by Rae B. Lake
***
“What the fuck? Hey! Hey!” Lou screamed as he tried to break the restraints I’d made around his legs and arms. They were simple knots, but they were solid. Another skill learned from dear Ruby.
“Shut up unless you have a story to tell me,” I said as I stood over him, looking into his panicked eyes. It made me excited to see him like that. I wonder if that was how he felt every time Ruby or Harrington had me locked up at one of their parties? Was my fear intoxicating to him like his was to me?
“I’m not telling you shit, Nico, and you know it. You better fucking kill me because if you don’t, both that little girl and your new bitch are going to be sliced open from twat to throat.”
I laughed at first. My chuckling got louder and louder as I replayed what he’d said in my mind. How fucking stupid can he be? Here I was with his fate in my hands and a vendetta against him, and he was threatening me? Dumbass.
“No story, huh?” I said as my hand unraveled the heavy chain I found in the back of Jazmine’s house. “That’s fine. Marcel told me everything I wanted to hear anyway.” I shrugged.
“What?” He sighed and closed his eyes, “That fuck!” He screamed as he tried again with renewed vigor to get out of his binds.
“Ah, don’t worry. I’m just going to take you on a bit of a trip, let you see the scenic area of my wonderful town. What do you say?”
I attached the chain through the perfectly tied rope on his legs and then attached it to the body of my motorcycle. He was going on a ride.
I took off at a slow pace. I didn’t want to cause Lou too much trauma and have him die right away. It was a long way back to the clubhouse, and there was a lot for him to see.
I made sure to go the back way where there weren’t many residents. I’d have to past a few farmhouses and cabins on my way, but I wouldn’t stay around long enough for anyone to come out and ask any questions. At fifteen miles per hour, he was already screaming and crying for me to stop. I rode through ditches and patches of gravel, down into the grass and near cliff edges. Ten minutes into the ride, it was time for a break. I parked my bike and went to the back where he was lying, trying to catch his breath through all the whimpering he was doing.
“Lou, did you honestly think you wouldn’t have to pay for all the pain you caused Angel or me? That you’d go through your life living scot-free because you were in the Giles’ pocket?”
He murmured, I couldn’t understand what he was saying. His bottom lip had been torn off somewhere during the short ride. It was a strange sight.
I put my foot on his shin; the bone was bent in a strange direction, definitely broken. “Speak up.” I pressed down hard to hear him scream before I lifted my leg and waited for him to talk.
“Fuck you, Nico, I did what I was told.” He panted.
“Yeah? The day you threw me over the side of the ship, someone told you to do that? How about the day you locked Angel and I in the hot box for days with only a cup of water each, someone told you to do that? The snakes you threw in the room with us?” I looked at him in disgust, “It’s a shame. Because if you were truly doing only what someone had told you to do, you’re about to die because of them.”
He opened his mouth to talk again, but his break was over. I walked quickly back to my bike and got started on the second leg of my journey.
Now I got up to about twenty miles per hour, he wasn’t screaming much anymore, but I could still see him try to curl up now and again. Not that it would do him any good. There was nothing that was going to help him. I banged him into trees, over hills, everywhere I could before I stopped again. I could see the clubhouse in the distance now, and this was going to be my last time stopping.
“So tell me, Lou. Do you have any last words, or are we going to drag this on longer?” I laughed at my drag pun.
“There are more.” He croaked, barely moving his mouth. The skin on one side of his face was almost completely gone, muscle and veins were gone. Dirt and debris now packed into the exposed flesh. His clothing had ripped off during the second stage of the journey, and there were long slash and gaping holes in various parts of his body, blood was seeping out at a slow pace. Only the dirt packed into his wounds, keeping the bulk of his blood in his body.
“What are you talking about more of what?”
He coughed, and a glob of blood shot out of his partially destroyed face, “More of you. There are more rooms. More animals locked in cages. Women. Children. Men. You may be out, but Ruby will never stop. Not all of them have guards like Roth.” He spoke slowly, his eyes sparkling at the mention of Roth.
