by B. B. Blaque
I knew from jump that the tough New Yorker was an act, but I was blindsided at how big an act it was. Over a year and she hadn’t slipped She did say y’all a couple times. I thought it was from bein’ around my country ass. Of all places, she would have to be from Evansville too.
“Okay, lemme find out from Coy. Did he say anything to you?” Patch holder or not, he had no business talkin’ to or fuckin’ with Rotten Apple property. He’d have to come to us if he was a Royal Bastard. “I’ll tighten his ass up so fast, his mama and the rest of his family will feel it!”
She slumped into the seat, lit another cigarette, and grabbed the beer outta my hand. “No . . . he didn’t say anything. It could be my imagination . . . one can only hope. As soon as that guy saw me he looked sick and was gone in a blink. I didn’t have time to really check ‘im out.”
I took her hand and brought her back to the dressin’ room. As happy as she’d looked on stage, it was all wiped away and she looked broken. “I’m gonna go have a heart to heart with Crucifix and Coy. If it’s what you think, it might be best to cancel your second night. We don’t need to cause problems in their house, what could be his house, and we sure as fuck don’t want bad blood between chapters.
Not our chapter. Not our problem to deal with. Unless he fucked with her, then all bets were off.
“I got this. Don’t worry. I take care of what’s mine.” Nixx barely looked up and I tilted her face so I could see her eyes. They looked terrified and tears were drippin’ down her face. I got you, girl. I didn’t know how long it was gonna take, so I dropped a pack of smokes and a lighter on the make-up table. “Stay in here until me or Crucifix come get ya. Not open for debate. Can’t watch out for your ass if you don’t listen.”
I’ve never been so protective over one of our girls. It ain’t my way.
When I was back at the bar, I asked the girl to bring a couple of them Mounds drinks to her. “Yeah, can you bring her a couple doubles? Water too . . . girl loves her some water.”
Coy and Crucifix were sittin’ off to the side and when they saw me, they stood and walked over. They already know. “We got us a problem with your girl.”
Fuck!
I ordered shot of Irish whiskey and choked it down. Un-fuckin’-believable! “It’s true then? It was this Luke guy? Nixx is goin’ outta her mind right now.”
Coy nodded and swallowed a mouthful of beer. “Yeah, he called after he saw her. How he didn’t know before we brought her down is beyond me. It’s not like we’ve kept it a fuckin’ secret. Luke has a few screws loose . . . not a super big supporter of The Mounds. Maybe he just didn’t pay attention until tonight.”
“Who is this motherfucker?” We’d met most of the Louisville Chapter at rallies and stuff. “Do we know him?”
Coy nodded and turned his head to me. “Yeah, you’ve met. You don’t really know him, but the reputation . . . well, Luke is Poster Boy. I’m sure that sheds some light on shit.”
“Son of a bitch! That creepy motherfucker? Isn’t he into nuns or virgin sacrifice or some shit?” We’d heard stories about Poster Boy. He creeped a lot of chicks out, no wonder Nixx hated him. “I bet your ass he just came in to see if it was really her. I hope he’s satisfied ‘cause she is twistin’ like a knot back there.”
“Freak luck, man. Sorry about your girl. He’s harmless . . . Well . . . he won’t step to y’all anyway. Got into the club to get away from a privileged home life and let his inner demons loose. He ain’t wrapped the tightest.”
Damn right he’s harmless. If he even thinks about tryin’ my .45 will teach that boy a lesson.
Crucifix downed a shot and patted my arm. “Looks like we’re headed west ahead of schedule, bro. We’ve outstayed our welcome.”
“For now.” Coy jumped in with a small smile on his face. “We gotta figure this out. He’s flippin’, so it’s best to nip it in the bud.”
That really got me and before I could reel it back or lower my voice it spewed out, “What the fuck is he losin’ it about? He stalked Nixx and she had to make a whole new life to get away from his ass!”
“Near as I know their whole deal really did a number on him.” Coy was shakin’ his head and wavin’ the barmaid over with some drinks. “Not sure if that started it, or if he was already missin’ critical elements in his brain, but seein’ her on that stage didn’t sit well with him.”
