Forgiveness

by Elise St. George

  Typical of my family, since momma is now happy, Ace is going through some bullshit. It’s starting to seem like the three of us can never be happy at the same time. At first, momma had issues with Hammer and I had issues with Steve. Now, Ace is having issues with Sarah and I’m not sorry to say that I’m glad he can finally see through her shit. Momma and I never spilled the beans about Sarah’s baby with Hammer, but apparently Sarah did spill the beans about the baby not being Ace’s. Loki was at the clubhouse when it happened and told Livy and I in full detail.

  I already knew about the baby not being Ace’s so I had to pretend to be surprised about that news, and I was totally right about her being a junkie. I’m just glad that Ace is realizing how she is so he can move on and settle down with someone who actually cares about him and wants to be with him instead of someone who just wants to be the old lady of the future president of the club.

  The school year is coming to a close and we did another club prom. I was expecting it and wasn’t even excited about the school prom this year. Livy and I went, but it was lame and we ended up hanging out with the guys at their garage for the rest of the night. There’s less than a month left before graduation and I’m surprisingly sad about it. I’ve had a great senior year, especially considering how dramatic my junior year was. On top of that, my grades are looking great this year.

  Livy and I are out shopping for dresses to wear for graduation, and she wants to go inside this high-end boutique. It’s not really my style, but I may find something in here. As soon as I walk in, I can tell that this place is not my cup of tea. It’s a bunch of pastels and long sleeve dresses, and the only sleeve I have going on right now is the tattoo one that I started on my eighteenth birthday. Hopefully, it’ll be a full sleeve by the time I graduate from college.

  Livy picks out some dresses for herself, as well as some dresses for me too. I really don’t see how anything in this store would fit my style, but I’m trying on these clothes for Livy. She’s a lot more girly than I am, and I’m just going along with it. We both try on a dress and come out of the dressing room to show each other how they look, and I hear a woman behind us gasp.

  “You both look so beautiful,” she exclaims. I turn around and it’s literally the most clean-cut, Stepford wife looking lady I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m honestly surprised that she’s even speaking to us. The club pissed off a lot of powerful people when they decided to settle here so most locals tend to avoid anybody associated with the club.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t mean to butt in, but I couldn’t help myself.”

  I’m speechless. This is not the type of woman who would speak to girls like us. Usually, women like this turn their noses up and insinuate that we’ll ‘ruin’ their sons.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” says Livy.

  “I like your tattoos, young lady,” she says to me. I’m floored. Hell, my own mother doesn’t even like my tattoos. Not because I have them, but because I got them so young.

  “Thank you,” I say. “I’m sorry, what did you say your name was, ma’am?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Carolyn Hanks, you may know my son Steve. He graduated last year,” she says.

  “You’re Steve’s mom?” I ask. From what I gathered from Loki, Steve’s mom is a stuck up bitch who goes along with whatever his father says. I’m looking at this woman thoroughly now, and she seems more like a biker chick dressed up in nice clothes, but maybe that’s just the vibe I’m getting. She definitely doesn’t seem like the woman Loki described.

  “It’s very nice to meet you,” I say.

  “It’s nice to meet you too, sweetheart,” she says. “I’m actually really glad I got a chance to meet you before you graduate. You graduate this year, right?”

  I nod. “We do.”

  “What are your plans after graduation?” she asks curiously.

  “Oh, well I’m going to Georgia Tech in Atlanta and Livy is going to school at Emory. We’re living together next year,” I explain.

  She gets a really weird look in her eyes, and then starts beaming.

  “How great. Well if I don’t see you two young ladies before graduation, congratulations. I know your futures will be bright,” she says. She walks up to the register, pays for her clothes, and leaves.

  “Well she seems nice,” says Livy. “Not at all how I was expecting her to be considering how Loki described her.”

  “Yea,” I said. “Did you notice her face when I told her we were moving to Atlanta?”

  “Weird,” she says in agreement. “Anyways, you should totally wear this dress at graduation.”

  I look at the dress she picked out for me, and I don’t hate it. I’m not a huge fan of dresses, but this is a special occasion and I want to look nice. I agree to get that dress while Livy finds a red dress that looks great on her. We go to pay for our clothes and the salesgirl tells us that Steve’s mom already paid for them. Apparently, she has an account at this store and told them to put our dresses on her account. Livy and I are shocked, and we’re about to walk out of the store when the cashier calls out to us.

  “She said you guys could buy some shoes too if you want,” she says. “If I were you, I’d take her up on that offer.”

  Wow. What a day this has been. Livy and I head home and tell momma and Loki what happened, and they’re both shocked. We show them our dresses and shoes and have a little fashion show for them. They applaud and Loki has stars in his eyes when he looks at Livy in her dress. After showing our dresses off, we go upstairs and change into our pajamas and have a movie marathon with momma and Loki. Hawk, Tank, and Ace come over from the clubhouse with food and we all sit in momma’s living room watching movies. I look around the room and realize how everybody I love the most is in such a good place in their lives, and although I’ll miss them, I’m glad that everyone has found peace in some form or fashion.

