“Mom, Chaos is at war with a man called Benito Valenzuela.He’s the head of a syndicate that sells drugs, runs guns, peddles flesh, andmakes porno movies.”
I watched my mom’s mouth turn down.
“And Chaos are vigilantes,” I kept going.“Even before thiswar with this Benito guy cropped up, they patrolled their turf and if theyfound something happening they didn’t like, this being illegal activities, theydidn’t…and still don’t…call the police.”I paused, studied her closely andasked, “Are you understanding me?”
“I…uh, is this a bad thing?”she asked back.
Seriously?
I leaned toward her and hissed, “Mom!Snapper andhis brothers are at war and they act like Chaos turf is Tombstone, they’re theEarp brothers, and they have every right to police it when it’snotTombstone.It’s Denver.Well, parts are Englewood,” I meandered off target andthen got back to it.“And Denver,andEnglewood, have their ownpolice.”
“So they’re an outlaw biker club who are outlaws by beingcitizens that make people obey the law,” she said.
That sounded almost…
Noble.
Damn.
“Well…yeah,” I replied.
“And this is bad because…?”she asked.
“Because it’s dangerous,” I snapped.
“And did you know this happened when you dated that Shyperson?”she inquired.
“Not really, that’s when I found out,” I told her.
“And you didn’t end things with him when he turned out to bea vigilante?”she pushed.
I shut up.
She still knew my answer since I didn’t end things with Shy.He’d ended them with me.
Thus she kept talking.
“And, although you didn’t share the fullness of yourmaneuvers with Chaos against Bounty with your mother, you put your behind onthe line for Chaos against your old man’s club knowing they had somethingplanned for your old man’s club.And since that is not about Chaos turf inDenver or Englewood, but things happening on Bounty turf in Aurora, this hadsomething to do with this war with this Benito person you also knew about.”
“I heard Beck talking about what his brothers were gettinginto.And that Benito guy.And the Chaos situation.And old ladies and bikergroupies chat.So, not all of it, but yeah, I knew enough of it.”
“Enough of it you approached Chaos to help out,” shesurmised.
I shut up again.
“Because you wanted Beck to sort himself out,” she kept atme.
“At first,” I said.
“And when he continued to go along with his club when theywere doing seriously stupid stuff that put you all in danger, you gave up onhim and started to see what else was out there, even if this happenedunintentionally.That something else in your face and your life and involvedwith this situation,” she deduced.
I nodded.
She nodded back and kept going.
“I think it’s important to note that you were in danger evenbefore you informed on your old man’s club, Rosalie.The authorities don’t likeanyone enjoying ill-gotten gains, not even those who gained them consequently.This might not mean you’d be prosecuted when they’d gotten caught.What itwould mean is that, if you’d bought a home with Beck’s dirty money, it would betaken from you.If you’d bought a car, it would be taken from you.If you’d hadchildren with him, the powers that be might concern themselves with yourability to make good choices for yourself and your children, and they mightconsider taking them from you.And Beck made conscious decisions to put youright there.It wasyouwho made conscious decisions to get you andhimout.”
“I know what happened, Mom,” I said carefully.
