Teaching Aleck

by Muriel Garcia

  After a few more minutes, I park in front of the compound and walk in, looking for Ant. The guys are in the chapel. What the fuck happened now? Do they know already?

  “We were waiting for you Aleck,” Ant says clearly looking pissed.

  “I didn’t know we had a meeting.”

  “We didn’t. Detective Sanders came over to talk to me. They finally released the information we needed.” I see the muscles in his jaw tick.

  “What are you talking about?” I’m lost and still thinking about what happened to Charline.

  “He gave me the transcripts from Michael’s phone.” He hands me over a stack of papers. I go through them and stop at one of the last messages received.

  Unknown: Ant will be away from N.O. tomorrow, your time to move. He won’t be able to get back into the city quickly so you’ll have all the time you need. Someone will be watching her, but you should be good, he will be driving a Black Chevy pick-up truck.

  “Who the fuck sent him this?”

  “Our good friend, Blades,” He says in a chillingly calm voice.

  “That motherfucking piece of shit. I’m going to fucking kill him!” I yell.

  “Easy brother. We’ll head there and I’ll be the one ending him.”

  “We both have a problem with him. He just ran Charline off the road.” That’s the last thing he needed to hear.

  “You, Gabe and I are going to pay him a little visit. I don’t care what kind of shit this brings down on us later on, he’s going down.” He gets up and walks out, Gabe and I following him. I don’t know why he needs to be there too, but an extra pair of fists is always good.

  “How is Char?” Gabe asks.

  “Shaken but okay overall. I’ll call her later when we get back to make sure she’s still okay.” I grab my phone and shoot a quick text to Bennett.

  Me: Can you go keep an eye on Charline?

  Bennett: Where?

  I quickly send him the ranch address before getting on my bike. We take the long ride to the Bastards’ compound. The only thing I can think about is the distress in Charline’s voice when she called me to tell me they ran her off the road. Fueling my anger more and more by the second.

  I don’t know if Detective Sanders is aware that what he gave us is going to bring Blades down, or if he’s setting us up to put us behind bars. Either way, it needs to happen. No matter what the consequences are.

  It takes us a little over 2 hours to get there. We park in front of their compound and walk inside, not letting anyone stop us. We walk into their chapel just as they are having a meeting.

  “What are you three doing here?” Ray bellows, clearly not happy.

  “I told you a couple of months ago that if I ever find out one of your men was behind Ayden being kidnapped, yet again, I’d be back to end that motherfucker. That day has come,” Ant says confident.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Ray looks as confused as I was.

  “Take a look.” Ant hands him the papers.

  Ray looks through them for a few minutes and stares at the same message and the phone number for a few minutes. “I had no idea this was going on or I would have put a stop to it.”

  “I know. I’m not the only one having problems with your little rat.” Ant glares at Blades. “He just ran Charline off the road.”

  “Not my fault if the bitch can’t drive.” Blades snickers.

  “I’m going to fucking kill you!” I roar and I’m about to just pound on him, but Ant holds me back.

  “Blades, shut your fucking mouth. You,” he points at me, “out. Now!”

  “I’m not getting out of here unless he comes with us.” I don’t care if I’m not the president and making the decision.

  Ray gets up and looks at me. “You, Gabe, Ant, myself and Blades, all in the warehouse.”

  “Come on, Prez, you’re not going to fucking give this to them,” Blades interjects.

  “Oh, I am. Who else was with you today?”

  “I’m not going to rat them out.” Blades scoffs.

  “Oh, so it’s fine for you to be selling club information to a fucking psycho so he can take down an innocent woman, but when it’s time for you to owe up to your fucking bullshit and be a fucking man, you don’t speak up? I was really wrong about you. You’re such a disappointment, Brother.” Ray shakes his head.

  It takes Blades a few minutes, but he ends up being the little rat he always was and always will be, well for a couple more minutes. “Antonio and Jared.”

  “Motherfucker!” They both bellow at him.

