Surviving The Biker (Motorcyle Club Romance) (17 page)

I woke up around seven o’clock in the morning, feeling lost without Adriana in my arms. I waited until nine, called her, and we made plans to meet after she was done working at Dazzle.

“I don’t think I can wait that long to see you.”

“I know,” she said. “I missed you last night and this morning.”

“Me, too. My penis is even having withdrawals, it missed you so much.”

She laughed. “Withdrawals? Have you been playing with yourself?”

“Hell yeah. I’ve been looking at some pictures of you on my phone. I needed to do something to get rid of my woody.”

“Oh, my God.” She giggled. “Next time take a picture and send it to me.”

“Of my cock?”

“Yes.”

I grinned. My little sex kitten. “How about you spend the night and see it in person?”

“That sounds even better.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Pack an over-night bag.”

“Okay.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

After we hung up, I threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then stepped into the kitchen to make some coffee. As the coffee began to brew, I heard the doorbell. Not expecting anyone, and knowing that most of my friends called before showing up, I grabbed my gun and approached the door cautiously. When I saw who was waiting for me on the other side, I was in shock.

“Hello, Trevor,” said my mother in a gravelly voice. She was smoking a cigarette and I could tell that both of her hands were shaking.

“Hi,” I said, hiding the gun behind my shirt. I hadn’t seen Mavis in almost fifteen years, and they’d been rough on her. From what I remembered, she was only in her fifties, but the lines on her face made her look decades older. She was also so thin, almost to the point of looking anorexic.

“You look good,” she said, smiling. Some of her teeth were missing.

Meth
, I thought, not wanting to pity her but unable to help myself.

“Thanks,” I said.

She let out a ragged sigh. “We need to talk.”

“We do, huh?”
Why now?
I wanted to ask.

“Yes. It’s important.”

“Is it about my brother?”

Her eyes widened. “You know about him?”

“Slammer told me.”

“Oh. I forgot that he knows. Have you met him?”

“Briefly.”

“That’s more than what I’ve had. He refuses to see me,” she said sadly. “I don’t even know what he looks like.”

I stared at her hard. “Not being able to see the person you love hurts, doesn’t it?”

Mavis looked at me and her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so sorry, Trevor.”

I sighed. “Why are you here?”

“Can we talk inside?” she asked. “It’s cold out here.”

I wanted to tell her to get lost, but she was still my mother and there was a part of me that didn’t want her to leave. Not until she at least told me why she’d abandoned me.

I opened the door wider and stepped out of her way. “Come on in. Put your cigarette out first, though.”

She took another drag of the smoke and then put it out with the sole of her boot. Shoving the butt into the pocket of her black wool coat, she stepped inside and whistled. “You’ve done real well for yourself, Trevor. Real well.

“Thanks,” I replied stiffly.

She noticed my tone and turned to look at me. Her lips trembled. “I was always proud of you. You were a good boy. A smart boy.”

I didn’t say anything.

She looked away. “I know you’re angry, Trevor. I can even understand why.”

She could understand why? Fuck
. “Would you like some coffee?” I asked, walking up the steps.

“Sure. That would be nice.”

“Well, come on then,” I said, when she didn’t make any move to follow me.

“Let me take off my boots first.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

Still wearing her coat, which looked like it had seen better days, she followed me up the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Cream or sugar?” I asked, as she sat down.

“Neither,” replied Mavis. “Thank you.”

I set her cup of coffee down in front of her and she picked it up, her hands shaking so much, she could barely hold it.

“What’s going on with that?” I asked, nodding toward her trembling fingers. “You still using?”

“No. I haven’t used for a long time.”

“You drinking?”

“No, not anymore. Just non-alcoholic beer sometimes. But, this isn’t because of alcohol. I’ve got Parkinson’s Disease,” she said, shoving her hands into her lap. “I was diagnosed about a year ago.”

I had a hard time believing her. “Is that right?”

“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to and I didn’t come to ask you for sympathy.”

“But, you came for something.”

“Yes, I need –”

I interrupted her. “Money?”

“No, I need to tell you something,” she said firmly. “Something that I overheard.”

“What did you overhear?”

“The Devil’s Rangers… they’ve ordered a hit on you and your brother.”

“How did you find this out?” I asked, not surprised.

“I overheard two bikers talking about it, outside of Sal’s. They didn’t even know I was there, they were so drunk.”

I scratched my chin. “They mention how much?”

“I didn’t hear.”

“Thanks for letting me know about it,” I said, yawning.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, looking a little surprised at my lack of concern.

I took the gun out from behind my jeans and held it up. “Carry this around, I guess,” I said and then set it down next to me.

She frowned. “You should do more than that. They want you badly. You killed the president of their chapter and his second in command.”

“I didn’t kill him,” I answered, leaning against the counter with my coffee cup.

Mavis cocked her eyebrow. “It was Jordan, wasn’t it?”

“I wasn’t there. I have no clue who killed them,” I lied. “As far as I’m concerned, they deserved what they got for the shit they’ve pulled.”

