Ashby Holler

by Jamie Zakian

  “So.” Kev held his arms out at his sides, shotgun in one hand and a joint in the other. “Back to the woods or what?”

  “Nah.” Vinny stopped in front of Kev, snatching the joint from the man’s hand. “We’ll take a quick look around and call it a night. You two,” he pointed to the prospects then to the woods behind him, “take the east side and we’ll meet up at the front gate.”

  Without the slightest hint of protest, the prospects crept into thick brush and slipped behind the trees. Vinny slapped Kev on the shoulder, taking a few hits of the joint before handing it back. “Having prospects is awesome.”

  Kev chuckled, following Vinny around the backside of the clubhouse. “That’s how I felt when you and Sasha made prospect. I had just spent a year being club bitch, earned my runners patch, and thought I was hotshit. That’s why I was so brutal on you guys.”

  “You call that brutal.” Vinny took the joint from Kev’s fingers and smiled. “As your new VP, I promise to show you the real meaning of brutal.”

  “A tyrant already, I should’ve known. It’s always the quiet ones.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sasha

  Sasha wiggled under Dez’s arm, which had grown so heavy it squished her into the mattress. He slept soundly, despite the morning’s glare that beamed through her curtain. Not her, though. An incessant chirp had woken her twenty minutes ago, firing up the burn in her stomach. She now wished all birds would die and the sun would fade away. These symbols of a new day only meant dry heaving and twelve hours behind a wheel. Hidden in shadows with rough hands on her body, that’s where she longed to stay.

  A knock rattled Sasha’s door, and Dez flinched, rolling away.

  “Meeting in an hour,” a deep voice echoed behind the closed door before boots thumped down her stairs.

  “Who the fuck was that?” Dez asked, taking his hand off the gun on the nightstand.

  “One of those prospects.” Sasha crawled out of bed and dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door to shut behind her. A whirl took her knees to the tile. She hugged the toilet, and this time, her stomach made sure to save a bunch of its contents to bring up.

  “Are you all right?” Dez asked.

  The bathroom door inched open, and Sasha kicked it shut. “I’m good,” she yelled between gasps. “Just head down. I’ll catch up.”

  Dez spouted out more words, but the solid wood of the wall separating them and the flush of the toilet blocked them out. Chills made Sasha’s teeth chatter. Strange, since she was so hot her flesh felt like it was damn near boiling. She sat on the cold floor and leaned against the wall, listening to footsteps shuffle around her room. Once the front door clicked and Dez’s boots thumped away, she drew her knees to her chest.

  Nine months of this shit, with no cigarettes or liquor to boot. A punishment. Her body yearned for a woman’s soft touch, mind always on supple curves, yet she’d given herself to Dez so freely. The penalty for betraying her true nature was the fracture of her soul, given to the life that grew inside her. It didn’t seem fair for the baby. What could it have done to deserve a mother like her? If she couldn’t figure it out in the next fifteen minutes, she’d peel her ass off the floor, slap on a brave face, and plunge into ignorance.

  ***

  Vinny

  When Sasha’s door opened, Vinny jumped up from the bottom step. He stared up the narrow staircase, and Dez paused before thumping down the steps.

  “What’s up, brother?” Dez asked, standing close. A little too close. “You weren’t at the party last night, and you haven’t said one word to me or Sasha since we got engaged.”

  “Oh!” Vinny inched back, but Dez stayed inside his comfort zone. “No. It’s not like that. I’m really happy for you guys, seriously.”

  “Yeah?” Dez glared, searching Vinny’s eyes for a buried truth.

  “Yeah, man.” Vinny pushed his secrets down deeper and tossed a firm stare back. “I’m pissed about missing the party last night, but I had some club business to deal with.”

  Dez smirked, backing away. “Listen to you. Big-time VP, dealing with business and shit.” He pointed to Sasha’s room while continuing to back away. “She’s up there, but I’d wait if I were you.”

  Vinny waited until Dez disappeared into the clubhouse and then dashed up the stairs.

  “Sasha?” After two quick knocks, Vinny opened the door and barged inside. He braced for barbed insults to fill his ears, but Sasha’s voice didn’t flow. An empty room greeted him, made even more hollow without her presence. “Sasha?”

