by Sara Crest
“What’s wrong with me being a part of the Riders? What’s wrong with wanting to go back to Boston?.”
She didn’t answer, I would have thought that with her stepfather being gone her desire to get as far away from this place would go along with him. Now she’s putting thoughts of doubt into my head?
I’m not gonna let a girl come in and change my mind about the brotherhood I helped bring up, if she doesn’t change the way she’s thinking about me being in the Riders then she’ll have a choice to make. I want to be with her but she knew I was with the MC when she got close to me.
Hopefully this doesn’t come up again, but how long could we push that conversation away?
Chapter Twenty
(Emma)
I shouldn’t have asked him that, I overstepped my boundaries. Did I really think I could just convince him to run away with me after only knowing me for a few days? He said so himself that motorcycle club raised him and his dad was a part of it, I was stupid to think that somehow I was enough of a reason for him to just leave.
He had been quiet since I asked him the question, although I wasn’t sure if it was the question itself or the fact that he had told me so much about himself.
God why do I have to come on so strong?
We were laying on the only bed in the cabin with the windows still open. It had started to pour outside so we were going to be stuck in here a little longer than we expected, looked like our day trip turned into something more than we expected.
We kept the window open, the smell of the wet forest filled the room to match the scent of the soaked wood of the cabin.
Night was coming and I didn’t want him to go to sleep angry that I was prying into his life, I didn't know what to say to him to make it better or what to do to take his mind off of it. I did the only thing I could think of and pulled him into me, I embraced his lips against mine as the sound of rain beat against the roof of the cabin. I could still tell he was distracted though, that even though he moaned into my mouth his mind was a hundred miles away from here.
We heard the sounds of motorcycles roaring in the distance and Sven stood up, breaking my kiss and leaving me alone in the bed to go and open the door.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, he looked worried as he peered out into the dark forest listening to the engines roaring before they went off into the distance.
“We’re so far away that we can’t hear cars pass by on the road… if we could hear motorcycle engines that means there must have been dozens of riders coming in.”
“What’s wrong with that? They could just be passing through” I replied as I got up off the bed and joined him by the doorway.
He had this look of concern on his face, I wanted to ask him what was wrong but I was afraid about him seeing me as too nosy. I wanted to let him open up at his own pace but I also wanted to know what he was actually thinking about. With what he did to John he was now knee deep in my world and yet when it came to me being in his world I felt as if he was only letting me see the surface. Did he not trust me or was he just hesitant?
“Things might change around here Emma” he said as he turned away from the rain soaked woods and looked at me directly with his blue tinted gaze. “Things might change and I want you to be ready for it.”
“Change? What change?”
“I wish I could tell you, truth is I don’t even know myself.”
Chapter Twenty-One
(Emma)
As we drove through town the next morning the one thing that stood out to me was how quiet everything was, I mean normally our town was quiet just because of how small it was but this felt like something else entirely. It almost felt as if the whole town was afraid to make a noise.
As we approached Sven’s apartment building my eyes widened to see what looked like 50 motorcycles parked outside. There were a few men in leather jackets loitering outside, smoking and talking while some worked on their rides. Not a single regular car remained in the parking lot, I could only assume they kicked out all the real residents so that they could squat there.
For a moment I was afraid, what were these people doing here? Did they have any relation to the men that John was with? I looked at Sven’s face to try and gauge what he thought of the situation, I assumed that if it was dangerous for us to be here then he would have made a U-turn and got us out of there. If that was the case then were these more Freedom Riders?
I felt Sven grumble as we pulled up to the building’s parking lot. “God dammit Barron, you didn’t listen to me…”
He shut his bike off before taking my hand and leading me to the front door of the building. The men who were waiting outside gave both of us death stares as we passed them trying to get in. I looked at their jackets to see that they did have Freedom Riders patches, I still didn’t know why they were here though.
“You fucked us Sven!” one of them called out as we entered the building. Sven stopped in the doorway and gripped my hand tight, contemplating finding the man who said it and making him regret those words. After a few seconds he took a deep breath and brought me inside, not even responding to what his club brother said.
The inside of the apartment building had been completely taken over, I don’t know how many people lived here before but it looked as if some people were kicked out in order to make room for the newly arrived MC.
“Sven, why are they here? What’s going on?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I have some idea.”
There were men smoking and drinking in the hallway. Some of them had already spray painted their gang markings on the walls, making the whole hallway smell like paint, cigarettes, and god knows what.
Sven led me to his room, as we approached we saw that the door had been busted wide open. We walked inside to see a man standing in Sven’s kitchen in nothing but boxers as reached into Sven’s cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey before pouring a glass for himself.
“What the hell are you doing here Walsh” Sven said gripping my hand. I could hear the anger in his voice, it was subtle but it was there.
“Cleaning up your mess you European fuck” Walsh replied as he took a shot of whiskey before pouring himself another round.