  “You two, with us too. And hurry up, don’t make me lose more time than I already have on you three.” Ray walks out and we follow him out, making sure the three bastards walk in front of us. Can’t be too careful.

  We step into their warehouse and Ray shuts the door behind us.

  “Your guns, knives and cuts,” Ray says in a clipped tone.

  “Come on, Ray, you’re not going to do this to us. We just wanted to teach them a lesson, they are thinking they are all mighty and shit. Somebody needed to take them down a notch from the pedestal they think they are on,” Blades chimes in.

  “I’m not going to repeat myself so do. It. Now!” Ray growls. They all comply reluctantly and throw their stuff closer to us.

  “Why?” it’s the only thing Ant says.

  “Because Michael’s father was our fucking Prez and our father!”

  “What the fuck?” Gabe, Ant and I say at the same time.

  “Tell them, Ray!” Blades yells.

  “Michael was our step brother. Our father was the old president and was killed by Cabe. They were into some weird business together and our father wasn’t respecting his end of the contract. He was living a double life. Both being a normal man with Michael’s family and the asshole he was to us. We were his punching bags. I never understood why you kept defending him when all he was doing was beating us up and he fucking killed mom! But to go as far as going behind my back and ally yourself to Michael to take down the Last Hangman, that’s a whole other lever of fucked up. I thought you were smarter than that, smarter than him, but I see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.” Well, that’s some fucked up shit I didn’t expect.

  “You’re fucked up, man.” Ant shakes his head and takes off his leather jacket. “I want a piece of him.”

  “Do whatever you want to him. I don’t care anymore,” Ray says defeated.

  “WHAT?” Blades screeches. “You aren’t going to let them kill your brother, are you?”

  “I am. I knew you were fucked up, but I didn’t know you were that messed up. I don’t have a brother anymore.”

  “You’re not serious.”

  “I’m very serious.”

  “We didn’t have anything to do to with what happened to Ayden, he told us a few months back that we should keep an eye on Charline, that she could be useful and to scare her, that Ray had ordered it. We’re new in the club, we thought it was true. We didn’t mean to hurt her,” Antonio pleads sounding somewhat honest.

  “We’ll deal with you later.” Ant tells him and the two other bastards just nod and step away.

  Gabe, Ant and I surround Blades.

  “You’re going to pay for all the hurt you brought on our women.” Ant sneers.

  “Bring it asshole, I don’t care!” Blades yells, taunting Ant.

  “Oh, I will.” He smirks and lands the first blow right in Blades’ jaw. “That’s for hurting Ayden.”

  I step in front of Blades and look him in the eyes. “I hope you’re aware that you’re not getting out of this alive. I don’t care which one of us kills you. I’ll just be happy to know you won’t be able to bother and hurt our women anymore.” I growl and land another blow on the other side of his face, his jaw cracking, making him wince in pain.

  “Alive or dead, it’s never going to be over.” He sneers creepily.

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  “You’ll see.” He smirks.
/>   Gabe steps in front of him. “I’ve wanted to do this for years. You don’t deserve us giving you the chance to defend yourself or explain yourself.”

  “Annie was fucking sweet, I remember her every...single…night.” Blades chuckles creepily and Gabe loses it. He lands blows after blows on Blades’ bloody face. I’m ready to stop him but Ant holds me back.

  “He needs this more than us,” he says softly. I have no idea what’s going on, but I let him go.

  Gabe isn’t giving Blades a second to breathe, he keeps punching the shit out of him. We hear multiple bones crack. A loud thunder cracks at the same time, making this even more sinister than it already is.

  Gabe keeps punching Blades’ limp body, until Ant and I stop him and help him up. He is covered in blood, breathing hard and is in such a state of rage. I’ve never seen anyone like this.

  Ant takes his gun out and points it at Blades’ head. “For Ayden.” He shoots once. Boom.

  Gabe does the same. “For Annie.” Boom.

  I do the same. “For Charline.” Boom.

  We’re all staring at Blades’ lifeless body when Ray joins us and does the same. “For Alisson.” Boom. Thunder cracks again.

