Brother to Brother: The Sacred Brotherhood Book I (5 page)

“Sure,” I said and had a hard time looking at Dragon, staring fixedly at my hands which I was trying real hard to wipe off on a rag just as filthy as they were.

“She came runnin’ out this way, I take it in that thing,” he said indicating Mel’s shitty, worn out hatchback. “Somethin’ ain’t right where she come from, she’s runnin’ from something and thought safety lay out this way with yer brother. What did she say on that anyways?”

“Said Grind bolted this direction as soon as she told him she was knocked up. Said she went back to the club with Noah, and they told her he was out here.”

“They conveniently forget to mention they’d attended his funeral?” Dragon asked and looked downright stormy.

“Sounds about right,” I said.

“Yeah, sounds about like I need to make a trip to Arizona,” he grumbled under his breath.

“You said you had some advice for me?” I asked, the curiosity burning me up from the inside out.

“I did,” he took a deep breath and sighed out, “I know it ain’t in your nature to go easy on nobody, but my advice to you? Take into consideration all of these things, her runnin’ her findin’ out the hardest way possible she’s a single mom for real, her
bein’
a single mom… Think about all of that when you look at her and go easy on her, or at least try to.”

I nodded, listening to his advice and takin’ it in, “Do my best,” I said and he gave a nod.

“You always do, brother, and trust me, I get it that sometimes you get ahead of yourself and in the way of yourself, but I’m here to tell you, you need
anything
, to talk, to drink, to duke things out,
all
your brothers got your back. Not just the ones you came up with.”

“Thanks, man. I really mean that, too.”

Dragon nodded, and we clasped hands. He pulled me in for a hug and we gave some hearty slaps on the back. The old man still had it, rattling my ribs like some fuckin’ wind chimes. He wandered off to talk with Dray, his son and our V.P. and a minute later Dray looked up and in my direction.

“Hey, Archer!”

“Yeah, Boss?” I called back.

“Caprice ain’t goin’ nowhere tonight, why don’t you cut out of here a little early and see to your house?”

“Appreciate it, Boss, but I need the money,” I called back.

“Did I say your paycheck would be negatively affected? It’s a whole fuckin’ hour, get you gone motherfucker!” he laughed and shook his head and I put down my tools.

“Thanks, Dray,” I called over and he nodded.

“Don’t mention it!”

I cleaned up my area, putting my tools away and hanging up my coveralls. I spent some time washing up my hands before pulling my jacket and cut down off the hook reserved for them. I didn’t bother putting them on. It was why I was fined, it was in our by-laws; you didn’t wear your cut in a cage, it was considered disrespect. I’d been so caught up with the goings on yesterday that I’d still had it on when I’d gotten into Melody’s cage, right in front of no less than three brothers. I was lucky that all it was, was a fifty dollar fine and that it wasn’t an ass-whoopin’ offense. Between Trig as the club’s SAA and Reaver as the club’s Enforcer, I honestly didn’t want it to come to that. I really didn’t want to come up against either one of ‘em.

I got into Mel’s cage and sighed. Dragon was right, it wasn’t bad as far as bein’ a grocery getter on short, local trips, but it’d been a hell of a risk driving across the damn country in it. I knew Grind had kept it up for her, but there was only so much you could do with a bucket of bolts like this one. It was old, and old, in a lot of cases, meant fallible. I started it up, and would be glad when I got my bike back tonight from the club where I’d left it parked.

I drove back to the apartment, my brother’s bikes parked in one of the stalls out front, and I parked next to ‘em. When I went through my front door it was to the smell of clean, and everything in its place. Shit, I think she’d even
dusted
the place. She was sitting at the table, watching Rush and Nox with Noah on the floor, the few toys the boy’d had with ‘em scattered between the three of them but it wasn’t nothing that couldn’t be picked up in half a second.

“Unca Nox! Unca Rush! Again!” he cried laughing and my brothers laughed too.

“Hey,” I said and Melody looked up at me.

“Hi,” she said and chewed her bottom lip.

“Ready to go?” I asked and she rose from her seat.

“Just let me get Noah ready,” she murmured and Rush piped up.

“Nah, he’s good here with us, you guys go ahead. We’ll be here when you get back and it’ll let you get the things you need without half the struggle.” He tickled the boy who laughed and writhed. Melody looked like some kind of cross between petrified and horrified.

