Starla (The Ladies of Karnage Novella Series)

by Culbreth, Jennifer

  “Aye,” I mocked and he smiled. I liked these guys, they weren’t so scary once you met them. Maybe if their names had been Killer, or Life Sentence O’Leary, I might have been scared, but they were just a fun group of guys.

  “So what would two beautiful lassies like yourself be doing in Dublin?” the man he’d introduced as Mulligan asked.

  “You’ll laugh when I tell you, but I fell in love with the culture when I did a project in high school and my last year of school I busted my ass and, with the help of my parents, I got a ticket to come over here for a few weeks this summer.” They looked at me, waiting, as if I hadn’t covered something. “What?” I asked confused.

  “Was waitin’ for the funny part,” Sag chimed as he took a drag from his cigarette.

  “Well I figured that being rough and tough bikers, you’d probably make fun of me for having just graduated from high school.” I looked around the table at their blank faces, wondering if I’d said something to offend them.

  “Nothin’ wrong with gettin’ an education. Havin’ brains makes you even sexier,” McGee said as he reached up and tapped my head.

  “Well that’s good to know.” I blushed as I looked up at them all.

  “But hey, if you know how to cook and do laundry that’s always a plus too,” Mulligan said and the guys erupted in laughter, followed by myself and eventually Joni.

  By the time our food and drinks got to the table we scarfed them both down, enjoying the conversation with the guys, at least I was; Joni sat there like a bump on a log. As my stomach became full my eyes became heavy, and sometime around four in the morning we decided to call it a night. McGee paid for our food and drinks and walked us to the door, lighting a cigarette as he came out behind us.

  “You gonna be around here tomorrow?” I asked, turning around as Joni held the door to the hotel open for me.

  “Aye. Here just about every night,” he answered.

  “Cool. Maybe we’ll see you then,” I said and then turned to follow Joni upstairs to our room.

  Chapter Two

  We’d spent the next four days exploring the city. We’d gone to the Blarney stone, walked around the main strip partaking in a bit of shopping, which seemed to lift Joni’s excitement a bit, and had the most delicious food we’d ever had before. It was Friday night and the pubs seemed to be a little busier tonight than it had been during the week. Each night I’d gone down to the pub below our hotel, even on the nights Joni faked a headache and stayed upstairs in the room, and hung out with the guys from the MC.

  “So, are we going out tonight or are you going back down to hang out with those guys?” Joni asked, and a way those guys came out of her mouth irritated me worse than nails on a chalkboard. What was her deal?

  “What do you want to do?” I asked, trying to avoid an argument.

  “I’d like to go out and experience the nightlife, instead of staying cooped up in some dirty pub with a bunch of smelly men,” she said as she rummaged through her suitcase for something to wear.

  “What’s your problem with them, Joni? They have been nothing but nice, paying for our food and drinks, and you don’t seem to appreciate any of that.” I threw the blouse in my hand down, throwing my hands up on my hips and glaring at her in frustration.

  “I don’t know what you do see in them. They are just a bunch of old bikers, never gonna make anything of themselves. And they probably pay for our food with money they got from selling stolen cars or something.” She was standing across the room from me, challenging me in that way she always did. I’d always let Joni be the alpha of our friendship, mostly because I didn’t care one way or another. But this time I wasn’t letting her win.

  “I think you don’t like them because they don’t come from money, because they enjoy the simple things in life. Something you obviously don’t understand.” I tried to keep from raising my voice, knowing Ana was right down the hall. “The whole point of this trip was to get out and experience the world before we went off to college and you can’t seem to do that. You’re finding the bad in everything and you need to stop.”

  “Starla, I didn’t come to Ireland to experience what it’s like to be around a dirty group of bikers. I came to get drunk, have fun, and possibly get laid. Now, are you going to join me in that, or are you going to do what you always do and find something comfortable and stick with it.”

  “Fuck you,” I shouted, offended and hurt. “If all you wanted to do was get a piece of ass you should have stayed back home.”

