Rocky
“Rocky!” A voice called out.
I put down my wrench and stepped away from my bike, turning to see my uncle walking into my workshop. My uncle Cameron was many things, strong, fierce, dedicated, and a pain in my ass.
“Hey Cameron,” I greeted stiffly. “What’s going on?”
“I was in the neighborhood. And I haven’t seen you at the clubhouse in a few days.”
“Haven’t felt like going,” I grunted then turned back to my bike, picking up my wrench once more. It wasn’t that I had anything against Cameron but sometimes I looked at him a certain way, or he formed a certain expression on his face and bam! It was like I was looking directly at my father. Cameron was the younger brother, though only by a few years.
Him and my dad had an ongoing rivalry throughout their life, so much so that sometimes I wondered if they even got along. But after his death, Cameron became a really solid part of my life. He took over the club, gave me a chance to prove myself and promised he’d help with my plans of vengeance. Despite all this, I couldn’t quite resist looking away whenever he smiled, just so I could avoid the flood of memories and grief.
“Rocky… “
“There haven’t been any meetings, anything urgent. I skipped one club party, I hardly think that’s a crime.”
“I thought you were aiming for VP.”
I shut my eyes hard for a moment before replying. “I am. But Mack is doing a fine job as Vice. I’m committed to the club, you know that. I just want...” I cut my words short, not wanting to continue.
“Son,” Cameron said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
Suppressing the urge to flinch, I turned away from my bike once more and met his steady gaze.
“He was my brother. We’ll get revenge when the time is right.”
I broke eye contact and nodded. He was speaking as my uncle now, a welcome change from how he’d been for the past few months. In my weaker moments, I would think that the power of club President was getting to his head, but I knew I was just bitter.
“Guess who I saw the other day?” he said, changing the subject.
“Who?”
“Daria Barrett.”
“No shit?” I said, feigning surprise. There was no way I wanted my uncle to know that I’d already seen her. He’d get crazy ideas in his head that I didn’t need.
Of course, nothing got past my uncle and he called me out on it immediately. “You knew? How? You haven’t left the shop in days.”
For a moment, it bothered me that he seemed to know my whereabouts at all times, but I supposed he was just trying to care, in his own way. Forcing those thoughts away, I smirked at him, glad to be able to one-up my uncle, even if it was just this once.
“She came to me, actually. Last week. Didn’t even recognize her at first, Christ.”
“Christ is right. She’s all grown up now, Rocky. And looking fine too.”
Scowling, I threw a discarded rag at his head. He tipped his head back and laughed a mighty laugh, one that reminded me of better times.
“I offered her the job here, she hasn’t gotten back to me yet though.”
“You just offered her the job, did you?” He smirked.
I looked around for another dirty towel to throw at him but, coming up empty, I decided to glare instead. “She was qualified.” Actually, I had no idea if she was or not. I suppose I was a bit too taken with her to go through with the formalities.
“I'm sure she was.”
Sick of his questions, I turned my back on him once more and headed to the mini fridge in the corner of the room. I lobbed a beer at his head before I spoke again.
“She hasn’t given me an answer and it’s been a week. I doubt it’ll work out.”
“Rocky, Rocky, Rocky. A girl like that? Go after her.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I ground out. Sure, I wanted her to work here. But I wasn’t going to beg for it. Besides, I had a sneaking suspicion that she’d heard rumors about me around town, and I knew there were plenty to listen to.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew how people talked. And in a town like Springville, people talked a lot. When you were part of Satan’s Wings, you had the entire club at your back, as well as the majority of the town that didn’t care either way. But that also meant that a lot of people assumed you were a nuisance and a troublemaker. It didn’t matter that the club worked hard to make sure that none of our business spilled out into the town and the people. It didn’t matter that we went out of our way to keep the town safe from our rival clubs. I knew that rumors circulated anyway, most of them not coming even close to the truth, though I could admit that a small minority came very close. I also knew that if she was going to listen to those rumors then I didn’t need her around.
“She’d be good for you, I’d say. A distraction. If anyone needs to relax a little it’d be you.”
I pushed away my anger over that comment and instead took a heavy pull from my beer. A part of me was completely prepared to throttle him for bringing Daria up when all I wanted to do was forget. I wasn’t sure why I felt so cut up about her loss. I hadn’t seen her in years and after one quick encounter, I was already too invested in her. But I didn’t think I needed to relax more. I’d been doing far too much of nothing in the past few months. If anything, I wanted to act. I wanted to be doing something, anything, instead of sitting around and waiting for Cameron to decide the next move.
“So? Will you?” Cameron persisted.
“I’ll think about it,” I reluctantly agreed.
The truth was, I knew that a girl like Daria had no business associating with a guy like me. Even when we were younger, her mother had told me to make sure she knew nothing of the club, and I’d kept my promise. Even though we were both older and I’d gone down the path I’d spent most of my life resenting or trying to avoid, a part of me still wanted to protect her. Save her from the kind of life I was now fully immersed in.
Still, Cameron could be right. Maybe I should go talk things over with her, see where her head was at. Maybe she had another reason for never getting back to me. Maybe this entire time I had completely overreacted and she was sitting at home, sick out of her brain and drinking chicken soup. The thought seemed entirely unlikely, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
With that in mind, I decided to pay her a visit to see what was going on. Worst-case scenario, she’d say no, but I’d get to look at her gorgeous face for a little while. To me, that wasn’t a bad trade off at all.