The Salvation Knights MC: Jinx's Mistake

Chapter 6: Waylen's Life

Jinx's P.O.V.

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"You gonna tell me why the hell you decided to walk from school to town?" I asked Waylen once we were back at the clubhouse. We were still in my truck and I just parked in the lot. Waylen's only seven, and too young to ride my bike. And I doubted he'd even want to when he knew he was in trouble.

I looked at my son in the rearview mirror. He was looking out the window, scowling at nothing. His blonde hair that's a shade lighter than mine is pulled back in a matching manbun. His blue/green eyes are pinned on the ground outside. Sometimes I still can't get over how much he looks like me. It pi.ssed Glory off to no end when she was around. Which just made the rest of us laugh. Until we truly realized how much of a piece of sh.it the wh.ore was.

I'll never understand why I ever stuck my d***k in her.

Glory had wanted me since middle school. I fu.cked her on and off throughout the years. We never dated. I never dated anyone. I'm part of a fu.cking motorcycle club. It's hard to tie a brother down, and I definitely wasn't going to be tied down as a teenager. Glory was just a patch chaser anyway. She wanted me for the clout, my money, my brand. Never me. She just wanted a comfortable life.

All throughout school, Glory made it her life's mission to steer any girl away from me. Of course, it never worked. Most of the time it backfired on her. Girls want what other girls tell them they can't have, I guess. Plus, I lived on club property with my parents. I might have been a teenager, but I was still allowed to party with the club sometimes. Which meant my pick of club bunnies on a nightly basis.

Honestly, I shouldn't have let Glory do whatever she wanted. I was young and dumb. I didn't care. I thought that Glory would figure out one day that she was only a quick f***k for me and that was it. The only time I ever got in her sh.it over a girl was when she slapped Deidra across the face when we were in the 8th grade. She did it in front of everyone and told Deidra it was for looking at her man. I knew she was talking about me. I wasn't her man though, and Deidra definitely wasn't looking at me.

No, Deidra never looked at me. Definitely not with heart-eyes either. I was the one looking at her, and that always pi.ssed Glory off. Pretty sure that's why she even started taking Waylen to the diner in the first place. Just to rub it in Deidra's face. Not that Thorn ever gave a f***k about me or who I fu.cked. Not sure what Glory was even thinking.

Fu.cking women are batsh.it. I definitely never want an ol' lady. The old timers talk about how we'll change our tune when we meet "the one". How we'll know who the one is when we see her, but I don't know about that. I'm not worried about it though. No girl has ever interested me longer than a night.

Except the one that also interests your son.

I shook the thought from my head. I'm not going there. The fu.cking plant lady hates my guts and always has. I've just always admired her ability to not give a f***k, her need to be a loner, and now the way she cares about my son. That's it. Just a friendly... admiration.

"I just wanted somewhere quiet to do my homework," Waylen mumbled in reply, still scowling out the window.

I sighed as I looked around the outside of the clubhouse. Everything is decorated for Christmas. My mom and the other ol' ladies put the guys to work the moment Thanksgiving was over. The gate that lines our property has colorful lights hanging all down the front, the actual clubhouse is lined with the same colorful lights too. There's a Santa in a sleigh being pulled by all his reindeer on the roof. There are even light-up deer, trees, and a Christmas dinosaur in the yard. All for us, 'cause no one can see that sh.it through the gate.

The things the old timers do for their women.

"I know it's loud in the clubhouse, but we have our own house on the property, Way," I told him, trying to keep my tone even.

I'm pi.ssed, yeah. My son didn't come home from school again, and I had the whole club out looking for him. Not only that, but I also got another call from his teacher today. Waylen shuts down if you yell at him though. He totally closes off. Because of his cu.nt of a mother. Something I didn't realize was going on until over a year ago. I don't want my son to shut down with me. I want him to know that I always have his back and that he can talk to me whenever he needs to.

"I just like being with Dra," he mumbled with a sad look on his face.

Dra. That damn nickname he has for her. She once told me that she hated nicknames. Of course, it was because I was calling her Thorn and Lily-pad every day, but still.

I sound fu.cking pathetic being jealous over my own damn son.

"Is this because you miss your mom?" I asked him.

Waylen scoffed, giving me a look that screamed, "Are you serious right now?"

"Okay, okay," I said before he could pop off about his mother. "Is it because of what you did at school today?"

Waylen's eyes widened for a moment before he hung his head, frowning at the floor of my truck.

"Miss Greene called you," he mumbled.

"You want to tell me why you put a stink bomb in her purse? Or where the hell you even got it from?" I asked.

