by Bijou Hunter
“Are you okay?” Poppy asks him. “Do you need a hug? Emmett gives great ones.”
“Naw, I’m good.”
“Are you sure, bud?” I ask, moving toward him with outstretched arms. “Come in for a long soft embrace, will ya?”
“Great. Now there are two of you,” Jared says, ducking my arms and heading to his bedroom.
Poppy laughs at my ability to make Jared squirm. The grandparents eyeball me, whispering insults no doubt.
On the front porch, Felix and Otto argue over who gets the bigger water pistol. Matilda soon yells for them just to give it to her. Poppy runs outside to insert herself into the argument and likely take it to the next level.
Surrounded by their casual wildness, I feel part of a family for the first time since I was a kid. With my father and siblings always in and out of prison and halfway houses, it was Ma and me for most of my teenage years. By the time I was an adult, I figured I was past needing family since I had my club.
Now I have both.
51 Train Wrecks - Poppy
Justice doesn’t glow yet from her pregnancy. Besides her bloating, she doesn’t look any different to me. Despite her lack of hormonal-induced beauty, I pretend she’s never been more gorgeous. Mostly because she frigging cries on a dime lately.
“Do you think Court’s head will look weird on a baby?” she asks when I stop for lunch at the Rite-Rock Mart.
“His head looks fine on Felix.”
“I know, but what if my head doesn’t look right on a baby?”
“Then I’m sure the kid will have a great personality to fall back on.”
Justice smiles and digs into her chicken salad. We decide to eat outside at a table since the summer heat took a day off. Even with a breeze, my sister’s face reddens quickly.
“How does it feel to be pregnant?”
“I don’t feel much different most of the time. Except sometimes I’ll want to kill everyone around me or cry over how Matilda is growing up and won’t need me in a decade. I haven’t been nauseous or peeing all the time. I’m lucky, I guess.”
“I think it’d be nice to have nine months off from getting my period,” I say, rubbing my bloated stomach. “I want to have all my kids young and then close up the shop. Be like Mom where I’m still young enough to have fun with my adult kids.”
“Sounds like a plan, but how are you planning to get Emmett’s giant offspring out of your vagina?”
“C-section. No way will his kids come out naturally. He claims he was a thirteen-pound baby. I don’t know if he’s lying because he likes to exaggerate. I find his lies sexy.”
“You remember that when he teaches your kids to lie.”
“As compared to me teaching them to always tell the truth and never to cheat or do bad things at all.”
“That’s true. You’re pretty horrible.”
“I learned from the best,” I say, giving her a wink.
Justice shares my smile, but she’s always focused on work when at work. She notices who goes into the Mart and who lingers around the entrance.
“Do you know that guy?” she asks me while I eat a sandwich.
Glancing over my shoulder, I have to really focus on the man to realize he is Emmett’s crap uncle.
“Ignore him.”
“He’s eyeballing you.”
“He’s Emmett’s jerk uncle.”
“He’s coming over here.”
“Ignore him.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“Not if you keep staring at him, Justice.”
“I don’t like turning my back on weirdoes. That’s how Zeb got the jump on me. The bastard snipped off some of my hair for a voodoo doll.”
“He made one of me too. Mine has a better ass.”
Justice stops eyeballing Pat long enough to give me an evil glare.
“Then it wasn’t an accurate doll.”
Smiling, I want to ignore the jerk behind us, but I can feel him staring daggers at my back. I turn around and look up at a face that doesn’t resemble Emmett’s in the least.
“Can I help you?”
“You’re Emmett’s little friend.”
“Yes, and you’re his little uncle. That doesn’t make us friends.”
Pat crosses his arms, but he isn’t very threatening. Not after I’ve spent the last few years in the company of much larger, muscled men.
“You and the boy are together, I hear.”
“You heard that, did you? Well if you have any questions, ask the boy. Unless you’re worried he’ll do to you what you did to his house.”
