Page 2 of Vetting the Biker

“You say a lot worse than I do,” he reminds me, and I roll my eyes at him. Wesley and I don’t have your typical mother-son relationship. We’re like best friends, and I think it has a lot to do with him respecting me as a person. I hope people don’t think he gets to do whatever he wants, because that is not the case. It’s more of an open-door policy. It’s just him and me against the world. “What’s on the agenda tonight?”

“Well, I figured we would do pizza tonight since we’re going to be at the baseball game. Shopping tonight too?”

“Sounds good. I can’t wait. Thank you for doing this, but I’m worried about Dad. He wanted to take me shopping.” I hate seeing Wesley go from this cheerful life so good nothing can get me down boy to the boy in front of me who seems to close everyone out, chewing on his cuticles while worrying about the actions of his father.

“Honey, he can still shop when he’s with you. This is a tradition for you and me. We don’t have to tell him.”

“Thank you for understanding. I don’t like it. He can be a big baby if you do something first. I can guarantee by the time I turn fifteen, he’ll get me a car.” I couldn’t even argue with his statement because I know Robert. Wes and I leave the hotel to find something to eat and find the outlet mall. My son and his name-brand clothes. Then suddenly sullen Wesley is gone and my cheerful thirteen-year-old is back with his jokes and excitement to spend my money.

We leave the mall with packages from almost every store it seems. I even splurged on myself. I think one of my credit cards even whimpered at one store. But to see my son smile, I’ll make those fuckers weep. Unlike when his father buys him stuff out of guilt, I buy them because when I was younger we didn’t have much. Don’t get me wrong we had love and so many memories of family, but our Christmas presents were from the local food pantry. They had an Angel Tree for families who couldn’t afford Christmas. I grew up to take pride in my things and now that I am a parent; I wanted to instill both into Wesley. Be proud and take care of your stuff, but I don’t want him to ever feel a struggle like we did. Hearing your mother cry worrying about feeding her children while your father beat himself up because he felt like he failed his family.

Shaken from my thoughts by a car horn, I look over at Wesley. “Ready for the game tomorrow?” We make small talk as we leave the parking lot.

“I can’t wait. My friends are going to see me right behind the catcher all day long.” His excitement is infectious. He has made my life so much fuller, and I couldn’t imagine life without him. After deciding on something to eat, we grab Wesley’s favorite Chinese takeout to bring back to the hotel. He wants to go swimming, so he is currently trying to rush everything, and I can’t blame him. He just wants to be around people, and I want to make sure he doesn’t choke or get a cramp in the pool. This child is testing me.

Wesley spent the night at the pool while I binge-watched a true-crime documentary I’ve been wanting to see. A perfect night for both of us before the ball game.

Something wakes me up and I check the clock and see it’s three forty-five a.m. Then I hear it again, someone arguing and fighting. I sit up and strain to discern what is being said.

“Bianca, I want to know where the money that Greg gave you is!” Well, are you going to answer, Bianca?I think to myself.

“Eric, I do not know what you are talking about?”I scoff at her reply.I am sure you don’t know, Bianca, right?I fight not to roll my eyes, and I really need to go back to bed, but the urge to make a bag of popcorn is strong. I’m not one for drama, especially in my life, but other people’s drama I can listen to. Instead of being overly critical of the situation unfolding, I try not to worry about the drama unfolding in their hotel room.

Chase

“Eagle, I’ll do a thorough analysis on the case and see what the court ruling is through the database. We need to get someone on the kid to watch him. We will need a surveillance team round the clock. Is there anyone available?” Eagle pulls out his phone and types away on it.

“I’m calling a club meeting so we can talk about it and get a schedule.” He yawns. “Sorry, I worked until about three hours ago when I saw this come across my desk.”

“Go get some sleep and we’ll meet this afternoon. Mallory’s abandoning me for the mall and friends for a few hours. We’ll have the meeting.” I walk Eagle out as Mallory’s coming down the stairs in a tank top and short shorts. Eagle hisses as he walks out the door. He knows what I’m about to do and how it’s going to happen. Eagle doesn’t have kids of his own but thinks of Mallory as one of his nieces and is probably just as protective as I am of her. He always tells her he has no problem following her around in his police cruiser to embarrass her and scare away all the boys.

