by Evie Harper
“You discarded me, Slater. Told me to fuck off. Why the hell would you care if I walk home on my own?” My breathing becomes erratic. “How about y-you just back off and go inside and leave me a-alone for the freaking last time tonight!” I end on a shout and my heart breaks that I couldn’t get through it without stuttering.
A growl erupts from his chest and he says, “I fucking wish it was that simple. I liked you, Piper. I fucking really liked you, but now hate is there, too, swirling around inside of me and it’s driving me fucking nuts.” He says all this while waving his fingers around his head in a gesture to say he’s going crazy. “And seeing you with another man...” He stops moving and pierces me with an intense stare. “Seeing another man touch you has me feeling like I’m burning from the inside out.”
His words cause my head to jerk back and my mouth to fall open. Hate?
“I didn’t toss you aside; you did that to me. Why the hell would y-you hate me? You talking and acting like this is just fucking insane. I don’t know what I did to have y-you just shut me out, but I hope it hurt to see me with someone else, Slater. You kissed a-another woman only a short time ago! If you think you can do that and then tell me who I can talk to, then you need to wake the fuck up right now. Because that is not the kind of girl I am. I will run you over with a car if y-you try that shit with me.”
Pain etches its way into Slater’s face as I speak, and his chest rises and falls heavily as we continue to confront each other. Then out of nowhere, he yells, “Fuck, can you stop stuttering!”
I freeze. My body grows cold, tears rush to expel the pain and every crack made in my heart from others’ hurtful words finally splinters and my heart shatters completely.
I swing around and start running across the road. I don’t slow; I continue racing home with tears falling from my eyes.
I don’t dare stop until I know I’m out of sight of the bar and Slater.
I slow down and continue to walk while I wipe roughly at my face, angry that after all these years I still have so many tears to shed over my stutter. When will numbness come? Although, I fear I’m too strong to ever turn off my emotions entirely.
I glance over my shoulder and gasp when I see Slater behind me. He’s about one hundred feet back with his hands in his pants pockets, head down, and kicking rocks as he walks.
I look forward quickly, hoping he didn’t see me notice him there.
I don’t understand him at all. We had a connection, something amazing and unique, and then we cross paths while I’m working and he’s a complete asshole. But then he cares that I’m with another man. Then he acts like an asshole all over again. He’s playing games with me, and I feel like such a fool for letting him in. I can stop them at any time, but I’m playing the game, as well. I’m playing to see if he will realize I’m good enough for him, and that makes me ill because I know that’s a terrible way to treat myself. Imperfection is a bitch, but I need to stop hiding from who I really am. I’m a woman with a stutter, and that’s never going to change. I need to own it, accept it and move on.
I’m one house from mine when a car stops behind me and I hear women squealing and chattering. I turn and see it stopped next to Slater. The women have slightly calmed, and he’s leaning down and talking to them through the window.
He spots me watching him and I spin around, rushing quickly through my front fence and up the porch stairs. I don’t want him to think I care, but unfortunately my racing thoughts of him leaving in that car with all those women proves just how much I do.
I open my front door and as soon as it’s closed, I throw my clutch on the lounge and run through my house to the back door. I open it, race through it and alongside my house to the front. I stand behind trees which are growing up and around my fence; they let me peek through to Slater still talking to the carload of women.
Minutes later, he steps back from the car and they drive off.
I let out a big breath that Slater didn’t get in the car with the women and then berate myself. The man just yelled at me for my stuttering. When did I fall so far?
Slater stands still for a few moments, just staring at my house, and then all of a sudden he begins to walk toward it.
I step closer into the trees to hide myself as he approaches the area just on the other side, as if he’s also trying to hide himself from me.
For a long moment, he stands still and stares up at my front door. His expression is one I’ve never seen on Slater’s face before, full of longing and sadness.
His shoulders and arms slump forward and he grabs hold of the fence while he bows his head. He looks defeated.
