seeing that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go on or not. Finally, he took a deep breath and told her, “My senior year in high school, I was friends with this guy, Adam. We came from similar backgrounds, had been friends for years, and he’d started dating this girl we knew in our neighborhood, Stacy. Everything was great on the surface. They seemed like the perfect couple, and everyone envied them, including me. I went through a string of girlfriends I just couldn’t seem to connect with, but still I was happy for my friend.
“So, one day, I see him in the cafeteria after school, in the corner, talking to her. He’s got her pinned against the wall, and she’s crying, and next thing I know, he smacks her across the face. Hard.”
Brett inhaled sharply, but she said nothing, seeing the rage on his face, his eyes distant as if he was reliving the memory. He continued, “No one else seemed to see it, and from her reaction, I knew it wasn’t the first time he’d hit her. I blew up. I couldn’t understand why he would do that. So I took off running, and I pulled him away from her. I started wailing on him, couldn’t stop myself. He didn’t even get a chance to defend himself, didn’t throw a punch back.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t remember much after that, but I know a couple of people pulled me off him, and I was arrested. Adam went to the hospital, but it turns out he had health issues. He had epilepsy, and apparently one of the blows sent him into a seizure. He died there.”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she told him, reaching out and taking his hands in hers. How long had he carried around the burden of his friend’s death? It was obvious he blamed himself, and he had a lot of guilt.
He scoffed. “No one else felt sorry for me. I wasn’t expelled or charged because Stacy gave a statement about what had happened. But my parents disowned me, took away my free ride, and told me to get out the day I graduated. They thought Stacy and I were making shit up because they’d known Adam’s parents for so long and didn’t believe their kid would do something like that. They had more faith in Adam than they did their own son.” Taking a deep breath, he finished, “A lot of the kids at school assumed Stacy and I were seeing each other behind Adam’s back, and we wanted him out of the way. We both ended up getting the shit end of the deal there. That’s the kind of place I grew up in.”
She nodded. “So, how did you end up with the club?”
He laughed. “It turns out, I went to high school with Rocky, and we ran into each other a year later. I was homeless, and was casing the garage he was working at, thinking about stealing some parts to sell for money, yes I recognize the irony of me planning to study law and then ending up trying to steal shit. But he saw me, talked to me, and got me a job there instead. It wasn’t long after that we both got started with the MC. Now, he’s an officer, and I’m still low man on the totem pole. I’ve handled this the same way I did everything in life, just sitting around, doing the minimum to get by.”
“You didn’t murder your friend.”
He nodded. “I know. But it’s hard to move past it. And the fact that I haven’t done shit to gain anything since then doesn’t make it better.”
“Is that why you took this job? Decided you wanted to help my club? Me?” She shouldn’t ask, shouldn’t open up a can of worms, but for some reason, she had to know.
“Initially, yes. I saw an opportunity to step up and finally gain some clout.” He finally looked at her, and she winced internally at the intensity of his gaze. “But once I got started, I stayed with it because I believe in it. I believe in you.”
Brett had no idea what to say, and she was afraid she might sound weak and emotional if she tried to speak. So, she remained silent and just squeezed his hands.
The waiter came back with their drinks, and he pulled away. The tension broke, and he asked her, “What about you? You’ve been around bikes all