Chapter Twenty-Eight
CJ flipped through the channels on the hospital TV, hoping to find a decent show to pass the time.
The nurse came in a couple of hours ago and checked his vital signs.
Not long after, the attending physician arrived and reminded him how lucky he was to have survived.
He hinted he wouldn’t release him to Mom and Dad but would insist he enroll in drug treatment.
At Mom’s pushback, the doctor reminded her he could call in child protective services for all the kids. Mom dropped the subject and promised she’d “talk to her husband”. CJ assumed the text she sent explained the situation to Dad.
After his supper, Mom curled up on the extra bed that Dad had used when she was a patient and fell asleep almost immediately.
CJ wondered how long she’d been awake. He wondered too if the attending physician was really just a stickler for the rules or if perhaps the hospital had been infiltrated like the school. There was just something odd about the motherfucker that CJ couldn’t put his finger on.
He’d talk to Dad as soon as he arrived, although CJ wasn’t sure when that would happen. Other than Mom, the nurse and the doctor, CJ hadn’t seen any other member of his family.
He supposed that was a good thing. Mom was knocked out. He hadn’t seen her eat or even take a sip of water. She ripped a page out of Dad’s playbook, though CJ knew he’d been unconscious for less than a day.
It was still hard to wrap his head around that he’d almost died.
He’d been so stupid, bowing to peer pressure…
girl pressure. If he’d gone with his gut, he wouldn’t have slurped it so fast. No, he wouldn’t have accepted the fucking drink at all.
One minute he’d been moving around, talking, joking, socializing , and the next he’d overdosed with his life hanging in the balance by a thread.
Leaning his head back, CJ closed his eyes, still a little groggy and tired.
“Little Dude?”
Hearing Uncle Digger’s voice, CJ popped his eyes open. A bright light greeted him, and he blinked to adjust his vision. He squinted at the clock. Fuck, he’d fallen asleep. A full hour had passed.
He grinned. “Hey, Uncle Digger,” he greeted as the sergeant-at-arms stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walked to the side of the bed.
He glanced at Mom, then nodded to CJ.
Drugs must’ve still been fucking with him. One side of Uncle Digger’s face looked swollen.
“I was hoping you hit me with Ashfuck Dig. I reminded you that’s what you used to call me.”
“When…?” He shook his head at Uncle Digger’s stricken look. “ Never mind. ”
“You didn’t hear me?”
CJ’s smile faded at Uncle Digger’s somberness.
“I guess you didn’t, kid.” He rocked on his heels. “I never been so fucking scared in my life.”
CJ had been terrified, too. “I learned my lesson.”
“A hard lesson at a young age,” Uncle Digger said.
Mom turned again. This time, she opened her eyes and jerked into a sitting position.
“CJ—?”
“I’m here, Mom,” he said as Uncle Digger called with unmistakable irritation, “He right here, Meggie.”
“Umkay,” Mom said groggily and laid down again.
Uncle Mortician walking in prevented CJ from warning Uncle Digger to lay off Mom.
Uncle Mort’s gaze landed on CJ and the emotion on his face choked him up. Uncle Mort was so strong. If he didn’t have a comment to lighten a mood, he had advice.
He walked to the other side of the bed, leaned in and hugged CJ. “You had me so fucking scared, boy,” he said gruffly.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Mort.” CJ returned his hug and looked at Uncle Digger. “You, too, Ashfuck Dig.”
“It’s all good,” Uncle Mort promised, straightening.
CJ nodded. “Death is funny, isn’t it? Or, maybe, it’s life.”
“Maybe, both,” Uncle Mort told him.
“I never thought much about it,” CJ confessed. “How one minute you’re here and then the next minute you don’t exist anymore. You’re just gone. A body. A memory.”
“Bug food,” Uncle Digger added.
Uncle Mort frowned at him, but CJ felt sick at the thought, no matter how true.
“Bug food,” he acknowledged.
“Ignore this stupid motherfucker, little dude,” Uncle Mort said .
“Did I lie, Mort?” Uncle Digger pressed. “If we not turned to ashes, what else we become—”
Uncle Mort pointed to the chair behind Uncle Digger.
“Shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down.” Once his orders were followed, he looked at CJ.
“You survived. I was shot once. Big Joe told me to wait outside for him. I waited and waited and waited. Couldn’t fucking stand dealing with Lowman. In the end, he shot me.”
“Logan?” CJ couldn’t keep the shock out of his voice when, after hearing bits and pieces over the years, he knew his great-grandfather had been a motherfucker. “Logan shot you?”
“And Snake saved me, but while I was on that fucking ground I waited to fucking die. I mourned… me , kid. For the life I hadn’t gotten to live and all the mistakes I’d made.
I also heard shit I wished I never heard, so I fucking left after I recovered.
Even though I fucking survived, I couldn’t stop thinking about what if I hadn’t?
What if I didn’t know what I did? A bunch of shit that wasted the second chance I’d been given.
