20
I found a dusty bottle of whiskey in one of the cabinets in the kitchen. I hadn’t drank seriously since I joined the Brotherhood, save a beer here and there. Now, I forged through my bare apartment for any alcohol that had survived the last few years of being in the Brotherhood. I needed to be numb.
I had no idea how many days it had been since I was out, how long it had been since Wilson and Teddy had bailed me out. I didn’t know if it was night or day. I didn’t care. A knock on my door didn’t get my attention either, I had turned off my phone and hadn’t bothered to check in. I wasn’t going anywhere, so they didn’t have to worry about me skipping bail. Needless to say, I didn’t answer the door. Unfortunately, I forgot about the spare key I had given Teddy. I watched my front door open, and the big man came in; Wilson was right behind him. I hadn’t even heard their bikes, even though I had been just dwelling on the quiet of my room.
“You dead in there?” Wilson called when he saw me looking.
“Not yet,” I grumbled and rolled onto my back. “Give me a couple of days, and I might be,” I groaned and pulled a pillow over my head. “Fuck off,” I really didn’t want to see either of them.
“That’s not going to happen,” Wilson growled as he came into my apartment and thundered into my bedroom without asking permission. “We’re not going to let you do stupid shit because some bitch dumped you for being stupid.”
I was up before my brain even caught up with what he said, and I was in his face.
“Madi,” I growled. “Is not a bitch.” I felt like I was ready to throw down for this, the alcohol was really messing with my frame of thought. “Say it again, old man,” I hissed at him. “Let’s see how that goes.”
His face went red, and I could see him sizing me up, trying to figure out whether or not he could take me.
“Sit your ass down,” he growled back at me. “Ain’t no sense in trying to try to uphold her honor if she’s not here to see it or if she’s not with you.”
I waited to see if he was going to give me a reason to punch him. I wasn’t happy to see either of them.
“It’s been a few days,” Teddy said as he came to join Wilson in my bedroom. “I understand your reason to be down and out, but not this far gone.” He looked at me even though I was still glaring at Wilson. “You’re back on the edge and because of what? A woman?”
I sat heavily on my bed, all I wanted was to be alone.
“I’m not contemplating the flavor of my gun,” I assured him. I cupped my face in my hands, trying to cover the view of any sort of emotion that I had been feeling bleed through. I wanted to be alone and numb. Them coming in and bringing up Madi wasn’t going to help my issues. “I just need time to be alone,” I grumbled.
“We’re not going to give you any more time,” Wilson snapped. “You’ve had two days. That’s enough.”
I growled at him and pulled my hands away from my face, “When was the last time you had a serious relationship, old man? Are you married? You don’t know me, you don’t have the right to tell me to get over a woman I was in a relationship with that got broke off because of something I was doing for you. You have some serious balls to come in here and tell me to get over it like you know how I felt. I’ve made enough sacrifices for you assholes. Don’t come lookin’ for me to make more.”
“Not what we’re here for,” Wilson snipped, moving to lean against one of the bare walls of my bedroom.
“We’re here to help build your case for you,” Teddy folded his thick arms over his gut and glared at me. “We all know you’re innocent and why you were there. Making a case shouldn’t be too hard. Have you contacted the VA to learn about the state of your benefits?”
I shrugged because as of right then I didn’t care. I had already gotten paid for the month, why should I fret over something that wouldn’t affect me until the first?
“Let’s say,” he sat next to me as he spoke. “We prove your innocence. If that girl is as tore up about this as you are, maybe she’ll see that she was wrong to drop you like the sack of shit you are.”
I grimaced at him, “Do you think Doris would give you a second chance?”
He looked away, the pain of his failed marriage apparent on his face. Teddy knew how I felt. I didn’t doubt this man cared for the woman that left him. And I’m sure that me pointing out his failed relationship was enough to give him insight on how I felt.
“You won’t know if you just let her go,” Wilson grumbled, making it obvious that he wasn’t keen on being a part of this conversation. “If you just let her make up her mind and not put up any sort of fight then you’re not worth the shit on her shoes. Women like to be fought for. If you just let her go because you make one screw up, then you’re not a real man.”
“Words of wisdom from the old man?” I asked, because the usual banter between Wilson and I was me calling him old. He would then get so angry that he would start looking like a bulldog. “Did you live this shit, too?”
“No,” he snapped. “I’m not a dumbass like the two of you.” He turned and walked out of my bedroom, going to scope out of the rest of my apartment. “We got you an attorney that’s going to take your case pro bono, and he even promised to ensure you keep your disability. You meet him on Monday. Sober up.”
I cupped my face in my hands again, pressing my fingers into my eyes. I wasn’t hung over, but there was a good chance that I might of been drunk. Though I didn’t feel like it.
“What day is it?” I asked, unable to ascertain the information myself.
“Saturday,” Teddy said after a length. “You make this effort to save what you got with this girl,” he looked at me hard. “And I’ll make the effort to save what I had with Doris.”
“Why did she want a divorce?” I asked, because I had only met his wife once or twice over the last four years that I had known the guy. He always seemed like a caring guy, though I thought this because he picked me up off of a barstool when I was at rock bottom.
“Because,” he stood up and started out of the room. “I can’t take care of shit at home, and I would rather be on my bike than on my wife.” I watched him walk out of my bedroom and not stop, he left my apartment with both Wilson and I watching.
He knew what his issues were with his wife. I could see, after blurrily thinking back to what I could remember of the last four years that I’d known him, what he was getting at. He was at the club day in and day out. I knew because I had been, too, up until about a month ago. After which I had been spending as much time as I could with Madi.
“You coming, Sid?” Wilson stood at my door, glaring me as if he were daring me to tell him no.
I sighed, “What are we doing?”
“Getting your shit together and your ass out of trouble,” he snorted like it should have been the most obvious thing. “C’mon, we’ve got a guy waiting for you at the bar that’ll help us out.”
“I’m probably drunk,” I inform him as I stood back up.
“You also need to put pants on,” he sneered at me. “Don’t come outside with your dick out or I’m not responsible for Teddy kicking your ass, and there’s a good chance I might help him.”