12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Sunny
“Moooornin’!” I sing to anyone who will listen.
“Yeah, half the day is gone.” I smile extra wide to irritate him. “Didn’t your mother tell you to get up early and greet the day?” I ask innocently.
Brake stares at me, unsure if I’m fucking with him or not.
I most definitely am. My little plan to woo Revenant hit a snag two days ago when he rode outta the compound like the Devil was on his heels.
If the Devil was named Sunny Maria Richards.
Anyhoo, I’m at a loose end with a bunch of brothers who need a little light in their lives. Or Jesus.
“His momma was a whore, and she definitely wasn’t waking early to greet the day,” Cedar says, slapping Brake on the shoulder.
“She was not a whore. She was an escort. There’s a difference,” Brake grumbles, swigging at his second coffee of the day.
It was a rough party last night. And the night before. Rev would have a conniption if he knew the things I’ve seen since he’s been gone.
“What are you smirking at?”
“Nothing,” I reply to Brake.
“She’s not a whore!”
“Who?” Mercy asks, walking into the kitchen and beelining for the coffee pot.
Before she can pour herself a cup, Jubilee hands her one, perfectly doctored. I watched him make it.
“Thanks, Jube.”
“Anytime, sweetheart.”
Mercy makes a gagging noise, then bumps the big man with her shoulder. My gaze bounces between them. Well now, that’s interesting.
“So, who’s not a whore?” Mercy asks, before blowing into her mug.
“Brake’s momma.”
“Still peddling that shit, huh?” Jubilee asks. “If I remember correctly, she was the head cut slut here for a while.”
“She’s retired!” Brake barks.
“True that. She’s living the life every cut slut dreams of.”
“What’s that?” I ask Mercy, intrigued.
“To become an ol lady. Brake's mom is Shyanne.”
My brows pinch a little before it hits me. “Wait, Nipsey’s wife? I met them yesterday; she’s so sweet!”
“Just because she’s a retired escort doesn’t mean she’s a terrible person,” Brake grumbles.
The kitchen door swings open with force, and that skank Bubbles walks in on stripper heels and a skirt so short I can see her flaps. She stands in the doorway a moment, giving me the stink eye before pasting a fake as hell smile on her overly made up face.
“Aw, are you talking about me?” she asks in a sickly sweet voice.
“Fuck no!” Brake says emphatically. “You’re a fucking awful person.” He stops and thinks for a moment. “You have a tight ass though,” he concedes.
“Well, that’s great to know, thanks Brake.” I say, a little put off of my breakfast biscuit that, now that I look at it, looks like a stretched butthole. I would know, I saw one last night.
“Who cares what you think, Little Miss Sunshine?” Bubbles sneers in my direction as she snuggles into Split.
I give her a bored look. “I bet your daddy does.”
Snorts go round the kitchen and Gallows’ “fuck’s sake” cuts through the silence.
“What kind of pastor’s daughter are you?” Jubilee asks with a grin on his face.
“The kind that doesn’t take shit.” I shrug one shoulder, then turn to Gallows. “You called?”
“I said ‘fuck’s sake’. Why would you think I was calling you?” Gallows asks, brows pulled low.
“Um, because every time you’ve needed me the past two days you’ve started all interactions with ‘fuck’s sake’?”
Gallows blows out a long breath. “You tried to start a cut slut fight club -”
“Only between Bubbles and Trinity. Trinity said Bubbles deserved it.”
“-then you hustled Nipsey out of $100, -”
“We’re meeting up at the pool hall in town to play doubles once this is all blown over. He hugged me goodbye, too. I think we’re friends now.”
Gallows stares at me for a long moment and he has the exact same vein in his forehead as my dad. The one that throbs.
He takes one long breath before letting it out. “Rein it in. And leave my whores alone.”
“In my defence, it’s only Bubbles I have an issue with. The rest are real sweethearts.”
“Aw, thank you, Sunny. We love you too,” Diamond replies, swaying her hips as she walks into the kitchen in jean cutoffs.
“See?” I say to Gallows, brows raised as if it’s obvious.
“Are you always this much of a pain in the ass?”
“My father says I’m spirited,” I grin up at him.
Gallows blinks, his eyes closing long enough for me to know he’s asking for God to give him strength. “Try not to get into any trouble.”
I raise my hand in a salute, “Yes sir, Mr. President.”
“We got shit going down and if it doesn’t settle I’ll have to send you to the North Dakota chapter. I’m sure Maverick will be able to whip you into shape.”
