. I can’t save our marriage alone. I want to help you through your pain, but you got to help me too.”
“I don’t want you to die.”
“You don’t really know what the fuck you want.”
“Do you?”
“You. Our kids. My family.”
“Your club.”
“Yeah, Bailey. My club.”
She turned her head, and Mortician walked out without another word.