Page 67 of Outlaw Xmas
Staggering backward, Brianna’s arms flailed before she gripped the potted tree next to the door. “Bitch!” she yelled, straightening up.
“There’s more where that came from unless you take your skinny, bony ass out of my sight.”
In that frozen second between disbelief and reality, Addie saw Brianna’s face transform from shock to pure hatred. At lightning speed, she flew at Addie, her hands over her head, long sparkly nails clawing. Addie yelled out and pushed Brianna back, then stepped out onto the porch. The fight was on. Clumps of hair, broken nails, sharp kicks, and a few well-placed punches had both women red-faced and breathing heavily.
“What’s going on?” Belle asked from behind Addie.
Not answering, Addie jerked Brianna’s long hair hard, and the woman lost her balance on her high-heeled boots and slammed face down on the porch. The area beneath her stained darkly from the flow of blood. Pushing up, she wiped the back of her hand over her mouth. Streaks of crimson painted the white leather gloves.
“Fuck you!” she cried, lunging toward Addie.
“Get the hell out of here and leave us alone!” Addie cocked her head and her disheveled hair dangled, swinging slightly in the icy breeze.
Belle and Cherri ran out and grabbed Brianna’s arms. The woman twisted and jerked in a vain attempt to get free. “Leave me alone. Let me go!”
“You need to go. Now,” Belle said as she turned Brianna so she faced the stairs. “You shouldn’t be coming over and upsetting people.”
Brianna pulled away and looked behind her. “If I broke a tooth, your fat ass is paying for it.” Cherri handed her a handkerchief, but Brianna swatted it out of her hand. “You’re all fuckin’ bitches.” Grabbing the handrail, she clomped down the stairs and stalked away.
“Are you okay?” Cherri murmured as she went over to Addie.
“What the hell happened?” Belle asked, her gaze still on the woman as she drove away.
Addie wiped her nose. “I let her get to me, dammit. It’s the one thing I didn’t want to happen. She just pissed me off. I can’t believe we fought it out on my front porch in front of the neighbors.” She groaned.
“Let’s go inside. It’s freezing out here. And with a skank like her, you have to fight it out. That’s all she’ll understand. I got into plenty of fights when I stripped. That was the only way I earned respect. Believe me, she’ll think twice before dragging her ass over here again.” Cherri handed Addie a tissue. “She scratched you pretty good under your eye.”
The face looking back at Addie from the entryway mirror appalled her: long, red marks on the left side of her cheek and neck, dried specks of blood under her eyes, tangled hair, and blotchy skin.This isn’t who I am.Covering her face with her hands, she bent her head down. A hand softly squeezed her shoulder.
Addie looked up to see Belle’s soft face reflected back at her. “Cherri’s right. Don’t beat yourself up all over again. You have to show her you’re not going to put up with her shit. This is your house and family, not hers.”
“I know, it’s just that I acted so out of line with who I am.”
“She came over here wanting to fight. You gave her what she wanted. No reason to feel bad about it.” Cherri gripped Addie’s arm and tugged her into the kitchen.
“What did she want, anyway?” Belle asked as she poured a fresh cup of coffee for Addie.
“Jack… and Chas. She’s a horrible person. She’s threatening to take me to court and undo the adoption.”
“Can she do that?” Cherri asked, passing the creamer to her.
“No, and I know that, but I still let her get under my skin.” She stirred the flavored cream into her coffee. “What really gets me is that I let her bring out my insecurities. She said Chas was checking her out and was getting tired of being with a big woman.”
“That’s nonsense. He’s with you and not her.” Belle sat across from her, reaching for her hand.
“I know, but it hit my insecurity button, especially since I never lost all the weight I gained when I was pregnant.”
“I haven’t lost all the weight I gained when I had Emily, and that was twenty years ago. Banger loves every inch of me, and that makes me feel sexy. It doesn’t matter if another guy doesn’t think I’m sexy, or some woman thinks my hips are too big. All that matters is that my man loves me just how I am and that I do too. I love my curves and the way I look in a pair of jeans.”
Cherri nodded. “You do have to love yourself, but it’s so damn hard. I’ve been working on it for years. It’s helped a lot to go to therapy, but old insecurities are hard to get rid of. I’m not sure if a person ever does. When I was in school, I was skinny as a pole with no tits, and there was a group of girls and boys who never let me forget how ugly I was. People can be so damn cruel, and when they’ve moved on, you still have all the mean things they said to you catalogued in your head. It’s hard to forget it.”
“That’s why we have each other, to remind us how wonderful we are,” Belle said.
Addie set her coffee mug down. “It’s true. It seems that together we can pull through anything. It’s like when I’m down, others are there for me, and when someone else is down, I’m there for her. I really appreciate our friendship.”
Cherri smiled. “I never had a good friend. My background is littered with shit I never want to think about, but one of the best things in my life besides Jax and Paisley is knowing I have a group of friends who really care about me, and that I can count on all of you. It means the world to me.”
“When I married Banger, I had no idea that a wonderful group of ladies was part of the biker world. And it’s great because none of my friends outside of the clubreallyunderstand what living with a one-percenter is all about, but you all do.”