“Change now.” Mallory crosses her arms, standing on the stairs. “I don’t think I stuttered. Get your ass up those stairs and change your clothes into something appropriate.” She still didn’t budge. I step forward. “Now,” I say through my clenched teeth. I don’t normally snap at her, but sometimes her defiance reminds me of how toxic Amber became at the end of our marriage. Mallory stomps up the stairs, muttering about living in a hostile prison. I laugh. I walk into the living room to sit in the recliner to make sure Mallory has indeed changed her clothes and has not taken a bag with her. She comes down wearing jeans and a better tank top that doesn’t show her entire rib cage.

“Better?” The attitude that she’s giving me reminds me of how my mom used to tell me Mallory would be my payback for how I was as a kid. She was so right.

“No, I think a turtleneck and maybe a parka?” The attitude vanishes and is replaced by laughter.

“Daddy, you know I’m growing up. One day, you’ll have to let me be an adult.” I swear I feel the pain in my chest at her statement.

“Never. You’ll always be my baby girl, even when you’re thirty.” She walks the rest of the way down the stairs, and I open my arms up to wrap her up in them. “Don’t be in such a rush to grow up. I know you’re not my little baby anymore, but that doesn’t mean I stop worrying about you.”

“I don’t think I could ever find a guy who could ever compare to you.” I almost missed her whispered response.

“Mallory, you’re the greatest gift your mom gave me, and no one will ever be worthy of it.” That’s all it takes to send her into a laughing fit. She pulls out of my hug and as I look in her face, I vow to myself once again I will do all in my power to help those in need. “Okay kid, let’s get you to Carrie’s, and I’ll see you later. Sound good?” I grab the purple helmet with pink flames. It was her birthday gift this year from all her uncles and me. She is practically jumping up and down as I turn around.

“Yeah, we get to take your motorcycle! I cannot wait for Carrie to see!” Laughing, she grabs her helmet and purse and heads to the garage. As I step into the garage, my second baby is waiting for us. Four years ago, I upgraded my old bike to a 2018 Harley Softail in gunmetal gray, and it is sleek and hugs the road so well. “Don’t forget your helmet too, Dad.” This girl, making sure I’m just as protected as she is.

“Yes, princess; how could I forget?” I put on my matte black helmet and straddle Lucy. I named my bike after my first girlfriend, Lucy. She could handle long rides with me. Laughing to myself, I click the garage opener and then bring Lucy to life. I can hear Mallory squeal with excitement as I pull out of the garage, and as soon as the garage door shuts, I pull out onto the road and go.

A few hours later, Eagle and I headed out to Needles’s place. As we drive up the mile long driveway to Needles’ place. It’s not actually his place since this is our intake office, which is a single-family house. The safe house is where we bring the intakes before we place them into their own semi-permanent housing in town. The club monitors them, and each house has an assigned “mother” to help the families who need our services. We have trained each mother in self-defense, and they all have a concealed carry weapon with all the appropriate training and documentation. The vetting process is detailed because we never want to put anyone in a more harmful situation.

Pulling up in front of the house, I turn off the bike. I notice the curtains move a bit. I look over at Eagle as he parks his bike. “I thought I told you to go home and sleep?” The blank expression on his face with his raised eyebrow says it all.

“We have to brace ourselves and remember if they see us get angry, it’s possible they’ll retreat more.” The continued blank stare Eagle gives me makes me crack up. “Yeah, Dad, I know. I’m not a newbie.” Ah, this asshole.

We make our way to the door, I knock once, and wait for Needles to acknowledge us. The door opens, and a tight-lipped smiling Needles greets us, “Hey brother, be prepared; it’s not pretty.” I fucking hate scum who put their hands on someone who has less power than them. As we enter the house and walk into the kitchen, I see three reasons why I have no issue sending these assholes to meet their maker.

Following Needles into the kitchen, it hit us with a sight that makes my blood boil. I can feel the anger radiating off of Eagle. Turning to him, I say, “Hey, I get you man, but calm down. Don’t scare them any more than they already are.” With a stiff head nod, I turn back to the table. The young woman at the table has a busted lip, two black eyes, and marks up and down her arms. She won’t make eye contact with anyone in the room. As I turn to the two young kids, I want to find this guy and feed him his own dick. The young girl, who is tiny for two, has a busted lip, her little arm is in a cast, and so many bruises. The one thing has my heart shattering is the fear in her eyes. I want to slay all those dragons for her. Then I see her brother and I can tell he is trying to be stoic. Just like his sister, he has a cast on his arm along with bruising on his face and arms.

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