Screamer
Twenty-five years later…
“It’s been a hell of a ride.”
I clink my bottle against Crow’s and stare out over the crowd. Everyone is here today. Each Soulless Kings MC brother, prospect, family member, and close friends. We’ve gathered to celebrate some of us retiring and the next generation taking the reins. Limitless Throttle MC also has a presence, as they do on all family gatherings because of my marriage to Roxie.
“How did we get here?” I ask, wanting to hear my pres’s answer.
“Lots of pain and heartache,” he says. “And lots of fucking love, brother.”
“Yo, Dad?”
I turn to face my son, pride swelling in my chest as I watch him walk across the yard. “What’s up?”
“Mom and Rosie want you to come inside for a minute,” he says, not meeting my eyes.
“Everything okay?” I ask, suddenly worried. Benji doesn’t avert his eyes… ever.
“Yeah, just… c’mon.”
He whirls around and strides away, leaving me to follow.
“This can’t be good,” Crow says, walking beside me. “RoxieandRosie summoning you? Fuck, when my wife and daughter team up, it always ends up fucking me somehow.”
I laugh at his assessment because he’s right. After Addison gave birth to their daughter, the amount of estrogen that Crow had to put up with about broke him. Don’t get me wrong, he loves them and would die for them, but being hitched to the Chief of Police and captain of the cheer squad wasn’t easy for him.
It was funny as hell for the rest of us though.
“What’s going on?” Journey asks when we pass him, and he falls into step with us.
“Screamer was summoned,” Crow says.
“Uh-oh. Both Rox and Rosie?”
“Yep,” I mutter, getting more apprehensive by the second.
Journey and Wren never had children. Even though Wren has a solid grip on her Dissociative Identity Disorder, and it’s not genetic, they agreed that they didn’t want to risk it. They’ve lived vicariously through the rest of us and our children. And to be honest, even if her different identities came out to play, I loved it when she watched Benji and Rosie when they were little.
“Heard your wife was looking for you,” Ghost states, joining the ever-growing group of us.
“Fuckin’ hell, word travels fast,” I bark.
“You might not have lived here for over two decades,” Ember says as she walks alongside Ghost. “But you know how things work. The gossip runs rampant.”
I halt and turn to her. “Do you know what’s going on?”
Her only response is to shrug. I trail my gaze from her to Ghost and the rest of them.
“What about all of you?” I demand.
“Nope.”
“No.”
“Course not.”
I throw my hands up in the air, annoyed because it’s clear that they knowexactlywhat’s going on.
