Page 21 of Bad Like Me

Epilogue

Crow

Heavy and theguys stuck around until Ray was in the clear and then planned a shindig. I helped Ray, and just like the first time she came through the doors of the clubhouse, Ghoul immediately untangled himself from Red to talk to us.

“Nurse, you’re looking good. Let me introduce you to some brothers from our other chapters.” My eyes narrowed in his direction, but we all knew Ray had not only saved my life, but she also saved Ghoul’s, too. We both had her to thank for us being alive.

“Heavy, this is...wait, what are you all talking about?” Ghoul stopped with the introductions, and we all listened to them.

“Sledge, heard you got your name from that thrill hammer between your legs. Ya know, we’re always looking for new stars in the biz, right? Drop that beaut out and let’s measure them side by side,” Heavy said before tipping the shot back and clapping Sledge on the back.

The fucker was really gonna do it. Sledge pinched his zipper and made it halfway down before Ghoul spoke up, shaking his head, “I’ve fucking seen it all. You two really are going to have a dick measuring contest. Shit.” He rubbed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “How about we bust out some liquor instead and drink in honor of my nurse. She saved not only this stubborn fucker’s life,” his left hand landed in the middle of my chest, “But my ass, too.”

Ray’s cheeks blushed, and she cleared her throat. “Ghoul, I didn’t save your ass, Crow did.”

“I might have been the one to fire the shot, but had you not told me…” My words stopped as quickly as they began, the whole subject was hard for me to talk about.

“Aye. Let’s not talk about depressing shit, this is a celebration, bitches.” Sac elbowed his way to the bar, and all of our heads turned to him.

“Fuck. Somebody take him outside and blaze one. None of us are prepared to see Sac without any weed in his system,” I warned, picking up on his unbridled hyperness.

“Not until we do a shot, then I’ll get him higher than Lady Liberty herself,” Diablo piped up, “If that’s okay with you, boss?”

“Fine by me. Fine by me,” he repeated, lifting his shot glass into the air. “To my little sister and nurse, Ray. This one is just for us.” He slid a shot to her and smiled. “The doctor is still seeing patients, thanks to you.” They flipped back the whiskey, and Ghoul pushed their glasses across the bar to Diablo for a refill. “This one is for my brothers.”

We all pushed our way through to grab our shot, knowing what was coming. “Forever Bastard, Bastard Forever,” we all proudly chanted. Some of the brothers showed their appreciation by shaking her hand while others gave her a nod of approval, but all of them made it a point to do something as they passed us. A large number of them clapped me on the back after hearing I was the one who took out the coward holding Ghoul at gunpoint, and I politely thanked them. However, if it hadn’t been for Ray, neither of us would have made it to see the next day.

I never guessed when she walked into my life this is where we would end up, especially given the tragic beginning. All stories had to start somewhere I guessed, but when you were a Bastard like me, one couldn’t predict how it would end. Hell, I still didn’t know, but we were taking life one day at a time.