Twisted Steel: An MC Anthology: Second Edition by Elizabeth Knox (top 5 ebook reader txt) 📕

first one to approach me. “High and tight. Let’s go, I’ve got shit to get back to.” He sounds like an asshole, but he knows I needed it. Needed the blast of arrogance to get me past myself, away from the softness in me, and bring out the fighter.

“Let’s get it done, so you can get back to doing nothing but annoying people all day. High and uptight. Got you, bro.”

Spider exudes cocky and holds the door open to the shop for us. It doesn’t escape me Jazzy cuts his hair, for free at that. On my way past, I simply say, “Thank you,” and leave it at that. He does so much more for me than this twenty-dollar cut. I’ve been a guest in his home, and he also got me here, with no angry side comments or snide remarks. I’m thankful because he’s real.

I’m privileged spending the day with Jazzy’s extended family. I pretend the fifty-dollar haircuts are normal and it’s just another day at work. It’s a real kindness I’ve never experienced, and it starts to sink in what the difference is. Giving without any expectations of any kind. Their thoughtfulness washes over me and I think, why the hell did Jazzy ever take so long to move here? I’m in love with them all after one day. I feel lighter by the end of the night as I kick off my shoes. I have a good thing going here, and I can feel it deep in my chest. It’s not close to perfect, but a day at a time.

8

Cowboy

The ride across the state of Nevada to Ely is hot and I’m bogged down with memories and what is to come. Angus is dying. I know this down to my bones. He wouldn’t call me to come back unless it was life or death, and in his case, the end. He’s battled his health for years and it’s time to call it. It’s a sting of truth we all have to face and for me to find the strength to say goodbye. I didn’t want to come, and it wars inside of me like a knife plunged into my chest. For him, I will fight anything to see him, even if it is myself.

Pulling into the barn-style clubhouse of the Silver Creek brothers, it does not feel like coming home again. It feels like just the opposite for me, walking into a place best left in the rearview mirror. The brothers crowd the yard, including one in particular I swore I would never see the face of—Bull. He’s Angus’s son, and no longer my family. I’ll always respect the man, but his son is no one to me anymore.

Just as I thought of him, Angus stands hunched over at the door with oxygen up his nose and a smoke in hand. Crazy fucker is going to blow himself up. “Angus, you bastard. Take the oxygen off when you smoke at least.”

His belly shakes and he tosses his cigarette in the ashtray on the deck. “You got a point. Damn stuff is strapped to me and I forget about it.” After a round of hellos from old friends and brothers, I finally make my way to Angus. “Damn, son, I’m glad you came. Are you staying for the party tonight? We got a room for ya, if you want it.”

“I’ll be here for the party. I should go and check on my mom, or my dad will have my ass.”

“They’ve been good, I hear. How are you doing?” He ambles slowly over to the bar. His decaying presence in the world twists my guts. You never want to see them go, but they leave nonetheless. His wife died from cancer years back. I believe he only held on for his son and grandkids. He sits in a La-Z-Boy next to the bar and a chuckle rattles loose from the ache in my body. “You like my chair? I can’t hang like you young bucks. My body needs the comfort, and besides, I’m too old to give a fuck about anything else.” Slowly, he lowers into his chair and I slide onto a stool next to him.

“I can see the advantages of it. I bet you’ve walked in a time or two to a passed-out brother in it.”

Bull walks behind the bar, dead set on getting my attention. I made my way around him outside and he isn’t taking the hint as well as I wanted. He has his road name for a reason, and he’s a damn fool if he thinks he can bait me into any type of confrontation. “Still drinkin’ Miller?”

I dip my chin and take the beer from across the bar top. The crack of the can echoes in the room. I hold up my beer and salute, “To Angus. A man of many friends and family.” The tension lessens a bit, and the crowd disperses around the room.

“You always were full of shit,” he huffs and Bull walks around to hand his dad a whiskey neat. Leaving us alone, Bull finds a seat with his brothers. “You’re stubborn also. Bull regrets the day you two fought. He’s a good man. Why don’t you talk to him? Mend fences, so to speak.”

“Is that why I’m here? So, you can make things right before you take the next step?”

“Yes. And you know you were like a son to me. We never could have more kids and you were at my house with Bull since you were five. I’m leaving, son, I ain’t coming back, and I needed to take care of you too.”

“One stone with two birds, so to speak?”

“Smartass.” The look he gives me is one of humor but deep turmoil.

“You know, Angus, if it came down to it, if Bull needed me, I wouldn’t leave him hangin’. The club, your kid, and grandkids will all be okay. You head on over to the woman you love when you’re ready. You did your part