by Zoey Parker
“I love art,” Brittany continued enthusiastically. “I always have. And this job would be perfect as I’d be learning a trade and embracing my love of art. Zack, you at least have to let me apply!”
“No.” He said the word so coldly that Brittany was taken aback.
“No?” she echoed.
“No,” he repeated solemnly. “I’m not having you going all that way each day to work as some tattoo artist’s apprentice.”
“You don’t own me.”
“I’m just looking out for you. Like I’ve always done.” He added bitterly.
“And I’m grateful for that!” Brittany insisted. “Truly I am! But Zack, this is a chance for me to grow up, to branch out of this town and be my own person. Don’t you want what’s best for me?”
“Brittany,” he said her name as though it pained him to do so. “You don’t understand what it’s like out there. There are people who would want to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” Brittany asked quietly. “But why?”
Numerous ugly thoughts ran through her mind. Did her brother owe people money? Bad people? Is that how he’d managed to take care of them for all these years? Surely that was just another reason for her getting a job, to help him get out of whatever debt he was in.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Zack waved a dismissive hand at her.
“Try me!” Brittany raged through gritted teeth. “Because it sounds to me like you got yourself in trouble, and now I’m the one paying for it!”
“Is this the gratitude I get!” Zack stood up, his face pinched and red with rage. “I give up everything to take care of you, and this is how you repay me? Any trouble I got myself into, it was for you! For us!”
“So you are in trouble?”
Zack was storming off towards his bedroom with Brittany flanking his every step, eager for answers.
“No,” Zack shook his head, his hand on the door handle. He pulled to open it, but Brittany pressed her palm against the flimsy wood, preventing him from doing so.
“I’m applying for the job,” she told him with confidence.
“No,” he growled, “you’re not.”
“I’m done living like this!” Brittany lamented. “If this town is so dangerous, let’s just leave!”
“It’s not that simple!”
“Why not?”
“You wouldn’t understand!” Zack shouted so loudly that the boom of his voice made the nearby framed pictures of their parents shake fearfully on the walls. Brittany stepped back, removing her palm from the door as Zack angrily flung it open and disappeared inside.
Slowly Brittany went back to the sofa, shoulders slumped. She hadn’t wanted a huge argument with her brother. She just wanted him to see things from her point of view. Of course, she was grateful for everything he’d done for her, she always would be. But that gratitude couldn’t replace the gnawing feeling in her stomach that she felt each and every day. She yearned for excitement, for adventure. She yearned to live a life that felt like her own, not one that had been planned out for her.
From inside Zack’s bedroom, loud music started to boom out. Brittany knew that in less than an hour he’d come back out, face like thunder before leaving on his motorbike, roaring off into the night to work his dangerous job. Brittany disappeared into the cool of the garden, not wanting to be around when her brother resurfaced.
Chapter Five
Brittany awoke early the next morning to the shrill squeal of her alarm telling her that it was five a.m. She always got up extra early to ensure she was able to get out and about before Zack returned. The house felt painfully empty as she wandered around, fixing herself some cereal for breakfast. She turned on the TV but struggled to engage with the show. She kept thinking about her argument with Zack, wishing they had left things on better terms before he’d gone out.
The piece of paper with the job ad was still on the coffee table, slightly crumpled. Setting down her empty bowl, Brittany picked it up and glanced over the information. Her heart sang at the thought of doing a job where she could use her love of art. And if she did well, if she progressed beyond apprentice, then perhaps Zack would be able to give up his dangerous job. Then they would both be happy. Brittany made her decision, even though her brother wouldn’t be happy with it.
It was agonizing as she waited for the hours to pass. But she needed it to be nine o’clock before she could call the number on the ad. She anxiously paced around the small house, running over in her mind what she would say.
When nine o’clock did arrive, Brittany had her speech all planned out. She knew exactly what she was going to say, she just had to make the call. Which she did. She shut out all her negative thoughts about Zack and just focused on how good it would make her feel to get this job. Her heart jumped up into her throat with each passing ring and eventually someone picked up.
“Hi,” Brittany squeaked, sounding every bit as nervous as she felt. “I’m calling about the ad for a tattoo artist’s apprentice.”
Chapter Six
It was ten when the roar of Zack’s motorcycle rumbled like thunder in the driveway. Brittany was perched on the edge of the sofa. She’d had an hour to prepare herself for what was about to happen, but that still didn’t feel long enough. But there was no putting off the inevitable. If she wanted this job as badly as she knew she did, she was going to have to get Zack on board. Either that or sever all ties with him, which definitely wasn’t what she wanted to do. He was the only family she had left.
Zack stormed through the door, his expression grim.
“Hey,” Brittany called amicably from the sofa. He paused en route to his bedroom to look at her.
