by Kiki Leach
"Why would it?"
"No idea, to be all that honest. But you're not answering much and keep returning my questions with some of your own."
We eyed each other in silence until she reached for the flowers and gripped the stems.
"My only concern," she began, "is that the more you dig, the worse this gets for all involved."
"Rox said the same, but it won't stop me from looking for what I need in order to climb out of a Hell I was thrown into by the members, both extended and not, of this club. You can either help me with that or get the entire hell out of my way."
"I'm willing to help in whatever you need, Cheyenne. But--"
"Thank you. When I need something from you, you'll know. Now if you don't mind, what I need right now is to get the hell out of this toddler-sized dress and into something that isn't crushing my ribs."
She bobbed her head and pulled the flowers to her chest. "I'll put these in water to save for Saturday," she said.
"Lovely. Can’t wait to see what they look like before that last petal finally shrivels up and drops."
She flashed another smile before quietly turning on her heels and rushing out of the room.
Brandi re-entered not long after and helped me back to the bench. While taking the seat, I looked into her face and shook my head.
"She's trying to dig some of this shit out for herself," I said. "She wants to see what I know and wonders how much of it can actually hurt her outside of the club and Snake, I could tell."
"Are you now thinking that much will change with her on Saturday?"
"I think with enough of the right booze in her system, she'll crack. On what she'll actually say and who might suffer as a result of it remains to be seen."
"What if it turns out to be you again, Cheyenne? Or Nikko this time?"
"I don't know. We'll scale that bridge with a pogo stick if we have to. In the meantime, I need to find something to wear for my wedding that doesn't make me want to throw myself against a brick wall before and after it's over."
She laughed and helped me back to my feet, slinked an arm around my waist to keep me upright and steady, and hobbled with me out of the dressing room.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Sink or Swim
Nikko's POV
The night was long and young, though he felt nothing of it for himself.
After rolling the body of a joint between the tips of his fingers and taking the first of many drags between warm sips of a once cold beer, Nikko dipped his head to blow out the smoke and swallowed back what was left in the hope of savoring a taste he knew was bound to kill him where he stood if he didn't.
"Yo." He turned as Loco strolled from the club and stood alongside him, then handed over his joint and dropped his hands into his pockets. Loco took a few long drags for himself and sat down along the edge of the picnic table. As various shades of music from inside the club blared across the parking lot, he caught the rhythm of a beat from an old Hendrix tune and snapped his fingers; his eyes brightened as his body swayed from side to side. "This used to be my kinda shit back in the day," he muttered around the tip of the joint. He snatched it from between his lips and blew out the smoke. "I'd have pussy to my left and right and some shaking in my face while getting higher than a goddamn kite to it."
"How much of that shit has actually changed?"
"Too goddamn much; pussy's gotten smarter since then. Speaking of..." He took another drag and stared at Nikko while lifting his brow, curious. "Why the fuck is your ass out here looking at the goddamn stars and bikes and shit instead of enjoying what's left of it inside while you still can?"
Nikko closed his eyes for a few seconds and shook his head. "I'm not up for watching pole swinging pussy that I don't know."
"You don't need to be on a first name basis with any of 'em. Look but don't muthafuckin' touch can be your thing."
He spun on the ball of his foot to face Loco, and glowered. "Cheyenne told me about you wanting to blow off Benny's head for the way he was talking to her before my old man got to him first. Why the fuck are you tryna push me onto some random pussy from your club?"
"To see if you'd be willing to take the goddamn bait and run with that shit like any other muthafucka would hop to do in your position without question."
"I'm nobody but me--"
"Good." He smoked the joint until the ashes fell between his fingers, then tossed it to the ground and hopped to his feet. "'Cause I'd wrap the entirety of your goddamn tongue around the tip of my muthafuckin' berretta and snap your dick in two before shoving it so far up your ass, you'd be coughing up bits of skin along with dirt if you ever fucked her over."
"I'd never do that shit--"
"You love her?"
