“We have a couple things to go over today, but one of the most important is our new prospect.” Zane states. The entire room looks at her, and while everyone else is staring at her, I’m lookin’ at everyone else. Looks like we’re all thinkin’ the same thing.
The word ‘death’ is tattooed just below her jaw, while I spot some sort of butterfly there as well. She has a shoulder cap rose tattoo on her left shoulder, and down her arm is an abstract portrait of a woman mixed with spider webs. Actually, now that I’m looking at it, the spider webs turn into a chain link fence.
She’s got the reddest hair I’ve ever seen, even brighter than fire engine red with a piercing directly under her nose, right above her lip. “You might recognize her as Kristie, Elena’s best friend. For those of you who don’t remember Elena, allow me to refresh your memory. She’s married to Reed, the Prez of the Skulls Renegade MC out in Gainesville, Tennessee. Kristie worked with Elena at the FBI before Elena quit. After she met Reed her life took her in another direction. Now, here Kristie is . . . wanting the same thing. Turns out the bureau life isn’t for you, huh?” Zane jokes.
“The job takes a toll. It was my time to get out. Not much more to say.” Kristie cuts it short.
“There you have it. Now, Kristie is joining our club as a prospect, though that won’t be her road name. She’s decided to go by Frost, because at the bureau she was known as the ice queen. A name meant to tear her down and yet it built her up. Can you tell us anything about your last couple years there, or why you’ve come into the lifestyle?”
“Fuck. I feel like the new kid who’s now going to school with you.” Frost laughs, but nods, looking to the rest of us in the room. “I’ll be blunt as fuck and I take it none of you mind that. I stopped working as a handler a few years ago, and my boss put me into the clusterfuck that’s called enhanced interrogation techniques. They called me the ice queen for a reason, boys. They say I don’t have a fucking heart, and sometimes I don’t, not when it comes to the bigger picture. Now, to add on that. I didn’t grow up in the MC life like Elena did, but I saw how she flourished after she left the bureau and I craved it. So, here I am.”
“You see the rack on her?” I hear Axel comment to Zorro, who chuckles lowly.
Frost hears him, shakes her head, and looks in his direction. “Unless you have a juicy pussy, I’m not interested. I’ll make this clear as day for all of you. I’m gay, a lesbian, it means I don’t like cock.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Turmoil whines, obviously upset.
“Cut the shit, kids.” Zane orders, lookin’ to Axel and Turmoil. “Frost is here to stay, and lucky for her we have a few girls at the Vixens who play for both teams.”
Frost chuckles lowly, leaning against the doors.
“Welcome to the club.”
“Thanks, Prez.” Frost tells him.
“Now, I have a couple things I wanna bring up.” Zane starts off and pauses, but I can’t hold this shit in. Not anymore. He needs to know who I saw ‘cause fuck I know it’ll bring issues straight on us.
“The General is out. Saw him in Billings today.”
Zane’s eyes go wide. “How is he out? How the fuck is he out already?” The General was a drug dealer who was dating Raven’s mom. He was stirrin’ up some trouble for us a couple years ago. We ended up making a deal with an ATF agent named Williams. We threw some concrete evidence that drugs were in the house General and Raven’s mom were living in, landing them both in jail . . . but here he is, out of prison far too early. We were only involved with the ATF because they wanted our help locating Alexa, who’s now Bull’s ol’ lady. Funny how the world works out.
“I can find out. I have contacts at the bureau who will give me the details.” Frost responds, pulling out her phone, she’s tapping away.
“What else did you wanna tell them, Zane?” Blackjack asks, putting our Prez back on track.
“We have a few who want to prospect. We already have Hammer, Frost, and now Turmoil . . . but I’m thinkin’ it’s high time we patch Hammer in. What do you think, brothers?” Fuck, we’re callin’ it to a vote!
“Aye,” I say.
“Hell yeah,” Axel quips.
“’Bout damn time,” Zorro answers.
“Aye,” Blackjack comments.
