EVERMOON

Prologue

December 21st, 1985 was the day I found myself born again. In my first life I was nothing spectacular though I tried relentlessly to leave my mark on the world through pure destruction. Cigarettes, fast motorcycles, girls in short skirts, and a hand me down leather jacket were my signatures. My jacket was branded with the image of a proud lion with smoldering red eyes and a taunting mane. That was the brand of The Hartdane Lions; the group of angst ridden faced adults I ran around with. We had been doing our usual run around Mikey's bar when the fight broke out. It started slowly as all bar fights do. I had been sitting in our usual booth with my girl of the night bouncing happily on my lap. Her name I can not remember as it wasn't important to me. She smelt of cherry perfume, wore a smoldering red lip, and the little black skirt that exposed her soft skin was inviting to my hormones. Four rounds of drinks past between my clan and my mouth wrecked heavily of bourbon when it all began. 

"Mom thinks I'm going to school to be a dentist. Wild shit right?" Cherry perfume girl smacked her gum as she threw around the life story that no one asked her to share. 

"A dentist. Looks like you got yourself a chick with brains this time Parris." The Lion's erupted with laughter as Freddie Barnes tossed the insult in my direction. He paired it with his iconic wink, a token to mean that I wasn't supposed to take offense. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cherry perfume girl turned to me. 

"Don't worry about it sweetheart Freddie's just teasing." I tucked a strand of golden curls behind her ear. 

"Yeah! I'm all jokes! Take a breather honey." Freddie handed Cherry his glass. She huffed, took the beer down the hatch and slammed the glass on the table. 

"I'll have you know Freddie Barnes that I could be a damn good dentist." Her words were starting to slur; she would make for a fun night. "I just don't want to waste my time with all them books and shit." 

"Of course baby we know you can read." More laughter from the Lion's poured out and Cherry shot me a look to defend her. 

"Alright ease up Freddie." 

"Okay okay geez. You would've thought people could take a joke around here." 

Freddie fished into his wallet, pulled out two twenties, and handed them to Johnny Calibani. 

"Kid, go tell Mikey to fix us another round I gotta get these chumps loosened up." 

Johnny was the beta of our group. The new kid on the block who rolled in from Arizona only a year prior. Freddie found him hanging around the bar, liked his look, and the rest was history. He took the lion beating like champ but he was still new which meant Freddie could get him to do his dirty work. I myself, belonged to the Lions since birth. My older brother Kaden, 3 years me senior,  had joined the group in his sixteenth year and on my sixteenth birthday I followed in his footsteps. When Kaden announced he was leaving town after high school I had to fight Freddie Barnes for the title of leader. I lost when I took a crowbar to the head and Freddie help the reigning title of Alpha Lion. Still, I was the brother Kaden, the kid who carried more lion pride than any of us combined. No one was going to mess with me. I carried my own in the group and stated afloat through our mess of wild nights, break ins, and anarchist noise. I owned the nickname of "The Quiet Storm". I had a soft face paired with more silence than conversation, but my temper made sure nobody stepped to us. 

"Drinks on the house!" Johnny returned the table with a tray of drinks and handed the cash back to Freddie. 

"Atta boy! That's how you get it done." Freddie slapped Johnny on the back and I could tell the newbie liked the approval. Little did he know that Freddie was growing tired of his attitude and had already devised a plot to have us Lion's beat him in the back alley in three days.