Page 28 of Moonshine Lullabies
What we were doin’ was still highly illegal, and any an’ all money above and beyond our meager cuts that we come down on was goin’ into the new operation. It’d be awhile until we reached phase two of this operation and boy howdy – were we playin’ with fire, startin’ this shit up in the middle of a goddamn turf war that was heatin’ up but good. Hell, that was just how things were, though. We could handle it, but to say we were a bit stretched thin with all the goings on was a fuckin’ understatement.
I went to the house I was rentin’ a cheap-ass room out of to grab my toiletry kit since I was going to be spending some days out at Cy’s. I could put off brushing my teeth for a night or two but that was about my fuckin’ limit on how gross I wanted to get. I took it out to the bike and locked it into one of my saddlebags after availing myself of its uses and went to the clubhouse next.
La Croix was around and I filled him in on what was happening on the home front with Jessie-Lou and Tate. He listened and said, “Turn off your phone,” pulling his out and doing the same.
He told me what was gonna be covered in church, asked my thoughts, took my vote by proxy, and absolved me of havin’ to be around for the next one so I could take care of Jessie-Lou and her kid.
“Thank you kindly, boss. I sure do appreciate it,” I told him and got up.
“Leavin’ already?” he asked. I turned on my phone and looked at the time.
“I maybe got some time for some lunch, but then yeah. I gotta pick up Tate, get him home and then see about pickin’ up Jessie.”
“You got a thing for Cypress’ sister, don’t ‘cha?” he asked.
I didn’t lie to him. La Croix wasn’t someone you did that to.
“I do believe I’d like to get to know her some, yeah,” I said.
“Sit down,” he said and kicked the seat next to him.
I sat my ass down.
He ordered us up some food from a shack down the block and once that was done, leaned back and said, “I don’t want this leadin’ to fights inside this club, so if you go down this route you better be fuckin’ serious. You feel me?”
I nodded and said, “I ain’t lookin’ to disrespect Cy’s sister like that. I know how it goes, man. It ain’t like that. I genuinely would like to get to know her. I hope she’ll let me.”
He searched my face with his unnerving blacked-out eyes and finally gave a nod.
“You discuss it with Cy?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I ain’t gonna do that. Jessie-Lou is her own person and capable of making her own decisions. Cy doesn’t get to say what she does and does not do, and that’d just torpedo anything before it could get started if she found out.”
His eyes narrowed, and it looked like he was doing some internal calculations.
“Y’all end up fighting about it, then you squash it right then and there. No lingering bullshit or I’ll deal with you both.”
I nodded. “I hear you P. Loud and clear.”
“Alright, last I’m gonna say on it for now.”
I nodded.
“Fair, that’s fair.”
We had lunch, I said my goodbyes, and then I hit the road to head to Tate’s school for the second time today. I was sittin’ out front when he came out the doors.
“How’d it go?” I asked, and he huffed a sigh.
“Boring,” he declared.
I handed him a helmet and said, “C’mon, I gotta take you home so I can pick up your mom.”
He grinned. “What, this thing can’t carry three?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No it cannot.”
I took him home and got him started on his homework at the kitchen table before I took off to go get his mom.
