by LM Terry
“Yeah, got it,” his voice cracks. He closes the door quietly behind him.
“I don’t need a doctor,” Jesse groans after a few minutes of silence.
“That’s not up for argument, Jess.” I sit on the edge of the bed and drop my head into my hands. I don’t even know where to go from here.
“No one is touching me, big guy. Point me in the direction of your shower.” I turn to look at her. She is sitting up hugging her knees.
“Jesse, you are letting the doctor check you out.”
She looks me in the eye. “No. Just let me shower and I’ll be on my way. I need to get out of here.”
“Jesse, there is a lot going on here you don’t know about.”
“No,” she points a tiny finger in my face. “There’s a lot you don’t know. You can’t keep me here.”
I laugh. Even as beat up as she is, she’s still a goddamn ball of fire. She throws all her weight at me. She kicks and scratches. I don’t want to hurt her, so I get up, leaving her flailing about on the bed. “I’ll be back in with the doctor,” I say before closing the door behind me.
Something crashes against the door just as the latch catches. I look up to find Raffe with a red-faced Bill in a headlock. “Hey, man. Look. Bill made it back,” he smirks, tightening his arm around Bill’s neck.
Jesus Christ. Like father like daughter.
Dirk
◆◆◆
When Raffe told me that Jess thinks she disappointed me it made me stop breathing. I don’t know why. He said he didn’t know if she was talking about me but as he was relaying her exact words I knew it was. The scary man with tattoos. That’s me. Anyway, I had to get out of there. This shit is just all too goddamned heavy.
A noise draws my attention to the back of Dan’s house. I watch as Jesse crawls out the window and then falls a few feet to the ground with a thud. I should help her up. Should.
Before we go any further in this, whatever this is, anyhow you should know that I am an asshole. Straight up. I’m the kind of man that makes other men’s balls shrivel up. The kind that makes women clutch their children tight to their thighs when I pass them on the street, while at the same time making their cunts soak clear through their fucking mommy yoga pants.
Priests drop to their knees to pray when they see me, certain I’m a sign of the beginning of the end. The kind that makes cops keep their hand poised on their weapons. The kind that makes old women clutch their pearls, lick their lips while slipping their grey-haired old men blue pills in their morning coffee.
You either love me or hate me. No in-between exists when it comes to me. Very few are on the end of the love spectrum and if they are it’s because they’re hoping my vibe rubs off on them. They are of the dark variety.
Jesse pops up on the other side of the hedge and slowly turns as if she senses I’m behind her. Our eyes lock.
Jesse isn’t a little girl anymore.
“Going somewhere?” I ask, lighting up a cigarette.
“You got a shower?” She doesn’t move, just stares at me. She’s like an angel that fell from the sky. A dark little nymph of an angel. Lovely.
“Sure do, but I don’t think Big Dan is going to be happy with your little escape attempt.”
I take her in as she stands there. She has dried blood streaks down both legs. What looks like rug burns along one side of her face. Her lips are cracked and bleeding. Big Dan was right, she needs a doctor, but I’m a firm believer in women’s rights and all that bullshit. Her body, her choice. “Don’t you think you need a doctor?”
“No. I need a fucking shower,” she grits through clenched teeth. She takes off down the sidewalk.
“Dan isn’t the only one who is going to be unhappy about you taking off.” I’m sure she knows that my presence is a good indicator that her father is near.
“Yeah?” she yells back. Not even pausing. “Tell him I’ll be back real soon.”
She is tossing my words from years ago right in my face…his too. He’s coming for you real soon.
Why do I feel like she is a sacrifice in this whole crazy mess? A sacrifice who was tossed into an active volcano. Only she didn’t burn, she didn’t even need anyone to rescue her. No, she pulled herself up from the molten, hot lava and clawed her way out.
“Goddammit,” I follow hot on her heals while pulling my phone from my pocket.
Suddenly she spins around making me bump right into her. I reach out to grab her, so she doesn’t fall backwards.
