Chapter Twelve

Taz

It has been a few weeks with nothing else happening, and everyone is starting to relax. We have had a few discussions in church about whether or not to pull Tigger off Peaches and CeCe. I am sure that someone is watching just waiting for us to do that. We have decided to make a big showing of pulling Tigger away and having him watch from a distance and see if someone makes a move. Skid has become more withdrawn from the club since Anna was drugged, but he told us he is having family issues and may need to take two weeks to go back home to help his mother with a situation. We, of course told him to let us know if we can help.

At the last church I requested a vote to make Anna, my old lady. Everyone was watching Voodoo to see his reaction, but I was smart enough to ask him and then Axel before I even brought it to the table. There was not a single vote against it. I told Gizmo to put in the order for her rag. I am trying to put together a night she will never forget. She has been so stressed, that maybe something fun will make a difference

The day has arrived for me to give her the rag. I start our evening out by going to dinner. CeCe decided I was not giving her enough attention and threw her bowl of rolled oat cereal at me. Peaches thinks she was slick and took some pictures that I am sure will end up at the next church, but it doesn’t bother me cause those girls are my life. After dinner, we head to the clubhouse. If she noticed all the bikes parked there, she didn’t say a word. I am keeping a close eye on her because she has been a bit nervous every time we go there. I don’t know what to do to make it any easier for her, I guess it will just take some time. Hopefully, this will make a good memory to replace the bad ones.

All the brothers are sitting around drinking, and playing pool when we walk in. Once again there is a rush to see who gets CeCe first. I look over at my Peaches and see a huge grin on her face. We head over to the bar to get a drink. Mikey puts her drink in what is now known as ‘her special cup’ because it has a lid with a straw, so no one can mess with it and of course Voodoo made sure it was pink and sparkly. We go sit with Voodoo and Axel. I notice a few of the club girls hanging around with the single brothers. Without any notice, Axel gets up and goes to get CeCe from Toad. He calls the room to attention, Peaches is watching him closely. She thinks that something is wrong based on the look on her face. Little does she know that she is about to be the center of attention.

“The life we choose to live is not always easy. We make a family from our brothers and if we are lucky, we find that one woman who will stand by our side and if necessary, fight our battles with us,” Axel continues, “One of our brothers has found that. He is ready to take the steps to make it official. Taz, the floor is yours.”

“Thanks, Prez,” I say as I stand up. “Anna, I never planned on you or CeCe being in my life. I was happy just being with my brothers. When I decided to transfer to this chapter, love was not on my radar. I am so happy that I broke down that day. You are the best thing to ever happen in my life. I would like you to wear this Rag to show everyone that you are now and forever my Old Lady.

“Oh my God!” Peaches says with tears streaming down her face. “YES! I can’t believe it. I did not expect this. I wanted it, but this is a surprise.”

The brothers let out a loud yell. Then they all gather around us giving out man hugs and giving Anna a kiss, much to my annoyance. CeCe’s giggle can be heard around the room causing everyone to smile. I feel rather than see Peaches tense up and look at her. Skid is walking towards her. I step in front of her while I see Fury step in front of me. Tigger, I notice has stepped up beside Axel, since he still has CeCe in his hands. I could not be prouder of the men I call brothers at this moment. They are all doing what they can to protect my girls. Even the guys that are standing around have moved closer so that they can intervein if needed.

“Prez, I need to speak to you and Taz for a minute in private,” Skid grumbles. “I guess you may as well bring Voodoo. Hell, everyone will know before the night is out.”

After giving Peaches and CeCe a quick kiss we follow Skid to the office. I don’t know what to expect but he had better have a damn good reason for upsetting Peaches yet again. Especially tonight when she should be nothing but happy. He is lucky neither Voodoo or I have put our fist through his face.

“I need to tell y’all a few things,” he says with his head hanging low. “I know that CeCe is my kid first off.”

That is a far as he gets as the anger I have been trying to keep under control finally snaps free. My fist hitting his face is so satisfying that I do it a few more times for good measure. Not a single guy in the room tries to stop me at first. It’s a few minutes before Voodoo pulls me off of Skid who is a crumpled mess on the floor.

“CeCe is my daughter, not yours!” I scream at him while spittle flies from my mouth to land on him. “You will never claim that pure angel. You are a despicable piece of shit that I would love to see six feet under.”

