N9ne: The Tale of Kevin Clearwater (King, #9)(40)

“That’s easy.” Nine winks. “Hatred has to be beaten out.”

I look into his eyes. There isn’t a spec of hazel to be seen. His pupils are dilated to the size of golf balls. No doubt one of the effects of the smoothie that hasn’t yet worn off.

“Severed heads aside, what’s really bothering you right now?” he asks.

He doesn’t care. He just wants to know where the money is.

I shut out Anxiety and answer anyway. Maybe, to spite the bitch. “I just can’t…I feel like I have no idea what’s going on anymore. Like I’m not in control of anything.”

“I know the feeling.” Nine takes a deep breath of the hot summer air and releases it on a long exhale. “Isn’t it great?”

I repress the urge to stomp my foot like a child. “What’s great about it?”

“You’re living,” he says. I feel like there’s some hidden meaning behind his words, but I don’t speak verbal hieroglyphics.

“And by living, you mean being threatened with severed heads, almost dying in an explosion, and getting evicted from my house?”

He bites his lower lip, and suddenly, I wish it was my teeth sinking into his skin. “Sometimes, you gotta almost die to remember that you’re alive.”

“Now, that I know something about,” I mutter.

We get out of the truck at a small home where Preppy’s black Cadillac is parked. It’s one of those perfectly restored, older bungalows. The kind I always wanted, but Jared ignored when he bought the monstrosity of a house on the beach instead.

“We’ve got unfinished business, you and I,” Nine says, his expression unreadable.

I’m pondering his meaning when the ground beneath us rumbles. A roar in the distance grows louder and louder until a large black motorcycle stops in front of the house. A huge man in all black, wearing belts around his forearms, dismounts.

“Nine,” the man says in a deep voice I feel in my chest just as much as the vibration of his motorcycle.

“King,” Nine greets.

“We gotta talk, kid.” King juts his chin to the gate. “Out back.”

NINE

King rounds the house, heading for the backyard. I take Lenny by the hand and bring her inside where we’re greeted by my nephew, Bo.

“Uncle Kevin! I finally figured out what my biker name is going to be when I join Uncle Bear’s MC!” he exclaims proudly. For not being able to speak for years, Bo rarely stops talking these days. But every word he utters makes me smile.

“Oh yeah? What’s that, kid?”

Bo smiles brightly, exposing a missing front tooth. “Bo.”

I laugh. “It took you that long to want to go by your own name?”

“What? You don’t like it?” Bo frowns.

I ruffle his hair. “Kid, I fucking love it.”

“Do you like my outfit today?” he asks, stretching out the white t-shirt he’s wearing.

Every day, he dresses up like either Bear, Preppy or King. Today, he’s not wearing a leather cut and no shirt like Bear, he’s not wearing belts wrapped around his arms like King, and he’s not even wearing a bow-tie and suspenders like Preppy. Today, for the first time, he’s dressed in a white V-neck t-shirt with baggy jeans and white tennis shoes.

Like me.

“So, Uncle Kevin?” he asks, spinning around so I can take him in. I can’t stop smiling at the kid. “What do you think? Don’t I look just like you?”

“You, do. And you’ve even got my chain.” I point to the beads he’s wearing around his wrists and neck.

He shrugs. “The attention is in the details. These are just plastic though. I stole them from my sisters. I’ll get real ones one day.” He looks up at me like he’s waiting for my approval.

“You look just like him,” Lenny says from next to me.

“Hi, I’m Bo Clearwater,” my nephew says, offering Lenny his hand. “You’re super pretty, just like my mama.” Bo turns around as Dre, my sister-in-law, comes into the room. She’s wearing a black, fifties-inspired sundress. Her lips are her signature bright red, and her hair is pulled into a bun on the top of her head. “Mommy, Mommy! Uncle Nine likes it! He said I look just like him! Now, I just gotta get a big truck like him…” He races down the hall. “I’m gonna go on the computer and see how much they cost. I’ve got some money in my piggy bank…” his voice trails off.

“Looks like you’ve got an admirer in that one,” Lenny says.

“He sure does,” Dre says. “Hi, I’m Dre.”

“This is Lenny,” I introduce.

“The boys are outside, waiting for you,” Dre says. “Lenny, do you like cookies?” Dre opens the oven and pulls out a batch of her famous chocolate chips.

“Does anyone ever say no to that question?” Lenny asks.

Dre flashes a beaming smile. “Not as of yet.”

Lenny joins her at the counter. Dre shoots me a look that tells me she’ll keep an eye on her.

“I’ll be right back,” I say.

I head out to the backyard where not only is King waiting for me on the back porch, but Bear and Preppy as well.

“So, that’s Jared’s girl?” Bear asks, looking behind me through the sliding glass doors.