“I’m all for that,” Zoann called.
“You greedy, Puff.”
Bitsy flipped Val off, and Val snickered.
“Don’t call a woman greedy, Val,” Megan chastised. Although she tried to be playful, to Christopher, every move and word around Val sounded and looked forced.
Christopher still couldn’t figure out the lingering tension in Megan whenever she talked to Val that started when Bitsy was shot. He couldn’t get anything out of her. She swore it was all in Christopher’s imagination and even if something had happened, Christopher had taken care of it when he shot Val based on an assumption.
Except her body language screamed differently.
“Come on, buddy,” Megan said to CJ, lifting Rule and Rebel into each arm.
“I stay ‘Law, MegAnn,” CJ said, folding his arms and glaring like Christopher sometimes did.
“No, you’re coming with me,” Megan countered firmly. “Daddy has business.”
“I stay,” CJ insisted. “You go.”
Rule squirmed in Megan’s arms and Rebel started to whine. Anarchy was imminent.
“Take the twins. CJ can stay, baby.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “He’s tired, so think about that before you discipline him.”
Ignoring her, he nodded to the door. “Go, Megan.”
Although she wanted to argue, the twins left her no choice but to follow Christopher’s orders. When the door closed, CJ grinned at him, then yawned. He climbed on Christopher’s boot and reached for him.
“You ain’t playin’ with Harley tomorrow, boy,” he said. “You shoulda went with your Ma when she asked you. And you stop callin’ her by her goddamn name. You either fuckin’ listen or you suffer the consequences.”
Water filled CJ’s eyes, a moment before he laid his cheek against Christopher’s thigh and sobbed.
Hearing his boy’s tears made Christopher want to take his words back, but he didn’t know how to get his point across to CJ about talking to Megan as he did. Before he flipped to CJ’s side, Christopher guided his son off his boot. As CJ threw himself to the floor in a tantrum, Christopher headed to the bar, gritting his teeth to stay firm. He grabbed beers from the refrigerator, then went to the tables the girls had been sitting at. He put the cold beers down, snatching the bottles that hadn’t been moved before Megan and the others departed. Once he finished clearing the table except for beers, an ashtray, a grinder, rillos, and a baggie, he sat.
“Want Mommie,” CJ wailed, bracing his hands on the floor to cry better. “Mommie, ‘Law.”
Sliding Mort, Johnnie, and Val their beers as they sat and charging Val with the weed-rolling, Christopher returned to his sleepy son and lifted him into his arms.
“Stop, cryin’, boy,” he said gruffly.
Immediately, CJ attempted to halt his tears. They continued to fall silently while he drew in such big sniffs his chest shook.
“Listen up, son. Stop callin’ your ma by her name. As much as I wanna tell you you can play with Harley all day tomorrow, I don’t know what the fuck else to do to make you fuckin’ listen. Hear me? You just gonna have to be with me tomorrow.”
“Want Mommie,” CJ repeated pitifully.
“If I let you go to her, you gonna listen?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You gonna help with your brother and sister?”
He sniffled. “Yeah.”
“And you ain’t callin’ her MegAnn?”
“No.”
“You gotta respect her. Protect her. Not only your ma but your sister and cousins and aunts. All girls. Okay, boy?”
“Okay, ‘Law.”
The door opened and Megan peeped in, holding her hand out to their son. “Come on, my sweet potato.”
Christopher set CJ on the ground and he ran to her, grabbing her legs. “’Law say I not pway with Harway.”
Megan nodded and stroked his hair. “It’s okay,” she soothed. “Daddy wants you to listen. I do, too.”
Truth. But she wouldn’t gainsay him in front of CJ. It had been her idea that they always put up a united front with the kids. If they disagreed over the way one of them handled a situation—and he suspected she did now—they’d do it in private. Not knowing anything about being a father, Christopher agreed. So far, it worked well.
“Aunt Roxy has Rule and Rebel, so you get Mommie to yourself.”
He lifted his head, excited at that. “Okay, Mommie.”
Megan devoted one day a month to each of their kids, where they had her exclusive attention. On the fourth week, she took all the kids. More often than not, though, she had to take the twins together. They hated to be separated, although Rebel was quicker to leave Rule than the reverse.
“Once I get you ready for bed, we’ll call Bunny again.”
