Page 41 of Axe
“Mom…” I manage to say in a weak voice.
The sound of bones cracking rings out into the tiny space. Bile rises up my throat but I don’t dare let it out.
Again and again, he hits her with the shovel.
He’s shaking and sweating. His face is bright red and the veins are popping out of his neck. He is truly a monster and I’m too scared to move.
Then he changes his tactic. His hands wrap around the end of the shovel as he raises it high, then he brings it straight down, driving the pointed end into her neck. It takes three more blows like that for her head to finally detach from her body.
There is so much blood everywhere and yet I can’t look away. My mother is dead. If I had any doubt about it before, I know for sure now.
I’m too shell-shocked I don’t even realize when my dad is right in front of me. The same shovel he used still in his hand. Then before I can brace myself, he swings it sideways, hitting me on my shoulder and knocking me to the ground.
I can’t take my eyes off of the mound of flesh that used to be my mom. He gets four more swings in and I can feel things cracking and breaking with each one.
Somehow I manage to snap myself out of my catatonic state. I roll away from his next blow, my arm screaming at me as I do, causing me to cry out in pain. Using my other arm, I get myself up.
Then I run. And run and run, not once looking back. Out of breath and strength to take another step, I collapse on the frozen ground, unable to move any longer.
“And that was where Cal found me the next morning,” I said, snapping back into the present as I brought my story to an end. “He took me in, Patch fixed me up. All in all, I had a broken arm, fractured ribs, and too many cuts and bruises to even try to count.”
My lungs tightened as I took in a deep breath. After the air rushed back out of my lungs I went on. The worst of it was over.
“After I recovered, Cal put me to work. Mostly cleaning up after the guys at the clubhouse. As I got older, he gave me more responsibility within the club. He treated me like his own son and he showed me that hard work pays off in the end. When I turned seventeen, he gave me a choice. I could join, or he would give me a good chunk of money and I could find my own way.”
I pushed off of the island, trying my best to shake out my tense muscles. With heavy hesitation, my eyes looked over at her.
She was there, taking it all in. But I was shocked to find that as I met her gaze there was no pity there. My breath caught and my chest felt like it was caving in. Her blue eyes looked into mine and I felt like she was seeing straight into my soul and only finding my strength inside. All she saw was the man that had made it out of a horrible situation, not the one that had been beaten so much that he was forever broken inside.
My feet moved, even though I willed them not to. Before I even realized it, I was standing in front of her, her ankles were uncrossed and her body was calling me to move in between her parted legs. All the things I wanted to do in that moment I held back. I focused on what was to come next, hoping that I had it in me to fight all the things going on in my mind.
“You have your reasons for why you stayed. I’m sure your club follows a code, too. Right?” she asked and I wondered what she was getting at. I gave her a nod of affirmation. “No women or children, right? Don’t hurt the innocent?”
I gave another nod, though the look on her face told me she already knew the answer.
“I told you my story. Now, are you gonna tell me the truth about yours?” I asked. I needed to know what she was hiding. I fucking needed to know what I was up against and I was getting tired of picking up little clues here and there.