  Chapter 22 - Steve, 19 years old

  A few months have passed since Loki was here and said he’s moving to Atlanta with Harley, and we talk to each other all the time now. I haven’t talked to Loki this much since we were in high school, and I forgot how much I missed having his friendship. We haven’t really talked about Harley, but I have a suspicion that Doug told him not to push me on it. Surprisingly, they’ve become super close and text each other all the time. Doug loves Loki’s sense of humor...he’s even been getting prank ideas from him.

  Doug and I are patrolling the local area, and we’re sitting in comfortable silence, allowing me to think about the Harley situation even more. I want to call Loki and ask what I should do, but he’s about as successful as I am with women at this point in our lives.

  “You thinking hard over there, kid,” Doug casually says. “The only time you get so solemn is when you’re thinking about your girl.”

  “She’s not my girl,” I argue.

  “You wish she was though. Have you figured out what you’re going to do when she’s finally here? How you’re going to approach her?” he asks.

  “I don’t know, Doug. I would call Loki, but he’s having about as much luck with Livy as I’m having with Harley,” I say. Loki hasn’t told me much, but I can tell his frustration when it comes to Livy. It’s a little funny because now he understands what I had to go through with Harley during high school.

  “Let me give you some advice, kid,” says Doug. “Don’t wait too long to make your move. That happened to me once upon a time. I missed out on the opportunity to be with my best friend and the love of my life, but I chose my career as a police officer over her and she married a dickhead.”

  “Let me guess,” I say cautiously. “You’re talking about my mom aren’t you? I don’t want to be rude, but what happened between you two? It really seems like you belong together.”

  He sighs, rubs his face, and looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  “Your mom and I grew up in the Burnt Kings mother chapter, and we got together when we were young. At first, I thought
I was going to prospect for the Burnt Kings but a police officer saved my life and began mentoring me, and I ended up joining the police force and working for him. I still work for him to this day,” he begins.

  Wait, what? The chief saved his life?

  “Your grandfather was pretty pissed when I decided to join the police force instead of the club. Back then, the club was doing a lot of illegal shit, and I wanted no parts of it. I was pretty much told never to come back and your mom never thought it was right. Your mother began to visit me all the time at the precinct where she met a young, ambitious police officer. He had a lot of charisma so he was able to hide who he really was, and I was too afraid to ever tell her how I felt. By the time she realized that she made a mistake, she was married and pregnant with you. I wasn’t going to ask her to leave her marriage for me,” he finishes.

  “You should’ve,” I snort. “I’m sure mom and I would’ve been happier with you in our lives anyway.”

  “We don’t know that,” Doug says. “I do know that when your mother looked me up and contacted me, she asked if I would look out for you. Son, I see so much of the kind-hearted person that your mother is in you so it’s not difficult to like you.”

  “Yea, I heard you don’t get along with many,” I chuckle.

  “That sounds like some bullshit the chief would say,” he grumbles. I burst out laughing and he smirks knowing damn well that’s who said it.

  “The best advice I can give you is to not squander the opportunities that you have been given in life. If you feel like you missed out on an opportunity with this girl, and have a chance at it again...take it. I still regret that I didn’t do that with your mom,” he finishes.

  He gave me a lot to think about. We finish the rest of our shift keeping the conversation light, but he did give me an idea. After our shift, Doug and I head back to his house and have dinner. After that, I head down to my basement apartment. Once I’ve showered and gotten comfortable, I call my mom. The phone rings a few times before she picks up.

  “Hey baby boy,” she says. “What’s up?”

  “Is dad around?” I ask.

  “Nope,” she says. “He officially put in his name for sheriff yesterday and we had a big party. I played the nice wife role so he let me have some ‘spa days’,” she says sarcastically.

  “Ok,” I say. “I called you because I need some advice about Harley. I spoke to Doug and he gave me some good advice, and I just wanted to see what you had to say.”

  “Baby,” she says in a soft voice. “If you really think this girl is the one and you have another opportunity to grab it, you should. Looking back on my life, there were foolish choices that I made. I knew who my soul mate was at a young age like you, but I was so enamored by your father’s charm that I ignored it and rebelled. If you have an opportunity to be with Harley, then take it.”

  The speech she gave me sounded remarkably similar to the one I got from Doug, and it’s obvious that they’re talking about each other.

  “You know, Doug said something very similar to me earlier. I guess I should take your advice,” I say nonchalantly.

  “Doug said that too?” she asked with interest in her voice.

  “Yea, mom,” I chuckle. “I love you. Good night.”

  “Good night, baby boy,” she says before hanging up the phone. I remember when I used to hate when she called me that and now I love it. She’s becoming more and more like her old self every day and I have Doug to thank for that. After I hang up with mom, I call Loki and he picks up after a few rings.

  “Hey man,” he says. “I’m all in on this plan to get me and Harley together once she moves here, but I’m going to need your help. You know you’re the king of schemes.”

  “Hell yea, man,” he says. “Let’s talk tomorrow about it.”

  “Cool,” I say. I hang up the phone and have the most restful sleep that I’ve had in months.

