by Emily Minton
Suddenly, he takes a step back, no longer beating me. I raise my head, trying to figure out why he’s stopped. Father is staring toward the hallway. One of his hands is holding a death grip on his leather belt, while the other points toward my bedroom door. “What are you doing in here, Tabitha? You know you’re not allowed in your brother’s room. You are supposed to be on your knees, praying for the Lord’s forgiveness of your evil ways.”
I follow his hand and see Tabby standing a few feet away, her eyes filled with tears. She has to get out of here. She has to get the hell away from Father right now. I’ll take whatever he has to give, as long as he leaves her alone. I try to shake my head, try to shout out and tell her to leave, but my body doesn’t cooperate.
“You have to stop. You’re going to kill him, Father.” My sister whispers out, bracing herself against the doorframe. Her legs are still shaking from her time spent praying.
He takes a step toward her and draws back his arm, preparing to swing the belt. I can’t let him do it. I can’t let him hurt Tabby. Before I can push myself off the floor, I hear the slap of leather hitting skin. The sound echoes throughout the room twice more before I can finally grab his arm.
Looking at Tabby, I immediately see streaks of blood running down her cheek. The leather has left bright red marks across one shoulder and up her neck, while the metal buckle has left a large gash on her cheek. Her eyes briefly meet mine before they cloud over, and she crumbles to the floor.
Without a second thought, I pull the belt from his grasp and use all my strength to swing it at my father. The sound of it tearing into his flesh washes away all the pain I’m feeling. He starts to scream, begging for me to stop, but I ignore him. Swinging the belt again and again, I don’t even think about stopping until I hear the sounds of my mother’s screams as she rushes into the room. After a moment’s hesitation, I tune her out and continue my assault.
By the time I’m done, my father is curled up on the floor. He is lying in a pool of his own blood, and I am being led away in handcuffs. I feel numb from head to toe, but deep down inside, I feel proud that I finally gave Father a taste of what he’s been giving Tabby and me for years.
Riding in the back of a cop car is frightening, but not nearly as scary as being pushed into a cell with a guy wearing a motorcycle club emblem on his vest. Judging by the look on his face, I can tell the guy is obviously not at all happy to be sharing his cell with me. I vaguely see a Renegade Sons MC patch before I dart my eyes away from the man.
The guard pats my shoulder before closing the cell door. “It’s Hogrock Weekend, son, which means all the cells are full with bikers. Don’t worry, they don’t usually bite.”
I can hear the guard chuckle as he walks away. I watch him until he’s out of sight, hoping that this is all just a joke. There’s no way he’d leave me in here with this man, is there?
As the minutes tick by, I realize I’m stuck in a jail cell with someone that could probably take me out without even breaking a sweat. I’m too frightened to turn around, too afraid to let this man see that I’m barely more than a kid. Covered in bruises and filled with pain, I’m not sure I can handle another beating.
“He’s right. I don’t bite,” says a gravelly voice from behind me.
I look over my shoulder while trying my best to hide my fear. Slowly turning around, I make my way to the empty cot without saying a word. Before I can even sit down, the guy starts to talk. “What’cha in here for, boy?”
Ever since the cops showed up at the house, I’ve kept my mouth shut, refusing to answer any of their questions. Not once did I deny my mother’s claims that I had beat my dad and whipped my sister, not even when Tabby tried to get me to tell the truth. I didn’t even tell the cops about the whipping that my father gave me in the first place, which started this whole ordeal. I just blindly held out my hands for the cuffs and followed the officers to their squad car.
But for some reason, I want to tell this guy. I need to tell him my truths. “I beat my dad with his own belt, which happened to also be the same belt that he used on my little sister’s face. I did him in pretty good, so now I’ll probably go to prison. I don’t care, though, because it was worth it just to give him a little payback.”
The guy stares at me for a long minute, sizing me up, while my heart picks up tempo. My khakis and button up shirt are proof of just how out of place I am, and now he probably thinks I’m spewing lies to sound like a hard ass. What the hell have I gotten myself into? After a few silent moments pass, my cellmate seems to have come to some sort of decision. Nodding his head my way, he grunts.
