Chapter 3

I stared at Rio. "Wait, you don't know where Denver is? "

Rio glared back, then his shoulders slumped - realising I hadn't kidnapped actually Denver. "You're a smart one. " he said sarcastically, but the fight was gone from his voice as he motioned for the Wolverines to leave.

They melted away from our table - not without leaving us with a few hostile stares.

I watched them go.

"Fuck was that about, man? " Ryan settled down at our table.

I raised my eyebrows and slid onto the seat beside him. "Sounds like little Dicky Denver didn't have his leash on and got lost or something. Mummy wasn't watching close enough. "

The Cobras around me laughed, sharing a dislike of Denver - although it didn't go as deep as my hate. I laughed too, but deep down my mind was churning.

Denver was plotting something. I was sure of it.

--

After school, I went home. On Tuesdays my dad went out to the pub with a bunch of Cobras and didn't come back until late - I thought it would be a good time to check up on my mom.

I closed the door quietly - force of habit. Then I paused.

Voices came from upstairs faintly - my mom's, and...

I cocked my head, letting my bag slip off my shoulder.

Confused, I began to climb up the stairs. "Mom? "

The voices abruptly halted.

I climbed faster and opened the door to the master bedroom slowly.

My mother came into view, her back to me, smoothing the duvet across the bed.

"Mom? "I repeated.

She turned, her mouth opening. "Jax! Hi, baby!"

"Hi, Mom. " I replied, lips turning up into a faint smile as I scanned the room. "I thought I heard someone... "

Her brow furrowed. "Only me, Jax. " she said, turning to close the open window. "You must be going mad. Come on, you probably haven't eaten good food in ages, I know you. I have some leftover potato pie in the fridge... "

She was right. I hadn't eaten good food in ages.

I raced back down the stairs to the fridge, forgetting about the voices.

---

My mother was nothing like my father.

Where he was a stray dog - a large, unclean, and loud one, she was a collie - smart, quiet and loyal. In fact, she reminded me in a weird way of Denver. The way he acted with the Wolverines - and he didn't piss off teachers like I did...

No, what the fuck. That's weird. Denver was an asshole, as far as you could get from my gentle mother. I remember once I spent all night cleaning smashed raw eggs off the outside of my house - courtesy of Denver and his friends - because I didn't want my mother to see it and think I was getting into to fights (which I was). To be fair (I am not ) Denver and his mates only egged my house because I said he had a thing for Mrs McCoy, in front of her and the whole class, and that was why he took Advanced Physics. I still don't actually know the real reason he took AP.  However, I could hardly tell my mum that, after I'd just been suspended for punching Denver in the stomach because he was flirting with my girlfriend of that time. To be honest, she wasn't the hottest I'd ever had, but she was mine and what, was I meant to just let Denver fuck with what was mine? If you think that, you don't know me at all.

And the worst part would be telling her that it was Denver who egged my house.

From when I was six until when I was fourteen, Denver was actually my best friend.

Me, Denver, and Ryan, that was us. The Terrible Trio. The Tiresome Three - we terrorised primary school teachers together.

I watched Denver grow from a child to a teenager - ew, that makes me sound like a pedo or really sappy or whatever, but it's true. When we were in middle school, we were the sporty ones who were House Captains and played rugby or whatever and charmed all the teachers into not giving us detentions. At that age, most boys are really dumb and like punch their friends instead of talking to them but, dude, we were different. Like, god, I sound stupid right now, but - we would like talk about everything with each other. All of our thoughts and shit - we never held anything back from each other. We were like brothers - especially me and Denver - I guess I liked him cos he didn't let me walk all over him like Ryan kinda did.

I want to throw up just thinking about being friends with Denver.

Me and Ryan had always known we'd join the gang when we were older - our families were already involved. But Denver, however, his family was like one of those rich snobby families, you know? Like, his dad was a scientist dude or whatever and his mom was a lawyer. So they were like rolling in it, and Denver always had the best of shit - like clothes, good healthy food or whatever, all that crap that rich kids had. A "wholesome" life, my mom called it.

My mom loved Denver. She loved Ryan too - still loves him of course - he's like my brother and she knows it. But Denver - she always had a soft spot for the little shit - another example of Denver getting everything handed to him on a plate.

Yeah, Denver was always the smart one, the one who got the awards and shit - teachers also loved him. And we were OK with him being a little smart ass - like, we'd seen other boys shun their mates for being nerds or whatever, but that's a bunch of crap. And plus he let us copy his homework.

So that's why we were so surprised when he joined a gang when he was fifteen.

Let alone our literal deepest sworn enemies - The Wolverines - which Denver had obviously known.

The next day I carved MONGREL SCUM into Denver's locker with a knife, got punched in the face by him, and was awarded with my first suspension.

That was the end of it. Since then, it's been me and Ryan.

I fucking hate Rocco Denver.

----

My mother watched me eat, smiling slightly, but her eyes were sad.

"You need to come home, Jax. " She reprimanded.

I stuffed more food into my mouth to stop myself from spitting out a harsh reply.

"Mhm hm. " I said. My brain showed me a vision of my dad standing over me, fist drawn back, and I stuffed my mouth again. I was scared of revealing anything - I could never lie to my mother - but I could never hurt her with the truth about my father either.

"So how's school? " She reached over and cut a slice of my pie, lifted it to her lips.

"Good. " I mumbled through my mouthful. "Denver's not there. "

She nodded back, but her eyes were slightly guarded. She looked down, rubbed at a mark on the bench top. "Um. What about Ryan? How's he? "

I wiped my mouth. "Yep. He's good. How about you, Mom? How have you been? "

She smiled. "I've been good, honey. "

She did look good. My mother had proper clothes on instead of just her usual dressing gown and slippers, her hair was brushed, her cheeks tinged pink. She smelt nice, and her Cobra tattoo peeked out from under her sleeve.

I felt awful that it had taken me so long to notice. "You look great, mom. "

She beamed. "Really? Thank you! I'm actually going out later tonight. "

My eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. "What? With who? "

My mother rarely left the house. I didn't know how long it had been since she had "gone out ".

She stood up off the kitchen stool, taking my plate to the sink. "Oh, just some old friends of mine. Maybe you'll meet them someday. "

I grimaced. "Huh. Yayyy. Well, if they've gotten you out of the house, good on them. "

She smacked my shoulder.

---

I stayed in my room all evening as to avoid my father. It felt good to have a hot shower and sleep in my own bed, more than I wanted to admit. I put on some music and just lay in bed with my bedside light on, staring at the ceiling. I didn't know which one of my mom's friends had made her this happy, but I appreciated them very much.

I could never tell my mom that my dad beat me up on a weekly basis, never. It would kill her.

He'd always been problematic, even way back when they had first started dating - apparently he had cheated on her once in high school. They dated on and off until my mother finished university, and had me. They weren't married, but close enough.

Sometimes I didn't know why she stuck with him. It must of been the collie dog part of her, the part which made her fiercely loyal - born from being in a gang, I guess. Or maybe she did love him, in a way I don't think I could ever understand.

And I could never tell her because then she might actually leave him, for my sake. And without him I don't know if she could survive - she didn't have a job. They'd been together for too long.

I sighed, putting my hands behind my head. Even though my brain churned, it was getting hard to keep my eyes open.

I rolled over and switched off the light.

I hoped my mom had fun on her night out.