Chapter Eleven

Jessica’s son was almost nine years old, and he looked so much like his uncle had at that age it was uncanny. His mom had slicked his hair back and put him in a clean white T-shirt and pair of jeans. The shades were his dad’s idea.

“Let me see them both,” Alexei was saying to him, leaning down to look his son in the eye.

David solemnly held up the little box he was carrying that held both wedding rings.

“Good kid,” Alexei said. “Now don’t drop it on the way there.”

“Got it, sir,” David said.

Seth was watching from the passenger’s seat of his sister’s SUV. He remembered doing this before her wedding, young and able and still hungover from Alexei’s bachelor party. He remembered how much his head had hurt, and how good it felt to get up to speed on his bike and cruise through town with his brothers.

Back then, there was no question about Seth being part of the Club. Back then, nobody had to make sure Seth was a part of Club Business. He was just there, and nobody could even think about the Double Eagles without thinking of him.

The groom’s escort rolled off in a cloud of red dust. Jessica gave them a good head start before following in her car.

“Brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it?” she said. “Can’t believe Cody’s actually settling down.”

“Yeah.” Seth nodded in agreement, watching the cornfields pass by his window.

“Did you hear back from Pete yet?” she said.

Seth shrugged. “He says he’ll be there,” he said. “Assuming you didn’t scare him off yesterday.”

“We would have been fine if the fucking Corovic boys hadn’t been idiots,” Jessica said. “I hope he comes by, though. You seem a lot happier around him.”

“Yeah?” Seth looked at his sister. “You trying to get me pawned off on somebody?”

Jessica shrugged. “I dunno,” she said. “Just seems like you’ve been really lonely since the accident.”

“I’ll be better soon,” Seth said.

“Not if you keep having an ego about it.” Jessica frowned at him. “Look, bud. I...I can’t keep bullshitting you about this.”

“About what?”

“You are lucky to be alive after what happened,” she said. “You’re lucky that you can still move your legs at all! Like, do you understand? Do you understand how scared we were that we weren’t going to have you around at all?” She slowed the car down a little and stared at him. “I’ve spent so many fucking hours outside a hospital room waiting to hear if I’m still gonna have my little brother, and I can’t tell you, because…”

“Jess…”

“No, you listen to me.” Jessica pulled a cigarette from her packet and jabbed it at him. “I’m sick of having to lie to you. You have your head so far up your ass you think you’re gonna get up tomorrow and start riding your bike again.”

“Well, fuck you!” Seth said. “You think I’m not sitting here wondering if I’m ever gonna get my legs back?” he said. “You think I can’t hear people arguing about whether I’m ever gonna be back in Club Business?”

“If you can hear them, then why don’t you take them seriously?” Jessica said. “None of us want to have you on the sidelines, Seth. But…”

“But what?”

“But we don’t want you to fucking die, idiot!” Jessica reached across the seat to cuff him upside the head. “Do you remember what it did to Dad when we lost Mom?”

“I...you know what, fuck you!” Seth gave her the finger and turned himself around as much as he could in his seat. She didn’t need to bring that up, ever. She definitely didn’t need to bring it up today.

“Yeah, fuck me,” Jessica said. “Guess I’ll just shut up and wait for the next fucking catastrophe I get to clean up in this family!” She sucked half her cigarette down in a couple drags and bashed her hand on the dashboard. “Fuck!”

Seth rolled his eyes and said nothing. She’d run herself out of steam by the time they got down to the wedding.

***

The thing about marrying into the Double Eagle Brotherhood was, sometimes, your old family wanted nothing to do with your new family. In some cases, that was understandable.

Marcie’s family, though. Those sons of bitches should have been proud to have their daughter marry someone who gave a carp about her and appreciated all she did.

Seth wasn’t sure what all went down because he’d been banished to the front row of the seats with the other Enforcers who weren’t standing with the groom. He did know three things: One, Nick had to pay the band extra to kill time because the bride was late walking down the aisle. Two, Jessica and Nadia came running out of the Clubhouse to grab Alexei and haul him out of the wedding party.