“I didn’t do that. Did he tell you I did? Well, I didn’t, so why are you lying now?”
“Talk to Emmett and leave me alone.”
I turn around and look at a freaked-out Justice. She doesn’t touch her salad, and I don’t blame her. Like most healthy food, it looks gross.
“Who is this?” Pat asks, moving toward Justice.
Instinctively, I stand and block his view. “She’s my sister, and you’re no one to us. Now leave me alone, or I’ll call Emmett to handle you.”
“You gonna call him to handle me, huh? I’m blood to that boy. You’re just the latest piece of tail.”
“Are you sure you’re blood to him? You don’t look anything like Emmett. He’s tall with a lot of hair.”
“If you and Emmett are so tight, how come you haven’t invited me over for dinner with the family?”
“We’re a private family,” Justice lies from behind me. “We rarely have people over.”
“Well if you aren’t a lying cunt.”
“Whoa now!” I holler. “You can’t talk to her like that.”
“Look, Emmett’s teenage whore, I tried being friendly, but you fucking rednecks don’t understand manners.”
For the first time in my eighteen years on this planet, I witness Justice at a loss for words. Pissed now, I must act before he breaks her permanently.
My foot fires out at Pat’s crotch before I realize I’m moving. Once it makes impact, I awake from my rage fog and throw a punch.
Justice scurries backward, and I assume she’ll run inside to hide. Except she only reaches for her purse while I bitch-slap Pat.
Pat staggers from my kick to the balls and is thrown off guard by my first punch. I wish the fight were over with those two strikes, but I think I only pissed him off.
“Slut!” he hollers, grabbing for me.
Though I try to remember the training Journey and Court gave me, I’m too scared and pissed and PMSing. Precision out the window, I give a rebel yell and just swing wildly at Pat. He grabs me by the hair and slaps me. The pain mixes with my raging hormones, leaving me seeing red.
“Poppy!” Justice cries.
Pat and I are a tangle of slapping hands and kicking legs. I know I’m not stronger than him since I’ve never trained nearly as hard as I claimed to Journey. Lacking talent or strength, I use my knee to repeatedly bash the man’s balls.
Finally, he succumbs to my assault on his testicles and falls to the ground. Justice picks this moment to unleash her pepper spray. I back away before she nails me too.
Over Pat’s screaming I hear motorcycles approaching. I run to the road to wave them down. My heart wants Emmett to be one of the guys who pull into the Mart’s lot. Instead, Joe and Ned and a few other old dudes act as cavalry.
“What’s this?” Joe asks, walking over to Pat rolling on the ground cussing about crazy bitches.
“Emmett’s uncle.”
“The one who trashed his place?”
“Yes.”
“Did he attack you?” Ned asks.
“No.”
“Threaten you?” Joe asks when I say nothing else.
“No, but he was really rude. He called me a slut or whore. I can’t remember exactly, but he was rude, and I’m too hormonal today to deal with that shit.”
“PMS is a bitch, ain’t it?” Ned says, thinking I’m in the mood to joke about vagina issues
with someone Peepaw’s age.
“I don’t know what to do with him now,” I admit, scratching my head. “Like should I drag him behind the store and bury him?”
“Not behind the store,” Justice says. “Bad mojo. Drag him somewhere else. That empty lot down the road would be good.”
“I can’t drag his ass that far,” I mutter and then look at the bikers. “Would any of you big strong men like to drag him to the empty lot and dig a grave and finish him off and then bury him? I’d be ever so grateful.”
Joe and Ned glance at each other before the latter takes out his phone.
“We’ll let Emmett handle his family issue.”
Leaning over, I whisper to Justice, “They’re so lazy.”
“I heard that,” Joe grumbles.
“Big whoop,” I say, grabbing my leftover sandwich. “I’d have super hearing too if I was sporting one of them fancy hearing aids.”
The men grumble about my rude mouth, but they’re all hot air. The bastards love me. I keep them young in a town too boring to give them a challenge anymore.
