Page 39 of Keys

When we finally made it to Spearfish, my cell was brimming full of messages. There were a few from Ghost, updating me about the Sweet/Jamie situation. There were a few from Sweet, mostly wanting updates. Then there were a couple from Aubrey. It turned my stomach to see them, because she wasn’t the woman who I wanted to be checking on me in the middle of a run. It should have been Keys asking after me.

Wren, who had been in the truck with Walker on the ride up, flew back out to Cedar Falls. I took Ghost’s advice and decided to stay on for a bit. That was when Steel approached me for help.

“Transfer went through, man.” He told me as we hugged it out.

“That’s fucking great. It’ll be good to have another lifer, club brat around.” We laughed, because Steel and I had come up together in the club, in a way. His biological father was Hopper, a member of the Cedar Falls Chapter, so he had been splitting time between there and the Dakotas since his mom ran off with Iceman back before he became the Dakotas Chapter President.

“I plan on spending a couple days in Cedar Falls so that I can see my parents. Ghost and your old man both mentioned they thought Tuck and my mom were split and on the outs again.”

“Sounds good to me. I haven’t seen Hopper in a bit. Be good to stick around a couple days and give the old man some of my time.”

“You going to see your sister this time too?”

Steel rolled his eyes at me. “Man, I don’t even know how to wrap my head around that shit to this day. I can’t believe my sister was a fucking a club girl and that her own mother is the one who sent her there, knowing it was possible she might end up with her own father or brother fucking her.” He shook his head. “Who the fuck does some despicable shit like that?” He hung his head a moment and then turned harsh eyes on me. “If you were ever with her, don’t tell me.”

“I tend to leave the club girls alone,” explained quickly. It’s funny how when we talked about it in the context of his sister, the term “club whore” is verboten. Couldn’t blame the guy though.

“I think she’s on the road with Phoenix anyway.”

I nodded my head. “Have you ever met her?”

“Not yet. Hopper says she’s doing better. Guess Phoenix put his foot down and made her go to therapy after everything came out. Probably for the best.

“Apparently, it’s helping, and they all have a good relationship so far. I don’t know how Hopper was able to stick around the Cedar Falls Chapter afterward though. Shit, his own daughter was used by most of the younger brothers there.” He glanced around the clubhouse we were standing in. “My girl fucked my best friend here, and I’m hauling ass to another chapter so that I never have to see either of them again.”

“Your old man’s a stubborn ass.” My comment made him laugh.

“That’s for damn sure.” He turned to me as we got the rest of his shit packed up. “What’s up with you and that sexy redhead? Ever get that shit worked out?”

“Nah. It’s worse than ever now thanks to Sweet.”

“What the fuck did he do?” I explained how everything went down before I took this run and he just shook his head.

“I guess the human element is always at play. Sometimes, it’s easier to think the grass is greener on the other side – in the other chapter – but I guess every single one has their issues. You think his girl will come around at least?”

“Ghost went to go intervene. Not sure how that will play out, but hopefully he gets them back on track.”

Once we had Steel all packed out, we sent Walker back in a small box van with Steel’s shit. Then, Steel and I decided to go fuck around in the Badlands before we had to head that way ourselves.

~*~

Fourteen days later, after a visit to our family in Cedar Falls, we finally both made it back to Sierra High. As was our standard operating procedure, we went to report to our Chapter President the minute we got back.

I flung open Sweet’s door and stepped inside to see his ass just as he drilled balls-deep into a female with black hair splayed all over the pillows. I knew in my heart who the hell it was and turned my back as quickly as I could get my feet to work.

“What the fuck! God damn it Quickshot!” Sweet yelled. A pillow was thrown and smacked into the wall right beside my head. “What the fuck do you want?”

“Just letting you know that Steel and I are back.”

“Great. Now, get the fuck out.”

I did just that, Steel on my heels and laughing his ass off as he went. “That shit isn’t funny. That girl is like my sister, and I just saw things I never wanted to see.”

“Welcome to my world.”

“Nah. That shit is different.”

“Dude, Phoenix and Jewel were going hard at it when Hopper tried to introduce us while we were back in Cedar Falls. I think all of us were scarred by that shit.”

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