CJ nodded, staring at her with devotion.
Satisfied that she’d appeased their son, Megan came to Christopher, gifting him with another sweet kiss.
“Can you two keep your lips off each other?” Johnnie said, sounding disgusted. “This has to be the tenth fucking time you two have found a reason to kiss, and the third just in the last hour.”
Megan poked her tongue at Johnnie. “I’ll send Kendall in here so you can have a little attention if you’d like.”
“Funny, Megan,” Johnnie said.
“Not trying to be, Johnnie,” she returned with a sniff.
“It’s not a big deal that CJ calls Megan by her name,” Johnnie said once Megan and CJ left.
Val lifted a brow. “No shit?”
“It teaches children that no one’s better than they are.”
Mort snorted, leaned back, and folded his arms. “That’s fucking bullshit, Johnnie. It teaches kids how to fucking ignore authority. A parent not a child’s peer.”
“Not true,” Johnnie denied, guzzling his beer. “We have a life beyond parenthood. It’s important for Rory to remember we aren’t only Mom and Dad. Saying Johnnie and Kendall reminds him of this. It doesn’t diminish our roles or alienate us. Kids either respect their parents or they don’t. Tacking on ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ won’t make much of a fucking difference.”
Christopher lit up a smoke and dragged on it. “What the fuck you on, John Boy? Mom and Dad let a motherfucker know immediately what the fuck comin’. Hell or salvation. CJ hear Mommie, he think of sweetness. He hear Outlaw or Daddy and he know I ain’t fuckin’ around. My boy lookin’ me in the eye and say Christopher do make him equal in his eyes.”
“But calling you ‘Law doesn’t?” Johnnie countered.
“Yo, Val. When you call my ass fuckin’ Outlaw, tell me what you think?”
“Not fucking equality,” Val said with a snigger, nearly done with the joint. “I mean, we equal in some ways. But we know you a fucking law unto yourself and if we fuck up, we get fucked up.”
Mort adjusted in his seat and sipped his beer. “Little Man calling his father Outlaw, to me, adds another layer of respect. Different than saying Daddy, but not as disrespectful as Christopher.”
“Me and Kendall feel differently.”
The argument boring him, Christopher shrugged.
Val got to his feet. “Where the fuck Cash and Arrow at?”
“Probably fucking the new Bobs,” Mort said with a sigh.
Puffing on his cigarette and releasing the smoke, Christopher snickered. “Doin’ the final fuckin’ consultation. Makin’ sure them bitches live up to their fuckin’ title.”
After lighting the joint, Val inhaled, then handed it to Christopher. He set his cigarette in the ashtray, then hit the joint.
“You ever tempted to do the ‘final consultations,’ Christopher?” Johnnie asked once he’d taken his puff. “We’re still men. Still human.”
Johnnie and that fucking human shit. “How ‘bout I fuck you up and turn you into a fuckin’ ghost? Cuz, you know, this human bullshit work the fuck on my ass.” Mainly because it always involved Megan.
“Fuck off, motherfucker,” Johnnie growled. “You know exactly what I’
m saying. You have to miss being with other women sometimes.”
Mort settled his elbows on the table, hit the joint, then gave it back to Val. “Do you?”
“Yeah, John Boy,” Val began in a choked voice, talking on an inhale. “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have Kendall and other bitches, too.”
“I don’t want any other woman,” Johnnie insisted. “But Kendall—”
“But Kendall nothin’,” Christopher snapped. “You either cryin’ cuz she gone or cryin’ cuz she here. What the fuck you want? I don’t miss other bitches. If I ain’t ever met Megan, I woulda still been fuckin’ everything I see and I wouldna known what me and Megan got. Not knowin’ it, I wouldna missed it. Although Megan disagree. She think I woulda ended up with Kiera.”
Finishing his beer, Christopher went for more, considering Megan’s belief. He had cared for Kiera and Ellen, but he’d picked them to be his women at random. They’d been at the bar one night and he’d fucked them the night before. He’d enjoyed their company and he’d been lonely, so he’d made the offer, with the stipulation that they had to be with him together or not at all. Although Megan didn’t like either of them, she’d tolerated Kiera better and thought Christopher felt a little more for the dark-haired beauty than he had for Ellen.