I did another shot with Coy and Crucifix before goin’ back to the dressin’ room with another round for me and Nixx. I passed Tombie on the way, and told him to have one of the bar-backs pack her shit and put it in the truck.
She was curled up with her legs crossed and her head sittin’ on her knees. A cigarette was burnin’ down in the ashtray and both shot glasses were empty. When I walked in, it was like it didn’t even register. “It’s taken care of, girl. No worries. Sit up and do a shot with me. Ya need it.”
Nixx lifted her head as slow as molasses in January, but when she finally made eye contact, she looked scared. “It was him . . . wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. It was. He knew it was you and called Coy, goin’ ape shit. We gotcha, girl. You don’t gotta see him again.” I wrapped my arms around her and whispered, “He never hit ya, did he? I know you’ve never mentioned it, but while he’s in beat down distance, I need to know.”
I couldn’t even hit you when you damn near pushed me to the limit. Piece of shit better not have! He’ll be a dead man!
She shook her head into my chest and looked up. “Naw, he never hit me . . . stalked me . . . and lemme tell ya, I wished he woulda hit me! He made me feel like I was the crazy one. Always thought I was with other guys and wouldn’t even let me wear make-up. I stuffed that part of me down into the pits and moved away, changed my name to Nixx instead of Nicolette, and tried to be everything except what he told me I was. Then, you came into the diner . . . Y’all let me be me. He made me feel like I was the worst thing on the planet.”
No matter how volatile our thing was or what’d happened between us, I hadn’t seen her such a mess. I didn’t like it. I wouldn’t handle it. As soon as it was time to check out, we’d be gone and wouldn’t come back until things were figured out and it was safe. Fucker better not show at the hotel!
They let me hang back there with her for a while. The guys came and packed her stuff and then Coy and Crucifix came in.
“Sorry, kid. Wish it hadn’t come down to this.” Crucifix pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “Look at it this way . . . we’ll be in Los Angeles sooner, which means you can go shop on the street with the stars.”
While Crucifix was tendin’ to Nixx, I pulled Coy aside. I needed to know. “Hey, man, do all your guys know which hotel y’all put the feature acts in? We don’t need no surprises in the night. Someone’s like to die and that’d be all kinds of fucked up. Is he the kind that’ll follow us out west?”
“Naw, he ain’t gonna go to L.A., not gonna happen. About the hotel, the only ones who know about it are me and Gremlin. No need for the rest to know. Don’t need problems when we bring in other girls who aren’t Royal Bastards’ property.” He looked over at Nixx and smacked at the door. “Sorry, girl. No harm meant. Gonna get it all squared away and then you’ll be welcome back anytime.”
Nixx literally shuddered at the mention of comin’ back. It’d be a long time before she’d step foot in Kentucky or Indiana. Even if she wanted to, it wasn’t gonna happen. Fuck that mess!
When we were back at the hotel, she sat outside with me and Crucifix. Both of us were carryin’, just in case Luke decided to show his fool face around.
I won’t do shit in their territory but if he’s stupid enough to come after her he won’t survive.
“So, kid, lemme get this straight . . . you ain’t a New Yorker? I had ya figured for an original, if nothin’ else from upstate or some shit. Indiana, though? You’re good.”
I wasn’t gonna ride her ass about not bein’ who she said she was. The information woulda been timed way better before we were co
min’ to Kentucky. We didn’t tell her where she was goin’ and that one was totally on me. None of us had been completely straight with each other. I got why she did what she did and kept to her story. Had to give the girl credit for not budgin’ an inch until she saw him.
“I know, I know. I shoulda said somethin’, but it was so far into things. I didn’t think it mattered where I was from. The accent ain’t a total fake. Ya hang around long enough, ya pick things up. I’m sure I’ve been slippin’ like crazy just bein’ in Kentucky. Thankfully I haven’t been talkin’ to many people from here, or I’d be full on fixin’ to fuck shit up and all y’all would be getting’ a surprise.”
We couldn’t help laughin’ at the Southern accent comin’ out of our ball-bustin’ little New Yorker. Even though I had her pegged for not bein’ as tough as she played, she’d grown a thicker skin hangin’ out with us. The innocence, yeah, I was dead damn wrong on that one. Never woulda guessed in a million years that under that disguise would beat the heart and pussy of a total wild woman. All the cards seemed to be on the table. I prayed to Jesus there wasn’t anything else hidin’ in the dark corners.
