Raw: The Ultimate Mc Collection (60 page)

I was eating lunch in the cafeteria at the teacher’s table, politely smiling and barely listening to anything the other teachers were saying as my thoughts carried me a million miles away to a place I really didn’t want to go.

Todd Hamilton.

Todd, the charmer.  The gentleman.  The man I had once loved, at least in the beginning.  And now he was a ghost.  A figure in my past that I wished had never existed.

Todd had always been one of those guys that everyone loved, because he was so jovial and happy all the time.  Always willing to lend a hand to a friend in need, he was the first person his friends called when they had a problem.  Not only was he a model citizen, he was also a model cop.  Working his way up the ranks of our small town precinct with smiles and hand shakes, he received award after award throughout our five years together.

As if that didn’t already make him the most upstanding citizen in all of Wood County, in the last year he had become a  shining star in the Mormon church.  He went to services three times a week, twice on Sundays.  When I first met him, he didn’t go at all, but about a year before that fateful day, he decided we both needed to purify our lives.  And he became increasingly fanatical after that.  The Mormon lifestyle wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I played along.  Everyone was just so fucking nice, it was hard to be the one swimming against the tide.  So I endured it.  I did it for Todd.  Like I said, in the beginning I loved him.

Everyone loved him.  But not everybody had to live him.  Nobody knew what a hypocrite he was.  Not everybody saw the insanely controlling side of him that only came out late at night, after he had been alone with a bottle of his forbidden tequila for a few hours.  Not everyone saw his Jekyll and Hyde personality emerge.  Not everyone cowered in fear in the dark corners of the house when he lost control so badly that he would threaten to hit me, his arm raised, the back of his hand poised in the air like an angry snake that never actually attacked.  And all for some minor transgression.  Something innocuous like not putting the lid on the tube of toothpaste, or not folding the towels perfectly before I put them in the cabinet.  The tiniest things escalated into nightmarish evenings of screaming and threats.

It went on for years.

Until that one, fateful Friday night.  When the snake finally struck, and he dealt a blow so hard across my face that my nose bled.  That was the night that changed everything, even though I could see now that the change should have come much sooner.  I would regret not leaving sooner for the rest of my life.  But you live and learn, right?

For some it takes even longer, I guess.

Like my old best friend, Lacey.  When I first met Lacey, she was young and vivacious, a strong, independent woman that I looked up to and admired.  I wanted to be around her all the time, and we spent so much time together, we were like sisters.

But then she met Louis. Louis was a domineering asshole who somehow managed to get her under his thumb, and once he did,  he didn’t let up.  Seeing her in an abusive relationship killed me, and I spent countless days trying to convince her that she deserved better, that she had options and other places to go.   But she never listened, she never left, she just kept taking the abuse day after day.  I had such a hard time reconciling the strong woman I knew and loved with the weak and sad woman in front of me every time she told me she had decided to stay.

It baffled me.  I swore to myself I would never live that life, and that’s why, when Todd hit me the first time, I knew I was done.

I waited till he left for work the next day. I packed my shit, and I left with nothing but a swollen nose and the clothes and few possessions I could fit in the cab of my red pick-up truck.  I left Texas, headed west, and prayed the whole way there that the truck didn’t break down.  I didn’t look back until I hit the coast.

I contemplated leaving a note for Todd.  In the end, I figured words weren’t necessary.  When his calls and texts began flooding my cell phone as I got halfway across Texas, I turned it off.  I figured he didn’t deserve the pleasure of ever hearing my voice again.  Not if I could help it.

It took me a few days, but I drove straight to the coast, stopping in rest stops along the way to sleep in the truck, my doors locked and my eyes always searching my mirrors, afraid that Todd might find me.

When I stood in front of the Pacific Ocean for the first time, I pulled my phone from the pocket of my jeans and threw it as far into the crashing waves that I could.  I never wanted to talk to him again, not if I could help it, and I had absolutely no regrets about it. 

I got a room at a run down motel for a few days and I spent the weekend scouring neighborhoods and rental listings in the newspaper, nursing my sore nose.

With my newly purchased cell phone with a brand new California phone number, I called my school to quit my job.  With a shaking voice, I explained to the principal why I was leaving and how much I was going to miss my students I had grown so fond of.  But staying wasn’t an option for me, and luckily they were beyond kind, even continuing to pay me for a short amount of time so that I could relocate to a safer place. 

I was lucky.  I had resources, I had a small savings to help rebuild my life, but not every woman does.  I got out alive, and I was well aware that wasn’t the case for every woman.

But now, here I was.  Months later, and I was grateful to have the chance to start over.  I moved to Los Angeles, thinking it was about as far as I could get from tiny Mineola, Texas.  I wanted to go to a place where nobody knew my name and I could blend into the background.

Growing up in Mineola was about as apple pie as you could get, at least on the surface.  Somehow, the smiles and happiness the community liked to present publicly did a wonderful job of hiding the seediness that lurked in the dark corners of that small, east Texas town.

I could have stayed.  I could have reported Todd, sure.  But he was the most decorated officer in that tightly-knit, tiny police force, and domestic violence was something that everyone in the town seemed to have taken a vow of silence about. I could have told someone in the church, but the occasional black eye on someone’s wife was something that was accepted silently and politely swept under the rug.  Lacey wasn’t the only one enduring hell where she was supposed to be finding sanctuary.  But I would have died before I allowed that happen to me.

