Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other books by Victoria Johns
Copyright © 2020 Victoria Johns
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This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places or events are entirely coincidental. Many are products of the author’s imagination.
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Beckett Hope
Aged Eighteen years old
Beckett
“You should be getting a fuckin’ job, boy, not out partying, that’s how you knock up some dumb bitch. You learn nothin’ from me?”
I managed to moonwalk back a couple of paces, enough so Dad’s fist just glanced off my ribs. The miserable fucker had stopped punching me in the face when the school got interested in my fresh bruises, that and I was nearly a foot and a half taller than him, his coordination wasn’t the best on a sober day, but like now, when he was seven sheets to the wind, he never connected.
The ‘oof’ sound I made brought a smile to his ugly-ass face, and I hated that he’d seen my reaction. I never wanted him to know he was getting to me.
He was wrong; I learned an awful lot from him, but mostly it was how to shut my world off, never show emotion, and take a good fucking beating. “School only finished a couple of hours ago, I’m working on the job thing.”
Mom was sat in front of the TV, currently about four sheets to the wind and rapidly catching him up. Her glazed eyes glanced in the direction of my voice, “I need smokes!”
Dad pulled a few crumpled bills from his pants pocket. “Go get us some smokes, boy.”
A reprieve.
He left me to it and headed in the direction of the kitchen, I heard the glass bottles clang together as he opened and closed the fridge.
Soon I’d be out of this, fucking gone. And I needed to be. If I didn’t, it was highly likely the only place I’d be heading towards was the state penitentiary, with a rap sheet for murder. The only thing that caused me to rethink my plans was my baby sister, Tracey. The thought of leaving her here with them, vulnerable, wasn’t a good one, but it was time to look out for me; after all, if I got sent down for twenty five for hacking that fat, useless fuck to pieces, she’d be on her own with mom and I wasn’t sure which of them was worse.
Tracey was sitting at the end of the drive, hidden between my beat-up car and the unkempt bushes our dad hadn’t tended to for about a decade. “You hiding?” Tracey shook her head but didn’t look up at me. “Then why are you out here?”
I sat down next to her and waited. I didn’t have all the time in the world, but for Tracey I could give her a few minutes. “Mom says my hours at the diner isn’t bringing enough in.”
Fucking Bitch.
She wanted to try getting off her ass for a change, rather than mooching off a teenage girl.
“Says she’s gonna put me out to work,” Tracey looked at me, skewering me with her eyes. “I already go out to work, Beck, with school and stuff, how many more hours can I possibly do?”
It wasn’t that that concerned me. It was that Mom’s idea of work was bringing round men from the factory and renting out her bed to them by the hour. I’d never caught her doing it, but I heard talk in town. They didn’t call us the ‘no Hope kids’ for no reason.
How the fuck could I leave with this on the horizon? I could come back and find my sister a replica of my mom, used, abused and in that vicious cycle of booze and men on repeat.
“Come on, I gotta get some smokes, you want me to drop you at Flick’s place?”
“Can I come to the party with you later?” Tracey looked at me with big, puppy dog eyes.
“It’s a bad idea.”
“Staying here alone is a bad idea.” Her answer was another jab to the ribs, worse than any that asshole had ever landed. All of a sudden, we both heard the crash of something in the living room. “See, they’re fighting again.”
I stood up and walked to the living room window, my lunch of stale bread and jelly with chips and a soda bubbled inside me, they weren’t fighting. He’d got my mom by the throat over the stained coffee table, cans and dirty cups now on the floor. Mom was clawing at his hands, while Dad was busy reaching for his zipper. My shadow caused him to look at the window. The evil sneer on his face told me he didn’t care that I was about to be witness to him raping her in the middle of the day in our living room.
I should tell Tracey I was out of here as soon as I graduated. I should do it now, but I hesitated. “Come on, fuck the smokes, let’s go to the diner with the money instead.”
It was a stupid idea, and I’d pay for it later, probably with another fist to the gut, but I didn’t have long left to wait it out.
I looked at her as she twirled a straw in the milkshake. This was going to cut deep. “T, I need to tell you something.” She gave me her attention and I prayed with all my heart she’d understand. “I’ve enlisted.”
Her puzzled face never left mine, “Enlisted?”
“Yeah, in the army.”
“You’re leaving me? With them?”
“I have to. One of us has to go and earn some real money, otherwise we’re gonna end up just like them.”
