Chapter Two:
"Home is where you want to be, not where you were born." – Momma
Rhyker
I pulled over to the shoulder of the interstate under an overpass to check my phone. I had been riding the bike for almost ten hours already today and needed a break. Just as I swung off, my phone chimed. Jace, my younger brother, texting me again today wondering if I was actually on my way back home. Home, I hated hearing, reading, or thinking about that word. My "home" was the road, the club was my job, and my family was my father, my younger brother Jace, and the brothers of the motorcycle club. Other than that, I had no actual home to go to. It's why I chose to leave my hometown two years ago after the words of my mother hit me to my core. She might had been drunk at the time, and I was seeing too much rage, but before I knew it I was demanding for everyone at the church table to allow me to go Nomad. I've been on the road ever since. Working with the other chapters all over North America, and it's been...well I wouldn't say nice, but it's been definitely freeing.
I was just starting to text Jace back when I saw his ugly face appear on my phone calling in. I've got to get that stupid picture changed on my phone. Cracking grin at the picture my brother loaded into my phone as his contact.
"Yo Bro, just got your text. I'm just outside Louisiana, so I should be back at the clubhouse either late tonight or in the morning. I'll call when I get in." I said into the phone.
"Aight cool, I wasn't sure, I want to make sure I'm here when you get in. Everyone else is out on a short run tonight, and I didn't see you respond back." Jace said. I rolled my eyes.
"Dude, you literally just messaged me. I was on the bike. Just found a spot to pull over that had reception." I said back, stretching my legs.
"Yeah my bad, but I wanted to let you know that we're doing a party for Pops next Saturday, which means you need to stay in town for an extra week." Jace said, saying the last bit with hesitancy. He knew how I felt about being back in town, and to know that I would have to stay longer, well that's just great. It means an extra week of seeing my crazy mother around the club house, having to see my older brother, and be expected to play nice. "Listen, you can stay at the club, it'll be fine." Jace went on to stay, trying to make the situation sound better. It didn't.
"Yeah, maybe. Perhaps I'll just call up Luke to see if I can crash at their pool house." I said. The pool house was way better than the clubhouse. Less noisy, way cleaner, and didn't have a chance of running into the She-devil herself.
"Oh yeah you can try but, I guess you wouldn't have heard. Luke's place may be out of the question. His wife's kid sister is staying with them. Something about a serious car accident. They haven't let anyone over in a while since she came to town." Jace said. Well crap, I didn't know that Luke's wife had any family, or ones she would take in like that. Maybe I should just forget asking him, suck it up and stay at the clubhouse for now.
"Aight, I'll reach out to him once I get in, test the waters some and see where his head's at. Gotta get back on the rode if I want to make it back before church tomorrow afternoon. The Old Man made it clear I needed to be there for it and give an update." I said as swung back onto the bike.
"Ok, I'll let them know. Stay safe brother." Jace said as the phone call clicked off.
I looked back down at the phone for a second longer, having an urge to text Luke. Luke McDaniel was a good guy, his wife was the best when it came for good home meals too. It's the only things I missed when I thought about the past.
Luke's mom was married to my dad way back in the day after her husband was killed during Desert Storm. He had been another founding club member who was close to my old man, and made my dad, who was single at the time, promise to marry and protect Luke's mom, Luke, and Nikki who hadn't even been born yet. My dad stood by his promise for years, up until he decided he wanted to have a little too much fun during an out of state run and got my mother knocked up. Well, you can say it caused a bunch of chaos. Luke's mom divorced my dad and that was that. She didn't have any more communication with him until Luke started having behavioral problems in school then he was constantly hanging around. Next thing the club knew Luke was an official Prospect of the MC when he turned eighteen. Full member a year later. He was the brains of the club, level headed, the one who could think and plan out an entire situation. It's mostly the reason why my father wanted to make him the club's Sargent at Arms about four or five years back when our last brother decided to step down and move to take care of his sick mom. However, Luke surprised us all, even my dad, when he declined the offer stating that he didn't want that kind of "power role" over the club. It only made most of us respect him more.
"Yo Luke, heading back into town for a couple of weeks. Can I crash at the pool house?" I said into my phone as a voice text message. I didn't wait for a reply. I just revved up the bike, looked for an opening in the traffic, and headed on my way.
