Page 52 of Remorseless

“You’re not shooting Digger, Outlaw,” Bishop called from the other side of the bar. “That just means—”

“Fuck all,” Christopher snarled. “It mean fuck all except I’m a stupid motherfucker. Torie dead cuz she fucked with my woman. Case fuckin’ closed. It was a personal fuckin’ matter that spread into the fuckin’ club cuz of rumors. We not a club that kill bitches as a general rule, but that bitch just wouldnotfuckin’ listen. She wasn’t willin’ to behave even for her kid.”

Digger gave him a sly look. “Meggie been called for Torie’s head. You ignored her.”

Was the motherfucker trying to get all the rumors on the floor or was he fucking hoping to die? Christopher couldn’t tell, so he’d give him the benefit of the doubtfor now.

“Cuz I ain’t wantin’ Megan to become a bloodthirsty lil’ bitch. That ain’t hard to fuckin’ understand. The minute she stop remindin’ me I’m more than a fuckin’ killer and point motherfuckers outtofuckin’ kill, what then?”

“A fucking bloodbath,” Val grumbled. “Instead of punching me for stupid shit, you might shoot me.”

“You safe,” Christopher said with a shake of his head. “I mean I ain’tthatfuckin’ heartless to kill a stupid motherfucker for sayin’ harmless shit. Give mesomefuckin’ credit, Val.”

“So if I asked you why we don’t have square or triangle pots and pans and Meggie didn’t give a fuck if you killed ten motherfuckers a day, you wouldn’t shoot me?”

They all laughed.

Christopher shook his head. “No, assfuck.”

“Round pots cook food faster, Uncle Val,” CJ said. “They distribute the heat more evenly. Also, most stoves have round burners.”

“For real, boy?”

“CJ knows, Uncle Val,” Axel said. “He’s smart like Dad.”

Johnnie cleared his throat. “I’m recognized as the brains of the club.”

“Uncle Mort has the double major, uncle,” CJ said politely. “Math and music.”

“Mortician isn’t exactly known for his literacy.” Johnnie chuckled. “Just by looking at, uh,listening to, him, you certainly wouldn’t knowhe evenwentto college.”

“Your bitch ass not insulting Mort in my presence,” Digger said, always ready to defend his brother.

Calm, Mortician lit a cigarette, glanced at Christopher, and shrugged. Christopher couldn’t help but wonder if he really was unaffected by Johnnie’s words or if it was just pretense.

“You don’t like Uncle Mort cuz he’s black, Uncle Johnnie?” Axel picked up on what Johnnie hadn’t said and blurted his thoughts with the innocence of a kid. “Lolly’s black. Do you like her?”

“You’re a fucking child. I don’t answer to you, especially with the bullshit you’re spewing.” Johnnie threw a cold look to Christopher. “Chastise your son before I do it for you.”

“You touch my little brother and not only will we set a bear trap, wrap you in fucking netting, pour cinnamon, honey, and butter on you and release our bees, we’ll use you for fucking target practice,” Ransom snarled.

“Yeah, nobody can abuse Ax but me and Ran,” Ryder warned.

Johnnie blinked at the boys. Without a doubt, those little motherfuckers were serious. Christophermightneed to watch them a little closer to keep them out of trouble. They had excellent ideas. However, they needed to learn impulse control to effectively use their skills.

“Your ma ain’t goin’ to be happy when I tell her your plans,” Christopher said.

“It’s club business, Dad,” Ransom said.

“Nope. I ain’t cuttin’ her out on her right to decide what the fuck goin’ on with her own children. She your ma and I expect you to honor her every fuckin’ day of her life. Don’t just wait for her fuckin’ birthday or Mother’s Day or special occasions. She protected you in her belly and she spent her fuckin’ life lovin’ all us and makin’ a home for us. It hurt me to my fuckin’soul, thinkin’ motherfuckers might decide to disrespect her cuzIbeen a stupid motherfucker.”

“What do you mean by disrespect, Outlaw?” Chains called, so named because he was deep into BDSM, kept all kinds of shackles in his room, and knew how to fuck a motherfucker upwithchains.

“Fuck, I ain’t too sure,” Christopher admitted. “I mean she want me to let her resolve her own shit before I step in.” He thought for a moment. “Fuck, I guess if you say more than three sentences to her in a tone she don’t like, that’ll qualify.”

“Excuse me?” Torrin called. “What…three?”

“Hey, Megan.” Christopher ticked off the sentence on his index finger. “How are you? And I’m fine when she asks you the same. You might’ve had a bad day and it take a minute for all that annoyance to leave you so you can realize pieces of your tongue might get fuckin’ hacked off.” Thinking deeper, he sipped his beer. “Anybody know a motherfucker alive who don’t have lips? That’s probably a good punishment, too. Oh, yeah, if you ignore her when she talks to you, one or both ears gotta get hacked off, dependin’ on the severity of that infraction.”