Page 12 of Hawk
“Well, just know I’m here if you need me. Are you going to let Ivy crash there for a while?”
“I don’t want to, but what choice do I have? She has my daughter. I can’t subject her to danger.”
And if I’m being honest, I can’t subject Ivy to danger either. We’re still married. I haven’t signed any divorce papers which tells me she hasn’t filed, met with an attorney, or nothing. Does she want this marriage? Clearly, she doesn’t if she was so willing to move on after me. But seeing her brings back so many memories of the good times.
“So, you care nothing about Ivy?”
“Man…it’s confusing seeing her again. She’s still as beautiful as she was, but I’m angry at her for what she did to me. At the same time, I had to fight to take my eyes off of her lips.”
“Are you going to get a paternity test to make sure her daughter is yours?”
“Nah. Don’t need one. If you saw this girl up close, you’d already know. I just wish Ivy would’ve told me.”
“Well, all I can say is, you know now, brother. If a baby doesn’t get you to change your ways, I don’t know what else will. After all, that is what Ivy wanted in the first place.”
He’s right about that. Ivy wanted so much for me, but my problem with that was, she expected me to be who she wanted me to be. I’m no straight-laced businessman and don’t want to be. I’m an outlaw. A problem. Granted, I like law and order but only if I’m the law and the order.
And as for the MC…
It’s given me a safe place to express myself. To be myself. Ivy never understood that. In fact, after talking to her, she thinks it’s something I did with them that landed me in prison when it had nothing to do with the motorcycle. Nothing at all.
Brandon says, “Ay, while you’re visiting Mom, you may want to let her know that you have the first St. James grandchild.”
“The first? Are you sure about that? You and Gage ain’t been out here sewing your wild oats all over New Orleans?”
“Maybe Gage has, but I’m too busy building my business to be caught up right with a chick. Anyway, I’ll let you go since you’re a family man again.”
“I wouldn’t take it that far.”
“I would. You may not say it, but you love Ivy, and I don’t give a crap that she didn’t come to visit you when you were in the slammer. You still want her. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be protecting her.”
“Okay, you don’t know how this works, Brandon. I’m in the MC. That means, she’s somewhat in the MC. She’s my girl. My property. It’s my job to protect my property. It doesn’t matter that she hates my guts, or vice versa.”
“Well, who knows? You’re seeking a new beginning. She’s running from what she thought was a new beginning. This just might be what you’re looking for.”
“All I want to do is get my business back up and running like it was before. I have a daughter to think about now.”
“Yes, you do. I’ll let you get to it.”
He hangs up. I stuff my phone in my shirt pocket and walk the street. Cars whiz by blaring different varieties of music from Hip Hop to Creole.
Which reminds me…
There’s a party going on at the clubhouse in my honor and I’m not even there.
I walk back to my house, hop on my bike and head back over there. I spot Loki outside on the phone – looks like he’s handling business. He’s the president of the club and rightly so. He has a reputation inside and outside of this establishment. One just doesn’t cross Loki and get away with it.
I walk up as he’s ending his call. He says, “What the freak, man? This is your party, and you wasn’t even here.”
“My bad, Loki. I had to take care of some business.”
“What kind of business? Anything I can help with?”
I sigh, hesitant to get anyone else involved in my tangled mess.
“This must have something to do with Ivy, eh?” he says.
“How’d you know that?”