THE HARDEST YARDS (A BAD BOY FOOTBALL ROMANCE)

by Andrea Rose

  Break broke the silence, “You all know we can’t ride that knife edge forever. We’re going to turn this thing into a business. A legit business. That means no more fucking guns and no more fucking drugs.”

  Everyone turned, staring at Acre as if they were expecting him to respond. He let out a sigh, pressing both his palms on the wood table. “Fine, we’ll talk to the Kings. I’ll set up the meet. Cash talks, maybe they’ll go along with it. I just want to know one thing though. If the Kings don’t play along, what do we do Break?”

  “If they don’t want to play nice, we play rough.”

  Penny pulled my arm and the cart toward the door but I was mesmerized, staring back at Break. Looking up, I could see the cannon of a handgun Shawn had pulled from his vest and laid on the table. More guns came out, the club laying them on the table like knights with swords, swearing their allegiance in some ancient way. Walking out, I shivered inside.

  “What the hell were you doing in there,” Penny asked as the door closed behind us? I stared at her, unsure what to say. The lithe redhead reached out and grabbed my chin, pulling me to stare at her.

  “When they’re talking business, you get in, and you get out. You don’t listen and you don’t look. Forget you heard anything and don’t do anything stupid. Curiosity kills the cat.”

  “I just want to know what’s going on.”

  “You’re man is Broken now. You don’t need to know anything else. Get used to it before you end up a name carved on that table in there.”

  I tried to take her advice as we started cleaning up the main floor of the clubhouse. Still, a part of me felt sick as I watched the men step out of that room, mount their shining steeds, and roll out of the garage like thunder and hellfire.

  Was this my life now? Cleaning up spilled beer and half snorted coke off a concrete floor while Jude went riding with his new family? Did I have to suffer his abuse and the indignity of wiping down this slop like some kind of filthy Cinderella?

  ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

  “Didn’t you bring a change of clothes?”

  I was slumped in one of the club chairs, staring at the garage door waiting on the men to get back. Part of me was worried about Jude… The other part of me was worried about anyone who stood in his way. Looking up, I caught the eye of the thin Asian girl trying to talk with me.

  The clubhouse whores I’d met the night before had been cut from a mold. Most of them were blond, busty, and stupid enough to stick around even though they had no chance of locking down one of the men. Even Penny for all her fiery wild side was just being passed around from guy to guy. “No Broken worth his patch is going to put a whore on the back of his bike,” she’d told me. This one though, she seemed innocent… Clean… Different.

  “Did you hear me?”

  I smiled. “I left everything back at the apartment. I think we’re supposed to grab some clothes tonight…”

  “Jude told me you’re not going back,” the girl started, her voice slow and beautifully accented. “You’re staying here…”

  It was too much to take in. Jude was always possessive, but now he wanted even more control of my life. Here, he could keep an eye on me. Still, I thought about the apartment and realized how little I was losing. When I’d run away with Jude I’d left everything behind. There was a bed, and some clothing, but for the most part it was an empty shell. Suddenly, I narrowed in my focus, staring at the young girl who stood above me. She’d talked to Jude…

  Lipstick…

  It was unmistakable, a shade of delicate pink I knew all too well from the night before.

  “I think you’re about my size. I won’t have any bras that fit you, but I have a few shirts you can borrow if you open a couple buttons.”

  “Thanks, yeah, I could use some clothes,” I replied, smiling falsely. “I’m Callie, what’s your name?”

  “They call me Doc, but my name is Mina. Follow me.”