“Don’t you dare fucking call them,” she warns.
“You’re awfully big for your britches aren’t you? I don’t take orders from little girls.”
She shoves me in the chest so hard I release her. “Good thing I’m not a little girl. You can call them after I shower. Jesus Christ what does it take to get you thick headed men to understand a girl needs a fucking shower!”
She stomps away and I put my phone back in my pocket. This is a first for me. The first time I’ve ever let a woman change my mind. Bill is going to fucking kill me.
After a few minutes of walking she cuts behind a tall wooden fence and hops over another shorter chain link fence into a backyard. I jump in right behind her but regret it the minute I do. I come face to face with a dog that looks so mean, so nasty I think I might piss myself.
She kneels beside him to calm his growl. “He’s with me,” she tells the dog. He growls and bares his teeth, showing me who’s boss. She laughs. “Yeah, yeah boy. He looks tough but pft, he just let me walk all over his tattooed ass.” She pats the dog on the head, and he backs away letting me slide past him.
I’m offended. Truly offended. Did she just put me down? I follow her into the house. She heads right for the bathroom.
“Hey, you know I’m only being nice to you cause your hurt right? I am tough. Remember I broke every finger on that punk teenager’s hand for you.”
She sets a towel on the counter, then leans in to crank the shower on. “Yeah, so tough. I had to finish him off.”
“You stuck a fork in his leg that’s hardly finishing him off,” I say leaning against the doorframe watching her.
She stares at me as she lifts her shirt over her head and my heart stops. Christ, she’s definitely not a little girl anymore and holy fuck is Bill going to kill me if he finds out I saw her in a bra. I turn quickly, noting the bruises on her ribs before closing the door behind me.
I can hear her laughing hysterically on the other side. Goddammit this girl is something else.
I’ve got to call Bill. I pull my phone out and make the call.
“She ran away. Where the fuck are you at?” he growls as soon as the call connects.
“Chill, dude, you’re going to give yourself a fucking heart attack.”
“The doctor is here, and she isn’t. So, yes, I’m having a fucking heart attack,” he grits through the receiver.
“She climbed out the window. Don’t worry, I followed her to a house about twelve blocks from Dan’s. She’s fine. She just wanted a damn shower.”
“Get her ass back here,” he yells.
Dan takes the phone from him. “Dirk, what the fuck, man?”
“Jesus, she just wanted a shower. We’re at some house with a dog that looks like a demon from hell.”
“She’s sneaky, dude. Keep an eye on her and get back here as soon as you can.
“Yeah, yeah.” I hang up and take a look around the place. Doesn’t look like she lives here. No sign of a woman living here at all.
The shower is still running but it’s been twenty minutes. I knock on the door. “Everything okay in there?”
No answer.
“Did you fucking drown or what?”
Still no answer. Fuck. I push open the door. “Jesse?”
When she still doesn’t answer I reluctantly (and I mean reluctantly for the sake of my nuts) push the shower curtain aside.
She is clawing at herself. I reach in to stop her, but the water is scalding hot. “Jesse, fuck, stop!”
I turn the water temp down and step in clothes and all. She falls to the ground and crouches in the corner of the shower still trying to tear at her skin. I kneel down beside her and grip her hands in mine tightly.
“I’m sorry,” she says frantically.
“Sorry for what?”
She looks up at me. “For not protecting what was mine,” she says, so tortured it feels like a lash to my soul.
I pull her to stand by her hair making her eyes go wide. I tug her into my chest. “You did, you protected what was yours,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “I didn’t. I didn’t.”
“Hey, listen to me. I can see that you protected yourself. It doesn’t matter what they did. You fought. You fought hard but sometimes you have to stop to live to fight another day. You did what you had to do.”
She blinks at me a few times as my words begin to sink in.
“You’re not giving up are you?” I ask, still gripping her hair tightly in my fist.
“No.” She pauses, and I see a fire ignite in her eyes. “I’m going to kill them.”
