by Eden Rose
From what I can see, the guy that punched me last is still standing in front of me with a matchbook in his hands. “You know what I always liked to see?” He asks rhetorically because we all know he doesn’t want my opinion. “How much skin a person could have burned off before they die.”
That got my attention.
“Who are you?” I blurt again.
The guy smiles. “I’m Mick. The new president here and you guys have a lot of fucking explaining to do.” The smile is wiped off his face and replaced by a curled lip. “Like how you fucked up my suppliers, how you killed Fang. I want to know why you can’t just mind your own business.”
I strain against the handcuffs in vain. “Look, that’s between our presidents. The Plague was hiding profits and merch from us that we should have been dealt in. McSimmons went behind our backs and got you involved.”
I’d try just about anything to get my arms free in order to have some way to protect myself.
Mick chuckles and steps up towards David. “This is where you fucked up. You killed an alliance that actually helped us all. Because of that, why should I let you guys live? What kind of example would I give if I let you guys live? People would surely think I’ve gone soft.”
The guy could be a public speaker. Even though he’s baiting me, the asshole sure knows how to speak in public.
“All right. Let’s get this over with because we all know I’m not gonna rat out my brothers. Go ahead and throw the gasoline on me and light me on fire,” I reply calmly.
Something that I have learned through my many years on this earth, if someone is going to threaten to kill you if you don’t give them what they want, they’re still going to do it once you do. Mick and David planned this out in detail.
“You think you can play daddy to my son?” David yells at me while charging at me. He’s got his fist pulled back and it lands in my gut. “You can’t step into another man’s role thinking that you’re going to be his father.”
“I didn’t step on your toes,” I stutter out. The pain from the punches are starting to affect my eyes and balance. Fuck. Also, the smell from the gasoline is making me want to throw up.
David punches me one, two and three more times in the stomach before he stops to yell in my face. “Yeah, you did. Why you letting my son call you daddy?”
Feeling frustrated and annoyed, I go for the angle that I haven’t tried. Reverse psychology which is either going to get me killed or help me in this case. “Why do you think he called me that?”
This time he lands a punch in my mouth. I immediately taste the metallic taste of blood as it floods my mouth. I twist my head back to spit out the blood. Man, that fucking hurt!
“Why did you let my son call you daddy?” He repeats but slower this time like I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
There’s a hand that grabs the hair on my head and pulls me back so I’m resting on the back two legs of the chair. My balance is thrown off and the sudden movement has me sick to my stomach. I swallow the vomit that’s trying to come up.
MACK TRUCK
There’s something spiritual that happens to a biker when they are doing what they love. It’s something that no one can understand if they’re not a biker. It’s almost like a religious experience.
I let out a deep breath and embrace the wind that’s hitting me all over my body and shut my eyes for a brief second. It’s a fucking awesome feeling and I let go of the stress and worry from Britney.
We pull into the parking lot of the new drop and I signal for Bic and Rabies to slow down. Joker is riding behind us in the truck that we use for deliveries and pick ups. I park my bike close to the entrance of the warehouse and shrug off the feeling that something bad is about to happen.
God damn it.
I pull out my phone and check to see if Britney sent me a text message. Maybe she heard something from David or heard from Flip.
This is not the time to be thinking about her. No, this is time to handle business.
“What are we goin’ do?” Joker asks and shakes out his long hair.
The Bear is ready to go while he loads his gun clip. “All right! Our brother is in there right now and we don’t know what the fuck is happenin’ to him. I want you alert and I want all of you ready for whatever is about to happen.”
I nod and straighten out my shoulders. “Let’s do this, mother fuckers.”
All of us crack a half smile and I lead us to the front of the warehouse that belongs to The Black Plague. Hell, we were here a little while ago to sell product and now they’re fucking us.
“You goin’ knock?” Rabies grumbles out from behind us.
The Bear growls deep in his throat and then huffs out a breath. “Maybe I am. You got somethin’ to say?”
I raise my hand to knock on the door to show respect but then I decide against it. What has being nice done for me lately? Absolutely fucking nothing. It’s time to get what I want by any means necessary.
I rub my hand over my heart as that last thought rings true in my mind.
With a powerful kick, the steel door caves in and we walk through it to the main part of the warehouse. “Hello,” I say loudly. It echoes through the empty space but then I see the head that I want to see.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” A new guy demands and pulls his pants up that were being held up at his knees.
I stick my finger in the air and wave it to show the brothers to search through the clubhouse. The Bear’s standing next to me with his legs spread wide, a glare in his eyes. Slice’s next but he’s got his gun aimed.
“Where’s our brother?” Slice demands, but he does it diplomatically. The man is such a contradiction.
He stutters for a second and then reaches behind him to grab his piece. “I don’t know what you’re fucking talking about.”
“Sure, sure,” I shrug and then look around the empty space. I make sure that it’s obvious what I’m looking for so it will freak this guy out more. There’s crashing coming from the room that Rabies, Joker and Bic are in. “Opa!” I sing out just after a plate falls and smashes on the floor.
