by Rye Hart
I walked over to the bathroom and hopped in the shower, wanting to wash Fang’s smell off me. I hated the way he smelled. It was an awful mixture of sweat and desperation. Despite the fact that we lived in a trailer with a shower Fang still didn’t shower nearly as often as he should.
The bathroom had always been my sanctuary and even now I found the warm water cascading along my shoulders comforting. It was like a warm embrace that I’d never been granted as a child. My mother never wrapped her arms around me or kissed my forehead. Somewhere along the line, water had replaced my mother’s affections.
I took far too long, allowing the hot water to run out; it wasn’t like Fang was going to care. Just as I reached to turn the shower off there was a banging at the door.
“Hurry it up. I have to take a shit!” Fang snapped.
I rolled my eyes and made a disgusted face at his vulgarity, but ignored him, deciding to let the water run a little longer just because I could. He wasn’t asking me to get out because he had a shred of decency and didn’t want to use the bathroom while I was in the shower. The only reason he didn’t barge in was because I’d learned to lock the door.
When I couldn’t stand the cold water anymore, I finally got out of the shower and pushed the door open, wrapped in nothing but a towel. I could feel Fang’s eyes on me as he reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to run to the store.” It was a lie, but it didn’t really matter. I always lied to him about where I was going.
“Who told you to run to the store?”
I rolled my eyes and yanked my arm out of his hand. “Don’t act like you can tell me what I can and can’t do.”
I saw his eyes narrow and before I could escape his hand snapped out and he gripped my jaw between his finger and thumb, staring down at me with a serious look on his face.
“Are you challenging me, girl?”
I took a step back and frowned. “I just don’t like when you’re constantly over my shoulder. I’m just going to go to the store to get stuff to make dinner.”
He pushed me forward, forcing me to back up until the back of my knees hit the bed and I sat, staring up at him, trying not to let the fear show on my face. I didn’t want him to know he was getting to me. He leaned over me and forced me into the mattress, pressing his hand against my mouth so hard I was suddenly struggling to breathe.
“You’re going to shut up and listen really close, girly,” he hissed. “This isn’t a fucking game. You better realize that really quick. You think you don’t belong to me, but you do. All I’d have to do is give the order and no one in this camp would give you food or water. You’d sleep outside until I was tired of playing with you and then I’d have a bullet put in the back of your head.”
My eyes were wide now and I could feel the wetness in my eyes that I was trying so desperately to ignore and force back. He just continued staring at me. “Who do you think would miss you? Your mom? She doesn’t care about you. No one would miss you. We’d throw your body in a ditch and no one would even know you were gone.”
He finally pulled away and I turned, trying to hide the tears and the way my lips trembled. “Now, get out of here,” he snapped.
I scrambled to my feet and put as much distanced between us as possible. I pressed myself against the wall on the far side and just closed my eyes, waiting for him to go away. When I heard the bathroom door close, I took a breath and scrambled to get dressed.
I had to get out of this trailer before I broke.
Chapter Three
I had a special place that I went to in order to get away from chaos. There was a local college about an hour bus ride from the trailer park I had come to call home. I’d never been very good in school because I wasn’t ever given the chance. It wasn’t for a lack of wanting to learn. On the contrary, I loved learning, and that’s why I liked slipping into lectures from time to time.
It took me a while to figure out, but I knew where all of the big lecture halls were. They were rooms filled with well over a hundred people, furiously scribbling notes as the teachers talked. I could disappear in those rooms. I just snuck in, sat in the back, and listened intently as the teachers talked about science, math, and philosophy. I would stay for hours and pretend that I was a normal college student and a normal person. It was the only escape I had.
As the day came to an end, I filed out of the last lecture with the rest of the students, smiling softly at them and waving as they moved past. It was a stupid little game that I liked to play with myself. I liked to pretend that I was a student.
I walked to the bus stop and went straight back to the trailer park to the small bar right on the edge of the complex. I wasn’t a big drinker, but they had pool there and the bartender gave me free Cokes. I was planning on staying there until Fang passed out.
I didn’t have a place of my own and I didn’t like going to my mom’s place because she always had Johns. With as much as she worked you would think she would be rolling in cash, but the sad reality was that she was under Chaos’ thumb. She owed them more drug money than she’d ever be able to make back in a lifetime.
I couldn’t stand to see her like that so I’d sleep on Fangs couch and when I needed some extra cash, I’d sleep in his bed. It wasn’t something I was proud of, but it was something I had to do to get by.
As I stepped through the doors of the bar, I noticed that everyone was gathered around Fang. They stared at me and I felt a sudden unease come over me. I became very much aware that everyone else knew of something I didn’t.
Fang was sitting at a table against a far wall, puffing on a vanilla cigar. He let out a slow drag and smirk, his jagged teeth visible in the dim light.
“Speak of the devil.”
I rolled my eyes and walked through the bar, getting the coke Becky had waiting for me.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, if you had come to the meeting like you were supposed to you would know. Are you too good for us now?”
“I lost track of time.”
“We were talking about Damien’s group.”
