Page 61 of Hell's Kitten

Yeah, dude. You chose to stay. It might not hurt you to get a reminder of who you’re really sharing a bed with.

“Y-you look good,” Parker says to me.

“Thank you,” I say genuinely with a smile.

I think the old me would have automatically repeated the compliment back, but he doesn’t deserve that. He treated me like an absolute fool. Instead, I play just the tiniest bit dirty.

“I didn’t think you knew about Creams?” I ask Parker innocently. “You never brought me here.”

This time, his boyfriend takes a step away from him, looking him up and down.

Okay, that’s good enough for me. I actually don’t care what he thinks anymore—of me or anything else. That in itself is a revelation. Who’d have known that indifference was empowering?

“Well, I hope you guys have a good night,” I tell them sincerely. I doubt it’ll happen now, but that’s not my problem. “My friends and I have some things we need to talk about.”

“And alcohol to drink,” Alannah adds.

“And dicks to suck!” Kadence chimes in with two thumbs-up. “You guys have fun. I bet you’re going to havegreatsex tonight!”

Without a word, Parker and his boyfriend turn and melt into the crowd and don’t look back.

Someone whistles behind me. Someone else comments that in this case, karma is like a kitten, making me think of Leah.

I take a deep breath. I know everything else is still royally fucked up, and my relationship with Nim is far from stable. But after that little encounter, I can’t help but feel stronger. Taller. Ready for a fight. I’m not sure with who—Tara, the mayor, or the god damned FBI—but the point is that I’ve decided I’m not just going to lie down and take it.

I am not alone. My mom and I have beaten something far scarier than this.

Bring it on.

CHAPTER 23

Nim

“This is never going to work,”I say, fully aware I’m being defeatist and annoying, and yet apparently unable to stop myself anyway.

“Have you got any better ideas?” Donna asks. She knows I don’t, so I just grunt and get off the back of my bike, kick the stand and open up the lock box to put my helmet inside. I see the one Jessie borrowed. and anguish lances through me so fast and hard I think I may pass out.

No matter how much I tell myself I’ve done the right thing, it’s still hurting like a motherfucker. Causing my baby boy pain was something I wanted to avoid at all costs. But this shitstorm doesn’t seem to be blowing over anytime soon, and I know his first competition is only a few weeks away. If he’s got any chance of pulling his reputation—hislife—back together, I can’t be anywhere near him.

But I know there’s a reason why I haven’t admitted to Donna what I’ve done. Part of me knows that pushing him away like that was cruel. Sometimes, though, you have to be cruel to be kind.

I can’t think about that now. Otherwise, I’ll be no good to anyone. So I secure my lockbox and follow Donna. There’s agroup of people up ahead handing out signs on wooden sticks. Others have made their own.

The idea of holding something in my hands makes me feel itchy. I plan on just standing around being intimidating. That’s always worked for me in the past.

It turns out that Mayor Durham and his wife might have a house that’s hidden behind a gate, but their street sure doesn’t have any kind of barriers beyond that. So the Cardinals have decided to have a little get-together out here. That’s our right, after all. We’re not breaking any laws.

Maybe it’s time these awful people feel what it’s like to be harassed. Except, unlike us, they will have one hundred percent earned it.

I’m quite impressed. There are already around thirty to forty people gathered. I see bikers I know from rides and the pub. But also employees from the garage and the nail salon as well as what I guess are friends and family of those who have been specifically targeted.

Seeing all this support makes me feel less like I’m drowning all by myself. I’m not sure it can possibly change anything, but it beats sitting at home alone, worrying about anything and everything. Maybe down the line, we’ll be able to prove that all these accusations were completely false, so it might be that the only thing that can save our businesses will be word of mouth.

It’s worth a shot, at least.

“Where do you want me, boss?” Leah asks as she bounds up to me. She was pretty miffed at me for going radio silent on her. But as soon as I let her know that Donna was organizing this rally, she perked right up to her usual bubblegum self again. By her side is a Black girl with short blonde hair and numerous piercings. I haven’t seen her before, but I wonder if this is the ‘not a date’ girl Leah mentioned. I’m happy for her if she’s made a new friend.

Some of my employees are setting up a water and snack station to make sure no one gets dehydrated or low on blood sugar. Leah’s got her phone out, ready to live-stream us across Instagram. It won’t be the first time we’ve used our fifty thousand-plus subscribers for a socio-political cause. They might have started following us for daily cute kitty action, but they also know how to rally when called upon.

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