It was ten in the morning when I reached town limits. I had stayed the night in a crappy, bug invested I'm sure, motel just outside Georgia. I was lucky to not have any problems on the road yet. Crossing over several states meant many opportunities for rival club members to pick off Nomad bikers, even ones who belonged to the Demons Tribe. I thought about my last close call back in Southern California a few weeks back. I had been running a load of hardware down to one of our chapters just outside San Diego, when a pack of Silverbacks rode up on me. I did everything I could to evade them, but unfortunately for them, they ran back to their club when I shot down two of their members. I'd have to let Pops know to keep the San Diego chapter on alert. Hopefully, they wouldn't get too much heat, I mean they were in our territory anyway. Which made me make a mental note to bring it up at church later today, because why on earth would the Silverbacks be that far south?
Coming through town was a whole event of its own. Sure there were other motorcycle enthusiasts, but when you rode through town wearing our cut people noticed. The kids always wanted to see our bikes, and the locals, well, we had mixed feelings from them. For the most part people showed us respect, we did a lot for the communities that we had a clubhouse in. Our "blood money" helped build several of the hospitals, schools, emergency buildings, and helped keep most small businesses afloat when the times got hard. Sure we had pushed back from some, the FBI for one and some newer cops who saw us just as a dangerous biker gang, but most people just looked the other way. Seeing how hardly any of the shops had changed since I left two years ago kind of created a comfort type of feeling within me. Just as quickly as it came, it left, when thoughts of my mother came creeping back into my mind. I had left this comfortable town for a reason, a good one. My psycho mother.
I had just pulled up at the clubhouse when Jace ran out to greet me. He didn't even wait until I was off the bike before his arms were around my shoulders. Man he had grown and definitely filled out. He had to be at least six foot one, maybe two now. I smiled, giving a hug on the bike.
"Man look at ya, you're not a little squirt anymore are you?" I said teasing him as I pushed him back so I could get off the bike. When I stood up, I noticed he was actually slightly taller than me. Yeah he had to be at least six two now. "Jaxs getting you into the ring?" I said as I took noticed how muscular his arms had gotten. Jaxson Middleton was known for training up the guys at his boxing gym. If you were a new prospect or looked wimpy, you were at Jaxs' place the next day to start your training with him.
"Yeah, he's got me going six days a week man for the last two years." Jace said running a hand through his hair.
I wasn't surprised. Jaxs was ex-military who fought during the end of Vietnam and served through Desert Storm with our dad, and with Luke's dad. They were the founding members of the club and with their military minds and lifestyle made the club into the biggest motorcycle enterprise in the world. We had a chapter in every major country, and on all the continents including Antarctica. I know what you are thinking, really Antarctica? That chapter may not necessarily ride motorcycles, but down there, snowmobiles were the bikes of the South Pole.
I started walking towards the clubhouse, a few prospects coming closer to see who the new guy who pulled up was. They would learn soon enough I thought as I looked around at my surroundings. The clubhouse grounds hadn't changed much. A large metal warehouse used as our clubhouse attached to a concrete armory spread out over a few acres and was surrounded by tall metal high-voltage gates. Off to the side of clubhouse there was a large play area for all the kids that came around during family friendly events. Towards the back of the main parking lot was the main garage, where if you needed any type of mechanical work done, the guys there could handle it. Besides that, most of the space was just sprawling land. We could ride our bikes, shoot our guns, make as much noise as we wanted, and no one was even remotely close enough to second guess what was going on.
I had just pulled open the doors to the warehouse and my eyes adjusting to the slightly dimmer interior when I heard the voice that made my skin crawl, my eyebrows instantly furrowing, and my eyes narrowing to hard sharp daggers. My mother rounded the corner carrying a large bag of ice to the bar in the main hall.
"You boys back already? I wasn't expecting you back until...." Her voice stopping mid-sentence. Her face looked like it was in shock. Good, I thought smugly to myself. Just as quickly though, the face that I knew all too well formed. "Oh you, I heard you were coming back." She said with a little venom at first.
