by Breck, A. R.
My face falters. I feel like a terrible parent for not being able to show her all the wonderful things that kids can enjoy. “Um, Mommy is going to be gone for Halloween.” Her face falls and it looks like she’s going to start crying. “Okay, maybe, before bed tonight, we can see about doing some trick or treating. How does that sound?”
“Yay!”
I nod at her and walk towards the stairs. Now I just need to figure out how I can get my daughter to go trick or treating when it’s not even Halloween.”
West walks out of the bathroom as I start heading up the stairs. “Hey! West, Violet is looking for you.”
He winces and looks around like he’s looking for an escape route.
“Why are you looking like that?” I laugh.
He groans. “She’s always trying to rope me into setting up for the party. I almost gave myself a laxative beforehand so I could be stuck on the shitter until tonight.”
“That’s disgusting.” I cringe.
He shrugs. “I’ll go find her. Otherwise, she’ll hunt me down anyways.” He sighs and starts walking towards the door.
“West?”
He turns around. “Yeah?”
“I have a favor that can maybe get you out of helping Violet.”
A smile breaks out on his face. “Whatever it is, I’m in.”
* * *
Later that evening, there’s a knock on the door and it cracks open, revealing a smiling Violet. She’s decked out in a little red riding hood outfit. A little red dress and an oversized hood cover her. The hood hides her curls the bounce around her with every move she makes. Her smoky eyes make her look dangerous, and the shade of her deep red lipstick matches her dress perfectly. She finishes her outfit with laced up black combat boots, the heavy heel making her look as every bit of biker club girl that she is.
“Wow.” I say. “You look… wow.”
She smiles, her white teeth standing out against her red lips. “Halloween is my favorite holiday.”
“So, I’ve heard.” I say with wide eyes.
She shuts the door behind her, walking over to the bed and setting a plastic bag on it. “So, West talked to me about your little plan. I thought it was a good idea, although I had to make Charlie and a couple other guys finish the decorating. They better not have fucked it up. But I was able to run to the store and grab a few things…” She turns the bag upside down and spills the contents on the bed. “I thought that Lilah would like to be a princess for Halloween.”
“Oooooo.” Lilah comes up behind her and looks at the picture on the costume. “A princess?”
“Yeah. Look, I’ve got a dress and a crown. You even got some sparkly shoes to wear!” I tear up at what she’s done and the excitement on Lilah’s face. We never would have been able to celebrate if it wasn’t for Lilah. If it wasn’t for every single person in this club house.
Lilah grabs the bag. “Can I have it?”
“Well, let’s put it on first.” I say, unsnapping the top and pulling the small dress out. “Thank you, Violet. I don’t know what I can do to repay you.”
She waves me off. “It’s nothing. You guys being here is a dream. I always wanted a little sister.” She brushes Lilah’s hair out of her face. “And I always wanted a good friend.”
“Are there no other girls around that you get along with?” I frown at her. Violet is awesome. She seems like someone at my old school would have been the most popular girl and had all the friends. And there are girls here. Some I’ve seen multiple times. She has to get along with some of them, right?
She lifts her shoulders awkwardly, her usual laxness stiffening up uncomfortably. “No one lives around here. We have all this land… no one is over here. And at school, kids don’t really want to be friends with the girl who lives with a biker gang. And the girls that do come around… well, they’re just spineless sluts.” She chuckles humorlessly.
“Well, they’re stupid as hell. Because I think you’re awesome, and I want to be friends with you.” A thought comes to mind. “Where do you live, anyway? You don’t live in the clubhouse, do you?”
Violet shakes her head. “No, I live down the road with Haley.”
I nod. “Is it just you two? She’s kind of like a stand in mom for you then, huh?”
“More like an annoying aunt that won’t stop bothering you.” She laughs. “No, I love her. I lived with Lynx when I first moved here, he act as a father figure of sorts, since he’s raised a kid. But Haley thought that would ruin me for good, so she brought me to her house not long after I moved here.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think I would have made it here this long without you.”
