Page 10 of The Bane of a Sinner
Shaking my head, I sighed. “No. I mean, yeah, Barb is great. The best, but it’s more than that. My mother and father love her, Diana. I mean, they are in love with her.” When Diana blinked but said nothing, I continued, “They met Barb at Woodstock, believe it or not. In the summer of ‘69, when free love reigned supreme. From the way Barb explained it, it was love at first sight. Well, it was for her. My dad and mother—well, that was another story. You see, my parents come from prominent families in New England. Old money, if you will, and my parents were scheduled to marry, only they had a big problem. My dad couldn’t stand my mother, and my mother, well, she preferred women. They were out on a drive one day, hoping they could come to some agreement or way out of their planned nuptials, when they passed through Bethel, New York and met Barb.”
“Are you telling me that your parents are in a ménage relationship?”
“Not exactly in the traditional sense. You see, to the outside world, my dad is legally married to Julia.”
“And where does Barb fit in?”
“She’s the glue that holds our unique family together. My dad may have married Julia to appease the families, but he sleeps with Barb, when Barb isn’t with Julia, that is.”
“Hold up.” Diana grinned from ear to ear. “Barb is with both of them?”
I nodded. “Yep. Sunday through Tuesday, she spends time with Julia, and Thursday through Saturday, she’s with my dad.”
“And Wednesday?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I never asked.”
Diana laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. “That’s wild. I’ve heard of unconventional families, but yours takes the prize.”
“Trust me, growing up was never boring. Holidays were a balancing act—Barb made sure everyone felt included, andsomehow love just... flowed between them, no matter how complicated things got.”
Diana considered this, her gaze thoughtful. “You know, sometimes I wonder if people would be happier if they let go of expectations and just followed their hearts.”
I smiled. “That’s pretty much how Barb lives, and my parents too, in their own ways. It’s not perfect, but it works for them.”
With a sigh, Diana glanced down at her hands absentmindedly. “I guess families are what we make of them.”
“Exactly,” I said. “And sometimes, the stories we hide are the ones that shape us the most.”
We sat in companionable silence for a while as I drove us closer to the city, letting the quiet settle. Just then, my phone buzzed, jarring me from my reverie. I glanced at the screen—a message from Montana, cryptic as always.
Club meeting. Dad wants you at the clubhouse. Now.
I groaned. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to head to the clubhouse.”
“You can drop me off at the dorm.”
“Actually, I was thinking of my place. I have the weekend off, and I want to spend it with you.”
Diana smiled. “I would like that very much.”
I stood in front of George Stone and the club’s board members as George said, “I want you to create a database for the club.”
“Okay?” I said, confused, as I looked at Montana, who shrugged but said nothing. “What kind of database?”
“A DNA database. I want every brother, bitch, whore, and tramp associated with this club to give a blood sample. You will take those samples and create a database.”
“Uh, Prez, something like that will take months. Can I ask what brought this on?”
“No,” the fucker snapped, then shouted at everyone around the table. “I mean it, you fuckers. Everyone is giving blood. You don’t, I will extract it myself. Got me?”
Several brothers nodded.
“Does that include me too, Dad?” Montana smirked as he goaded his irate father.
