The Devils Rejects scattered as soon as word got out that Grim put Hook and Slim in the ground, and those who have remained, have been getting splattered like roadkill. Grim is off on a honeymoon with Sunshine and Romeo is on a trip to Chicago tying up our loose ends there. This leads me to the meeting I have been summoned to with Lucky, one of the last Rejects left standing. He says he wants to come to an understanding.
We will see about that.
**
"I was beginning to think you were going to be a no show," Lucky greets me outside of The Razor's Edge, a dive pool hall located on neutral territory.
"Got held up, let's cut the pleasantries and get on with it. What is it you want to discuss?" I follow him inside and we accept a table in the back away from all of the noise.
A sweet little thang comes over and brings us both a beer. Cracking a couple of nuts open, I wait for this cocksucker to tell me what it is he requests.
"Look, Rebel. We need to come to an arrangement. There are too many Devils Rejects, you and Grim can't kill us all. You need to realize that while you might control Kentucky, we have other states ready to go to war and shed blood to accomplish what we want."
"You sure about that, Lucky? If I were you, I'd be getting the hell out of Kentucky, you’re a marked man. You and I both can appreciate that any man wearing those colors is marked for death."
"I’m sure Baby feels differently about that." I nearly choke out my beer on hearing her name. Goddamnit if Baby has been fooling around with the Rejects, I will kill her myself.
"Baby, what the fuck do you know about Baby?"
"Don't worry. I haven't fucked that tight little virgin pussy of hers yet." My knuckles are white I am gripping the edge of my seat so hard. I am about ten seconds from blowing this motherfucker's head off right here and now in front of everyone in this dinky bar.
Leaning in real close, I speak quietly, trying to keep my temper in check, "You stay away from Baby. You don't even think about her. You don’t breathe her name. You feel me? If I suspect that you even jack off while thinking about her, I'll cut your dick off and make you eat it."
"So you’re the man she claims to have? Climbing up the ladder quickly to get to the top, aren't you? And you just exposed your weakness—Baby. Have to say that smart mouth of hers does make my dick hard." Lucky lights up a cigarette looking so full and sure of himself.
Pulling my switchblade from my pocket I keep the tip to his throat. "Are ye fucking dumb? You must be dumb. Say her name again, and I'll slit you from ear to ear right here. Final warning."
He lays both hands flat on the table in surrender with his cigarette hanging from his mouth. "I see we are at an impasse. We could co-exist peacefully, Rebel. We don't deal in your territory and you don't sell your moonshine in ours, it is simple really. Talk it over with your Prez, Baby has my number."
"I don't handle that cocksucker's business and I'm not his messenger."
"Ah, I get it, you want Grim gone. What if I told you I want the same. Think we could reach an agreement then?" He asks with a sly grin.
"I'll be in touch." I have a lot to think about—sure, I want Grim gone, he killed my father, but I am not an idiot either. Things within our own club are still getting under control after the death of my father and with Grim's new role as Prez. Grim and Sunshine put their honeymoon on hold until things slowed down, and it looks like the minute he has left trouble is knocking on our backdoor.
After getting my thoughts in order, I set out for the Roadhouse. Baby should be working tonight. I am going to put an end to her game right fucking now. I don't know what she is playing at but her fucking around with the Rejects ends today.
**
I walk into the backdoor of the Roadhouse and Rumor is here too, fuck. I don't need this to go down in front of her. I know she will get the wrong impression. She looks so pretty today with her strawberry blonde hair resting on top of her head in a messy bun. Dressed in a pair of cut-off denim shorts, showing off her lean tan legs. She is wearing a black tank top that hugs her breasts showing just enough cleavage to drive me wild. She throws her head back laughing at something Tread just said through the window where orders are placed in the kitchen. My first thought is to walk over to where she stands and kiss that smile off her face and rip down her hair so I can rake my fingers through it as she presses her tight body up against mine. Fuck, I scrub my hands over my forehead. Now is not the time to be getting a hardon.