  “I couldn’t, I had to come chaperone you, remember!”

  It hurt to hear her say that, like the only reason she had come was because she felt obligated, not like she’d actually wanted to come with me. Who was this person standing in front of me? Joni could be a handful sometimes, but she’d never been so outright mean before. I took my wounded pride and marched right out the door and into the crisp night air. I waited outside of the door for a moment, expecting to see her coming down the stairs after me, but she didn’t. I looked up at the window to our room and watched the light go off.

  I wrapped my arms around my waist and started off down the sidewalk. I wanted this trip to be epic, to be full of fun and excitement, but it was turning out to be the exact opposite. I felt the misery pour into me as I thought about having to spend the next few weeks with Mrs. Someone-Pissed-In-My-Cornflakes. I walked away from the hotel, no idea where I was actually going. I passed by various people in my attempt to walk off my anger, and then found myself at a small park. It was open in the center and lined on the outer edge with trees that gently rustled in the wind. I took refuge on a bench near a small trickling fountain and tried to fight the tears that were threatening to fall.

  I saw a young couple walking hand in hand around the outside of the park, enjoying the freedom of the night, and when they were out of sight I was all alone. I could feel my throat constricting and I fought it hard. I didn’t like to cry, it was a sign of weakness and I was far from weak. I thought back to all the fun Joni and I had in high school, the parties, the football games, we’d had a blast and made the best of every situation we’d found ourselves in. Why couldn’t she do that now? Couldn’t she see how much this trip meant to me? Yeah sure, I wanted to go out and party and have fun too, but I wanted to be able to experience the people a little bit too.

  I heard a rustling behind me and quickly wiped at the tears in my eyes, turning to see no one there. I turned back and took a deep breath to calm my now quickly beating heart. “Whatcha cryin’ for?” A deep raspy voice came from beside me and made me jump up from the bench.

  I looked over and found a gangly looking boy, probably no more than nineteen, staring at me. His eyes were dark, like he was up to no good. I slowly started to back away from him, something about the way he was looking at me made my stomach do flips. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

  “Ah, American. Whatcha doin’ out here all by yourself?” he asked as he started inching his way toward me.

  “I’m just waiting on my friends,” I lied. My heart was pounding in my chest as I turned to try and find my way back to where I had come from. But as I looked desperately around the park, everything started to look the same. “They should be here any minute. I should probably go meet them.”

  “Why don’t you just stay here and hang out with me?” He smirked a wicked grin that made my stomach drop deeper into the pit of my stomach.

  “No. I really should go.” I was walking backwards, my eyes darting here and there, praying I was going the right way when he started coming at me faster, his hands reaching out toward me.

  I turned and attempted to take off running when my sneaker caught on the edge of the sidewalk and I flew forward into the grass, sliding a few feet on my hands and knees before I finally came to a stop. He was standing over me now, laughing in a way that made me fear my life. I panicked when his hands starting coming down toward me, and with all the might I had in my sore legs, I reared back and kicked him as hard as I could between the le
gs. I heard him let out a guttural sound of pain before he fell to his knees gagging.

  “Bitch!” he shouted as I scurried to my feet and took off toward the road. As I made it to the edge of the sidewalk, attempting to cross back across the street, I saw a motorcycle come up to my left and stop.

  I could see his grin fall as he took in my now dirty and scraped hands and knees. “What in the bloody hell?” McGee snatched off his helmet, throwing it on his seat, and rushed over to me. “What the fuck happened?” He grabbed my wrists and took in my bloody hands before looking up at my teary eyes. I didn’t really know what to say, I only glanced over toward the park where the bastard that had come after me was slowly getting up off the ground, limping toward me until he saw McGee’s large figure. “He touch you?” McGee’s eyes were alight with an anger I’d never seen in a man before, the look of a protector.

  “Uh… I uh…” I stuttered.

  “Starla, you answer me right now.” His voice was stern and commanding, “Did he feckin’ touch you without your permission?”

  “Yes,” I said as my lip trembled. I felt embarrassed.

