Chapter Fourteen
Cara
“Where are Luca, Lily, Landon and Layne at?” I ask DJ as I’m in the kitchen helping her get a stock of non-perishable food gathered to take downstairs and into the storm shelter. Thank goodness for Nan and her quirky ways of thinking, because none of the men had ever thought about protecting the club and family against storms of this magnitude.
“Nan and the prospects ushered all the kids downstairs when we first got here. You’re late to the game, sweetie,” she tells me. It’s not my fault Braxton kept me ‘busy’ at the office while everyone else was rushing here. I can never say no to my man, and apparently that goes for times when we should be following the yellow brick road to safety. I can’t help but think that I’m a bad mother for not being here when my children arrived. I need to see them and hold them in my arms before I’m secure in the thought that they are actually okay and in one piece.
“Blame Braxton and his second brain, it always is on top of his priority list. We could’ve been in a storm tunnel and he’d still be attached to me,” I reply.
“Listen to you getting all bitchy and shit, good for you.” Leave it to my bestie to see the silver lining. She’s always wanted me to be more vocal and stand up for myself and she picks now of all times to give me a high five on my vocabulary.
“We need to get this stuff boxed up and moved downstairs, I want to see and hold my babies.”
“I do too, but we need to make sure we’re stocked well in case it’s awhile before we can get back up here. You know the kids and men are always hungry and I personally don’t want to deal with some hangry assholes while being stuck in a room with only four walls to look at and no escape in sight.”
“Have you heard from any of the other women from the Texas chapters? I’m worried about them as well. I’ve had a chat with Jenalyn a few times and from what I can remember they’re located in the eye of the storm.”
“Been a little busy, haven’t had time to pick up my phone and check on anyone. They’re a smart group of women though, I’m sure they’ll be fine, mama bear.”
“Did you just roll your eyes at me? You know how I am, I can’t help but worry. They’re our friends and I want them all safe and sound.”
“We all feel that way, but right now all we can do is worry about ourselves and our families. I’m not trying to be a selfish bitch here, don’t get me wrong, but we need to make sure ours are okay before we put our attention elsewhere.”
“You’re right, I know you are, but DJ, we’re not in the eye of the storm. We’re only expected to get the backlash of the storm.”
“And the ‘backlash’ that you’re referring to has been known to take a life or two before. I get your worry and concern, the faster we get this stuff packed up and downstairs the quicker we can check on our friends.”
“Fine, but as soon as that’s done I’m making a post and asking them all to check in,” I tell her.
“And I’ll be right by your side when you do, now let’s get this shit done and stop talking about it already,” she sighs.
“Wow! You sure are bitchy today.”
“Just today?” Trinity walks into the room to join us and I give her a high-five. See, I’m not the only one who’s noticed the horns that have popped out of her head more often than not the last couple of weeks.
“Watch yourself over there, Miss Trinity,” DJ states.
“Or what?” Trinity asks her, and my head is going back and forth as I watch the two begin to verbally spar.
“Good for you, look honey, our girl is growing up,” DJ says and I begin to laugh at her. Trinity has grown a bit of a backbone since she started hanging out with us, but honestly that’s all DJ and her influence over all of us.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, let’s get done what needs doing so we can get settled downstairs,” I state. Enough is enough and as the president’s old lady, it’s time for me to reign shit in, especially since we’re gonna be spending ‘quality’ time with one another.
“I posted on the site telling everyone to let us know they were safe,” Trinity says. “Figured that way, they’d know we’re getting shelter and would check in when we could.”
“Any replies yet?” I can’t help but ask.
“Not yet. Oh, and I made sure to plug in everyone’s phones and electronics where they were laying around downstairs. Bandit sure had a helluva idea putting in that charging station and making sure there were cords and stuff,” Trinity says. She’s right, it was a brilliant move because even though I know we’ve got a generator, it’s minimal and will allow us to have the refrigerator that’s now downstairs and lights. We need to make sure that our phones are fully charged.
“He’s definitely something,” Hannah replies, grinning, as she walks through the door. Yeah, she’s got that freshly-fucked look and I hope that holds her until we’re out of here. The guys may have sectioned off areas for each family, but the walls are still thin and none of the kids need to hear the sex sounds that any of us make. The thought alone has me blushing.
“I think we’ve got everything we’ll need to tide us over,” DJ tells us.
“Then let’s go down and let the prospects know so they can come and haul all of this for us.” These things are heavy and there’s no way I can lug them myself and I know that the other women can’t either.