She cracks a smile, her red lips pulling up towards her small dimples. “Thanks, Ivy. I’m glad you’re here, too.”
“Me too.”
“Me too!” Lilah says, trying to pull the dress over her head.
“Hey, hold on. I don’t want you to rip it.” I pull it off her head and put it on correctly. It fits her well. The pink shiny dress is embellished with jewels and sparkles. It has puffy sleeves on her shoulders and the hem falls to her ankles. Violet grabs the extravagant tiara and places it on her head.
“Wow, look. It even has white gloves.” I slide them on her hands. The smooth, ivory satin slides up to her elbows.
“Don’t forget your shoes.” Violet kneels to slide the pink glittered shoes on her feet. There is a tiny heel and elastic to keep it secured on her feet.
“Wow! I’m a princess!” She twirls around in a circle, almost falling in the process. I grab her by the arm to stop her fall. I pick up the small pumpkin pale and hand it to her.
“You can put your candy in here. But we better get going before the party starts.” I say, nerves wracking my stomach again at the thought of the party tonight.
“We’ve got a little bit. But we should get going. Everyone is ready.” She leaves a second bag I didn’t notice before on the floor.
“What’s that?” I point to it.
She kicks it underneath the bed. “It’s your costume.”
“I don’t want to wear a costume.”
She freezes, looking at me like I just committed a hit and run. “You are wearing a costume. We’ll go do this for Lilah, come back and get her to sleep, and then get you ready.”
I pout, seconds away from stomping my feet. “Do I have to?”
She opens the door. “Yes, you do. Now let’s go.”
We walk down the stairs, Lilah taking longer because of her heels. Once we get to the bottom of the stairs, I almost cry out at the scene in front of me.
Everyone, the seven and some regulars sit at the bar, some sit on the couch. Each one of them has a small bowl filled with candy in their hands as they wait for Lilah to trick or treat.
“This is… oh my God.” I wipe a stray tear that was too powerful to hold back. Aziel stands from where he was leaning up against the wall and walks up to me.
“Z! Look, I’m a princess!” Lilah shrieks, clacking her heels on the wooden floor.
“You sure are, kid. You ready to go trick or treating?”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s go then.” He says. Looking at me, he appraises my outfit. “You aren’t dressed up.”
I look down at my ripped jeans and So Cal shirt. “Violet got me something. I’ll change once I get Violet to bed.” I look down at his own outfit. “What’re you supposed to be?”
He chuckles. “A fuckin’ biker. Violet tries to dress us up every fuckin’ year. It ain’t happenin’.”
His leather cut sits over a black long sleeve Henley and some black jeans. His combat boots, as per usual, sit unlaced on his feet. His hat is forward today, the rim causing a shadow over his face, making him look untouchable.
“Well, you’re no fun. I thought Haley said Violet makes everyone dress up.”
“She does, everyone but the Seven. I mean, doesn’t mean she still doesn’t try. But I’m not putting a cape on my back or walking aroun
d with a fucking sword. Sorry.” His lip quirks up, a dimple popping out on his cheek. He seems to always take my breath away, every time, effortlessly. His looks alone seem to draw the breath from my lungs with a blink and glance in my direction.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Violet says.
Lilah starts to pull me along when an arm snakes around my waist. “Not even going to say hello to me properly?” Aziel growls in my ear. I’m spun around in the next second and his lips sink down on mine. I gasp, surprised as I kiss him back. The world around me cease to exist as he steals my breath and the beats of my heart with just a simple display of affection.
He releases me, and I step back, hoping everyone around me isn’t staring and gawking. Thankfully, only Haley, Violet, Lynx, and West are staring. They don’t look surprised, rather amused, actually. The rest of them either didn’t notice or didn’t care, in their own conversations or drinking and watching whatever it is that’s on TV.
I look down at Lilah, who’s staring at me curiously. “Okay, babe. Let’s go get some candy.”