“Girl, why don’t you finish up your smoke and slam that drink. We’re gonna go up to the room and be on guard all night. We’ll hit the road early to start headin’ out west.
Nixx smirked, took the last drag off the cigarette, and laughed. “Oh, yeah, and I wanna be on the road with two guys who haven’t slept all night. Yeah, on the list of dumb ideas, that one is right up there.”
Crucifix stood to go to the room and I looked at her standin’ there waitin’. She didn’t look as broken, but the girl still wasn’t right. After bein’ in the Marines a twig bein’ snapped would wake me up. If Poster Boy walked through that door he’d be dead before he made it to the bathroom. “Alright, smartass . . . I’ll wrap my big ass body around you and keep ya safe. The gun’ll be on the nightstand and we’ll take the bed farthest from the door. I’m keepin’ you safe one way or another.”
There was no way on God’s green earth we’d let anything happen to that girl. Sure, there was the money, but I couldn’t help that gnawin’ feelin’ that there was somethin’ else.
PORNO STAR
The ride across the country was boring until we reached Denver—nothin’ but flat fields unless we hit a city. After that it was like an oasis and I could only imagine what it’d look like with snow. I would’ve kept ridin’ in Colorado forever—until we got to Utah. It looked like a cartoon of orange-brown mountains. They didn’t even look real. FOCUS had been goin’ on about him and Crucifix tag-teamin’ me in the Rockies. He thought we’d just do it on the side of the road somewhere. Thankfully, a waitress where we stopped to eat talked about “Colorado—come on vacation, leave on probation.” The guys quickly vetoed it, especially because FOCUS had been there done that. We did stop at a scenic outlook area in Utah and did it right up against the bike while lookin’ out at the most incredible mountains I could ever imagine. Gettin’ to L.A. was all I wanted to know after that. Vegas was a cool little stopover, but I needed to be in the City of Angels.
“Oh. My. God! Look! That sign says Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset too!” I couldn’t believe we were finally there in person. It was like I musta died and gone to Heaven or somethin’. “I wanna see everything!”
The Sunset Strip.
Walk of Fame.
Shoes!
“Don’t worry. We’ll see it.” FOCUS reached down, patted my boot, and squeezed. “First, we’re havin’ lunch with Blayze from the Los Angeles Chapter at the Rainbow.”
I was bouncin’ in bed at the hotel before we left to go to Hollywood. My make-up was pretty much done with spackle for God’s sake. I primed, contoured, buffed, bounced, baked, and anything else I could think of to smooth my face to perfection. It really wasn’t perfect, but as close as I could get. I did my eyes and lips much faster, and it woulda been a joke to do anything to my hair before braiding it and puttin’ on the damned helmet. Hollywood was such a big deal in my head, way bigger than Manhattan or Brooklyn, and I wanted to either blend in or stand out.
Here I go!
Sunset, baby!
When we rode down the exit ramp, we ended up right on Hollywood Boulevard. I could see the stars on the sidewalk from the bike and pointed it out to Crucifix. Eek! Shoe store after shoe store, sexy clothes, and more shoes. It was officially my favorite place in the world!
“Holy shit! It’s Frederick’s of Hollywood! We have to go there!” Everything was perfect and even though I knew it was gonna drive him crazy, I begged, “Will you play it again? Please? It’s the song . . . my jam for ridin’ on the Strip!”
He’d really been cool about it, I’d asked him to play “Porno Star” by Motley Crue fifty-gazillion times and he’d done at least a quarter of that. If that ain’t love, I don’t know what is. As we rode, I tried hard to look at everything and not get lost shoppin’ in my head. There were all kinds of places I’d heard of—The House of Blues, the Hustler store, the Viper Room, all of it was right there. I couldn’t believe it! When we pulled up in front of the Rainbow, Blayze met us although his bike wasn’t parked there.
“Hey . . . you dudes can’t park here, use the lot across the street by Shamrock Tattoo. I’ve got a prospect keepin’ an eye. Your bikes are good.” He stood out front waitin’ until the guys parked.
