Jamie Begley - Knox’s Stand

She had somewhere to go now.

Driving carefully through the tears clouding her vision, she went in search of the one person who could make it better.

No one was home as Diamond put her key into the door, going inside the quiet house. It was ironic that the last few weeks her parents had called and Diamond hadn’t returned their calls, yet now that she wanted someone to talk to, no one was around. Diamond walked around the empty house, unsure of what to do. She went outside onto the back porch, sitting in the swing that faced the yard. Her foot gently sent the swing into motion.

She heard the back door open and close. “Diamond? Why are you sitting out here? It’s freezing out.”

Her father walked around to the front of the swing.

“What’s wrong?” He sat down beside her.

“I love Knox. I love him so much.” Diamond buried her face in her hands. “I don’t even know why I love the big jerk.” Her father put his arm around her shoulder. Diamond turned to him, crying on his shoulder.

“How does he feel?” Her father looked over his shoulder to his wife and Sex Piston standing silently behind the swing. He started to get up and let his wife handle the situation, but Sizzle shook her head.

“He doesn’t love me back.” Diamond cried harder.

“Are you sure?” Her father pulled her closer.

“Yes, now he won’t even talk to me.”

“Then make him,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What?” Diamond looked up from his shoulder.

“Make him talk to you. It’s what your mother did.”

“When?” Diamond couldn’t remember her parents ever even having an argument.

Her father took a deep breath. “When you girls were little, we broke up for a while. We argued over custody so we decided to live together until you girls were older. It was the worst six months of my life. I loved your mom, but she was sick of me putting the Destructors first. She didn’t want me to leave the club, she just wanted equal time. I was stupid and put the club first and you guys second. When I missed Sex Piston’s birthday party, she’d had it. Living with your mom and yet not being with her was terrible. I’m ashamed to say I did stupid shit that I regret, that I will always regret, Diamond.”

“How did you get back together?” Diamond asked.

“It was because of you, Diamond.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Me?”

“After you saw me at the club with that woman and didn’t talk to me, your mom and I talked. She couldn’t understand the change in you towards me. You went from being a daddy’s girl to not wanting to sit at the dinner table with me, so yeah, she knew something was wrong.”

“How did you know?”

“One of my men saw you running from the back of the club. When I got home I could tell from the way you treated me that you had seen. I didn’t know what to say to you, and your mother finally made me tell her. It was the worst day of my life, confessing I had cheated on her and had been for a long time. The thing was, she had known all along and that was another reason she’d had a problem with the club. We talked all day and night, Diamond, and worked it all out, but I paid for that day for years. It destroyed my relationship with you and your mother wouldn’t marry me for a long time. I had lost her trust; it took all these years to get it back, but I lost my little girl forever.

“Diamond, go after Knox, make him talk to you.” Her father looked at her with watery eyes.

“But you loved mom, Knox doesn’t even care about me.”

“He ever give you a nickname? Even when you were messing around?” Her father turned red at his question.

“No.”

“Not once?” he pressed.

“No, he always called me Diamond.”

“Do you know why we called you Diamond?” her father asked, his voice gruff.

“No.”

“Because the second we saw you, we knew you were going to be the most precious thing in the world to us. Our precious jewel, our little Diamond.”

Diamond burst into tears, her arms going around her father, crying for how much time they had lost.

“If Knox hasn’t called you anything else, then he knows what he’s got, probably just too stubborn to admit it. Go talk to him, sweetheart.”

“Maybe I’ll go see him tomorrow,” Diamond prevaricated.

“Fuck that. Get off your ass, I’ll take you.” Shocked at the sound of Sex Piston’s voice, Diamond stood up, seeing her mother and sister behind the swing.

“Go ahead, Diamond. What have you got to lose?” her father urged.

“My dignity?”

“Dignity isn’t going to keep your ass warm tonight, move it.” Sex Piston took her hand, dragging her inside the house. They were almost out the door when Sex Piston changed her mind and turned towards her bedroom.

“You can’t go on a manhunt wearing that shit you got on.” She went to her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and jerked a top off the hanger. “Get dressed.”