“Oh no, that’s okay. It’s really no trouble at all… we just got here really and he doesn’t know you guys yet, I’d have one foot out the door and you’d have a hell of a time,” she kept on like that with every excuse in the book and I thought about what Dragon had said. Seems he was right, she
was
runnin’ scared. It weren’t none of my business, and I figured she’d tell me in her own time. I wasn’t worried about whatever it was. She was here, and Noah was here, and I could handle it, if it chose to show up around these parts.

“Get him ready,” I said. “I’m fuckin’ tired and we can all go. Shit, it’s just to pick up my bike and do some grocery shopping. I don’t want to be out all night and I’m fuckin’ hungry.”

Melody was staring at me, the silence hanging thick between all of us. I broke first, “What’re you fuckin’ lookin’ at?” I demanded gruffly and Melody’s mouth worked a few times, opening and closing like a landed fish, like she were afraid of saying anything. She glanced at Grinder’s boy and it seemed to make up her mind for her.

“
Language,
” she declared and stared at me evenly.

“What?” I asked, sort of mystified.

“I promise not to ask for anything, but when it comes to my son and raising him right, Archer, he can, and
will
, pick up
anything
you say
, so
please,
watch what you say around my son.” I blinked and stated the obvious.

“Doesn’t much sound like you’re asking, Mel. It sounds a lot like you’re tellin’ me.”

She drew up a little straighter, swallowed hard, “Fine, then I’m telling you. Watch your mouth around my son.”

I shifted my weight to my other foot, simply because I’d been on my feet all day and Melody flinched. I froze for a second and felt my mouth press down into a thin line. She didn’t move either, but cowered just the same. I raised an eyebrow and said, “Alright, have it your way.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, “I’ll get my purse.” I held out her keys to her once she had everything gathered up, with one addition, I’d added a spare apartment key on there for her.

Nox picked up the boy. “I’ll carry him down to the car, you got your hands full,” he said to Mel and that jittery unease was back in her.

“Sure,” she said, “Just be careful.”

“Christ, woman. The boy ain’t made out of glass,” I said sarcastically and she ducked her head down and went out past us. We all went down and she got Noah buckled into his car seat.

“You ready to go, baby boy?” she asked him.

“Not baby!”

“Yeah, sorry. That’s my fault,” Rush said.

She laughed a little and rolled her eyes at Rush, “He’s growing up
so
fast, so try not to speed things along on me too much, okay?”

Nox laughed a little and Rush looked a little chagrinned, “Sorry, Mel,” he muttered and she shut the door to the cage. I peeled off my cut.

“You want me to drive?” she asked.

“Gave you the keys, didn’t I?”

She nodded carefully and asked, “Where to first?”

“I’d like to get my bike and get back here to put my feet up, you can handle the shopping, yeah?”

“Yeah, sure, absolutely.”

“Don’t worry about getting lost,” Nox said, “I’ll stick with you.”

Mel looked relieved, “Thanks, Nox.”

We piled into the cage, well Mel and I did, while Nox and Rush got on their bikes. They fired them up and it scared the shit out of Noah who started to cry.

“Easy, Boy. Nothin’ to be scared of,” I said but it took Mel like five minutes to calm him down. Shit. This was gonna be different. I sighed, and looked down at my cut across my knees. I’d be glad to be back in it, with my knees in the breeze.

“Can we get a move on?” I demanded, and was about to say ‘fuck’ but stopped myself just in time. Mel backed out of the space and followed Rush and Nox. I shifted in my seat and thought back on what Dragon had said some more.

“Y’did real nice on my place,” I grunted and she gave me a sideways glance like she was wondering who I was and if aliens had taken over my body.

“Thanks,” she said softly and I gave a nod. I didn’t really feel the need to talk much after that, content to let the rest of the ride go by in a tense silence. I glanced into the back seat about half way to the club and Noah was passed out.

“He didn’t get a nap today. Truthfully, I’m surprised he lasted this long,” she said.

“Tough guy, just like my brother,” I stated and Mel’s expression grew somber. She didn’t say anything else after that, the intensity of the silence between us from before, doubling down even harder.

She followed Rush and Nox up into the driveway at the club and pulled to a stop. I got out and stretched, sliding my cut back on over my jacket.