A slight panic rendered him immobile as the question rushed between his ears like the sound of a beating drum. "We still don't know where we are with that."
"Ain't no 'we' about this shit when I'm asking about you, muthafucka -- Your goddamn feelings and what they are for her right fuckin' now."
"I don't know what they are anymore."
"But you did at some point."
He nodded. "I care about her more than myself; that shit'll never change... I could fall in love with her if she let me and I've told her as much. But I don't know if a feeling like that can carry us through what's coming. And I don't fuckin' know if she's still gonna want it from me once it does."
Loco eyed him from head to toe and stood back. "Why are you saying this shit?"
"Because Cheyenne's been quiet as fuck since shopping for her dress with Brandi. Outside of telling me about Deborah agreeing to meet up with them tonight and some shit she's feeling in her gut about how everything might end once we're official..." He paused. "The last few nights, she's fallen asleep on the couch downstairs."
"Shit." He latched onto the lapels of his cut and peered. "What the fuck does she say after waking up?"
"That she was too tired to come to bed."
"You don't believe that shit?"
"Not when we've been sharing the same bed since my first night back home from Rikers; not when she's said before all this that my couches aren't even comfortable enough to take a goddamn nap." He lowered himself to the bench and bent forward, resting his arms on top of his legs and throwing a fist inside his other hand.
Loco sighed heavily, then swallowed it back. "The shit with her mother might be getting to her," he said. "You know exactly what happened?"
"She never told me the full story."
"Another club took her out while she was on the back of a bike -- blasted her in the goddamn face while aiming for another member; the bullet went straight to her skull -- damn near split it in half; she died right outside the club."
"Jesus Christ."
"I could tell in her voice when we talked about Marleena and Deborah later that night -- I could tell when she hit me up to buddy with Nix in coaxing Taz to make his way out here tonight that she was messed up about it. Seeing her go out the way she did is still with her to the goddamn core; no matter what the fuck she says or does, it's gonna stay with her 'til she can no longer remember it happened."
"She's never gonna not remember that shit." Nikko sat up straight and stared across the lot. As more bikes rolled in, the harsh fumes of gasoline floating high into the air -- racing between clouds of cigar smoke, a wrinkle hit the bridge of his nose; the hint of a smile played along the corners of his lips. "I still think about my mother every goddamn day. Can still remember the smell of the perfume she was wearing when I found her -- a mixture of lemon and honey."
Loco cleared his throat as the whites of his eyes flashed red; he lowered his hands to his waist and locked his jaw. "Chey told me about that shit; I'm sorry about you losing her like that... sorry about you having to lose her at all."
"Yeah..." He nodded up at him and swallowed hard, appreciative of the words. "Thanks."
"I had an old lady that went out in a similar way -- long before I was officially patched in. Not even su
re Cheyenne knows about it, but the coke is what did her in. She took more than she knew she could handle after seeing me face deep in random pussy and I found her coughing up blood on my floor. Didn't even make it downstairs before she was gone."
"Jesus..."
"Shit like that is why I don't keep anybody on my arm anymore -- not for good; I take whatever pussy I can get and send it right back to where the fuck it came from without a single goddamn question asked between us. I don't need that kinda shit hanging with me anymore -- I'm too fuckin' old. But you're a young buck." He grinned. "And I didn't fuckin' like your ass or what the hell I knew could come with this marriage to Cheyenne. I thought you'd be no better than your old man in how you treated her; 'cause I saw the shit Deborah went through with his ass more than any other muthafucka in this club had ever managed to catch onto outside of Snake. You were on my list to be put down if I ever saw even a hint of the goddamn same."
"My old man is... a piece of motherfuckin' work; always has been."
Loco chuckled and lifted his hand to point. "You're goddamn right about that shit."
"How long were they together back in the day?"