  Without another word, McGee stormed off after the man who was trying to quickly limp away. I saw him grab the boy by his shirt and snatch him backward, dropping him to the ground with ease. In another swift move and McGee was on top of him, his fists flying into the boy’s face, as he screamed out, “You. Don’t Ever. Touch. A. Woman. Like. That.” One more hard punch down, causing me to flinch in pain for the boy, “Again!” McGee grabbed the boy by his throat, pulling him up off the ground as blood, spit, and snot ran down the boy’s face. I could hear him sucking in ragged breaths as the sobs from the pain that McGee had just put on him sank in. McGee drug him across the courtyard and over toward me, stopping a few feet away. “You feckin’ apologize, or so help me I will rip your feckin’ insides out right here in the town square.” As he grew angrier, McGee’s accent got heavier, making it harder for me to understand what he was saying.

  “I’m… I’m sorry,” the boy said, so low it was almost a whisper. But then he probably couldn’t open his mouth very wide either. His broken jaw was already starting to swell up.

  McGee dropped him on the ground, spitting toward him, and then made his way over to me. “Come on, las. Let’s get you back and cleaned up.” He helped me over to his motorcycle, handing me his helmet to put on, and then motioned for me to get on behind him.

  I slowly maneuvered myself onto the bike behind him, grimacing as my scraped knees stung as I put my feet up onto the foot pegs. I wrapped my arms around him, trying to avoid making contact with his shirt in an effort to keep him from getting any blood on him, and we took off down the road. What seemed like forever to walk, was just a short drive back on his motorcycle. We made it to the hotel and he backed his motorcycle into an open spot in front of the pub and helped me off.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you up. Need to get those cuts cleaned up. I’m sure Ana has something.” He made his way to the door, holding it open.

  “You don’t need to come up. I’ll be fine. Thank you for saving me back there.” I entered the door and limped past him, expecting him to say welcome and then head over to fill up on beer and greasy food, but he didn’t. Instead he made his way in the door, a look of non-negotiation on his face, and waited for me to start my way up the stairs. I let out a sigh and started up the stairs, grimacing with each painful step.

  As we made it into the common area, McGee floated past me and grabbed the chair from behind Ana’s desk and pulled it out into the middle of the room. “I’ll go get Ana. Sit.”

  “No, really. Don’t wake Ana up. I’ll just go clean up in my bathroom,” I pleaded, hoping he’d just drop it all and spare me the embarrassment of being patched up like a little kid.

  “Sit,” he growled out, pointing at the chair before heading to Ana’s door and knocking lightly. Man he was bossy.

  I heard them make a small exchange and then Ana came rushing out of the room, her curvy figure now being shown off in her short pink night dress. Damn, Ana looked good when she wasn’t hiding behind her baggy clothes. With her hair down and her glasses off she looked years younger than she did when we had first met her. I looked up at McGee who was eyeing her dress with a slight smile and chuckled; he totally dug Ana.

  “Oh, my dear. What happened?” She looked down at the scrapes in my knees and then looked up at me with concern filled eyes.

  “I fell,” I said quickly, not thinking she needed the full detail.

  “She got attacked,” McGee’s voice was deep as he ground out the words.

  “What?” Her eyes flashed to him and then back to me.

  “Really, it’s not that bad. I think the other guy is much worse than I am.” I cut my eyes to McGee, noticing for the first time since we came into the light the dark red spots of blood covering the front of his white shirt.

  “McGee, what did you do?” Ana stood up, placing her hands on her hips and eyeing over at him. I could immediately see him soften in her glare. For such a big man, she sure wasn’t scared of his reaction.

  “Handled it, love.” He smirked at her, “Now get to work, bloody woman.” He playfully smacked her ass and she jumped up and inhaled a sharp breath, turning to me with a flushed face.

  “Cheeky bastard,” she mumbled to him before turning back to me and focusing on my wounds. It was everything in me to keep from busting out in laughter.

