Page 104 of Praying for Thunder

Chubs was following me. “Oh, nothing. He’s had a little pussy and now thinks he’s hot shit.”

Bahahahahah…

I went into the tent that I was, unfortunately, sharing with Chubs.

Roam had a sleeping bag in there, too. He whispered to me, “He must have a reason for not telling us ‘til now. Try and stay calm.”

I had just walked away from men who were my only true family. All to save innocents. The ones a ‘friend’ knew of. My chest wanted to explode. My lungs? Implode. “He knew?”

Chubs was distraught. “What did you expect me to do?”

That response activated one from me that wasn’t reasonable. Unfairly, the young man was the recipient of my pent-up frustrations. I tackled him. We fought. I punched. He punched…

Roam was at his wit’s end. “No!” He tried to break us apart, only to be dragged down with us.

By the time it was over, the tent had collapsed, trapping us inside.

We all lay there, tangled, panting, drunk laughter booming from outside. “What da hell they doin’ in there?”

The green tent lifted with my every labored exhale. “I hope I forgive you someday.”

Chubs nodded, his face rubbing against the material. “I do, too.”

⚡⚡⚡

As profound as full circle moments can be, the gentler moments can be just as important. I’m glad I learned this young, so I could be a better man for Rya. It was all an act when I pretended to come across a tattoo artist at the Arizona bike rally. Diesel claimed there was no way Onus wouldn’t be suspicious if Dio didn’t try to communicate with me. I realized he was correct when Sharell ‘found’ me under a small vendor tent, getting on a long chair.

“Baby, w-what are you doing?” Her cheek had darkened from the smack Onus gave her at the gas station.

“Hey, Mom. I’m getting a tattoo.” I took off my t-shirt. My cut was already hanging on a different chair.

“Oh.” She held her throat, nervously. “That’s nice. But, uh… where’s Chubs and Roam?”

Laying back, I rolled my eyes. “Wasn’t in the mood for babysitters.”

“Oh, I’ll umm… tell your father.”

Again, I felt bad for her. “Stand a distance from him when you do.”

She held her cheek, then weakly smiled. “Solid advice.” And walked away.

It was just me and Dio under the tent. The generator muffled our quiet talk.

Laying my chair back to prepare, he cursed, “Why do I feel sorry for that pathetic woman?”

With a weighted exhale, I explained, “Because she’s caught up in the devil’s path.”

Rolling a small table closer to us, he grumbled, “Dangerous place to be.” Organizing the items on his table, he warned, “Incoming.” He was by my head. “Stay cool, my dude.”

Even though Dio was with me, I can’t lie and say I wasn’t scared. Onus was unpredictable. I’d seen him kill. You couldn’t always sense what was going to set him off, but I was confident this would.

His wide shoulders practically took up the whole tent. “What are you doing with my boy?”

I opened my mouth, but Dio beat me to it. He glared at Onus. “Just giving the kid a parting gift.”

Flanked by Piercer and another meathead, Onus chuckled darkly. “A parting gift?” There were three more Titans behind them.

I quickly sat up, hoping to prevent a mini explosion and sounding like a bratty teenager. “Dad! Why are you embarrassing me during my first tat?”