"Officially? It was always hard to tell. She'd be with him for some time before bouncing back to Snake and somewhere in between was Rox and apparently Nix for a little bit." He chuckled again and wagged his head. "He backed off completely before she skipped outta the city for a while to 'find herself' or some shit, then came back to Snake and got knocked up with Taz a few years later. Chino had exhausted every ounce of pussy from the club right before all that and hooked up with your mother."
Nikko bobbed his head and returned to his feet, then crossed the lot and slapped his hands together. "My old man clapped Benny because some of the pictures Marleena took of his clients included him and Deborah fuckin' around since she's been back."
His brows arched as he snickered. "No shit?"
"None. He's been anxious ever since about 'em getting out."
"Do you have 'em?"
"Yeah; locked up in a place that he can't find."
"Why's he so goddamn hard up about getting 'em back? What the fuck does it matter if he's letting her suck his dick again?"
Nikko spun away from him and dragged his hand across his chin, hitting corner to corner of his jaw. "Before I came to Benny's office, you remember the shit about me seeing Rox first?"
"I do. What about it?"
"He told me some shit that if my old man knew I was aware, would send him off the goddamn deep end to the point of no motherfuckin' return. I don't think anybody would be safe from what the hell he would do to keep it from spreading any further than it has already."
"What the fuck are you saying that you know?" asked Loco, his head cocked as his brow lifted in question.
Nikko faced the clubhouse and took in a breath; he straightened himself and gulped while watching the brothers shift from corner to corner inside. "Rox let me know about this shit with Lena; said he knows where she is."
"Where the fuck is her ass?! How the fuck do we get in contact with her?"
"Easy as shit." He slid his hands back into his pockets and made a face while glancing at Loco. "Lena is Deborah."
Loco's mouth fell open as his brows pinned. "Say fuckin' what again, muthafucka?! Am I hearing your ass correctly on this shit -- the goddamn mother of my VP?! Rox wasn't pissing on your dick and calling it something else with this shit?"
"He said that Snake is responsible for what's happened; she might as well be a goddamn puppet for him--"
"Hold the fuck up. If Lena is Deborah, why the fuck is Chino currently fuckin' around with her ass again? She snitched on him and is the reason he's going away! The muthafuckin' reason you're being forced into marrying Cheyenne in the first goddamn place -- so what the fuck?!"
"We're still tryna understand what the fuck that shit is about."
"Does anybody else know about this shit?"
"Chey told Nix last night."
"What about Taz?"
He lifted his shoulders and glared. "Taz knows that his mother stole from the club and snitched on my old man; according to Rox, he called her back with the hope that she'd bring back what was stolen after learning about me and Chey getting married because of it."
"But she ain't got the funds." He paused. "She's got nothing from what I know; so why the fuck is she still sticking around the city outside of Taz when she's got no legit income flowing her way?"
"We don't know that shit either."
"I'm bound to fuckin' find out."
"We can't go around starting fires about this shit," said Nikko. "You know what the fuck is going on 'cause Nix can't be alone with this shit, and Cheyenne knew you'd start digging into why the fuck Nix might start acting differently around Taz despite tryna keep up appearances for your club. Or heading out to see more of Rox than usual."
"Chey wanted you telling me this shit?"
"Yeah. You and Nix are the only two outside of her old man that can know what the fuck is going on right now."
"Jesus fuckin' Christ." He swiped a bead of sweat from his brow and grunted. "She sure she wanted me knowing this shit?!"
"There's something else."
"Fuuuuuuck!" He dropped his head back, facing the sky. "What the fuck is it?"
"We can't be sure my old man won't try stealing that money and taking off with it the minute Chey signs the papers."
"What the fuck?" He glowered. "He can do that shit?"
"If he tries hard enough, 'cause that's his plan; also makes sense as to why he doesn't want anyone knowing about him and Deborah currently hooking up if she's somehow involved with helping to make it happen."
"You think she promised him eternal pussy for personal cash or some shit?"
"Don't know, but whatever the fuck they've got going could leave people broke and more of 'em dead."