  The bathroom door creaked open, and Sasha looked up at Vinny from the floor. Misery clouded her honey-tinged eyes. She’d never looked so pathetic, so cute.

  “Morning sickness.” Vinny sat beside Sasha, and she dropped her head onto his arm.

  “You know a lot about this shit. How many chicks have you knocked up?”

  Vinny chuckled. “None. I picked up a few books at the library yesterday. Did some reading.”

  “Say what?” Sasha leaned back, staring at Vinny as though they’d just met.

  “Well, somebody needs to know what the fuck is going on and…” Vinny’s fingers flinched. He wanted to reach for Sasha’s hand. “Help you through this.”

  A bright smile lifted Sasha’s pale cheeks, and she wrapped her arms around Vinny. Her head fell to his chest, its weight filling a void he’d been trying to seal for days.

  “Is that why you’re here?” she asked into his chest. “You sensed me puking and ran up to hold my hair.”

  “No,” Vinny snickered, resting his chin atop Sasha’s head. “I actually came up here to pump you for info.”

  “Ooh. That sounds dirty.”

  Sasha pinched Vinny’s side, and he squirmed away.

  “C’mon, I’m serious.”

  “Yeah, you are.” Sasha sat up straight, turning to face Vinny. “What?”

  “Do you know why I wasn’t at your party last night?”

  Her stare dropped, and she nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Does everyone know everything but me?”

  “Maybe.”

  “That was rhetorical,” Vinny grumbled, looking down at his jittery hands. “Who are we gearing up for? How many people should we expect? When? Are we gonna fucking die?”

  “Jesus Christ,” Sasha said, the rise of her voice echoing around the tiny bathroom. “Did you go see that Terminator movie? ‘Cause I told you it was gonna screw with your head.”

  “No. It’s not even out yet, and I am going to see it.” Vinny looked at Sasha, captured by her deep eyes. “I got this feeling in my gut. It’s like…every time I see you, I feel like it’s the last time I’ll ever see you.”

  “That’s crazy.” Sasha took Vinny’s hand into both of hers, sliding so close their hips pressed together. “I’m not going anywhere, and if I do, I’ll send you a postcard so you can join me.”

  “It’s heavier than that, Sasha.”

  “It’s really not.”

  Sasha tried to jerk her arm away, but Vinny held tight. His gaze screamed his desire to be delivered from ignorance. He could only hope she could hear the silent call.

  “Vinny, you’re putting me in a bad spot here.”

  It nearly killed his conscience, he knew what Ellen would do to her, but he held his tight grip and hard glare.

  “Fine, asshole!” Sasha yelled, narrowing her eyes. “No one’s coming after us. This is about my mom and some twisted foreplay she’s got going on with her ex, Dante.”

  “Dante?” Vinny’s arms went limp, and Sasha’s hand slipped from his grasp. “You mean Dante, president of Satan’s Crew, Dante?”

  “They’ve been mind-fucking each other for the last twenty years, among other things. He’s not coming for us, just her. And not to kill.”

  “You sure about that?” Vinny asked, still trying to wipe the image of Ellen getting down with a biker from his mind. “Last night, Otis said shoot to kill, that everything would get sorted later.”

&nb
sp; “Of course Otis wants you to kill Dante. The man’s his competition, but did my mother say anything like that at all?”

  The look on Vinny’s face must have done all the talking, because Sasha let out a huff.

  “You’re VP now. The only orders you take are from the president. If you kill her boy-toy without her consent…” Sasha covered her mouth, staring off for a second. “It would be bad. Worse than the cellar bad.”

  “I can’t believe Otis would set me up like that.”

  “I don’t think he meant to. He either doesn’t know about my mom and Dante, or he just thought she’d let you slide since you’re her favorite.”

  Vinny sneered, and Sasha’s palm flew up.

  “Please,” she said in a long, drawn-out groan. “You’re so her favorite, but I don’t think she’d let even you slide on this. Oh, great. Look at your face, man.” Sasha climbed off the floor, pulling on her pants and swapping out the long t-shirt for a tight tank top. “You’re never gonna be able to keep your cool through a whole meeting.”