Diamond looked down at herself. She was wearing the dark blue suit she’d been in all day, and for once, she agreed with her sister. Taking of the suit, she managed to squeeze herself into her sister’s jeans and pulled on the top. Her breasts were larger than Sex Piston’s and the top was low cut. The globes of her breasts were displayed to an extent that Diamond didn’t think was decent.

“Do you have another top I could borrow? This one is too tight.” Diamond looked at herself in her sister’s mirror. The top was practically indecent.

Sex Piston closed the closet door with a pair of high-heeled boots in her hand. She handed them to Diamond. “Put them on, and no I don’t have a bigger top. That’s the largest one I have,” she lied.

Diamond sat down on the side of the bed, putting the boots on. When she was done Sex Piston pushed her down at her dressing table and took down her hair, styling the thick mass until it was curled and fluffy.

“Now you’re done. Let’s go.”

Diamond followed behind her sister, her resolve weakening. “Sex Piston, I think I’m going to wait until I’ve thought this over a little more.”

“Think over what?” Crazy Bitch asked, coming out of the kitchen with Killyama and T.A..

“Damn, I forgot we were supposed to watch Stud’s kids tonight while they had their meeting,” Sex Piston said, coming to a halt.

“Stud has kids?” Diamond asked.

“Yeah, three kids from hell. Is Fat Louise here?” Sex Piston asked, thinking fast.

“She’s in the kitchen,” Crazy Bitch answered.

“Fat Louise!” Sex Piston yelled. Fat Louise came out of the kitchen, eating a Pop Tart.

“You go on to the club and watch Stud’s kids, we have somewhere we got to go.”

“I ain’t watching those monsters by myself,” Fat Louise argued back.

“If you do it, I’ll take you out to dinner, anywhere you want to go.”

“Anywhere?”

Sex Piston hesitated. “Yes.”

“Even Popeye’s?” Fat Louise’s eyes lit up.

“Yes. We are going to The Last Riders’ clubhouse to get Knox for Diamond.”

“Why?” Fat Louise asked, confused. “We don’t like that asshole.”

“We don’t, but Diamond’s in love with the mother fucker, and what she wants, she’s going to get,” Sex Piston said resolutely. “Let’s go; time’s a-wastin’. It’s Friday night at that club; things will be getting freaky there.”

Diamond tried to interrupt Sex Piston, but found herself dragged outside by her and Crazy Bitch.

“My keys are in the house,” Diamond said.

“They can stay there, we’re taking my car.” Killyama opened the back door and Diamond barely had enough time to lower her head before she was shoved into the back seat.

“Scoot your ass over,” Killyama said, sliding in next to her.

Crazy Bitch got in the front seat with Sex Piston and T.A. grabbed the last seat, sliding in next to Diamond in the back seat.

Sex Piston put the car in gear, accelerating with a squeal of her tires. Driving like a bat out of hell, her sister drove towards Treepoint.

With each mile, the butterflies in Diamond’s stomach made her more and more nervous. Completely sure this was a terrible mistake, she attempted to get Sex Piston to turn around.

“Fuck, no, we ain’t turnin’ around,” Killyama said. “I’ve been dying to see one of their parties ever since Beth told us about them. Who knows, maybe we’ll like them more than the Blue Horseman and we’ll start hangin’ with them instead.”

Diamond stared at the grim-faced women in the car. The Last Riders had no idea what was headed their way. God help them.

The Last Riders’ parking lot was filled with motorcycles and cars. It was the one day of the week that hanger-ons were allowed in the clubhouse. Diamond, Sex Piston and her crew got out of the car, staring up at the huge house. Music could be heard from where they were standing.

“Sex Piston, I’ve changed my mind.” Her sister glanced at her before walking over and taking her hand.

“You can do this, Diamond. I’ll be right there with you. I shouldn’t have butted in when I saw him at your office. Now, get your ass up those steps,” she said, giving Diamond a shove on her back.

“What if I see him with someone?”

“Beth caught Razer fucking Evie. She got over it.” She shrugged.

Diamond wasn’t so sure she would be able to get over seeing him with another woman.

When they walked up the steps, Diamond tried to hesitate at the door, but Killyama pushed her through. The sight that met Diamond’s eyes were her worst fears confirmed. The Last Riders were as Diamond had never seen them before.