Page 21 of Amaze

“Shut the hell up, Dad! You won’t get the last laugh this time. You thought you had it all figured out. Instead of appreciating my ability to make a sound decision on my own, you tried to beat and threaten my individuality out of me. Instead of appreciating my intelligence, you resented my independence. You didn’t want a daughter. You wanted a showpiece that you could trade to the highest bidder.”

“Jokes on me. I thought I had a trophy, and you were just trash. I had to play clean up and settle for that no account dummy I sent over to get you. He was the only one that wanted your ass after you were tainted by mud blood. You ruined your future because some fool wanted to play between your legs. You better hope that bastard son of yours doesn’t turn out to be like his no-good daddy. Lord knows he don’t stand a chance in hell after being raised by you and Galvin. I should have left you at the fucking hospital. I never wanted a fucking daughter. Look at the shit storm you’ve caused, you whore. You women are weak. You’re no better than your whore of a mama. Look how she left?—”

His words were cut off by a bullet to the chest. Squeezing the trigger, I fired another shot for good measure. Nothing he said was worth hearing, so I took us all out of our misery and ended his life once and for all. It was better that way.

“God damn, Quick Draw McGraw,” Maze said in a low chuckle.

After growing tired of listening to his bullshit, I snatched Maze’s gun from his waistband and shot my dad myself. Part of me hoped that he would be apologetic once he finally faced me. Instead, he doubled down on his treachery. He was the worst kind of evil. He couldn’t see past his own agenda enough to consider someone else’s happiness.

“I didn’t want to put the burden on you of having to kill my dad then face me every day for the rest of our lives. You would never forgive yourself.”

“But can you? I’m not worried about forgiving myself. I just realized that I never have to forgive him. The problem is you killed him too fast. I wanted to fuck you on that pool table while he watched. Seeing you in action turned me the fuck on.”

“It might be too late for him to watch, but the pool table’s still there.”

“Come here, girl.” Amaze winked as he pulled me in for a kiss.

One year later…

“Go, baby!” I smiled, watching Wesley cheer Anthony on as he made the second of his free throws.

She was so proud of him that it shined through her eyes as we watched the game. As much as I regretted missing his childhood, I enjoyed every moment of the time I spent with him now. Wes was fighting us tooth and nail on our weekly rides, but she knew he was in the best hands when it came to riding a bike.

“I’m about to get some nachos from the concession stand. You want something?” I asked her as I stood.

“No, I’m good.”

“You sure, Wes?” I asked, knowing damn well she was going to eat most of my nachos if I didn’t get her something to eat of her own.

“You know what, bring me some salt and vinegar chips and a red slushie.”

“OK.” I nodded, glad that I didn’t have to ask her five times before she changed her mind.

“And aSnickersbar and some of those sour candy ropes if they have them.”

“Anything else?” I chuckled.

“That’s all. The slushie and chips are for me. That other stuff is for your son,” she said, rubbing her swollen belly.

After our small wedding ceremony that only included AJ, Ant, and my mom, we moved into a five-bedroom house near my mom. She loved having us so close. Wes was even looking for a new location for the bookstore.

Six months after moving into our new home, we found out that Wesley was pregnant. I cried tears of joy when my baby broke the news. I couldn’t believe that she had been nervous about telling me. Apparently, she and Anthony had come to the conclusion that, at thirty-eight, I would think I was too old to be a dad.

We were only twelve weeks away from meeting the new addition to our little family. I was beyond excited to experience the early days of fatherhood. Lade stood and followed once he noticed that I was headed to the concession stand.

“Bro, I know you are about to go on a hiatus to take care of the fam. I just wanted to update you and let you know that the last batch of guys finished the program and are set to go on the road soon. The other guys are making time on their routes, and we have some new contracts to go over and bid on.”

“OK, then. You know I love to hear it.”

“We have three new recruits that we want to try to get vetted before you leave. I told the guys we are going to put a hold on new membership until you come back.”

“You know AJ can handle that kind of stuff, if necessary,” I mentioned.

“Nah, we all agreed we don’t want no one else getting comfortable in your position. I don’t want nobody trying to stage a coup.”

I chuckled at his rationale but knew there was no reasoning with him. More than anything, I was grateful that the guys felt so strongly about my leadership. It was a rocky start, but I was grateful that I’d made the decision to take over.

As I stood in line, Wesley linked her arm through mine and rested her head on my shoulder.

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