Tracey fell silent, she’d never been good at hiding her emotions, that shit played out all across her face like a damn movie reel. “Yeah, I’m gonna end up just like them.” She slammed the glass down on the counter.
“I’ve got it all planned, I’ll be living in the barracks, so the money I earn will go into a bank account. I’ll send you details of how to get at it. Stay close to Flick, if things get too bad, you can always crash at hers. When I come home, we’ll get a couple of motel rooms and not go anywhere near them pair. Two years, T, you’ve got two years to keep it together, then you can leave too, and I’ll be in a better position to help get you set up.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”
I took her hands, and she shrugged them off. That stung too. “You know I can’t stay. I’m barely hangin’ in there now. I’m w
orried I’m gonna do something stupid.”
“Yeah? Well, fuck you, Beck. I’m worried their gonna do something stupid too, to me.” Tracey stood up and walked away a couple of steps, “Pick me up for the party later.”
“Where you goin’?”
“Clear my head.” Suddenly the question I’d been expecting came. “Do they know?”
“No, not yet. Figured that telling them will only make things worse, for both us.”
She shook her head and finally stormed off.
“Sir, Mr. Peters. Could I trouble you for five minutes of your time?”
I left the diner and went straight to Felicity’s house. She’d been the only other constant in Tracey’s life and the only way I could leave and get myself together was if I knew someone would be looking out for my baby sister. Flick and Tracey had been inseparable since kindergarten. They were like chalk and cheese and I had no idea how their friendship worked so well, but it did. Flick’s parents trusted that I would look out for both of them when they were in our house, which wasn’t often, thank fuck.
We walked into his study, the house clean, filled with a love and compassion the minute you crossed the threshold. “What can I do for you, Beckett?”
“Sir, I’ve joined the army.”
His brows furrowed. “That wasn’t what I was expecting.”
My intrigue kicked in. “What were you expecting?”
“That you needed my legal services.” Flick’s dad was some shit-hot lawyer in town, another reason his daughter should never have been allowed near the ‘no Hope kids.’
“No, sir, I wanted to thank you for having Tracey’s best interests at heart all these years, and to ask you to keep an eye on her while I’m away.”
Mr. Peters sat behind his desk, urging me to take the seat opposite. “Always had a soft spot for that kid. But can’t help that think her own kin would be better placed to keep her safe.”
I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. Why the fuck was he making this so hard? “I can’t stay. I’m already on borrowed time. All I ask is that you keep your door open for my sister if she needs a safe haven.”
“Of course. You sure this is the best thing for both of you?”
“I can’t give her any chance at a future unless I make one possible for myself.”
I stood up. I’d done what I needed to do, and he’d said yes.
As I put my hand out to shake his, he grabbed it, but he didn’t let it go. “I don’t need to tell you that some family is better than none, so take care of yourself. What you’re doing is courageous, sometimes the most difficult decisions are. You have my word; I will make sure Tracey is safe.” It was all I needed to hear to enable me to move forward.
“Thank you.”
We parted ways and I breathed a sigh of relief.
One last party to get through, my leaving party, not that anyone knew that, except for Mitchell, my best buddy, and then I was clear of that toxic cesspit called home. I wasn’t even staying for my graduation ceremony.
Day one of my life could begin, a life I was determined to make work for both Tracey and me.
Felicity ‘Flick’ Peters
Aged Sixteen years old
Flick
“There’s a party over at Mitchell’s house, I said we’d go.”
I looked at Tracey and wanted to scratch her eyes out.
She knew I hated parties, but worse, she also knew I was not Mitchell’s biggest fan. He was her big brother’s best friend and she’d been in love with him since the dawn of time, or at least since she hit puberty and realized boys didn’t have cooties, well, not the kind she thought. Although it was highly possible that Mitchell did have cooties, lots of them.
“Do we have to go?”
“Look, I get you’d rather have your nose in a book, but this could be my chance, and things at home are shitty, extra shitty, I need a break.”
Every party was always her chance.
And things at home were always shitty, which is why she spent a few nights a week sleeping at my house.
“I need my wing-woman.” Her faced screwed up and she showed me the puppy dog eyes that everyone else but me and her brother seemed immune to. “Come on, I’ll do your homework for a week.”
That was a joke. I’d been doing hers for years.
“Beck will be there.” Tracey played her trump card.