We continue going down the group and no one opposes our Prez. Zane pulls a box out from under where he’s sitting and opens it up. White tissue paper is revealed to us first before we see a brand-new cut made for our brother, Hammer.
Hammer walks from the spot he’s standing at and comes to the front, where Zane slides off his old one and puts on the cut that represents he’s one of us. “Welcome, brother.”
“Fuck, thank you Zane.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for us.” Zane tells him.
A round of applause and cheering breaks out in the room. But Zane is too focused on the issues with General being out. “Looks like that dog has one sly shark as a lawyer. He found a loophole, boys. Looks like he turned on a couple people too.”
“Lemme get this straight. You left the FBI and you’re still able to get information from them?” Zorro asks.
She laughs. “Unlike you, Antonio Banderas, I don’t burn every bridge I walk across.”
The entire room busts out into laughter. We all laugh for a solid minute or so before Zane starts slamming the gavel down on the table. “Does he know you saw him? And where the fuck did you see him?”
“Downtown Billings, which is odd. He’s usually not up there.”
“Hmm. Interesting. I’m gonna bet everything I have he’s gonna try to come swimming back in our circles and fuck up what we have going on. Look, I’ll keep this simple as can be. We dealt with Grizzly and the Bears for years. For far too long. I don’t want to deal with someone else like this. We have kids here now, guys, and Frost . . .” Zane clears his throat, needing a second to get used to our new addition being a woman. “I’m not going to be a risky fucker. Not now, and not ever again. One day Kade had told me that I wasn’t like our father, and it’s true, I don’t follow the same rules he does and I doubt I ever will.”
“What’s the game plan?” Hammer asks, sitting in one of the empty seats. Ever since Zane became Prez we only let our officer members and full patches sit at the table. Prospects stand, in doing so showing their respect toward the rest of us.
“Axel and Frost, get your asses in town and see if you can spot him. Stick together and remain under the radar. I want to see if you two can get anything on him.”
“Taking candy from a baby,” Frost says, sounding overly confident. “Prez, mind if I change into something . . . less . . . obvious?”
“Huh?” Zane questions, furrowing his brows.
“If I go undercover, I can just look like a woman walking around town. You want this to be under the radar, right? Trust me. Hell, I’ll go digging for information if you want. Did any of you see his girlfriend?”
“Nope,” I tell her. “It was just him.”
“Alright. With your permission I’ll do my thing.” Frost tells him, causin’ a couple of the brothers to get extremely interested in her techniques. I wonder if they’re gonna start askin’ her how to give good head to the ladies too.
“Go for it. You’re one of us now. Church is adjourned for now. Get me some information and then I’ll let y’all know what the fuck we’re doing.”
Everyone rises from their chairs and we all leave the room where we have church in. Upon coming out of the room I spot my sister on the sectional we have in the clubhouse. Taking in a deep breath, I know we need to have a conversation and I hope this time she won’t lie to me.
Chapter Eleven
“Never let the sadness of your past, and the fear of your future, ruin the happiness of your present.”
~ Lifestyle Inspire
Grim
One thing I did notice about Ruby today is how her hair is a bit lighter than it was a couple days ago. “You bleach your hair or somet
hin’?” I ask her as I approach.
“Yeah. I needed a change. What’s it to you?” Well, alrighty then. I guess I’m gettin’ slapped with attitude before we even dive into anything.
“Just noticed a change and wanted to tell you it looks real nice. I did wanna have a chat with you. Mind if we head somewhere private?” I ask her and see her expression falter just a bit. I don’t know what’s going on, though it does make me wonder if there’s something heavy on her mind.
I still think something’s wrong, ‘cause I know her and she wouldn’t have just left campus like that. I understand she’s doing her exams and everything online . . . but something isn’t adding up here. Ruby goes to one of the most prestigious private colleges in the nation, Stonewall University. Anyone from actresses, upcoming NFL superstars, politicians, and the world’s smartest brain surgeons have all started at Stonewall, so when she got a partial scholarship I jumped on the opportunity to get her in. She was terrified on how she’d afford the other half, but her mom died when she was seventeen and left her with a good bit of insurance money. I told her to use the money for school, and it almost covered it. But, I was able to take a twenty-thousand-dollar loan out to help her finish her last year of classes.