  I stood up, a flare of jealousy and anger in my stomach. She’d been with Jude, and that meant those tight lips had wrapped around his cock. As much as I hated our relationship, as abusive as it was, the idea of Jude using one of the girls at the club boiled my blood. He wasn’t supposed to be off fucking other women. I was his wife! I gave him everything…

  We entered into a back room that was done up differently than the rest of the club. Instead of the alley the garage door opened up into, I realized it was facing the frontage street and had been turned into a small business. Several rooms lined each wall, and glancing inside I saw massage tables and could smell incense, candles, and oils. A soft music played from speakers overhead, and I felt myself calming down as we walked toward a door at the end of the hall. The unmistakable sound of a man moaning in pleasure came suddenly from a closed-off room to the side. It didn’t sound like the kind of moan that comes from a regular massage, and the loud high pitched woman’s orgasm that came swiftly afterward made it clear this wasn’t the kind of place you went for physical therapy…

  Mina stepped through the door, a strange space opening up in front of us. It was small and crammed with things, half of the room appearing to be a makeshift apartment, and the other half looking like an even more makeshift hospital room. A big chair dominated the space, with a variety of tools and a large pull down light hanging above it. I stared at the silver tray alongside the chair, an assortment of wicked looking stainless steel tools laid out across it.

  “So… You’re the one who stitched Jude up?” I asked, some of the anger returning as she started shuffling through a closet of clothing. The living room seemed to double as a bedroom, butting right up against the more sterile tile space with the chair. “You a doctor?”

  Mina smiled demurely, her voice softly accented as she replied. “I was… Back in North Korea… My degree isn’t valid here but I know a few things. Here, try this on.”

  A soft silken blouse fell into my arms. It wasn’t really my style, but it was loose enough that it would fit over my breasts and that was all that really mattered. It’d beat sitting around all day in this beer soaked mess of a shirt.

  “I have some pants too, they might be a little tight.”

  I nodded as she went back to the closet, digging, pulling out a pair of jeans.

  “Callie, I need to tell you something,” Mina said, handing me the pants. I held my breath, anger welling up inside me.

  “Jude…”

  I wanted to reach out, to pull her hair, to scream and yell, but then I saw the tears.

  “What did he do,” I asked, fearful of the answer?

  “He was bleeding. I stitched him up. He was drunk and he…”

  Mina was crying, her words choking in her throat. I reached out, my hands that so wanted to hurt her now drawing her in. I understood. I’d felt her pain. Mina fell into me as I dropped the clothing to the floor and held the sobbing girl. She didn’t deserve this.

  “I’m sorry…” I whispered, understanding pouring over me.

  “It wasn’t the first time,” Mina whispered.

  All the times Jude had left me at the apartment to deal with his new friends at the MC… All the times he’d told me he was working… How many nights had he fucked me then run off to the clubhouse and used this poor girl? Jude had always been bad. He’d always been forceful, hard, angry, but I’d told myself I could handle it. I’d held onto him, and I thought I was saving him… I was saving the world from him… How stupid could I be? I’d been used.

  “I do what I have to do… The Broken gave me a home. I can’t go back to Hanoi.”

  “I’m sorry. I won’t let him hurt you again.”

  “Thank you…” Mina whispered.

  Leaving Mina behind was hard, but thinking about the coming tide was harder. I stepped back out of her small back-room apartment shimmying a bit to try and loosen out the jeans I’d been given. She’d been right, they were a bit too tight. The blouse worked a bit better, it was loose enough around the middle that I was able to fit in it, stretching the silken fabric
to its limit. I looked good, but I’d never been so angry in my life.

  And Jude would be back soon enough. I was going to fucking eat him alive!

  I didn’t even know what I’d say to him. There was nothing to do but tell him I was leaving. It would be hard, but I could go home. My father would be disappointed, but he would understand… He could protect me… We hadn’t talked in years, but they would be happy to tell me they told me so. That much was certain.

  “Fuck you Jude, for putting me through hell,” I whispered under my breath, pacing the garage. “Fuck you for making me feel so dirty…” Hours had passed, and the day stretched on into the afternoon and finally into the night, but still the garage was empty outside of a few girls looking bored and Penny whipping up a small dinner. I approached her delicately.

  “I’m starting to worry about Jude.”