  Chapter 23 - Harley, 18 years old

  It’s finally here...graduation! Livy and I are in the outfits Steve’s mom bought for us, and we’re both really excited. The entire club came out for graduation...even Hammer showed up for graduation, and he didn’t even go to Ace’s graduation. As soon as Harley and I marched to get our diplomas, you could hear the club roaring for us.

  We take a bunch of pictures with each other, our families, and the club. Thank goodness we did most of them before we left the house because it would’ve taken forever if we didn’t. As we’re heading to the parking lot with our parents, I hear someone shouting my name behind me. I turn around and it’s Steve’s mother. Loki freezes...not sure what she’s going to say to me. She rushes up to both of us and gives us huge hugs.

  “Congratulations ladies,” she exclaims. “I know your futures are going to be bright. Here is something for both of you, and here’s a present for Adam since I didn’t get him one last year.”

  She hands Livy, Loki, and I graduation gifts and we’re all speechless. This lady’s husband is running for sheriff right now and she’s buddying up to us. It’s so strange. What’s even crazier is that Tank is looking at her weirdly.

  “Do I know you?” he asks.

  Suddenly, she plasters on a fake smile. “No, I don’t think so. I rarely leave my house unless it’s for events with my husband, and I’m pretty positive you haven’t seen me at one of those stuck up things. Well, it was nice seeing you all again. Hopefully, I’ll see you over the summer. Take care.”

  “Take care, Mrs. Hanks,” Loki says as we all wave as she walks off.

  “Anyone else getting the feeling she lied when Tank asked if he’d met her before? How strange is that?” momma asks.

  “Hell yeah. I can’t help but recognize her, though. Fuck it...I’ll figure it out sooner or later,” says Tank. Momma slaps him for cussing and we all laugh. We make our way to the cars and head to the clubhouse for the party.

  * * *

  The summer before college is very relaxed. We hang out at the pool, pack our stuff, and visit Atlanta a couple of weekends every month so we can get used to the city. Apparently, Tank started our lease over the summer for that reason. His overprotectiveness is getting a little out of hand these days, but I think he’s worried about Livy being out of his sight. I also don’t think he feels like he’s gotten enough time with her. It’s actually really sweet.

  Nobody knows except Livy, but I lost my virginity earlier this summer. It was disappointing and awkward, to say the least, and I have no intention of repeating that anytime soon. The worst part is that I lost it to a hang around who was using me to get in the club. Needless to say, I will never be telling anyone else about that experience.

  Tank’s old VP stepped down and Ace took his spot. Everybody knows that means Tank is only sticking around long enough to train Ace and then he’ll step down. Ace took to leadership like a fish in the water. He immediately started restructuring the chapter and showing Tank more legitimate ways to make money.

  Hammer tried to reach out to me, and I met with him, but all he did was bash momma for finally leaving his sorry ass. I lost it, and Hammer was shocked. I don’t think he realized how much I heard from their fights, or how much momma cried because of him. For the first time, Hammer looked remorseful. After we met, he fell hard into the bottle and I haven’t seen him since.

  Livy still lives with me and momma, but Tank is over here pretty much every day. Hell, I’ve seen Tank more than I’ve ever seen Livy’s mom. Ace and the guys have been helping us pack up our stuff, and we have to limit the number of people coming to help us move. Believe me, everybody wanted to come with us and make sure we were good.

  Another thing Livy and I have been doing is going to the gun range lately. The guys don’t really trust us in the city on our own, so we’re trying to reassure them by getting our gun licenses. Loki may be moving to Atlanta with us, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be with us all the time. Besides, it’s not like he can escort us both on two different college campuses. Gunner came back on leave again and taught u
s some more advanced self-defense moves. I’m starting to feel like I’m going to war instead of going to college.

  * * *

  It’s finally time to move to Atlanta. Classes start next week and we’re moving into our apartment early, and it’s exciting. Half of the guys in the club came with us, and it was definitely a spectacle. I thought we were going to get evicted before we even started living in the apartment. All the guys move our furniture and boxes in the apartment, and I start to get emotional. Usually, Livy is the emotional one, so she hugs me.

  “Why are you crying?” she asks.

  “I’m going to miss this. I’m going to miss being around all the guys in the club. What am I going to do without them?” I say.

  Ace comes up behind both of us and tucks us under each arm. Then, he gives each of us a kiss on the forehead. Hell, who needs Hammer when I have Ace? I’m really going to miss being around him all the time...as VP of our local chapter, he can’t move up here and stay near us like Loki can.

  “Don’t pretend like we aren’t going to be calling and texting you every day, baby girl. Also, the mother chapter is here and Tank made sure they’ll be checking up on y’all. From my understanding, the national president made sure Tank knew that you two were taken care of. Don’t worry...you’ll find some new bikers to follow behind,” he says with a wink.

  “Follow behind?” I ask. “Seems like you two were the ones getting me and Livy out of trouble this past summer if I recall.”

  “Don’t remind me,” he says sarcastically. Everyone laughs. Livy and I were a bit of a handful this summer. Ever since Ace became the club VP, we’ve had double security on us at all times...which means we’ve been shaking security as much as we can. A few of the prospects are pretty glad we’ve finally left for school.