Page 10 of Big Red

My phone pings and I grab it. Opening the text, I see it’s a message from Viper.

Prez: Cara is out. The first thing she said to me was, ‘take me to Cindy and Colt.’ Be there in twenty, brother.

That woman. I swear I’ve never met someone so selfless. She’s a hard nut to crack, but once you mean something to her, there isn’t anything she won’t do for you.

Quietly, I get out of bed, so I don’t wake the kids. I go to the kitchen and start a pot of coffee. I’m just about to take my first sip when there’s a knock on the door. Opening the door, Viper and Cara walk in and sit on the couch.

“Cara, I appreciate you coming to check on the kids, but shouldn’t you check on your four first?” I ask as soon I sit down.

“None of the kids saw what happened except Cindy and Colt. The rest were already at Mama’s house for a sleepover. They stilldon’t know anything about last night. My concern is Cindy and Colt right now. They should have never had to see that.”

I give her a small smile and nod. I’m grateful that after everything she went through last night, she still manages to think of my kids and what they must be feeling.

“So, what the hell happened? Vincent said you assaulted an officer.”

There was so much going on last night that I didn’t have time to ask questions, and honestly, I was worried about the kids. I’ve never been more scared than when I saw them running toward all the officers with their guns drawn.

Cara sighs and rolls her eyes. She begins to go over what led to the altercation. The more she talks, the more anger rises within me. Viper also looks ready to explode.

This fucker was choking out his wife and then proceeded to attack two women who were trying to stop him. When he couldn’t beat them, he took it a step further by pulling out his gun.

I know he, too, will be added to the list for Viper. The Langley brothers just signed their death warrants. It’s bad enough they made us their enemies, but to come for an ol’ lady of the club?

Yeah, their time on this earth is coming to an end real soon.

I have my own issues with men who beat women. Growing up, I had to watch my father beat my mother more times than I can count. He was never interested in being a dad and even forced me to call him Senior. He was a big man like me. He was well over six feet tall, and my mother was half his damn size.

As much as she tried to please him, he always found something to be upset about. His food was too hot or too cold. The table wasn’t clean enough or to his liking. The list would go on and on.

When I turned thirteen, I tried getting in between him and my mother, and he cracked two of my ribs. My mother had to beg him to stop, and then he turned his attention to her.

That night, after we got home from the hospital, my mother begged me not to intervene like that.

I was so angry at her. I didn’t understand why she didn’t just pack us up and leave. This was no way to live. I loved my mother. She was always good to me, but after so many years of her allowing this abuse to go on around me, I started to resent her a little.

As the years went on, I got bigger, and his beatings became less and less frequent. Until one day, he came home drunk out of his mind and went after my mom. I was seventeen, and I no longer feared him. Although we were the same height, I had muscles while he was toting around a beer belly and was decades out of shape.

I snapped.

I beat him until he was a bloody mess on the floor. My mother sobbed and begged me to stop hurting him. I froze and just stared at her.

I couldn’t understand how, after all these years of his abuse, she still protected him.

When Senior finally came around, he started yelling for me to get out. To never show my face in his home again. I waited to see if my mother would defend me like she did him.

The silence in the room was like a punch to the gut. She cried and told me she was sorry, but I didn’t care.

“Red? You good, brother?” Viper asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. He eyes me with worry. I’m pretty sure he knows where my mind was. He’s the only one in the club who knows about my past.

“I’m good. So, what are we going to do about all this?”

Before Viper can open his mouth, the sound of small feet rapping against the floor stops him.

“Dad, have you heard anything about Aunt Cara?” Cindy shouts, coming down the hall. Her mouth snaps shut when she makes it into the living room and spots Cara sitting on the couch with a smile.

Colt and Cindy freeze for only a few seconds before they race over to her and launch themselves into her arms.

Cara has an arm around each of them while she whispers in their ears. Whatever she says makes Cindy choke out a giggle through her tears, and Colt snorts.

---