by Kasey Krane
So, tonight I was glad I’d been able to convince him to stay for dinner.
“I have shit to do, sis,” he argued when I stood blocking his door.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do, but I’ve made roast beef, exactly the way you like it and we should sit down and eat together. Talk over a few things. You know?”
But it seemed he didn’t know.
Chip looked shiftily around his room. I could sense his mind was elsewhere. He even looked a bit nervous.
“Hey, is something going on?” I asked. Now, he was refusing to meet my gaze. It didn’t take me long to figure out he was hiding something.
“I need to go!” he snapped, pushing past.
“You can go once you’ve eaten with me. Chip, please, will you do that for me? Just tonight? Just a quick meal. Please…”
I followed him around the house as he collected up all his things—jacket, wallet, shoes. He was sullen and silent.
When he realized I wasn’t letting up, he finally faced me with a big sigh. “Okay, a quick bite, then I’m out.”
I was beaming when I set the table for us, tried to involve him in conversation about the cafe, even though he wasn’t really listening.
“Chip!” I startled him out of his thoughts at one point. He gave me an annoyed look, and I thought he almost looked concerned. “You can tell me what’s on your mind. Maybe I can help. Are you in trouble?”
He shrugged. “Can take care of myself,” he claimed.
Unfortunately, I’d seen that look on his face before, usually when he returned with a wound or a broken jaw or bruised knuckles from a fight. Chip wasn’t very good at hiding his worries from me, especially not when they came with multi-colored bruises and broken bones. I was sure I knew when he had something troubling on his mind.
And tonight, I was determined to not let him get hurt.
He said he was done with dinner abruptly and got up to leave.
“Don’t stay up for me, Cassie,” he said when I followed him to the door, more like an order than a request—as if he knew something already, something he wasn’t telling. He was putting on his jacket and avoiding my eyes. Another sign that something was up.
“I know you only think of me as a silly young girl, but Chip, really, I want to help,” I said. He faced me then, his eyes stormy and dark with anger. Or was he scared?
“Look! You can’t help me, Cassie. I don’t want you to. Can you please just stay out of it? Stay here, watch TV. Just shut up. Let me do what I have to do.”
“When will you be back?” I asked as he put on his shoes, but I felt scared I was pushing it too far, that he’d really snap.
“Why are you nagging me?” he bit back. He never snapped at me in the mornings, not when he was in a good mood. This wasn’t my Chip.
“I’m not trying to. I’m just concerned for you, Chip. You need help. If you don’t want me to interfere, I won’t. But will you come with me to see someone?”
“See who, exactly? What are you talking about? Like a shrink?”
I bit my lip, saying nothing.
“You’re the one who needs to get your fuckin’ head checked if you think you can drag me to a shrink. No fuckin’ way.” Now, he’d opened the door and was about to leave. I felt a desperate urge to pull him back, to beg him to stay, but knew it wouldn’t work. He was going to leave tonight, no matter what I said. I just hoped he’d be back in one piece.
“Tell me where you’ll be? In case I need to reach you,” I tried. Chip grinned indulgently, like I’d cracked the joke of the century.
“Goodnight, sis. Sleep well,” he said, and then he was gone.
I stood at the door, watching him sprint down the driveway and jump on his bike, not even giving me a parting glance as he rode away. Within seconds, I couldn’t even hear the roar of his engine anymore.
Once again, I was all alone, just me and this gnawing sensation of needing to help him, needing to intervene. But in what, I had no idea. I couldn’t get rid of it though. Why did I get the sense that he needed my help tonight? Maybe the way he was avoiding my eyes. Maybe because he finally stayed for dinner.
I paced around the house, tried to watch TV, did the dishes, folded some laundry. The next two hours dragged along till I decided I’d given him enough time. I needed to find out if he was okay.
I called his phone twice; both times, it went to voicemail. I sent him a text, asking him to respond immediately. Ten minutes went by. No reply.
My worry was turning into panic now, and it would only get worse if I remained in the house. I needed to get out, needed to feel I was doing something. So I jumped in my car and started driving.
We lived on the outskirts of Buffalo and the only place I knew to drive to was deeper into the country. I vaguely remembered Chip talking about some bar he frequented. I didn’t know much about this place other than it was close to the Allegheny Forest, so that was where I’d head. I started driving in its general direction in the hopes of spotting a bar I recognized.
I couldn’t even recall its name—if Chip had ever told it to me.
It was dead in the night now as I drove, and I tried his phone again. Ring, ring, ring. No answer. He hadn’t replied to my text.
My worry increased tenfold, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if I lost him. I had nobody else. No other family. No close friends. Just me and him. We had to stick together, brother and sister, there for one another.
I’d spent all my life caring for my brother and my mom. What was I supposed to do if I lost him too? Tears filled my eyes when I thought about the big elaborate breakfast he’d cooked for me the previous morning.
He’d been in a chipper mood, frying one egg after the other, flipping pancakes, and interested in my cafe and in hearing about the staff and the regular customers. That was then.
And tonight?
Everything had changed, as if he was a completely different person.