"Uh, hey Mom, let me get that for ya, yeah?" Jace said, looking back at me with an "I'm sorry I didn't know she was going to be here" look as he rushed over taking the bag from her and setting it into the cooler behind the bar.
"Thank you my son, you're always so thoughtful, truly the best son a mother could ask for." She said as she went over to kiss him on the cheek. Knowing exactly what she was doing. I was used to it. I had lived with it for years before I made my escape.
"Dad called me up, told me to be back for today's meeting, said it was important." I quickly explained while glancing from her to Jace.
"Well, I guess when the President of your club tells you to do something, you must do it. Though, I'm surprised you still came, you haven't showed obedience and loyalty before, so why start now? I mean you had your chance with Kyle and look how that went." She said glancing at me making the words hit where they were meant to, and then went over to the bar to set out some plates.
"Mom..." Jace sighed out, he knew this was leading into a fight, it always did.
"Nah Jace it's all good. Catching up is always good yeah? She's just reminding me exactly why I decided to leave this dump and everyone behind." I said back, regretting a little bit as my brother's face blanched a little. He knew why I left. This exact same moment and conversation has happened a thousand times before. Though I could still see the hurt it caused to know that it meant leaving him as well.
He and I had been close, we did everything and talked about anything together. However, for the sake of making sure someone, especially me, didn't wind up dead, I finally had to leave two years ago. I would gladly take my chances being constantly on the road alone than to stay another minute at the same clubhouse with everyone, where I would see my mother. Lord knows how many times I restrained myself, or others held me back. Knowing if I had actually gone through my actions with my blinding red rage then my mother would have been killed by my own hands, and my father as well as the rest of the club would have killed me with theirs. Still, there were times when I was on the road that I would think about my early life before my twin brother had died. I would remember all of us at the beach playing in the sand and water, laughing, and hearing my mother actually tell all of us...including me that she loved us. It would make me briefly long for the family that we could have been, to know what a true mother was. Then my mind would shift back to every day since my brother was killed and I knew, nothing could ever make us that family again.
"Yo Jace, they're back...uh everything good in here Jace?" One of the prospects that had just come inside said with a little hesitancy. He looked between my brother and mother, then back at me taking a step back when he registered all my patches and then my eyes as I glared at him. Yeah, run back outside little whelp I thought to myself as I smirked back at my brother.
"Yeah all good, just a little family reunion." Jace said as he rounded the bar and clasped me on the shoulder. "You good or..." He asked quietly.
"Nah, I'm good. Swear." I said as I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck to ease the tension.
"Yeah, we'll have to get one of our newer ladies to help you with those muscles later huh?" Jace said with a wolfish grin as we left the She-devil and went outside to greet the rest of the brothers. I could only laugh it off as we were greeted by the bright morning sun and the roar of at least twenty motorcycles as they found their spots to park.
"I believe I spy with my little beady eyes a Rhyker Manson!" I heard Tyler Manson, my older half-brother say as walked from his bike with open arms to give me a bear hug. He was as tall as my father had been back in his prime, then again, all the Manson men were tall specimens. I looked him over seeing a few silver pieces coming through his dark blonde beard. These past two years must had been a lot harder on him, I thought to myself, realizing I had another regret for leaving. Tyler was the oldest out of all my father's kids, his mother being our father's first wife when they were straight out of high school. Tyler was also the Vice President, the next in line to lead the club when our father decided to pass the gavel to him. Back before I went Nomad, Tyler had wanted me to train up with him to help lead the club. He wanted me there at his left, as his VP, when he took over. However, I never wanted to be in that kind of leadership position. I just wanted to do my normal member part in the club. That didn't mean I still didn't look out for him a little more than I did with the others. He had just as much enemies and push back as my father did, and in my mind it was my job to make sure my brother stayed alive to live up to my father's wishes and take over one day.
"Hey Tye, you becoming an old man yourself I see. Maybe you do have some beady eyes that need start getting checked." I jested back at him. He laughed and punched me right in the stomach. Yep, that's the kind of welcome party I was used to, I thought to myself smiling.
"Son, come here." I heard the bellow of my father say as he came up to the warehouse from his bike a little slower than I remembered. His face was hard, but then as I came closer he smiled giving me a hug. "Welcome back Son." He said proudly before letting go.