I give her a wicked smile. “No, we are going to kill them.”
I release my grip on her hair and she drops her forehead to my chest. I hold her until her trembling subsides. “You want to tell me who they are?” She rolls her head back and forth.
She pulls away from me and tries to cover herself with her arms. “I’m…I’m good,” she stutters.
Quickly I take a step back. “Yeah, shit. I’ll wait for you out there. We should be getting back to Dan’s.”
She nods in agreement not taking her eyes off the shower floor.
Chapter Ten
Jesse
◆◆◆
What the hell am I thinking breaking down in front of this man. When the door closes behind him I quickly get out of the shower and dress. Fuck, what have I done? Now that my head has cleared a little I realize I’ve gotten myself into yet another sticky situation. Dan is friends with scary tattoo man and my dad. Great, simply great.
I take a deep breath and head out to face things head on…well sort of. He turns when he hears me. He is dripping wet. “There’s a clothes dryer in the kitchen.” He looks down at his wet apparel. His t-shirt is sticking to his muscular chest. A dark wet dream if I ever did see one. Damn.
“Yeah, maybe I should dry them otherwise your dad is going to ask questions.” He laughs awkwardly.
For some reason I think awkward is new to him. Good. I toss him a towel and point to the kitchen. When he leaves the room, I go over my options. I could go with tattoo man to see Dan, Raffe and my dad. Um, I think I’ll take a hard pass on that. I plop my aching body down on the couch.
My original plan was to hop on a bus but, I’ve never run from anything in my life. No, I’ve either set it on fire or stabbed it. However, now I find myself caught between two dangerous clubs.
Just as a plan formulates in my head a dark shadow moves past me drawing my eyes upward. Jesus.
Jesuuuus.
I can’t help myself. I rise from the couch and stand in front of him. I’ve only seen his face and hands. But, with only a towel I see the whole canvas and it's almost completely covered. My eyes devour his naked torso. He should be listed as one of the great pieces of dark art. He is an exquisite blend of black ink and man. I reach out and let a finger trail over the sugar skull that is etched into his skin over his rib cage. It’s done so well it appears as if she’s caged inside of him. Peering out between the bones she speaks to me. My eyes roam up the ink, climbing up his neck until landing on his mood ring eyes.
The electric current that hums between us, gives me new life. A renewed sense of strength washes over me. My hand roams back down to the edge of towel sitting ever so delightfully at his hips. In one swift motion I rip it off and take a step back, keeping the towel in my grip. My eyes run down his dark thighs. My mind is already filling in the blank spots on his body.
Yeah, those are now mine. I’ll be etching myself there soon.
“What are you doing?” he asks with a mildly interested smirk on his face.
“Leveling the playing field.”
“I guess now that we have seen each other in our birthday suits perhaps we should properly introduce ourselves.” He reaches out for the towel, but I pull it back just out of reach.
“You already know who I am.”
“True, Jesse, I do know who you are and who your dad is so, can you please give me that towel before he barges in and so kindly removes my favorite body part.”
“Hmm, I thought he was waiting for me at Dan’s?”
He huffs and I see his muscles tense. He wants to make a dodge for the towel but is worried he will scare me after what I’ve just been through. What he doesn’t know is that I don’t scare easily. Fear does nothing but warn you danger is near. He is dangerous no doubt, but not to me. “Well, are you going to tell me your name?” I ask.
“I thought I was scary tattoo man.” He smirks, still holding his hand out for the towel.
Fucking Dan. I take a few steps back, but he remains frozen in his spot. “Well, scary tattoo man, until we meet again.” I salute him before taking off full speed out the door. Let’s see if he’s willing to take off after me in his stark ass naked condition, just as the sun is rising I might add.
When I get home Jimmy and Renee are sitting at the table having breakfast. Renee looks up from her plate of scrambled eggs. “Where have you been?”
“Oh, you know, got up early for a morning jog.”
