~~
San Mateo, 2001
I should be nervous, but instead I feel excitement. It’s the weekend before my girl leaves for school, and we’re making shit official. Vegas is just a four hour drive away and it will be a Dunn & Spencer ceremony. Having her ride with me is the only way I’ll be able to handle the distance, knowing she’s mine in every way. I never want to hold her back from her dreams. I get that a full ride is a big deal, and she could never be content staying in this small town working some menial job, or staying at home shooting the shit all day until we decide to bring kids into the equation. She needs more. This works for both of us. I finish loading up my saddlebag, sling it over my shoulder, and make my way out of the club.
“Going somewhere?” my father asks, stopping me by the door.
“Yeah, off to ride for the weekend. I cleared it with Stone.”
“But not me?” my father says.
I frown. “Didn’t think I had to, things are quiet. The tasks you gave me are done.”
“You think I don’t know about your dalliance with that Negro tart.”
The words make me ball my fists. “Watch what you say about her,” I growl.
“Or what, boy? You going to take on your sponsor? Kiss that top rocker you’ve been working on good-bye then.”
“Your beliefs are your own, old man. They have nothing to do with me.”
“They got everything to do with you You know what that would look like? My kid is sticking his prick in some black bitch’s pussy.”
“You don’t talk about her like that,” I snarl.
“I’ll say whatever I please, and if you ever want to be a part of the Kings, you’ll do exactly what I say.”
“This is bullshit.”
“You need everyone to vote yes to be patched in.”
His threat makes my blood run cold. He has the power to ruin what I’ve spent the past two years of my life working toward.
“I see I got your attention. You’re going to ditch your phone, forget you knew that little nigger, and let her see what it feels like to have her heart broken.” He produces a burner from his pocket and waves it from side to side.
My jaw clenches. He has no idea what he’s ruining for me. “And if I don’t?”
“Then you’ll never be a part of KOC, and I can’t help but think your little friend will meet with an accident sooner or later. It’d be a terrible shame to see that happen, wouldn’t it? Choose now. We’re leaving for a run, and I want you on it.”
The run will take months. I’m forced to weigh the club or Dixie Rose, knowing damn well if I’m not KOC…she’s already lost to me. Her father would never sit back and allow her to be with a prospect who couldn’t earn his patch. It’s bad enough Mouth is my father. I can’t take his threat to her safety lightly. He’s obsessed enough to arrange something outside of the club. Race mixing is a greater sin than betraying a brother in his eyes. My stomach aches. I can’t keep her safe. I have no real power. “Can I at least end things?”
“No. She doesn’t deserve an explanation. She should’ve known better than to think she could live up to the standards of us Spencers. Bitch never knew her place. Now, I’ll see she learns it.” There’s a promise of violence in his eyes.
I know then, I can’t have her until I can sufficiently protect her. That means my patch. “Whatever you say, old man.” I pull out my phone and hand it to him. “I’ll get myself ready to ride.”
We exchange phones, and he grins. “Good boy. We all want a little strange now and then. But you don’t commit to it.”
I grunt and hurry to my room, so he doesn’t see me tear up.
~~
Present
“Why didn’t you tell me this?” she whispers.
“When? It took me another year to get my patch thanks to that evil bastard, and by then you’d moved on and found happiness. I saw it with my own eyes. I didn’t want to destroy that. Not after hearing about how I fucked you up so badly.” I shake my head. “No, it was better to just let it be until the time was right.”
“Why now?” she asks, crossing her arms under her chest.