“Just shut the fuck up,” I growled, before I stepped out of the door. I heard a glass crash against the door, which she had aimed at my head but missed by like a second.
With my jaws clenched, I went down the stairs to my bike again. She had completely ruined my erection, with all this talk about love and being in a relationship. I thought the reason it was working with her was because she never brought this shit up.
I got on my bike and rode towards my own house. I’d just have to jerk off instead tonight. I wasn’t in the mood to go looking for some other woman to fuck either. It was a better idea to be alone tonight.
2
Alexis
I jiggled the key in the lock and pushed the door open to find our apartment empty. “Fuck you, Oz!” I cursed in the darkness and banged the door shut behind me.
I’d taken the last shift at the supermarket and returned with a bag of frozen dinner for two, but my brother hadn’t returned home yet.
Sighing, I switched the lights on in the apartment one by one and went into the kitchen. I hadn’t changed out of my uniform yet, and feeling annoyed, I pulled my name-tag off the front of my blouse and threw it on the kitchen table.
It was nine. Oz had promised me that he would be back home by now, before I got done with my shift and once again, he hadn’t stuck to his word. I shook my head, muttering under my breath as I turned on the oven and popped in the two dinners in their plastic containers. I was a fool to think that things could start changing around here.
I looked at the clock again, time was creeping slowly by and there was still no sign of my brother. I didn’t have any idea where he was. He didn’t give me any information on who he hung out with these days. I just hoped that it wasn’t the Romano boys, because they were always up to no good.
I needed Oz to focus. He was young, just twenty years old and he had his entire life ahead of him. If I could just keep him off the streets, just keep him out of the company of the Romanos…if I could just convince him to take up a course at Community College; my hope was that he could get a real job. That he could get himself out of this shit-hole of a neighborhood. I had all my hopes and dreams pegged on him.
I sat down at the kitchen table, trying hard to not open the cabinet and pour myself some rum in a glass. The last thing I needed was to get myself hooked on alcohol the way mom had done. I knew first-hand what the consequences of an addiction like that was. She hadn’t been able to raise Oz, it had been my responsibility. And as a result, I couldn’t go to college…I was stuck here, in this cramped apartment; looking after mom and my little brother.
I needed Oz to understand that all I wanted for him was a better life, a better life than our parents and a better life than I had in store for me. It was too late for me to make something of myself, but it wasn’t too late for Oz.
I heard another set of keys jiggling in the door and I looked up at the clock again. It was nine-thirty.
Jumping up from the chair, I rushed to the door to find Oz entering the apartment. I could sense that he was purposely keeping his back turned to me, and without saying a word, he was trying to make a smooth exit to his room.
“You were supposed to be home an hour ago, Oz!” I hissed at him, crossing my arms over my breasts. He breathed in deeply and turned to me slowly.
“I got caught up with something,” my brother said and I saw his split lip, the trail of blood dribbling from his bottom lip and down his neck. He’d been in a fight.
“For God’s Sake, Oz!” I yelped, rushing to him and he gently pushed me away.
“I just need to wash my face,” he protested and walked towards the bathroom. I followed him, feeling a rising sense of worry in my chest.
“You were with them again, weren’t you? The Romano boys! What did you do this time? Throw a rock through a gas station window? For the sake of a few chocolate bars and cans of beer?” I yelled after him.
He tried to shut the bathroom door behind him, but I pushed it open and followed him in. Our bathroom was small, too small for the two of us and Oz kept his eyes averted from me while he splashed water on his face.
“Talk to me, Oz! Will you just talk to me?” I screamed and he clenched his jaws and looked at me in the mirror.
“What do you want me to say, sis? Yeah, I was with the Romanos. We got into a small fight, I took a punch…so fucking what?” Oz growled and I shook my head, with my nostrils flared.
“So what? So that means that you’re spiraling out of my control!”