  Twenty minutes later I was cleaned and bandaged up. Ana assured me that if I needed anything else for the rest of the night to let her know. I thanked her and McGee once more for their help and then headed off toward my room, smiling as her light giggles came floating down the hallway to me. I quietly slipped into the room, trying not to disturb Joni who was cuddled up on her bed softly snoring. I made my way over and flipped on the lamp that sat on the end table by my bed, blinking my eyes as they adjusted to the brighter flood of light than I’d been expecting. I sat on the edge of my bed, picking at the bandage that was wrapped around my knee as I thought back to the events from earlier.

  “You ok?” I jumped as Joni’s sleepy voice pulled me from my thoughts. She took in the bandages on my knees and hands and jumped out of her bed, rushing over to me. “What happened?”

  “Long story,” I said, dropping my hands into my lap.

  “Uh, bandages and blood require explanation.” She looked at me sternly, geeze what the hell was with everyone tonight? She wasn’t gonna give up on this one.

  “When I left earlier I started walking and ended up in some park down the road. I didn’t think anything of it until some guy came out of nowhere and he freaked me out. So I got up and started leaving and when he started following me, I ran. I fell and scraped up my hands and knees,” I explained, looking over at her to see if she was still angry from our earlier disagreement.

  “Oh my God. What happened to him? I hope you beat the fucking shit out of him.”

  “Well…” I giggled. “He got the shit beat out of him, but it wasn’t by me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I went to get away McGee pulled up out of nowhere and flipped his shit. Beat the fuck out of the guy and then brought me back here.” I eyed her, trying to gauge her reaction to hearing his name.

  “Oh.” I could tell she was a little thrown off by the hero of the story. “Well I’m glad he did, because if not I’d have to go hunt the asshole down and cut his pecker off,” she said with a laugh that faded after a few moments. “I’m really sorry, Starla. I shouldn’t have said what I did earlier. I didn’t mean it when I said I only came because your parents wouldn’t let you come alone. I really do want to be here.”

  “Then why have you been giving the guys so much shit?”

  “I don’t know. Because I didn’t intend on us to get here and be spending our time with a bunch of bikers.” When she looked up this time I could see a slight smile on her face, “Though, I have to admit, Butcher is pretty hot,” she giggled and my heart swelled.
She really didn’t hate them after all.

  “Yes he is,” I agreed, “You should give them another chance. Fresh start. I really think you’d have a fun time,” I coaxed.

  She sat for a moment in thought before grabbing my hand in excitement, “We should get them to take us out tomorrow,” she beamed until she noticed the grimace on my face and released her grip on my hand. “Sorry.” She smiled in apology.

  “Ok. And I think we should ask Ana to go out with us too.” I smiled at the thought of her and McGee earlier.

  “Ok, it’s a date. Now go get cleaned up. I don’t want you getting some kind of Irish fever,” Joni quipped as she collected the unopened bandages from beside me on the bed and carried them into the bathroom. My best friend was back and soon we’d be taking on Ireland, one pub at a time.

  Chapter Three

  We’d been so excited when we woke up the next morning, jumping out of bed without even changing out clothes; we were two women on a mission. But when we told Ana about our plan to have the guys take us out, being coy about the fact that she was included in it, we were hit with disappointment.

  “Sorry, girls. McGee and the guys are on a run up to Cork this week. They should be back in a few days though,” Ana said, patting my hand that rested on the edge of her desk.

  Well shit. For the rest of the day we moped around Dublin, visiting various shops and even a museum in an attempt to pass the time. It was the longest week of our lives, the hours ticked by slower than molasses as we waited for the return of the guys. It always seems to happen like that, doesn’t it? You get the most exciting plan, can’t wait to share the news, and then BAM! You gotta sit around and wait for a week, trying not to jump out of your skin. By the time Friday was rolling around we were all going stir crazy, Ana included. Even though she’d never admit it, I think she liked seeing McGee around. So in an attempt to keep from going crazy while we waited on the guys, we made a trip down to the package store, bought a bottle of Scotch and three shot glasses.