A bloody neck stump rose in his mind and he grinned. Which would be more effective? Showing Megan Johnnie’s decapitated head or his headless body? Probably neither. She wanted his head too. The goremightdo the trick. But she might end up in a psycho camp as well, then she’d be taken away from him anyfuckinway.
Fuckin’ CeeCee. If not for his ass, Megan wouldn’t be traumatized by the goddamn head he’d sent her. It’d force Christopher to waste the motherfuckin’ head, and show her the fucked up body.
He eyed Digger. “If she ain’t talkin’ me out of it, motherfuckers die.”
Digger’s face crumpled and sweat beaded his brow.
“CJ my nephew, Outlaw,” Val said into the silence. “I don’t value his life less than I do my boys.”
“You a lyin’ motherfucker,” Christopher snarled, angry at the fucking world and done with deceiving fuckheads. “Don’t fuckin’ placate me to lessen the fuckin’ blow. I love my nieces and nephews, but not more than my own children.”
“It’s fucked up that I’m trying to save my sons while encouraging CJ to take your place.”
Christopher sighed, soul weary, wanting Megan. Loving her. Hating her because he loved her so much. Still so fucking unreasonably angry at her. “It ain’t nothin’ but a thing, Val. We all expected my boy to follow me.”
“Outlaw, don’t give up on him,” Mortician said, always the voice of reason. “He a lot like Meggie, so I understand why you so worried, but he like you too. You got to give him a chance to find his way.”
“He need his own identity, Mort. I didn’t grow up expectin’thisto be my life. I grew up fightin’ for my place.”
“If you tell him he can’t join the club, that might break him,” Mortician said. “Especially right now.”
“Make him understand he got to go to school,” Val suggested. “Give him a chance to forge his own identity apart from the club. Away from you or Meggie. Let him follow Diesel’s path.”
“What Meggie girl say?”
“I ain’t told her yet,” Christopher admitted. “Besides I’m here and she there, so I can’t fuckin’ talk to her, can I?”
Silence followed, and Christopher scowled.
“I’m not the smartest motherfucker,” Val started, “but you, uh, you…You mad at Meggie?”
Leaning back, Christopher clenched his jaw.
“You are.” Val sounded like a fucking strangled chicken. “But why…?”
Christopher clamped his jaw tighter and a muscle ticked.
“Uh, Prez?” Mort called.
“What, Mortician?” Christopher barked.
“I’ll tell youwhat, Outlaw,” Val said in annoyance. “You fuck with Meggie, you fuck with us. Our bitches align with her and don’t feed us, don’t fuck us, and don’t talk to us, until you make up with her.”
“How the fuck that’smyfuckin’ fault?”
“Prez right,” Digger said with a decisive shake of his head. “It’s all Meggie ‘cause her and Prez don’t even have to fight for Bunny to do whatever Meggie say.”
Mortician thumped Digger’s shoulder. “Shut the fuck up,” he ordered, then looked at Christopher. “We undoing all the bad advice we gave you a few weeks ago.”
Surprised Mort brought that shit up, Christopher lifted a brow.
“Prez, I know what happened fucking with you,” Mortician said gravely, “and you want someone to blame. Something to blame, but Meggie not it. Even if you think she sharesomeresponsibility for Rule’s break, she sure the fuck don’t share all of it.”
“She his ma,” Christopher grouched.
“Outlaw, I’m begging you to work through this before she get home,” Mort continued. “If you come at her like the enemy, she gonna treat your fucking ass like the enemy.”
“Yeah, because she livin’ in the depths of hell, focused on stupid shit,” he yelled, pounding his fist on the desk, voicing the sentiment poisoning him. Words flew from his mouth before he considered them.“She actin’ like she ain’t got a fuckin’ brain. Just stupid. When she was my sweet angel, she was more fuckin’ reasonable. You know what? She gotta have another baby. That’ll bring her back to me and help me to keep her safe. That lil pain in the ass motherfucker almost got herself fucking fuckedup by her son.Myson. How the fuck she always tryin’ to die on me? How? Fuck her. It’sherfuckin’ fault. Case fuckin’ closed.”