  Ant turns to the other two. “What should we do with these two?”

  “Leave these two to me. They’ve been full patched for six months. They aren’t behind what happened to Ayden. I’m sorry they went after Charline. I’ll make sure it won’t happen again. They know if they do anything to betray us what’s waiting for them. They just witnessed it. Got it?” Ray glares at them.

  “Got it, Prez,” they say in unison.

  “Good, get rid of the body and properly.”

  “Yes, Prez.” They start to clean up the mess and get a big plastic cover to wrap up the body.

  We stay there and watch them do for a while and then leave them to it.

  “I’m sorry about what happened to Charline and Ayden. If I find out anyone else has anything against you guys, outside of club business, they will answer to me.” Ray extends his hand to Ant.

  Ant nods and shakes it. “Keep us updated if you find anything else. We don’t want to have another round like tonight.”

  “Of course.” Ray sees us to our bikes and walks back in the compound while Antonio and Jared load the body in their van.

  We head back home. We’re all in a weird mood. Knowing the truth about the Bastards’ fucked up family isn’t making things better, but knowing that at least one of the two is somewhat decent is good.

  I still don’t know what the deal was between Blades and Gabe, but it must be bad. Way worse than what happened with Ayden or Charline.

  I hope things will calm down for our ladies from now on. They don’t deserve any of this bullshit they are getting because of us. Let’s just hope Ray keeps his promise…

  CHAPTER 13

  Charline

  August 17, 2014

  Tomorrow is my first day as a preschool teacher, and I’m beyond scared and nervous. To add to the stress, I haven’t really heard from Aleck since my incident. He did keep his promise though, a car was waiting for me in front of the ranch the next morning. It was such a sweet gesture. He also left me a note in the car saying I wouldn’t be bothered anymore and that things would be good from now on and that he was thinking of me. It was so sweet. I might be keeping said note in my wallet.

  Brian didn’t seem phased by the fact that I was ran off the road. He said I was probably trying to cut them off and that it was my fault. He’s getting weirder every day. I just don’t get him. The day after it happened, I called him as usual and he was very short with me and pissed. I didn’t mention that Aleck was the one who helped me, I didn’t want to piss him off even more. Today is the last day we can hang out during the day, and I have a feeling he’s going to be a massive pain in the ass.

  I finish preparing a couple of fun activities for the kids to last me the entire year. I’d rather be prepared than stress out not knowing what to do with them.

  “Hey, Babe.” Brian walks onto my back patio where I’m preparing everything.

  “Hey. What’s up?” He leans down to kiss me and I kiss him back softly, longing the feeling of Aleck’s lips. I need to get a grip, I have a freaking boyfriend!

  “Not much, glad I have the day off to spend it with my girlfriend.” Well someone is in a good mood for once.

  “Aww, that’s sweet.” I smile softly and finish putting everything in my bag.

  “What are you working on?”

  “Coloring images, painting, gluing shapes into forms, music sheets and so on. Nothing very exciting.” I take a sip of my iced tea.

  “I’m sure they will love it and you.” He kisses my neck.

  “Uh, thanks. I hope so too. I’m so nervous.”

  “Relax, you’ll be okay. Besides, what’s the worst a four year old can do to you?”

  “Besides puking on my shoes?” I frown.

  “Ahhh, the joys of working with kids.” He chuckles.

  “Yes, well, hopefully I didn’t jinx myself and it won’t happen anytime soon.” I shudder.

  “Always keep an extra pair of shoes in your bag, you never know.” He grins innocently.

  “You’re a dick you know that?” I punch his arm playfully.

  “Ow, you’re stronger than you look.” He rubs the spot where I hit. “And since when do you say bad words?”

  “I don’t know, I guess hanging out with my friends for so long has done that to me and my brain picked them up.” I shrug.

  “Well, it’s not a good thing in such a pretty mouth.” He kisses me deeply. “Wanna go upstairs and work some of the stress out?” He waggles his eyebrows.

  “Not today, Brian.”

  “Why not? You never want any more since you crashed your car.”