“So why are you trying to control me? You’re not my mother!” Oz shouted back, pulling the hand towel off the rail and leaving faint blotches of blood on it as he wiped his face.
I felt a cry rising up in my throat and I turned from him and stormed out of the bathroom. Oz followed me to the kitchen.
“Okay, sis, I didn’t mean that. I know how much you’ve done for me. I know you’ve been a mother and father to me all my life, because mom was…she was useless at it. But…sis…please, will you just fucking hear me out?” Oz was trying to calm me down while I paced around the kitchen with my face in my hands.
“This is crazy. We need to move out of this neighborhood. You need to be in a class somewhere, Oz. You need to get yourself an education, make up for lost time,” I was mumbling, more to myself than speaking to him.
Oz walked up to me, grabbing me by my arms and I noticed how strong he’d gotten. He was in the habit of wearing tight t-shirts these days and his tattooed biceps bulged. He shook me lightly.
“Alexis! Just calm the fuck down. We’re not going anywhere! This is our neighborhood! This is where we grew up!” he growled and I yanked myself away from him.
“And that is exactly what’s wrong with us! That’s what killed dad and got mom drinking, and we need to get out of here. Why don’t you see that? Why don’t you want a better life than this?” I screamed and I could feel my eyes watering.
Oz shook his head as he watched me.
“What better life? You mean some life in Philadelphia or New Haven? Living in a red-brick house with a white picket fence? Having a boring nine to five job and saving for a fucking mortgage? What kind of life is that?” he asked and I scrunched up my face to stop the tears from pouring and I looked away from him.
That life was a distant dream. Away from this neighborhood. Away from worrying everyday if my brother was going to get back home safe and sound.
“That is a safe life, Oz. That is the life you deserve, what I’ve been working towards, why I wanted you to stay in school!” I snapped at him and he rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.
“You know what your problem is, sis? That you think you’re still responsible for me. I’m an adult, just like you. I can make my own decisions. Just like you. And my decision is to stay here, to do what I want to do,” Oz said and I grunted sarcastically.
“You are barely an adult and all your decisions are poor and self-harming. If I wasn’t in your life, holding you back…you’d be dead in a ditch somewhere already,” I snapped and immediately regretted my words.
Oz shook his head and then he turned from me and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone again. The timer on the oven went off and its beeps filled the apartment.
“Shit! Fuck!” I cursed, pulling the containers out of the oven, and scalding my fingers in the process.
Gripping the edge of the kitchen counter, I pressed my eyes closed and breathed out a sigh. I was frustrated, I was feeling helpless. The more I lectured Oz, the more we got into these fights…the more I was pushing him away. But I didn’t know how else to make him see reason, to see what I was seeing…that he was headed towards destruction. That I loved him, that I wanted to protect him from the kind of life that dad had led; which got him killed.
I could hear him moving around in his room, and then the sound of blasting metal music filled the apartment.
I sat down at the table and started eating the dinner by myself—tasteless and nutrition-less. I was tired of never havin
g enough money, I was tired of worrying for Oz, I was tired of dreaming of a better life. But I wasn’t giving up either. I wasn’t giving up on my brother yet.
3
Abe
When I walked into T-Bone the next morning for Church, a huge roar of congratulations rung out. The guys were clapping for Girth, Rodeo and me for taking out the man who had killed our brother Fred. I was in the mood for a celebration too. That bald motherfucker was dead and Fred’s killing was justly avenged. I knew Rodeo was deeply affected, but he was relieved too. At least now our brother Fred could rest in peace.
It was time for breakfast, but shots of whisky were being passed around and even Lewis, our President, was in the mood to celebrate. He had been pretty rowdy and upset since the death of Fred, who had been his closest friend.
Jordan and Lila were there too, and we all cheered and gulped down our whiskeys and most of them asked for more. I didn’t want to start drinking yet, I had something to discuss with the MC and I wanted to be alert for that conversation because I knew it wasn’t going to go down very well with the others.