He knew Roth had helped us. Even though he was a guard and had done his share to keep me locked up in that place, he was the best of the worse situation. I hoped he was still alive.
“Besides, look at you now. I am almost sure Ruby would take you on in my place. You're a murderous monster now. You live to cause pain now, accept it.”
I looked away; he was right. I was having the time of my life dragging him to his death. Nothing about the situation even the least bit troubling to me. What was troubling to me, though, was the fact he said there were more. I had never seen another prisoner, but there were times when Angel and I would be locked up for weeks at a time. Maybe Ruby had different prisoners for different things. I knew there always seemed to be a lot of guards around, and all of the homes that they stayed at were big enough to house other prisoners, but I’d never seen any of them. He could be lying trying to say anything that would keep him alive. The information wasn’t compelling enough for me to leave him breathing.
“Well, if there are others when I rip Ruby and Harrington’s head off, we’ll let them go. If not, I’ll still rip off their heads. It’s a win-win situation. Bye, Lou.” I said and turned back to my bike.
“No! No! Nico! Wait!” He wailed now, and he knew this was the end for him. I jumped on my bike and gunned it. Bring my baby up to sixty miles an hour with him still chained to the back. The biked groaned with the effort of towing along a grown man, but it did what I wanted it to do. I swerved and went over uneven terrain before I stopped in front of the clubhouse. Wire was out the front with Keeley. A look of love and happiness on his face. It fell off when he saw me and the body I’d been dragging behind me.
“Oh my god.” Keeley gagged and turned into Wire’s chest. “What the fuck is that?” She asked, pointing awkwardly at the body behind me.
“That’s Lou,” I answered casually.
“Keeley, go inside. Finish packing.” She darted around him, not once bothering to look back at me.
“Ink, what the fuck?” he looked over my shoulder at the man. “What the fuck?” he asked again, his voice rising slightly.
“What?” I parked my bike and began to undo the chain. The metal chain had caused a bit of torsion on the chassis. I would have to see if Maino could fix it. It didn’t look like there was that much damage, though.
“Ink!” Wire yelled at me. “What in the fuck are you doing with a man tied to your fucking motorcycle?”
That was a silly question, “Uh, I’m killing him.” I answered.
“I think a fucking bullet in the head would have done the trick? Don’t you?”
“No, not at all. This is one of the fucks who kept me locked up; he was my immediate guard. He could have let me go anytime he wanted, instead he joined in on the pain Ruby caused me. The fuck tried to feed me to sharks.” I glared at Wire, “No, a bullet to the head would not have done.”
Wire let out a breath and stepped around me to where Lou was lying lifeless on the ground. “Where the fuck are his arms?” He asked as he got closer to him.
I turned and walked to where he was standing.
I huffed in surprise, Lou was now armless. Both of the appendages were gone, and all that was left were some muscle and ragged tissue that used to connect them to his shoulders. “Huh, would you look at that, they must have fallen off somewhere.” I tilted my head to the side for a second, taking a mental picture of th
e image in front of me, and then I turned to go back to my bike. Wire grabbed me hard and turned me around. I looked down at his hand, my hand reaching up and grabbing his hand, hard. My instincts were telling me to rip his arm off me, but the look in his eyes stopped me. His demons were fighting to break free.
“I see you, Ink. I know you’re big and bad. You kill without a care in the world. They may have turned you into a monster when you were there, but remember I was born this mother fucking way. Remember your fucking place, or I will end you.” I calmed down and released his wrist. I would win in a physical altercation with Wire, I think. Sometimes it wasn’t how big a person was but what they were willing to do to survive. I nodded and let my body relax, trying to show him I was still good.
“You can’t do shit like this, Ink. Riding through town with a fucking body strapped to your bike is sure to bring some damn attention. We might be good when it comes to the police for the little shit, but that kind of shit will bring too much fucking heat. You got to be smarter, kid.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked back at Lou. “Sharks, huh?”
