Page 12 of Risk
I’m going to have to come up with a valid excuse of why I can’t go over to my mom’s on the weekends to visit Phoenix because what I said to her is the truth, there’s someone hiding in the shadows—watching and waiting. It’s a trap meant to lull you into a false sense of security where you think you’ve got the upper hand and nobody will notice you slipping out after dark. Ultimately, escaping captivity is a survival instinct that isn’t easily ignored.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Risk
The more Ilay in bed staring at the ceiling, the more restless I become. Not able to take it anymore, I get redressed, grab my keys, wallet, and cut and march out of the clubhouse. I swing my leg over my bike and as I’m inserting the key into the ignition, Conan comes out from the shadows, lighting up a cigarette.
“Going for a midnight ride, brother?”
“What are you doing up, VP? I figured you and Demi would have crashed by now.”
“Wrecker called me,” he explains. “Selah’s girls told him that I needed to go with you when you left tonight. So, tell me where we’re going.”
Wrecker, once upon a time, was one of our brothers before he, Dragon, and a few others settled down before the rest of us who rode with them were ready to do the same. Those were good times. We were rowdy and caused mayhem wherever we went.
“Just going for a ride. I don’t have a destination in mind,” I remark. “But if Selah’s girls are worried, that means I’m going to find trouble, huh?” Selah is Wrecker’s sister, he and the rest of the men and women they run with have what we call ‘special gifts’. They seem to hear and know things that are foreign and unbelievable to us norms. It’s beyond my comprehension and I stopped trying to understand it and what they can do a long time ago.
“Seems that way,” Conan replies. “Can’t let you have all the fun without me, now can I? So, what happened today that has you feeling uneasy, Risk?”
“You know that complex on Fifth and Main?” I ask him.
“Yeah. I know the one you’re talking about,” he verifies. “What about it?”
“Saw McKenna standing in a window there,” I convey. “Can’t stop thinking about her. That’s twice I’ve seen her. That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”
“Some would say it’s fate, man,” Conan states. “There’s a reason you two keep bumping into each other.”
I snort before saying, “We haven’t bumped into each other, per se, Conan. Just crossed paths.”
He gives me a serious look, one that says he’s fixing to make a point. “Why do you think that keeps happening, man?”
“Couldn’t say one way or another, brother,” I retort. “Butyou’rethinking there’s a reason, aren’t you?”
“I am,” he corroborates. “You and Kenna have done everything humanly possible to avoid one another for years. Seeing eachother twice in the same month, that’s something to look into if you really want my opinion.”
“I value your input, brother. You’ve never steered me wrong,” I validate. “If you think we need to check up on this current event, then I’m game.”
“I do, Risk. And no matter what the outcome is, I’ve got your back. We all do,” he attests, as a few more of my brothers come out from their hiding places. “Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who got the warning, we were just waiting on you to make your move.”
“Fuck, man,” I say, hanging my head, trying to get my emotions under control. “You’re all coming?”
“We don’t leave one of our own swinging in the wind, brother,” Regulator ascertains. “Where would the fun in that be?”
“Brotherhood is like a marriage, Risk. It’s for better or worse,” Rev adds.
“In sickness and in health,” Hemi tacks on, a smirk on his face.
“Through the good and bad times,” Midas reveals. “And we’ve had plenty of those.”
“That we have,” I say around a chuckle.
“What do you say, ready to commit? Is it time for us to see where the road leads us?” Conan asks, twirling his keyring around his finger.
“The open road has never done us dirty. So yeah, brothers, I’m ready,” I state, booting back the kickstand.
I’m already straddling my bike, so I watch as my brothers swing their legs over their saddles. We all, in a harmonizedsynchronization, twist the keys, firing up our bike’s engines. The rumble of the gravel underneath my feet somewhat nullifies the uneasiness of the night. I don’t know the cause of what’s made me antsy this evening, but situations from my past have taught me to not ignore it when it rears its ugly head.