If I’m lucky, Ruby will become something great. She has so much fuckin’ potential so I know whatever she chooses to do with her degree, she’ll make a positive impact on this world one way or another.
“If you’re trying to give me some sort of life lecture or something, I’ll pass. I’m not in the mood.” Ruby rolls her eyes and pulls out her phone. She starts to tap away with those bag-lady acrylic nails of hers so I snatch the phone right from her hand.
“If you want your precious communication device back, you’ll follow me.” I tell her, walking over to the TV room we have next to where we hold church. It has a couple couches in there and a decent sized TV, but not much else. We kinda just use it for when we hold massive parties and we wanna get to a private place with either some of the Vixens or some local ass.
I check to make sure no one is in here and luckily the room is clear. Ruby follows me and I shut the door behind us, taking a seat on the sectional in the corner of the room. “This looks like a place the guys come to romp around with the ladies.” Ruby says, and I’m not even gonna elaborate on that ‘cause Lord knows she doesn’t want those details.
“Take a seat, sis. You and I need to have a chat.”
“Why, Grim? What is it you need to discuss with me so badly?”
“I get you came out here to make sure I’m fine, but you can see I am. I was a lucky fuckin’ bastard, luckier than I deserve if you think about it. But what I can’t figure out is why you didn’t get your fanny back to Albany. You could’ve gone back to school, so why didn’t you?”
Ruby runs a hand through her hair. “School is school, Grim. It’s not this amazing, super fun thing you think it is.”
“Yeah, and while I get that I’m gonna call you out on your bullshit. You used to love school, but all of a sudden you’re not such a fan. You’re so close to graduating, kid. You should be getting so high on your success and what you’ve accomplished so far.”
“I wish I was getting high on weed.” She mumbles under her breath.
“Ruby!” I grumble, not wantin’ to hear that shit from her. She’s better than that. Fuck, she’s so much better.
“What, Grim? You hold me up on this pedestal. You have our entire life and maybe I’m tired of being thrown up in the air like I’m better than you and Axel. Have you ever thought maybe for a minute I’m not, that I’m just like the two of you?”
One thing I know about life is how your gut never lies to you, and something isn’t rubbin’ me the right way.
“Halloween you were going to a party, told me how excited you were. A week later I get in the accident and here we are almost in the second week of November. What the fuck happened Rub’ and don’t you dare lie to me.” I hiss, growing rather irritated with her.
Ruby takes in a deep breath and starts to fidget with her hair. She’s been doin’ it since she was little, a nervous tick of hers, I think. She peers up at me with those stone-cold blue eyes of hers. “Stonewall University isn’t the marvelous place you think it is, Grim. Things go on there, things that you think are only fiction, but they aren’t. They’re very real and depending who you’re associated with and if the Scorpio Society wants you . . . your life could belong to them.”
“What?” I don’t mean to laugh, but I do. This sounds like a fuckin’ joke, or some twisted TV show.
“See, this is why I didn’t wanna tell you anything, because I knew you’d think it’s some big freaking joke!” She throws her hand up in the air and I see a blue and purple mark toward the back, almost by her armpit. I’m not an idiot in the least bit. That’s a bruise.
“Tell me more.” I urge her, seeing the obvious proof something happened.
