Page 11 of Brother to Brother

“Said Grind bolted this direction as soon as she told him she was knocked up. Said she went back to the club with Noah, and they told her he was out here.”

“They conveniently forget to mention they’d attended his funeral?” Dragon asked and looked downright stormy.

“Sounds about right,” I said.

“Yeah, sounds about like I need to make a trip to Arizona,” he grumbled under his breath.

“You said you had some advice for me?” I asked, the curiosity burning me up from the inside out.

“I did,” he took a deep breath and sighed out, “I know it ain’t in your nature to go easy on nobody, but my advice to you? Take into consideration all of these things, her runnin’ her findin’ out the hardest way possible she’s a single mom for real, herbein’a single mom… Think about all of that when you look at her and go easy on her, or at least try to.”

I nodded, listening to his advice and takin’ it in, “Do my best,” I said and he gave a nod.

“You always do, brother, and trust me, I get it that sometimes you get ahead of yourself and in the way of yourself, but I’m here to tell you, you needanything, to talk, to drink, to duke things out,allyour brothers got your back. Not just the ones you came up with.”

“Thanks, man. I really mean that, too.”

Dragon nodded, and we clasped hands. He pulled me in for a hug and we gave some hearty slaps on the back. The old man still had it, rattling my ribs like some fuckin’ wind chimes. He wandered off to talk with Dray, his son and our V.P. and a minute later Dray looked up and in my direction.

“Hey, Archer!”

“Yeah, Boss?” I called back.

“Caprice ain’t goin’ nowhere tonight, why don’t you cut out of here a little early and see to your house?”

“Appreciate it, Boss, but I need the money,” I called back.

“Did I say your paycheck would be negatively affected? It’s a whole fuckin’ hour, get you gone motherfucker!” he laughed and shook his head and I put down my tools.

“Thanks, Dray,” I called over and he nodded.

“Don’t mention it!”

I cleaned up my area, putting my tools away and hanging up my coveralls. I spent some time washing up my hands before pulling my jacket and cut down off the hook reserved for them. I didn’t bother putting them on. It was why I was fined, it was in our by-laws; you didn’t wear your cut in a cage, it was considered disrespect. I’d been so caught up with the goings on yesterday that I’d still had it on when I’d gotten into Melody’s cage, right in front of no less than three brothers. I was lucky that all it was, was a fifty dollar fine and that it wasn’t an ass-whoopin’ offense. Between Trig as the club’s SAA and Reaver as the club’s Enforcer, I honestly didn’t want it to come to that. I really didn’t want to come up against either one of ‘em.

I got into Mel’s cage and sighed. Dragon was right, it wasn’t bad as far as bein’ a grocery getter on short, local trips, but it’d been a hell of a risk driving across the damn country in it. I knew Grind had kept it up for her, but there was only so much you could do with a bucket of bolts like this one. It was old, and old, in a lot of cases, meant fallible. I started it up, and would be glad when I got my bike back tonight from the club where I’d left it parked.

I drove back to the apartment, my brother’s bikes parked in one of the stalls out front, and I parked next to ‘em. When I went through my front door it was to the smell of clean, and everything in its place. Shit, I think she’d evendustedthe place. She was sitting at the table, watching Rush and Nox with Noah on the floor, the few toys the boy’d had with ‘em scattered between the three of them but it wasn’t nothing that couldn’t be picked up in half a second.

“Unca Nox! Unca Rush! Again!” he cried laughing and my brothers laughed too.

“Hey,” I said and Melody looked up at me.

“Hi,” she said and chewed her bottom lip.

“Ready to go?” I asked and she rose from her seat.

“Just let me get Noah ready,” she murmured and Rush piped up.

“Nah, he’s good here with us, you guys go ahead. We’ll be here when you get back and it’ll let you get the things you need without half the struggle.” He tickled the boy who laughed and writhed. Melody looked like some kind of cross between petrified and horrified.

“Oh no, that’s okay. It’s really no trouble at all… we just got here really and he doesn’t know you guys yet, I’d have one foot out the door and you’d have a hell of a time,” she kept on like that with every excuse in the book and I thought about what Dragon had said. Seems he was right, shewasrunnin’ scared. It weren’t none of my business, and I figured she’d tell me in her own time. I wasn’t worried about whatever it was. She was here, and Noah was here, and I could handle it, if it chose to show up around these parts.

“Get him ready,” I said. “I’m fuckin’ tired and we can all go. Shit, it’s just to pick up my bike and do some grocery shopping. I don’t want to be out all night and I’m fuckin’ hungry.”

Melody was staring at me, the silence hanging thick between all of us. I broke first, “What’re you fuckin’ lookin’ at?” I demanded gruffly and Melody’s mouth worked a few times, opening and closing like a landed fish, like she were afraid of saying anything. She glanced at Grinder’s boy and it seemed to make up her mind for her.

“Language,” she declared and stared at me evenly.

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