  Penny whipped around, body bouncing as she went, stirring a pan filled with a delicious looking mix of chicken and artichoke hearts. “I told you to keep your nose out of club business. They’ll be back when they get back.”

  I frowned; it wasn’t the answer I was looking for.

  “Look Penny, I’m new at this. Jude’s out doing god knows what, and these… Kings?”

  “Don’t talk about the Kings in here Penny. Walls have ears.”

  “Look, I just need to know when I’m gonna see Jude again. I need to talk to him.”

  Penny smirked, throwing a hand on a hip. “Sure, talk, just like you did last night? Ooh, suck my cock, suck my cock Callie! What’s the matter? Can’t be patient? Go diddle yourself silly, they’ll be back soon.”

  “Penny!”

  “What, not my fault I gotta share a bedroom wall with you! I practically had to finger fuck myself to sleep! You two are a couple fuck bunnies!”

  “PENNY!”

  “Shut up and feed your face already, precious Jude will be home soon,” Penny said, cutting off the conversation and shoving some of the contents of the pan into a plate and handing it over to me.

  I wanted to be annoyed, but Penny knew how to cook. My tongue savored the buttery taste of artichoke hearts and capers, my stomach suddenly reminding me how long it had been since breakfast. Walking back into the main garage, I slumped down into a chair, digging into the meal. It was incredible, every bite more delicious than the last. Penny came by with a couple of beers and sat down across from me, cracking them open and handing me a blue.

  “So Callie, how’d you land that badass anyway? How’d you get Jude to make you his old lady?”

  I sighed, slumping back into the chair. It felt like so long ago…

  “I was looking for trouble and he found me.”

  Penny seemed to realize something was off. She stared at me, cocking her head to the side. “Something wrong in paradise?”

  The tears were welling up again. I couldn’t help it. Everything came pouring out. “He’s evil… He’s unfaithful… He’s dangerous.”

  “Join the club,” Penny said, waving around the room. “We’ve got a whole building full of em. Cat, in this world there’s old ladies and there’s girls like me. You gotta learn to separate your home life from the club. Jude’s gonna get around baby. Just know he’s coming home to you. Hell, if you need a little strange maybe you can ask if he’d let you fool around a little with some of the other guys…”

  I was turning red. “I don’t want him to come home and I don’t want him out here raping some poor girl then forcing me to suck his lipstick wrapped cock!”

  “Sounds kinky,” Penny said, laughing. She was clearly not grasping the severity of my tone.

  “I WANT OUT.”

  The room echoed my words, and Penny stared wide eyed at me as I took in deep ragged breaths. It was the first time I’d ever really said it. All those nights I’d taken his bruises or let him have his way with me. Sure, I wanted every bit of it on some twisted level, but once you put it all together, Jude had went too far. It had been leading up to this for a long time. Why was I pretending anymore?

  Penny tried to open her mouth, but she was cut off by the sound of the huge metal roll-up door opening and the roar of a dozen bikes. I shivered in my seat as they came rolling in, partially because I saw Jude.

  And partially because he was covered in blood.

  ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

  “Oh my God… What the hell happened?” I screamed, running across the concrete floor toward the roaring bikes. Something inside me snapped. Jude was hurt, he was bleeding…

  “Stop right there,” Shawn Break said, leaping from his bike and cutting me off before I could make it to Jude. “Get his ass to Mina and let me know when he’s ready to fucking talk.”

  Jude was being pulled off the back of Acre’s bike and carried toward the other side of the clubhouse where I knew Mina did the patching up in her little makeshift apartment and infirmary.

  “He’s not fucking fine, he’s covered in blood” I shouted! “Get the fuck off me!”

  I tried to pull myself out of Shawn’s arms but he held me firm as the roar of engines cut off around us. “He took a couple pellets in the leg. Most of that blood isn’t his. He’s going to be fine.”

  “I have to get out of here… We have to call the police!” I shouted. “LET ME GO!”