“You guys went and got yourselves shot! Well done! Well fucking done!” Lewis thumped Rodeo’s back who was smiling and had Jordan curled up in his arm. They looked happy together and I was happy for them.
Lewis shook Girth’s hand next, who accepted the congratulations with his usual straight face. Lila looked proud and happy beside him and then Lewis came up to me.
“I heard you were wrapped up in a sling,” he said with a laugh as he thumped my back and I smirked.
“Didn’t need it anymore,” I told him and some of the others laughed.
It was back to being our usual Church meetings. Our MC had never been the kind to take things too seriously. We weren’t ever involved in anything major, till the last few months when Lila’s life was in danger from the Dark Legion and then Fred got killed. Now that this was all over, things were back to being its usual relaxed way.
“Actually, Lewis. I thought I’d bring up something I wanted to discuss. Since this is a Church meeting after all,” I said and put down the empty shot glass on the counter.
Lewis raised his brows and nodded his head, even though most of my other brothers in the MC were still talking amongst themselves. They couldn’t imagine there could be anything serious enough to have to shut up about.
“What did you want to discuss, Abe? Something about the garage?” Lewis asked, referring to the auto body shop we ran as a side business, which I was in-charge of.
“No, it’s not about the garage. It’s about the MC,” I replied and he looked confused. Then he went over and sat down on a bar stool and turned his full attention to me.
“Our MC?” he asked and there was a lull in the conversation now, some of my brothers had turned to us as we talked.
“Yeah, our MC. I wanted to talk to you about expansion plans,” I declared and I pushed my hands into the pockets of my pants as I held his gaze firmly. I was expecting some resistance.
Lewis blinked, then looked at his daughter, Lila and then Rodeo, before he looked at me again and snorted.
“Is this some kind of joke?” he asked and some of the guys chuckled. I clenched my jaws and shook my head.
“No, there’s nothing funny about it. I’m serious. I think we should look into expanding the Marked Skulls,” I told him. Rodeo cleared his throat and stepped up between us.
“Abe, you need to fucking calm down, you’re still running on adrenaline from last night. You saw how close we got to losing that fucking fight,” he snarled and I looked at him and nodded.
“Exactly. How many more times do you want to come close to losing a fight? How long do you want us to be known as the weak underdogs? The MC without enough members,” I declared and turned my gaze towards Lewis again.
He was clutching his shot glass in his hand and glaring at me like I’d slapped him across the face.
“Brother, you need to think about what you’re saying here,” Sal, one of the other members, stepped up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I yanked myself away from him, continuing to stare at Lewis.
“We need to get new recruits, get fresh blood added as prospects to our MC. We need to think about getting our hands dirty in the real shit; weapons, drugs, protection,” I continued and Lewis jumped off the bar stool and stepped towards me threateningly.
“Abe, fuck man! We are not in a position to expand. We killed the guy, but we got our asses beaten in the process. You know how long it’s going to take before we can get into that shit? And you think The Dark Legion and the others are just going to let it slide?” Rodeo raged against me and I held my ground.
I was done being a small-timer. I was bored.
“Do you not remember what happened the last time we stepped on the Dark Legion’s shoes? My daughter nearly got killed. They fucking kidnapped Lila!” Lewis growled, coming up close to me and shouting at my face.
I breathed deeply and nodded.
“And Lila’s life was in danger because we weren’t prepared. We had to get Girth in to protect her. We won’t have to do that if we have our own men, if we have more men like Girth on our team. We don’t have to cower in the corner, afraid of the Dark Legion,” I replied to him, as calmly as I could.
Lewis’ eyes were widened, bloodshot…he was glaring at me. I could see Rodeo running a hand through his hair over and over again.
When Lewis realized that I wasn’t going to break eye contact, he looked over his shoulder at Girth.
“What’s your take on this psychobabble bullshit?” he growled and I looked at Girth, who was glaring back at me.
