by Sara Crest
I turned the page and saw Sven’s number staring right back at me. Even with the alcohol in my system I was thinking a little more clearly than before. Yeah he saved me but should I really reach out to him? What if I got hurt because I got involved in whatever gang activity he does. I really wanted to try and pretend that wasn’t who he was but deep down I knew that it was the truth.
“Why can’t I let myself have some fun, I’m sure he wouldn’t put me in any danger. Hell he’s already saved me from danger and I’m not even giving him a chance…”
I took out my phone and started putting it in my contacts list. “The least I could do is have that coffee with him I promised.”
Since I had my phone out I decided to do an internet search for the news story I had remembered that involved Sven’s gang. After a few minutes I found it; the “Freedom Riders.” For a gang based in Boston I guess that name would be fitting. A few of their members had gotten caught transporting crystal meth from Boston up t o Maine. Was that really what Sven’s gang did? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but still.
“Just because his gang does that doesn’t mean that he does. He could just be in it for protection” I said trying to reassure myself as I took another sip of Milly’s vodka. I hated vodka but it was all I really had. Well I had wine but that was my wine, I wasn’t in the mood to break out my wine. I’d make it up to Milly though, I ain’t no thief.
I buried the thoughts about Sven into the back of my mind, I didn’t want to falsely accuse him of something without even knowing who he really was.
I went back to my diary, turning through the pages and stroking my ego with each paragraph that I read.
I turned to a red page, one about John, I knew I shouldn’t read about him but sometimes it was nice to put things into perspective and realize that he was no longer in my life. Even having a quiet house was a nice reminder that he was no longer here, back when I was graduating from high school John and my mom were going through the roughest parts of their relationship. I always tried to keep my head down when they were arguing, it would last for hours and hours, sometimes even throughout the night.
I remember when mom called me at college to cry about John finally leaving. I remember how mad she got at me when the only word I could mutter out was “good.” As if he didn’t cause pain for everyone in this family.
I turned to a random red page, I wrote it the morning after one of the nights John came into my room drunk. How he would wake me up by trying to pull my sweatpants down and I would just barely have the reaction time to kick him off of me.
Sometimes I’d hit him in the face with a hard kick, those were the few times where he’d be one and done, stumbling out of the room holding onto his bleeding nose or cut lip before falling asleep drunk in the hallway. Other times he’d come back and try to angrily take my clothes off of me, times like that was when Milly would come in and help me get him off of me. Despite all the resentment and jealousy I had for her because John never treated his blood daughter the way he treated me I always loved her for risking herself just to help me. Without her John would have succeeded.
I saw a car’s light shining through the front window of the house, I didn’t think much of it until it stayed there for a few minutes. We lived in a rural part of town so we didn’t really have any neighbors, it was very unusual to have a car parked outside of our house unless we had invited someone over.
I walked over to a nearby window, one where the light wasn’t coming in, and opened the blinds to see an all black car with black tinted windows parked outside. My heart started beating a little bit faster as the car just stayed there idling with its lights shining into the house. Maybe it was just Milly getting a ride home from someone?
I stood there for a few minutes, peeking out of the window and hoping that the car didn’t see me. I only had a few lights on inside the house so for the most part it would look like nobody was home if anyone was looking at it.
I took out my phone and was ready to call Milly to see if it was her but then the rear door of the car opened.
A tall man got out, it looked like he turned and said something to someone in the car but I couldn’t tell. It was so late out that I could only make out his outline but he didn’t look like anyone I knew. He walked up to the window that they were shining the light into and tried to peek inside, desperately trying to look around the blinds that we had down. From the light of the car I could see his face, he had long and shaggy hair with a skull tattoo on his forehead. He was wearing a leather jacket, when I squeezed my eyes I could make out one of the letters of the top row of words he had stitched; “E.” That really didn’t help much with figuring out the gang name it’s a goddamn vowel, I couldn’t even tell if it was the first letter of the word..
What the hell was he doing here? First Sven with his Freedom Riders and now this guy who’s gang I couldn’t even figure out? Was he also part of the Freedom Riders? “Freedom Riders” has E in it, several E’s! Several!
What was going on in this town? More importantly what was this guy doing in front of my house.
He walked up to the door and started banging on it. I was all alone with this man at my front door, with at least one other man in the car, and I had no means to protect myself and nobody expected to come home for the night.
I covered my mouth trying not to scream, his banging persisted as he tried again to look through the nearby windows. I was sitting here on the floor in fear in nothing but a pair of panties and a mostly see through t-shirt, I had no protection and no way to defend myself. If he broke inside I was done for.
I couldn’t believe I had to do this, but I was too afraid not to.
I had to call Sven, I needed him.
8
(Sven)
“Any FUCKING day now Barron” I yelled out.
Saul and I were pinned down behind a kitchen counter as one of the meth heads shot at us with a shotgun. After every shot he would take a step closer to us, if Barron didn’t drop this guy then both of us wouldn’t see the sunrise.
