After my run, I had a shower, changed, and ate a sandwich for lunch. Now I’m going to look for Axel and get all the past out in the open.
Walking over to his office, I see his door open. He’s talking to someone on his cell. I step away and head back to the common room to wait for him to finish. He saw me, so he will come for me when he’s ready.
Beer is behind the bar, so I head on over and perch on a barstool, ‘Can I have a soda, please.’
‘You sure can, Mia. How are you doing?’ he asks as he passes me a can of soda.
‘I’m okay, just waiting for Axel to finish with whoever he’s talking to in the office, then I’m going to be telling all my past, probably the whole fucked up life story,’ I say, cringing as I say it.
‘One thing you have to remember, Mia, is that most of us have fucked up life stories. That’s how we came to be a part of this MC family. So never knock yourself down over it because we won’t knock you down.’
I nod, totally understanding as I know more than enough about the club life and the brotherhood that bonds everyone together.
Beer talks to me, and as always, he has me laughing in no time. Some of the things he tells me he’s seen here with everyone are hilarious. Of course, he embellishes somewhat.
Axel shouts for me from the hallway, and I give Beer a nod and smile, then hightail it over to the office. When I enter, Drag and Buzz are sitting, waiting for me, too. Well, it looks like I have a demanding audience; I think to myself.
‘Take a seat next to me, Mia,’ Axel says while pulling out a chair behind his desk. I sit in what must be his chair, as it is still warm, and I see where he will sit. He picks up another chair, bringing it next to mine.
‘Okay, Mia, we need to know everything about you. That way, we can keep you safe. We don’t know who or why anyone would try to hurt you at this point. Gunner is making amends with his daughter and has shown no signs of coming here. He’s not even inquired how you’re doing. Sharp is watching him and will inform me if anything seems to be off,’ Axel states, then takes hold of my hand and gives it a slight squeeze.
‘Where do you want me to begin?’ I ask because I don’t want to go through all my childhood if I can get away with it.
‘What about before you worked at the bank or while you worked at the bank?’ Buzz asks, but gives me a look that tells me he understands about dragging up the past.
Rubbing my fingers on my temples, I take a deep breath and then begin my story, well, what I’m willing to tell of my story at this moment in time.
Taking a deep breath, I blow out slowly, then I begin, ‘I can’t go into my childhood with you. Just know that I was in foster care and moved around quite a lot. I do not know what happened to my parents. No one ever told me, although I asked every year on my birthday.
‘When I started working at the bank, I was pretty excited. I had worked hard to get that job, and it was something I’d wanted to do since high school. I’ve always been great at math and thought about being an accountant, but decided against it because I wanted to meet people, not stuck in a stuffy office all day.
‘I met Gunner at a bar. He bought me a couple of drinks, we talked and arranged to go on a date. We had a couple of meals out, and to cut a long story short, I met his daughter and eventually moved in with him.
‘We had a good life, or I thought we did. I loved his daughter. She became my own in many ways, but as you know, it all went to hell.
‘I had had odd messages on my cell from a number I didn’t know. Telling me to leave, that I wasn’t wanted at the MC and many other things, but I ignored them as I didn’t believe any of it.’
‘None of the MC members had ever shown me any mistrust or hatred, not even the club girls. I helped where I could, cooked, babysat, that sort of thing.’
‘Did anyone act strangely towards you? Give you an itch on the back of your neck? Anything other than normal for them?’ Buzz asks.
‘There has to be something that would show who was sending shit to you?’ Drag mumbles, then looks me straight in the eye, ‘Think hard, Mia, anyone who was kind to you, usually spoke to you, then changed.’
‘Does it matter? Now, after all this time. I have nothing to do with Gunner, his MC, or even his daughter. The only time I hear Zara’s name is when I discussed the past with Target and only then because he’d had long talks with Zara. I don’t care about any of it anymore, and why would it have any link to my room being trashed?’
‘Okay, let’s move on. We know about you being railroaded. We’ve talked about this many times. So can we jump to your time in prison?’ Axel asks, rubbing his hand up and down my arm to calm my nerves. I’m not even sure he realizes he’s doing it.