Loco grinded his teeth. "Your old man takes that money and runs, the club gets nothing. Neither do the Gambiano's for helping to get your ass outta Rikers. And what the fuck about Snake? He stays corrupt and in charge? Because without any solids on what you're telling me, the club as a whole is fucked 'til we get what we're owed."
"We need Deborah to flip on your President; to fess up on the shit she knows and why it went down as it did. Cheyenne's working on her tonight."
"That's why she was invited despite that crazy bitch tryna choke her out?!" asked Loco. Nikko nodded. "Shit. Cheyenne might have a hard goddamn time even with a bottle of booze in that bitch's system. 'Cause she's been riding with Snake for thirty-plus years despite their issues -- same with your old man. Her being pissed enough to put a gun to his head won't suddenly change that shit."
"We've got no other options."
"We've got Taz." Loco reached for Nikko's beer and pointed toward the club. "Come on."
After making their way back inside, bypassing the likes of Eyes and Joker and the topless women giving them lap dances near the jukebox, they found Taz standing at the bar, picking at a bowl of peanuts and downing the third shot of a vodka/tequila mix.
"WHADDUP, BROTHA!" Loco threw a hand into his back as soon as he lowered the glass, then leaned against the edge of the bar and snaked his eyes across the club. "This shit ain't as lit as it could be tonight, but it's alright for what it is, I guess."
"Last minute shit, even for a goddamn Saturday night," muttered Taz. "That's what happens when the only pussy you can call up after 9pm is sitting around watching Murder She Wrote while hoping for another night out with road side dick before she croaks."
"Jessica Fletcher is a bad bitch -- You could learn a thing or two from her ass, young buck."
Nikko pinched the bridge of his nose to hold back a chuckle and cleared his throat. "I wasn't looking to have random pussy from your club all around me tonight," he said, "but you're more than welcome to do whatever the fuck you want with what's left."
"And why the fuck is that shit, asshole?" Taz turned his head to stare him in the face and shoved the bowl of pean
uts across the bar. He stood up straight as they crashed to the floor, and pointed. "'Cause you're gonna be the one tied down to Cheyenne for what you think is gonna be the rest of your life? You really believe this shit between you is gonna last past those papers being signed for the money we're owed?"
"Yeah, those stolen funds thanks to some chick named Lena, who also fucked over my old man and put me in this position to begin with. You know..." He crossed his arms and glanced at the ceiling. "I just wonder where the fuck she might be right now? And where the fuck she took your club's money after snitching on him like a bitch?"
"Oh, she's a bitch now?"
"Could she be anything else?" he shot back. "I'm not too goddamn sure." He stepped closer to his face and smirked. "You wanna be pissed at this shit happening, you wanna be pissed that I'm with Cheyenne..." He narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils. "You wanna be pissed that she's mine, that I'm hers -- you look to the bitch that got us here in the first fuckin' place."
Taz lifted his arm and balled his fist, ready to throw it directly between Nikko's eyes, but was stopped by Loco latching onto his elbow. He threw his head over his shoulder and glared, then slammed his elbow into Loco's nose, hard enough for blood to spew out from each nostril and land onto his cut.
As Loco hollered out in a slew of expletives and dropped back while covering his face, Taz's fist collided with the side of Nikko's left eye, sending him flying into a table across the room. The women sitting in surrounding chairs jumped up and fell back as soon as his body slid across the top and fell to the floor near their feet.
"Fuckin' Christ!" Joker pushed the woman sitting on his lap off to the side and stood from the couch.
"Shit." Eyes snapped his fingers, forcing the woman on his own lap to hop to her feet. "What the fuck is this shit?"
Taz raced forward as Nikko returned to his feet.
"TAZ!" Joker called out to him in a panic. "MUTHAFUCKA, FALL BACK!"
"What the fuck is this piece of shit doing?!" muttered Eyes.
He ignored them both while kicking the table aside and pulled his fist back for another blow. Nikko dodged the swing and wrapped his hand around Taz's throat, squeezing until his reddening eyes nearly bugged from his head, and dragged him back to the bar.