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Indio left the porch and Eight stayed to speak to Sel. “Is he giving you trouble?”
“Not a bit,” he lied. “And I can handle myself, thanks,” he said, moving past Eight into the house.
The guys were in the kitchen, and he told them what happened. Binx shivered, and said, “He wants you so bad.”
“How the hell do you figure that? He’s just confirmed he despises me!”
Mal whispered, “There is a very fine line between love and hate, Sel.”
“Speaking of which,” Ruben said, remembering their earlier conversation. “What the hell were you saying about how you and that huge hunk of man meat met?”
“Man…meat?” Mal started giggling and Sel quickly looked around to make sure Indio didn’t hear that. He didn’t need to give that asshole more ammunition.
“Tell the damn story,” Binx said as he started making a fruit salad.
“Well, it went like this. My stepdad was a Devil’s Rebel. He’d been in a club a long time, and my mom…she was…an addict. When she died, it was me and him, and we hated each other. Come to find out he owed Kirk a bunch of money he didn’t have. So Kirk took me in trade.”
Sel felt like the others did, ready to go into the other room and take on Kirk, no matter how big and tough he was. “Please tell me you’re kidding, or I’m going to get Bennie’s gun.”
“Settle down, future boss of all bosses. He did it because with him, at least, I’d be okay. At first, he just wanted some help around the house. He fucked with me, sure, like he was gonna take what he wanted from me, whether I liked it or not, but he didn’t. He took care of me, better than anyone had since my mom got addicted. I fell so hard for him, it was pitiful, but he fell for me too. We went through a lot, sure, but it just made us stronger.”
“The moral of the story is, you never know what can bring you together with that one special, or two, in my case, and Ruben’s case, person or persons,” Binx said as he sprinkled sugar on the berries. “Sel, that hatred, it can turn on a dime.”
“I’d like to turn him, but only so I could laugh in his face.”
Prince said, “Whoa, you’re really mad. What did he say to you?”
“He’s mad that I’m a rich guy, like you guys figured.”
“Makes sense. He’s from a really broken home, like me. He never talked about it, but one brother knew him from a long time ago,” Mal explained. “One of my brothers, that is. Indio didn’t want to be Devil’s Rebel. So, Doggy introduced him to Eight, and he prospected for the club for a year. Now, he’s so respected he is up for president of the new chapter, if there is a new chapter.”
Despite what he felt about the man, that was impressive. “That’s not normal, is it?”
“He’s shown himself to be loyal and a good person to have in our corner. Eight didn’t think twice when Indio asked for the president patch if we get a chapter here in Montana. Not to mention, there weren’t many people wanting to move up here.”
Sel felt like shit, saying what he’d said. “I was a dick.”
“So was he,” Prince soothed. “Don’t feel bad. Dex could have been really mean to me too, Sel. A lot of people have been. I can’t exactly feel sorry for myself. I’ve had every advantage in the world. Still, it hurts when people don’t see me. They only see my money.”
That tight rope the rich kids walked. They could realize their privilege and be humbled by it, seeking people that differed from them, or they could embrace it, become trust fund assholes that accomplish nothing except scandalous headlines.
“I didn’t have to say what I said. He just made me so angry.”
Binx came around the counter and hugged him. “Shh. We misstep sometimes, and then we have time to make up for it. Be kind to him next time, no matter how shitty he is to you. Show him you aren’t defined by your money and your family.”
The thoughts went through his mind, all the ways he could do just that. But then again, he’d have to be let loose from the cage where his uncle had firmly placed him. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here at all. At least around school, there were similar jerks to me.”
“We could be jerks, if you like,” Prince offered with a laugh.
“I was from a rich family too,” Binx said as he went back to work on lunch. “Never fit me.”
Mal and Ruben shrugged before Ruben offered, “We could teach you to be poor. Give me all your money, and we’ll have a crash course.”
Finally, Sel laughed. “If I thought that could help, I would.”
Movement outside caught his eye, and he went to the kitchen window to see Indio doing his perimeter check. The rifle was slung over his shoulder, his slow pace making him seem like he was just taking a stroll instead of keeping watch for a serial killer.
The cigar smoke swirled around his face as he turned to the house and caught Sel watching. Sel tried his best to put a friendly smile on his face, a small gesture of truce, and for a second, he thought Indio was returning it with his own warm smile.