I knew the only solution to our problems was if I could somehow get him into therapy. He needed the help of a professional to bring him out of this dark cloud our parents’ deaths had sent him into. No matter how much I tried, I wouldn’t be able to do it myself.
I drove and drove that night, deeper into the countryside, into the blackness, aimless almost, just hoping, tears in my eyes sometimes… till I was convinced I was lost. Then just as I was about to stop and turn the car around again, I saw lights in the distance. Solitary lights from a solitary establishment. I drove on and there it was. The bar stood surrounded by tall trees like someone had attempted to hide the place by planting them all.
‘Fifth Gear’, it announced on a dilapidated board with one bright bulb illuminating it. It didn’t look too inviting, but even from this distance, even though I had no idea what it actually looked like, I was sure this was the place Chip had come to. I could feel in my bones that he was in there.
This was not the kind of bar I would ever walk into on my own. It was a dive bar; I could tell just from the outside. But it was exactly the kind of place where Chip would hang out.
Rows of bikes were parked outside and a few guys hanging about around it, beefed-up men with beards and tattoos. I didn’t know much about biker gangs, but got the feeling they belonged to one like that. I could sense them keeping a close eye on me, discussing me as I parked up on the gravel lot outside the doors of the bar.
Thankfully, they didn’t approach right away.
In the darkness, I sat in my car, trying to think of things to say.
Pep talks came to me fast and furious.
It’ll be fine. I’m just here to look for my brother. What harm can I possibly do to them? I’ll buy a few drinks, take on the role of a paying customer if I have to. They can’t deny me access then, can they?
Even as I sat there in my car, I could sense them studying me. Was one of them taking down my license plate number? Were they going to follow me out? Everything was so eerily suspicious that I was tempted to turn around and drive away. It wa
sn’t like Chip would be thrilled if he saw me walk in. But I couldn’t go now; I’d come so far, needed to talk to him.
I opened the door and stepped out. One shaky foot at a time.
Three men turned to face me square on, standing in a row a few feet in front of the door, as if challenging me to break through their barrier.
I forced a plastic smile on my face and marched forward.
This definitely felt like war.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” I said in my chirpiest voice, even managing to flip hair over my shoulder in an attempt at keeping it casual. Nobody replied. Their eyes seemed to burn holes in my body as they examined me, looking me up and down.
An idiotic attempt to walk around them failed when the guy on the edge caught me by my elbow, roughly yanking me back.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, miss?” he asked. His voice was deep and threatening, and my stomach flipped. Even though I knew Chip hung out with men of this caliber, I’d never come face to face with someone like him. My legs trembled.
“Just here to get a drink,” I replied sweetly, but there was a tremor in my voice.
He exchanged a look with his pals, and they continued to glare, their silence foreboding, making me want to explain myself. To convince them of my innocent intentions.
“Okay, look, I’ll be honest. I’m not here for a drink. Why would I drive all the way up here, in the middle of nowhere, for one beer, right?” I added a nervous chuckle, but nobody else was laughing. “I think my brother is in there and I need to talk to him. Maybe you know him?”
“If I were you, little girl, I’d get right back in that car and drive away,” one of them said. Another threat. Was my life in danger? Would anyone find me if something happened to me out here?
My skin was covered in goosebumps.
“Chip? His name’s Chip. He’s my older brother and… and I need to see him.”
The moment I said his name, recognition showed in their eyes. But still none of them said anything. That was all it took for me to know for sure they were embroiled with my brother in some way.
“Is he okay? Is Chip okay?” I tried.
“Get back in your car!” The guy who growled at me took a step toward me and I backed away. I had no choice. I knew I couldn’t out-muscle them.
“Go get Spike,” another said. I didn’t exactly want to stay to find out who Spike was. I turned and started walking to my car. Over my shoulder, I saw one of them walking around the side of the building, headed to the back of it. There had to be an entrance through there somewhere.
I opened my car door and slipped inside, sitting again behind the wheel, dazed. The other two men were still glaring and I waved, even smiled, trying to diffuse things. Finally, they looked away, as if annoyed. I kicked in the ignition. My car buzzed to life and I gave it a moment to settle.
The two men weren’t looking at me anymore.
It was time to get the hell out of the car and do the job.
Now or never.
I still wanted to find Chip, needed to get in there somehow.
The ignition was running as I opened the passenger door. Sliding over to it, I stepped out of the car as quietly as possible. Thankfully, the darkness shrouded me, and the two men could still hear the car engine ticking over. They thought they knew where I was.
But they didn’t.
Now, I was running around the side of the building to a door I could see. A door that left ajar: my point of entry into the bar.
All I needed to do was find Chip and make him see how dangerous this place was. Maybe when he saw me, he’d realize he needed to take me home and I’d save my brother from whatever fate was about to befall him.
At least, that was the plan.
3
Bolt
“Bring him in,” Drax said in a low, droning voice, like he didn’t want to say the words.
I hadn’t yet dared to ask the others who the guy was who'd betrayed us in such a cowardly way. The doors of the Great Room opened, and two guys led Chip in.