  “Sorry for going through something traumatic and not feeling like fucking you. Besides, I can’t.” I shrug and get up to get an iced tea refill.

  He follows me in the kitchen. “And why can’t you?”

  “Because I’m on my period.” I get a donut and take a bite out of it.

  “Well, you can still blow me. I’m horny babe!” He actually whines!

  “Eww, gross. No, thanks.” I frown.

  “Seriously? You’ve never given me a blowjob. You’ve been denying me sex for days now, what am I supposed to do?” He throws his hands up.

  “You never went down on me either! Go jerk off if you’re that horny.” I shrug and take my glass and donut outside.

  “Come on, Babe, we won’t be able to see each other much now that you’re going to work, and I have the nightshifts again this week so we’ll only see each other next weekend. Don’t do this.”

  “Do what? Stand up for myself to my asshole of a boyfriend who only seems to think with his dick lately? I’m sorry I’m so fucking selfish. If you’re not happy with my attitude, you can see yourself out. I have things to do before tomorrow and I’m not in the mood to deal with your whiney ass.”

  “You’re such a fucking bitch when you’re on your period. I’m out. See ya.” He leaves and I’m relieved. I couldn’t deal with him even if I wanted.

  I really should gather up the courage to dump him. I’m just scared of his reaction.

  I spend the day sorting out my house and my head.

  I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I can’t stay with Brian. We’re not compatible anymore. Next time I see him, I’m ending things with him. I thought about doing it over the phone or over text message, but it wouldn’t be right, would it? I don’t know if I should go straight to Aleck either, that wouldn’t feel right, but at the same time it would. It’s so bloody confusing!

  Men are a weird species that makes women do crazy things and have crazy thoughts.

  I’m getting ready for bed when I hear my phone chirp. I don’t pay attention to it much as I’m in the process of washing my face and don’t want to get water all over it. I finish washing my face and get onto brushing my teeth and my phone chirps aga
in. Thinking it’s Brian, I don’t bother checking it. He can wait a few more minutes. I finish doing my business in the bathroom and get into my pyjama when it chirps again. Bloody hell!

  I finally get to check my messages and see it’s not Brian, it’s Aleck.

  Aleck: Hey Gorgeous, how have you been?

  Aleck: Good luck for tomorrow.

  Aleck: If you don’t reply within the next 5 minutes, I’m showing up at your door, I don’t care if you’re busy with the asshat.

  Woah, someone is a bit impatient. It does make me smile though. He’s never been the jealous and over possessive type over the years, well, not that he had a reason to but, you know, it’s good to know that he’s jealous and concerned.

  Me: I’m fine, calm your tits!

  Aleck: What if I told you I’m already at your front door?

  Me: You’re a fucking creeper if you are!

  Aleck: Would you let me in?

  Me: Of course.

  Aleck: Sadly, I’m not there.

  Me: That’s disappointing, only words!

  Aleck: Watch what you’re saying, Line, or you might be surprised by what might happen to you ;)

  Me: Bring it, Sanford! :p

  Aleck: I will Gorgeous and you won’t know what hit you…

  Me: Again, only words.

  Aleck: You’ll see…

  Me: Sure, sure.

  Aleck: So, ready for tomorrow?

  Me: As ready as I’ll ever be, shitting myself that I will be on my own teaching them, but excited at the same time.

  Aleck: You’ll do good, don’t worry.

  Me: I hope you’re right.

  Aleck: I’m always right Gorgeous. I’ll let you get some rest and see you very soon.

  Me: Yeah, right…I hope so, haven’t seen you in a couple of days.

  Aleck: I know been busy, club stuff.

  Me: Alright, see you soon xxx

  Aleck: See you soon Line xxx

  Well, I had no idea Aleck was into texting, had I know I’d have started earlier! It’s nice to know he was thinking of me and wanted to check on me.

  I smile lying in bed staring at my phone. Yes, I’m super lame and I don’t even care. Aleck is really opening up and showing he actually wants something and isn’t avoiding me on purpose this time.