Page 112 of Creed

“I don’t know...” Chrissy hesitated, that crack of pain still fresh in her voice. “What if he doesn’t want to see me?”

“He’ll want to see you,” I answered without hesitation. “You’re his kid, and you’re pretty awesome. He loves you andwill want to know you’re okay. He’ll want to know that you haven’t given up on him.”

She nodded, and I leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’re a good kid, Chris. He’s lucky to have you. I know I am.”

I stood and reached for my keys on the table. “I’m heading out for a bit. Be back before dinner.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

“Will do.” As I stepped through the door, I called out, “Love you.”

And they replied in unison, “Love you, too.”

And just like that, my day had been made. I headed out to my bike, and half an hour later, I was at the clubhouse meeting up with Goose. We were only there for a minute before we were on the road to ADC. We needed to pay a visit to a close friend of the club’s and ask him to keep an eye on Maddox.

Goose wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea and started pouting as soon as we made our way inside. He let out a muffled curse then grumbled, “I hate it here. It sucks.”

“I think that’s kind of the point.”

The clank of the steel doors echoed behind us as Goose and I made our way down to the prison’s visitor area so we could have a word with our good friend, Pookie.

He wasn’t a brother.

Not even close.

But he was a strong supporter and easily influenced. It only took a little love to get him to do just about anything we wanted him to do, especially if it was Goose giving him the love. Goose would play along, but he wasn’t happy about it, and he made sure to let me know. “It smells like sweat, bleach, and stale regret in here.”

“It’s a prison. How do you expect it to smell?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t they ever heard of a Glade plugin.”

“Doubt it’d do any good.”

“Probably not.” He let out an annoyed breath as he said, “Remind me never to end up here.”

I chuckled, “Today should be all the reminding you need.”

When we walked in, Pookie was already sitting at the table with a shit-eating grin plastered on his round face. His bright orange jumpsuit looked at least two sizes too small, and yet, he’d somehow managed to roll the sleeves up just enough to show off the tattoos on his pudgy forearms. When he saw Goose, his eyes lit up, and he let out a high-pitched squeal.

“Oh, mi amor, you came too!” Pookie sang, dramatically clutching his chest like he was about to faint. “I knew you’d miss me.”

“Ah, hell.” Goose shot me a look, jaw tightening like he was bracing for impact. “You did this shit on purpose, didn’t ya.”

“Oh, cut the crap. You know you love it.”

“Fuck you, brother,” he rasped under his breath, then shifted his scowl into a playful grin as he turned on all the charm he could muster. “Looking good,Pookie. You been working out?”

“Mmm, don’t play with me, boy.” Pookie flipped his hand in the air, “You know I’m thick, but you like it.”

“Yeah, yeah. You right.”

I stifled a laugh as I slid into the chair across from Pookie. Goose sat next to me, leaning back and running his hand through his hair like he was God’s gift to women and to Pookie. Goose gave him a quick once-over as he asked, “How’s life been treating you in here?”

“Not too bad.” Pookie was practically drooling at this point, and Goose was feeding right into him. “Just getting through the grind. You know how it can be.”

“Sure do.” Goose gave him a wink. “But as long as you give as good as you get, it’s all good.”

“Oh, honey. I always give better.” Pookie gave him a wink. “It makes me worth remembering and has them coming back for more.”