Chapter four

Theo

The biker stared at his chest in the mirror but didn’t say anything. I waited a full minute before I asked, “What do you think?”

A tear slipped down his weathered cheek. “It looks just like him.”

He pressed his hands to his eyes and took a few stuttering breaths. “I can’t thank you enough,”

he said once he had himself under control. “Now he can ride with me until the day I die.”

“You’re welcome,”

I said. After I covered the new ink with a bandage, he reached into his wallet and shoved a hundred toward me. I shook my head. I never took tips for memorial tattoos. “Donate my tip to an animal shelter.”

For a second, he looked like he was going to cry again, then he pointed at me and said, “You’re good people, man. I’m telling everyone in my club to come to you.”

“I appreciate it. And again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

He nodded and sucked in a deep breath before heading out.

“Did you just give that guy a cat tattoo?”

Max asked as the door shut behind the biker.

“Not just any cat. Mr. Snuggles. He liked to ride inside the guy’s leather jacket.”

Max shook his head. “Thank the Lord you took him. I don’t think I could have done that piece with a straight face.”

“Bullshit. You’d have cried. They had a beautiful relationship.”

“Yeah, probably,”

Max said, running a hand through his thick gray hair. “I’ve been a softie since my girls were born.”

“It suits you,”

I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I better clean my station if I’m going to make class on time.”

“I’ll take care of it. There’s something we need to talk about. Have a seat,”

he said, pointing to one of the chairs in the waiting area. He took the one across from me and started rubbing his beard. Then he put his hands on his knees and dropped his head. “This is hard.”

My heart started pounding. My boss was one of the calmest people I knew. Seeing him freaked out sent a surge of adrenaline through my veins. “Spit it out, Max, before you give me a panic attack.”

He looked me dead in the eyes and said, “I’m evicting you.”

I sat back in the chair, too stunned to speak. “Are you firing me?”

I finally asked.

“Of course not. Damn it, I knew I should have brought Linda. I practiced the whole conversation with her this morning, but I’m already screwing up.”

The fact Max had rehearsed what to say with his wife meant I was as good as homeless. Linda was the only chance I had of convincing Max to change his mind.

Max took a couple breaths and all the tension seemed to leave his body, which pissed me off. I wished it was that simple to calm down when my mind turned against me.

“I’m proud of you, Theo.”

“Kicking me out of my home is an odd way of showing it,”

I snapped.

Max held up his hands. “I get that you’re angry but let me explain before you rip into me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded.

“Like I was saying, I’m so proud of the man you’ve become. Not only are you the best artist to ever work at Marked, myself included, you’re one of the best people I’ve ever had the privilege to know.”

My throat tightened, and I looked up at the ceiling a moment. Max was without question the best person I knew, so hearing him say that about me felt surreal.

“You got dealt a crap hand,”

Max continued.

I locked eyes with him and shook my head. “I deserved it.”

Max blew out a breath. “Yeah, that’s your problem. You still think you got a debt to pay. It’s why you’ve lived in that crappy apartment long after you could afford something decent.”

“I do have a debt. I’ll be paying it the rest of my life.”

Max’s eyes grew sad. “I get it. I did some things when I used that I’ll never forgive myself for. But you have to move forward, son.”

Every time Max called me that, my chest hurt. I appreciated him for stepping into that role in my life, but it always made me think of Patera and the family I lost.

“It’s different for me. You never killed anyone.”

“Only by the grace of God,”

he said, kissing the cross he wore around his neck.

Few people knew Marked was an abbreviation of the company’s registered name, Indelibly Marked, a nod to Max’s conversion to Christianity. He practiced a different flavor of religion than the Greek Orthodox I was raised. That church thought tattoos desecrated the temple of the living God. If my father hadn’t already disowned me for bringing shame on the family, he’d be horrified by the ink I’d gotten since he saw me last.

“Look, Max, the truth is, I like the apartment. I’m not living there to punish myself.”

“Bull. The shower head is so low you have to bend in half to wet your hair. There’s no room for you to paint anything larger than the piece I have over my mantel. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter.”

“But it’s home. Cut the shit and tell me the real reason you want me out.”

Max pulled on his neck. “Someone else needs it. There’s a kid named Aaron. He’s an addict in recovery; did time at Wallens Ridge for dealing. I met him during my prison ministry, and we’ve kept in touch. I think he has real potential to build a better life, but he’s got no family, no one to help him. He’s almost out of time at the halfway house, and I’m worried he’ll fall back into old habits once he leaves. Plus, we could really use another pair of hands around here to set up, clean, and wrangle customers.”

My shoulders sagged. “I can’t argue with that. When would he need to move in?”

Max shifted in his seat. “February 1st.”

“What the fuck, Max? That’s not even a month.”

“It’s not ideal, but he just got notice he needs to be out by the end of the month. I want to help this guy. He’s twenty-four, same age I was when I got clean. You know how hard it is to adjust after doing time. Toss in addiction, and the cards are stacked against him. But we can help level things for him.”

I rubbed my forehead. How could I say no? If Max hadn’t helped me, who knows where I’d be now. Cal’s parents would have kept a roof over my head, but Max gave me a job and then trained me for a career I love. I had an obligation to pay it forward, even if it meant moving in the dead of winter with two weeks’ notice. “Fine.”

“First thing tomorrow, I’ll help you look for a new place. If we can’t find something right away, you’re welcome to my guest room.”

He didn’t say what we were both thinking. That he trusted me in the same house as his wife and young daughters but not a newly released felon in recovery.

“Now, you’d better get going or you’ll be late.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall and jumped up. I’d be lucky to get to the community center on time, which meant everyone would already be there. At least I wouldn’t be alone with Poppy. After her text yesterday, I couldn’t get that dream out of my head. Well, until now. Max had given me enough to worry about to push aside those thoughts of Poppy. Almost.

“We good?”

Max asked.

I nodded.

Max stood and opened his arms. “Bring it in, son.”

Despite the bomb he’d just dropped on me, I returned his bear hug. He cleared his throat and stepped back. “I hope you have a kid someday, so you can understand how hard that was for me.”

I pushed down the rising panic and forced myself to smile. “One step at a time, old man. I need a place to live first.”