See, speaker.
I sigh and admit, “Even though I’m slowly learning Angie’s death wasn’t my fault, that I couldn’t have known that bitch would have turned that evil as my girl says, I just don’t know if being in Hill Crest is the right path for me,” and I run my hand through my hair.
Drew took it out of the bun hours ago, running her fingers through it.
“You said her name,” Mom chokes, and I swallow hard.
“My girl, she’s, fuck, she’s slowly bringing me back, and I’m slowly bringing her up more. If I see something I think she may have liked, I’ll tell Drew instantly and tonight,” I sigh, “Tonight I finally opened up to her, and she listened, she didn’t jump in,she didn’t give her two cents. Except for getting pissed on my behalf when I mentioned the abortion, she waited until around ten minutes ago to tell me I was an idiot for blaming myself. She knew what I needed and when I needed it.”
“I really like this girl,” Mom rasps and Dad says, “Come home, son,” and I swallow hard, ready to decline but before I can he states, “I don’t mean right now, you still have time, you still have three months, I just mean, when your girl has healed you, pack her shit, and bring both of you home.”
“It isn’t that simple, Dad, I’ve done a lot of shit–”
He cuts me off and snaps, “It is that simple, this is your home, this presidency patch is yours!”
The door opens behind me, and my body tingles like always when she's near. I lift my right arm before Drew takes a seat beside me, and I look at her and smile, seeing she’s still in my cut.
Whenever we visit allies, unless your woman has an old lady patch, if you see the woman as yours, she must wear your cut for protection, and fuck, she looks hot in my cut.
“Everything okay?” Drew whispers, and I hear Mom suck in a breath, and I put the phone on speaker as I reply, “Of course, baby, why don’t you say hi to my parents.”
Drew smiles widely, realizing I’m still on the phone with them, and says, “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Martinez…”
I chuckle at how formal she is with the parentals, and Mom huffs, “Mrs. Martinez sounds old, you can call me Alesia or Al, sweetheart, and you can call my husband, Chains.”
Drew furrows her brows and says, “I really don’t want to know why your father's road name is Chains, do I?”
I hear Dad laugh in the background while I shake my head and admit, “No, you don’t,” and she really fucking doesn’t.
Somehow telling her he choked a man and killed him with a chain because he attacked my mom won’t be the best of ideas.
She struggled when I admitted I killed Toya. At least I think she did, she didn’t bring it up, I think club life is something she may struggle with. The things we have to do, that is just another reason why I don’t know if going home is a good idea.
“He killed someone with them, didn’t he?” she confirms out of the blue, and I choke out a laugh at how easy she said it.
Okay, never mind her struggling, my mind is just making up shit.
“The man tried to attack me,” Mom admits, and Drew nods, and I just blink.
“At least I know why you got the name Cage with how many times you got locked up,” she murmurs.
I grin as Dad, who finally sounds a little bit calmer, him begging me to come home forgotten for now, admits, “Actually, sweetheart, he got his road name because he liked to fight in a cage in the underground fight club.”
Drew's mouth parts slightly before she looks at me with shock.
“I don’t know whether to drool over that or hit you for willingly locking yourself up to be potentially beaten up,” she mutters, and I swear my grin widens.
“Little bird, drool, always drool,” I state, and Mom cackles.
“I really do like her,” she repeats and I shake my head as she and Drew begin a conversation about the Broadway shows and competitions she did and how she hung up her slippers, so to speak, to teach. My mom gushed and begged for tickets for when she next has a show and I wrap my arm around my little bird’s shoulders and listen with a small smile, all while silently hoping my dad doesn’t chime in.
I won't have him put Drew on the spot, especially when I don’t know what I’m going to do about the club.
Right now, I just want to focus on my girl and how I can keep her safe when I couldn’t keep Angie safe. No matter how much I’m slowly beginning to see it wasn’t my fault, thanks to my girl’ssupport, it doesn’t ease the guilt that I brought Toya into our lives. It doesn’t ease the guilt that I haven’t been to see my little sister.
Shame I didn’t realize soon enough that it isn’t always the cut that is the problem, that I, being me even without the patch, paints a target on my girl's back.
Chapter 15