“I know you’re tired,” she held her hands up apologetically as he frowned at her. “But I need to talk to you. Just ten minutes, I promise.”
With a groan, Zack sauntered over to the sofa and dropped down beside her. He stank of petrol and cigarette smoke, but thankfully boasted no new injuries though the bruise beneath his eye had blackened something awful.
“I know you’re mad at me,” Brittany began quietly.
“No, I’m mad at myself,” Zack interrupted. “You’re right, Brittany. You’re always right. It’s one of the things I hate about you,” he admitted with a sad smile.
“I was right?” Brittany felt confused.
“I have kept you here like a prisoner,” Zack lowered his head shamefully. “I always thought I was doing the right thing by you, keeping you here, keeping you safe. But the troubles that follow me around town, they are my own, not yours. Last night at work, I got to thinking about what Mom and Dad would have said if you’d gone to them with that job idea.”
Brittany felt herself brighten with hopefulness. Zack had considered what his parents would have done without her having to prompt him to do so. Perhaps he was about to do the right thing and grant her some freedom. Brittany held her breath and waited for him to proceed.
“They’d have been all over it,” Zack said as his voice grew warm with fondness. “They were always so supportive of both of us. Whatever we wanted to do, they urged us to go for it.”
“So you are going to let me apply for the job?” Brittany blurted excitedly.
“I guess I am,” Zack sighed. “As hard as it is for me to admit, you’re an adult now even though I’ll always see you as my kid sister. If I don’t let you go for this, you’ll only resent me for holding you back.”
“Since when did you get so wise?” Brittany teased.
“I’ve made mistakes,” Zack admitted grimly. “Too many to count. But I made each one of them thinking about you, thinking about what’s best for you. I don’t want my keeping you here to be another mistake I make, even if it is with the best intentions at heart. So, if you want to go follow this dream of yours…” Zack gestured sadly towards the front door. “Then go, I won’t be the guy to hold you back. Our parents raised me better than that.”
“Thank you,” Brittany threw herself against her brother as she embraced
him. This was the Zack she’d been waiting to see for so long. He finally didn’t seem beaten down by his life choices – he seemed kind and smart, just like their father had been.
“But I don’t want you traveling to the next town over each day,” Zack declared.
“Well, I’d kind of have to,” Brittany laughed. “Since that’s where the job is.”
“Not if you got your own place close by,” Zack stated quietly, folding his hands and lowering his head.
“My own place?” Brittany gasped, this was more freedom than she could have ever possibly hoped for. Whatever had happened to Zack the previous night it had clearly altered his entire mindset and for that she would be eternally grateful.
“Yeah, your own place,” Zack forced a smile. “Give you a chance to spread your wings and get a taste of independence.”
“Thank you,” Brittany was almost rendered speechless. She hugged her brother again, tighter this time.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she gushed, wishing there was some stronger phrase to explain how much gratitude she was feeling towards him.
“I won’t let you down,” she promised. “And you can come and visit me anytime.”
“Oh,” Zack raised his eyebrows at her, “I plan on it. So you best make sure you behave.”
Chapter Seven
Max Scand knocked down the kick stand for his motorcycle and killed the engine. He effortlessly withdrew his long legs so that he was no longer straddling the bike. His dark hair had become tussled by the wind and his sun-kissed skin glowed in the late evening light of the setting sun. Readjusting his leather jacket, he pushed a hand back through his hair, kept on his mirrored aviators and strode confidently towards the entrance to the bar. On the back of his jacket was an embroidered design of a skeletal man clutching a scythe with bony fingers while grinning madly at the open road beneath him. The design was a logo. The logo for the Skeleton Kings – the motorcycle gang that Max ran.
As he opened the door to the bar, the hot musky scent from inside engulfed him. He stepped inside, pausing briefly to remove his shades. The bar was relatively quiet at such an early hour. A few leather-clad men were shooting pool, others were sat at tables nursing cold bottles of beer. Max confidently approached the barman and grinned.
“Is the big man in tonight?” he asked the heavily tattooed man behind the bar. He nodded in response towards a far table, in the back corner of the bar where a gray-haired man with a long beard which draped over his chest like a strange cravat, sat.
“Thanks.” Max smacked his palm against the chipped wood of the bar before turning and approached the gray-haired man. He pulled up a chair beside him without waiting to ask permission.
“You wanted to see me, Uncle Alex?”
The gray-haired man’s dark eyes shone back at him. Dark eyes which Max also had, along with the same strong jawline. But that was where the similarities ended. Max was in shape with sculpted abs and strong, muscular arms. His Uncle was bloated with a heavily wrinkled face. He might have been handsome once, but it was hard to tell beneath the years of damage he’d done to his body. A long scar ran the length of his Uncle’s face, completely dividing it in half. It cut clean across his nose, narrowly missing his left eye. Although a keen observer would notice that it didn’t move as the right one did. Nor was it able to focus. Because it was made of glass and merely there for show.