You got to go through your own emotions, CJ, but life so fucking fragile and it’s short.
Before you know it, you’ll be fifty. Don’t fucking spend this chance living with regrets.
And, if you do, then this lifestyle not for you. ”
Because Uncle Mort…all of CJ’s friends and family in the life… Dad …always lived a step away from death. They adjusted and adapted because they loved the club and they loved the freedom of the road.
“Thanks, Uncle Mort,” CJ said, meaning it.
Uncle Mort glanced over his shoulder, then stepped out of the way, a fond smile on his face. Mom was sleeping again.
“I don’t think she’s eaten,” CJ said. “Dad might’ve gotten food in her— ”
“Outlaw been too busy carrying out Meggie hit list,” Uncle Digger scoffed.
“What?”
“Your mama the reincarnation of Bonnie Parker,” Uncle Digger said.
Uncle Mort scowled. “Shut the fuck up, fool, before you end up on her list.” He folded his arms and focused on CJ. “Potter and Narci in hiding. The girls ran off. They can’t find Fia, Tennysee and Diana.” He shrugged. “Diesel is personally taking care of Gail and Joplin.”
“Mom wants them dead?”
Uncle Mort and Uncle Digger exchanged glances, before Uncle Mort sighed.
“Fia and Tennysee didn’t participate in the fuckery,” CJ said. “But… Fuck !”
“Those bitches OD’d you on purpose, little bruh.” Uncle Digger leaned forward and settled his elbows on his knees. “Meggie not wrong believing they were trying to hurt you to get back at her.”
CJ remembered Potter offering to fix his drinks but one of the girls, Gail or Diana, insisted they do it.
“Diesel taking it really hard.” Uncle Digger snorted. “Not only him. Bunny, Rebel and Mattie been crying a lot. The rest of the chicks can’t keep fucking still. Kaia and Kayce been keeping in touch.”
“I’ll call them. Is Bishop here?”
Uncle Mort shook his head. “Bishop and Torrin in hiding, too.”
“You’re fucking joking,” CJ blurted.
“Meggie girl told Prez he can fuck up the world,” Uncle Mort said. He chuckled. “She a bad little motherfucker. I’m hoping Prez get all his bloodlust out before he find Bishop, Torrin, Potter, and Narci.”
“Fia and Tennysee are innocent, too,” CJ protested. Of the crime of trying to kill him at least.
“Don’t make a difference to Meggie,” Uncle Mort said. “Fuck with her ? She’ll deal with it or tell me or tell Prez. Fuck with her kids? That’s a different story.”
“Fuck with you ?” Even Uncle Digger smiled. “Her potato?”
“She’s probably already told Dad about this doctor—”
“We scooped him up already, little dude,” Uncle Digger said matter-of-factly.
“Your mama on a warpath. She thinks you and all her kids in danger as long as any bitch or motherfucker associated with Gail, Diana, and Joplin alive. Although, if I say so myself, Meggie associated with them bitches too. She know them. If she ordering all these fucking ups, she getting her little ass in line, too?”
CJ snapped his brows together, but the door opened and his father walked in. His gaze fell on CJ and he halted, staring in silence and releasing smoke from the cigarette he puffed on. He glanced around the room. Uncle Mort stepped aside, allowing Dad to see Mom, all curled up on the bed.
He smiled tenderly, then started toward CJ.
Uncle Digger intercepted him and snatched his cigarette. “Don’t want to blow the fuck up, Prez.”
Dad glared at him but didn’t reclaim the cigarette.
Reaching CJ, he bent and pulled him into a bear hug, kissing his cheek and ruffling his hair.
“You scared the fuck outta me, boy,” he said in a shaky voice, holding CJ tightly.
“Don’t ever do that shit again. If you wanna fuck with lean, let me or Mort fix it for you. ”
CJ returned his father’s hug. “Thanks, Dad, but that’s it for me. I just bowed to pressure. I shouldn’t have done it at all.”
Dad released him and straightened. “ Diesel got his hand bandaged as punishment, but and he fuckin’ up Gail and Joplin to prove his goddamn loyalty.”
“What happened to his hand?”
“Ain’t nothin’ but a thing,” Dad promised. “Anyway, we can’t find motherfucking Diana, and I took a break from huntin’ those other two cunts, Nyx, Potter, Narci, Bishop, and Torrin.”
“Prez, Narci gave CJ the Naloxone,” Uncle Mort said.
“Only cuz you ordered him to. It’s the fucking least I can do. If they had any fucking respect for Megan, they would’ve protected CJ.”
“Nyx, Bishop and Torrin wasn’t even there,” CJ argued. “Fia and Tennysee told the other girls to back off. Potter, too. No matter why Narci got the Naloxone, it still allowed Uncle Mort to stay with me—”
Tears gathered in Dad’s eyes and he pursed his lips, not speaking until he’d wrestled his emotions under control. “Mort was givin’ you CPR.”
CJ had no memory of it. “Tell Mom—”