  “The fuck I can’t. And seeing your tits just now really helped.”

  Sasha gasped, and Vinny grinned. She hammered his arm with her fist.

  “Come on, perv. Let’s get this shit over with. I wanna get on the road by noon.”

  Vinny took a moment to admire the sway of Sasha’s hips before pushing himself off the bathroom floor. He stepped behind Sasha, and she spun, jabbing her finger into his chest. “Don’t you tell anyone about what I told you.”

  “Ouch. I won’t, jeez.”

  “I’m not kidding, asshole.”

  Sasha’s bony finger poked Vinny again, right between the ribs, and he pushed her arm away. “Okay. I won’t.” Vinny opened Sasha’s front door and held out his hand, presenting a rainy gray morning. “After you.”

  He liked to let her go first. It made him feel like a gentleman, and he got to watch her ass shake as she strutted on her merry way.

  ***

  Sasha

  Sasha walked into the clubhouse, and Candy looked up at her from the couch. A nervous look crossed Candy’s face before she buried her nose in a magazine.

  “Candy?” Sasha said, straining to keep from smiling at Candy’s guilty expression.

  “I’m so sorry, Sasha. I’m never gonna drink again; I say the stupidest shit when I drink.”

  Sasha plopped on the couch beside Candy, hoping it would quiet the girl’s loud mouth. “Shit, Candy, we talked about this.”

  “I know, I know. Your name doesn’t pass my lips,” Candy said in a near whisper. “Did I ruin everything?”

  “No.” Sasha stood up, flashing a smile. “And let’s keep it that way.”

  Candy winked, and a chill ran down Sasha’s spine. She backed away before her feet could carry her forward.

  “I got a meeting.”

  With just half a turn, Sasha left Candy’s red lips to glimpse her mother’s frown.

  “Last one at the table…again,” Ellen said, leaning back in her seat.

  Sasha bit her tongue and closed the door, dropping into her chair. At this point, Vinny would nudge her arm and attempt a snide comment, except the space beside her sat bare while the two men she loved hovered at her mother’s side.

  “Today, we need to vote on restocking.” Ellen slid an ashtray to the center of the table, a circle of fresh joints peeking from its top. “After Sasha takes her run, the warehouse will be spent. Kev, you know about the undercover fed we took care of yesterday, right?”

  “Yeah. Otis filled me in.”

  “Good.” Ellen leaned onto the table, glancing at the crew members seated around it. “I talked to the sheriff this morning, and he doesn’t think they have anything on us. They can’t even prove their agent was ever here. That leaves us with a vote. We can pick up our supply tomorrow like scheduled, or I can push it back a few weeks.”

  Otis grabbed a joint from the ashtray and sparked it up. “If we hold the pickup, we’ll have to delay our drop-offs. We could lose clients.”

  “We could lose a lot more than that,” Dez muttered, shifting in his chair.

  “Even if the feds are watching,” Otis said from behind a cloud of smoke, “they couldn’t know our pickup times and location. Plus, the warehouse isn’t on our property or connected to any of us.”

  Dez crashed his elbows on the table, leaning forward. “You’re not the one taking a risk on an eight-hour drive with kilos of drugs. Sasha is.”

  “All right,” Ellen said, breaking the dick-wagging contest. “That’s why we’re gonna vote.”

  “Right now,” Kev whined. “Shit, man.”

  “I have a run.” Sasha looked at the dwindling pile of joints. In fact, she’d been staring at them this entire meeting. “There’s no other time.” That being said, she snatched a joint from the ashtray and lit her zippo.

  “All in favor of business as usual?” Ellen asked.

  Sasha’s hand went up. Why wouldn’t it? She brought the heat down on the club. The risk should be hers to take.

  Arms raised on both sides of Vinny, and he scooted his chair back, its legs scraping the floor.

  Kev looked between Sasha, Otis, and Ellen, all with their hands high, then slowly raised his arm.

  “These votes are bullshit,” Dez said, jumping to his feet. His chair crashed to the ground, and he stormed out the door.

  “I guess the meeting’s adjourned,” Ellen snickered, rising from her seat. “Careful on your run, Sasha.”

