Page 18 of The Deals We Make
It takes me a hot minute to realize she’s asking me why Calista is back in town, not asking me why I want to fuck her. “Don’t know. But I bumped into her this morning outside one of those fancy banks.”
Mom tuts in a way only she can. “That girl’s getting herself into trouble again.”
Cali always had a way of jumping into everything feet first, especially if there was a cause involved.
I rub my hand across my jaw. “No idea what she was doing, but she’s next door right now.”
I think about what Sophia told me on New Year’s Day…that Alessio is having trouble with their systems being hacked by someone insistent. I have no idea what Calista does now. All those fancy clothes she was wearing could have been bought and paid for with hacked funds for all I know.
Maybe her trip to the bank building was a scouting trip or some shit. Although, why she’d need to show up at a brick-and-mortar building when everything inside it is available at the tap of a few keys is beyond me.
After she left all those years ago, I had to look for her for my own sake. Still worried about her, even though I couldn’t do shit anymore to keep her safe. It’s not something I’m proud of. But she was capable of not leaving a trail. No social media accounts. Online, she was almost a ghost.
It was like she disappeared.
Then, because shit was so intense and heavy at the club, I knew I had to get my head on right that I’d joined a motorcycle club, for life.
There was no getting out.
At some point, my own life became more important than hers, and I made my peace with the fact I’d never hear from her again.
But now, I’m really curious. I tug my laptop out of my bag and start from the beginning of a basic search.
“You hear of Mrs. Moray having problems, Mom? Beyond the obvious hermit shit she has going on?”
“Watch your language around me, Tiberius.” She glances out of the kitchen window towards the Moray house and shakes her head. “Nothing specific. I mean, the woman’s practically a recluse. She stopped going to church in the last couple of years, but I heard she didn’t let the minister in anymore either. Barely leaves unless it’s to get food, but I did hear from Shelby Hodson that her shopping is always simple. Bread. Peanut butter. Occasionally chicken when it’s on special. No greens. Nothing fresh.”
I chew another mouthful of food. I don’t like the idea that Mrs. Moray’s been struggling even more than we know. And right now, Calista needs to take a long hard look in the mirror.
A little trickle of anger moves through me over Calista giving me shit on the porch about her mom.
Where the fuck wasshe? Why wasn’t she checking in on her? If she could afford all those fancy clothes, she could sure as shit afford to throw her mom a hundred bucks a week for food.
“Tiberius, do yourself a favor. Stop worrying about that girl and her momma. You don’t need her back in your life. And you certainly don’t need the hassle of looking out for them. Calista is a grown up. She can look after her family. I see you shoveling that driveway, and my heart cracks in two because she is never going to forgive you for Calista leaving.”
I sigh and look down at my bowl. My mom has no clue what really went down. It’s where her disappointment stems from. I was supposed to go to college. Instead, I became a biker. So out of character. She thought I’d gotten in with the wrong crowd she’d spent her entire life trying to protect me from.
But I guess one thing I’ve learned over the last year is that people will make big sacrifices for their friends. Switch lost his memory to look out for Halo. Clutch took a bullet for Iris. I’ve taken a bullet to save Cat.
I gave up my future so Calista would live to see hers.
And it’s frustrating to find I’m not proud of who she went on to become.
Or how far away she is from the girl who used to sneak me the orange Starbursts from her mom’s candy stash because they were my favorite. Or how she used her first weekend paycheck from the hardware store to wait in line at midnight and surprise me with the last book in a series I loved.
Wonder where all those books ended up?
The day I became an Iron Outlaw, I became a man. Whatever that quote is, about leaving childish pursuits behind. Can’t remember the last time I picked up a book.
I glance through the results of my search and start to refine it. I search the bank and her name. I set a program to runthrough each state’s Department of Motor Vehicles but focus on California.
It takes about five minutes to really find her. An article inForbesmagazine gives me all the details I need. Her company is a huge success, which explains why she was outside a private Manhattan bank.
But everything about it seems too smooth.
Too polished.
I find it hard to believe she’s left every part of that young girl behind. The one who liked to push boundaries. The one who lacked any trace of fear.
