Page 39 of Tex's Angel

Rigs puts his plate down on the table and grins down at the boys. “You two sure you can eat all that food?”

I’m surprised he’s commented, as a father of a teenage boy he must know how much they can put away.

His old lady, Mattie rolls her eyes, “What are you talking about? You’ve got almost as much as they do, and you don’t have the excuse of being a growing teen.”

Rigs slaps his rock-hard abs with one hand. “That’s pure muscle, that is.”

Mattie grins, “If you say so, babe.”

He drops down into his seat and whispers something into her ear about how well she knows all his muscles and she whispers something back that I don’t catch because the boys have started talking. These two have been together for two years now and sometimes it’s like they’ve only just met. Mattie’s mom is looking after Rosie, their toddler, tonight and I’m guessing as Evan is staying at the clubhouse, they’re planning on making the most of their childfree night.

As the meal continues, I’m only half paying attention to the conversation, Clara and Mattie are talking about next month’s get together at the cabin. Once a month all the club brothers and their family meet there to hunt, fish, and practice shooting their weapons. There’s always a huge cookout. Ipersonally love it because being part of the brotherhood feels like a close second to being with my extended family, better in some ways. My mind is too busy turning over the information that one of the assholes she reported for abusing their kids might be targeting her, to pay too much attention to the conversation going on around me. I slam back a couple of drinks during dinner. It’s enough to take the edge off without getting slobbering drunk. Even though we’re staying at the clubhouse, I can’t afford to make stupid mistakes when the danger might be real.

As a prospect, Evan has his own room at the clubhouse and he and Levi disappear there after the meal.

When the boys head out, Mattie and Clara take a bathroom break. Once it’s just my club brother and me at the table, Rigs asks, “Have you come up with a gameplan for dealing with your supervisors finding out about you being a member of the Savage Legion MC?”

I drink the last of my beer and shake my head. “No, I’m still working on that.”

“Can I make a suggestion?” he asks.

“Sure. I’ll take any advice I get right now,” I say as I slam the empty bottle down. Thinking about that shit is adding yet another layer of annoyance to my generally pissed mood.

“My advice is to take me and Siege with you to the meeting.”

Worry twists in my gut because I don’t think seeing a couple of old school bikers will assuage their fears about one oftheir trainers being a member of an MC. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Rigs.”

I don’t want to say anything that might come across as rude or disrespectful, so I take a minute to think about how I want to word my explanation.

Meanwhile, Rigs presses his point. “Siege and I clean up pretty good, and we know how to handle men concerned about ensuring their public image is free of any hint of impropriety. We’re both decorated and respected veterans. I’m technically an ordained minister. Trust me on this. Your best chance is if we show up and support you. A minister and a veteran, who better to vouch for your good name.”

“Alright,” I agree reluctantly. “I’ll give it a try. I like my job and if you think having back up at the meeting will increase my chances of not getting fired, then I’ll follow your advice.”

He reaches out to slap me on the shoulder. “You won’t regret this, Tex. I promise.”

We continue to brainstorm strategies for how to explain our MC to men with internal biases about motorcycle clubs, until Mattie and Clara return. When they sit down, suddenly Mattie is all business.

“I haven’t had a chance to read through the two CPS reports you made, Clara, so, I can’t say for sure how the cases turned out.”

I immediately ask, “Do you think it’s plausible that one of the fathers is retaliating against Clara?”

She shrugs, “I can’t tell you how upset parents get when you do things they see as negatively impacting their children.”

Rigs adds, “It’s always been strange to me that parents who are neglecting or abusing their kids truly believe that removing them is the greater evil.”

I make my best educated guess. “They probably think it’s better to stick with the devil you know.”

Mattie quickly unpicks that for us. “That’s part of it. Abusive parents often underestimate the level of abuse they’re dishing out. Or they don’t see it as abuse, because that’s how they were brought up. It’s a vicious circle.”

“Yeah,” I tell them. “I was a handful as a kid and got my ass whooped a lot.”

Rigs gave me the side-eye. “Yeah, but you learned how to discipline your son without resorting to violence.”

Before I can respond, Mattie starts talking again, “Neglectful parents are a different kettle of fish. Regardless of popular belief, they aren’t always bad people. Sometimes they’re doing their best but if they can’t keep their child fed, clothed, and a roof over their heads, we have to take the children and place them into a stable environment until they can get back on their feet. It’s really heartbreaking to have to remove the kids because you see how much they love each other.”

Clara begins to tear up. “The cases I reported were both abuse if I remember correctly.”

“In that case the department would have arranged treatment for the parents such as anger management classes, parenting classes, substance abuse treatment, and possibly individual therapy if more deep-seated issues were evident.”

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