“My point is this school is different. You have some people who are innocent and only want to use their time there as a means to an end, whether it’s getting into the MLB or NFL, becoming President, or whatever. Then there are others, the people that will do whatever they have to do to feel powerful, to feel important. Those are the people who want to join the society. Grim . . . I was inducted into the society. I didn’t have a choice, because you don’t have a choice, and there’s not a way out so I can’t do anything about it. The society is so large . . . there’s at least one person everywhere in it. They’re all about power and corruption and turning the world into what they want it to be. I think they do want to turn it into a better place, by slowly dominating anything they can . . . and I don’t have a problem being part of it, but I don’t want to lie to you and make you think I’m here for no reason. I mean, I’m supposed to be here in Montana, it’s what they want me to do when I graduate, to run an online business from here which I will totally do as an influencer . . . but I just, there’s something I haven’t said and—”
“Where the fuck did those marks come from, Ruby? Who did this to you?!” I raise my voice even though it’s not my intention.
Her lip starts to tremble, “I was walking back to my dorm after the Halloween party. I went through the park in the middle of the campus grounds. It all happened so quickly. I was taken to the ground and someone wrapped their hand around my mouth so my screams couldn’t be heard. I . . . I was beaten and other things happened. I . . . I don’t wanna go into that.”
“What the fuck?! You . . .” I stand up, running my hand over my head. “Didn’t you just fuck Zorro? Now you’re telling me you were attacked on campus a week ago? What the fuck is this, some sort of joke?”
“Why would I joke about something like this?! Do you think I want to say this to you? Do you think I want to tell you about this experience and have you look at me like I’m some sort of helpless woman who can’t do anything right unless her big, tough brothers are around!?” Ruby screams, standing up as well. “For the record, I didn’t just meet Zorro you idiot. If you had kept your eyes open last Christmas you would’ve seen I was spending a lot of time with him.”
“No, you weren’t,” I shake my head at the thought of it. She came here last year on winter break, but if she was around Zorro that much I would’ve noticed.
“I slept in his bed every fucking night, Grim! How could you be so blind?! Oh wait, I forgot. I’m talking to the man who couldn’t even realize his bestie, Rosa, wanted to be his girlfriend. Seeing things that’re right in front of your face isn’t exactly your strong suit.”
“Little girl, it’s best you drop it down a few levels.”
“Little girl. Little girl!?” She repeats.
“Ruby,” I say her name as a warning.
“You’re not dad! Stop acting like you’re my father, like you’re my fill in. You aren’t. Unless you’ve forgotten you’re my brother. Is that what’s going on?” She snarls, heading toward the door.
“I don’t understand any of this. You’re telling me you were at
tacked and that’s why you left school early . . . but Zorro told me he took your cherry which is something I didn’t want to even fuckin’ know in the first place. It doesn’t make sense.”
Ruby is shaking her head from side to side, throws her hands up in the air again. “Of course, it doesn’t make sense to you. You aren’t a woman who’s been attacked. You aren’t ever going to understand what it feels like to have a foot on your neck, squeezing against your throat while someone else has a hand wrapped around your mouth, while another one of their buddies is raping your ass. You won’t ever understand, Grim, and I don’t expect you too. So, yeah, I flew out here the moment Axel called me because I was terrified, not only for you, but for me too. I needed to know you were okay, and I needed to see Zorro. I won’t make apologies for it, but I wanted that first time to mean something to me. The only thing I can be thankful for is that they didn’t take my virginity, and this might sound crazy, but I’m glad they didn’t. I’d been saving that for my husband, whoever the hell he is, but now it doesn’t matter. After going through what I did, I wanted to make sure when I had sex it meant something with someone I care for, and it wouldn’t be taken from me.”
One thing’s for certain. I will never understand women. “Zorro. Really?”
“Don’t even start with me there, brother. I’m not in the mood. He isn’t as horrible as you think and maybe if you stopped acting like fucking children toward each other you both would see it.”
“Who attacked you?”
She shrugs, “I don’t know for certain. I do know that people talk a lot on campus, and I have my theories . . . but I’m not rushing to go back there Grim. I don’t even know if I want to go back. I’m sorry I need to go. This has all been . . . too much for tonight.” Ruby opens the door and leaves. I start to follow her and see her walk through the double doors to the clubhouse as well.
Mayhem: A Reapers MC Boxset Page 47