Page 27 of Joker
“Remember all the fun we used to have out here as kids?”
“Fuck yeah, had my first time out here,” I reply.
“No way! Who with?” says Tank.
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
“What happened to having no secrets?” scoffed Tank.
“Everyone has secrets,” I declare.
At that bombshell, we sit in silence, watching the ripples on the lake. Both of us deep in thought and processing what happened tonight. Smacking Tank on the knee, I start to get up.
“Come on, brother, my ass is going numb, and I need to get back to my boy.”
“Yeah, we need to bring Beau out here,” says Tank.
“Good idea, we can make an afternoon of it. Food and get some inflatables for him.”
“Need to teach him to swim,” reminds Tank.
We walk back to the clubhouse in silence and head to our own rooms. After a quick shower, I slip into some board shorts and check on Beau. He’s sleeping soundly.
I lean against the door jam and watch him sleep for a while. He looks so peaceful and like any normal kid. I need to find a psychologist for him to work on getting him ready for school and teaching him how to deal with what life has thrown at him in his short life already.
Leaving the door slightly open, I climb into bed and let my body relax into the mattress. This only makes my mind drift back to the mattress I saw in that room. It churns my guts to think Carrie and my boy had slept on that piece of shit for fuck knows how many years. With those images, I drift off to sleep.
With the sound of giggling and something tickling my nose, I open my eyes and find Beau on the bed next to me.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” I ask as I reach for him.
He moves out of the way and starts to jump on the bed. Leaning up, I snag him around the waist and pull him to me, tickling him as we fall onto the bed. His giggle is the most beautiful sound. Sitting us on the edge of the bed, I ask, “Breakfast, you little monkey?”
“I’m starving” is always the answer he replies whenever food is mentioned.
“Hop on,” I reply.
I use my legs to make sure we don’t fall off the bed with the force of him throwing himself onto my back.
I piggyback him into the kitchen with him laughing all the way. I set him down on the side while I get his breakfast ready. The guys start to filter in, all stopping to ruffle his hair or tickle him a little. He loves the attention, and I love that the guys aren’t annoyed by him. It’s not like we’re used to kids running around.
After breakfast, I decide to spend a little time with him while we wait for Wire to find new leads. I know he’s working as hard as he can to find Carrie.
CHAPTERELEVEN
CARRIE
I’m curled up in the chair by the window watching the darkness of the woods that surround the house. Squinting to look a little closer, I’m sure I had seen movement. Watching the area more closely, I can’t see anything else. It was probably a deer or some other animal. Relaxing back in the chair, I let my head fall against the armrest and close my eyes for a moment.
With that, my bedroom door flies open, and he comes running in.
“Grab a bag now,” he demands.
He’s frantic, throwing the bag at me.
“PACK!” he shouts.
Jumping to my feet, I quickly throw some clothes into the bag and also the last of the items that mean anything to me—a photo of my dad and me, a photo of Johnny, Jason, Scott, and me, and also the few baby items and photos Agnes was able to take of Beau and me.
