Page 8 of Brood
Chapter Five
I think I may have walked every street this town has to offer fifty times over the last week while I have been impatiently waiting for my car to be fixed. The only street I haven’t gone down is the one that leads to the clubhouse. That is changing right now as I ride with Iris down the short road that leads to what was once a school. It’s a tall two-story brick building with a large metal building next to it and a small tan-colored part connecting them both together. “The big part is the old gym– it has a few rooms too– the middle part is the cafeteria and the brick building used to be the classrooms,” Iris explains to me the closer we get before parking the car. The row of motorcycles I usually see out front of the cafe are all lined up alongside a sidewalk that leads to the door. Now that we have come closer, I realize the building all connected together makes a U shape with the once gym and school on each side. I also notice a large open garage door that leads into the old brick school. There is a vehicle jacked up off the floor, but my hopes are quickly dashed away when I realize it’s not mine. No. Mine is actually sitting outside straight across from the open door, on the side of the road.
“I wonder if it’s fixed,” I say more to myself, only Iris hears me when we get out of the car.
“Not yet, I’m afraid.”
“Figures,” I mumble and follow her into the middle building where we enter in through two big steel doors that are propped open with wooden wedges. The low thrum from the crowd inside gets louder as I follow Iris. The old lunch tables are still in use I see, filled with more bikers than I have seen at the cafe. There are women here too. I was beginning to think that Iris was the only one, besides me of course. As I walk behind Iris, I tug at the borrowed t-shirt she gave me. Her daughter had left behind a few things when she got married and moved away.
“Hey, I was wondering if you would show up.” Roman slides up next to me as I reach the line for the food.
“I’m going to bring this to the kitchen. Are you okay with him?” Iris pauses for a moment for me to answer yes before she takes off to the kitchen with a giant bowl of some kind of salad.
I go through the line behind Roman, who talks the whole time. I’ve gotten to know him a little more, having seen him often at the café. I listen to him, smiling and nodding when needed, but my attention is pulled elsewhere when I catch sight of Brood. Already sitting at a table, next to his son.
“Hey, brother. Sup little man,” Roman greets Brood and the little boy who beams at him with a heartwarming smile.
“Roman,” Brood regards Roman then flicks his gaze toward me, not meeting my eyes. He straightens in his seat just a little more. “Jordyn.”
“Hello.” I swallow through my suddenly dry throat. “Who’s this?” I finally get more out than just hello as I sit down across from the pair of them. Big Brood and little Brood. “I don’t think we have been introduced.”
“This is Kasin. My son,” Brood tells me then turns to Kasin, “Can you say hi to Jordyn?” the boy smiles and waves his hand at me.
“It’s nice to meet you, Kasin.” The adorable little boy ducks his head as if he is suddenly shy and buries it into his father’s shoulder.
“You really being shy? The kid who has all the women here wrapped around his little finger?” Roman jokes taking a big bite of his pulled pork sandwich. One of them anyway. I don’t know how the man can eat the way he does. There isn’t an ounce of fat on him, and all I have ever seen him do since I got stranded here is eat. Granted I have only seen him at the café, still.
“Kas!” a little high-pitched squeal pulls the attention of the shy boy. A little blond girl with short pigtails bounds up to Kasin and practically pulls him off his seat at the table by hugging him.
“Let him breathe, baby girl.” A tall woman carrying two plates laughs at the carbon copy of herself, still squeezing the life out of Kasin as she takes a seat close to us.
“Halley, let the kid go and sit down.” Another tall muscled man lightly scolds the little girl, Halley, before taking a seat next to the blond woman.
“Going to have to beat that one off with a stick,” Roman laughs and gets a scowl from Brood and the other biker.
“Shut it, Roman. Jordyn, this is Sage and Brook. That one with the death grip on Kas is Halley,” Brood introduces me to the newcomers.
“You must be the stranded girl,” Brook says, settling the little girl down to eat. Halley chatters on to Kasin not making much sense, but to him it seems she does. It’s adorable to watch the two of them.
I suddenly realize what Brook said. “Stranded girl?”
“Sorry. I only get a little gossip here and there. This town needs a place us girls can get together,” Brook complains.
“You do. It’s called the kitchen.” Another cut wearing man comes to the table, laughing at his lame joke.
“You really want to go there with her, Luck? Fuck, you are even dumber than you look,” Sage tells the man who is getting the sharpest daggers stared into him by Brook. Luck doesn’t seem to be affected by her one bit and keeps walking.
“That guy is a tool.” Brook keeps her eyes narrowed his way as he takes a seat far from our table.
“He’s just trying to piss you off.” Sage leans in and kisses his wife on the cheek, coaxing her to turn her head so he can capture her lips. I force myself to look away, and unfortunately, end up looking right at Brood, who is staring at me. I feel my face heat as he quickly averts his gaze down to his plate.
“Where is it you’re from Jordyn?” Brook asks after some time.
“Back east. Kind of bounced around a bit.” I give her the same half answer I gave Iris, who accepted it without question but somehow, I know it won’t be that easy with Brook.
“East, huh? Like New York? You look like a New Yorker. I lived in California for a while. In a college town. The place I worked got business from a lot of guys that lived in New York.”
“Oh. Where did you work?”