  Shawn threw me off, tossing me toward Acre. “Buckle her down until I get back. Make sure she doesn’t have a cell phone.”

  My eyes swept across the men, stopping as my eyes fell on another bike, with a man laid over the back of the seat. Nobody was hurrying to drag him away. It didn’t take long to register that he was dead, taking the last ride home on the back of someone else’s hog…

  “Sorry about this babe, you need to come with me,” Acre said softly as he caught me, keeping me held tight so I couldn’t run. Shawn was walking slowly after Jude, his boots slamming on the concrete loudly.

  My breath was coming ragged, and even Penny looked panicked as I stared back at her. Acre was pulling me toward the stairs again, dragging me further and further away from the trail of blood that led to Jude. I was starting to come down from my panic, and now, I had to know…

  “What did he do Acre?”

  “We had a meet with the Kings, fucker just started a war. Somebody set him off and he shot up the whole place. Marlo is dead. Lots of bodies. No Kings survivors, but you know what they’re gonna think when their men show up in body bags?”

  Some part of me knew Jude was always capable of this, but hearing it, knowing that it had happened, it put a weight in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t take. I wanted to vomit. I was panicking again. What was Acre going to do with me? Where were we going? My mouth breathed a few words out, gasping as Acre pulled me along. “What’s going to happen?”

  “Break doesn’t kill unless he has to. Broken have rules. We don’t fuck with citizens, we don’t fuck with women or kids, and we don’t fucking spill blood when we don’t have to. We’ll have a meeting in the morning, some of us think your man did the right thing.”

  The right thing… The words rattled around in my head. Jude had killed. How could that be right?

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked faintly.

  “Somewhere to wait until shit cools down.”

  I shivered as we swept past the door to the room I’d stayed in the night before. Toward the very back we went, until we reached the last door, gasping as I realized what it was.

  “A cage? You’re putting me in a cage?”

  I whimpered as Acre pulled the metal door open. The bars were thick, and the floor nothing but bare concrete. He shoved me inside without another word, slamming the door shut behind him. I stared through bars after him, shouting, but he never turned back. Voices echoed up from the main floor, but I couldn’t make sense of them. Anger, violence, it had none of the fun and laughter of the night before. Spinning, I stared at the only piece of furniture in my new prison. A small cot lay against the wall next to a toilet and a sink. Shivering, I laid down, curling myself into a fetal position and
turning away from the door. Sleep didn’t come for me.

  ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

  “You all right in there?”

  My eyes snapped open. I hadn’t been able to sleep, but I’d cried enough that I didn’t want to see the world outside anymore. Penny was at the door, whispering.

  “Thought you might want breakfast.”

  The redhead curled a paper plate and shoved shoved it between two of the bars, setting it down on the floor.

  “Help me Penny… I have to get out of here,” I said, my voice hushed but still too loud.

  “They’ll let you out. Stop trying to run away. Break will be up here later, trust me.”

  For some reason her words were soothing, and the food she’d brought was even better for the soul. I ate greedily from the plate, sitting near the door and listening for approaching footsteps. There was nothing to do but wait and hope. Jude was a cold blooded killer now… I’d always known what he was capable of, but I’d never imagined he’d go through with it.

  The sound of boots nearly made me drop my plate. They echoed with every step, crashing down on the floor as someone approached. I set the plate down, standing up and straining to look down the hall, unable to see the approaching man…

  “Miss me baby?”

  My stomach dropped. It was Jude. He wasn’t smiling.

  “Heard your little outburst. You shouldn’t worry about me, you know I always come out on top.”

  His eyes were steel, just dead cold steel. He reached out, shoving a key into the lock as I backed away from the door.

  “I’m sorry they did this to you Callie… I won’t let them do it again,” Jude said, stepping forward. Each and every muscle in his body was moving, a simple tank-top barely containing the tendons and movements of a wild beast ready to strike.

  “What did you do?”

  My voice cracked as I was stepping back even further…