“What’s your name?”
“Garrett Austin.”
He sticks his hand out and smiles. “I’m Kidd.”
Chapter One
Big Clifty, Missouri
PREACH
Walking into the clubhouse, I make my way over to the bar and see that Kidd is already sitting on a barstool with one of the club whores straddling his lap. She’s grinding against him and loving every minute of it, but he’s oblivious to her. His eyes are trained on the hallway, and he looks anything but happy.
I don’t even have to look to know what’s got the Pres in such a shitty mood, but I do anyway. Ice and Timber are walking down the hall. He’s buttoning up his pants, and Ice is running her fingers through her hair. They both look happy; content even. I turn back to the bar and see Kidd watching them with his fists clenched, jaw twitching.
Kidd stares at them for a minute more before looking around the room. As soon as he sees me, he lifts his chin. “Preach, we got church in ten.”
I can tell by his tone that this is not a normal meeting. If Kidd has called an emergency meeting, then something is going down. If I’m included, it must be something big. As a prospect, I don’t take part in church yet. I normally have to sit on the sidelines while the patched in members handle business.
I nod, acknowledging his words, before looking over the bar and telling Rum to give me a shot of Jack. I have a feeling I’m gonna need it.
I chug the fiery liquid back in one gulp, and then wait for Rum to fill me up again. After two more shots down the hatch the warmth from the alcohol begins to spread in my stomach, I head back to the chapel. The chairs are filled with members, so I walk toward the back of the room and lean against the wall. A few minutes later, Kidd walks in and takes his seat. Right on his heels is Reese, who shuts the door and locks it. The room remains bathed in a heavy silence until Kidd picks up the gavel and calls the meeting to order.
“First things first, it’s past time to vote Preach in. I know Pop put off the vote because of Preach’s connection to the DEA, but I think that’s bullshit. Pop’s gone now, so this is my show, and I say it’s time to vote him in. He’s been with us for years, and he’s never given me any reason not to trust him.”
Shit! I didn’t see this coming. Yeah, most guys get their patch after a year, some even less than that, but I knew Gun wanted to make sure I didn’t have any ties to Tabby’s bastard of a husband before he’d ever let me patch in.
After spending two years in prison for beating my dad nearly to death, I went home, hoping I could still save Tabby. Instead, I found out that my sister had married a fuckin’ DEA agent and was expecting a child. The fact that she was only seventeen and he was over thirty didn’t seem to bother anyone but me.
Mom treated me like I had the plague, and Dad refused to even speak to me. Tabby, on the other hand, was happy to see me, but her husband shared my parents’ disdain. He didn’t want his wife to have anything to do with a felon, even if the felon was her brother. Tabby being Tabby meant she didn’t listen to him or our parents and would sneak out to see me. This went on for a few months until she got caught. Her husband ended up giving her an ultimatum, though I still have no idea what the hell it was. In the end, she made her decision and asked me to stay away.
I kept trying to see her, but she refused. After a while, I realized that my life in Illinois was over. That’s wh
en I headed to Big Clifty and looked up Kidd. We spent three days together sharing a cell, and I was lucky enough to call him a friend before he was bailed out. His friendship and connections were the only things that kept me safe in prison. Needless to say, an eighteen year old kid had no place in Stateville Correctional Center, especially one that was still wet behind the ears and had no idea of what he had really gotten himself into.
Holt leans forward, placing his hands flat on the table. “What the fuck are you talking about, DEA? I thought he hadn’t earned his patch because Gun thought he was a fuckwad.”
Pissed off by his words, I don’t give Kidd a chance to answer. “My brother-in-law is a DEA agent. They live outside of Chicago. I’ve only met the bastard twice, and I doubt I’ll ever lay eyes on him again. My sister does send me a card every year on my birthday, but other than that, I’ve had no contact with her, much less her shithead of a husband, since coming to Big Clifty.”
