“I know,” Rocket said simply, not rising to the bait.
“You ignored the wishes of your President,” Micro said, tutting quietly as he glared at Rocket.
“I did. I’m sorry.”
“You abandoned your family, brother,” Stag said, flipping him off with both hands.
“Twat,” Rocket replied, snorting at him.
“You rejected the help and support of your family,” Harley piped up, and Rocket sighed.
“I know. I know all of this. If I hadn’t been in a fucking bad place I would have never walked away.”
Has-Been sighed, stepping into the circle.
“That’s the thing though, brother. You were in a bad place, and you didn’t turn to your family. You didn’t turn to any one of us. You didn’t call. You didn’t show up on a doorstep. You didn’t fucking yell or scream at anyone. You just left.”
Henley cleared his throat, and I watched him tuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his Prospect cut standing out as so different from theirs. Missing the many patches and the extra wear and tear of daily life.
“I joined the family, and then you left. Talk about making me wonder if I smelled bad.”
A few chuckles followed his words, and someone muttered something about him smelling like money.
“You’re all right about everything. I know. I was hurting, and I felt like I couldn’t…” he sighed heavily, “it didn’t feel like family to me. It felt to me like a bunch of people who wouldn’t step up for me. I’m sorry, but that’s how I’ve been feeling for a while.At the OG club, before… stuff went down… I was at home. I was happy. I was part of a family for the first time in my life.” He took a deep breath, and I could feel the animosity in the room dissipating a little.
“I was out of place. I was suspected of things, and I think for some people, that suspicion never really faded, despite the truth coming to light. I was hurting then, and I’m… I was hurting when I left. All I want is somewhere to belong.”
Someone else stepped out of the darkness then, slapping a hand against the back of Rocket’s head.
“You always fucking belonged, son, you just chose to shut us all out, and run, instead of talking to someone,” Reacher said, “I mean, what we’re trying to build here needs communication. It needs respect. It needs people not running off and being dickheads, when they can do that at home.”
More chuckles. Stitch was now stepping into the circle.
“We were always there for you, brother. Even if you’d done the things you were briefly, and I do meanbriefly, suspected of, you’d have still been welcomed back. I mean…” he gestured at Micro, “family gets second chances. So if you want a family, you have one, right here. We need you to trust your family, and stop running when shit gets difficult.”
Rocket cleared his throat, dragging a hand through his hair, all things I recognised as signs of discomfort, and awkwardness. All things I’d seen from him too often. Would he finally get the peace he deserved?
“And you.” Stitch turned to me, and I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling that intense focus on me now.
“Yeah?”
“You gonna back him? You gonna stand by your man? You gonna smack him upside the head next time he gets dumb ideas in his head like legging it and hiding out like a pussy?”
I forced my lips to stay strong, even though I felt the smile trying to emerge. They were forgiving him, and maybe, by extension, me too.
“Of course, although I prefer to use other methods.”
A few gagging sounds and laughs filled the space now. The tension was dropping by the second, and I knew Rocket could feel it too, as his rigid stance seemed to relax a little moment by moment.
“We don’t need details,” Stitch muttered, holding a hand up, “So are we all agreed?” He was asking the room, not us, so we stayed quiet. There were murmurs of assent, and he nodded at Micro, who stepped into the middle of the group.
“Here’s how this is going to go. For the sin of abandoning your family, and your colours, you’re sentenced to a two week penance period. During this time, you’ll wear a prospect cut, and carry out prospect duties.” He paused as more chuckles filled the air, and Henley mockingly fired finger guns at Rocket, who looked stunned.
“You serve your time well, and you’ll get your cut back, but you’ll be on a three month probation period. You have issues during that time, you’ll prove your trust in your club by speaking to one of us instead of doing something pathetic and cowardly. Got it? We need to be able to trust you too… it goes both ways. You wanna run when shit gets tough, then maybe you’re not meant to wear a Phoenix cut.”
Ouch. That seemed harsh, but Rocket took it all without argument.
“Got it, Pres. Thank you. I’ll stop being such a pussy.”