  Otis slid a set of keys across the glossy table, right into Sasha’s palm. She looked at Vinny, who glared at the side of Otis’s face.

  “Vinny,” Sasha called out, drawing Vinny’s and everyone’s attention. “Help me gas up the truck?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Vinny muttered, shooting Otis another quick glare.

  Sasha waited until Vinny left the room before following him outside.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Dez

  Dez slouched against the wide trunk of an oak tree, staring at the clubhouse. Smoke wafted from the cigarette in his mouth, clouding his view in a gray haze. This place was going down; he could feel it. If he had half a brain, he’d grab Sasha, throw her ass in his truck, and hit the road. Great plan, in theory. He’d get maybe five miles from the compound before Sasha beat the shit out of him and stole his ride. The club meant everything to her, much more than he did, maybe more than her own child.

  Dez might not be able to take the club out of the girl, but he could change the club to save the girl. All he had to do was persuade Ellen. They could lay low, find other means of income. The porn industry was a fountain of wealth. The club could dip into that for a while. Sasha would love it, and maybe he could score a little three-way action.

  A grin popped onto his lips at the thought of him, Sasha, and a hot blonde in a big bed. He flicked his cigarette to the gravel. Ellen wasn’t the only one who could use their mistake as leverage. With a drop of finesse and a ton of blackmail, he might just get his way.

  After a hit from his flask, liquid courage hardened his veins and lifted his chin. He marched back up the porch steps, thanked God Otis was nowhere in sight, and strolled into the backroom.

  ***

  Sasha

  Sasha walked behind the garage, toward the large lot that housed four big rigs.

  “Which truck are you taking?” Vinny asked, smoothing back his rain-soaked hair.

  “The blue one.”

  “I gassed that one up yesterday.”

  “I know,” Sasha said, continuing toward the row of semi-trucks.

  Gravel crunched as Vinny stopped in the middle of the lot, but Sasha kept walking. Once in the cover of two long trailers, she turned and gestured for him to follow.

  “Jeez, you’re dense,” she said when he finally reached her side.

  “Sorry if I can’t read minds like you.”

  Sasha rolled her eyes, which wasn’t easy with the mist beading on her eyelashes. “I think you should come with me on this run.�
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  “Why? I thought you said everything was cool.”

  “Everything is cool, except you. You’re in there practically stabbing Otis with your glares. I should’ve known you’d spaz out.”

  “Hey, fuck you, man,” Vinny yelled. It was a real yell, one of anger, not the usual shouts he flung in jest. “You’re the only one spazzing out right now. I know what I’m doing, and I don’t need a babysitter.”

  Sasha leaned back, eyes wide as she watched Vinny stomp up the hill and toward the big house.

  “Damn,” she drawled, opening the truck’s door.

  During Sasha’s climb inside the cab, her ring clinked on the steering wheel. Cool metal pressed against her skin, triggering the worst of thoughts. Her days of hopping in a semi and taking off were over. The rules of legitimate engagement required notice before one could split.

  Water splashed under Sasha’s boots as she jumped back to the ground. While brushing clumps of wet hair from her face, she hurried back to the clubhouse. Her steps slowed once she crossed the threshold and entered a deserted bar. Not even one of those creepy lookalike prospects was lurking around.

  Sasha inched farther inside, and her mother’s voice rose from within the backroom. A little closer and words filtered through wood, loud and clear.

  “You think Sasha will care about that, Desmond, after I tell her how your tongue felt when it rubbed up and down my—”

  Sasha pushed the door to the backroom open, flinching when it slammed against the wall. So many wonderfully cruel slurs swarmed inside her mind. She needed to let them loose, but her throat sealed tight, and she could only stare at two pitiful expressions.

  Dez stepped toward Sasha, and she stumbled back.

  “Sasha.”

  His voice sent a spike through her heart. She wanted to return the favor, but lucky for him, she didn’t have a blade handy. When her mother moved beside Dez, a stream of vulgar images flashed into her mind. She closed her eyes, but it didn’t help. The dirty visions grew brighter in the darkness. Her mother wrapped her hand around Sasha’s arm, and she jerked away, storming out the door.