I turned to see stirring in Sven’s bed and I nearly jumped when the covers flew off to reveal a completely naked woman with makeup smeared all over her face.
She rubbed her eyes and rolled out of bed, walking over to Walsh and completely ignoring us standing there in the doorway.
“You owe me $200” she said to Walsh, putting one hand on her hip and extending the other one out as she waited for him to pay her.
“I owe you jack shit, I gave you a roof to sleep under for the night” Walsh replied taking another shot of Sven’s whiskey.
“That’s not how this works you fucking perverted bastard. I let you smear your cock all over my face, I did degrading shit with you that nobody ever asked me to do. You’re lucky I’m only asking you for $200, you better pay up!”
“Or what?” Walsh replied angrily through his teeth. “You want some fucking money for spreading your legs then go fuck the dozens of horny guys wandering around this building. With the way I fucked you last night you should be paying me.”
She spat on him, missing his face but hitting him on the side of his neck. Without hesitating he backhanded her hard causing her to stumble but catch her footing on the counter. I gripped Sven’s hand tightly as I remembered not only all the times that John had hit me but the event just two days before where John knocked me onto the damp, hard ground.
“Fuck you!” she yelled out as she walked back to the bed and picked up her clothes off the floor, struggling to put them on. By the way she walked it seemed like she woke up still drunk from the night before.
“No thanks, you’d try to charge me for it again.”
“Get a fucking therapist you drugged out freak!”
“Look who’s fucking talking!” Walsh screamed back throwing his half full glass of whiskey at her. He just barely missed,
causing the glass to hit the wall and shatter.
“FUCK YOU!” she said giving him the middle finger as she desperately tried to put on her shirt.
“Have fun with the daddy issues you disease ridden skank, I bet you’ll be giving discount blowjobs in the parking lot in a fucking hour just to make up for tonight.”
She stormed past us, letting us catch a whiff of alcohol and weed smoke that followed her around like a rank perfume. She walked out of the apartment only to stop in the hallway for a moment and look Sven up and down before looking at me and scowling.
“If you’re looking for a real fun time handsome, I’m around.”
“You really gotta learn how to choose your clientele better, sweetheart” Sven replied, his Boston accent really came out on the “sweetheart.”
“Hey if you wanna be a fucking queer be my guest” the prostitute grumbled, rubbing the cheek that Walsh had hit.
We stepped inside and closed the door on her, Sven stared at his bed disgusted, thinking about how Walsh just fucked some prostitute in it. We really didn’t have a prostitution issue in town, as far as I knew we only had a couple and they hung around the abandoned motel where Sven killed John and the diner where late night truckers liked to hang out. Actually interacting with one was somewhat of a new experience for me.
“Barron told me everything Sven” Walsh said as he walked towards us. “You really fucked us on this one. It’s only a matter of time before god knows how many Empire State MC guys roll into town, find out what you did, and come down to Boston to try to push our shit in.”
“Sven what is he talking about?” I had no idea what was going on and I was getting the feeling that there was something Sven wasn’t telling me with everything that was happening.
“Look, I didn’t want to tell you just yet because Barron wasn’t sure if it was true or not. Your stepdad John might be the brother of the president of an MC called the Empire State Rollers.” He glared at Walsh for a few seconds before turning back to me “for all we know this could all be an overreaction, nothing is confirmed yet. It’s why I told Barron to only tell you guys to get ready down in Boston.”
A brother? John had a brother? I could already feel my anxiety going through the roof, god if he was really coming for revenge then he must be just like John. What if John told him about me? What if he wanted to do the same thing to me as his brother? What if he was the same kind of sick and twisted man that haunted my youth?
When John exhaled his final breath I thought it was all over, if what they were telling me was right then it was only just beginning.
“Oh you better believe it’s confirmed Sven” Walsh said. “Barron went back to the scene of the crime and checked the bastard’s already rotting face to see if it matched the photo I got for him. He had to duck out of there when two Empire State Rollers came up on him. Chances are they were off and around town the night you guys killed their little buddies. You got sloppy and now we all have to deal with your mess. John’s brother Clay is guaranteed to find out who did this with all the witnesses you left behind.”
“How many times have I cleaned up your mess Walsh?” Sven snapped back. “How many times have I pulled this fucking club out from whatever bullshit you started? I could have handled this situation, I could have done with with just Saul and Barron and now you’re bringing in dozens of our brothers to be put in danger. What does that say about our guilt if we’re suddenly bringing in enough people for a goddamn turf war? We can’t even deny this shit now because of the irrational fucking decision you just made!”
Walsh glared at him, he was shorter than Sven but still intimidating. He had an upside down cross tattooed on his forehead and 13 stars tattooed in a circle on the side of his neck, I could only assume they were the Betsy Ross stars from our first flag. Suits their club name I guess.