He absolutely would be there. Beckett Hope was her big brother and his name was stupidly apt. Most girls lived in hope that he’d even look at them, let alone date them.
While Tracey lusted after Mitchell, I secretly harbored the mother of all crushes on her brother; although, guessing by how she’d used him just now, it didn’t seem to be much of a secret. What it was though, was cruel and every so often I hated that I saw flashes of her upbringing in the way she acted and manipulated me.
“Come on, they finished high school today. This could be the perfect time to strike.”
I often worried about my best friend, she spoke with a confidence and experience that scared me. When she used words like ‘strike’ we all knew that was exactly what she had planned. But still, any chance to see Beckett Hope somewhere other than my best friend’s kitchen or the landing outside his bedroom had to be seized.
“Alright, I’m in. But no shots.”
“Sure.” She smiled, but I suspected she had her fingers crossed behind her back. “It’s a kegger, so it’ll be beers all the way.”
Stupid me. I thought she’d agreed too easily.
“We’ll pick you up at seven. Usual spot.”
The usual spot was down the road and around the corner from where I lived. My parents weren’t really keen on me going to parties with older boys; they wanted me to graduate at top of my class and have the pick of the best colleges, and that wouldn’t happen if I did shots, got involved at a kegger, or got side-tracked by boys. For the main, I was on top of my studies, until Tracey needed a wing-woman, which was weekly during the summer months.
I stood on the corner wearing high-waisted, skin-tight jeans and a crop top. The T-shirt I’d left the house in moments ago was hidden in the bushes in our garden, ready for my re-entry back into the house later.
Beckett’s beat-up Oldsmobile swung around the corner, windows down, hip hop blaring out loud. He looked like a god driving it, the rusty dents only adding to his total coolness.
“Gotta be back before mom checks on me.”
Beckett sniggered and shook his head.
I was just a little girl to him. His sister’s loyal and devoted best friend, an irritant that always hung at his house, someone he barely acknowledged in the school hallways.
“No problem, Flick.” Tracey smiled in the cracked mirror of the sun visor, checking that her lipstick was perfect. The atmosphere in the car was the same as always, Tracey would chat at a million miles an hour, and he’d bitch until she quit talking, and I’d just sat in the back, comfortable with the both of them.
A bit later, Beckett climbed out of the car and walked off, his part as the designated driver was done for now. “Stay outta my way and be back here before midnight, otherwise you’re walking.”
Tracey glared at him before flipping him her middle finger. “Whatever.”
“Stay safe, yeah?” He kept her by the car until she nodded and then let her go.
The house overflowed with people, anymore and it might actually burst at the seams. It might be the first party of the long hot summer for most of us, but for Mitchell and Beckett, I knew they’d want to squeeze the last bits of fun out of life before they officially became contributing members of society. I had no idea what Beck had planned for his life, but whatever it was, he would be brilliant at it.
I followed Tracey inside, watching her practiced step, and bump and grind until she was well into the thick of things, all the while assessing her options. Awkwardly, I shimmied next to her, trying to blend into the throng of bodies. Girls in barely-there clothes stuck to boys claiming them in some pre-s
ex ritual. I should have stayed at home; this was worse than usual. Graduating had given them a reason to push the boundaries, to go beyond normal limits, and I felt more out of my depth than usual. Doing what I always did, I grabbed a beer and stood in a corner, nursing the bottle and pretending to drink it, but really just playing the part that was expected of me.
Hours later, I’d been clock-watching and knew I had less than an hour to be home. Tracey had disappeared with Mitchell and I hopped from one foot to the other wondering whether to disturb them or just wait by the car.
Fifteen minutes after that, I decided to look for her. I’d spent most of the night making awkward conversation with the geeks and nerds that always managed to get an invitation to these parties but never fit in.
Just like me.
I’d come with Tracey, been ditched like usual, and also like usual, I felt annoyed that she’d spent no time with me after dragging me to the damn thing.
Upstairs I opened door after door, peeking through, seeing couples in various states of undress. At the fifth door, I found my friend on her knees, Mitchell stood in front of her with his dick in his hand. My shame at seeing something so intimate had me blushing, but then I remembered this was Tracey. I shouldn’t be amazed that she’d finally got her man, but where on earth had she learned to do that? Maybe she wasn’t all talk and bluster. Either way, there was no way I was disturbing her, not now she’d landed her prize, I’d just have to walk home.
Flick (The Black Sentinels MC Book 4) Page 1
