| |
DC
What had just happened?
I blinked back the threatening tears and looked at Grizzly and then Tiny. They were both staring at the floor, anger mixed with sorrow on their faces.
“Who the hell hurt my dad? Are they dead? If they aren’t I want to know why not. And then I will see to it that they die, slowly and as painfully as possible.”
Grizzly was the one who looked up first and his eyes were no longer filled with sorrow. Rage burned deep inside. I waited as Tiny, with the same look in his eyes started talking. The story he told me broke my heart and filled me with so much rage and sorrow I didn’t know how to deal with it.
Working out or sparring was my usual way of dealing with the things I couldn’t talk about, and how I dealt with feelings when they threatened to overwhelm me.
I couldn’t work out or spar. I was still too banged up.
I had to sit there and take it. I had to allow the tears to leave my eyes and run unchecked down my cheeks while I clenched my teeth trying to keep the sobs from escaping. It was a lost cause. Pretty soon my nose was running and I was sniffing and sobbing uncontrollably. I had no idea why it was hitting me so hard.
Maybe it did because no one ever talked about her or said her name my entire life. She was always referred to as ‘your mother’ if she was mentioned at all. After one really shitty Mother’s Day at nursery school when I was four, Zelda, Stoney’s old lady told me my mother had died giving birth to me and that it made my dad very sad to think about her. This, to my already screwed up young mind, made it my fault. She was never spoken of again by me or anyone else.
I was a very angry little girl and refused to answer to the name she had chosen for me, Jasmine. I hated it. The only name I acknowledged was my dad’s name for me, demon child.
It was around that time I became DC, even at school.
Grizzly left the room and came back with a roll of loo paper, dropping it into my lap. I blew my runny nose, patted my eyes dry and cleared my stuffed up throat. Picking up my forgotten mug I took a mouthful of cold coffee and swallowed it down, getting rid of the big lump in my throat.
“They have all been taken care of? There’s no one left who could hurt him or our family?”
“They’re all gone, DC. He erased them and their businesses completely. They had no children and the women left behind aren’t a threat. You’re all that’s left of that family. You are the best part of them, the best part of your mother. She loved your dad, loved him so much she defied her family, her religion and her culture to be with him. She was only19 when she died, and you were two weeks old.”
I looked into the sad eyes of Tiny and Grizzly and knew in my gut there was more.
“Why? Why would they do such a horrible thing to someone they had raised and loved? It just makes no sense. There must have been more to it.”
The males in my mother’s family had snatched her from the little house where she had been living with my dad. They took her to an open piece of veldt near the Road Warriors compound where they took turns beating her, mutilating her and finally when she was near death her father strangled her. In the name of family honour. What absolute bullshit.
Luckily for me, Liddy, Tiny’s old lady, had taken me for a few hours that day to give my mother a chance to rest. It saved my life.
Both Tiny and Grizzly nodded in agreement.
“There was. Your mother’s people, the Sharmas, controlled a large part of the drug trade countrywide. They were feared, but not by the Road Warriors. At that time we had our own pipelines in direct competition with theirs. Killing your mother was their first shot in the war to take over our pipelines. After Suleina’s body was found your dad along with a small team of brothers killed every one who had a hand in her murder, as well as the head of the Sharma family who gave the initial order. The Road Warriors broke the Sharma’s hold on the local drug trade but we didn’t move in to take over their territory.”
Tiny scrubbed his hands through his short hair, making it stand on end. More than it usually did.
“Your mother wasn’t the only one in the club who lost her life. We lost two brothers and four women to those bastards. When it became time to a vote on staying or getting out of the drug trade, Lefty, the Prez back then, and his supporters lost. We wanted out and with the winning vote we took the first steps toward making it a reality. It was the start of Doc’s climb up the ranks. Today we live free and clear of that shit thanks to how far your dad was prepared to go for his family.”
Tiny sat back and I knew he was done talking. I had so many questions and so much to think about.
“I have a lot of questions but I need some time to work through this. You have my word I won’t approach Doc with what you have told me. He has suffered enough. I’ll come to you.”
I gave them a small smile. And then tried to lighten the atmosphere.
“My dad needs a good woman to love. Those club whores he screws are nasty and if we don’t watch out we will end up with another damn Misty situation on our hands.”
They followed my lead in the change of subject.
“Shut your mouth, woman.” Tiny growled. “We don’t need more shit coming down on our heads.”
“Have you heard from her again?” Grizzly asked.
“No, she’s gone silent and my informants tell me she left town rather suddenly. I don’t know if she’s been talking to Deena though. The little bitch isn’t speaking to me right now.”
Tiny shook his head, no sympathy in his face at all.
“You and Doc bought this shit. You spoilt her rotten and look how it turned out. She thinks she shits gold and farts moonbeams, and let me tell you, this is only the start. And now she has that dumb fuck of a Dog on the leash along with the two of you. You need to stop covering for her, step back and let Doc get a taste of the shit she has been throwing at you the last year and a half.”
“I...what are you talking about?”
Tiny snorted angrily.
“You think I don’t keep an eye on the girl, DC? She’s been a miserable bitch to you for years and you just take it. You wouldn’t take crap from anyone else, so why do you allow her to treat you the way she does? She threw an almighty fit when you bought your own place and the only reason you’re not still living in Doc’s house is Skel. He put his foot down and she backed off. You don’t own a dog, cat, canary or even a fucking goldfish because when she’s home and Doc takes off they know you will step up while he does his thing. For years now Doc has dumped his responsibility for the girl in your lap.”
He threw out an angry hand when I tried to interrupt.
“Don’t say a fucking word. Liddy and I have had enough. This shit ends now and I will be the one to let Doc know your part in raising the little bitch is done. No, no, don’t try to argue with me, DC. Liddy and I raised four wild kids, you being one of those kids, so we know how fucking difficult it is. But Doc has no fucking clue because everyone did and still does it for him, including you. It’s done, sweetheart. No more.”
He wasn’t talking to me as the VP of the Road Warriors, now he was just my uncle Tiny and surrogate dad.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Uncle Tiny. She’s my little sister, she needs me.”
“Yes, she’s your little sister and yes, she needs you to take her back. But sweetheart, you’re not her mother or her father, you’re her sister. Stop being her mother and be a sister. Just be her sister. Leave the rest to Doc.”
I nodded, not really convinced but prepared to give it some thought. But Tiny wasn’t done.
“We’ve talked about a lot of hard shit today, DC. But I want you to know, no matter what, we will always have your back. I held you in my arms when you were born, watched you grow into an amazing woman. And at one time Liddy and I had hopes Skel would give you his patch and you would be our daughter for real. It was not to be, but it doesn’t mean Liddy and I don’t consider you one of our own. You are and will always be ours. Even after that big bastard makes you his.”
Tiny’s eyes met mine and I had to breathe deeply to keep from crying before I flung myself at him. Sinking into his big body for the hug I so badly needed.
“Thanks, Uncle Tiny.” I whispered. “Thank you for always taking care of me and for taking my back when I wanted to go to Cape Town. For teaching me how to survive in this life. I love you.”
“Any time, sweetheart, any time at all.” He said softly as he hugged me tight. “Love you too, baby girl.”
Grizzly was up and pulled me from Tiny’s arms into his.
“We have your back, sweetheart. We will always have your back.” He growled against the top of my head.
I was so blessed with the family my dad had given me. Because that’s what he had done, he had given me a family, the Road Warriors family.