Baby comes sauntering through the door from the storage room carrying a roll of paper towels. She sees me and a wicked grin spreads across her face. "Rebel," she squeals my name causing Rumor to nearly jump out of her skin. Don't get me wrong, Baby is fierce and starting to look like a woman. Fuck who am I kidding. Baby has looked developed since she was fifteen, now she is seventeen and has curves in all of the right places. She is dressed to grab attention, sporting a pair daisy dukes and a button-down shirt, exposing her budding breasts. The girl is already marked in plenty of ink, and her pierced navel is exposed. But she doesn't give me the feelings I get when I see Rumor, there is something different about her. Hell, for all I know it could be the fact that I can't have her that is driving me wild, but I intend to find out. After I handle this shit with Baby.
"Baby, I need to talk to you in private, in my room. Now."
She places the roll of paper towels she was holding on the prep table and smiles innocently at Rumor. "I'll be back after I fulfill Rebel's request." She winks at her, and I don't miss the tear that is threatening to fall from the corner of Rumor's eye. It kills me to hurt her, but I don't want to say the things I need to say to Baby in front of an audience. I'll just have to hope I can make things right with Rumor later, club business comes first.
Rumor
Damn it, I said I wouldn't shed any tears over any man, and here I am crying over Rebel and Baby. If I could save enough to leave here now I would. I get a trust fund from my mom when I turn twenty-one, but that's not for another couple years. Then they could be together and maybe someday I could have a relationship with my sister. But the thought of never seeing Rebel smile at me again the way he does, or feeling his arms wrap around me in a tight embrace, is enough to take my breath away. He’s my best friend. I steady myself against the counter and take a deep breath.
Striker comes into the kitchen just as I wipe my tears away. "Hey, you okay?" He wraps his thick muscular arms around my shoulders.
I place my hand on his wrist giving a reassuring squeeze. "Fine, just have been slicing onions, and those damn things make me tear up every time." I smile weakly at him. He smiles back at me with his pretty boy charm.
"Say, I am taking Aspen to see one of those chick flicks this weekend, you and Rebel should come with us. I'm not taking no for an answer." He walks through the kitchen and out to the bar before I can say no. By the looks of the way things are progressing between Rebel and Baby, I am sure she will be more than glad to go with them.
I wish more brothers would come in and place some orders to keep my mind from wandering off to thoughts of Rebel and Baby upstairs alone. I can only imagine what they are doing.
No, Rumor stop this insanity you don't want a patched man with a Harley, you want a normal life with a hard-working blue-collar man, if you want any man at all.
Would Rebel walk away for me? I would never ask him to choose. His rightful place is with Baby and one day they will be running things around here. Hell, from the looks of things with Grim and Sunshine on their honeymoon and Romeo in Chicago, they already are.
Tread pokes his head through the window again and asks me to come try to whoop his ass at pool. Might as well do something, there isn't any work to be had in the kitchen. I could use some fun. "I'll play, but I'd hate to humiliate you in front of your brothers."
"Oh, darlin', I can handle anything you throw my way." He winks at me, implying much more.
Out at the bar, the sight around me isn't unusual, the normal club whores are hanging around making themselves u
seful. I used to turn bright red when I would come out to the bar, but now it is nothing out of the ordinary, and no one gives me a rough time. All of the guys are brutal and rugged, but they have a sort of sex appeal about them, but the thought of any of them trying to sleep with me brings back my nightmares. Rebel seems to be the only person who can chase them away.
Tread racks the balls and lets me break. I have gotten pretty good at playing. I lean down and line up my shot. As I am about to shoot, I feel a man pressing tight against my backside, causing me to breakout in a cold sweat. Suddenly I am no longer playing pool with Tread. I am that scared little girl in Alabama again. Squirrel's breath penetrates my senses. I feel faint as I hear him whispering in my ear, 'I love you so much, Sarah, gonna make you feel good. I'm going to show you how much you mean to me.'