“What the fuck are you lookin’ for?” He demands and runs into the room.
I follow behind him and reach back to the waistband of my jeans to grab my own piece. “I already told you, mother fucker. Are you hard of hearing?”
My two brothers are tearing this room up and then I see something off to the side of me. Something shiny is coming out of nowhere and it’s aimed right at me. I jump out of the way and aim my gun before it’s already too late.
“Where’s our brother?” I ask with my gun to the head of the guy who is wearing a president’s patch. “You know what happened to the last guy that wore this patch? He died like a bitch. Want to follow him?”
“Fuck you!” He yells.
I take the barrel of my gun and jam it to the back of his head. “Fuck me? Nah, man. You’re not my type. I love the juicy pussy, not a guy who is a pussy,” I taunt.
That’s when I see Britney’s son’s father standing with a bloodied Flip on the ground in front of him. “It took you longer than I thought!” David exclaims with excitement.
“You workin’ with them, too?” Bic asks from the other side of the room.
Ever watched one of those old Wild Westerns? Where everyone has their guns drawn and they are pointed at everyone else? It’s like that. There’s not a person in the room that doesn’t have a gun in their hand and there’s not a person in this room who doesn’t have one trained on them.
What is with these mother fuckers that these assholes keep helping them out? Every single time we turn around The Plague is back and they have another one of our enemies helping them out. Do they have a recruiting event or some shit?
“Hey, Wayne,” David calls out to me.
I narrow my eyes to look at him but I don’t lower my piece. “What the fuck you want?”
He’s smiling a cocky smile but it’s what he says next that delivers
the death blow to me. “Ever wonder what happened to your sister?”
My head gets foggy as his words register in my brain. Don’t listen to him. He’s playing games! This is what cops do. He doesn’t know shit about Kayla.
I charge at him with my gun aimed at his face ready to shoot. “Stop!” I yell at him. I’m in his face in a matter of seconds.
“Did you want to know who killed her? Who took her from you?”
All the guys grow quiet as they watch the exchange we’re having. I know that some of them are confused because they didn’t know what happened to Kayla and that I didn’t want to tell them about it. “You don’t know shit!” I yell.
The Bear’s behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder to calm me down. “Don’t fuckin’ listen to this asshole. He’s playin’ you!”
“Ever wonder why you never got to go home after you were cleared of the charges? Why you had to go to foster care?” David’s rattling off everything that I have been wondering this whole time.
My eyes grow darker with rage and I’m not hearing anyone or anything right now. I’m that scared little boy in the police station being told that I’m going to foster care and my parents are out of town. I’m that scared little boy who never saw his parents again. I’m that scared little boy that had to learn how to hustle on the streets to make money.
In this moment, I knew the truth.
“My step dad,” I murmur.
David nods his head. “No one was going to tell you anything but since you’re probably going to die today, I thought you should know all the horrible things your step dad did to your sister.”
“Bic! Rabies! Stay with Mack Truck!” The Bear growls at them.
I only hear a little bit of what he’s saying. I’m living in the worst nightmare imaginable. The horrible dream that became my reality and never having closure. Never knowing what happened to her.
He holds out pictures for me to see a man and a woman beaten up so badly that they aren’t recognizable. The only part of the woman that I recognize, is the rose tattooed to her shoulder. That gaudy rose she got in an attempt to seem like a good woman.
“They were killed in prison. Both of them were trying to escape but the other inmates got to them first. Kayla’s murder was solved years ago.”
My mind spins. “You mean to tell me that you knew what happened but didn’t say anything to me?”
“It’s funny how things work out. You know? The bad guys always lose… In fact, I think our guest should be here soon.”
BRITNEY
I have finally cried all my tears and I have dried my eyes to the point where my mascara from yesterday isn’t making my eyelashes clump together. Aidan is still sleeping next to me in the main room of the clubhouse but it’s my ringing cell phone that draws my attention.
I grab it from the arm rest next to me and look at the name that flashes over it. It’s David!
I look around very quickly to see if anyone is watching me but everyone seems to be going about their business.
“Hello?” I whisper into the phone.
“You have an hour to get here before shit gets bad. One hour. You got me?”
“Get where?” I murmur desperately.
“The Plague clubhouse. You should know where that is. One hour. Have someone watch Aidan. He doesn’t need to be seeing this shit.”
Before I could respond, he’s hung up on me.
I spring into action. Gently, I scooch out of my seat before reaching down to cover him up. I walk through the clubhouse trying to find either Jen or Chantal to watch him for me.
I stumble across them in the kitchen with a pregnant Jen leaning against the counter. “Pregnant sex is fun.”
“What happens when he can’t find your vahoohoo?” Chantal pokes.
“I’ll sit on his face and smother the bastard for knocking me up.”
If I wasn’t so stressed out in trying to get to The Plague’s clubhouse, I would have laughed. These two are fucking hilarious. “Can one of you please watch Aidan?” I ask.
Chantal looks over at me quizzically. “Why?”
