Page 5 of Outlawed Treat
Walking into the house Caliana shares with Darren, I listen to the sounds filling the home she’s made with Darren and Bryce.The TV is playing louder than normal and I know Darren’s spaced out on the couch as he usually is when we’re home on leave.Bryce is playing somewhere nearby.I listen as he makes the noises of crashing as a smile fills my face because I know he’s playing with the cars and motorcycles we’ve all bought him since the day he was born.He’s always racing them around and crashing them like he sees in the races on the TV.Darren watches all sorts of things and on the weekends it’s racing.I could never get into it, but he loves watching it and has been to a few races in person with his father.
“Unca Caleb!”Bryce calls out as I look up to find him standing from his spot on the floor by the kitchen with Cali standing behind him.
The light from the kitchen window is shining just right in the late afternoon.It highlights Caliana in a way that makes her look like an angel with a golden glow surrounding her.The blonde of her hair shines brighter than normal while the blue of her eyes is almost navy today.That tells me she’s upset about something and I have a feeling it has to do with Darren.He’s changed and is trying to act as if everything is the same.Kreed and I are the only ones who see through him and understand we need to tread carefully when we talk to Cali.She won’t ever say anything to put Darren down or make us upset with him.She’ll hide the pain she’s feeling to avoid a fight between the three of us.It’s what she’s always done.Cali’s skin glows a radiant tan instead of her normal paleness and my eyes can’t help but travel slowly down her body to take in every uncovered inch of her skin.She’s a damn goddess!
“Hey, Little Man.You bein’ a good boy for Mom and Dad today?”I ask him as he jumps up in my arms like normal.
“Uh huh.Playing with my bikes, Unca,” he informs me as if I couldn’t tell that’s what he’s been doing.He’s so damn cute I can’t help but laugh as he wiggles to get down.
“Hey, Cali.You need help with anythin’?”I ask her as Bryce leads me to his spot on the floor to play with him.
“Well, could you possibly run to the store for me?I need potatoes and asparagus.I forgot to get some earlier when I was there.Pregnancy brain, I swear it gets me worse every single day,” she says, forced laughter filling her voice as she quickly glances toward Darren on the couch who’s still ignoring us.
“Yeah.I’ll head there now.Anythin’ else you two need?”I ask as Bryce jumps up once again and turns to his mom.
“I go with Unca?”he asks her, hope filling his voice as he looks up at Cali.I know he’ll get his way because she can’t ever deny him anything he wants.Bryce has his mama wrapped around his little finger and he typically gets what he wants from her.
Don’t get me wrong, Cali isn’t a pushover.But something so simple like heading to the store with me is small and she won’t deny him.Darren shakes his head on the couch and I know he’s biting his tongue because I’m here right now.If it were just the three of them, I’m sure he’d have something to say about Cali giving into him.
“You can go.Did you ride your bike, Caleb?”Cali asks me, her soft voice filling me with longing because I wish I could hear her say my name a million times a day.I’d never get tired of it.
“I did.I’ll have to take your SUV to the store,” I answer her as she turns and grabs the keys from the counter behind her.
Cali hands the keys over and I take Bryce out to the SUV where Cali last parked it in front of the garage.She’s not allowed to park inside because Darren has his bikes and truck inside.He’s never allowed her to park inside to avoid the elements when she’s trying to carry Bryce or anything else inside.He’s selfish in that way and I can’t stand it.I’d never let Cali park outside.I’d build a bigger garage or buy one of those car ports to park my own vehicle under.
After getting Bryce in his car seat, I climb in the driver’s seat.Yes, I adjusted it before trying to climb in.I learned a long time ago to never get in the driver’s seat after Cali without adjusting it back first.I’ve busted my knees more times than I can count.Cali’s over a foot shorter than I am and she always sits so damn close to the steering wheel.It’s the only way she can reach the pedals to drive.Kreed and I used to laugh our asses off at her because she can hardly see over the dash and looks so funny behind the wheel.
“Unca Caleb, why does Daddy drink that yucky stuff all day long?”Bryce asks me, his little face full of hurt and innocence when I look at him in the rearview mirror.
For several minutes, I’m stunned into silence because I truly have no clue how to answer this question.Bryce is so innocent so for him to notice his dad drinking in excess is something I wasn’t expecting.Kreed and I have been trying to keep an eye on the situation to make sure he doesn’t turn into his or Cali’s dads, but apparently we’ve been slacking and I need to figure out the proper way to handle this.We won’t do anything to get Cali or Bryce hurt because Darren’s being a giant twatwaffle.
