Chapter Six
Dax
Olivia hung out with us until early afternoon and then she had to leave to go with her uncle to pick up some supplies. I waited until she was gone to have the conversation with my parents about the meeting. I knew my mom would be on my side, but I also knew that my dad was going to object, and probably strongly. I didn’t want Olivia to have to be there for the argument. I was kind of hemming and hawing about starting the conversation but was forced into it when my dad started to stand up after saying, “I should probably go check on the supplies at the bar.”
“Hey Dad, wait. Can we talk for a minute before you go?”
“Do you want me to leave?” my mom asked.
“No, I’d like to talk to you both if you have the time.”
My dad settled back in and asked, “What’s up?”
“Okay, I know when you first hear this idea that you’re not going to care much for it, but just hear me out, alright?”
They both nodded. My mom looked worried and my dad just looked impatient. I took a deep breath and said, “Okay, I’m just really sick of all the drama and I’m sure everyone else is too. I need to get on with my life, but I feel like I’m just stuck until I prove that I was falsely accused and falsely imprisoned. I know who it was that set me up. I want to confront them all at once, but I want it to be in front of plenty of witnesses. They deserve a jury of their peers, right? So what I want,” I said, looking at my dad whose impatient face suddenly looked like he knew what I wanted and he was prepared to say no. “I want a club meeting. I want everyone there, even Brock and his nomad crew. I want to confront them in front of all of their peers and see if they have enough spines to admit what they’ve done.”
“No,” my dad said, as soon as I finished talking.
“Why not? It’s safer than him sneaking around trying to do it himself. Look at him, Bull! They put him in prison and then they shot him. All he’s asking for is a little help from you. All you have to do is call the meeting.”
“You don’t know how any of this works,” he said to my mom. “You only want to get in on it when Dax is a part of it.”
“Because I’m concerned about my son…our son,” she said. “You should try it sometime.”
“Damn it Gail! Don’t you think I am concerned and that’s why I don’t want him spouting his foolish accusations out loud? He’s going to get his damn head blown off next time. He needs to just let this go and move on with his life. Leave all of this in the past where it belongs.”
“Hey!” I startled them both. I really don’t think either of them remembered that I was still in the room. “Still here, remember? Listen, Dad. I’m not going to leave this alone, until I prove that I’m innocent and that these men set me up. I’m not going to walk away and let Blake, Terrance and Brock get away with this.”
“Will you stop that? You can’t just go around making those kinds of accusations.”
“I’m not just making accusations. Brock admitted it and so did Terrance and Blake shot me.”
I heard my mom’s sharp intake of breath. I really hadn’t meant to say it in front of her, it had just come out. My dad was glaring at me and my mother looked like she was going to be sick.
“Blake shot you?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she looked at my dad and asked, “And you knew this?”
My dad continued to glare at me. He was waiting for me to tell my mother that he was right there when it happened. I wasn’t going to do it though. I was going to leave it up to him.
“Yes Mom, Blake shot me. He also set me up. Dad doesn’t believe it though, do you?”
“No, I don’t believe that my best friend of twenty-five years would set up my son.”
“But you do believe he shot him?” my mother asked, looking confused.
“He saw him shoot me,” I said. My dad wasn’t going to tell her. My mother really looked like she was going to be sick.
In a high pitched voice that she reserved for when she was really freaked out, she said, “You brought him here just yesterday. You son of a bitch! You had the man who shot my son sitting at my kitchen table sipping coffee and stuffing his fat face with my pastries while my son was still recovering. What the hell is wrong with you?”
My dad gave me one more long, hard stare. Then he turned back to my mom and said, “Blake said that Dax is mistaken about setting him up, and I believe him. And by the way, the part of that story your baby here is leaving out was that when Blake walked into that garage, Dax was holding a gun on me.”
My mother looked at me with shock on her face. “Oh God, what the hell kind of messed up family is this?”
“I wasn’t going to shoot him, Mom. I was desperate for him to listen to me and I didn’t want him to stop me from what I was doing.”
“Which was?” she asked. My dad had a smug look for me.
I swallowed hard and said, “Putting heroin I stole from Brock’s crew in Terrance and Blake’s saddlebags.”
“I swear if this was an old western I’d swoon.” She stood up and came over to me. With her palm, she smacked me on the back of the head. Then she did the same to my dad. “I’m finished with this crap after this. I want both of you to hear that, loud and clear. I’m done! First,” she said, with her finger in my dad’s face. “You’re going to set up that meeting. Second,” it was my turn for the finger and the fire eyes, “You will state your case and then you will let it go or third, I pack my shit and get out of this mess once and for all.” We both watched in shock as she stormed out of the room. My mother had threatened us with a lot of things over the years, but she’d never threatened to leave.
My dad turned to me when she was gone and said, “I hope you’re happy you little shit.”
“None of this makes me happy,” I told him, honestly.
“I’ll set up the meeting and let you know when. Sometimes it takes me a couple of days to reach your brother.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“I ain’t doing it for you. I’m pissed at you for not being able to keep your big ass mouth shut. There’s a reason your mama doesn’t know all about our business and you would do well to remember that.”
He walked out the front door. I heard his bike start up a few minutes later and for the moment I was left alone with my thoughts, and my plans to confront three dangerous men in a room full of men that were probably going to take their side. Maybe Brock was right and I was crazy.