Johnnie frowned upon Christopher’s return to the table. “Megan really said that about Kiera?”
“Why the fuck shouldn’t she? Ki was a good girl and she ain’t deserved how she went out. Neither Ellen. But, fuck, I took them two for me, so, yeah, I cared ‘bout them in a way. Don’t mean I agree with Megan that me and Kiera woulda ended up together.”
Curious, Johnnie turned to Mort. “Do you talk to Bailey about Char?”
“We don’t make it a daily fucking discussion, but, yeah. Once I told Bailey about Charlemagne, I stopped hiding shit from her. She wanted to know about her. My feelings. All of that. Women curious, brother.”
Next, Johnnie focused on Val. “You talk to Zoann about anybody?”
“Nope, cuz she the only bitch I ever loved.”
Christopher wasn’t sure what Johnnie was getting at, but he decided to open the closet so another fucking skeleton could drop out. “You ever go into detail with Kendall ‘bout Megan?”
“She’s much better, so I don’t want to poke the lion.”
“You ever want to?” Mort asked.
“Sometimes,” Johnnie admitted, then slid his gaze to Christopher. “Something will remind me of those days I spent with her. I can’t listen to ICP without thinking of Megan singing Santa’s a Fat Bitch to me.”
A scene Christopher had walked upon and ended up punching the fuck out of Johnnie over. “Don’t mean nothin’. I hear Voodoo Child and I think of Ki and Ellen. They had some good pussy and I fuckin’ swore they used their cunts to put on fuckin’ spell on my ass.” That wasn’t the only reason. “That’s also what the fuck was playin’ right before I met Megan.”
“Everything always goes back to Megan,” Johnnie said with slight resentment. “You can’t even reminiscence about another woman’s pussy without bringing her up.”
“And you still hate knowin’ I got her and you didn’t.”
“That insinuates disloyalty to Kendall and that’s a misplaced thought. I love my wife. She’s just been difficult the past week and I don’t know why.”
So, apparently, Kendall hadn’t told Johnnie about not taking her medicine. It fucking figured. “When the fuck that bitch not difficult?”
Johnnie scowled.
“Listen up, Johnnie. Ain’t nothin’ better than havin’ a woman who know you inside and fuckin’ out. Or knowin’ her the same way. I don’t know what the fuck goin’ through your fuckin’ head, but you love Kendall. I know that. That cunt love you, too, so don’t fuck up with her. Kendall work my last fuckin’ nerve. If I never got to look in her bitchy face again, I’d fuckin’ dance naked in the fuckin’ rain. Do that fuckin’ dance I saw Megan and Bailey doin’. The Nae-Nae, I think?”
Mort guffawed. “Fuck, Prez, I wanna see that shit.”
Johnnie wasn’t as amused. “That’s my wife, motherfucker,” he snarled, and Mort stopped his loud fucking laughing.
Christopher thought for a moment, trying to find fucking words that would snap Johnnie back. “Your woman might be a fuckin’ psycho bitch, but shit wouldna been the same without her fuckin’ ass ‘round this motherfucker. Each of them girls bring something fuckin’ special. Your bitch do, too.”
“That’s why you almost fucking strangled her.”
“I ain’t said I fuckin’ liked what the fuck she brought. But Kendall add her own flavor to the shit.” Flipping Mort and Val off at their shocked expressions at what sounded like a defense of Kendall, Christopher continued. “That shit for you to think, Johnnie. Not my ass.”
“I love Kendall so much, but she says she has to talk to me later. With the way she’s been acting, suppose she decides to leave me?”
Mort rolled his eyes. “Stop being a little bitch. Red not leaving your dumb ass.”
“Yeah,” Val agreed. “Zoann tells me shit like that about needing to talk. It makes me nervous, but I don’t ever think she’s leaving me. Last serious conversation was about some expensive-as-fuck school that she wants to send Ryan to.”
Megan had had that same fucking conversation with him. “That must be the same school Megan sending CJ to.”
“It is, Outlaw,” Val told him.
“The school Kendall and I have chosen for Rory has a waiting list. Kendall said not just anyone can get in. Charlotte Redding sits on the board, so Rory should have no problem getting in.”
Not with their attorney’s fucking snob of a wife pushing shit.