"Hey Pops, just got in myself. Church?" I said, seeing he could use a place to sit. The run couldn't have been that far, maybe just to a neighboring state I thought as I could tell the ride had hurt his hips more than normal.
"Yeah, Church in thirty. Let me see your mother first or she'll have my head." He said to me and Tyler as he patted both of us on the backs before heading in. Tyler and I looked at each other and shook our heads.
"Yo, Church in thirty minutes. Do whatever you need to do. Prospects, call up the missing members tell them if they are not already on their way, to get their butts here. If they miss the meeting they'll be paying a hefty fine and doing prospect chores." Tyler yelled out to the group. I smirked back at him when he said the last bit. Yeah he hadn't changed a bit.
"So, Pops?" I started to ask Tyler, but he quickly shut me down quietly.
"Yeah, we'll talk later when there's less ears, aight?" Tyler said as he turned to a few newer members from when I was last here and motioned them inside the warehouse.
"Right." I said understanding. Things must not be going well if Tyler didn't want others to hear yet. "Luke coming?" I asked him before he walked inside.
"I haven't heard. He hasn't been in at least two or three months because of family stuff. He's been catching up after the meetings though, and sending in his proxy votes through Jace." Tyler explained.
Man it must be serious if Luke had been away for that long. I took out my phone, wondering if he had texted me back. He had.
"Hey Rhy, welcome back. Beth said you can stay, but only you. She doesn't want anyone else coming over. I'll explain when you get here. Here's the address in case you've forgotten. Good to have you back brother." He said in a voice chat. Well at least that settles that.
Thirty minutes later, we were all gathered around a large table, some sitting and others standing. My father being the club's president sat at the head of the table. Tyler to his left since he was VP, and then I noticed the chair on the right side of my father, the chair for the Sargent at Arms, empty. My older brother Max Manson had been the Sargent for the last four years, ever since Luke chose to not take the role. My older brother never missed a meeting nor late unless he was out on a run.
"Pops, just texted him, he said he's about ten minutes out. Got stuck in town with traffic." My brother Jace said loudly for everyone to hear. My father nodded and slammed down the gavel to begin the meeting.
"Well go ahead and start then, I'll deal with him later." My father said in a gruff voice. "Before we go into our actual meeting, I'm sure you can see we have an extra head at the table today. Good to have you back home Rhyker, my son." My father said looking and nodding over my way. Jace just patted me on the shoulder smirking at me, and a few others that were around me who knew me made a few sarcastic comments making us chuckle.
"Rhyker's been part of the Nomad crew these last two years, and it's about time we had an update." My father said looking at me to give me the floor. Here we go. I thought to myself as I sat up a little straighter in my chair.
"I've been mostly running hardware and helping out with more sensitive tasks from our other chapters across the country and parts in Canada." I said, noticing a few members looking at each other when I explained about the sensitive tasks. Not everything was easy in this club, some of it did get bloody no matter how much we tried to avoid it. "Before coming here actually I was outside our San Diego chapter running a load to them when I had an unexpected run-up with some Silverbacks..." I started to explain looking at my father and then Tyler when the door opened and my brother Max stepped in. He nodded at my father, then Tyler, before striding to his seat. Just as he was about to sit, he finally noticed me and paused. His eyebrows furrowing slightly before he also he continued to sit down.
"What happened with the Silverbacks near San Diego?" Tyler asked wanting me to continue.
"They tailed me for at least twenty miles until they tried to box me in and pulled out guns on me." I continued, my father starting to move his hand through his beard as he listened and thought. "Luckily, I only had one roll of hardware strapped to me, Frankie in San Diego only wanted a half a dozen handhelds this time around which I got from Duke up in Vancouver. I did everything I could to evade them, however, it did come down to leaving two of them with bullets through their helmets. They took off after that. Didn't have any other trouble after that." I said giving my side of the story.
"I find it hard to believe that Silverbacks were that far south though, I mean they mostly handled their business in their own territory in Northern Cali. Did you provoke them when you travel through Redding? Are you sure they were Silverbacks?" Max questioned as he looked from my father to me. I rolled my eyes, he would question it.