I slap a hand on Gallows’ very hard, very big shoulder. “Pres, no offence, but if the good Lord made me this way, ain’t no man gonna change that. Except for Revenant.” I stare up at his frowny face. “And maybe you.”
Gallows makes a weird rumbly noise that sounds like indigestion before stomping off to pour himself a cup of coffee.
“I mean it, Sunny. Don’t make me shoot your ass. Revenant would fucking murder me.”
I frown at Gallows. “Revenant doesn’t need any more pain in his life. I’ll behave,” Gallows dips his chin, “and I’ll lay off Bubbles as long as she stays away from me.”
Gallows holds my gaze as he whistles, like you would to a dog. On cue Bubbles comes teetering over and I roll my lips between my teeth to keep from grinning.
“You need me, Gallows?” Bubbles asks, fawning over the man.
“Yeah. Wherever Sunny is, you’re not.” He turns to stare down at her. “Now, fuck off.”
She makes a weird squeaking sound as her face turns a scary shade of red.
She stares at Gallows as if the man is going to change his mind.
Newsflash Loose Crotch, he ain’t. Instead, he jerks his chin toward the door and Bubbles stamps her foot and then flounces out.
But not before she gives me the stink eye on her way past.
Grinning, I make my way to the counter, hopping a little then pulling myself up to sit, legs dangling. “So, what’s on for today? Anything dangerous? I got a lot of energy and nowhere appropriate to put it.”
Revenant
I stare at Coyote as he rocks on Old Man Mullins porch without a care in the world.
He says something that has Mullins throwing his head back, cackling.
They’re on their second glass of Mullins’ 90 proof moonshine and I know if I don’t go over there and rein Coyote in we won't be getting back to the clubhouse tonight.
It’s already been two days of sleeping rough. Not that I mind. I’ve slept in worse places. Out here, on the mountain, the stars overhead? That’s some real peaceful shit. Or it would be if I didn’t have someone back at home.
“Hey Rev! Mullins just told me something real damn interesting,” Coyote calls, looking sober for the first time since we left the clubhouse. Mountain folk are sometimes a little too friendly with their shine.
Swinging my leg over my ride I leave my helmet hanging from the bars. No need for it round here. I pick my way through the garden gnomes and weird old tire sculptures until I reach the porch, ignoring the way it groans under my weight.
“Steady on, big boy, don’t wanna see ya go through the floor. My granddaddy built her over the summer of ‘49. Took him weeks, stripping the wood out of the church in town when no one was lookin’.” He winks at me.
“Well, the Lord works in mysterious ways to provide.”
Old Man Mullins gives me a gap toothed smile, then pushes harder off the porch, his worn rocker creaking.
“Anyway, I was telling this one,” he gestures to Coyote, “that ‘bout three weeks ago we had some city man asking questions.”
My brow raises. “City?”
He nods, “Yep. Thought it real weird. ain't no city come round these parts ‘less they wanna buy up the land, put in a holiday home. They doing it all over the mountain. Like the views and whatnot.” He waves his hand around. He’s not wrong.
The little towns around Winlaw have definitely been changing.
“This city man got a name?”
“Maybe.” He grins at me, brow raised in challenge.
“You know, Revenant ain't afraid to shoot you, old man.” Coyote grins.
“Yeah, but then you gotta explain that to your Meemaw.” Mullins grins back.
“Ah, shit you got me.” Coyote leans to the side, pulling a wad of $50’s out of his back pocket.
“That’s for the shine, that’s for the hospitality, and that-” he pulls a fifty away before Old Man Mullins can snatch it away, “is for a name.” He gently lays the bill in Mullins’ hand and the old man grins.
***
“You call Gallows?”
Coyote grunts in answer, brows furrowed as he throws his leg over his Harley, sitting heavily. “Prez has called Church. Better get back.”
Looking back over my shoulder, my gaze finds Old Man Mullins, his arm thrown over his wife. The grin that was on his face when we handed over the cash, gone. Replaced with something that matches my mood.
Fucking Amos Crowe. It’s a name we’ve heard enough times to know it ain’t attached to anything good. Sinister Wolves on their own aren’t a match for us. But with Amos Crowe’s backing? They’re even more dangerous than we thought.
“You gotta keep an eye on your woman,” Coyote yells suddenly, over the sounds of our pipes.
He glances at me and I know he’s right. I can argue til I’m blue in the face that she’s not my woman, but that’s beside the point.
When she stepped in to save my ass she put a bigger target on her back than the Sinister Wolves.
She put herself in the crosshairs of the Devil himself.
I may not be good for her, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna let Amos Crowe touch a hair on her head.
If my life has to end to protect Sunny, then so be it.