He had dark brown eyes, dark enough to make him look like he had large pupils. He was still in just his boxers so I also saw the assortment of tattoos all over his body, Sven had a lot of tattoos himself but Walsh was almost completely covered in them from his chest to his thighs. He had longer graying hair that was tied up into a bun, I wouldn’t be surprised if it went down past his shoulders if he let it loose.
“So this is the girl that got us in this mess?” Walsh said looking at me. “Guess I can’t blame you, she looks like a nice ride.”
“I’ll let that one slide Walsh, but watch your fucking mouth.”
“Never seen you defend a girl, you going soft?” Walsh asked before he turned and looked at me. “You’re gonna get a lot of us killed girl, hope you know that.”
I was about to reply but Sven stepped in “don’t you put that on her, I pulled the trigger and I’ll get us out of this just like I always have.”
“And I’ll remember that when the time comes” Walsh said as he picked up his pants from off the floor before putting them on. “John’s brother Clay has ended more MCs than you or I could ever imagine, if this goes the way it’s gone for so many other clubs before us then you just single handedly killed the Freedom Riders. You better get ready for what’s about to happen Svenny boy, we’re all about to be fucked.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
(Sven)
“I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner.”
We sat on Sven’s bare mattress, he had taken all the sheets and threw them in the dumpster after what Wyatt had done with them.
“So that’s why you asked if he had a brother?”
He nodded his head, he looked so stressed out and I had no way to help him.
“It’s not your fault, you were protecting me.”
“Like I told Walsh, I pulled the trigger. In the end it was my decision and now we all have to live with it.”
“So what happens now?”
“Now we wait. New York City is only six hours away, chances are we get hit by the Empire State Rollers tomorrow, maybe even tonight.”
She stared out the window, contemplating. “I’ve never liked this town, you know that, but I’ve never wanted something bad to happen to it. My problems have just become everyone’s problems.”
She put her face in her hands. “God I can’t believe that bastard has a brother, a vengeful brother that’s coming right for us.”
She looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes. “Sven we have to get out of here, not just me and you but my mom and sister as well. We can’t stay around here and get killed.”
“Nobody is getting killed” I replied. That might as well have been a lie, the Empire State MC was probably coming at us with more rage than this town has ever seen.
“Besides I’m not leaving my brothers after I made this mess.”
“I made this mess Sven, me. You just got caught up in it and I regret ever asking you to do what you did now.”
I looked deep into her eyes “you don’t have to regret anything, I would have done it a thousand times over. You have to understand it was either you or him.”
“Sven I don’t know if I can live with knowing that I was at least partially responsible for all these people being put in danger. Maybe if I just give myself up they’ll let your brothers and this town go. Yeah I won’t be able to live the life I’ve wanted to but I also can’t risk the lives of so many people.”
I grabbed onto her hand and held her tight “you’re not giving yourself up, this hasn’t even started yet we don’t know what will happen. I’ll get the Freedom Riders out of this mess, I’ve gotten us all out of messes before whether they like to admit it or not.”
She kissed me on the cheek “I… I should really go home and at least see Milly. Even if nothing happens I should go just in case.”
“Of course, could you just excuse me for one minute before we go? There’s something I need to take care of.”
She nodded her head and I stood up, leaving my apartment and heading right towards Barron’s. I started banging on the door as hard as I could, I couldn’t believe he had gone to Walsh. As if I needed another reason for that s
on of a bitch to hate me now he thinks I put the whole club in jeopardy.
“Barron! Come on out I know you’re in there.”
I was so angry I contemplated kicking the damn thing down but just as I backed up to get ready to hit it I heard the hard click of the door unlocking. Barron answered the door rubbing his eyes, it wasn’t too early in the morning but I guess he was up late the night before, probably talking to Walsh.
“Barron what the hell were you thinking? Going off and telling Walsh everything that happened?”
“What else was I supposed to do? Walsh and I confirmed that John really is Clay’s brother, I’m not gonna stand by and let the club get hit for something that we did.”
“We could have handled it, Barron. I told you to tell them to brace themselves and prepare for the worst, not to come up here and try and take on the whole fucking Empire State MC. Now we have the whole damn club here and we’re putting us and the entire town in danger.”
“With the whole club here at least we have a fighting chance.”
“There isn’t going to be a fight, if there is one you and I both know that we’re all going down. We have to end this peacefully, you of all people should know that.”
“This isn’t going to end peacefully Sven, we found out why John was here in the first place. He didn’t come back just to try and fuck Emma he came back to investigate us. We knew the reason why we weren’t getting the same amount of crystal as before was because our cooks were selling it to another club, we originally thought it was some small town piece of shit club nobody ever heard of but it was actually the Empire State Rollers. When we started killing off the cooks a few weeks ago and the crystal stopped flowing to New York they sent John up here to investigate. It was only a matter of time before they found out that it was us, killing their cooks was one thing but now John’s death is just the icing on the cake. Blood is gonna be shed on both sides and it’s all because we caused the situation to hit its boiling point.”