Jimmy narrows his eyes at me over the edge of his coffee mug. He calmly sets it down. “Running from something?”
“Nope. Just thinking I should take better care of myself. Hey, why don’t you guys join me in the morning?”
Renee laughs. “Honey, I ain’t running unless a zombie or some other monster is chasing me.”
I grab a plate and help myself to the rest of the eggs in the pan and then sit down at the table right beside Jimmy. “Well, good thing there are no monsters here, huh Jimmy?” He scowls in my direction.
“Girl, what happened to your face?” Renee asks, not really caring. Some days I wonder how it’s possible she is the daughter of my grandmother. My grandma would have rushed to grab the first aid kit. She would have fixed me up with kisses to boot. But, not Renee. No, not her.
“Well, turns out I’m a bit clumsy. My feet got tangled up and I took a skid in the gravel.”
I’m not sure if Renee was even listening. She gets up from the table and heads to the bathroom, leaving Jimmy and I alone.
“Thought maybe you took off.” He cocks an eyebrow at me in question.
“Nope. Just went for a jog like I said.”
“Good. Cause you know I’ll find you if you take off right?”
“I got a deal for you,” I tell him, pushing my plate to the side. I give him my full attention even though I want nothing more than to run for the door.
He smirks and leans back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head. “Let’s hear it.”
“I’ll sell your drugs but as for getting you or your buddies off, well that’s off the table.”
He snorts pulling his head back. His arms drop in front of him before he leans in close to me. I force myself not to back away. “You don’t get decide what’s on the table, little girl.”
“I guess we could leave it on the table but then I would have to tell my brand-new daddy about it.” I don’t want to use my father, but the best weapon is the deadliest one and right now the president of Jimmy’s rival club is just that. I’ve listened to Big Dan and Raffe enough to have put the pieces of the puzzle together. I know who my father is, he is the president of the most feared MC club in the states.
He laughs. “Oh, so you found a daddy. A sugar daddy for Sugar?”
“I’ll give you that one, Jimmy. That was funny but no. I found my real-life daddy. You know the kind of daddy who would put his fist through his daughter’s bully's face.”
&nbs
p; He runs his tongue across his teeth and sits back a little. “If this new dad of yours is someone to be so scared of why wouldn’t you tell him all of it? Why wouldn’t you tell him about the drugs too?”
“See I have this one little problem. You know my secret identity. I’d like to keep that between the two of us.”
His fingers work their way through his beard as he ponders over what I said. “So, you really did find your dad.” He nods to himself, like he is a genius for putting all this together. “You don’t want new daddy finding out his little girl paints herself up at night to do the devil's work. I get it but I don’t give a shit about the new guy. You still live under my roof.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Okay, whatever dude. I’m sure he’ll be here real soon so…the offer stands until he comes a knocking.” I walk away, leaving him sitting at the table.
My mind frets over meeting my father, as I pack my shit. I’m a little angry knowing that I’ll have little choice in the matter soon. I’ve been able to stay ahead of them so far but men like Dan, Raffe and tattoo man won’t be had for long. They’ll find me soon enough. Eventually they will subdue me by sheer brutal force. Just like Jimmy but I know they’re not like him. No matter how mad I am at them for trying to boss me around, there is a part of me that likes it. A small part.
This is not how I envisioned meeting him. Not at all. I didn’t have that white horse story book shit going on in my head so you can quit feeling sorry for me right now. No, I’m not high on all that Disney magic shit.
I sit back against my headboard and pull my legs up to my chest thinking about it. How did I picture this going down? I guess I thought he would show up smelling of some piney aftershave with a gift in hand. A white box with a big black bow, yes black, like I said I didn’t drink the Disney Kool-Aid. Inside that box would be a pair of roller skates. Just like the ones the Ditsworth sisters had. I would be so happy because he had known what I always wanted. Like we had some invisible connection or shit.
A quiet rumble pulls me from my thoughts, the sound steadily getting closer.