* * *
“Mom, but I want to go to the party, too.” Lilah says from the bed, already in her pajamas but refusing to let go of her pale of candy. What was supposed to be thirty minutes ended up being over an hour of getting candy. Lilah stole the hearts of every single person she went up to. It was like a parade, except the bystanders passed out candy instead of receiving it. By the time we reached Charlie, who was the last person in line, people were already starting to show up for the party.
We ran upstairs shortly after, as it was way past Lilah’s bedtime.
“Lilah, this is a grown-up party.”
Violet clanks around in the bathroom, getting makeup out and turning her curling iron on. I have a feeling she’s going to get me way more overdone than I want to be.
“But I’m scared.” Lilah wines.
That makes me pause. I sit on the bed next to her and run my hands through her hair. “Why are you scared?”
“I don’t want to be here all by myself.”
“Someone will be outside the door at all times. And I’m going to check on you a lot. If you get scared, let someone know and I’ll be right back.” I’m not worried about it; she sleeps harder than a rock and won’t wake up till morning. “By the time you wake up, though, I’ll be sleeping in bed right next to you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” I smile, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I’m glad you had fun today.”
“I want to do it again tomorrow.”
I giggle. “I think you have enough candy for two months. We can do it next year though.”
She pouts. “Okay.” She passes me her pale. Closing her eyes, she flips over and snuggles deeper underneath the covers. Within a couple minutes, her mouth pops open and I know she’s fallen asleep.
As quietly as possible, I set down her pale of candy on the dresser and walk over to the bathroom to an impatient Violet. “We have to hurry.”
“Sorry. She’s gotten a little clingy since we got here.”
She smiles sadly at me. Grabbing onto my shoulders, she spins me around so she can start on my hair. “I don’t want to be stepping out of line, but was it really bad there?”
A tightness in my throat makes it hard to get the words out. “Yeah, Violet. It was.”
“What was it like? What did you do?”
I think back to day one. Going through the sex trafficking process. Santiago buying me. Him training me. The Hut. Ms. Maria. Alexia. Elena.
A tear slips down my cheek at the names of my friends who tragically died in the crossfire. Gone before they should’ve been.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you cry.”
“No, I’m fine.” I smile at her, though I know it looks forced. “It wasn’t good. They don’t care about you. Whether you live or die. Whether you’re scared or angry. They want to make money off you. They want to rape you and see you cry. I’ve seen countless girls sold to the most ruthless men, only for those men to come back six months later to buy a new girl.”
“What does that mean?” Violet asks, her eyes wide in terror.
“The girl died. Maybe the guy killed her, I don’t know. Sometimes the girls didn’t even make it to be sold. Sometimes they went through the process and died while they were being trained. Some kill themselves, other times the guards or some other worker kills them. I never should have made it as long as I did. I don’t know how I did, honestly.” I shiver at the thought.
“How did you stay alive? How long were you even there?”
“Five years. Five, awfully long years. I’m only alive because of Lilah. I know that wholeheartedly.”
“If she’s only three, that means you had her while you were there? Whose baby is it?” She pulls the curling iron out of the outlet and sprays my hair with about a pound of hairspray.
I cough and wave my hand. “She’s Santiago’s.”
Her hair spray bottle drops to the ground, and I whip my head around to see Lilah flip over on her other side and fall back into a deep sleep.
“Sorry.” Violet winces. “But who is Santiago? I’ve heard his name before.”
“You don’t know who he is?” I narrow my eyes at her.
She puffs out a laugh. “I might be nosy, but I’m seriously just the guys’ nonblood-related little sister. I don’t get told anything. The only reason I know about anything is because I know how to snoop.”
I shake my head at her. “He’s the…El Jefe.”
“What’s that?” She picks up a brush. “Close your eyes.”
I close them. “It means boss, I guess. He’s the boss of the Mexican cartel.”