Everyone knew about Damien’s group. They took out guys like Fang, and over the past few months they’d managed to get rid of some pretty big names in the community. When Fang had one too many drinks, I’d seen him start to get nervous about Damien, somehow he knew he was next on the chopping block. I for one, relished that idea.
“And what, exactly, were you talking about?” I asked.
“Someone’s got to take them down. They’re taking out gangs left and right. If we don’t fight back, we’ll be next,” Fang said gruffly.
I settled in an empty chair and looked around at all the worried faces. My mother was in the crowd, shaking. I guessed that was more from drugs than fear. “Alright. I don’t really understand where I come in, though.”
“You’re going to be our little weasel.”
I frowned and set my drink down. “What?”
“We’re sending you in on the front lines. You’re going to infiltrate their group and help us take them down.”
“Like hell I am! Why can’t you just go in there, guns blazing? That’s how we’ve always done it in the past!” I argued.
“That shit hasn’t worked for anyone else and I want to know why the fuck not. If we go in guns blazing, my people are going to end up dead! Is that something you want on your conscious?” he snapped.
I looked away and closed my eyes. I hated Fang, but I cared deeply for some of the others in the gang. As much as my mom had screwed me over, I loved her and I didn’t want her to end up dead. I knew that Fang wasn’t asking me – he was ordering me. I had two courses of action; I could either agree, or I’d end up dead in a ditch. I really didn’t have much of an option.
I turned my head and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to look as petulant as possible. If they were going to make me agree to this, I wasn’t going to go easily.
“Fine
.”
Chapter Four
My eyes were narrowed, staring straight ahead. Despite being in a biker gang, bikes had always frightened me, and so Fang normally drove me around in a beat up pickup truck. I’d seen too many men get on bikes drunk and lay them down. It was always a horrifying thing to see. We’d lost members like that and it just seemed so unnecessary. I didn’t trust anyone in the gang enough to get on a bike with them.
The truck rattled violently. I knew it needed a new set of shocks, but Fang wouldn’t listen to me. He was convinced that a girl like me couldn’t possibly know her way around a car. Girls weren’t supposed to know about car parts. It aggravated me, but it wasn’t worth the fight. My revenge would be his car breaking down on the side of the road somewhere. It would feel nice to watch him scramble for once in his life.
They wouldn’t tell me the plan. All that I knew was that I was going to be taken in by Damien’s gang somehow. I glanced over at Fang and sighed, shaking my head.
“Don’t you think it would be easier if I knew the plan?” I asked.
“No. It’ll take away the authenticity of it.”
The truck came to a stop in front of a fairly nice looking community. The houses were all situated around a large cul-de-sac and while there were no actual boundaries separating the houses from the road, the set up made it clear that it was a community.
“Get out,” Fang said, unceremoniously.
“What?”
“Get out of the damn truck.”
I frowned, but slid out of the truck and watched as Fang turned and drove away. The community, about a mile in front of me, was silent. No one was out and about and everything seemed still. I had zero idea of how I was to get myself into this group, so I just started walking toward the houses, trying to come up with a good excuse as to why I was there.
Suddenly the roar of an engine echoed from behind me and I turned to look over my shoulder and my heart jumped into my throat. A guy I recognized from our group named Gage was riding up the road, his motorcycle barreling toward me. I turned and started to run, wondering what the hell was going on.
He managed to close the space between us rather quickly and even though I ran as fast as I could, I knew he was going to catch up to me. The scream of pure terror that bubbled up from my throat was involuntary, but it wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the engine. As soon as I broke past the line of well-kept houses, a hand wound itself around my hair, dragging me along the road a few feet. If it weren’t for the leather jacket and jeans I was wearing, I would have ended up skinned and bloody.
Gage was one of the first men to hit on me when I joined the gang. The thirty-year age difference between us didn’t bother him, but it put me off. He was a crude man who’d never really got over my rejection. Since I was considered Fang’s woman, he hadn’t been able to touch me. I had to wonder if this little act was his revenge.
I screamed as he dragged me to my feet by my hair. I struggled against him, but it was no use. The more I struggled, the tighter he managed to hold me.
“Where do you think you’re going, little lady?” he growled, yanking me closer.
My heart was nearly beating out of my chest and I tried to push him away, but I wasn’t strong enough. I was screaming, crying, and begging for help but no one was coming out. These so called vigilantes were letting me be attacked in the middle of their neighborhood.
“LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” I sobbed, collapsing on the ground, allowing my body to go limp as a defense mechanism.
Gage yanked me right back up and I started to scream again, but he silenced me with a hard slap to the face. It was hard enough to make my ears ring and bust my nose open. Blood spurted from my nostrils and ran down my lips and chin. The warm, thick liquid hit my tongue and I immediately spit it out, shocked by the sudden violence. I realized now that this was Gage’s role. He was supposed to beat me until the other gang came out and saved me. I also realized very quickly that he was using this as a way of getting back at me for rejecting him.
