Page 10 of Diesel

“What the fuck were you doing out here?” Beast asked Wendy.

“I asked Stimpy if I could come.”

“Sorry, Beast,” Stimpy said. “It was stupid.”

Beast took out his phone when it buzzed. He studied the screen and shook his head. “Wendy, take the van and drive Stimpy back to the club. Have Big Kentucky fix him up.” Beast waited a few minutes for Wendy and Watcher to get Stimpy in the van. “Skittles sent me a message.”

“Okay,” I said, knowing it had something to do with Gigi. “She’s not fucking coming back, is she?”

“No.” Beast looked at the screen again. “Skittles got a message from Gigi that her mother was really sick and she needed to stay there. I’m sorry, brother.”

“It’s not a big fucking deal. I was done with that ass anyway.” I walked away and climbed on my bike. Beast followed with Cinder in tow. “Still leaving tomorrow?”

“Yeah, man, but I need to do this shit on my own if you don’t mind.” I nodded toward the house. You gotta clean this shit up anyway.”

“When you headed out?”

I patted my saddle bags. “Gonna stop by my place now. Load up and get the fuck out of town. Give me a week?”

Beast shook his head. “No. Take all the time you need. We’ll figure this shit out while you’re gone.”

“Thanks, brother.”

I pulled away from the farm and headed home. An empty home. Like it always was. For the first time in my life, I didn’t want it to be that way. But, like I told G, deal with the cards dealt.

4

Gigi

“Whose idea was this, Charles? Yours or my father’s?” I grabbed at my phone but Charles pulled it away.

“We thought it was best, Gigi. Neither of us wanted to see you fucking up your life over some piece of biker trash. I don’t understand why you can’t see there’s no future there. What’s he got on you that makes you want to stay in that crap?” Charles tossed the phone on the bed.

“You don’t own me, and he doesn’t control me.” I went for my phone but stopped when my father entered the room. For the first time in my life, I hated that he always wore suits, even to our meals. The suits made him appear powerful, but we all knew people in power lived in constant fear of someday losing that power. Being on a pedestal also meant being imprisoned by the life you created around you.

“Leave the phone,” he said. I grabbed the phone anyway and read the message sent to Diesel. “A complete fucking lie, Father. He was right. He said you were lying.”

“I do what I have to do to protect my family.” He took the phone from my hand. “I pay the phone bill, remember?” He stuck the phone inside his jacket. “Now, let’s talk about what you will do next.”

“What I will do next is leave. I don’t wanna be here, Father.” He walked to the door. I knew what was next. He’d done it too many times to count when I was a child. It’s how he operated when he couldn’t control a situation. He locked people in or out. In my case, in.

“Charles,” he said, and Charles left the room. “You disappoint me, Gigi.” He left the room, and moments later, the door lock clicked.

Dad never did anything without a backup plan. He learned that from years of making mistakes in the technology world. I went to the window, blasted with cold air when I opened it. Leaning forward, I saw the trellis had been removed from the house. As a teenager, the trellis was nothing short of my best friend, allowing an easy escape to parties and boyfriends.

I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering if Diesel thought I was an asshole. I’d learned a lesson. Listen to what Diesel had to say. I went to the University of Arkansas, and he went to Harvard. Enough said.

I fell asleep thinking of Diesel and woke after midnight thinking of him, seeing his apparition in the corner of the room.

“I told you so,” he said. “Assholes like them stoop to levels the rest of us know nothing about. Money fucks people up.”

Cold, I noticed the window slightly open. “What the fuck are you doing in my room?”

Diesel laughed. “Thought you were seeing a ghost?”

I went to the window and looked out. “Where the hell did you get a ladder?”

“Toolshed around back.” He opened the window. “Grab your shit, and let’s go.”

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