Once we reach downstairs I notice the kids are all sitting in front of a television watching some cartoons. They didn’t even notice we weren’t there, good thing we’ve raised them to be independent and self-reliant, well as much as they can at their young ages. “Braxton!” I holler out.
“Yeah?” he says, preoccupied.
I call out his name again and this time he gives me his full attention. “The boxes are packed, we need someone to go up and get them.”
“Prospects! You heard her, get to it,” he says, turning his attention away from us once again.
I don’t know what has him so fucking occupied elsewhere, but this shit isn’t working for me. I narrow my eyes at him and call out, “Excuse me!”
“What?”
“That’s better, at least you now are acknowledging my existence.”
“Sorry, honey, I’m busy trying to check in on some of our friends. Whatcha need?”
“Nothing exactly, just don’t like to be ignored and made to feel like a second-class citizen from my old man, I’ve been there and done that.”
“Don’t go there, Cara, I’m nothing like that jackass.”
“Never said you were, just stated that when I speak to you I expect the same level of respect I show you when you speak with me. That’s all,” I say shrugging my shoulders. He comes up to me and plants a kiss on my lips, and just like that all is good in my world.
“Hey,” he says.
“You may go back to your presidential duties,” I reply, giving him a wink. He slaps my ass and mouths to me, “you’ll pay for that” and takes off back to the circle he was in earlier. I love it when he makes me pay.
Once the prospects come down with the stuff we packed up, the rest of my girls and I get it put away with their help. I appreciate the fact that they’re there to help, but sometimes, they don’t think practically. The last time we went to a giant warehouse store to stock up and they unloaded, we found the huge boxes of toilet paper in the room where we have the kids’ beds and stuff! I still think it was a joke, but it sure as hell wasn’t funny lugging that damn box down the hall, through the main clubhouse room and over to the storage room that Nan created, that’s for sure!
Hannah
I sit back and watch the family dynamics and long for the day I can begin a family with Smokey and Bandit. We’ve had this discussion and the guys simply aren’t ready yet, and I respect their choice knowing that one day it will happen. I shouldn’t be longing for a child yet since I’m still trying to find myself, so to speak, but when I’m around everyone and theirs I can’t seem to help myself. Would we have a little girl with long flowing hair or a little boy who’s just as rough and gruff as his daddies are? Daydreams are something that I’ve recently found myself lost in. My artwork is reflecting more of a family type scene, than that of my pinup girls and abstract art I love so much when I’m feeling down and out. It’s funny how quickly dreams can change, I used to dream about surviving my family and now I dream of growing one. But just as they have, I’ve grown as a person and as a woman and I’m finding that I like who I’m turning into. I wish I could say it was all me, but the men and this family I have gained have shown me a different way and have helped me tremendously with that growth.
“Hannah, dinner’s up,” I hear Trinity call out to me, so I shake myself out of my train of thoughts and go and join the others at the buffet-style setting that’s been made. Food looks and smells really good, I’m glad we have an apartment-sized stove down here, it doesn’t allow us to cook large quantities at a time, but it gets the job done nonetheless. We’re just having something simple, but my stomach is rumbling and the smell is making it worse. I get my plate made and join the others at the tables that are set up. We all dig in as if this is our last meal, I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s hungry enough to eat a cow.
“When will we know how bad the storm has affected the town?” I ask my old men.
“The worst of it should be upon us soon, guess it just depends on the severity of what we get hit with on how long it lasts,” Bandit tells me.
“Don’t worry, doll, we’ll keep you entertained if you’re worried about getting bored,” Smokey says with a twinkle in his eye.
“I’m not worried about getting bored, I’m worried about our town and the people who reside there.”
“Has anyone checked on the post we put out to see if anyone’s replied yet?” Cara asks us.
“I checked it a few minutes ago and there was nothing.” I pull out my phone and realize I no longer have a signal. “Anyone have a signal, because I sure the hell don’t?”
“I had one earlier, let me check,” Trinity replies. “Nope, nothing, guess we’re on standby for awhile.”
“That sucks!” DJ announces, “I’m with Cara, I’m worried about our friends, I hope they’re all fine and safe.”
“We’ll keep trying, sooner or later one of us has to get reception,” I state. The next couple of hours consist of us playing board games, poker, playing with the younger kids and checking our devices. I send good vibes and thoughts to them and pray, even though I’m not the religious type, that all is good with each and everyone of them.