“It makes sense. We need to build up our base, whether we get involved in other businesses or not. We’re too small to defend ourselves well right now,” Girth replied and my lips stretched in a grin.
Lewis eyed me strongly, while Rodeo muttered away under his breath behind him.
“He says it makes sense,” I repeated Girth’s words.
“We need to fucking stay where we are. We need to keep doing what we’re good at!” Rodeo stormed towards us again and I faced him. I knew none of my brothers were expecting this from me. I was younger than them, I had been more interested in the garage than the other aspects of the business up until now. None of them had expected it to be me who wanted more, to grow ambitious.
Lewis raised his hand, which silenced Rodeo and the others. He squinted his eyes at me, watching me closely and I stared back at him, holding my ground.
“What’s gotten into your little head?” he hissed and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’m just bored of doing the same old shit,” I replied and he stepped back, nodding his head gently.
“Lewis, we need to think about this. We can’t afford to expand right now, we can’t get involved in more shit that’ll piss the Dark Legion off!” Rodeo growled from behind him.
With his eyes still focused on me, Lewis spat on the floor.
“Listen to you mewling like a little girl!” he snapped and Rodeo gulped.
“I just want us to have a slice of the cake that the others are eating,” I looked at Rodeo who rolled his eyes away from me.
“Fine. I heard you. There could be something there,” Lewis said and Rodeo threw his arms up in the air.
“You want us to expand? You do the business. Get us new prospects, guys good enough to match Rodeo, Girth and yourself and then I might consider the idea,” Lewis said and I smiled widely.
“How many times am I going to have to fucking repeat this shit? We cannot afford to expand right now!” Rodeo growled.
“Yeah because we don’t have enough members. I plan on changing that!” I snapped at him.
“You have a plan, eh? You’ve been thinking about this?” Lewis asked and I nodded my head.
“Yeah, I have a few new prospects in mind. I want to test them out first and see if they’ll be a fit,” I replied.
“Where? Where will you find these new guys?” Rodeo asked and I tur
ned to him again.
“Word on the street is that there’s a new kid, part of a street gang, he has a promising career ahead of him. Strong as a mule,” I said and smiled at Girth who nodded his head.
“Which fucking street gang?” Rodeo snapped and I fixed my eyes on him.
“The Romeros,” I replied and he rolled his eyes again.
I didn’t care how much Rodeo bad-mouthed me now. We were brothers in arms. All I needed was one chance, to prove this new kid to my MC and then they’d see the light. They would realize that I was making complete sense.
4
Alexis
I was on a day shift at the supermarket today, and I was at the back storeroom, counting stock. Joshua, one of my colleagues, was there with me and we were sifting through the boxes of baby diapers.
I caught him gazing at me from time to time, and I pretended like I hadn’t caught him looking. The last thing I needed right now was for him to bring up that topic again. I adored him as a co-worker and a friend, but that was it. Joshua had other ideas and I was tired of letting him down.
I dabbed at my forehead with the back of my hand and Joshua looked up at me with a smile on his face. He was bent over one of the boxes and I caught his eye.
“Tired?” he asked and I smiled weakly at him.
Joshua was one of those few people I enjoyed working with at the supermarket. He was sweet, friendly and attentive and had been trying to get me to go on a date with him for over a year now. Despite all his good qualities, I just missed that spark. He was clean looking, with typical boy-next-door looks and he seemed to be really into me, but I just wished that he made my heart race in my chest.
Not that many guys had. The last time I could remember feeling giddy for a guy was Max Leonard in High School; the jock, the guy who dated all the cheerleaders and there was no way that he and I could ever get together. Moreover, I should have known that guys like him spelt trouble. I needed to practice what I preached; but that didn’t stop me from lusting after a ‘bad boy’ and Joshua was just too nice. He was someone I could picture myself growing old with and raising children with…someone I knew would be good for me, but foolishly, I wanted more than just that.
Marked Skulls MC Series: Books 1-5 Page 30