Page 7 of Parrish

“Parrish,” Wolf calls. “You didn’t take the fucking deal, did you?”

Taking another drag of the cigarette, I slice my eyes back to my successor.

“I surrender tomorrow morning at ten,” I confirm.

Muttering a curse, he flicks the cigarette out of my hand and takes me by surprise when he wraps his fists around my kutte.

“Tell me you didn’t fucking sign anything,” he growls.

Pushing him off me, I run my hands down my chest, smoothing down my leather as I narrow my eyes into tiny slits and glare at him. I didn’t sign shit. A lot can happen in twenty-four hours and I’m no fool. Still, I don’t tell that to him. This is my life. My choice. If I want to send myself to Hell in a handbasket, ain’t no one on this green earth going to stop me. No one is going to strip me of control. Not man nor mind.

“It’s done, Wolf,” I sneer. “Now, get a grip on yourself or I will lay you out on the asphalt brotherhood be damned.”

“The fuck you will,” he hisses, taking a step backward. I watch idly as he runs his fingers through his hair. “I told you we would’ve fought the fucking charges.”

“It’s too risky,” I deadpan. “I won’t let Blackie rot in prison.”

“You could plead insanity,” Pipe interjects.

“And spend the rest of my life in a padded cell—no fucking thank you.”

“So, that’s it,” Wolf starts. “You just let them lock you in a cage like a fucking animal?”

“If the shoe fits, who says it doesn’t.”

“You’re giving up,” Wolf accuses.

“I’m giving into the inevitable, there’s a difference,” I tell him. “Now, I don’t have much time and I’ll be damned if I waste any more of it arguing with the two of you,” I add, pointing a finger at Wolf. “Call church, there are a few things I need to tie up with the club before I pick up my boy from school and say goodbye.”

“Jack—” Pipe interrupts but I hastily slice my eyes to him and shake my head.

“It’s over Pipe, and the little time I have, I need to make things right with my family. I need to say goodbye to my wife and kids.”

Pausing, I glance over my shoulder at Reina who sits on my bike adjusting her helmet.

“Tomorrow, when I turn myself in, I don’t want her with me,” I say, turning back to them. “I don’t want the last memory of me to be one with cuffs around my wrists. I’ll ride down here myself, but I’d appreciate if one of you were here to take my bike and cut home. Keep the bike in working condition, turn her on and let her purr every once in a while. Condition my leathers and when the time comes for Danny to ride, you give him his father’s Harley and his kutte. Tell him to ride safe, to never go faster than his guardian angel can fly, and you make sure he knows I love him.”

“Goes without saying,” Wolf says gruffly. “Your boy is our boy, Parrish. Don’t you waste a second worrying about him, we got him. We always got Danny.”

“Lacey too,” Pipe adds.

“And your old lady,” Wolf says, looking past me at Reina. “She’ll always be one of us.”

I nod, both in appreciation and understanding.

“I’ll call church,” Wolf rasps. “You speak your piece and take care of your affairs. Tomorrow we ride to hell with you, brother.”

“Yeah, and should you come to your fucking senses and remember you’re the motherfucking Bulldog, we’ll be ready to bring the mayhem,” Pipe mutters, staring at the building behind me that houses the office of the district attorney. “Say the word, Parrish and we’ll take this shit old school. I’ll blow this bitch to smithereens.”

Ah, the good old days.

When we tore through the streets with the Devil on our heels. Back when Pipe had a stash of hand-crafted bombs ready to detonate on command and Wolf carried enough ammo to take out a small village and a salami sandwich in his back pocket. A time when I made the law my bitch and took justice into my own hands, lighting motherfuckers on fire and pouring salt on their open wounds.

But even the wicked sometimes need rest.

Baptized in dirty water by Satan himself, I’ve spent my whole life fighting the good fight, searching for the light in the darkness of insanity. Now, the light I’ve basked in for so long is finally dimming and the time has come for me to take my final bow before the curtain closes on my sanity.

It’s the end of an era for me but the beginning of another for everyone else.

“I’ll meet you at Kate’s in an hour,” I tell them, referencing the new clubhouse they’ve taken on under Wolf’s regime. Sparring one more glance at the two men who have stuck by me through my darkest hours, I turn around and make my way towards my wife.

My biggest blessing.

My flicker of hope.

The eternal light of a deranged man.

My Sunshine.

---