‘When I first was sent in, I had a cellmate. She was called Sharon. I called her Shar. She was great. We watched each other’s backs. She was in for theft because she was living on the street after her father kicked her out. Anyway, that’s another story.
‘It was only a couple of weeks in when I started getting targeted by women pushing me when walking past, spitting in my food when I was being served, throwing cold water over me in the showers.
‘Then it got worse. I was cornered by three women who took great lengths to tell me I had a hit on me from my ex in the MC. I was beaten pretty badly and ended up in the hospital ward for two weeks. I had a concussion, and a stab wound.’
‘Who were these women? We should put a fucking hit on them?’ Drag snarls, standing and pacing up and down.
‘Sit the fuck down, Drag,’ Axel snaps, then nods at me to carry on.
‘After that, Shar and I stood together more closely as she had had a bit of a shoving match with one woman for being friendly towards me.’
‘Anyway, let’s cut to it. I sharpened a toothbrush against the brickwork in my cell, making sure I got it to a point, then snapped off the brush end. I tucked it away, and when I was cornered again, one day, I used it. I stabbed the bitch, and after that, they put me in solitary, and I stayed in solitary for most of my stay.’
‘Why? What had you in solitary that long and often?’ Buzz asks, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.
‘Because every time I came out, someone did something else, and when I stood up for myself, they yanked me back into solitary.’
‘That is total bullshit. Gunner still has a lot to answer for, Pres,’ Drag snaps, then he walks around the desk and grabs me up into his arms, giving me a solid hug, much to Axel’s annoyance.
‘Yeah, he does, but one day it will come home to roost. It always does.’ Axel states.
‘I want to check on Shar, if it’s possible. She took a lot of abuse because we were friends. When she gets out, I want to help her get a new start.’ I tell them and try to remember how long she had to serve after they had released me.
‘Why did she get so long for theft?’ Buzz asks me, ‘Seven years? It’s a long time for that?’
‘Well, when she was caught, the shop owner tried to rape her, so she hit him. He made out she did it when he grabbed her for the theft, so she got time for theft and assault. She got seven years but was told she could get out in six if she had good behavior. She is up for parole soon, I’m sure.’
‘It’s all bullshit. The system is fucked up.’ Drag snarls, his brother went to prison and hung himself one night in his cell.
‘So you can’t add anything that stands out that someone would be after you from prison for any reason?’ Axel asks me, and I sit, giving it a lot of thought, but I don’t see it.
‘I don’t think so, Axel, because once I had shanked a couple of them, they backed off and stayed away from me most of the time. It was just petty pushing and shoving, that sort of thing. Why they kept putting me in solitary, I don’t know.’
‘Okay, what about when you got out?’ Buzz asks, still leaning forward in his seat.
‘Nothing. I went to the halfway house, got the job in the diner, and then you all happened. You know all that. Nothing since I got here either.’ I state.
‘Okay, babe, I’ll ask Specs to check on your friend to see if they have released her. If not, we can arrange for a visit if that’s what you want to do.’ Axel adds, then stands and squeezes my shoulder, showing his support.
Nodding, I smile at the three of them and leave the office, making my way to my room, where I’m going to chill out and let this all go. I can’t go down the road of thinking about it over and over. All it does is destroy what happiness I’ve found.
Sitting on my bed, I pick up my cell and ring Suzie. The rush in the diner should be over, and I just want to touch base with her. It only takes a few rings before Suzie answers, ‘Hi Mia, are you okay?’
‘Everything is okay, Suzie. I just wanted to see how you both were. It’s been a while since we spoke.’
‘We’re good. We got a new girl serving. She’s doing okay, but not the same as you. We both miss you so much.’ Suzie tells me.
I spend a few minutes catching up with how they both are and that I’m going to be renovating a business, then we close out the call, and I’m going to take a trip over to see them as soon as I can.
Laying back, I’m staring at the ceiling, trying to think who would want to cause me trouble now. It just makes little sense, especially with Gunner and his MC leaving me alone. As my mind travels from one thought to another, I don’t even realize when I fall asleep.
