Page 101 of Scar

* * *

The ridefrom Indiana to Virginia was a long one. Scar and Tally ended up staying another night in the cabin. Keys promised to wire funds to the owners for the damage and usage in a few weeks, meaning Scar could save the cash he had on him for other things if needed. They got to Alexandria in just over ten hours. Scar pushed the speed limit, but Tally knew not as much as he would have were he alone.

Tally checked into a hotel, using her name and credit card. She booked a two-bedroom suite for two nights. The next morning, she took a rideshare to her parents’ house. She didn’t even know why she got Scar to promise he would remain behind at the hotel when she knew damn well that he would follow her.

The driver brought her to the U-turn drive. She didn’t bother with the sunglasses and ‘blind act’ because the Feds would already know everything about her. It would be suspicious if she was a well-known blind chef who suddenly needed extra assistance.

“Mama?” Tally called, walking inside. She hadn’t heard the roar of a motorcycle anywhere around, but she knew he was there. How the fuck had Scar beaten herinsideher mom’s house? She really needed to figure out how he did that.

“Tally Ally? Is that you?”

Tally resisted reminding her mom that she was the woman’s only daughter and therefore the only person who would call her ‘mama’. “Yes.”

Tally placed her cane by the front door and clicked her way into the house. Keys had assured her that the warrant to investigate Lenora Meacham was for her phone only. They did not have listening devices inside her home and could only surveil her if she left. No doubt, they knew Tally was inside and had identified her.

“Baby, I’ve been trying to reach you for days. Where have you been? Your father went down to Atlanta to help you with your restaurant and I haven’t heard from him either!”

Tally paused in the doorway of the living room. Her mom was one of the sweetest people Tally knew, kind to a fault, but she was eccentrically silly. A proper ‘Southern Belle’. She preferred to have her husband deal with things while she ran the household. Since Tally had moved out, her mom had taken up gardening, needlework, and had tried her hand at painting.

Tally’s father was actually Lenora’s second husband. Her first was a handsome but cruel man, per her mother’s description. Her mom had been prepared to stay with him, believing that a husband had certain rights, but thankfully Tally’s grandfather had caught on to what was going on and was able to help her mom secure a divorce. That was when Lenora had met Henry Meacham, who was still an active duty soldier at the time and older than Lenora by a decade. While Tally’s grandfather was not too keen about letting his little girl marry a ‘colored boy’, he also did nothing to stop the wedding after what Lenora had been subjected to during her first marriage.

Three years later, Tally was born.

Until this past week, Tally would have sworn with her hand on a Bible that her parents had the perfect marriage. Maybe a little old-fashioned, but they loved and supported each other wholly.

Tally was starting to wonder just how blind she really was.

She felt her mom approach her and reached out to hug her. “He was in Atlanta with me, but then I left.” She squeezed her mom tight, noting that the woman had lost weight since the last time Tally had been with her.

“Come, sit. I’ll make us some tea.”

“Actually,” Tally hedged. “I think it’s better if we hold off on that. Mama, you haven’t heard from Dad at all?”

“No, no,” she insisted, sniffling. “I’ve been so worried.”

“Have you heard what’s going on with Primis?”

“Yes. It’s just terrible about George. I’m sure your father’s busy trying to get everything sorted out.”

Tally made a face. Her mom had a way of believing that a husband had the solution to all problems. It was one of the many reasons she had fought to keep Tally in the house instead of moving to Atlanta to start a life of her own after college.

Tally took a deep breath before starting, “Mama, I need you to listen to me very carefully…”

* * *

It was sometime later beforeher mom’s bags were packed and Tally was calling another rideshare car to take them to the hotel. As both Scar and Keys reminded Tally, her mom was not under arrest or house arrest. The Feds could not stop her from leaving. After a lot of consideration as to where to take her mom, including to Mount Grove, Tally decided that her mom would be the most comfortable at her parents’ estate in North Carolina. One of the club’s prospects was coming in the morning to drive her down.

With the stress of her husband’s betrayal, Tally figured it wasn’t the best time to play Meet the Parents with Scar. It wasn’t like that had gone over very well with her father.

Didn’t stop Scar from joining Tally in her bed after her mom went into the second bedroom. Tally was extremely jealous of Scar’s ability to keep quiet and they ended up making love with her face buried in a pillow in order to keep from waking her mom up with her screams of pleasure.

* * *

Scar descended the old,rickety stairs of the cellar. When the club had purchased the distillery property, there had been no record of an underground portion of the building they’d claimed as their clubhouse. Roughly three years after the club had formed, they’d stumbled upon the former cellar. Since it was empty, the club could only speculate as to what it had been used for, but the assumption was that the distillery owner wanted to store certain assets off the books.

The single room, roughly eight by eight, had a naked lightbulb in the center to illuminate the entire space. Since there was no HVAC system below, it had a dank, mildew smell and was either extremely hot or extremely cold.

Two years ago, the club had outfitted the cellar to fit their more…mercilessneeds. Chains had been added, as well as a table to store various intimidatingly sharp objects. A single drain in the center of the floor acted as a bathroom for the doomed souls who found themselves in chains and a convenience for the prospects who had the unfortunate task of cleaning up.

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