Page 72 of Petty's Crime

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Roller cries out. “Why didn’t you fuckin’ tell me, Brother?”

Petty raises his eyes and briefly meets those of Roller before he can’t meet his gaze any longer. “Because I’m so fuckin’ weak. I knew you’d never trust me if you knew.”

“Shit,” Red says with feeling and then stands. He brushes back his hair with both hands. He stares at the man now enveloped in the arms of his friend. Petty’s now openly crying, but the prez shows nothing but compassion, and as he glances my way, I think understanding is dawning.

“I think we’ve got a great fuckin’ deal to unpack here.” Red catches my eye and gives me a raise of his chin. “Seems I owe you my thanks, RoseLyn. If you hadn’t stepped in…” He doesn’t have to complete the sentence. I can do so myself.

I shrug. I’m just happy I’ve prevented an injustice. While I’ve got no horse in this race, there’s one way Red can show me his gratitude. “You’re wrong about me and Petty,” I tell Red. “We’re just friends, nothing else. But will you please make sure Britney never goes near him again?”

Red grimaces, but it’s his VP who reminds me.

“She’s his wife,” Crash says. “It’s up to them what goes on. Can’t get in between a man and his woman.”

Again my temper flares and it’s him who gets it full force. “So what exactly were you doing here? Getting ready to punish Petty and throw him out of the club because you thought he hit his wife? And when she came to you with a sob story you believed her without giving him a chance?” As I speak I get even more riled up. “Talk about double standards. You’d be getting Britney away from him if you believed her story. Yet you’re just going to step aside and let her go back to him?”

Red’s now looking at me with admiration. “She’s got a point, Brother.”

“He’s mine and I love him. And I might be—”

Now it’s her I direct my anger on. “He’s not even mine and I respect him more than you do. Love? What do you know of love when you hurt him then stood back and condoned what his club was going to do to him? You nearly lost him his reason for living. And don’t you dare mention a fucking baby. If you’re pregnant, it’s on you, not him.” As she flinches, I say pointedly, “He told me everything.” But I leave it there. Only she, I, and Petty know the word I’m not saying is rape.

“She’s won,” Petty mumbles, his voice breaking on a sob. “The Devils won’t want me now they know the truth.”

“What?” Red steps back to Petty, his eyes wide and nostrils flared. “You think I’m going to throw you out?” When Petty doesn’t answer, Red makes it clear. “Not going to take your fuckin’ patch. Twister, give him his cut back.”

Whether it’s relief or whether Petty’s just at the end of his tether, he’s openly crying now. Tears roll down his face, and Roller hugs him again, letting him cry into his shirt.

“Fucking weakling.” Britney’s voice drips with scorn.

Red swings around fast and for a second just stares at her, then he snaps his fingers. “Hammer, Cobra, get ourbrotherup to his room. Contact Doc and get him to make a house call.”

“Cheaper to take him to Doc,” Fox, who I’ve met before as he’s their treasurer, observes.

“And I think we owe Petty a lot for how we’ve misjudged him,” Red retorts. He continues as if he hasn’t been interrupted, “Twister? I want to know why Britney came back.” When she squeals and repeats she loves her husband, Red shakes his head. “There’s more to it than that. I want to know why she’s making Petty’s life a misery. At the fuckin’ least, she’s using him to put a roof over her head.”

“I-I don’t love her. Haven’t for a long time.” The defeated words are said quietly, but loudly enough that everyone hears him.

One of his brothers snorts. “And that’s one thing I have no hardship believing.”

My attention is quickly caught elsewhere. “Carefully,” I admonish when Cobra starts to help Petty to his feet.

But Petty tries to brush them off, stumbling when they release him. In the end, he has to give up and allow them to both take an arm and support him.

Pent-up tension releases as I see that he’s being taken care of. But I’ve no idea where I currently stand with the man. His worries about how his brothers will treat him if they ever found out the truth are so deeply rooted, I’m not sure he’ll ever forgive me for not doing what he wanted and keeping quiet.

As I stand, watching him disappear at the top of the steps, Red says quietly to me, “Always knew Petty had serious baggage, just didn’t know what.”

“Treat him gently, please?” I nod as I turn to Red. “He’s not the man you think he is. He puts on a front to the world. Now this has come out, I don’t know how it’s going to affect him.”

“But you’ll be sticking around to help him?” It’s a question and statement all at once.

Moving my head side to side, I reply, “I doubt that he wants me to.”

“He’s my husband. That bitch isn’t going to look after him. That’s my job.” Britney’s annoying nasally tones grate on my nerves, but I don’t have a chance to respond to her.

“I think you’ve fucking done enough,” Red roars, then waves me and his men toward the stairs. “Let’s leave Twister to get the truth out of her.”

Britney starts loudly protesting that she’s done nothing wrong. That she wasn’t the one to instigate that fight, nor any fight between them. Is it wrong that seeing the pain Petty is in, I have no desire to save Britney from whatever she’s got facing her? I don’t miss Britney’s worried glance at the strung-up man with duct tape over his mouth. It seems a fitting punishment for abusers, and I wouldn’t give a damn if she ended up like him.

---