I was excited to be let in on some of the conversation. They only allowed it because it had to do with me and the movies. At least I wasn’t gonna be in the dark completely.
We got a huge red booth inside and talked while the guys ordered. Blayze suggested the ravioli and I just let FOCUS order for me. My brain was a lot of places and food was not one of ‘em.
“Okay, I know we’re short on time, but do you know this Johnny agent guy? He said he’d fix us up with talent and I have a few in mind from his website.” FOCUS went straight at it like a freight train. It sounded like he’d been doin’ research.
Hmm. I wonder.
“I gotta hear this . . . who?” Blayze was laughing. He musta heard stuff about the stars. People will hear about me. “Some have a pretty bad reputation and you don’t wanna use them.”
FOCUS pulled out his phone. I could sorta see outta my side vision and it was some kinda list. “There’s one . . . Gunnar Magnus . . . another guy, Rex Blackhawk. Those are my first two for dick tricks. Jade Luxe . . . Clover Dior, I want her just for the Irish connection, but she’s hot too. There’s one big-titted girl, Busty Wonderland, she’s pretty smokin’. Oh, yeah, and Rocco Powers is hung like a dang elephant.”
Blayze sipped his beer and smiled. “There’s some talent in the group. Stay away from Rex . . . he’s never on time and is a complete asshole. His sense of entitlement is off the charts. The other two guys, decent reputations, and yes, Rocco is every bit what the rumors say. Girls sometimes need a break after him ‘cause they’re torn . . . or at least that’s how the story is told on his end. I just know his shit is massive. No fuckin’ joke.”
He sounds interesting. Can I climb Mt. Powers? Mmmm. Mount.
“What about Gunnar? He’s kind of a pretty boy, but I think those chicks would be lappin’ him up.”
Luke is a pretty boy.
“Can we skip that one? I don’t like pretty . . . Luke.” It was still so fresh after seein’ him in Kentucky. I couldn’t handle more of that.” FOCUS and Crucifix both stared at me. “I’m sorry, you guys, just throwin’ my two cents onto the pile.”
FOCUS immediately started scrollin’ his list and came back with a couple names. “Okay, I hear her issue, she ain’t wrong. It’d be bad all the way around. What about Tommy Gunn or Drake Steel?”
“Ya got me on those two. I guess it’s good that I haven’t heard anything about them though.” Blayze shrugged and took a swallow of beer. “Now, one of those girls can be a royal pain in the ass. No pun intended. Jade Luxe is a prissy diva. We’ve seen her at parties and she’s always demanding and shitty about it to boot. I also heard s
tories that she does meth to stay skinny.”
FOCUS immediately started shakin’ his head. “Fuck that bitch, and I’ll call it as it is. If she’s a fuckin’ diva, she’s a royal cunt. Ain’t no way we’re gonna have a tweaker either. They don’t tend to do well with me. What about the others? Okay?”
Blayze sort of nodded. “Yeah, I guess. They’re all a little whacked out if ya ask me. Clover’s been nice . . . fucked around with one of the brothers and he didn’t motherfuck her too much. Miss Wonderland . . . that one is a story. We knew her when she was anything but busty . . . a sweet-butt for a while. Not a bad girl, but I think when she couldn’t land a Bastard, she got her tits inflated and the rest is history. You guys puttin’ together a stable?”
Crucifix jumped in. “Yeah, that’s the plan. FOCUS knows a whole lot about this shit that I don’t, but he’s talked about stealin’ a bunch away from that Johnny LA Douchebag to put in our company.”
They went from talkin’ about people to the movie—Rotten to the Core. My mind was wanderin’ across the street to the Hustler store and needin’ to smoke.
“Do you guys mind it I go check out the Hustler store? It’s right across the street and I need to smoke desperately.” I knew someone would be in tow. They never let me do anything by myself and Crucifix stood up first.
“Lemme take her. You two know what the fuck’s goin’ on better than I do. FOCUS, you can tell me all about it later so I’m not goin’ in blind. All this bullshit, I don’t need to know.”
We walked outside and I put my foot down on the street as I lit a cigarette. The parking lot was across the street, and we’d walked over, but I wasn’t payin’ attention. “Crucifix . . . look, I’m standin’ on the Sunset Strip.”