I laughed, the tension finally gone, “Fuck yes, that shit was scary as fuck. I may never swim in the ocean again.”
He slapped me on the back as he started toward the clubhouse doors. “Get the prospects out here to find his arms. Make sure all his parts are accounted for, then I’ll put in a call to the cleaners so we can get this asshole out of here.”
“Right away.”
This was going to be fun for the prospects. Who didn’t want to play ‘find the severed arms’?
***
Pope and Mike, the club prospects, were able to find the arms in quick order. They were still tied together and were hanging off a root that they must have gotten caught on. The cleaners had come, and Lou was just a distant memory now.
I made my way to the trailers to get Jazmine, I wanted her to be with me, and my room was more comfortable than the small space in the trailers. Besides, she was in there with the club bunnies. She didn’t belong in there with them.
“Hey, baby, you here for some fun?” One of the club bunnies spoke as I walked into the trailer. They were always willing.
“Sorry, sweet cheeks, where’s Jazmine?”
“Who?”
“Short hair, lots of piercings?”
“Oh, she’s in the back. Nice rack on that one.” The bunny complimented and winked as she went back to watching the small TV that was playing some music videos. I walked into the room to see Jazmine laid out on the small bed, a small sketch pad, and pencils in her hands. Utterly oblivious to the world around her.
“What’s that?”
Her face turned to me, a huge smile breaking on her cheeks. “Trying to draw this big-headed man I know, not enough paper.”
I let my head fall back, “Harty har har.” I bent over her and picked her up from the bed. “All these jokes.”
She leaned up and kissed me softly. I held onto her; she was so damn peaceful. I knew if I didn’t make moves, we would be there all night. Not the plan. “Come on, get your shit. You’re going to stay with me.”
She didn’t question me at all, just bent down, put her papers away, and got the rest of her stuff so she could come with me.
It was pretty late when we made it to the clubhouse, so I knew she must have been exhausted. She didn’t complain, though.
“Inkpop!” A loud screeching call echoed through the air, and I turned at first in panic, until I saw a smiling Angel coming barreling toward me. I let go of Jazmine’s hand just in time to catch her. “Inkpop, where you been? Don’t you have a curfew? Did you know that some people have curfews? I wonder at what age do you get curfews? Oooh, what if no one ever had curfews?”
“Hey, hey, what is up with you?” I snickered at her, she was talking a hundred miles a minute, and her hands were animated.
“Uhhh, that would be my fault,” Mikki said with a sheepish look on her face. “I let her have two glasses of coke with dinner. It didn’t even occur to me.”
The caffeine. I put Angel down, “Jeez, you’re hyper as hell. Go do some jumping jacks or something.”
Mikki walked over to me, looked at Jazmine then back to me. I could tell she had something to say, but she swallowed it down and instead put a hand out. “Hello, I saw you at the house the other day. I am Mikayla, but everyone just calls me Mikki.” She said politely.
“Hey, I’m Jazmine.”
“What the fuck is this bitch doing here?”
Fuck, there goes my peaceful night.
Vida came charging down the stairs to a stop in front of me, “I asked you a question, Ink. What is she doing here?”
“Hey, V, let’s go back upstairs. We don’t need to do this.” Mikki grabbed her sister’s arm and tried to pull her away.
“Fuck that. I already told this bitch he was mine, and she has the nerve to show her simple ass where I live. With my fucking family.” Vida growled.
Jazmine ripped her hand from mine and took one step toward Vida, “I told you about those fucking insults.”
“I told you about being a skank, but doesn’t look like you listened to those warnings.”
Jazmine took another step forward. I grabbed her arm to pull her back, “Not here.” I said into her face.
“She shouldn’t even be here. The compound is for family only, not some fucking outsider.”
“Vida, step off. This fucking outsider has saved my ass more times than I can count. If she wants to stay, she is going to fucking stay.”