Voodoo and Axel sit back drinking their beer without saying a word. The smirk on Axel’s face lets me know that he is surprised I lasted this long.

“What else did you want to fucking say?” Voodoo growls at him. “You better make it quick. I have better people to talk to.”

Skid looks like he knows his days are numbered. He gets off the floor wiping the blood from his split lip and proceeds to tell us everything that has been going on. He claims that he never wanted to have sex with Anna. He had no choice. Then he drops a bombshell I never saw coming.

“My sister was killed last week,” he slowly spills the story from his lips. “She was killed because I did not do what I was told to do. She was snatched at school twenty-one months ago. I was told to kill Anna if I wanted to ever see my sister again. When I told them there was no way I could ever do that, I was given the choice to kill her or force her to have sex with me. I figured that was the better choice that might allow me to live.”

“No, asshole, coming to the club and telling us what the fuck was going on and letting us help you was the better choice!” screams Voodoo as he slams his hands on the table.

Axel opens the door and yells. “Church now!”

Tigger and Mikey, as well as the club girls, step up to surround Anna and CeCe. Everyone is on edge when we leave Axel’s office and head to church. I have to physically sit on my hands so that I don’t go after Skid again. He’s sitting in the corner with his head hanging down so he doesn’t have to look anyone in the face.

 “Listen up,” Axel growls to the table. “This asshole needs to fill us in on what is going on. He has already told Voodoo, Taz, and I some parts; which I will tell you before he tells us the rest. No one is to lose their temper or go after the dumbass. We will deal with this as a club.”

Axel tells the club the story Skid told us. My mind is not focused on what he is saying since I know it. Instead, I am trying to figure out what, if anything, I’m going to tell Peaches. She deserves to know, but the club will handle this. I don’t want her to be scared of anything. I bring myself back into focus when Axel tells Skid to start talking.

Skid looks around the room full of growling men. He knows that there is still a chance one of them will reach across the table and choke him before he is done, but he begins talking. “My sister was only eighteen years old. I had to try to save her,” he takes a deep breath, like he is trying to build up the courage to say what comes next. “I could never kill anyone, especially Anna. We were drinking one night, and I saw my chance. I figured she wouldn’t remember it and it would not be a big deal for her. I sent a couple pictures back to Chicago, so they could see I had done what they asked. They sent a picture of my sisters mutilated body back. They killed her that night. I did not know that Anna had gotten pregnant, I would have done something. I just don’t know what. My mother buried her daughter and now she is going to bury me.”

“Who is behind this?” Voodoo asks with very little patience.

“The Marx family,” Skid replies without hesitation.

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Voodoo screams as he throws his chair against the wall.

“Voodoo calm down, and tell us what is going on,” Axel bellows trying to get through to Voodoo.

“We need Anna in here,” Scott says with his face white, “she is the only one who knows the full story of what happened with that messed up family.”

I go to get Anna from the common room. I notice she is still upset but surrounded by the club girls. I ask Scarlett, a club girl who is always playing with CeCe, if she could watch my princess for a few minutes while we go into church. By the smile on her face I assume she is happy to be the one asked.

“What’s going on Taz,” Peaches asks me concern showing on her beautiful face

“Voodoo told me to have you come in,” I let her know, trying not to build her anxiety. “He said that you could fill in some background.”

We both walk in to church. Anna looks around the room to see what is going on. When she sees Voodoo, she immediately rushes to his side. I watch as she seems to have an entire conversation with him without a word being spoken. Axel tells her, that we need to get some information from her about a family she used to know. When she hears the name, tears immediately fall from her eyes.

“I haven’t thought about the Marx family in years,” she tells us while trying to dry her eyes. “They used to live here but moved somewhere in the Midwest after the dad went to prison. I have not heard from them since.”

“Tell them everything that you remember,” Voodoo urges her.

“I was just a kid, so I don’t know a lot of the particulars,” she intones, “I was friends with the youngest child, Marie. If I remember correctly the oldest was James, and it was Austin who was killed. The dad, I can’t remember all the details, but he went to prison when Marie and I were around seven or eight, for murder and attempted sexual assault. Austin was killed in a hit and run by a woman who was drunk. I remember Marie and I telling the police about seeing the dad and that woman together a few months after the funeral, but I never connected that we had probably turned him in for whatever he did. The family moved away after that. I haven’t heard from them since.”

