Page 10 of Bound By Consequences
My father chuckled. “Sir. I like that shit.”
A small smirk played at my lips. “Yeah, it’s a hard habit to break.”
“Don’t need to. Come on.” My father exited the car, my mother and I following, grabbing my bag in the trunk. My dad was relaxed. We were truly a family in a way I had never experienced before. Finally giving my father the respect he deserved had changed so much between us. I liked where we were headed.
I sucked in the crisp Georgia air.
Yeah, this was home. For the first time in my life, it actually felt like the place I was always meant to be.
“Come,” my mother called, motioning me into the house, and I followed. Chaos ensued inside the kitchen as everyone was bustling all around, grabbing this and that and taking it all outside where there were tables and chairs set up.
After throwing my seabag in my room, I went to the kitchen where my mother was carrying two huge bowls, one pretzels and the other potato salad. Snatching them away from her, she smiled up at me. “Thank you.” She beamed as I moved out the door and set the things on the table where everything else seemed to be.
“You don’t need to be doing that,” my mother said on my second trip into the house.
“Ma, I got this. You tell me what you need, and I’ll do it.”
While she smiled, there was a tenseness that came over the room, and when I turned around, I figured out why. Princess had entered the space.
She was one woman no one messed with. I’d seen her in the ring many times fighting, and she knocked men twice her size out. After all these years, it didn’t seem to change because her tank showed off her muscular arms.
Princess loved her family. Loved the club. Loved everything the Ravage MC stood for. She was in a thousand percent and gave her all to protect every bit of it. That was why I knew she had a lot to say to me.
I’d give her that. After all, the bomb I dropped impacted her just as much as the brothers in the club.
“Princess,” my mom warned, but Princess didn’t even look at her, only having eyes locked to me.
“It’s all good, Mom. Let her do what she’s gotta do.”
Mom shook her head. I knew she wanted to shield me from the confrontation. But she had to know there was nothing she could do. I wasn’t a little boy anymore. My mom didn’t need to shield me from shit. This moment with Princess would happen, and keeping her away from it seemed to be a bit of challenge.
“Stop,” my mom warned as she stood in my path. It was actually cute that she was trying to protect me.
Reaching my arm out, I snagged my mom around her waist and pulled her behind me. She grumbled the entire time, but I didn’t give a fuck. If fists were going to fly, she needed to be far away from it. My mom was my world, and I wouldn’t let anyone get near her.
I stared down at Princess, waiting for whatever she had to say. She stared at me, vivid disgust shining in her eyes. I earned that. Every single rotten ounce of it, I deserved. I fucked with her family. It was wrong. I was wrong. So as long as she needed to stare at me, beat on me, cuss me out, I would take it.
She said nothing as we continued to stare at each other. When the right hook came at me, I could’ve easily dodged it; instead, I let it connect to my face. While it didn’t feel good, it also didn’t hurt … much. My mother screamed.
Wetness fell from my mouth, but my eyes stayed glued on Princess, not reaching up to wipe the blood off.
Princess shook out her hand which surprised me. “Damn, boy, you been eating your Wheaties or somethin’?”
That was something new and surprising. I held my mother behind me.
“Somethin’ like that,” I responded.
“Good, maybe it knocked some sense into your ass,” she clipped.
“Marines did that, not the cereal.”
The left side of Princess’ lip tipped, surprising the shit out of me once again. “We’ll see,” she replied, turning on her motorcycle booted foot and moving outside.
My mother came around to my front and started fussing over my lip.
“Stop.” The tone came out a bit sharper than it should’ve. Part of me was still out in the field with my Marines, and changing back over to civilian life may just take some getting used to. Her eyes widened. “Sorry. No excuse for that, Mom.”
She gave me a soft smile that tore at my heart. I loved this woman, and she’d put up with a lot of shit from me. I really needed to get myself in check and make sure that didn’t happen again.