Tenderness fills my heart and I sense myself wanting to reach out and comfort him. However, before I can decide to do just that, I hear him mutter, “Fuck.”
That one word, that one curse is filled with so much misery and regret that I feel tears threaten to fall.
Slater pushes off the fence, steps back and once again stares up at my house with a frown set on his sad, beautiful face. Then he turns and walks away from my house, and unknown to him, from me.
Fool me once, that’s your fault.
Fool me twice, that’s my fault.
Fool me thrice, God help us both.
Chapter Six
Weak Spot.
Slater
I fucked up. Every time Piper stutters, my heart jackhammers in my chest. I hate that I make her nervous. I hate that I make her angry, and most of all, I hate that I hurt her, again.
Standing in front of her house was brutal, my whole body vibrating with the need to tell her how sorry I was. I care more for her than I want to admit. Yet I’m unable to keep myself from hurting her, and staying the hell away from her is harder than I thought it would be. For the first time in my life, I want to rein in my harsh ways and try to be gentle with someone. But how can I do that with her when she stands for a system I’ve already judged and condemned.
I arrive back at the bar just in time to see Peter trying to slink away unseen.
I run across the parking lot, my boots making a loud stomping sound, but Peter doesn’t turn around. Stupid fucking drug addict.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Mack walk outside and look around; he must have been following Peter.
I reach Peter, spin him around and swing my fist to his face without even thinking. Hitting first is ingrained in me, the same as eating food to live.
“Humph.” Peter falls hard on his ass and blood spills from his split lip.
I bend to his height and yank him by his collar, growling into his face. “What’s your fucking game, McRow?”
Peter starts laughing and says, “You have a weak spot.”
I shove him back to the ground roughly and his head bangs on the cement, but he still continues to chuckle. The fucker must be high not to feel that hit to the head.
I stand up straight and look down at the pitiful man. “You’re pathetic, McRow. Too fucked up on drugs to even understand when there is a threat right in front of you.”
Peter stops laughing instantly, the top half of his body rising off the ground as he sneers, “Fuck you, and fuck your bitch of a sister.” He lies back on the ground and mutters, “Fucking ruined my night. I’d be fucking Piper right now if your sister hadn’t knocked over her drink.”
A pounding begins in my ears and my fingers twitch as my body vibrates with rage. My anger begs me to attack, to brutally strike until I know he’s taken his last breath.
“You tried to drug her. You put something in her drink.” I state each word carefully, only hanging on to my sanity by a very thin thread.
There is more to this; he had to have a reason to go after her. I know for a fact he gets pussy all the time from the other sluts in this city who swap sex as payment for drugs.
Peter’s face pales as he realizes what he’s just admitted. Finally the drug fog is clearing and he’s able to see how close he is to death.
“Rex was told you got a girl, someone you weren’t throwing
away. He told me to approach her with you around and see how you reacted. He said if you cared about her, to fuck her any way I could.”
I’m starting to see red, when I sense Mack over my shoulder.
While still staring at fuck-face, I speak to Mack. “Get Della. Take her home and call Brett. He’s going to be taking a package to Rex tonight, with a message. We meet up with the Poison Boys tomorrow. It’s time to end this. Rex needs to be taught a lesson.”
I hear Mack walk away, and I stare down at Peter. I’m going to enjoy this. I pull my brass knuckles out of my back pocket and hear Peter’s sharp inhale.
He begins stammering and crawling backward on the ground. Yeah, I’d be trying to run, too. The boys and I only ever use our knuckle-dusters if we are caught off-guard in a group fight; never have I used them on just one man. But this message needs to be received loud and clear.
I take the three steps Peter has used to crawl away, pick him up by his collar and stand him on his feet. Our faces level, his eyes bulge with the inability to blink as tremors run through him.
“Are you going to kill me?” Peter asks with a trembling chin.