Axel thanks her for the information and tells everyone we are taking a break. He tells Turtle to do a quick search for information. Fury takes Skid to a room in the basement we use for situations like this. The rest of us go to the common room except for Voodoo who heads to the gym to work out some aggression. Peaches and I grab CeCe and head out for a drive to try to escape the tension growing in here. I know there is another way that would be fun to release that tension, but she has a need to hold onto CeCe for a while.

“Baby, what are you thinking about so hard?” I ask her with a small smile.

“I really want to know why I needed to tell what I remember about the Marx’s,” she questions me. I try to think of what I can without telling club business.

“Skid came to us with some information that I can’t share yet,” I begin. “It led back to the Marx family. We are looking into that as you heard Prez say. Other than that, I can’t tell you anything else right now. If I can get permission from Prez I will tell you everything, but my guess is that Voodoo will wanna have that talk after he calms down some.”

We head back to the clubhouse as my phone goes off, letting me know that we were wanted. I help Peaches get CeCe out of the car once we pull into the parking lot and we head inside. Voodoo is waiting for us. He hands off CeCe to Axel and we follow him to his office.

“Anna, I need you to sit down and let me talk,” he tells her, “you can get mad or hit me or better yet Taz, after I finish. Skid has admitted to raping you. He has a story of being forced to do it because his little sister was kidnapped. He claims it was that or kill you. It ends up his sister was killed anyway. From what he is saying, the order to come after you was given by the head of a powerful family in Chicago. That family is the Marx family.”

Voodoo pauses for a few moments to let everything he has told her sink in. You can see every emotion as it plays across her face before horror sets in. I want to reach over and hold her in my arms, protect her from the words and anything else that she needs protection from. But, I don’t. Anna may need my strength once in a while, but she needs to learn how strong she is too.

“Oh my God! They killed his sister?” she cries, placing her hand over her heart as shock takes over. “What kind of monster does that? You said that’s why he attacked me? What happens now? Are the Marx’s coming here? Was Marie behind this or her brother James? Why did they do this? I don’t understand.”

“Breathe baby,” I tell her tuning her to face me, so she can mimic my breaths. “We will figure it all out. We don’t have any answers yet, but we are working on it.”

“Ok,” she breathes out, “One more question. What is gonna happen to Skid now that you know all this? He didn’t seem to have a choice. His sister’s life is worth having sex, willing or not.”

“No, it’s fucking not!” I shout disgustedly. “That prick had an easy choice. He chose to hurt you. Skid could have come to us and we would have helped him and his sister. He betrayed the club, you, and himself.”

A knock on Voodoo’s door breaks into my rant. Axel walks in with a fussy CeCe in his arms. It would seem that my princess is hungry. Peaches runs to get her bag from the car while I get her set up in the highchair in the kitchen. I still laugh to see all the things Voodoo and Axel went out to buy so that CeCe and, any other kids that might come, would be comfortable here. As we are sitting down for CeCe to eat, several other brothers join us. They all seem to be drawn to her cute little giggles. It gives us all the respite we need from the heaviness of earlier.

Peaches takes that opportunity to throw out a request I should have seen coming but was blindsided instead. I know that her mind is going to continue to spin in circles with every new development we discover. Not once will she let it rest. Even if it means saving the one person she shouldn’t want to save at all.

“Axel, I have a favor to ask,” she says boldly. After he lifts his eyebrow in question, she continues. “I would like to ask for mercy for Skid.”

A pin could have dropped in the following silence. Even CeCe seemed to understand the shock we were all experiencing. Turtle walks in with a stack of papers that he hands to Axel, while giving a short laugh saying that he seems to be the only one who was expecting her to request that.

“Anna, this is a club decision that you agreed to let us deal with,” Axel says with his president voice as he sits down to look over the stack of papers.

“Yes, I did agree,” Anna states, “I am not asking him to be let off the hook completely. I just would like if you would take into consideration his motivation. He did what would cause the least damage at the time. I don’t know if you can make him leave here, I would like to not have to see him. Other than that, I don’t want to know anything at all about it.”

Voodoo walks over to her and pulls her up into his hug. He tells her she is an amazing woman, which all the brothers echo. I know I am beaming with pride because she is my old lady. Even after all the trauma, hard decisions no one should face alone, and the attacks, Anna still wants Skid to have his life. She may not want to see him, and I completely understand that, but she doesn’t want to see him pay the same price his sister paid. I’m not sure that anyone else would make the same decision that she did.