“See you back at the house,” I grunted and she nodded. Nox and Rush looked at each other, and Rush backed his bike into the line out front. I hated it when they did that creepy as fuck communicating without speaking. Some kind of freaky twin thing for all that they didn’t look like each other. Shit, they didn’t even share the same father. A one in a million genetic jackpot. Their mom dropped two eggs and fucked so many dudes close together on a kind of her being a hooker that one egg was fertilized by one John while the other got hit by another John’s little swimmers. Wham, bam, half-brothers that were twins sharing the same womb for nine months.

Some seriously fucked up shit; that was for sure. Rush came over and clapped me on the shoulder.

“I need a fuckin’ drink,” I said.

“Limit one if you’re riding,” he said.

“Look at you, a regular fuckin’ D.A.R.E. officer.”

“Ha, ha… Man, like it or not, you’ve made yourself responsible for Grind’s family. Fuck, I wouldn’t know the first thing about takin’ care of a woman and a kid full time and I ain’t ready for that kind of commitment. Better you than me, asshole.”

Leave it to Rush to make it all about him, for being the older twin by virtue of eight and a half minutes, Nox ended up being the more mature and reliable of the two. Rush liked to live fast and was always in a big damn hurry, hence how he got his road name.

“Don’t I know it?” I grumbled, and followed him inside for that adult beverage. Not for the first time today, I wondered:
just what in the fuck had I gotten myself into?
Just as quick, I answered myself, too…
You didn’t. Grind did; and like always, you’re left cleaning up his mess.

Maybe I would make it
two
drinks. I had time.

Chapter 7

Melody

I walked through the door with Noah on my hip and groceries dangling from my other hand. Nox followed me in with the rest. I set them down and sighed with relief, Archer looking on from where he was slouched on the couch.

“Noah, stop!” I told my wriggling son, who I was going to drop if I didn’t put him down. He toddled over to the couch and climbed up next to Archer.

“Me-mote!” he cried and Archer looked at him funny.

“What, kid?”

“Mimme the me-mote!”

Archer held up the remote control and Noah reached for it, Archer pulled it away, “No way, kid. I just got home a minute ago and the TV is mine.” Noah stared at Archer aghast while basketball played out on the screen.

“Good luck with that,” I uttered and hauled groceries into the kitchen to start putting them away while my one year old child and his forty-something child of an uncle argued over the remote control. Archer was going to win, it was just a question on if there would be screaming involved.
I sincerely hope not.

I put away all the groceries and set to work making dinner which was hard to do with no real cookware. I would have to hit a Goodwill or second hand store to stock the kitchen a little better. Right now, I had aluminum pans, paper plates and plastic cutlery to contend with on the short notice I had.

Dinner was simple fare of shake and baked pork chops, mac and cheese, and canned green beans. Quick, easy, and by no means the extent of my culinary knowledge, it was just getting really close to being past Noah’s bedtime. Nox was staying for dinner and I was grateful that he and Archer kept Noah busy while I cooked.

Eventually, the table was set and the food set out and Archer surprised me by turning off the television and ordering everyone to the table. Noah managed alright by kneeling up on one of the chairs, but I hovered none the less to make sure he didn’t fall. He was hungry, inhaling his mac and cheese so fast I was afraid he’d choke, and equally demolishing his green beans. I was surprised, usually he didn’t want to have anything to do with his green beans but Nox ate his like they were the best thing ever and so Noah followed suit.

I washed Noah up, changed his diaper, got him into his jammies, and put him down in his crib. My little man was so tired he went down with a minimum of fuss. Nox left quietly, giving me a quick hug goodbye, while Archer had gone back to the couch, choosing this time to lay on it while he watched his game. By the time I was through cleaning up the aftermath of dinner, he was asleep too. I covered him up with the blanket on the back of the couch and turned off the TV with a sigh, dragging myself to bed to lay awake and listen to the bass and pounding rap music permeating the walls and through the floor.

I barely slept.

Chapter 8

Archer

I woke up first, surprised to find the boy still racked out in his crib. I got up and stretched and realized the only bathroom in the place was in my room, where Melody stayed.
Oh well.
I needed a shower and fresh clothes. I kicked off my boots and went to it, gathering up fresh clothes and taking them into the bathroom with me. When I got out, it was to Mel’s blue eyes looking at me.