Wild Wind: A Chaos Novella (Chaos #6.6)(89)

Jag walked into S.I.L. through the back door of the store and was immediately confronted by four people.

The only reason this was okay was because Archie was one of them.

“We need to talk to you,” Joany proclaimed.

“How did you even know I was here?” Jag asked.

“Dude, you wanna be stealthy, you gotta lose the bike,” Joany shared.

Oh yeah.

Right.

“We’re at a stalemate and we’ve agreed you’re the deciding vote,” Archie told him.

He wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

He didn’t start with that.

“First, do I show anywhere, and you don’t say ‘hey’ with a kiss?” he asked her.

Archie grinned the grin he liked so much, came to him and pressed close with her body and then her lips.

“Okay, La-La, we’re screwed,” Joany declared while Archie did this. “And also, if I don’t find a man who claims my mouth like that upon sight, I’m gonna search for a convent.”

“You’d last two hours in a convent,” Lafayette replied.

“Why? I love God and Jesus is my jam,” Joany retorted.

“I’m not sure nuns are allowed to wear makeup and fake nails,” Fabe shared.

“Okay, I’m out,” Joany decided.

He really liked Archie’s friends.

But he had plans with his woman, his brother, and his brother’s woman, and this wasn’t part of them.

So Jag tucked Archie to his side and told the crew, “We got shit to do and places to go so what’s going on?”

“Who wants to start?” Joany asked.

Lafayette did and Jag knew that because he waded in.

“Well, we’ve learned lots has been going down at Casa de la Harris Family,” he announced.

Fantastic.

Jag looked down at Archie.

“Things to know,” she started. “Both of Aaron and Allan’s parents have recently been incarcerated. Not county lockup. The big house. And neither of them are coming back anytime soon. Apparently, they’ve been in trouble with the law a lot. The mom’s folks gave up on them ages ago. The dad’s mom has been posting bail and paying for counsel and such, but she’s recently gotten fed up and washed her hands of them. So now they’re in the pokey.”

Jag’s lips twitched when his woman used the word “pokey.”

But his mind was on the Harris brothers.

Mal had had no issues with them for some time, for two reasons.

One, his posse finally posse’d up and took his back, and Jag had been right. Bullies shied away from bad odds.

Two, having bikers ride to your aid and then give your gramma an honor guard escort at her funeral carried some weight in the middle-school world. Mal and the S.I.L. crew had earned reputations as badasses, or at least were known to be badass-adjacent, which worked.

And on these thoughts, Jag wasn’t sure if he cared what was up with the Harrises.

Therefore, he shared the honesty.

“This is only mildly interesting to me.”

Archie’s smile got more smug.

She enjoyed being badass-adjacent too.

“Well, Momma Harris took in the boys and she isn’t feeling the love all around for when they mess up,” Joany pitched in. “And obviously, Aaron broke the record for messing up after he moved in with Granny. Unlike his folks, who had no fucks to give about their kids, Granny thinks a stint in juvie might help him see the error of his ways. And according to the kids, Allan is o-v-e-r over his brother’s damage and getting clipped along with him for shit he A, isn’t a fan of doing, and B, half the time doesn’t even do. So he’s on the straight and narrow at Granny’s house and Aaron is awaiting a judge telling him how long this lesson he’s gonna learn is gonna last.”

And again, Jag was right about how far brotherhood went when only one brother was acting like a brother.

Interesting to know.

He still had no idea why they were sharing this info with him.

“And I’ve been ambushed when I show at the store for this…why?”

“Mrs. Harris came to S.I.L. We have a rep and it’s a good one. So she wants Allan back in group,” Fabe shared.

Oh fuck.

“Now, here’s the real sitch, ’cause me and La-La say no,” Joany told him. “He was never the ringleader, but who knows how long Aaron will be gone, who else is in their crew that might come around and cause a ruckus, and generally, this family is bad news. Sure, three quarters of them are now doing time, but even though that takes them out of the picture for right now, it also proves my point.”

“Let me guess,” Jag began, looking down at Archie. “You think he should be allowed to come back.”

“Me and Fabe, yeah,” she said.

Of course she did.

“I don’t think he should have to pay for his brother’s mistakes,” Archie told him. “They were only in group a month or so, and I didn’t get to know Allan very well. The most insidious bullying Aaron did was overshadowing his brother like he did. I think he’d benefit from group. I think it’d be good for him to learn what community really is.”

Shit.

She wasn’t wrong about that.

Likely realizing she was losing ground, Joany belatedly laid out the rules for Jag’s engagement.