Vida put her hands on her hips as she stared daggers at Jazmine, “Of course she’s going to stay, probably fit right in with all the club bunnies.”
“You stupid bitch.” Jazmine jumped at her, and Vida reached out and grabbed her hair. They swung at each other, scratching and clawing like cats.
“Stop the shit!” I tried to get in between them, but the more I did, the more tangled they seemed to get. At one point, I was thrown to the floor. I didn’t even know how that happened.
“What the fuck is this?” Wire bellowed as the rest of the men in the club rushed over laughing to watch the chick fight. Wire, though, was not so amused. “Ink! Handle that shit right the fuck now. Like we don’t have enough to deal with without having this bullshit. I’ll throw both of them the fuck out and not give a shit.” He helped me pull them apart and shoved both of them in my hands. One on each side. “Handle this shit now!” He shouted.
“Okay, my bad. I got it.” I held both of them firmly by the arm and dragged them both up the stairs to my room. I pushed them inside and slammed the door behind me. I had enough.
“Babe, look…” Vida started.
“No,” I spoke clearly.
“She shouldn’t…” Jazmine tried her luck this time.
“Stop!” My voice, louder this time.
I wasn’t going to let either one of them run this conversation. I knew what needed to be done, and it was my fault for not doing it in the first place.
I took a breath and tried to calm myself down. I didn’t want to hurt them. I cared for both of them, in different ways, and I knew they both cared for me as well.
“Vida, look, I know I just got back, but you want to go back to what it was; we can’t.”
She crossed her arms and looked away from me, her face already starting to blush, and eyes water up.
“You know it’s true. We are two completely different people than we were before. It’s sad because what we had was true and fun, but it's not what it is now. I don’t want to lead you on or make you jealous or any shit like that, so I’m going to tell you this right out, and I want you to hear me well. We are not together, you are not my ol’ lady, and I don’t see that shit changing. I love you, but not in the way you’re trying to make me love you. I’m with Jazmine, now, and I’m happy. I would like us to all get along, but if we can’t know just like I wouldn’t stand for someone fucking disrespecting you, there’s no way in fuck I’m going to keep letting you disrespect my woman.
She isn’t a whore or a fucking slut. Her name is Jazmine, and if you have to fucking address her, that’s what you will address her as. You get me?”
She nodded once, a tear falling before she quickly wiped it away.
I turned this time facing Jazmine. Her eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t think she was going to get anything in this little speech. How wrong she was. “Jazmine, you didn’t fucking ask to be here, you don’t deserve all the shit that’s come your way from helping Angel and me, but you chose to stay. I want to be with you. I want to see where this goes between you and me, but Vida is my family. That is Angel’s big sister and Mikki’s little sister. She was there before all this went down, and she will still be here when it’s all fucking over. This fighting shit, over. The threatening shit, over. If you can’t get on board with the fact, Vida is going to be in my life and around, then this isn’t going to work out. If you can put this bullshit behind you and try to act civilized for a while, I think we’re going to be alright. You with that?”
Jazmine opened her mouth up to fight with me. I could see the confrontation all over her face. She leaned over slightly to see Vida, who was visibly upset even though she was still trying to hide it. Jazmine moved back over to stand in front of me, “Fine, Ink. I’m with it.”
“Good.” I took a step back, part of me wanted to tell them to hug it out, but I really didn’t want to get cursed out. “Vida, you good? You guys got everything packed for the morning?” I asked, trying to ease some of the tension in the room, I leaned over and put a hand on her shoulder.
Her eyes squinted at my hand before she shook it off. She looked in my direction in disgust, “Fuck you, Ink. Just fuck you.” She pushed past Jazmine and me, leaving my room with a slam of the door. She would get over it one day. I could only hope.
Jazmine stormed past me, her shoulder bumping mine before she took her shoes and pants off and got into bed. Her back turned to me, and the sheet pulled up to her chin.
Just think, in a few hours I would be on a multi-day road trip with both of them. Yeah, this is going to be so much fucking fun.
