Bailey watched us walk onto the deck, staring wide-eyed like her dad was leading me to a shallow grave. I doubted a guy like Kirk would be so brazen. If he wanted me dead, he’d be subtle about it. Maybe make my disappearance seem like I bailed on Bailey or my dad came for me. He could even point the blame at a fighter I beat and who still held a grudge. Kirk didn’t get where he was in life by showing all his cards.
We sat on the farthest end of the deck and looked down at the river below. From the corner of my eye, I noticed the family’s huge dogs chasing a rabbit into the woods. Above me, a hawk circled the area, scanning for prey. Everywhere predators lurked including the man next to me, yet I wasn’t worried.
“Your dad is a piece of work,” Kirk said, lighting a cigarette. “Talking all kinds of shit in jail. Wants to press charges against you, Bailey, Dylan, everyone. Says he’s going to sue. It’s pretty crazy talk for a man in a new place and not knowing the rules.”
“He’s gotten away with that stuff his whole life.”
“What do we do with him?” Kirk asked, looking me straight in the eyes. “I’m not looking to have a trial where the fucker and his friends call witnesses. That won’t do my family any good. Do you understand?”
Studying him, I never considered lying. “No, I don’t.”
“The guy will be out of jail soon. No getting around it, so we’ll need to decide what happens next. Will he go away and stay away? That’s the thing I need to know. No doubt his friends will go back to that tiny town you’re from, but your pop thinks you owe him.”
“He came here thinking he could make money off my fighting. If he finds out Bailey comes from money, he might not walk away.”
Glancing at his dogs, Kirk exhaled. “I don’t like trouble in my town, but trouble keeps coming around. The Smith sisters had those crap parents. Vaughn’s Devils shit bled into my town too. It used to piss me off, but maybe this is the place assholes come to die.”
As I stared at Kirk, he finished his cigarette. Finally, I said the words. “Are you telling me you’re going to kill my dad?”
Kirk focused his dark gaze on me. “No, I’m asking if I can kill your dad? You and my baby are clicking in a good way and I want you to stick around. With that said, I know you’re not going to join the club and know where the bodies are buried. You want that normal life everyone’s always talking about. I figure you might not be okay with your dad disappearing for good, so I figured I’d ask.”
“I don’t know what to say. He’s a piece of shit, but…”
When I never finished, Kirk did for me. “You don’t want to be the one who makes him dead. Fair enough. I just need to know if he was to go away and never come back that you wouldn’t hold it against Bailey.”
“Bailey is perfection in my eyes and nothing is changing that.”
Kirk nodded. “I know you want to stay out of the business and away from the club. That don’t mean you should take shit from an asshole like your dad. Trust me that losers never change. I know people tell stories about them changing. How they find God or go to rehab or something that makes it seem possible. In reality, people are who they are. They might behave, but they’re the same fuckers inside.”
Thinking about how much I wanted to change from the loser I was growing up, I didn’t like Kirk’s philosophy. Kirk lit another cigarette and shook his head.
“You turned out fine, kid. A man like your dad will make you feel like shit or actually turn you into shit. I see plenty of guys who raise their kids like crap and those kids do the same thing to their kids. Your dad is a user. You aren’t. Don’t let your childhood bullshit make you think you’re like him.”
The thought of my dad gone forever sounded good, yet the image of him dying because of me left me unsure.
“He might leave town if you scared him.”
“Maybe, but for how long? Look, I’m cool with scaring the fucker. I just know guys like him only scare temporarily.”
I watched the dogs linger near their hidden prey. The patient predators waited out lesser creatures. While I didn’t want to think of myself as less than my dad, I knew he was patient when time came for revenge and paydays.