Page 120 of Patching Over

“Never much celebrated the holidays when I was younger,” I reply. “But now that Aubree is here, even though she’s little, I think it would be fun.”

Something else crosses my mind, and I look at Brick and say, “Brother, Rainman needs to adjust my stuff.”

Brick smirks while shaking his head. “Naw, Brother. Seems we realized we needed a Road Captain, and with all the roads you’ve been running while searching for Belle, we took a vote at the last church session and decided you’d be the perfect candidate for that position. Congrats, Jingles. You’ll get the official patch at the next church meeting, which will likely be once everyone gets here so we can decide what our future steps should be and what we need to do to take care of a few loose ends.”

I know he’s being deliberately vague because Ryleigh’s still nestled in his lap, but still, I’m stunned at his announcement. I never anticipated or expected I’d hold an officer position, and it has me feeling out of sorts, in some kind of emotional way due to the fact that my brothers believe I’m capable of taking on the task.

“Appreciate it, Pres. Your confidence in me is staggering, never thought I’d have that,” I reply before promising, “I won’t let y’all down.”

“No one in this club has ever let me down, Brother. You’re a valued brother, one we wholeheartedly believe in. Definitely feel free to reach out to any of the other chapters who have a road captain, so you fully understand the duties that come with thatposition. We’ve never really had one, so I’m a bit unclear on the specifics.”

“Will do.” I’m still in shock, excited, and ready to take on this role by diving in headfirst.

“Oh! I nearly forgot to tell you, Jingles,” Ryleigh says, interrupting my thoughts. “Belle’s awake and she’s asking for you.”

I quickly stand, and with a chin lift to my president, make my way up the stairs to the room she’ll be staying in, my heart beating a mile a minute.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

Belle

One minute, I was in a nice, warm, safe place, and the next, I’m in a shower, being held up between two women I’ve never met in my life. “Shouldn’t you at least buy me dinner before you touch me there?” I ask, giggling when both women let out a little shriek.

“Holy shit, you’re awake!” The one behind me exclaims. “I’m Rory, I’m Banshee’s ol’ lady, and the one who’s currently working to clean your bits is Ryleigh, Brick’s ol’ lady.”

“Uh, hello?” I reply, more in the form of a question than a statement, because the last thing I recall is heading toward oblivion before Alvin raped me. I take a momentary inventory of how I’m feeling and realize I feel better than I ever had. Hell, I shouldn’t even be able to speak because I know for a fact he broke my jaw, yet here I am, conversing with two virtual strangers.

Rory’s giggles join my own, and soon, Ryleigh adds to the lyrical sound with hers as they hold me upright in the shower.I work to get myself under control, then ask, “What are y’all doing?”

“Well, Jingles did what he could to clean you up after they found you, but you still had dried blood speckled in your hair, plus, even though he used soapy water, it’s not like he rinsed you off or anything,” Rory replies.

Jingles.

Just hearing his name has my heart rate accelerating. Long before it was probably appropriate, I had a huge crush on my brother’s friend. He never noticed me then, and always treated me like the kid sister I was, occasionally buying me things based on what I admitted to wanting whenever he was around. I also did what I could to ask about him and his life without being too obvious that I was doing so, although, I suspect my brother knew what I was up to.

“He… he was the one who found me?” I ask, my voice coming out shaky at the thought of him seeing me in that condition.

“Yeah, he and one of the other brothers, Scythe, were left behind to search the property and they found you, along with a few others that they didn’t take.”

“They got away?” Fear courses through me thinking of the fact that Alvin and Bert are roaming around free. They were the two men from the independent faction of the Fundamentalists of the Communion who were overseeing our small group, and they made everyone’s life, especially mine, a living hell.

“It’s okay, Belle. Banshee and Phantom followed them and managed to capture them. Other than that, I don’t know what’s going on because it falls under ‘club business’ which I’m sure you’ve heard all about since your brother’s a Bastard too.”

I snicker, because whenever I’ve been angry at him, I call him a bastard, to which he’ll reply that he’s a ‘Bastard with a capital B’. Knowing that Alvin and Bert are likely in for a world of hurt once my brother arrives doesn’t fill me with unease; instead, Isecretly hope I can get a few licks in at least. I definitely plan to ask my brother if that’s possible, especially since Alvin treated me so brutally. I might not have been raped, but it wasn’t for lack of him trying. And while I don’t know with certainty that he didn’t, the fact I don’t feel any kind of soreness between my legs is a good indicator as far as I’m concerned.

“Maybe a time or two,” I admit.

“Do you want to take over here?” Rory asks. “If you still feel weak, we don’t mind helping.”

“It’s funny you would say that because I honestly feel pretty damn good, which I don’t understand,” I reply. “But it seems like y’all are nearly done, so you may as well finish then I’ll get myself dried off.”

“Works for me,” Ryleigh says, shrugging. “At least you don’t wiggle like my daughter does.”

“Aubree does like her tub time,” Rory retorts. “This is why we came in with bathing suits on, Belle. We do the same when either one of us gives Aubree a bath because she thinks she’s a mermaid or something and splashes at the water.”

“I can’t wait to meet her. There are some ol’ ladies now up in my brother’s chapter which cracks me up because I never expected the ones who are in a relationship to ever go down that particular road.”

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