Just saying the words leaves me feeling empty inside. For most of my life, I lived for one thing; Tabby. Leaving her behind damn near killed me, but it’s what she wanted. The Renegade Sons are my only family now, though I still think about Tabby and miss her every day.
“My brother is a police officer back in Hawaii. Didn’t stop Gun from voting me in,” Reese adds, telling me something that I didn’t know. He looks toward me then back to Kidd. “I don’t see what Preach’s family has to do with him earning his patch. As far as I’m concerned, he’s my brother. He showed up around the same time I did, and I’ve had my patch for more than three years. That shit’s not right.”
Timber smiles and says, “I second that.”
A few minutes later, I feel Chipper walk up beside me and hand me my new cut. I am officially a Renegade Son, and I can’t wash the smile off my face. Sliding it on, I look around the room. “Fuck! This feels good.” The room erupts in deep laughter.
After a few congratulatory smacks on the back, Kidd bangs the gavel again. “That’s not all of our business.”
Waiting a second to make sure he has everyone’s attention, he says, “Shit’s goin’ down with Timber. We all know that he knifed a guy at The Kitty Kat a few weeks ago.”
“The bastard was trying to rape Skittles. If it had been me, I would’ve gutted his ass,” Chipper says, leaning back in his chair.
Kidd nods, agreeing with Chipper’s thoughts. “What you don’t know is the fucker he knifed was a cousin to one of the local cops. The pig took the attack personally, so now he’s gunning for anyone wearing the Renegade Sons patch on his back.”
Fuck! This doesn’t sound good. “What the fuck do you mean, he’s gunning for us?”
After the shit went down at The Kitty Kat, I knew the guy that pulled Timber in had a hard-on for the Renegades, but he isn’t the first cop who wanted to take our club down, so I wasn’t worried. Now it sounds like a little more than just a boy in blue with his panties twisted.
Kidd looks straight at me. “The guy did some digging and found out that Timber had a warrant for his arrest in California.”
“What the fuck? I haven’t been in Cali since last year. How the hell could they have a warrant for me?” Timber growls out.
Kidd shakes his head and looks to Chipper. “Give him the papers.”
Less than a minute later, Timber is holding the papers in his hands. “I still don’t understand. This is just a bench warrant for a speeding ticket, nothing serious.”
Kidd shakes his head. “I don’t know the particulars. All I know is that you’ll be arrested tomorrow for assault and battery on that dick at the strip club. They’re using that warrant to prove you’re a flight risk. I’ve already called the club lawyers, and they’re on your case, already working every angle they can. Hopefully, they can keep you from doing any serious time.”
Tossing the warrant on the table, he looks to Kidd. “How the hell did you find out about this?”
He motions toward the already drunk Maker. “Maker’s got a set of eyes at the courthouse. He’s been fucking some bitch that works in the clerk’s office. She told him that the cop came in and ran your name, and the warrant came up.”
“Fuck!” he shouts, then turns and walks out of the room. Church isn’t over, but Kidd doesn’t try to stop him. Instead, he looks toward me. “I want eyes on him. Don’t want him doing something stupid and getting himself into more trouble.” I nod my head in agreement before leaving Church and heading back out to the club.
Following Timber to the bar, I join him for a beer. “This shit ain’t right. You were protecting one of our girls. You shouldn’t have to go inside for taking care of Skittles.”
He shrugs. “I could’ve taken care of him with my fists. The bastard was a pussy, but I lost my mind when I saw him on top of her.”
I don’t get the chance to respond before Maker slides onto the stool next to Timber. “Can you do me a favor, brother?”
Timber lifts his chin. “What’cha need?”
Lifting a nearly empty bottle of beer, Maker motions for the prospect to bring him another. “I was supposed to pick up Little Flower, but I’m too drunk to have her on my bike. Can you run down to the diner and take her home?”
“If you knew you had to pick up your daughter, why the hell have you been drinking?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t mean to get drunk, but it just happened.”