Alex shuffled in his chair so that his good eye could focus on his nephew.
“Yeah, I wanted to see ya,” he drawled.
“Okay,” Max shrugged nonchalantly. “Here I am.”
“I heard about what happened over in Weatherly.”
Max groaned and raked a hand through his hair. He should have known that events in Weatherly would eventually catch up with him.
“I told you to kill the guy.”
“Uncle,” Max shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “He left town. Surely that’s what you wanted? Killing him is a bit, finite, don’t you think?”
“Don’t tell me how to do my job, boy,” his Uncle warned, his voice gravelly and deep as though every word was delivered from the pit of his ample stomach.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Max mumbled.
“Look here!” Alex smacked a fist against the table, causing the flimsy wood to shake fearfully.
“I took you in, Max. I put a roof over your head and food in your belly. When I found you, you were nothing but a sprat living rough on the streets. Your own Momma had abandoned you.”
“Yeah, well all she was ever good for was leaving,” Max rolled his eyes and stiffened. He was in no mood to revisit old memories, especially painful ones.
“I made you,” his Uncle continued. “I gave you a home, a purpose. And you enjoy your life don’t you? Lord knows you’re up in the clubs enough, a different girl on your arm each time you leave.”
“I’m just enjoying life,” Max grinned mischievously. “Seems a waste to live it any other way.”
“Well, between you enjoying life and not directly obeying orders, you’ve managed to ruffle a few feathers around here.”
Max glanced around at the men gathered in the bar. They seemed oblivious to the conversation he was having with his uncle, but he didn’t doubt that they’d be mad at him. Most of them had been raised by dinosaurs and continued to think like one. They thought that violence was the only solution to any problem. Max didn’t share that mentality. Growing up on the streets he’d been surrounded by death. The moment he gathered together a few dollars, someone bigger than him would beat it out of him. And all that did was make Max resolve to one day be a better man. A man who could get what he wanted without hurting others. But he was a long way from reaching that goal. Being a member of the Skeleton Kings probably wasn’t the best path to take when aiming for a non-violent life, but it wasn’t the kind of club where he could simply cancel his membership. When you joined up, it was expected to be for life.
“I’m just different, Uncle,” Max defended himself. “Different isn’t always bad you know.”
“I don’t need none of your Buddha bullshit right now,” his Uncle spat. “What I need is for you to listen and listen good. Your next job is going to be in Colridge.”
“Colridge?” a shiver shot down Max’ spine. Colridge wasn’t a place any members of the Skeleton Kings frequented, even though it was just one town over.
“I told you, you ruffled some feathers,” his Uncle explained unapologetically.
“So what? They figure sending me there will get me killed off?” His Uncle looked briefly pained by the accusation.
“Colridge is Red Riders territory!” Max continued, his blood pressure rising. “You can’t seriously expect me to go there! Not with everything that’s been going on with them lately.”
“You just need to lay low while you’re there and focus on the job.”
“Okay,” Max calmed a little but was still tense. “Now I get it. Send me to Colridge where I’ll be unable to go out and actually have any fun. What exactly am I being punished for here? Weatherly or something else entirely?”
His Uncle gave a low groan and Max realized that he was right. He hadn’t earned this punishment because of Weatherly.
“Sherri Godman.” His Uncle said the name as though it should mean something to him. Max shrugged dramatically.
“Who?”
“The little blonde you slept with last month,” Alex growled, growing agitated. Max shrugged again.
“She has the dragon tattoo up her back.”
Max thought for a moment and then recalled the night in question.
“Oh,” he drew out the word and nodded to himself. He’d met Sherri at a club in town. She’d worn a tight-fitting denim miniskirt and a low cut white tee. He’d caught her looking at him the moment he walked in. He knew her type – women who liked to be with dangerous men. And from the outside he fit the bill – he rode with the Kings and had a tattoo sleeve up his right arm. So when she drooped herself against him after he�
��d had several beers, he didn’t push her away. Instead he took her to the bathroom and fucked her hard against the sink, not caring who might walk in. With her little skirt pushed up around her waist she’d screamed out his name in delight until her lungs ached.
The next night he went back to the club, and she was there again. This time, he chose to be more of a gentleman and took her back to his place. When she stripped down, she revealed the dark dragon tattoo which snaked up her back and looked about to breathe fire over her shoulder. She had a tight little ass and perky tits. Max had bent her over his sofa and made her cum twice. But by then he was bored of her. Perhaps he had Mommy issues, but Max never liked to settle with a woman. He told himself it was because his lifestyle was too dangerous, but deep down he figured he’d just not met the right woman yet. And with his image and occupation he was destined to only ever attract the wrong kind of women.