Page 11 of Deserter

“Is that what you want? To work in the body shop and do club shit?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about doing anything else…” His voice trailed off as he stared up at the Farrah Fawcett poster hanging on the wall.

“There’s nothing else you like doing that you could make a career out of?” I pushed.

John tapped a thumb against his lower lip and nodded. “I really like shop class. I think if I had a choice, I’d wanna do construction or some shit like that. I don’t know how to say this, man, but Lou’s knocked up.”

John had been dating Louisa since they started high school. I’d hung around her a few times and thought she was a sweet girl, but kids? Fuck, we weren’t ready for that.

“That’s some heavy shit.” I didn’t know what else to say. John was a stand-up guy like his old man, so he’d do right by her and no one would convince him otherwise.

“Yeah,” he agreed before taking another drag.

“Is Louisa?” I began. “Is she doing okay with it?” Thoughts of my ma drifted into my mind, but I pushed them away.

He shrugged. “She throws up a lot and if she’s not doing that, she’s sleeping, but my ma said it’s to be expected.”

I nodded. “How’d they take the news?”

“Fine. Ma said she always knew we’d end up together while my old man ribbed me for not using a condom. Her parents were the ones that surprised me. I thought for sure her dad would have my balls, but he sat me down and talked to me like a man. Once he knew my intentions, we were good.”

“And what are your intentions?”

“I’m gonna fuckin’ marry her, obviously. I wanted to before I knocked her up and even more so now that she’s carrying my kid.” At my expression, he added, “C’mon, Jamie. She’s the only girl I’ve ever been with and the only one that can handle this lifestyle.”

That was why he’d wanted to know if I was going to hang around all night. He had a life to get back to—a family that was just starting out.

We sank back into silence, passing the joint back and forth as if our futures weren’t about to change in a big way. John was going to graduate in a few months before becoming a husband and father. Nights like this would be nonexistent.

It was the only time that I wished we could stay kids.

I slipped the comic book back into my backpack, having given up any pretense of reading it. “You know the price to patch in.”

He nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I know. Blood of a known club enemy.”

I hadn’t learned that fact until I was older. It made what I’d witnessed between my mother and Angel all the more confusing. Over the years, I’d even convinced myself that I hadn’t seen what I thought I did or maybe Wolverine had just changed the rules since my old man joined.

“I overheard something today,” John said to Farrah. “I don’t know what to make of it, but I feel like it might change your mind on things.”

I stretched with a yawn. “Oh, yeah? Lay it on me, man.”

He took a deep breath before looking over at me. “Your old man fucked up… big time. I don’t know the specifics, man, but I think the club might take him out.”

I bolted up off the beanbag, suddenly sober. “Where’d you hear this? Did they say when it would happen?”

This was what I’d waited on for years. My chance to grab Ma and get the hell out of the desert.

“I don’t know much. They called my old man this afternoon, and I only heard his side of the conversation, but he mentioned Whiplash multiple times. Whatever shit he got into is bad, Jamie. Like really bad.”

I ran a hand across my face and nodded. “This is good for us—me and Ma, I mean. I can get her some help from all the brainwashing he did to her.”

John hesitated. “Look, Jamie. You can’t let anyone know that I told you. My old man would have my ass. They have a timeline in place for dealing with him. You have to be cool until it’s handled, okay?”

I didn’t want to wait for the club to take him out. I wanted to gas up the old wagon and pack a suitcase tonight. Finish what we started when she pulled me out of my bed in the middle of the night six years ago.

* * *

The house was dark when John dropped me off, which wasn’t surprising, considering it was after midnight. My old man was probably still out at the clubhouse and knowing Ma, she would’ve passed out not long after eight.

---