Page 10 of Wait For Me

“I don’t like this at all, and your father will like it even less.”

“I’m an adult now and not part of the club anymore.” I reminded him with a shrug of my shoulders. “I need to find myself away from all of this. How can I have my own identity when I’m bogged down by everyone else’s expectations?”

Uncle Mack sniggered. “Never thought I’d hear a club kid complain about expectations coming from a bunch of unruly assholes on motorcycles.”

“Yeah, well, it’s there, even if unspoken. Look at the beginning of our conversation. I’m supposed to be okay with being summoned to club functions after being told I’m no longer part of the club.”

“You know you’re still part of the club, honey.”

“Not in the way I was before. I get what? Maybe three or four days a year where I’m allowed to show up and hang out with men who are my family? I grew up there, it was my family home for years, but I’m not allowed to go back and visit.”

“Been working on that, trying to add more family days, but it’s hard to get that to pass when you don’t even show up to the ones we have.”

“I know. Everyone’s always mad at me when I don’t show up. Yet they won’t stop pitying me and seeing me as some sad, dethroned club princess. They want us separated from club life, and yet are willing to go to extremes to keep us there. It’s one giant mindfuck. You guys – the old timers anyway – made the rules what they are. The younger generation isn’t doing shit to change them. I’m welcome, yet I’m not welcome. Why do you want me to stick around for more of that push and pull bullshit?”

“I understand, you’re frustrated with it. You’re not alone.”

“Well, I am. I feel like I am totally alone.”

“Don’t let your Aunt Viv hear you say that shit.”

“I appreciate everything she has done for me, and I love Aunt Viv, but she can’t be my only person here.”

“I know,” Uncle Mack grumbled. “She knows it too. Been on my ass for a while now to try to convince you to spread your wings and maybe move away to go to school or something.”

“I don’t want to go to school, but I do want to explore.”

“It’s not wise, honey. A lone woman – young one at that – out on her own, it’s not smart.”

“Maybe not for most women, but I was taught how to stand up for myself and how to recognize bad situations. Besides, would it really be any different if I went off to college somewhere? I’d still be going on my own.”

We stood there in silence for a while before my uncle relented. “Fine. Show me you have enough funds for this, and I’ll make sure you get clear of this place before your dad knows. You will owe me a marker.”

I giggled. “Markers are for MCs. I’m a civilian.”

“Markers are for whoever I say they’re for. You will owe me a personal marker and you will stay in touch. I expect a message every day and a phone call or video chat at least once a week.”

“I can do that,” I agreed.

“Good. Then it’s settled. When were you planning on heading out?”

I cringed as the truth came out. “Tomorrow.”

He sighed and pulled me into a hug so tight I didn’t know if he was trying to love me or smother me. “I’m going to miss you around here and so is Viv.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that his old lady already knew. He’d probably figure that out on his own anyway, because my uncle didn’t miss much, but there was no way I would knowingly throw her under the bus. My Aunt Viv had been far too good to me.

The following morning, I left a letter for my father and brother in the apartment where I’d been staying above Uncle Mack’s garage. I loved them both, but if I tried to say goodbye in person, I just knew that they would either have someone tailing me, or they’d end up locking me in the shed out behind the clubhouse or something. Neither of those were options I wanted to contend with, so they got letters. When they calmed down, I’d call. Eventually.

3

Bagger

“She leaves in the morning. If you want your place in this club back, you will be on her tail. I put a tracker in the trunk of her car. You won’t have to be too close, it’s wired in so that you don’t have to worry about battery life on the fucking thing.”

“Fuck!” I hissed into the phone. Why in the hell they kept punishing me because I didn’t want to fucking marry their princess was beyond me. Sure, the girl was fuckable, and I’d thought a time or two about going there, but that was it. There weren’t any hearts and stars floating around my fucking eyes when I saw her. She was just like any other chick, only more annoying because every time her feelings got hurt, I took the punishment. “This ain’t right.”

“You could have manned up and told Tripp you weren’t doing it from the beginning.”

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