I hold my angry expression, uncaring of his terror. With a gruff voice, I say, “Not this time, but I’m going to teach you a lesson. This is what happens when you threaten what’s mine, and Piper is mine.” I end on a growl and then I strike, hitting his nose hard. I don’t hear his bones break. I only feel his blood splatter across my face.
***
It’s seven a.m. on Saturday, and I’m standing around my kitchen with my brothers while Della is still asleep upstairs. It’s best we don’t tell her about our meeting with the Poison Boys this morning. She’ll only worry and try to come along, which will result in us all telling her ‘no’ and her stomping upstairs and slamming her bedroom door. She wouldn’t come to fight, but she feels the weight the Poison Boys leave on our shoulders. I know that mouth of hers would have a field day if she got the chance to stand in front of Rex after all these years.
Too many secrets we need to keep locked up tight.
“So, what are you guys taking today? I want you all to have a weapon. I’m not going to talk to Rex. I’m going to teach him a lesson, so there will be a brawl.”
Pace is the first to raise his knuckle-dusters in the air then shove them back in his pocket and continue eating his toast while reading the paper. Pacer is the quiet, serious brother. He doesn’t speak a lot unless it’s worth saying.
“I’m taking a bat, and it’s already in my car. After we fuck these guys up and switch vehicles, I’m stopping at a girl’s house, so don’t expect me to follow you home,” Kelso states while shoving Cap’n Crunch in his mouth.
At twenty-seven, Kel is the wild one. He loves to party and fuck anything that moves, but with that comes alcohol and Kel has a temper when he drinks. He’s angry at life, as he should be, but he aims it at the wrong people. Usually we hear that he’s bashed some poor guy who didn’t say a thing to him. He has too many demons lying dormant, slowly seeping out of him when he’s not aware.
Mack throws his knuckle-dusters into the sink, plugs the hole and fills it with hot water and soap.
“Don’t leave home without them, but they need cleaning,” he says with a smirk and scrubs the blood away, leaving only the silver and the words ‘Street Kings’ engraved into the shiny metal. Mack’s the level-headed one; he always knows when it’s best to act or to be patient.
Looking around at my siblings, I can see why people sometimes think we are brothers through blood. We’re all muscular and tanned, due to exercising outside during summer. Each with short, messy, brown hair except for Kel, whose hair is dark blond and Mack who has a crew cut. Mack and I are the only two with brown eyes. Kel has blue and Pace has green. We all have numerous tattoos; each one has a personal meaning to us. I have half a man with wings on my back. It represents me, feeling half the man I thought I would be, looking up to Heaven, always wondering if I will be allowed in at the end of my life.
“Ten minutes and then we’re out the door. Don’t forget, keep it quiet so we don’t wake Dell and then rev your engines as we leave just to piss the princess off.” I end with a grin.
As I leave the kitchen, I watch each of my brothers smile at the thought of Della going nuts when we wake her up.
***
We arrive at the designated meeting place, Shawnee Park. I instructed Brett to let Rex know we would meet here at eight a.m. It’s outside both our turfs, neutral territory. And it’s a Saturday, so hopefully too early for people to be out in the park. Plus, Shawnee Park is massive at over six-miles long, with plenty of trees for cover for what will go down today.
We come to a dead-end street inside the park and I decide to stop here, leaving enough room for each of my brothers’ cars to park behind me.
Pacer in the red Nissan Skyline, Mack in the blue Ford Maverick, Kelso in the yellow Dodge Challenger and me in a black Ford Gran Torino. We hide these cars in the mountains, and each has bogus plates. We use these cars when we plan to cause trouble or do illegal shit and don’t intend to get caught.
We each have our own ride so if cops arrive, we split up and if one gets caught, at least it’s not two or all of us in the same car. But we always lose the cops because they can never keep up, not when we have Nitrous Oxide System –NOS– in our cars and they don’t. The state police have come to our home with warrants looking for the cars, but they never find anything, and we always make sure we make up new plates before the next time. It gets us through the streets and not pulled up so we can get to our destination. We’ve repainted the cars twice, but it’s a bitch of a job so we try not to use them too often, only when we think we’ll commit a crime.