I was standing in the middle of the room, my back to the big TV screen usually turned to football. Tonight, it was switched off. Nobody was interested in the scores and I could focus only on Chip’s deathly pale face.
Was it really him? He was the reason why we were all here? I used to have faith in him. Sure, he was young, an amateur, but I’d always thought I could trust him with my life.
I swung my head around to look at Flash. He looked angry, just like everyone else. He caught my eye and shook his head, unable to believe it either. We’d invested months of time and energy into this guy. To train him. To watch him. Then eventually, we patched him into our MC.
The reason he’d been assigned the task of coordinating tonight’s shipment was because we’d trusted him.
Chip was brought to the middle of the room so he was facing Drax and most of the others in the MC. He was refusing to meet anyone’s eye.
He was ashamed.
I wanted to go right up to him, yank his head up to face me and ask him WHY? I was sure everyone else in the MC had the same question but I doubted he had an answer. What was it?
Greed? Ambition? Arrogance?
“Do you realize what the fuck you’ve done?” Drax growled. Chip kept his head down and said nothing, wasn’t even going to nod. “Can you fuckin’ hear me?”
Still nothing. A low buzzing hum pervaded the room while the others spoke in whispers to each other. This kind of betrayal wasn’t something that happened in our MC often. Well, not ever. We prided ourselves on our loyalty.
Drax walked right up to Chip now, lowering his face to be just an inch away from Chip’s protruding nose.
“You’ll fuckin’ look at me when you’re being spoken to,” he hissed. Turbo, one hand tightly clamped on Chip, shook him hard. Chip was going to get his teeth smashed if he didn’t look up and face Drax now.
I stood back, fists clenched by my sides. Chip slowly raised his face. I could see it covered in sweat, his mouth quivering. He searched Drax’s eyes but kept his mouth clamped shut.
“We’re all waiting for you to say something, boy,” he said. I saw Chip gulp. He was nervous. Why? Wasn’t this what he wanted? Didn’t he know about the consequences? What else did he think was going to happen when we found out what he’d done?
“You just going to stand there like a coward? Nothing to say?” It was Flash this time. He was roaring the words and I could sense things were going to quickly get out of hand if Chip didn’t say something fast.
I took a step forward and the motion made him look up at me. Our eyes met. I nodded. Maybe I was just creating a false sense of security for him. The truth was, there was nothing I could do to help him. He’d done something that didn’t deserve any sympathy from me or anyone else.
“Know why you’re here, Chip?” I asked in a low voice.
Firm. Emotionless. I needed him to say something so that all Hell didn’t break loose.
He took in a quick breath and continued to hold my gaze. It was like he didn’t want to look at anybody other than me.
“I drove tonight’s delivery to the Silver Knights instead of the intended buyers.”
Those words were enough. He’d just confessed. It was all that was needed from him. We didn’t even have to employ any unsavory methods to get it out of him. Too fuckin’ easy to be true.
A part of me thought he was just a scared kid, afraid of us hurting him. But why do it then?
Chip opened his mouth as if he had something more to say but Drax shut him up.
“That’s all we need from you. You’re worthless to us now. You’re scum and you will be treated as such.” He took a step away from Chip. I could see the panic rising in the boy’s face. Drax turned to the room. “Anyone have any objection to him being removed?”
An uproar broke out in the room, everyone talking over each other. Flash and Spike were trying to keep the peace, roaring at the guys to keep away. Chip was going to be dealt with in
an appropriate way. There was no room for the others to take justice into their own hands.
Drax had his answer and he turned to me now.
“Do it,” he growled.
I had no time to think. The others were watching me. The buzz had died again because everyone wanted to see it actually happening. Chip’s patch being ripped off him. The biggest dishonor anybody in the MC could ever face.
I clenched my jaw and stepped up to Chip. Turbo and Bark were holding him in place. He was looking at me like a man about to face the chopping block, and I didn’t look away. It had to be done. He should have thought of the consequences first.
I stretched a hand out to his jacket. I’d never actually done this before. never needed to. But I was aware this was one of my responsibilities as Sergeant of Arms.
“You’re out, Chip,” I said to him, just loud enough for him to hear and I ripped the patch off his jacket.
He gasped aloud like I’d ripped off his skin. The men around us broke out in a bloodthirsty cheer of celebration. Chip was no longer one of the brothers, one of us, and that was a good thing, and what he deserved.
I tore my gaze away and turned to face Drax. I could see it in his eyes now. It wasn’t over yet; Chip had more coming for him.
“Take him out the back. Give him what he deserves,” he growled. A sound like a wolf cry rang out in the room. The men were happy to hear Drax would give them a chance for payback. Chip wasn’t getting off so lightly.
Before anyone else could react, Turbo slugged Chip in the stomach, and Chip doubled over. Clearly, Turbo had been waiting to do that for a while. And in the next moment, the back door to the room whipped open and there was a loud shriek.
The first thing I saw was the flash of Spike’s gun and I turned around to find a girl running toward me. It took me another instance to recognize she was running toward Chip—I was simply in the way.