Shit! Why? Uh… “Woman trouble,” I blurt out stupidly. They are women! Of course they would know that I’m lying or have a tampon here for me or some shit.
Jen smirks. “What kind of woman trouble?”
“Look, I really need you to watch him. Please?” I beg with desperation.
“All right, you need to start talking right now,” Chantal orders.
Fuck me. “David called me and told me that I had to get to the clubhouse in an hour and I can’t bring Aidan. I’m really worried about Flip.”
Each moment that passes by is another moment that something awful could be happening to Flip. It scares the shit out of me at the possibilities.
“Prospect!” Chantal yells.
A man comes running into the kitchen with a look of urgency. “Yes, Pinky?”
“I need you to watch the boy in the clubhouse. We’re going out. We need tampons, condoms, pads, Vagisil… You know?”
He waves his hand in the air to stop her from explaining any further. “Got it. Go and be safe.”
All three of us are walking out of the kitchen with our elbows hugging and me in the middle. “You don’t have to go…” I state.
Chantal hisses at me. “Like we would let you go by yourself. They are at The Plague’s clubhouse and it’s about twenty minutes away. Our best bet is to get you in there and for you to talk to your baby daddy.”
“Are you going to wait in the car?” I ask while climbing into the back seat of someone’s car.
I don’t know what to think at all. Right now, my emotions are going crazy and I can’t keep my thoughts straight. I miss my son but I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to the guys of Lucifer’s Lair and I could have stopped it. It’s a fucking tricky situation.
The whole way to the clubhouse, we strategize as much as possible. I’m surprised as to how good these girls are at making these types of plans. By the time we pull up to the clubhouse, I’m sweating so hardcore that I feel sticky.
Gross!
David’s waiting outside the clubhouse by himself and he looks pretty proud of himself. Cautiously, I climb out of the car and walk over to him. “What did you do, David?” I demand once I’m in front of him. “Are you trying to get yourself fucking killed? You’re now a dirty cop? Is that it?”
“Bitch!” He hisses at me as he closes the space between us. Each one of his hands lands on my shoulders and he begins to shake me. “You started all of this. Everything! You just couldn’t keep your legs closed and had to go be a slut for a whole club. What’s wrong? You don’t feel love without the sex?”
Each word he says is another stab at my heart. I should have known that he could be this hurtful but it doesn’t make hearing it any easier. “No. I moved on.”
He chuckles, the vibrations from his chuckling shakes me. “You didn’t move on. You have a constant reminder on how you bored me out of bed and that is your whored out pussy. Is this your way of getting back at me because I didn’t want to marry you or some shit?”
I begin to get angrier than ever. I spin on my heels and elbow him in the stomach which makes him curl over just a little. “How dare you speak to the mother of your son like that?”
“All you had to do was stop hanging around the club and none of this would have happened,” he slurs.
“Are you drunk?”
As long as I have known him, I have only saw him drink socially. He’s not a huge drinker or anything but he has a beer here and there. This is totally new for me.
David stumbles backwards and I let him fall on his ass. “I showed you. I showed you that you shouldn’t have been a whore. You couldn’t keep your legs closed.”
“What the fuck are you blathering about?” I blurt out. None of what he is saying is making sense to me.
He chuckles while placing his hands behind his back to help push him up. I don’t even help him get up. I wait to s
ee what he’s going to say.
“The Plague… they came to me to tell me about their problem. Their problem being your stupid club. They needed help getting them on their knees. Turns out, I needed something too.”
“What did you need?” I hiss out.
He stumbles to his feet and points his gun at me and cocks it. I take a hasty step back, hoping that it will stop him from coming at me. It doesn’t.
“I needed you to not be a whore! You going around fucking all these trashy guys makes me look horrible. Don’t you fucking realize that?” He roars in my face.
I begin to stutter. “I, I, shit!” I murmur out trying to find a way to back track out of this.
“Now, I’m going to get sympathy votes for having a son who has a dead mother.”
Everything became crystal clear.
“This was your plan all along!” I blurt out.
He chuckles. “Turns out, the white trash bikers in there need a lot of legal help. I help them, they help me. It was actually their new president that started this plan of getting Flip isolated. I knew how much you loved him and it would have drove you here. I had to get you away from them.”
My eyes widen with fear. “And? Then what? You kill me and it’s all over for you?” I probe.
“No, now that all the loose ends are tied up, I don’t have to worry about anything anymore. Your stupid little boyfriend, Mack, found out the truth about his sister and now I can move on and get to the office seat faster.”
“Mother fucker!”
Doing a sharp turn, I look over to see Mack Truck running towards us. He’s got the look of death on his face and I can tell he heard everything.
You know when people say that shit slows down when you’re watching something horrible? Like everything else disappears and all you can see is the horrible scene in front of you?
That really does happen.
I hear the gun go off and I brace myself for the blunt hit from the bullet. It doesn’t come. What comes is screaming and yelling.
I look over to see Mack Truck on the ground with a gun shot to his forehead. Quickly, I run over to him with hope that he will be okay.