As soon as the word leaves my mouth, her face turns white. “Why are you going there?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
She nods. “How long will you be gone?”
I bend down and kiss the top of her head. “Not long, I promise.”
Jenna
Kidd said he wanted to take me out for one more ride before he left. It was fun, but it was also sad. I know it could very well be the last ride I ever take with him.
“I’m gonna miss you,” I say as I climb off of his bike for the last time.
“I won’t be gone long, darlin’,’’ Kidd says, smothering me in a warm bear hug.
“I don’t know why you’re the one that has to go,” I say for the hundredth time in the last two hours. Not only is Kidd, my best friend, leaving me, but he’s going to Mateland. I don’t know much about what’s going on, but the little I do know is from hearing Chipper and Mindy talk. Neither one of them is happy about sending Kidd four hours away to handle someone else’s shit, especially Mateland’s shit.
My biggest fear is that Kidd will figure out who I really am while he’s there. If he learns about my dad and figures out that Timmons claimed me in the past, he may have to send me back. I don’t think he’d want to, but I’m not sure he’d have much of a choice. He’s loyal to the club to a fault. Even though mom and I were kept away from the club, I still know for a fact that the club doesn’t interfere with a member’s personal life. If Kidd didn’t give me back, he would be sticking his nose somewhere that it didn’t belong and going against everything he believes in.
I have to fight myself to keep from begging him not to go. I don’t want to lose Kidd, and I don’t want to see the look on his face when he finds out about my past. I’ve grown to love Kidd over the last few months, but Mindy says that it’s just puppy love and I’ll grow out of it as I get older. But deep down, I know she’s wrong.
I also know Kidd doesn’t feel the same way as I do. He thinks of me as a sister. Hell, he even introduced me as his little sis today. I can’t help but wish that his opinion will change of me someday, but I know that’s not going to happen if he goes to Mateland. I pull in a deep breath and try to be brave. “Will you call me?”
He gives me a tight squeeze. “You know I will, baby doll, and I’ll do my best to call you at least once a week. If I’m lucky, it won’t take but a month or two, and then I’ll be home.”
I nod and pull away from him. “Well, go on then. Quit being such a cry baby.”
A sad smile crosses his face and he lifts his hand to wipe the stray tears from my face.
“See-ya soon, Jenna.”
As soon as he starts to ride away, I run into the house and go straight to my room. I plant myself on my bed and break into sobs. I’m crying so loud that I don’t hear my door open. I don’t even notice Mindy until she sits beside me. She pulls me into her arms and whispers, “Quit crying, sweet heart. He’ll be home before you know it.”
I shake my head then burrow deeper into her arms. “You don’t understand. He’s going to send me back.”
She squeezes me so tightly that she takes my breath away. “There is no way Kidd would ever do that.”
“He won’t have a choice.”
She pulls back and places her hands on my face, moving it so she can look into my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m Timmons’ old lady,” I say between sobs.
“What?” She asks in a near shout.
“Timmons told everyone that I was his old lady, so Kidd will have to send me back to him. It’s club rules,” I try to explain, still crying.
Mindy’s body starts to shake with anger. “Jenna girl, you listen to me. You are sixteen years old. You’re not old enough to be anyone’s old lady. If Timmons so much as mentions that he’s claimed you, Kidd will kill him.”
I shake my head, not understanding. “But there are a lot of girls there who are my age. Some of them are even younger. They wear tattoos with members’ names on them and everything,” I say, motioning toward the ‘Property of Chipper” tattoo that Mindy proudly displays on her arm.
The anger on her face is replaced with shock. “Oh, sweet Lord.”
She jumps up and starts to pace the room. “Did Chipper know about this?”