She regarded me shrewdly. “Yes, you do know who killed them. I can see it in your eyes.” Mavis smiled. “You never were particularly good at lying, Trevor.”

I raised the cup to my lips and took a drink. “I guess I didn’t get that trait from you.”

Her lips pursed. “I did not lie to you. Yes, I left, but I never lied.”

She may not have lied but she’d kept secrets. As far as I was concerned, it was the same thing. I laughed coldly at her logic. “Is that your big comeback? You abandoned me but you never lied about it? And that’s supposed to be okay?”

She raised her hand. “No, you’re right. It wasn’t supposed to be ‘okay’, but I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. All I wanted was to escape your father’s fists. Don’t you remember our fights? He beat the hell out of me, Trevor. I was afraid that one day, he’d actually kill me. Can’t you see why I had to get away?”

“
You
had to get away. What about me? I was still just a kid. I’m just lucky that Slammer took me in when he did.”

She stared at me for a few seconds and then sighed. “I considered taking you with me, but then I knew that if I did, your father would have tracked me down. That’s why I asked Slammer to watch over you.”

“Bullshit, you just wanted to take the easy way out,” I said, angrily.

“That’s not it. I was frightened of taking you away from him. Your father didn’t give a rat’s ass about me. He told me that almost every day. But you? He loved you.”

As far as I was concerned, he only loved himself and didn’t give a shit about the boy he’d smacked around.

“Look, I didn’t come here to argue,” she said, looking weary. “I just wanted to let you know that they’re after you.” She stood up. “I’ll get out of your hair now. Thanks for the coffee.”

“Wait,” I said, sighing. “Where are you staying?”

“I just moved in with a woman that I went to high school with. Berta Finnegan,” she said, sitting back down.

“In Jensen?”

She nodded. “She lives in the trailer park over by St. Peters.”

Near Misty’s trailer, which was now abandoned. After the shit went down with Mud, she’d packed all of her bags and left town. Of course, Slammer had spooked the fuck out her with some outlandish threats. She’d believed him enough to get the hell out of Jensen, though. We hadn’t heard from her since. “She work?”

Mavis smiled and nodded. “Yes. She’s a Substance Abuse Counselor. She’s been helping me with my drinking problem.”

I raised my eyebrows. “How long have you been sober?”

“Four weeks now.” Her smile fell. “I fucked up badly one night at Sal’s, and knew it was time to get help. Fortunately, I’d been talking to Berta on Facebook and I reached out to her.”

“What happened at Sal’s?” I asked.

“I got really drunk and opened my mouth,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I told someone about Jordan.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I was angry,” she said, tears filling her eyes again. “Because he refused to see me. I got really drunk and talked about him to some of the regulars there.”

“What did you say?”

“I said that he was my son. I also said some other stuff,” she said, looking guilty. “That he wouldn’t like.”

“You gave up his identity,” I said. “About him being the Judge?”

She nodded. “I know I fucked up but I was drunk and angry. When I realized what I did, the next day, I knew I had to do something about my drinking.”

I sighed. “At least there’s that.”

She was silent for a few seconds. “I’m sure everyone knows who he is now. He’s probably going to be pissed when he finds out who ‘outed’ him.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” I said, seeing how scared she looked. “It’s just Sal’s.”

“They have big mouths there. The entire town probably knows about it.”

“I haven’t heard anything, so obviously they don’t.”

“He’s going to kill me, isn’t he?”

“No, he’s not going to kill you.”

“He’s already angry with me for leaving him with Acid. I had no choice there. You thought your father was bad?” She reached down and pulled up the leg of her jeans, exposing her calf. Just like Jordan’s hand, her skin was scarred so badly, that I knew right away what it was.

“He used acid on you, too?”

She nodded and rolled her jeans back down. “He was evil, in every sense of the word. He used to handcuff me to the bed and torture me. I have more scars, but they’re in places a son shouldn’t see on his mother.”

“Why didn’t you call the cops?”

“I was so frightened of that man that I didn’t think the cops could stop him. Hell, he used to play poker with a couple of them on Friday nights.”

I pictured a young and frightened Mavis, feeling overwhelmed with fear. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to escape such horror. I just wondered how she could have abandoned two of her children without fighting harder for them. Especially when she had friends like Slammer.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, staring at me. “But, I was very young and naïve and he was larger than life. In the end, he kicked me out and wouldn’t allow me to see Jordan.”

“And you never tried to see him?”

She shook her head. “No and I’m sure that’s why he hates me so much.”

“I don’t think he hates you.”

Mavis’s eyes widened. “Why? Did he tell you that?”

“No, but he grew up with Acid and knew what kind of a monster he was. From what I see, he just has trust issues” I shrugged and looked away. “But, don’t we all?”

“It’s my fault. I know. I wish there was something I could do about it, now that my head is finally getting clear. But, I dug my own grave and believe it or not, I feel worthy of it.”