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  I took pride in supporting my family, yet Sydney loved waitressing. Needing a break from the kids, she worked only four hour shifts a few times a week. The money she made went to our vacation fund. We had big plans to drive out to Disneyland once Luke was old enough to think the park was fun rather than frightening.

  Sometimes while fishing in a creek that ran through our property, I’d look at my girls and wonder about Cal. As kids, we worked together to bait a hook, just like Mika and Frankie did now. While he and I were never close, Cal was my family and I couldn’t help wondering what became of him. All I knew was he ran when Kelly came looking for him that day. I suspected I’d never know more.

  Before Mike passed away, he called a few buddies from the civic center. They told him how a lot of people turned up dead around the time we disappeared. Houses were burned down and the Gut Shot was fire bombed. The state sent in troopers to regain control when it became clear the Grove didn’t have a real police force, let alone a functioning government.

  Those civic center guys didn’t know what happened to Snake, but they said Johnny and Diane died in the bar. The club members who didn’t die ended up in jail or disappeared. For a long time, the Gutters owned the lives of thousands of people, but they never stayed grounded. Once they turned into monsters, they were bound to find a reckoning.

  Most days, I didn’t think of the Grove or my time in prison. I had a good life now with a beautiful loving woman who knew I could be an asshole at times, but loved me anyway. Our three healthy and happy kids lived peaceful lives away from the suffering we once knew. I had a job I enjoyed and people who saw me as Bo, rather than the loser at the end of the Gutters totem pole.

  Once I dreamed of tearing out my heart to avoid the pain of my bad decisions. Every day now, I wake up blessed to have suffered through the darkness until I met Sydney and discovered the light.

  About Bijou

  Living in Indiana with my three stinky sons, two wacky cats, one super mom (and her ugly dog), I love writing, blogging, and Denny’s. Follow me here:

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  ***Bijou Hunter is the pseudonym of author Angela Horn.