Page 67 of Savage Ends

“I don’t fucking want his place.I never wanted his place, Pat.For fuck’s sake, is that what you think?”Doc asked.

“Why won’t you come back?”

“Because every memory I have of her is here,” Doc said.

And then, Pat saw the real pain in his father’s eyes.

“Dad, Mom wouldn’t want it to be like this.”

Doc sighed.“Now that you have a good woman, you will start to understand what it feels like.Do me a favor, when you can, think about losing Ava.Think about someone ripping her away from you, and you not getting the chance to tell her you love her, that you want to be with her.Imagine that, and then tell me you would want to be in the same place you loved that woman, you conceived a child with her, made memories with her, and then watched her get killed because you couldn’t save her.I’ve got nothing against the club, son.Never have.I’ve kept an eye on things when I could.This place is too raw.It’s like I can hear her chuckle.Every time I turn around, I want to see her smiling face, because that was how it was when she was alive.This is all I want.I can’t have that.”

Pat nodded.“I’m sorry, Dad.”

“The next couple of weeks, hell, even the next few months are going to be tough.You’ve got to be ready for everything I’ve taught you.”

“I’m ready,” Pat said.

Doc nodded, and then Pat was surprised as his father came to him and gave him a hug that was so tight, it nearly stole his breath.“I’m proud of you, son.So damn proud, and that girl, she is a keeper, regardless of her age, okay?”

“Yeah.”

And with that, his father let him go.

Pat stayed in the parking lot and watched him leave.He missed his old man, and it was only now he realized how much.

Heading back inside, he sat down at the church table, where everyone looked deadpan.

“What did I miss?”Pat asked.

“Nothing,” Rusty said.“We all took a moment while we waited to remember your mom.”

The club never talked about what happened before.It was a stain on the club history.Pat sat there and nodded, feeling a tightness in his throat as the club brothers who had been there with Bull’s father, as well as the newbies, respected his mother.She had been a fine woman.A casualty of their war.She was someone who shouldn’t have died, especially not by Bull’s father’s hand.

“What’s the plan?”Pat asked.

He was not going to cry in front of his club brothers.That shit was not happening.They had some hunting to do.

“For now, we need to focus on the dogs, but after, we’re going hunting.”

“Don’t you think we should attack now?”Rusty asked.“After all, these sons of bitches shot me, and even if my life isn’t worth shit, they put dogs at risk.Now, I can handle being shot at.It’s fucking fun, but dogs, they didn’t do no shit wrong, and now I am pissed.”

Bull sighed.“I get that you’re all angry.I’m with you all on this.But it doesn’t change the fact we still got to handle business.This time, the town has to come first, because they were all there to help pitch in, and they didn’t have to.They could have told us all to go fuck ourselves.We take care of the town, and in the meantime, you find them, and you do so without them even knowing.Then, we will go hunting, and I fucking promise you, they are going to regret targeting us.”

And with that, church was dismissed.

He saw Rusty was pissed.Pat left the room, and made his way toward Rusty.

“How are you holding up?”he asked.

“Like I have been shot, and I’m pissed off,” Rusty said, going to the bar.“So, before I start hunting them shits down, I’m going to have a drink—a lot of drinks—and then I’m going to start dealing with shit.You want to join me?”

Pat shook his head and looked toward the time.He had dropped Ava off at work, and Bernice was with him tonight.In fact, she was still huddled in bed in the corner he had set for her.He gave a whistle, and she came trotting toward him.She put her head against his hand, and he couldn’t resist giving her a stroke.She really was a good dog.Ava loved her, and it had become part of her life to take her wherever she went.

“I’m heading out for tonight.Tomorrow morning, I’m coming with you.”

****

It had been a slownight.Even though Ava knew Pat was busy, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to step right through that door, give her that charming smile of his, and tell her everything was going to be okay.