No fucking way.  So, I knew reporting him would do absolutely nothing, but getting the fuck out of dodge?  I could do that.

I figured I would hide as well as I could, and if Todd decided to follow me, then I would cross that bridge when I came to it.  At least if he followed me to LA, then I knew I would probably have a chance of finding some sort of protection once we were off Todd’s personal territory.

Turned out, I loved California.  It was so crowded and crazy and the bustle of the place made me dizzy at times, but there was nothing that compared to sitting on the beach and watching all the craziness unfold around you.  People watching quickly became my favorite past time, and when I wasn’t searching for a place to live and a school that might be hiring, I planted myself on the hot sand every chance I got.

Finding an apartment was easy, and I quickly fell in love with my quaint little one bedroom, with its little side office and a sunny balcony that opened up over a busy street smack dab in the middle of Silver Lake.  When I was offered a job teaching second grade at one of the highest ranking elementary schools in the area, I felt like my luck was finally turning around. The school felt like home as soon as I stepped through its large, old doors and the other teachers and staff welcomed me like family.  I had finally begun to heal a little, and let a little bit of hope for my future seep into my heart.

Now that Todd was out of my life, now that I was finally settled in my new city and my new job, I felt like I could breathe again.  I felt free, in a way I never had before.

Don’t get me wrong.  I operated under the assumption that I had probably pissed Todd off enough by leaving that he would eventually track me down.  So, I did all I could do, outside of adopting a new identity all together.  I bought a hand gun, thankful for all the hours I had spent shooting beer cans with my father in the east Texas woods.  I enrolled myself in self-defense classes at the local gym. I started lifting weights.  And I had installed extra locks on my apartment door. 

Outside of those things, and constantly being aware of my surroundings?  Well, I figured there wasn’t much more I could do, except go on with my life.  

So I did.  But I did tend to look over my shoulder often.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of my lunch break, and sending me crashing back into my present. I gathered my things from the table, said goodbye to the other teachers and headed back to my room with a peaceful smile on my face.

When I entered my room, I spotted Rosie already sitting in her seat and chatting happily with her friends.  I blushed as I felt my pulse speed up a little, the leathery smell of her father flooding my thoughts once more.

CHAPTER FIVE

MIKE

“Brothers, welcome back to Club Mayhem,” I said to the table full of my closest friends.  Looking around at them, I was filled with gratitude that it was this particular group of men that made up the Gypsy Riders.   Any other combination, and it wouldn’t have been the same at all.

They each nodded at me, the seriousness on their faces matching mine.  When we entered this room, it was all business.  When we walked out the door, that was a different story.  We joked and partied together.  We took care of each other.  We fed each other.  We were a community, a family.   But business was business, and that’s why we were here today.

“As you know, we have a job proposition to discuss.  We’ll be taking a vote today on how to proceed.  Jackson Sullivan has asked us to help him out with another delivery he’s receiving.  He needs protection during the transaction.  As you remember, we’ve helped him out before and everything went smoothly and we were paid very well for our services.  Now, before you decide on your vote, there’s a few things you should know.”

“Mr. Sullivan’s informed me that the product he’s buying is being sold to him and delivered by a close associate of the Cretins MC.  It’s very likely they’ll be there to protect the seller in Mr. Sullivan’s transaction. He doesn’t entirely trust this person, this is the first time he’s done business with him, so that’s where the risk comes in.  Mr. Sullivan wants us to be there, just in case shit goes down.”

“So, there’s a chance of clashing with a rival MC and that could lead to a lot of serious trouble in the future should something go wrong.  It’s entirely possible that the transaction will go down without a hitch, as well.  In situations like this, we never can be sure.”

“That’s why we get paid the big bucks,”  Reaper said, his deep voice echoing through the room.  

I smirked.

“It’s true.  And I don’t think these guys are going to be bringing any kind of muscle that we can’t go up against and win, but I want us to consider all the risks before we decide.  So, does anybody have anything they’d like to add?”  I asked the others.  

“As long as we ain’t treading on their territory, and they ain’t treading on ours, it seems like we’re just going to be there doing the same job,” Sandman said. “I don’t see why the Cretins would take offense at us being there.”

“I agree, Sandman,” I replied.

The others nodded their heads in agreement.

I waited another moment before speaking up again.

“Alright, it seems pretty cut and dry then.  Let’s vote.”

Reaper went through our voting ritual, and there were no naysayers.

“Alright, that was easy.  It all goes down next Friday night.  We’ve got ten days before then, and we’ll meet again to go over the details a few times between then and now.  If anyone thinks of anything else regarding this job, please feel free to bring it up.”

“You got it, Pres,” Reaper said, as the others nodded at me.

“Alright, then, that’s all I have for today,” I said.

One by one, they trailed out, and the group of us headed straight to the clubhouse bar, with lil’ Mike wobbling along and panting behind us, no doubt hoping Sandman would be nice enough to pour a little beer for him.

Not only did the brothers spoil Rosie, but lil’ Mike wasn’t exactly ignored either.  I looked down at him and laughed as he snorted and rubbed his head on me, scratching his snotty nose on the bottom of my jeans, before running off to find Reaper.  

CHAPTER SIX

DAISY

I had spent the whole day wondering if I would see Mike when he picked up Rosie.  As soon as the final bell rang, the kids jumped up from their seats and began putting things away.