She stops brushing on my face, and I crack an eye open. She’s staring at me with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Her ruby red lips stretched into the largest O I’ve ever seen. “You mean to tell me…” She leans into whisper, “Lilah is the daughter of the king of the Mexican cartel?”
I wince. Why’d she have to say it like that?
I nod.
“Holy shit. Girl. I knew Aziel liked you, but I did not know it was that deep.”
“It’s really not that deep.”
She laughs. “Close your eyes.” I do as she says. “And yes, it really is that deep. The Seven have been at war with the Mexican cartel for a few years now. They absolutely hate each other. Straight out of a story book kind of rival hatred. Aziel used to be a lazy, nice guy who liked fighting and biking. These last couple years he’s turned into an angry son of a bitch who has one thing in mind, and one thing only. That’s to kill Santiago.” She lets out another laugh. “If you’re here, sleeping in his bed, with the daughter of the man who he thinks about killing day in and day out… yeah, he’s in much deeper than either you or I thought.”
My heart drops from the left side of my chest, bouncing off my rib cage until it plummets to the pit of my stomach. I don’t have a response for her, and I don’t think she really expected one. I didn’t realize Aziel’s hate for Santiago ran as deep as it did.
It worries me. Does he really like me? Or am I here for some ulterior motive?
“Do you think…?” I hesitate, wondering if I can honestly trust Violet. “Do you think I’m here as some type of pawn? Just part of the game for Aziel to get Santiago?” I hate that I think this way. That even a part of me thinks Aziel could be using me in any way.
But then I think of him and everything he’s done for me. What everyone in this clubhouse has done for me and Lilah. And I have a hard time believing it.
“Are you kidding me?” She gives me a little shove. “If you think that, I might be second guessing our friendship a little bit.”
I shake my head, looking up at her apologetically. “No, I’m sorry. It’s … it’s a little shocking to hear how much Aziel hates Santiago. The man who held me hostage for basically a quarter of my life.”
She squeezes my thigh. “The Mexican cartel kidnapped one of Aziel’s best friend’s wife.”
&nbs
p; I gasp. “Oh, no. What’s her name?” I go through the mental catalogue in my brain and try to remember if the name Aziel has ever came up.
Violet shakes her head. “You wouldn’t know her. They rescued her before she was taken over the border. But it was pretty traumatizing for all of them. There was a little beef going on before that, but her getting kidnapped took it over the edge. All I know, is since then Aziel has been trying to take down the Mexican cartel’s sex trafficking ring.”
I shake my head. This is all an emotional and mental overload.
“Perfect.” She grabs my shoulders and turns me around to face the mirror.
My jaw unhinges as I stare at the transformation in front of me. My blonde, wavy, hair has tuned into large, wavy curls. My blonde sun-kissed hair shines extra bright with whatever product she put in my hair. My makeup is bold, not something that I’m used to. The nearly black smoky eyes make my blue eyes stand out. A touch of bronzer tints my sharp cheek bones. A dark grayish black makes my lips pop.
The bruises on my face are long faded, but the lingering tint of brownish green discoloration has been miraculously covered by her makeup.
“Wow. What is my costume?”
“You…” She bends down, grabbing the bag by the bathtub and pulling out a black piece. “Are the angel of death.” She grabs a set of wings that are so realistic, I can’t help but reach out and touch them. The lacy dress is a strapless one piece that looks like it’ll fit my body like a glove. The wings are soft, each feather blackened and shiny, it’s inky color the blackest of black I’ve ever seen.
“This is awesome.” I breathe.
“I was debating between this or my costume, but I thought you’d be a better angel than me.” She shakes it in front of me. “Put it on.”
I pull off my t-shirt and jeans, taking extra care while pulling the shirt over my head to protect my makeup and curly hair.
I unhook my bra and keep my panties on, sliding my dress over my waist and letting the dress curl around my body like it’s made for me. “Wow, it fits perfectly.” I turn around, seeing her frowning at my back.