CHAPTER TWO
Tank
“Hey man,” Diesel said as he walked up from around the side of the house.
I was sitting out in the backyard, tinkering with my bike, like always. The sun had gone down hours ago and Grass was long asleep in his bed, having crashed hard from all the sugar that Ethel had fed him at Diesel’s house after dinner. Diesel was the Sergent at Arms for the club and also one of my closest friends. Ethel was Reagan’s grandma, and Reagan was Loch’s old lady. Loch also happened to be the club’s vice president.
“Would have been over sooner, but Fate didn’t want to go down.” Diesel plopped his big, tattooed body down in the chair next to mine.
Fate had just turned three months old and she was the apple of Diesel’s eye. He and his old lady, Ellie, had a pretty crazy story. But what was more crazy and weird, was seeing Diesel happily settled down. Ellie was the best kind of woman, and I think on some days my little boy liked her more than he did me. But that was alright with me.
Until Fate came along, Grass was the youngest kid in the club. He was always trying to prove himself, always pushing the limits. That kid gave me a damn heart attack nearly every day. I felt like I couldn’t take my eyes off him. If I turned around for a second he was getting into something. That was how he got his nickname. Because his ass was damn grass on a daily occurrence for not listening to me. But I loved him and he made my life complete in a way I never thought possible.
Before Grass came along, I thought I had it all. But nothing could compare to the unconditional love of a child. As frustrating as he could be at times, that kid was my heart and my happiness. I was damn lucky to have him.
“No worries, man. I haven’t been out here long,” I said opening a beer and handing it to him.
We both sat there in silence staring up at the dark sky. Diesel wasn’t one for talking. Most of the time, trying to have a conversation with him was like I was talking to myself. But that was okay because he knew when to say the right things and that was all that mattered. Although, I have to admit that he’d opened up more now that he had Ellie.
“How’s your mom?” he asked after what felt like an eternity of quiet.
“She’s good.” I took a sip of my beer then rested the bottle back on my knee. “Gave me more shit about findin’ a woman.” I didn’t even try to hide the grumble.
“They can be worth it, ya know,” he said nodding his head.
Now, I wasn’t one to be envious, ever. So when I say that I was happy for him that he’d found Ellie, I truly meant that shit from the bottom of my heart. And while I had a bad taste in my mouth when it came to most women, I couldn’t say that I didn’t get a very tiny twinge in my heart when Ellie looked at him. A very, very small twinge. Not enough for me to ever change my mind because I had been too tainted.
“So, what do you think the club is gonna do next?” I asked, changing the subject.
At the moment, the club had one enemy. We’d gone many years with still waters and deep down, I think all of us knew something like this was bound to happen. Savage was the leader of the Devil’s Kings MC. He’d been coming after us and without sugar coating it, we were being pansies about it. Yeah, I know, shit thing to say about my brothers, but that was how I felt. Cal, the club’s president, was a planner. He liked to see every angle and every possible outcome. He liked to go in knowing everything there was to know.
That was the problem. We couldn’t find jack shit on Savage and he always seemed to have the upper hand. Not too long ago he took one of our own, Stone. If there was ever a time to strike out and get revenge and end this shit, that should have been it.
Only we didn’t. Instead, we went on lockdown and in a sense, hid with our tails tucked. While I wanted to go in half-cocked, Cal held back. As pissed as I was, I understood his decision and that was why he made a good leader. When the time came for us to strike, we’d be ready and he knew then wasn’t the time.
Didn’t mean I liked it. Didn’t mean I love with sitting back. But I was behind Cal and the club and I would always stand by their side. So, for the time being, we were off lockdown but weren’t safe. There was a big fucking cloud hanging over every single one of us. And the shit part was, we still had to work for the motherfucker. For lack of a better term, we were his bitches.
“I don’t know, brother,” he said blowing out a harsh breath. “I get the feeling that Cal’s gearing up for war. I think he gets that we are all getting antsy and knows we aren’t goin’ to sit around much longer. I know that he’s the prez of the head chapter, but I get the feeling like the other chapters are pushing for something. I can tell it’s wearing on him, too.”
“Yeah, I see that. I just want all this shit to be over. It’s not safe. I feel like I can’t even walk out of my house without looking over my shoulder.” I swallowed hard thinking about my family. “This isn’t the life I wanted for Grass…and my sisters…I just can’t stand sittin’ here feeling helpless with the weight that I can’t protect them on my shoulders.”
That was the truth and I knew Diesel felt the same. He’d taken Stone’s death hard, feeling like it was all his fault. That led him down a hard path of feeling like this life wasn’t good enough for Ellie and his daughter.
“I know, I get it. I just have to trust that when the time is right it will happen. That one day this will be over.” He took a long pull of his beer as he stared off into the distance. “And in the meantime, never let your guard do—”
Whatever else he was about to say was cutoff by a blast that shook the ground as the sound of a glass window being blown out filled the air. On instinct, we both dropped out of our chairs, crouching low to the ground as we reached for our guns. I turned to see flames dancing out of the upstairs window on the back of my house and my heart dropped.
“Logan!” I roared as I took off for the back stairs.
“Tank!” Diesel barked like his words were somehow going to stop me and I could hear his feet pounding the ground behind me. My son was in that house, in that very room that was on fire. “Stop! Wait!”
But I didn’t heed at his words. No way in hell. However, I was a big dude and didn’t move as fast as him. So I wasn’t all that surprised when his arm suddenly went around my neck, attempting to drag me back. But it was like taking down, well, a tank and I kept going only slowed down slightly by the extra weight.
“Dammit, Tank. Use your head, don’t just rush in there,” he growled in my ear.
“My fucking son is in there, Diesel!” I growled back and paused long enough to ram my elbow into his ribs, effectively getting him to drop off of me. I didn’t even feel a little bit bad about it. I knew he would have done the same if it were Ellie and Fate.
But then there was a loud, deafening boom before I could reach the back door. Glass, wood, and metal came flying at me faster than I could raise my arms to shield myself. Then, like in a damn action movie a chain of bombs went off, blowing out what was left of my house. The blast was enough to send me airborne off the back steps.
Before I could catch my breath, I realized I was covered in rubble. The weight of it all crushing me, and not just the weight of what I was buried under. I felt dizzy, and as I tried to fight against it, my arm and face started to feel warm. That was when I realized there was no way out of this, I was about to burn. And the thought that I no longer had my son, that he was already dead, filled my head and I let the darkness claim me without another second of fighting it.
Because without him, I had nothing.