Page 8 of Demon
“I’m not getting in the middle of that.”
Demon didn’t blame him.He didn’t say anything as he left and went to find something to eat, preferably something he didn’t have to cook.
“Tellmehoweveryone’sdoing.”Demon sat on the rocker next to his grandmother’s on her front porch.She’d insisted on pouring then both glasses of iced tea and fixing a plate of cookies from the batch she’d baked a couple of days earlier before they could settle in and catch up.Demon hadn’t argued.Instead, he’d followed Nan’s directions and carried the tray with their drinks and snacks as she’d asked.He would have done a hell of a lot more for the older woman, indulging her in her determination to enjoy one of her grandkids visiting was not a big deal.
She watched him a moment with narrowed eyes.He picked up a cookie and took a bite.Nan might have nearly sixty years experience trying to figure out what her offspring was up to, but Demon had faced people a lot scarier than Alma Jennings.
It wasn't that he didn’t respect her, he did, but she wouldn't shoot him or leave him bruised and bleeding.
After a moment or two, she sniffed as if she knew he was up to something, but couldn’t figure out what."Who are you wanting to know about?"She watched him with eagle sharp eyes.
"No one in particular."He lifted one shoulder and let it fall in a careless gesture."It's just been while since l had the time to sit and talk for more than a few minutes.Plus," he picked up another cookie, "I know how much you love knowing what's going on with all your family, so I know you'll know all the details."
She looked at him a moment longer.
“First, tell me what's new with you?"She waved one hand in his direction."I see you're still hanging around with those hoodlums."
Demon bit the inside of his cheek to keep from snapping that the Souls weren’t hoodlums.It was a waste of breath, and he knew it.Not that he blamed her.The Souls looked like a 1% club, and they weren’t as clean as some of the brothers would prefer, but what they did get into was with careful consideration and specific goals in place.Those goals were the reason for what they did.
Damon hated the phrase 'the end justifies the means', but that was exactly the life he led.He wasn’t sure it mattered that they were legally in the clear.That he and his brothers would likely never see more than a night or two in jail unless they went totally rogue.
Not that he could tell Nan any of that.
Demon knew that to the rest of the world he, and the Rest of the Souls, looked no better than Jim Bob.They crafted their image very carefully so it was a not so well kept secret that the Souls were into things they shouldn't be and lucky enough not to have been caught yet.Or at least that’s what they let everyone see.It wasn’t true.
"Yes.I'm still with the Souls," he said, careful to keep his tone even so she couldn’t read anything into it."
"I don’t like you riding around on that motorcycle, it’s not safe."
Demon bit back the retort that his motorcycle was no more dangerous than Jim Bob carjacking strangers.He was hoping she'd give him info, and to do that he needed to not piss her off.
"Please tell me you at least wear a helmet when going on that thing, Joey."
"I do, Nan."He pointed out to where his bike sat on the curb in front of the house."You see that hard case on the side?That’s where I keep my helmet, and I wear it every time I ride.I live for the wind in my face, Nan, but I'm not looking to die.”
So that wasn’t entirely true.
Not the looking to die part but the wearing every time part.He usually wore it, but there were exceptions, like if he had a woman on the back of his bike.They got the helmet while he went without.One thing he never went without was a good pair of glasses.He even kept a couple of extra pairs in the case next to where he stored his helmet, in a small case he’d rigged so it would stay put and keep the lenses from getting scratched up.
He didn’t let his thoughts show on his face.Instead, he listened as Nan talked, asking questions and letting her know he was listening.They had been sitting on the porch for nearly an hour, her talking about the family, asking him what he thought and letting him know what was going on with all the cousins, before she mentioned Jim Bob.Demon was instantly more alert.This was what he’d been waiting for.
“How is Jim Bob doing?I haven’t seen him since I got back to town, and I don’t know how long it was before that.”
Nan shook her head.“He’s been getting into trouble.I don’t know what your daddies did that make the two of you think it’s okay to run around taking what you want from whoever you want.Those people work hard for what they have, and you have no right to take it away from them.”
“I have never stolen anything from anyone,” Demon said trying to hold onto his temper.He’d known when he started prospecting for the Souls that people would think he did all kinds of things and that was the point of the club’s reputation.They wanted people to think that whatever nefarious thing they were sure the club was up to, that they were.
Telling Nan otherwise would only harm the club.And she wouldn’t believe him anyway, not as long as he was part of the club.
“And even if you did, at least you haven’t gotten caught at it.Jim Bob can’t say that.”She shook her head again.“Last I heard he was hiding out at his mother’s so they wouldn’t find him and take him back to jail.”
He lifted one shoulder and let it fall as if he didn’t know and didn’t care.
“And how is Aunt Chastity.I think the last time I saw her was at graduation.Is she still living over on Silverbell?”
Nan tilted her head and seemed to be thinking.“No.I was trying to remember when she moved.It was a couple of years ago, but she’s over off of Craycroft, between Speedway and Pima.I don’t remember the address.”
“I was in that part of town the other day.I don’t usually get there over there all that often.I wish I knew she was living over there, I could have stopped and seen her.”
