Page 62 of The Deals We Make

“A charter?” I offer.

“Yes. A charter. And I’m going to be an enforcer like you and Uncle Colton.”

“Jesus. I hope not,” Bates says.

He’s answering as her father, not that the club role sucks. There’s a level of violence in what he does that I hope this sweet little girl I’m carrying never has to face.

“And I’m going to have a boyfriend, and he’s going to wear a patch that says ‘Property of Cupcake.’”

Bates almost chokes on that. “What? And your road name is ‘Cupcake?’”

Avery nods solemnly. “Uncle Colton gave me my road name because you can’t just pick your own. And he said I’m sweet like a cupcake.”

I grin. Of course, Niro would come up with something like that. He’s changed in the last year. He’s still the same guy at his core, but he’s learned shit, about his conditions and about life and the love of a good woman.

I think of Calista and wonder what my life would be like after a year of her.

“It’s too early in the morning for this shit,” Bates mutters and leads us to the kitchen.

He pours me a coffee, and I put Avery down on one of the stools at the kitchen island.

“No Vi this morning?”

Bates places my cup down on the counter. “Had a rough night, so I told her to sleep in. Pregnancy is hot as fuck for me, but fucking exhausting for her.”

“I wish you paid me five bucks every time you said a bad word, Daddy,” Avery says.

Bates ruffles her hair. “Thankfully, that’s just a you and Uncle Colton thing.”

“How much money did I make, Uncle Vex?” Avery asks as I take my first sip of coffee.

“So, you gave me nineteen hundred dollars,” I say, and I hear Bates cough and splutter.

“Nineteen hundred dollars?” he says.

Avery nods. “Uncle Colton swears all the time.”

I take another quick drink of my coffee. “Anyway, these are all the companies you are now a shareholder in.” I simplify it as I take her through it. She doesn’t need to know all the details of a diversified portfolio that has a mix of funds and individual stocks with different risk and growth profiles. “So, we’re one week in to holding your investments, and you made five dollars and thirteen cents.”

Avery holds her palm out for a high five, and I slap it. “You’re the best investor, Uncle Vex.”

“You’re my best client,” I say, putting my arm over her shoulder and giving her a quick squeeze when she leans into me.

Never thought much about having kids beyond the fact I love hanging with my nieces and nephews and I’d like some of my own one day. But if and when I do, I’m gonna be coming to Vi and Bates for advice—mainly Vi, given she raised Avery alone—because Avery is such a sweet and well-adjusted kid.

“You ready to go?” Bates asks.

“I am. Need to stop by the club to pick up some shit first.”

When we finally approach the club, after Bates woke Vi with decaf coffee and something else that took him fifteen minutes which I really don’t want to think about, I feel a sense of dread.

The only thing that has changed since I was last here is the knowledge I gained from Calista. And my image of the club has been irrevocably altered. Intellectually, I know that what happened is not the fault of the current leadership team. But given Calista only caught the patches of Wrinkle and Cue Ball, I don’t know if any of the old-timers who loiter around the clubhouse were there too.

And I’m mad that after they told me I had to stay for a year to prove I hadn’t just planted shit for them, I threw myself into the club whole-heartedly, in spite of every objection from my mother.

But rationality isn’t the driving force of my emotions.

I find myself getting mad and feel that all-encompassing frustration that I have nowhere to aim it, again.