“How are things goin’ with your daddy home?”I ask Bryce after I recover from the shock of his question.“Has he played with you this time?”
“No.All he does is sit on the couch and drink that yucky stuff.I don’t know what I did so wrong, Unca.Why doesn’t Daddy want to play with me?”Bryce returns, his little voice filled with pain that breaks my heart and makes me want to beat the shit out of Darren.
“You didn’t do anythin’ wrong, Little Man.You’re the best boy a dad could ever dream of havin’.Daddy is just lost in his head right now.He can’t get past the things we’ve had to do when we’re gone.Does he drink a lot when he’s home?”I ask, needing to know how bad things have gotten with one of my best friends.
“Yeah.He doesn’t go outside unless you and Unca Kreed are over.Is that beer he’s drinking?He makes me get them for him sometimes,” Bryce informs me and I see red.Darren having his son grab him beer is going way past a line he should never fucking cross.
“I’m sorry, Bryce.I’ll make sure to talk to him about it soon.He won’t make you get them anymore.I promise you that,” I say, meaning every word to him when I look at him through the rearview mirror.
Bryce’s little face is scrunched up and I know he’s trying his hardest not to cry right now.The thought of Darren making his own son feel this way breaks my heart because he was so damn excited when Cali was pregnant.Becoming a dad was all he could talk about.When Bryce was first born, Darren was right there with her for every part of parenthood.He changed diapers, fed him so Cali wasn’t nursing constantly, and doing everything he could with his son.He'd walk around the house for hours with Bryce cradled against his chest when none of us could comfort him.He even sang to Bryce and Darren doesn’t have a good voice at all.He’s the worst singer I’ve ever heard in my life.That’s how he was when we were actually home on leave.
“Reckless!Where the fuck are you?”Kreed questions me, pulling me out of my thoughts as I turn to look at my best friend.
Kreed is staring at me with worry filling his eyes and I know he called me more than once during the middle of our meeting.Everyone is looking at me the same way as I glance around the table.Everything is getting worse and this moment makes me realize how much I’ve checked out lately.I’m supposed to be the main one paying attention during these meetings and instead I’ve been thinking of the things I couldn’t control and had no business inserting myself in between Cali and Darren.Though, I will always do everything to protect her.Even if it was from him when he was alive.
“I’m sorry.I’m here.Got kind of lost for a minute.Repeat what was just said please,” I say, sitting up straighter in my chair and forcing myself to focus on the conversation around me.
Count once again goes over the numbers from each business and lets us know which ones need any kind of improvement.M.B.informs us each of our businesses are doing excellent and really picking up since we started showing ourselves in town a lot more.Every time there’s a town meeting, a handful of us attend.Manic, our Enforcer, tends to go more than the rest of us for some reason.None of us have figured out why yet.We don’t really know that much about Manic.He didn’t serve in the military with us.Yes, he did serve, but he wasn’t on our team.We’re still getting to know him, but it’s hard when we’re all so guarded and don’t let others in easily.
“Reckless, what do you wanna do about the drug situation?From what I’ve learned, it’s becomin’ a real problem at the warehouses.The workers are gettin’ so high they’re causin’ huge mistakes in orders and there have been more injuries in the last month than ever before.These warehouses have been around as long as Glendale has been established and things are quickly goin’ downhill with the introduction of this new drug,” Manic asks me as he leans back in his chair and looks around the table.
“Where the fuck are you hearin’ this information?”I question my Enforcer because every bit of information he always brings to the club is spot on and none of us know his informant.
“I’ve heard about it when I’ve been out around town.Everyone’s talkin’ about it.It’s affectin’ so many families and no one can seem to figure out who the hell is behind this shit.All they know is people come in throughout the night and make their sales.They’re on the bottom of the totem pole so to speak and don’t know much information from what I can gather.I have yet to find one of the dealers and talk to them.That’s my goal for this week.I’ll be hittin’ the streets every night until we have all the relevant information,” Manic tells me as he looks around the table at everyone because we’re all pissed about this developing situation.
“Keep me updated on everythin’ you learn.I don’t want to be kept in the dark since this concerns the entire town.We’ll have to talk to our contact at the police station to find out what they know and what’s bein’ done about the situation.Link, you take care of that since you have a better relationship with him than the rest of us.If you need me to go with you, let me know and I’ll be there.What else is goin’ on we need to be aware of?”I ask, looking around the table at everyone to find out what else I’ve apparently missed out on lately as I lose myself on a daily basis.This is why I need to stop drinking and pull myself together.The club and these men need me to be the President they elected me as and not a worthless piece of shit who can’t get his head on straight.
