Chapter Twenty
Rooster felt awkward walking up to a teenage boy’s bedroom with Tyler following close behind. If this had been a year ago, he’d think that Drew was luring him in for a beat down. Bad analogy, he knew, but he had to do something to keep from thinking too heavily about the situation at hand. The three of them made their way inside. Rooster stood with his back to the door while Tyler had a seat next to Drew on the bed. The silence was deafening as they waited for him to tell them why he had called them in on this and not his parents.
“You’re gonna need to give us something here,” Tyler told him quietly. “What the fuck is going on?”
Rooster tried to look at this subjectively. Back when all this had happened with him and Liam, they were almost a full two years older than the boy who sat before them. But he couldn’t deny the fact that Drew had grown up on them. His face had thinned out the last couple of months, losing the baby fat that had made him look boyish. He’d had a growth spurt and now stood almost as tall as Liam; his voice had deepened and the beginnings of a beard were starting to appear on his face. He’d be sixteen in less than a month, he had what appeared to be a girlfriend and ninety-nine other problems judging by the talk they were having with him right now. He was no longer the kid that had accompanied his mom into an MC.
“My friend, Dalton, and I were down at Parks and Rec working out in May,” he started.
Tyler and Rooster exchanged glances. Dalton Morrison’s uncle worked at one of the parts shops in town that Walker’s Wheels frequently bought parts from. His home life left a lot to be desired, and Liam had been known to take Dalton and his older brother, Deacon, food when it got tough for them. It was something that the club didn’t publicize, but they didn’t like to see the boys go hungry. Dalton was a wild child, constantly acting out. Rooster had managed to have a couple of run-ins with him while with the sheriff’s office.
“We were minding our own business when some older guys came over and told us that they could help us get bigger and stronger in less the time. They’re on our football team, so we listened to them.” He took a moment and swallowed loudly.
Tyler cursed. “Please tell me that you didn’t do it, Drew. The hard work will show the results.”
“I need to be bigger,” he argued. “I’m tall, and I need muscle mass to keep playing football the way I do.”
“Give it to me.” Rooster stepped forward and held out his hand. He used the authoritative voice he’d used when he did a traffic stop. It was the one that told the person he spoke to that he meant business.
They watched as Drew stood up and walked over to his bedside table. Once there, he leaned down and tapped the bottom, revealing a hidden compartment. Tyler groaned when he pulled out a bag that contained syringes and vials.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Tyler asked him, not able to keep his irritation at bay any longer. “Do you not realize what the fuck you could have done to yourself?”
Rooster could see that Drew was trying to keep himself in check, trying to be a man about this, when really he was a scared kid. “Have you been having side effects?” he asked. “How long have you been taking them?”
“A few months, and I can’t control my anger,” he whispered. “That’s why I hurt that kid. He said some things about Mandy and Charity, and I couldn’t take it. I went off.”
“Charity?” Tyler asked, raising his eyebrows. “Jasmine’s daughter?”
Drew nodded. “Yeah.”
Rooster sighed. Now everyone was going to know about him and the stripper’s daughter. At least Drew was taking care of revealing all of his secrets. “You need to let us talk to your parents, and then we need to figure out what to do with you. You’re going to go through withdrawal, and it’s not going to be pretty. We need to get you a medical clearance, and you need to tell me where hell you got this shit, and don’t be saying the boys on your football team. This is high grade. I’ve heard things about the football coach,” he hedged.
“Why don’t you go down and talk to them.” Tyler nodded towards the stairs. “I’d like to talk to him for a few minutes alone, if that’s okay.”
Rooster knew that if Drew was going to say anything, it would be to his friend. Quickly, he made an exit, shaking his head as he went back downstairs.
Tyler had a seat on the bed, his body language deceptively relaxed when he was anything but. “You’ve got to be honest with me, Drew. I know that you know more than you’re telling me. This involves not only you but Rooster, B, because she teaches at the school, Jagger, and your parents. Be honest with me and we’ll fix it.”
“It is Coach Thistle,” he whispered. “I heard some of the guys talking about how much money they’re making for him. It’s earning them starting spots on the team. The other day I was late leaving practice, and I glanced in the office. Coach had a ton of money on the desk. He was counting it, and two of the seniors were taking their cut.”
Dammit. He hoped like hell that none of them had seen Drew. If they had, then this might have been made even harder on all of them involved. “Why didn’t you tell any of us?”
“I got in too deep; I knew I was in too deep. I’ve been mean as hell to everybody and I can’t control it. I’m scared, I don’t want to withdraw, and it’s helping me.”
“The fuck it is, Drew. What’s helping you is the head you have on your shoulders, it’s the good decisions you make. You’ve become one of my best friends, without me meaning for it to happen. I tell you all the things I can’t tell your dad. I know that’s probably not fair to you because you are just a teenager, but you know all my fears. You know I’m afraid that if Meredith and I never have a child, it won’t be enough for her. You know how badly that cuts to my soul. I’ve told you things I’ve never told another human being, including my wife. I trust you,” he told the teenager.
“I trust you too,” Drew told him, glancing over, his eyes glassy.
“Then believe me when I say you’ve got to give this up. You want a future? You want to be with Charity? I’m assuming that you do, because whether you know it or not, I’ve noticed it.”
“Rooster has too,” Drew whispered. “I’m pretty sure he saw us together.”
“Then you’ve got to get your shit straightened out. You can’t worry about her when you can’t fix yourself. That’s where I’m failing Meredith right now. I need to get my own head straight. So take the advice I’m giving you and realize that you are a hell of a man, regardless of whether you’re a kid or not. You’ve lived through a lot, and I’ll never forget that little man who stood up for his mom when you all first walked through the door of that clubhouse. You’ve always had heart and you’ve always been smart. Don’t fuck it up, dude. I beg you, I love you like a brother,” Tyler told him. “I love your dad, I love you. I don’t want to see you do some stupid shit to yourself in the name of making yourself better. You don’t have to be better. You’re a damn good kid, man, and all-around person the way you are.”
Tyler reached over, grabbing Drew in his arms, hugging him tight, worried that if he let go, Drew would run. “Do you understand what I’m saying to you? You’re enough.”
“I’ve never felt like I was enough,” Drew whispered. “Dad isn’t really my dad. What if I’m like the asshole that’s my biological dad? What if I’m predisposed to be a jackass?”
“You’re not. Liam is your dad, doesn’t matter what a few cells of DNA say. You wanna be a jackass? You’re gonna be one. You wanna be a good man who stands up for his friends and tells them that doing this shit isn’t smart? Then you be that man. It’s in your hands and it’s your decision. What are you gonna do?”
It felt like a millions years as Tyler waited for Drew to speak to him. “I wanna be someone that you all can be proud of. This ain’t me.”
“Then we’re gonna get this worked out. We’re gonna get you fixed up, and we’re gonna take care of this adult preying on teenage boys. First, we gotta go talk to your parents.”
Drew had never heard scarier words in his life. “I need to apologize to Mandy too. I’ve put her in situations that I shouldn’t have.”
“If you realize that, then we’ve already got a head start.”