Three, it was Alexei who walked Marcie down the aisle to meet her new husband. She looked like she’d been crying, and she cradled her belly with her free hand.

There was hardly a priest or a justice in the state who would officiate a wedding like this, and that was just fine. Seth’s Uncle Mike officiated the service, making time at the appropriate moments for the congregation to cheer and holler at their dearly beloved.

As soon as Cody took his new bride in his arms and kissed her, the assembled friends and family started throwing rice. Someone opened a bottle of champagne and soaked the front row in boozy bubbles.

The band was not ready for any of this. They struck up a loud, steel guitar wedding march anyway. Seth made a mental note to give a big tip to the very worried-looking girl who was singing for them.

In the confusion, he decided he could check his phone without looking awkward. He had six texts, all from Pete.

Number One: On my way, stopping for drinks. Number two: What do you guys like??? Number Three: I just got a lot of vodka I hope that’s okay. Number Four: On Road 87...not sure where the Y is. Number Five: Found the Y! Cell signal is sketchy so if u don’t hear from me I’m driving between the Y and the intersection with the highway. Number Six: 2 Cattle Guards or 3?

Seth shook his head and hit Reply. 3 Cattle Guards. He made sure the message was sent before pocketing his phone again.

He waited for most of the crowd to head toward the clubhouse before wheeling himself out into the aisle between the seats. Also hanging at the back of the guests were the two Russian girls who had come with the Corovic nephews.

“What’s up?” Seth said as he caught up. “Did you lose your dates?”

“Excuse me?” The blonde (Masha? He was pretty sure that was Masha) stopped and turned around, poised on a pair of platform heels that brought her up to a big man’s height.

“Where are Mikhail and Yuri?” Seth said. They’d managed to avoid the cops thanks to some quick work on Nadia’s part, he knew that much.

“They went with Mr. Corovic,” Masha said. “He need to make phone call.”

Seth nodded. “Say, can you drive?”

“Ah, I don’t have papers?” Masha said, miming holding a steering wheel. “I cannot drive without papers.”

“You don’t need to have papers,” Seth said. “I just need to go find this guy out on the dirt…”

“No, I mean I don’t have papers,” Masha said. “Passport, I don’t have passport. I need Mikhail to come with me.”

“Wait,” Seth said, lowering his voice. “Mikhail has your passport?”

“With new regulations,” Masha said. “Verified Sponsor needs to hold my passport, yes?”

Seth blinked. He scanned the crowd, looking for the Corovic nephews and wondering if he could just summon up enough blind rage to rise out of his chair right then and beat their asses.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He licked his lips and took in a deep breath. The girls were talking to each other in Russian.

The text was from Pete. At the guard….need to know the password.

Seth replied with “Ponderosa” and pocketed his phone. “Never mind,” he said to Masha, who smiled faintly at him as she walked around the back of the crowd with Yulia.

The crowd had thinned enough that there was a way for Seth to get around the Clubhouse and wait for Pete in the dirt lot in front of it. The place was packed with bikes and cars, and it took Pete a few minutes of circling in his little red station wagon before he could find a spot to park it.

Seth wheeled himself over to meet Pete where he’d parked. Up on the road, he saw a big black SUV cruise by the guard without stopping. The guard waved. The SUV slowed down, but still didn’t stop.

Whoever it was, Seth felt the need to give them the one finger salute as they sped up and kept cruising down the road.

“What’s that about?” Pete said, getting out of his car.

“Either cops or Scorpions,” Seth said. “How are you doing, man?”

“Um, good?” Pete opened the back door of the car and took out a cardboard box from Planet Hooch. He’d gotten a few handles of very good vodka. Very, very good vodka.

“Oh, man, you’re gonna get adopted if you bring that stuff into the clubhouse,” Seth said.

Pete gulped. “Um.” His eyes were shifty. In nice jeans and a well-fitted blazer, he looked like he couldn’t possibly be anything besides a community college professor. “Okay. Uh, can I ask you a very serious question without hurting your feelings?”