"Nah, I was just passing through, didn't even see them on the road until I got outside of LA. If they weren't true Silverbacks then somehow they got their cuts, because it's hard to not recognize them. It's a silver jacket or vest with their patches and rockers. I went ahead gave a heads up to Frankie, but they may need a little more protection if Silverbacks are trying to take over the southern territory." I voiced my concern out for the table. A good bit of the brothers nodding or talking amongst themselves. Silverbacks were one of our major problems out west. They were used as a pipeline and mules for a lot of the harder drugs on the market from the Sinaloa Cartel in the North West part of our country. I would maybe see one or two of them during my travels, but never as a pack like that.
"Could there be a new chapter forming closer to the border?" Jace asked out loud.
"Doubt it, unless they are shelling out more money for protection. They may be runners for the cartel, but they are still a small time crew. They wouldn't have the numbers to increase their chapters yet, unless the entail we've been receiving is outdated." Tyler voiced back.
"Still, we should probably look into it more. I want to make sure Frankie and the brothers know we have their backs and will increase their protection should the issue become worse. Max, setup a meeting with Duke, I want to see if he's receiving any heat up near his chapter from them." My father said.
"I honestly don't think we should worry about it. I mean, who's to say Rhyker actually had a run in that serious with them?" Max said, causing a few of the guys to shift a little in their seats. I was used to Max challenging everything I said, but apparently some of the new guys wasn't.
"Even if it's just a bunch of locals, if Rhyker had to put two of them down, we need to investigate it." My Father said back.
"Look, I get it, but the prodigal son has been away on his own for two years. He made it pretty clear he didn't want to have anything to do with this chapter when he left, and now all of a sudden he's back making claims about some Silverback beef? What if he just made up the story? No one else was there after all." Max explained to our father and the rest of the club. My blood was beginning to boil, I didn't want to come back in the first place, seeing our mother earlier, and now my integrity being questioned like that...I slammed my fist on the hard table.
"You know good and well it was not..." I started back at him.
"Enough!" My father's voice rang out. The room got silent. "You two can settle the family drama later. Max just do what you are told and setup the meeting with Duke, no need to voice your opinion all the time. Rhyker is here because I told him to be here. We needed an update on the other chapters, and the dealings that have been going on the last two years. He's been doing a lot of surveillance for us while he makes his treks all over. Besides that he's a member of this club and this family, we do not question integrity. If we did, we might be wondering where exactly you were since you left earlier than the rest of the group this morning and was late to this meeting, but we don't wonder that because why? We trust each other. We can't survive if we can't trust our brother to have our backs." He said looking at Max in the eyes. My brother just clinched his jaw. His eyes piercing with slight madness and anger that he was known for as he is forced to look back at me.
"Apologies....Brother." He said with gritted teeth.
"Now, let's discuss yesterday's run." My father said looking over to Tyler so he can give the overall report. My father spared one glance my way before turning his attention to what his VP was saying.
"The mission was overall a success yesterday. We were able to extract several cases of Russian hardware from a large shipping container at the northern sea docks outside Winston-Salem, and thanks to the numbers we had, we had little push back, but because of feds coming at the tail end of the run we did have to leave two cases. We'll be able to distribute the ones we kept along the East Coast and some in Tennessee between our clients as well as the other chapters. In other words, it looks like Christmas is coming in July boys." He said with a smile. Fists and hands slammed against the table as the brothers exclaimed their excitement.
"I expect extra nice birthday gifts this year then...I know the amounts that are going into your pockets this week." My father said with a smile, as the rest of the boys made comments back.
"Speaking of which, we will be having a party for Pops next Saturday. Other chapters around have been invited, and they will be starting to get in late next week. However, you may see some starting to pop in earlier than that. Mom is working on setup the spare rooms in the levels above with the rest of our ladies." Jace stood up to say.
"Thank you Son." Our father said as he also stood up, causing the rest of us who were sitting to stand as well. "You know, this birthday coming up is well...I have mixed feelings about it, but knowing we get to celebrate as a family, well..." He said stopping himself before he got too emotional in front of dangerous bikers. However, we all knew how much birthdays and families meant to him. Our President, Victor Manson, had built this enterprise with his two best friends, his combat brothers who were his family out in the desert and back home. Yes, he was one of the most dangerous guys out there, but he made sure to let us see his appreciation and his humanity.
