Page 1 of Bone's Destiny

1

Bone

You’re a dick. A selfish pussy of a man.How could I be hateful to her when I loved her? But then, how could she and my dad keep secrets from me if they loved me? Were we all a bunch of fucked up liars?

Regardless of our issues, I needed to see her in case shit went south and she died. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t see her one last time.

When I got the call that Lady M had gone to the emergency room with chest pains, a place nobody in an MC would ever willingly go to unless they were dying, my stomach had jumped into my throat. Too many unspoken words were hanging between us. More on my part than hers.

I needed to try to make amends. It’d been almost three months since I saw Lady M. I’d been ignoring her calls and texts. Made up excuses when Cobra and my old man requested my help. The club didn’t need me to deal with the Faceless Frat. They were handling things just fine without me.

Dad had only wanted me home so I’d be forced to talk to Lady M. She apparently missed me and was brokenhearted.

Could I have been the reason she had a mild heart attack?

Fuck. Had I almost killed my mother?

Guilt and frustration flooded my veins. I dropped my head and exhaled a labored breath while seated in my plane. I’d only been on the ground for ten or fifteen minutes, trying to get control of myself before Spectre picked me up. The last thing I needed was for my little brother to see me as a nervous wreck.

Usually, flying comforted me and kept my mind off personal issues. Not today, though. I felt all knotted up and fearful she would die and take the truth about my past with her. My dad sure as fuck hadn’t told me what happened after I was born. Doubted he ever would, even if Lady M died.

She can’t die.I swallowed thickly. Despite our volatile relationship over the past couple of decades, I did love her. I also hated her for keeping me in the dark. Still, I didn’t want to lose the only mother I’d ever had.

“Dammit! Why did I go digging in her closet that day?” I remembered it like it was yesterday…

“It has to be here somewhere,” I whispered and frantically searched for my birthday present in Momma’s closet. She had dozens of shoe boxes and shopping bags. Most had junk in them instead of shoes.

Until today, I had never snooped. Momma would light my ass on fire if she caught me in her bedroom. All of us kids had known better than to go into our parents’ room. The others wouldn’t dream of entering uninvited. I wasn’t afraid like my brothers.

I tested the limits.

Pushed back when pushed.

I was nosy too.

Momma had told me that curiosity killed the cat, and one day, it might get me in a whole lotta trouble. Her warning had only made me want to show her nothing, and no one could stop me—I was invincible.

I got the biggest thrill pissing people off and causing problems. Chaos and mayhem were what I hungered for. I wasn’t sure why I had the desire to know everything and be the top dog, even though Abe was older than me. There wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I was a Knight, for Christ-sake. My family was full of badass bikers.

Abe and I would be the most feared outlaw bikers in North Dakota. We’d have the best club in the country. We would protect our territory and family; if needed, we’d take a bullet for the other. Abe and I were tight like that. My older brother was the coolest.

I found a brown box marked with an X in the back corner of the closet. It had to be the gaming system I wanted for my birthday. The size was perfect. Before I opened it, I listened carefully to the sounds in the house and Momma’s footsteps. She was downstairs nursing Piper, my new baby sister. She was the only girl and the last baby in the family, or so Momma said. She’d prayed for years to have a girl and finally got one. Now Momma was all done having babies—six were enough for her.

The house was quiet for once. The other boys were at school, but I’d faked being sick to stay home and confirm my folks’ had bought the gaming system. I never wanted anything more than the Xbox. I had to have it.

I lifted the lid off the box and my excitement deflated.

Crap!

I lifted a picture of a woman I’d never seen before. Her blonde hair was super poofy, like three times the size of her head. The black makeup around her eyes made her blue eyes really bright. She reminded me of a wild groupie at a heavy metal concert.

The woman seemed familiar, but I was sure I’d never met her. I got a weird twinge in my stomach and put the picture aside. I needed to stay on track and find my Xbox.

A cassette tape caught my eye. My mom had a bunch in a cabinet downstairs. Sometimes she played one from her teen years. She only listened to them when she thought she was alone, but she wasn’t always. One afternoon, I’d found her singing to Linda Ronstadt, her favorite singer. “Blue Bayou” made her cry. Actually, most of Linda’s songs made my momma cry.

I poked around some more in the box, my curiosity getting the better of me. Just a bunch of letters, birthday cards, and more pictures. The lady was in several photos with another woman. In one, they were standing on a beach, wearing bikinis. They looked really young, like middle schoolers or maybe freshmen in high school. I flipped the photograph over. On the back, it read: Ellie and Maggie (Summer ’82, New Orleans).

Maggie? Where had I heard that name before?

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