Page 21 of Property of BamBam
My spine stiffens and I look closer at the three men. One of them bears a startling resemblance to Livy’s ex. “Why would you want to know that? And what makes you think someone in a laundromat would even know that fucking answer?”
“Because she’s got a kid and will probably need to wash clothes,” the one I now know is Jasper replies.
“Well, we’re not in the habit of giving out information to people we don’t know,” I retort. “So, it’d be a good idea for y’all to mosey along now.”
I’ve found that my accent and some of my colloquialisms tend to give the impression that I’m not all that smart. In this case, I’m doing it to glean whatever information I can so I can be sure that Livy’s still protected.
“Jas, man, there’s no way she made it all the way here,” Asshole Two says. “Not if what you told us is true, anyhow.”
“Yeah, this is a wasted trip,” Asshole One adds. “Sorry about roughing up your employee. No harm, no foul.”
“You see, that’s not gonna work for me,” Rio states, walking up to where the five of us are standing. “You’re in Kings territory and I don’t know where you’re from, but trust me when I say,nobodyfucks with the Kings. By extension, that means the employees who work in our businesses. Let’s take this outside, gentlemen. Buddy, Mongrel’s here and he’ll help you get this cleaned up.”
“Thanks, President Rio,” Buddy says.
It takes me, Rio, Gopher, and Abyss, who apparently all came along with Rio, to get the three fuckers out back so we can interrogate them. I’m almost positive it’s related to Livy, and when Rio asks, “Who are you looking for?” I’m proven correct.
“His girlfriend’s gone missing. Her name’s Olivia Benson, and she’s his baby mama,” Asshole Two quickly states.
“Why would you think she ended up in our town?” Abyss questions. “I mean, hell, we don’t even know where y’all are from, but we’re not in the habit of giving strangers information.”
Jasper shrugs before he says, “Someone saw a truck pulled off the side of the road and said it came from the Triple R Ranch.Did a search and found out where y’all were located. But if you’re saying we’re wrong, then I guess we’ll just head back home.”
I need to take some time and talk to Mongrel, because I didn’t notice a soul around the area when I stopped and found Livy. Granted, it’s hunting season so it’s possible someone was in the woods and saw us, but without a name, we might never know. Hell, Mongrel could’ve been spotted buying all the baby stuff when we stopped at the store for all I know. Regardless, I’ll see if I can figure it out; maybe get Pokey involved so he can check the cameras at the store in case someone was watching or even following Mongrel.
“Not before we take care of y’all hurting our employee. What y’all don’t know is his uncle was a brother in the club. Granted, he’s dead now, but he’s still one of ours and we don’t take kindly to what you did to him,” Abyss retorts.
Before the three men know what’s happening, Gopher, Abyss, and I have all three of them whimpering on the ground. Hell, I even managed to snap Jasper’s arm… oopsie! “Now, y’all need to get the fuck out of our town and don’t come back,” Rio decrees. “Otherwise, we might not be as nice about it the next time we cross paths.”
While the others deal with these fuckwads, I head back inside to see Mongrel and Buddy have put the laundromat back to rights and everything in order, so I go behind the counter to get the laundry cart. “Mongrel, you need a ride back?” I ask as I move toward the door so I can get the truck loaded.
“No, BamBam. I was heading over to the tattoo shop when Rio motioned for me to follow them. I think Abyss got in some new inventory that he needs me to stock, so I’ll go there now and take care of it since we’re done here,” he says.
“That works. Buddy, you call if you have any more problems,” I call out. “Mongrel, be sure to come find me when you get back to the clubhouse, need to talk to you about something.” Mongrel gives me a chin lift before he heads out to take care of shit at the tattoo parlor.
“I will, BamBam. Thanks!” Buddy replies.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Olivia
Dear Mom and Dad,
First of all, I want to tell both of you how much you’re missed. I know y’all always said to make good choices and unfortunately for me, I didn’t make them after you died. Because the house we lived in was a rental, I had to move since I couldn’t afford the monthly payments. I wasn’t old enough to rent something else since I didn’t have a rental history and I didn’t have enough money after everything was paid to buy something outright.
So, I moved in with Jasper. It wasn’t my best decision at all, except for the fact I’ve got a three-month-old little boy named Theodore. Theo for short. He’s the reason I’m still here, being completelytransparent and honest. Because life with Jasper was Hell on earth.
I know that’s not what y’all wanted for me and it’s one of the reasons that I broke up with him while I was still in school. I just didn’t have any other options since I was too old for foster care, and I wasn’t willing to live out of the car… lol.
But Jasper proved that the things y’all saw while we were dating in high school were definitely true and not overexaggerated. He was abusive and hurt me in many, many ways. Thankfully, I finally got away from him and I’m staying at a place called Hope House. It’s a therapeutic place for survivors to live while they get the help they need to heal. The best part about it is Theo is with me!
I’m seeing a therapist; her name is Beth. She does my individual sessions, and also oversees a group therapy session with the other three women who are currently staying here. One of them, Marge, kind of reminds me of your great aunt, Mom. Remember how crusty and grumpy Aunt Beatrice was? Well, that’s Marge in a nutshell, but it’s really her defense mechanism against getting hurt again.
One of my assignments was to tell y’all about everything that has happened to me since y’all have been gone. I may be all over the place, and I won’t lie, it’s sucked sometimes to know that the person I thought Jasper was wasn’t true. Since I know you’ll never really read this, and Beth has said I don’t have to share it out loud if I don’t want to, I can tell you.
At first, everything was nice, and I was so happy that I had a place to live while I grieved, I ignored some of the red flags. I was still working at the diner, but a few months into moving in with him, he sold y’all’s second car, which made me dependent on him for my rides. Either he took me to work, or I walked. Bonus on that is I got my daily steps in every time I had a shift.
