“Of course. Regardless of what’s going on with us personally, I’ll always come when you call.”
Twiddling her thumbs, she looked away briefly. “Someone in TWR knows who killed my father. Or they were at least there when it happened,” she blurted.
I took her hand and led her toward the small cave that had a large rock we could sit on. “Start from the beginning, Jelai.”
I listened as she told me everything Chris had shared with her. By the time she was done, my mind was reeling. Learning that one of our members was there the night her father was shot made a lot of things make sense. If The Outlaws believed we were working with the police, that explained why they wanted a war. While we weren’t an outlaw MC, we abided by the code of loyalty and no snitching just as they did. Talking to and working with the police wasn’t a good look—period.
“He said you all did a memorial ride for my daddy?” she confirmed, looking out into the ocean.
“Yeah. Dylan didn’t want to be associated with us because of the MCs reputations back then, but he fucked with me, and they in turn fucked with him. They rode from the cemetery to the penitentiary so I could see before riding by the beach and back to the clubhouse.”
Her eyes watered, but she blinked back her tears as she patted my hand.
“Thanks for honoring him. You could’ve easily forgotten about him after the way he talked about you and your father. Your club.”
I shrugged. “He had his reasons for feeling how he did. I respected him coming to me as a man after what happened to you. And I believe I told you this before, but he looked out for me while I was locked down.” I looked over at her. “I wouldn’t say we were friends, but there was a mutual respect and understanding between us.”
“Then can I count on you to help me figure out who killed him? If you could find out who the informant was, maybe they could tell me who killed him. Or, at least, give me what information they had on The Outlaws that made them a target that day. I figured, not only would this give my dad justice, but it’ll also end the war.”
“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll look into it, bae. If the informant is still around, that’s not some information they’re just going to offer us. I could maybe look into who had recently gotten out around that time or who was arrested and didn’t have to do any time. Chris might be able to find out more than I can though.”
“I thought about that, but he wouldn’t help. He wants me to have nothing to do with this.”
“Understandably so.”
“Maybe, but quite frankly, I’m tired of people making decisions for me. Whether it’s to protect me or not.”
Her clipped tone made it clear her anger was rising as she stood. I did the same, standing behind her as she took a few steps toward the ocean.
“Go ahead,” I urged. “Let me have it.” She turned to face me. “I upset you. Maybe hurt you. But it was what I thought was best.”
Jelai shook her head as she headed toward my bike. “Let’s just go.”
“Nah.” Gripping her waist, I pulled her back toward me. “We ain’t about to do this. If you got something that you’re holding close to your chest, let that shit out, bae.”
Scoffing, Jelai removed herself from my grip and crossed her arms. “Please, don’t act like you care.”
“Of course I care,” I replied, unsure how she could think otherwise.
“If you cared, you wouldn’t have taken away my choice!” she yelled softly. “You don’t care about how I feel or what I want. If you did, you wouldn’t have made a choice that affected me without even talking to and considering me.”
I wanted to get defensive and tell her me caring about her was the reason I’d done what I’d done, but she wouldn’t care about that right now. All she cared about was her feelings, her pain, and regardless of how bad that made me feel, she was entitled to that.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “In my attempt to protect you and do what was best for you, I took away your choice. For that, I apologize.”
Jelai appeared surprised by my apology, but I watched it physically soften her toward me. Her crossed arms lowered, and she took a small step in my direction as her facial expression relaxed.
“Okay,” she whispered, avoiding my eyes.
“Would you have chosen me? Us?”
Jelai chuckled quietly with a soft shake of her head. “Doesn’t seem to matter now.”
“Matters to me.”
Sniffling, she squeezed the back of her neck before looking into my eyes. “I should probably go now.”
“Aight, bae.” We walked back over to the bike, but before getting on I asked, “Can I have my goodbye hug now?”