52 Train Wrecks - Emmett
Joe doesn’t tell me what the emergency is at the Rite-Rock Mart, but I don’t need to know. Justice’s workplace is a safe zone in Tumbling Rock. Mess with it, and you mess with the club. Court never had patience for assholes messing with his woman before she was pregnant. Now he’s downright homicidal with their first kid on the way.
Pulling up to the Mart, I notice a whole lot of brothers standing around the parking lot. I don’t see any ambulances or cops, so I figure the problem can’t be that big.
Before I relax about the situation, I spot Pat on the ground in front of the Mart. His wrists are bound, and his face is red, but he still looks pissed. I hear the asshole complaining before I turn off the engine.
“Your whore is crazy!” he hollers.
Frowning, I glance at Joe. “He’s been saying charming shit like that since he stopped moaning about his balls.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“Your uncle came here and started shit with Poppy and Justice. Things got out of hand, and the girls knocked him around. He’ll be fine. I suspect his ego is bruised worse than his balls.”
“Where’s Poppy?”
“Inside with Justice. They’re eating chips and judging everyone’s hairstyles,” Joe says, sighing. “They approve of my bald look, by the way.”
“It could be worse. You should hear what they say about your tattoos.”
Joe’s ridiculous facial reaction is almost enough to improve my bad mood. Except I still want to destroy Pat and need to see Poppy.
I enter the Mart to find her balled up in a corner chair. Hurrying toward her, I want to sweep my woman into my arms where she’ll be safe. When I reach for her, Poppy frowns.
“Are you okay?” I ask, thinking she’s angry with me.
“My cramps laugh at Midol.”
“What?”
“I’m PMSing, Emmett, and your stupid uncle didn’t help by making me fight him. Now I’ve broken something loose inside, and I think I might die.”
Unsure about her mood, I decide anger is my only option. “Fuck this!” I yell, punching my sides rather than Pat’s face or the wall. “What the fuck was he thinking? This was what I was trying to avoid when I blew you off that day.”
Poppy stares at me through her blonde hair. “When you get all flustered like this, you ignore me. I’m not a fan of that reaction, Emmett.”
My hands unclench so I can cup her face. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“He tried after I attacked him, but he mostly just messed up my hair.”
Realizing she’s fine, I caress her cheeks. “You poor thing,” I whisper, sounding hornier than I feel. “I’ll have to make this up to you.”
“A massage would be nice.”
“You said I rub too hard.”
“You do.”
“Well, the only way I know how to massage a person is hard and rough.”
“Fine, then I’ll let you go down on me instead.”
“Is there somewhere we can go now?” I ask, glancing around for a restroom.
“Will you please focus?”
“Sorry. I just haven’t seen you in a few hours.”
“Yes, but it’s not like you can go down on me today anyway. I’m PMSing so much that I’d likely kick the shit out of you. We can’t have that.”
I glance at the doorway separating us from a still pissed Pat. “I feel like I should kill him, but he’s family. When I was growing up, my father always said we need to stick with family.”
“Your family doesn’t stick with you. They’re all in prison for stupid shit.”
“So was I.”
“You were protecting a former girlfriend I hope gets crabs. She still needed help, and you helped her. That’s not stupid. Your sister stalking the girlfriend of a guy who doesn’t like her is stupid. Your father killing a man over a hundred bucks is stupid.”
“It was over fifty.”
“So stupid,” she says, caressing my jaw. “I think that stupid stuff is from your dad’s side and the smarter stuff is from your mom’s. You take after your mom. I don’t know how to explain Pat, though.”
“Do you want me to kill him?”
Poppy studies my face and smiles. “Yeah, but I think that’s mostly the cramps talking. He’s your mom’s brother, and she’d be sad if you killed him. I don’t want to make your mom cry, so we should probably let him live.”
“So he gets to keep breathing because you want to make a good impression on your mother-in-law?”