Another slap sent me to the ground and it was at about that time that I heard doors slam open. Gage looked up and cursed, delivering one swift kick to my ribs before taking off. The blow forced all the air from my chest, but luckily he didn’t break any of my ribs. He ran off, grabbing his bike and sped away, chased by bullets. None of them hit the man, but they sent their message. If he came back, he’d be dead.
A whole group of people came running from the community; most of them had guns pulled. Blood was dripping onto the asphalt as I pushed myself into a sitting position. The first person to break from the crowd and run towards me was a tall man with long, blonde hair and eyes the color of rich honey. His skin was tanned from what I assumed to be years of sun exposure, but somehow looked as smooth as a baby’s bottom. His hands and thick, muscular arms were decorated with intricate tattoos and as he scooped me up into his arms, I became lost in his kind eyes, barely hearing the words that came from his mouth.
“Are you alright?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but the sudden fear and blows to my face had been too much. I’d become over-excited, and as I tried to answer his question, I turned my head and threw up before passing out in the arms of this handsome stranger.
Great first impression.
Chapter Five
I’m not sure how long I was out for, but when I woke up there was someone pressing a cold compress to my cheek and lip. I didn’t open my eyes for a moment, sighing contentedly and secretly hoping it was the handsome Adonis who’s scooped me up off the ground. When I finally allowed my eyes to flutter open, I saw a lovely woman leaning over me, her long blonde hair pulled into a bun on top of her head.
“Well, well. Looks like Sleeping Beauty has finally awakened,” she said with a smile.
She had no malice in her voice and seemed genuinely concerned about me. I groaned and turned away from the compress as pain started to radiate through my entire face.
“Christ, I feel like I was hit with a Mac truck,” I moaned.
“You might as well have been,” the woman said as she dabbed my forehead with a wet cloth.
I stared at her intently for a long moment before sighing. “Who are you?”
“My name is Chloe. My husband is the leader of this club,” she said softly.
“Chloe, um, where is the man who saved me?”
“Ryder? The one that you got sick on?” she asked with a little smirk.
I groaned and rolled over hiding my face in the pillow. “I’d almost forgotten about that.”
Chloe laughed and shook her head. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t hold it against you. He’s had much worse things happen to him,” she assured.
That didn’t really make me feel any better. “Ryder? His name is actually Ryder?”
“Yeah. Birth name too, not an alias. Kind of funny, isn’t it?”
“I was thinking more ironic.”
“Well, he was born into the life, so I suppose that makes it a little less coincidental,” Chloe said, rolling her neck a little with a sigh.
“Born into it? He was born into this gang?”
“Heavens no! He was born into the Hell’s Angel’s. It’s kind of impressive, really,” she mused, nodding a little as she stood up.
I forced myself to sit up and looked around. “So, am I going to be sent on my way?”
My mind was still racing. For a moment I’d almost forgotten why I was here in the first place. I had a mission. If I failed my mission I’d have a whole lot more than a beating coming my way.
Chloe looked at me as if I’d just asked the most ridiculous question in the world. She smiled softly and shook her head. “Of course not. Why would we help you and then send you right back to that asshole? Who was he anyway?”
I cast my eyes downward, frowning deeply. “He was my boyfriend,” I lied, trying not to gag as I said it.
“Your boyfriend? He’s much older than you,” she didn’t sound surprised, though. She’d probably seen situations l
ike this before.
I chewed on my bottom lip and looked up at her, taking a deep breath. “Can I possibly use the restroom?”
“Of course.”
Chloe helped me out of bed and took me down the hall of her fairly large house. It was strange to see bikers living so well. Their community was so beautiful and so well kept and they all seemed sober. It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen. There were no needles lying around and I could hear the laughter of a child. It caught me off guard and I turned toward the sound, eyes wide.
“You have a baby?”
“Yes. Her name is Mariana. Would you like to meet her?” Chloe asked, her eyes lighting up at the mention of her daughter.
“Yes I’d love to. I should probably use the restroom first though.”
“Of course.”
She showed me to the bathroom and when I closed the door and locked it, I took a deep breath. I was happy to see that it wasn’t a half bath and that, if I wanted to, I could take a shower. I chewed on my lip and slowly stepped forward, glancing at myself in the mirror and wincing.
My eyes were turning a deep, almost angry purple and my lip was split open, though it wasn’t bleeding anymore. My tongue darted out and brushed at the wound, causing me to wince and pull away. Jesus that hurt. I shook my head and turned on the water, wondering if it was rude to shower without asking my host. I wasn’t really sure of the rules when it came to visiting people’s houses, as it wasn’t something I’d ever done before outside of the club.
I let the water cascade over the small cuts on my hands, closing my eyes as the stinging sensation turned into a numbing one. It was easy to ignore the pain. It felt good to clean up and when I stepped out and started to dry off, I started to feel human again.
A loud buzzing sound made me jump and I stared at my jacket with wide eyes. I’d almost forgotten about my phone entirely. I unzipped the pocket I kept the phone in and cursed when I saw that the screen was cracked, probably from the impact of being thrown to the ground. I sighed softly and opened the text message on the screen, trying to ignore the way my heart dropped when I read it.