Just then the sound of the window shattered and the meth head gave one final exhale before dropping to the ground. I ran around the corner and kicked the shotgun away from him just in case he was faking. When I looked down I saw that Barron had hit him clean in the side of the ribcage, poor bastard didn’t even see what was coming.
“Fuck, I think that’s the cook” Saul said leaning over the guy’s dead body.
I looked around at the other 6 men we had dropped, scattered around the kitchen and the living room. That may sound like a lot but we’ve had to take down joints with a dozen or more guys in them. God forbid they had girl in there too, even if she attacked you you’d try and make sure she came out of it unharmed. 9 times out of 10 she would just be some innocent girl who fell into the wrong crowd and started giving herself up for a few hits of crystal meth a day. Not to say that I felt good about having to put down the men, it was just something I did to make sure that the Freedom Riders were in the best position they could be in. Nobody wants to take a life, you might hear the newbloods in the MC talking about how they can’t wait to put a bullet in someone but when the time comes they’ll regret every time they pull the trigger just like the rest of us. I don’t know how my dad ever did it for so long.
“I don’t know Saul, one of these other guys could be the cook” I said trying to desensitize myself to everything around me.
“That’s not the point. Everyone here is dead, that means that no matter what we killed the head cook. Apparently this guy knew how to make some real pure stuff, Walsh wanted him alive.”
“Well if Walsh wanted him alive then he should have come over and done the job himself. We didn’t even check the basement yet anyway, the cook could be hiding down there.”
“Sounds like you just volunteered” Saul said taking the gas mask from off of the dead man’s belt and tossing it over to me.
“That’s two in a row Saul, you’re getting the next one I can tell you that ri
ght now” I said taking off my hockey mask and putting the gas mask on.
I opened the door to the basement and started heading downstairs. The mask might have stopped me from breathing in the toxins but it certainly didn’t stop that cat piss smell. I did a quick look around and found nobody, nothing but the chemicals, equipment, glassware, and a few pounds of meth.
I felt my phone ringing in my pocket, surprised I even got a reception out here. I took it out and saw an unknown number with a Vermont area code. Could it be Emma? Don’t see why she would call me so soon after I left, if it was her then she must miss me already.
“Let’s be real here, she’s probably asleep it can’t be her.”
It was either someone from the Freedom Riders who has a Vermont number or some broad I drunkenly gave my number to by mistake. I couldn’t even respond if I wanted to since I had this mask on, if it was important then they’d leave a message.
I turned the phone on silent and put it back in my pocket, checking around one last time to see if the cook was hiding anywhere or to see if there was an exit he might have snuck out from.
“Nothing. Walsh is gonna have our ass” I said walking back upstairs.
When I walked into the living room Barron was coming in from upstairs.
“Please tell me you found something.”
“I wish” I replied.
Barron walked in through the front door, taking his mask off and breathing a sigh of relief.
“He’s not here” Barron said walking in. “I could see in from the window none of those guys were the cook. I met him before back when the MC first took him on... Looks like we’re going to be in town for another couple of days boys. My guess is that there’s even more of these things set up and he rotates between them week to week.”
“So you’re telling me we just risked our lives for nothing? Great.” Saul said.
I felt a pain on the side of my face, I reached up and felt blood running down near my right ear. One of those bastards had swung a knife at me earlier on, I thought he missed but I guess he just barely got me.
“Don’t worry loverboy, I heard the ladies love red” Saul said taking a better look at my cut.
“Don’t know how I’m gonna explain this to her” I said laughing. “Motorcycle accident maybe?”
I took out my phone to use the camera as a mirror to see how bad it was, only to see that the person had called me back 4 more times, leaving 3 voice messages.
“Oh shit” I said “I think this girl has been calling me all night.”
I dialed my answering machine to try and listen to the messages. Saul rolled his eyes and took out a cigarette, lighting it and taking in a deep inhale before sighing.
“You know the chemicals in here are flammable right?” I said as the automated voice on my phone finally wrapped up and started playing the messages.
“Hey if it blows us all up then I don’t have to hear you talking about this broad anymore.”
“Yeah well I’m not gonna be in here for that to happen” I said stepping outside trying to listen to the messages.
“Hey, Sven?” Emma said in the message in a hushed tone. “There are some guys in a black car outside my house and I don’t know what they’re doing, do you know anything about this? They look like bikers to me. One of them was knocking on my door I don’t know what’s going on.”
“What the hell” I said to myself as I hit the next message button.
“Sven I don’t know what’s going on, one of them was just trying to pick the lock and I have no way to defend myself right now. Can you please come back over? I know you’re busy but I really need someone to be here right now” She sounded desperate. I hit next message.
“Sven I see the men talking outside, I think they’ve given up trying to get in but they won’t leave. I tried calling the cops but every time I describe to the car to them they say they can’t help me and hang up. Nobody else is answering my calls Sven please come and help.” I could tell through the phone she was crying, goddamn I had to get there fast.