"Aight, you all go do and be somewhere else. Church is adjourned." My father said hitting the gavel down on the table as the rest of us said our closing word of "Amen".
As we exited the room, I heard my father tell Max to stay back with him and Tyler, as I also heard the gruff voice of the one and only Jaxson Middleton coming to my side with a smile as we went towards the bar.
"You haven't changed a bit, except looking a little scrawnier. Still got that attitude and baggage I see though." Jaxs said to me as we leaned against the bar counter as a prospect handed us two cold beers.
"Yeah, haven't had much time to find another gym and teacher that's as good as yours Jaxs." I said taking a long pull from the bottle.
"Well, I expect you bright and early in the morning with your younger brother Jace then." Jaxs said looking from me to over his shoulder at the open doors to where we just had church. "Besides..." He continued a little more quietly, "we've got some things to discuss and catch up on."
I looked back at where my father, Tyler, and Max stood discussing something they didn't want the rest of the club to hear. Taking another pull from my beer I smiled slightly agreeing with him.
I had stayed just a little bit longer after the meeting to catch up with some of the guys, and meet the new ones. My mom made her appearance hugging Max and welcoming him back. Seeing her be loving to him only to have her either look at me with disgust or as if I wasn't even there made itch to get out of the room which was becoming toxic with her poison. I finished the rest of what was my third beer by now and bid everyone a good night. I had to get out before things started to get heated...again.
When I rode, my mind cleared. I only focused on the road ahead, my surroundings, and feeling the wind against my face. Everything else seemed to be shuffled to the back of my mind and become less important. It was only a little after three in the afternoon, but traffic was already getting bad for the day around the shopping area. The more I had to sit idle waiting on the car in front to move, the more my mind started to think and the thoughts I had shuffled began to creep their way forward. I was just rethinking the whole situation with Max and my mother when my impatience it the breaking point. I revved up and sped down the middle white line separating the lanes needing to get through the traffic and get the wind back on my face. It was a stupid move, but one I've done countless times. I never had any issues until of course today.
I just about to ride past the crosswalk and turn from the side street back to the main road of town when a blonde chick who wasn't paying attention came walking right out in front of me. I had to slam on the breaks, causing my tires to smoke and skid to stop. People on the street were watching, but my eyes were glued to the girl that was standing right in front of me. I was shocked, she could have been killed if anyone else had been in my position. I had almost hit her, even with my good reflects.
"Hey watch it! I'm walking here!" The blonde said angrily at me. I couldn't say or do anything for a whole minute. I was stunned in my tracks. My eyes went from her long blonde hair, to her face that wore sunglasses, down to the simple jeans and tie-dyed tank she wore on her cute body. Cute? I questioned myself. Cute didn't seem right, she was hot.
"Hello? I know you can hear me. What you think because you ride a motorcycle you can just disregard the traffic laws around here?" She continued putting a fist on her hip as she waved her arm around.
"What?" I said as I was finally pulled from my daze.
"You heard what I said loud and clear." She said back, her cute brows furrowing behind her sunglasses.
"You walked out in front of me." I said, smirking to myself at how worked up she was and wanting her to keep talking to me in her very southern accented voice...even if she was angry.
"Um, I had the right away with the walk sign." She said pointing at it. I followed her manicured finger and noticed the little yellow traffic sign that was actually lit up showing WALK in white lettering. Well crap, she was right.
"Oh, okay." I agreed with her back. This made her look even more frustrated. Man this chick, she was cute and hot alright.
"What? Just 'Oh, Okay'? Not even going to apologize for almost killing someone?" She said flinging up her hands. Apologize? Was she serious?
"Yeah not going to happen. Just watch where you're walking next time." I said as I started to maneuver around her to head on my way. She reached out her hand and stopped my bike. Okay, what the heck was she doing? Now she's touching my bike.
"You've got some nerve. Almost killing a person when they had the right away and still not apologizing for being in the wrong." She said as she ran her hand through her hair. I watched every moment and swallowed.