Seth sat up a little. “Yeah?” he said.

“When your sister was saying I’m your boyfriend,” he said. “Um. I mean, we haven’t really known each…”

Seth laughed. “Aww, man, that’s just Jess,” he said. “She’s sick of wheeling me around all the time so she’s trying to pawn me off on whoever she can. Don’t worry about it.”

He didn’t like the chill of disappointment in his chest when Pete let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God,” he said. “Look, I, um…” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I really like you,” he said. “It’s just...right now, you know…”

“Yeah, I know,” Seth said. “Just don’t worry about it. Enjoy the party.”

***

The old stairs into the clubhouse’s front door were just part of the massive pile of wood in the back field. Jessica had insisted on running a chain of garden hoses out from the Family House to the bonfire, but that hose was useless five minutes after Cody lit up one of the tumbleweeds at the bottom. The flames shot up fifteen or twenty feet into the night, lighting up the whole crowd gathered around the pyre.

They’d rented a stage for the band on the east side of the field, and the girls at Watty’s took care of food for everybody. Alcohol was not a problem. Miroslav had provided a truck full of kegs, and Big Pete up in the hills had sent down a fifty-gallon barrel of his special whiskey.

There was other entertainment, too, courtesy of random people who felt like really partying.

“Do you think they’re going to be okay?” Pete said.

They were watching a couple of girls who were sitting topless right next to the bonfire. They were obviously messed up on something a little harder than alcohol, and they kept making weird swirly gestures with their hands.

“Probably,” Seth said. “They look like they’re having a good time.”

“Do you guys, I dunno, do you do a lot of party drugs?” Pete was sitting cross-legged on the ground next to him.

Seth shrugged. “Nick and Angela party pretty hard,” he said. “I never really got into it.”

“Lotta...lotta responsibility?” Pete looked up at him, swinging his beer cup gently back and forth. “With the Club?”

Seth looked at the bonfire again. “Sort of,” he said. “I...our mom OD’d when I was about twelve,” he said. “I dunno. Some people said it was tainted coke. Some people said it wasn’t the coke, that it was one of the Scorpions who had a relative on the hospital staff.” He took a swig of his own beer. “Dad...Dad knew, though. He knew it was she just did too much.”

“Jesus,” Pete said.

“You know, that’s the real reason he, you know, he protects me.” He gestured to Pete, and then back to himself. “And he’ll protect you, too, you know,” he said. “You don’t need to be afraid of him.”

“He seems a lot more relaxed than I was imagining,” Pete said. “Look, man, I think I just...I just misjudged you guys.” He tipped his head back to drain his cup. “Like, I mean, I don’t understand the whole story, I guess.”

Seth shrugged. “Nobody does,” he said. “People act like, they act like I can just move on, you know? Like I can just get back to my life.” His cup wasn’t as empty as Pete’s, but he was feeling pretty good. “But this shit, man, this whole, business of being in the Club and dealing with Club shit, you know?”

“You can’t really work from home, huh?” Pete nodded.

“That’s the problem, man,” Seth said. “This is my home. It’s...it’s the only home I’ve ever had, and it’s moving forward and I’m just...I’m just stuck.” He was staring at the fire with his lips pressed together, shaking his head slowly. “Whatever, man.”

Pete stood up and gave him a squeeze on the shoulder.

Seth shut his eyes and leaned into Pete’s touch for a moment. “We should chill more,” he said.

“Yeah?” Pete said.

“You don’t...look, if you don’t want a boyfriend I get it.” He shook his head. “I just… you’re cool, man.”

Pete smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “You’re pretty cool, too.”

“I…” He forgot what he was going to say when movement by the fire caught his eye. One of the girls had just thrown her bra into the flames and was laughing while it melted on an old shipping pallet.

“We should probably get them back to the party,” Pete said.

“Yeah,” Seth said. “I think their night’s just about over.”