Page 84 of Apex of the Curve

“How many times I got to tell you not to fuckin’ go there, boy?”I heard my dad demand in my head.

He was right. Those ghosts were dead and buried. A worthy sacrifice to the gods.

“She is,” I agreed. There wasn’t any denying it. “I guess you all are going to have to trust me that there’s more to her than meets the eye.”

Dump Truck eyed me critically and then said, “I believe you. She and Little Bird are two peas in a pod.”

“Nobody except Tic had shit else to say about LB,” I mused and Dump Truck nodded.

“She was bruised to shit with a wild fear in her eyes. Not many men can get around the desire to fix that shit. Your girl hides her hurt a lot better in mixed company,” he said. “She’s reserved. Watchful. The rest of our brothers are going to find that unsettling, except for maybe Mav.”

“You think?” I asked, turning over his observations about my woman in my head.

“I know. She’s smart, and Mav’ll see right through her. It’s what he does.”

I nodded slowly and the front door of the boneyard burst open, Mace coming right on through with Glass and Cipher with him.

“Was wondering where you two fucks were hiding!”

“Not hiding, just chillin’,” I declared.

“Alright, alright, so what’s knew with you? Other than I hear Dump Truck’s got a woman?” Mace asked, hoisting himself up onto the countertop.

“Little Bird’s legit,” Glass Jaw said. “I’m more interested in meeting the citizen chick Fenris has supposedly picked up.”

“Yeah, man. You been scarce the last few weeks,” Cipher agreed and Dump Truck and I traded a look.

Tic-Tac,I thought. Or Dahlia. I couldn’t really imagine Dahlia having much to say, though. She wasn’t like that. Dollars to doughnuts, Tic had already had some shit to say and was bitchin’ about my little leaf being too outsider, too other, too normal.

“Yeah?” Mace asked. “What’s the deal, man?” He gave me a punch in the shoulder and I grunted. He may be skinnier, but he hadn’t lost any of his strength in there. If anything, maybe he’d leaned out some. Maybe ‘skinny’ wasn’t the right word.

“She’s a good woman,” I grunted, and left it at that.

“Cipher?” Glass Jaw asked as a joke.

“Don’t look at me, man. When it comes to Fen and DT, there ain’t no decoding these two assholes and their way.”

“So, when do we get to judge for ourselves?” Mace asked.

“In just a bit,” I said, looking at the time. “She’s coming up this way after she gets off work.”

“What’s she do?” Glass asked, dropping onto one of the two old bench seats from an old 60s era pickup that were against the low wall that served as the boneyard’s waiting area.

“Owns her own business,” I said.

“Doing what?” Cipher asked, when I didn’t volunteer any additional information.

“Stuff,” I said with a shrug.

“Wow,” Mace said with an incredulous laugh. “You’re serious about this one.”

I scowled.

“He’s right, man,” Cipher declared. “The less you talk about something the more you’re into it. That’s always been your way.”

“It’s like a tell at poker,” Glass Jaw grunted.

“Fuck you guys,” I growled, my mood beginning to sour. “Maybe I just don’t like to be interrogated.”

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