Waylen sighed, and f***k it was adorable. He makes it so hard to be upset. The kid has always acted older than he is, and it's always been adorable. He doesn't really have any friends either. He doesn't get along with the other kids at school for some reason. He's the only kid here too. The only other minors at the club are in high school. I feel bad that Waylen's such a loner. Even Deidra has that one friend, even if Sophie is fu.cking terrible.

"I put it there because she dressed up today thinking you were picking me up from school," he replied. "She didn't know you told me to ride the bus."

"And that means you had to put a stink bomb in her purse?" I asked, turning in my seat to give him a look.

"She was dressing up for you!" he said, crossing his arms and frowning out the window. "Like how Mom used to. Because she wants your patch." Then his eyes snapped to me. "I heard her Dad. She wants your patch and to become an ol' lady. She was talking to other teachers about it and how she'd be able to quit that stupid teaching job after she landed you. Whatever that means!" he said, his voice getting louder as he threw his arms up. "I don't like her, Dad. She's fake. Just like Mom was."

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. I have no idea how to even handle this. Did my dad go through this sh.it too? Were women constantly trying to paw at him despite my mom always being around?

"I know you don't like her, Way, but... having a mom-figure in your life wouldn't be so bad, right?" I said, trying to figure out what it is my son really wants.

Does he want a mom? Does he just want everyone to leave him alone? Miss Green is just one of many women like her. Hell, they see us in the grocery store and immediately try to hit on me. And Waylen always does some crazy sh.it to run them off. He even lit Chrissy Atkins hair on fire once. There was another time he threw a steaming cup of hot chocolate at some random woman who was trying to flirt with me through him. Maybe he really does just want to be left alone.

Fu.ck, am I a bad father?

"A mom-figure?" Waylen asked, giving me a curious look.

"Yeah, someone who's like a mom, but not like your mom," I told him. "Someone more like Granny or even Aunt Birdie."

Birdie is my older sister. She and her husband Adam live a couple of hours away. They often visit with their three kids, but not often enough if you ask Waylen. He loves his aunt and uncle, and even his cousins. Chance and Andrew are their oldest. Andrew and Waylen are the same age, and Chance is a year older. Rosie is their baby, she's only two. Pretty sure my kid's only friends are his cousins too.

"You mean like Dra?" Waylen asked, and I sh.it you not, I choked on air at the question.

"W-what?" I choked out, still coughing as I gave him a wide-eyed look. "Why the hell would you say Thorn? She's not exactly... mother.ly."

Of course, every interaction I've ever had with the woman was mostly her yelling at me in some way. Even if it was just with those stupidly bright hazel eyes of hers. The woman barely ever lets me finish a damn sentence. That's partly why I call her Thorn. 'Cause she's a thorn in my damn side. And Waylen only ever sees her when she's at work. Which is all the time, but still.

"I think she is," Waylen said softly, sulking now. "She's nice to me. She ruffles my hair. She feeds me, and she even used to cut up my food at the diner, Dad. And you remember how she used to yell at Mom about being nicer to me? One time, she told Mom that she should be at home reading me a bedtime story and tucking me in." He said as he picked at a loose string on his jeans. "I bet Dra tells really good stories."

My heart hurt for my kid. I haven't been doing good by him. None of us knew how fu.cking awful Glory really was until Deidra came storming into the clubhouse one night over a year ago. She had Waylen in her arms and refused to give him up until I promised I'd take him to the hospital for his fever. It wasn't until then, when I watched a woman who was practically a stranger, act all momma-bear with my cub, spouting off at the top of her lungs about how sh.it my baby momma was to an entire club full of bikers, that I actually did something about Glory.

I should have kicked her out of the picture sooner. I thought she still loved Waylen despite the fact that she couldn't have me. At least some part of her. But I was wrong, and my son paid the price for it. She wasn't physically abusive, but she was abusive in every other way. Except for when she was around me or my brothers.

But don't worry. I made that bit.ch pay.

"Okay, look," I said to my son. "I don't know if we'll ever find you a mom, but maybe I can talk to Deidra about letting you hang out at Garden Sip for a little while every day, okay? She said you're always welcome, but I need to know where you are at all times. But you need to work with me, Way. You gotta stop with the pranks and running off on me, okay?"

"Fine," he grumbled, drawling out the word.

I sighed again before throwing my door open.

"Come on, Granny's making cookies inside," I said as I opened his door.

"Thanks Dad," he said as he hopped out of my truck.

"For what? You're still in trouble," I asked.

"For not yelling at me," he replied before heading towards the front door of the clubhouse.

Fu.ck, what am I going to do with this kid?