“If you for once put the beer down, it wouldn’t just happen,” Timber mumbles under his breath before looking toward me. “You wanna take a ride?”
Nodding, I stand up and follow him outside. “I didn’t know Maker had a kid.”
“He’s got a daughter, and she’s probably the prettiest little thing you’ve ever seen. His bitch of a wife keeps her away from the club, so she’s not around much. ”
“Lula’s always here. Why doesn’t she let the girl come around?”
He slides onto his bike before answering me. “Lula likes to be the center of attention. When her daughter’s around, she’s nothing but a shadow.”
I climb onto my bike, wondering what is so special about this kid.
DAISY
Staring out the window of the Sunny Side-Up Diner, there’s nothing but darkness. Looking back to the clock, I see it’s nearly midnight. Dad is more than thirty minutes late, and I know deep down that he’s forgotten me again. I can’t remember the last time he actually remembered to pick me up on time; even though I remind him every single time he drops me off.
Pulling out my phone, I dial Dad’s number and put it to my ear. Of course, he doesn’t answer. I shove the phone back into my pocket while I shake my head in frustration. Looks like I’ll be walking home again tonight. When will I ever learn not to depend on him?
The diner’s not far from my house, only about a half a mile, but trying to make it home on my own is a pain in the ass. I look through the window again and stare down the street. There they are. The boys that have nothing better to do than harass me are leaning against an old black Camaro, drinking beer. I don’t want to deal with them tonight.
I know my walk home isn’t going to be an easy one, but I don’t really have a choice.
Walking back to the kitchen, I grab my purse off the freezer. “Dad must’ve forgot, so I’m just gonna walk home.”
Shelia, my boss, looks up from the receipts. “If you wait until I’m done cashing out, I’ll take you home.”
I’m tempted to take her up on the ride, but I can tell she’s dead on her feet. She lives in a small trailer behind the diner. She needs to go home and get some rest, not drive me home. She’s done enough for me already. She hired me when I was only thirteen, paying me cash until I was old enough to work legally.
I paste on a fake smile and shake my head. “Nah, that’s okay. I don’t mind walking.”
“Okay, Daisy. See ya tomorrow.”
“Goodnight,” I say as I walk out of the diner.
I only make it a few feet from the door before one of the boys slides up next to me. “Hey girl. You’re s
ure looking good tonight.”
It’s like this every Friday and Saturday night. I get off work at 11:30 and have to fight my way home. They all think I’m just like my mom, a free and easy lay.
I’m too damn tired to deal with this crap. “Leave me alone, please. I just want to get home and get to bed.”
Someone in the shadows snickers, “Baby, I’ll take you to my bed anytime.”
I ignore the comment and continue walking, but within seconds, I hear their footsteps coming up behind me.
“Come on, Daisy. You know you want it,” a boy from my math class says as he reaches out to grab my ass.
I step away just in time to avoid his grasping hands. “Don’t touch me.”
I barely make it a few more feet before another hand grabs me from behind. Pulling me flush with his body, a different boy starts to whisper in my ear. “I don’t know why you fight it. Sooner or later, you know we’re gonna get what we want.”
He continues to mumble in my ear as his free hand moves up to cup my breast. “You’re nothing but a little biker brat; a whore in training.”
The menace in his voice sends a wave of fear through me. I try to pull away, but his arm is wrapped so tightly around my body that I can hardly move. The other boys start to form a circle around us, each one wearing a sinister smile.
“Please, let me go.”
They all start to chuckle as the one holding me begins to walk backwards. It takes a second for me to realize that they are pulling me toward the alley. No! This can’t be happening to me. I’ve known these boys my entire life. Sure, they’ve taunted me, even pinched my ass a time or two, but none of them have ever done anything like this before.
I start to scream, but his hand covers my mouth. “Shh, Daisy girl. We’ll make this fun for you.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth, I start to fight. Being barely five foot and a hundred pounds soaking wet, I know there is no way I can keep these guys from taking what they want, but there’s also no way I’ll make this easy for them.