“I’ll catch up with y’all later” I called out back to the house. “There’s somewhere I really gotta be.”
I ran back through the woods to my ride, hearing Barron and Saul call out to me in frustration. I didn’t have time to explain to them what was going on. I hopped on my ride, stuffing all my gear into my bag while hoping I wouldn’t have to use it.
As I started up my bike I felt the pain from the cut on the side of my face.
“Dammit I forgot about that, she’s going to wonder where all these bruises came from.”
I didn’t have time to clean myself up properly, I had to head out now.
“I’ve only known this girl for a few hours and I’m already about to save her ass for the second time.”
9
(Emma)
I heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance, was that really him?
I was hiding behind the counter of the kitchen with a knife in my hand, afraid that the men outside could break into the house at any moment.
As the sound of the motorcycle drew closer I heard the men outside get in their car, shutting the doors before starting it up and driving off.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but I knew that if they were here for this long then they’d be back eventually. There was something here that they wanted, they had to be here for a reason.
I put the knife on the counter and looked out the window to see Sven pulling up on his bike. I ran outside and practically jumped on him in relief, I guess part of me was surprised that he actually came. In the end it was just the sound of the motorcycle that scared the men off.
“Oh my god what happened to you?” I said as my eyes adjusted to the dark and I saw the cut on his face and the bruises on his arms. I looked down to see that his bike was perfectly fine, there was no way he got into an accident. Was he in a fight?
“It’s… a long story” he said getting off of his bike and looking out in the direction the car sped off to. “Did you recognize any of the men?”
“No… one came to the door and looked like a biker. I couldn’t make out what his jacket said though, do you have more Freedom Riders here?”
“No just- wait, how did you know I’m a Riders member?” he said crossing his arms.
“Well, I guess I recognized one of your tattoos” I said shying away. I didn’t think he would hurt me but he probably didn’t really want me to know that much about him just yet. Judging by the way he worded himself it sounded like he was currently a member, there goes the argument I was using with myself that he used to be one. With everything that was going on all evidence was pointing to him being a legit member, I couldn’t really deny it anymore.
I looked up at the cut on his face, it wasn’t too bad but I’m sure it was hurting much more than he was letting on.
“You can come inside and clean yourself up if you’d like” I offered him. In reality I didn’t want him to leave, I was afraid that those men could come back tonight and I didn’t want to be alone.
“I’d appreciate that” he said smiling down at me and uncrossing his arms.
I led him into the house, feeling a little bit of relief once he was inside knowing that I wasn’t here alone anymore.
We both walked down the hall, I was taking him over to the nearest bathroom that also had a shower. As I led him I felt his eyes all over me, making me realize that I was still in nothing but my panties and my slightly oversized t-shirt. My heart skipped a beat but I kept on walking, part of me said that I should excuse myself right away, but another part of me liked knowing that he was walking behind me checking out my body. I normally dressed so modestly that it wasn’t the kind of attention that I was used to.
I brought him into the bathroom and got a couple of old towels to help clean him up, I made him sit down on a stool next to the sink as I searched for anything to clean his cut with.
“You didn’t have to do this you know” he said, looking at me with his crystal blue e
yes and smirking. “I’ve been in this situation before I can take care of myself.”
“Well you chased off those men, the least I could do is help you.”
I searched throughout the cupboard in the bathroom but couldn’t find anything that would help, I would have to check my bathroom and see.
“You stay right there I’ll be right back” I told him, rushing out of the bathroom as he put pressure on the cut.
As soon as I left I knew I should have used it as a chance to go in my room and at least put on a less see through t-shirt and some shorts to conceal my body. I mean I have this guy who I now know is a member of one of the most dangerous gangs in Boston in my home and I’m just walking around half naked for him. Yet I had this feeling of security while my heart was also racing fast just knowing what situation I was in. I was enjoying every minute of this.
I went to my room and found a first aid kit, I looked at my clothes drawer one last time before deciding that I would return to him looking like this. No harm in some teasing, right? I looked at myself in my mirror, looking at the way my t-shirt were draping over my breasts, you could just barely make out my nipples poking out through the fabric. Was it a little much? Probably, but when would be the next chance I would get to tease a biker like this.
I returned to Sven who immediately started eyeing me up again. I leaned over and started dabbing the cut with a clean piece of cloth, using some disinfectant to make sure it would heal properly. Having a younger sister who always rode her bike without protection when she was younger meant that I had done this a thousand times before.
“So, are you gonna tell me how you got all of these cuts and bruises?” I asked inquisitively. I could feel his crystal blues fixed on my breasts and hips. As I leaned over my shirt rode up on my a little bit, revealing my pink panties and the bottom part of my stomach.
“If I told you that I got into an accident would you believe me?” he said sarcastically.