“Emmett Mercer, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times. I don’t care what strangers think of me. Hell, I barely care what people I love think of me. So, no, I’m not kissing up to your mom. I’m just thinking about how much you love her and how you wouldn’t want her to be sad. That means I don’t want her to be sad either.”
“You’re a good wife.”
“I know,” Poppy says, hugging me until her cramps kick up again. “Now stop touching me.”
“Can I think dirty thoughts about you?” I whisper.
“Yes, but don’t look at me too much. My period is in full revolt after I tried to calm it with Midol.”
“What should I do? Help you or beat on Pat?”
“Go do that shake-him-by-the-neck thing while I wait for Justice to get done here. We’ll head home where I can rest on the floor and whine in peace.”
“I know you’re feeling sensitive, but I need you to help me calm down. Like give me a kiss with lots of tongue. Or I need to feel you up. Unless you want to stick your hand down my pants.”
“I could go for a kiss, hugs, and a little feeling up. My hands are staying away from your pants. We both know once they go south, they have trouble leaving that territory.”
Covering her mouth with mine, I devour my woman. Her heart belongs to me, and I don’t feel like I’ve kept her safe. Poppy’s biggest worry might be her period’s wrath, but I’m more interested in crushing Pat.
Except she’s right about my mom being sad about her brother ending up dead. Unable to kill him and unsure what to do to make him go the fuck away, I do the only thing a mama’s boy can do when the answers aren’t clear.
I called in the big gun to make my problem go away.
The Rawkfist guys agree to let Pat go. My uncle shows his appreciation by calling me a cuckold and Poppy a cunt. I chase him for an entire block before letting the old fucker catch his breath.
The club guys think Pat is hilarious especially since he got his ass handed to him by two chicks. While they laugh and Poppy heads home to deal with her PMS, I dial my ma.
“Are you busy?” I ask when she answers the phone on the second ring.
“A few friends are coming over for dinner soon. Is everything all right?”
“I’m considering whether I should kill Uncle Pat. What are your thoughts on the matter?”
“Did he bust up your h
ouse again, Emmie?”
“No. He tried busting up my woman.”
“Is she all right?” Mom asks, her tone instantly shifting into the tough as nails woman who does the financials for criminals.
“Oh, yeah, Poppy and her sister handled him fine, but I still want to tear Pat apart. I don’t care if he mostly just messed up her hair. I can’t let anyone fuck with my woman. You know that.”
“I know, but be careful not to let her be your weakness.”
Taking a deep breath, I try to shake off my anger. Instead, the rage only deepens.
“Having Pat here pulling crap like this makes me look weak as shit in front of my club. If I can’t handle a middle-aged asshole threatening my woman, how will I handle a badass threatening my club? The guys don’t say it, but that’s what they’re thinking.”
“Are you calling me to ask permission to kill your uncle?”
“Maybe not so much kill him. I probably could feel better if I took one of his hands. Him losing an eye might help too.”
“You might as well kill him if you do one of those things,” Ma says in a way that doesn’t tell me if she’s angry at him or me. “You know Pat doesn’t have much going for him.”
“Poppy said I shouldn’t kill him because it would make you sad. I don’t want to make you unhappy, Ma, but this fucker has got to go.”
“He resents you because he figures you got away from the club and your responsibilities. Says it’s not fair how you walked away and he can’t. Pat knows you and he aren’t the same, but he’s a bitter bastard. Always had a chip on his shoulder.”
Hearing the doorbell ring in the background, I know Ma’s friends are arriving. They’ll want to hear the latest gossip. I figure I’ll throw Ma a bone by giving her some dish.
“Poppy and I got married,” I say, and Ma’s breath catches. “Not legally, but that’s a formality. She’s my woman, and we’re moving in together at her place until we find a place that’ll work for the army of babies we’re planning on making.”
Ma doesn’t say anything for a long time. I hear her friends entering the house and chatting about the rude neighbor up the street. A dog barks and one of the women tells it to hush. Through it all, Ma remains silent.