I step out of my car to find Pace staring at me with a concerned expression. He knows I don’t like the idea of going head-to-head with Rex. Nobody wants to hurt their friends; it’s just what must happen in my world to survive.
“I’m good.” I pat him on the shoulder and step to walk away when he says, “So this chick, she worth all this?”
“Yes,” I reply instantly, refusing to think about how easily I know that to be a fact.
Pace shows a small amount of surprise with his eyebrows rising and then continues. “We killed his dad. We knew there would be retaliation, and we realized Rex would come after us. I know you, Slate. You won’t be able to kill a man who used to be your best friend, much less the son of a man we already killed.”
“I hear what you’re saying, Pace.” How can I explain to him I have a connection with Piper, an attachment to her I can’t even understand myself? I look to the ground, trying to find the words I’m searching for.
“She works for CPS, Slater. We fucking hate them, and now we’re walking into a war for one of them?” Pacer seems to be questioning my way of thinking, and I can’t say I blame him.
I understand his reservations and now I need to be the big brother I’ve always been, the leader I have become, and explain to him why we’re doing this.
“She’s special.” I shake my head, uncomfortable with saying affectionate words about a woman to my brother. We don’t do this; we don’t share our feelings about the women in our lives. “She’s kind, fiery and determined, and she never judged me. She’s under my skin. She may be a CPS worker, but I’ve grown to respect her. And no matter who she is and what she does, I can’t let Rex get away with thinking he can hurt the women we choose to be with.”
Pace nods and I see understanding in his eyes. My brothers always have my back no matter what. They would follow me into an inferno even if they knew I was leading them to their deaths.
I scan the area and my eyes find Rex’s car with two others about five hundred feet down the road. He’s already here.
The boys and I start walking through the park. We pass the Louisville Riverwalk and head through a long line of thick trees, coming out on the other side to a large grass patch right next to the Ohio River. We can still be easily seen by people walking alon
g the Riverwalk, but it’s out of the way enough that we won’t hurt others if guns come into play. Street gangs don’t have rules—it’s anything goes—but the Kings don’t use guns. We use brute strength, bats, knuckle-dusters and knives and that’s it. We grew up fighting with our fists and learning the meaning of honor; if you don’t have the courage to beat someone hand-to-hand, then you shouldn’t become the winner.
As soon as we come into view, Rex stops speaking to his guys and they move in front of us in a threatening, united line. Rex is standing in the middle; Corey’s to his left, tapping a bat in his hand; Kodi’s to his right, a bat resting on his shoulder; and standing next to Kodi is Reed, knife out and ready to strike. Each of their faces is blank, ready for battle, leaving our old friendships on the sidelines. Friendships which died the day we killed Jae.
Rex has always recruited new members in his gang and they are the ones he sent after us for revenge. My brothers and I never hesitated to kill them; they dug their own graves the day they aimed for my family.
I’m slightly surprised Corey, Kodi and Reed are here, considering Rex usually protects them more than the random members he recruits into his gang. Rex knows he’d be risking their lives. Or maybe until now he didn’t think they would be able to take us out, harm their old friends
I smirk at the fact Rex has only brought the three with him today. Cocky son of a bitch thinks he’s untouchable because I haven’t aimed for him yet. He probably thinks I never will. Our friendship goes back a long way and we did murder his father, but this time, he threatened someone I’m willing to kill for in order to protect.
Rex steps forward with a grin, about to say something before he stops abruptly and frowns when I pull my knuckle-dusters out of my back pocket and slide them onto my right hand. Pace to my left does the same. Kel to my right holds out his bat in preparation to slug, and Mack standing next to Kel fits his dusters and prepares to charge.
“We didn’t come to talk, Rex. We came to teach you all a lesson.”