Christopher sighed. “Once a snob, always a snob, huh, Johnnie?”
He shrugged. “I’ve always been in favor of education.”
“Your ass just spoiling for a fight,” Mort said to Johnnie, tapping his fingers on the table.
“Ima ignore the dig, Mort, so don’t fuckin’ sweat it.”
“It wasn’t a dig, Christopher,” Johnnie barked. “Not unless you’re self-conscious about it. My words wouldn’t get to you if you didn’t give a fuck about not finishing school.”
“Nice,” Val said sarcastically.
“Fuck you, assfuck,” Christopher growled. “Think ‘bout what the fuck you sayin’, cuz the same go with you and your bitch. Ain’t no reason for you to fuckin’ worry over her wantin’ to talk to you unless there’s something there not quite fuckin’ right. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so fuckin’ sensitive. If there ain’t no smoke, there ain’t no fire. Judgin’ from your fuckin’ words, it’s smoky like a motherfucker, which mean a blaze roarin’ all ‘round your ass.”
That shut the shit down immediately.
After a few minutes of silence in which Mortician returned to his roots and played bartender, Johnnie changed the subject.
“We got any motherfuckers to kill? I need the edge taken off. I may need to start something just to have someone to fuck up.”
Mort sat back in his seat, happily drinking his last pint of his special vodka. “Fuck, that’s a new one.”
“What, Mort?” Christopher asked.
“An elitist sociopath.”
Johnnie glared at Mort but didn’t comment.
Val smacked Johnnie’s back. “I think he got you pegged.”
“Fuck off. I’m being fucking serious and you assholes are making fun of me.”
“We not making fun of you any more than you doing with us,” Mort pointed out, trying to deflect the fact that most of the digs had been at Christopher.
Tired of the conversation, Christopher glanced at the time and scowled. “I know them motherfuckers better come soon. I want in Megan’s pussy, sooner rather than later. I prefer her awake all the way when I fuck her.”
Johnnie threw Christopher a dirty look.
Mort took a casual sip of vodka. “Why Meggie girl such a fucking touchy subject with you?”
&nbs
p; “She isn’t. I’m just sick of hearing about Christopher fucking her every day. You don’t hear me talking about Kendall like that. Val doesn’t talk about Zoann. Mort—”
“Say how much he fuck Bailey all the fuckin’ time,” Christopher interrupted, “so shut the fuck up.”
“I do. You just don’t pay as much attention to that because it doesn’t involve Red or Meggie,” Mort agreed. “I think part of your problem is Red forced you to get over Meggie, instead of letting it come natural.”
“No. No one can force me to do shit. I got over Megan because I wanted to.”
“No, motherfucker, you got over Megan cuz I woulda fucked you up if you ain’t.” Worse than he was considering at the moment.
“Psycho stalker Wildman has entered the building,” Val chortled.
Christopher flipped Val off. “You got over Megan cuz she told your ass to in that fuckin’ cave you took her to when you wanted to know if Kendall would like it. The same fuckin’ evenin’ you told my girl to help you tell me we was half-brothers.”
Johnnie’s mouth fell open. “She told you about that?”
“Yeah, she told me everything. How she let you touch her mouth and give her a small fuckin’ kiss. Her words was I let Johnnie go and told him to let me go too.” Remembering her anguish, Christopher sighed. Because for all her perfection, she had one major fucking flaw and he was looking at the motherfucker. “I fuckin’ left her with you.” No one would ever know his regret. The chain of events afterward was his fault. “She got attached to your fuckin’ ass. If I ain’t come back when I did, I might’ve lost her. To you.”
Johnnie lifted a brow.
Playing off his resentment, Christopher downed some tequila, then shrugged. “On the other fuckin’ hand, you think she wasn’t likin’ the fact that both of us motherfuckers wanted her? She did. Most girls would.” The situation was so complicated, it was sometimes hard for Christopher to work out in his head. The way Megan loved, idolized, and worshipped Christopher didn’t change a certain fact. “I fuckin’ accepted Megan loved you a long fuckin’ time ago. Megan fuckin’ adore me the way I adore her. If she loved you a little at one time, I ain’t begrudgin’ her that.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Death Dwellers Motorcycle Club:: Fifteen Bad Boy Biker Books Page 233