"Yeah well, I'll be sure to watch out for psycho blondes trying to get themselves killed by not looking where they're going." I said as I moved the bike from her reach, leaving her behind. Well that was a fun little battle, she was definitely going to be a cute little memory to help me pass my time here, I thought to myself with a smile as I drove towards Luke's place.
When I arrived at Luke's about ten minutes later, he was already waiting for me on the porch with Beth. The first thing I noticed was Beth had cut her hair way shorter. It was now up to her shoulders. The second thing I noticed was the age lines and shadows under both of their eyes. Man what had happened while I was gone?
"Rhyker, good to see you. How was your trip?" Luke said giving me a brotherly hug as he led us into the house.
"Hey Rhy, welcome back. I made you your favorite dish. It's waiting for you in the pool house's fridge." Beth said, as she leaned up to hug me and kissed me on the cheek. I could tell she had lost a good bit of weight since I last saw her, even though she was still pretty, I could tell she had a lot more worry lines over her face.
"Thanks Beth, you know my weaknesses." I said back to her, then turning towards Luke replying, "Good, long, had a couple rough patches that I'll fill you in about later, but for the most part good."
"Rhy, I'm so glad you're back and staying with us. I need to go pick up my sister from town, but I'll be back. We'll have to catch up while you're here. Let us know if you need anything." Beth said as she grabbed keys from the kitchen counter before giving Luke a quick peck on the lips and headed out the door.
"Sounds good Beth, thank you." I told her, turning back to Luke with a question in my eyes.
"Here, let's get you settled outside, and then you and I can catch up some." He said as he led me to the pool house out back.
When I set my bag down near the sofa, I went straight to the fridge to get the food Beth had prepared. She had even stocked the whole kitchen and set everything up just like the past. Luke had gotten lucky to find a girl like her.
"So, do you want me to go first or do you?" Luke asked as I started eating.
"So, Beth has a sister?" I stated as a question.
"Yeah...." Luke said as he went into the details of what had occurred. I had just finished my plate when he stated, "So she's with us now. She hasn't met anyone from the club, except my sister Nikki, and that was briefly. Though I'm glad she's getting out of the house some now. She's been isolating herself from everyone, including Beth up until this past week actually."
"Man, I'm sorry bro. I can't begin to imagine what she and you all went through. To be that young and to lose both of your parents, your memories, and have time taken from your life..." I shook my head as I thought about it.
"Thanks, I'm sure you'll see her around, but just try to keep your distance. We don't want to overwhelm her yet." He said.
"No problem. So, I know you weren't at the meeting, so here's what was discussed." I said as we settled into the small living room and I began to fill him in.
"Glad you're okay, we definitely need to get some of the San Diego guys to do a bit more surveillance of the area, and your dad is right, we need to talk with Duke. He's got the best connections who would have information on that side of the country." Luke stated as he stood up and started heading towards the door.
"Hopefully, I can start helping out more at the club once Beth's sister is in a better spot with things. In the meantime, I'm sure you'd like to get some rest and relax in the pool after the ride and morning you've had. I'll head in to the main house and do some research, maybe one of my sources will have some insight on what's going on in California. We'll need to be prepared if things out there are escalating." He said nodding my way before leaving me. I looked around the space feeling a sense of comfort and relaxation wash over me.
Next thing I knew I was waking up on the small living room sofa to a bright blue green light glowing through the large windows of the pool house. I looked over at my phone to see a few text messages from Jace and noticed the time was just after eleven at night. Man I had been out. I went outside getting some fresh air, sending a quick text back to Jace letting him know I'd meet him over at Jaxs in the morning. I had just hit send when movement in the second story window caught my attention. Someone had been peeking out from the way the blinds were ajar and the shadow of the curtain swayed. Perhaps it was either Luke or Beth, though I knew their room was on the opposite side of the house, leaving me to believe it was Beth's sister. I stared up at the room a little longer, wondering if I would catch a glimpse of her. Her story echoing in my mind. I couldn't get past the pain she must have felt, still be feeling.
That night as I went back to sleep in an actual bed this time I didn't dream of my crazy family, instead, dreamt of a psycho blonde with a tie dyed tank and a temper that matched my own.