Page 6 of April’s Fool

“Sure, Mom,” Kayla answers, hopping off the picnic table. “We won’t take long.”

“Thank you,” Kenny calls out, a beautiful smile on her face as she looks directly at me. “Come on, birthday girl, let’s get everything set out, and then I’ll let you be.”

“Okay,” I say, then mutter to myself. “I should have just stayed at school. I hate my birthday.”

I didn’t realize, though, that I said this loud enough for not just Twister to hear but for Fool as well. As I made my way toward Kenny, I also didn’t notice the looks both men gave me.

No, what’s going through my head has nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with why I despise my birthday so much and how things could have been different if I hadn’t been born to the woman who gave birth to me. My dad is not to blame for the way I am. He’s just my dad, a man who, when he’s around, is the greatest, but he is who he is, and nothing changes that. It’s about the woman who didn’t treat me as her daughter but rather as a nuisance. If I had a mom like Kenny or Izzy growing up, I wouldn’t have to be dealing with the troubles I’m having at school this year. I wouldn’t have to be thinking about the things I’m constantly thinking about to protect myself from being hurt or from hurting those around me.

Chapter 4

FOOL

She was off-limits.

Still, I can’t help but follow her every move. I watch her closely, taking everything in about her. She puts on a good show of hiding it from her friends, but I don’t miss it. I didn’t miss the shadows in her eyes when she’d muttered those words just a bit ago.

I don’t think Twister missed it earlier, when she walked away to help the woman who called the girls. There’s no way she’s related by blood to the President of this club, but he claimed her just the same. There’s no missing the affection he holds for her. He treats her the same as Mercy.

Tracking her through the crowd, I can’t help but wonder what has those shadows haunting her.

April.

Her name suits her. It’s a beauty in itself, representing the time of year when new life emerges from the frozen depths of the soil. After we all finished eating, they brought out a huge cake, one that has April smiling, but there’s no missing the anguish in her eyes. She hates her birthday, yet doesn’t want others to know. She doesn’t want to celebrate. Or if they do, they don’t want her to think she’s not important to them.

I can understand. It would kinda suck to have to celebrate on a day meant for a bunch of pranks and shit. A vision of her in my arms pops into my head, and I shut it down instantly. I can’t go there, and if I did, my brothers would have a field day with it, considering my name and hers.

Good thing I won’t be going there with her. Not with her off-limits. Even if she wasn’t, I don’t think I’d be able to. She’s pure and innocent, while I have a darkness inside me eating away at the remnants of my soul.

I wouldn’t put that on a woman like her, no matter how sweet April’s body looks. Perfect set of tits. Just the right amount to fill a man’s hands. Her ass is like a dream in the jeans she’s wearing, but it’s those legs, encased in denim, that I wouldn’t mind feeling wrapped around my waist while I . . .

Fuck.

I don’t need these thoughts.

She’s off-limits to me. I won’t disrespect the DRMC in a way that’ll cause trouble for us, and I’m not going for one of those three girls or any of the daughters who are here today, not that the others were actually old enough for such things. It’d cause a war.

I just need to find one of the free pussies around here and forget about the dark-haired beauty.

I can’t stop hearing those soft, pained words. They ring in my ears on repeat. Sure, she probably didn’t think either Twister, or I heard her, but that doesn’t negate the fact that we did. It doesn’t sit right with me that she’d hate a day meant to be celebrated.

“You good over here, brother?” Hazard asks, joining me and handing me a fresh beer. “You’ve been sitting here alone for a while, like when you have a lot on your mind. You shouldn’t be sulking, but instead, enjoying yourself with some attractive girl.”

“I’m good, Haz, just been enjoying the view.” It ain’t a lie. Hazard isn’t a man you lie to. He can sniff that shit out faster than you can blink. He’s always been that way, even when we were kids.

“I see that. Same as that view is off-limits.” Hazard chuckles and looks at me. “Which one you watchin’ more than the other?”

“Birthday girl,” I tell him, lifting my beer for a hefty swallow.

“Gotta admit, she’s a beauty.”

She’s more than just a beauty, but I’m not about to tell him that.

“Shame those three are off-limits, or that one of them is Twister’s daughter while the other is Horse’s girl. Otherwise, I’d definitely be going for that one,” he says, nodding toward Twister’s daughter.

“You looking to get killed?” I chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m smart and not even trying. I ain’t trying to get dead.”