"Rumor, hey. Where did you go?" Tread is holding my head on his lap in the floor. Tears are leaking out of my eyes.
"I must have fainted. Guess I forgot to eat, and the heat got to me. I'm so sorry. I feel like an idiot." I say the first thing that comes to my mind. I don't want to freak him out with my demons.
"Don't be sorry. Shit I was going to take it easy on ya. You didn't have to pass out to get out of an ass kickin'." I wipe my eyes and try to get up slowly.
"No rush. I don't mind a pretty face between my legs at the best of times or at the worst." Tread laughs cracking his dimples at me. Most girls would swoon and fall at his feet with the sight of his lickable dimples, but there is only one guy who has registered on my radar.
Chapter 4
Baby
Making myself comfortable, I kick off my shoes and curl up on Rebel's bed. Looking around the tiny room Slim once shared with Wild Cherry, I notice Rebel has left it almost the same as it was when it was his father's. The unchanged motorcycle magazines are stacked in the corner by the small dresser. The same club pictures hang on the wall, the one hanging to the left of the room makes me sad for what used to be. It is a photo of my father and Slim when they were barely twenty. My father didn't have so many teardrops tattooed on his face, and the two of them standing in front of their bikes look so young and carefree. They don't appear like the men I know now, worn down by the life and dead.
"Whatcha need to talk to me about?" I push my chest forward slightly allowing Rebel a peek between the buttons of my shirt, showing him a hint of my lacey black bra. What can I say? Old habits die hard, but now I only do it to fuck with him. He takes a seat on the bed beside of me, propping his arms behind his head against headboard, crossing his ankles.
"Baby, you know I care about you, right?" He lets out a deep breath and sighs, a frown forming at the corners of his mouth. I don't say anything, afraid of where this conversation is headed. "So do you want to tell me how in the fuck it is that Lucky, a motherfucking Devils Reject knows your name?"
I tense instantly when he mentions Lucky, but I am not biting that easily. "Well it is no secret who my father is, and they are our biggest rival, not hard to know how to press buttons when you know what you are aiming for." I smile proudly with my white lie.
"That's true, but Baby, I don't want to have to tell you again, don't you ever fucking go around any member of the Devils Rejects. If I hear of it again, I will take it to Grim, then you will have to deal with him. Feel me?"
"Yeah, I feel you. Are we cool?"
"One more thing. I keep having a memory or a dream where we." his cheeks flush. Is he embarrassed? "Did we?" he has a confused look on his face. He must be having flashbacks of the night we almost went all the way.
"Let me refresh your mind." I straddle his lap and tug on his zipper. "You mean to tell me you don't remember claiming me and asking me to be your old lady when I turn eighteen." Rebel looks scared shitless. I unbutton the top two buttons of my shirt. I rotate my hips and lick my lips. “You made me promise to keep it quiet until you were ready to tell my old man about us, lover.”
He takes a deep breath swallowing the lump in his throat. "I did what?" He grabs my hands stopping me from undressing any further.
I bust out laughing as the color drains from his face. "I'm just fucking with you. We kissed, we fooled around, and it felt like I was making out with a cousin or something. Don't worry. You’re not my type. You haven’t been for a while now. What’s with you? You need to lay off that puff puff pass and moonshine, it's fried your brain."
Our conversation comes to a stop at the sound of a voice filtering through the vent in the floor, under the head of the bed. "I must have fainted. Guess I forgot to eat, and the heat got to me. I'm so sorry. I feel like an idiot." Her voice is muffled but I know it's her—Rumor.
Rebel scurries from the bed as if someone just told him the Roadhouse was on fire. Without a word, I begin to follow him down the stairs to the bar. Rebel comes to a halt at the foot of the stairs with me standing a few steps behind him. Rumor looks over at the two of us just as I button the last two buttons of my shirt. She has a lost expression on her face, before her facade suddenly changes. It's as if something inside of her has snapped, as she leans up to Tread and places a small kiss on his mouth.
Rebel doesn't look back at me and continues out the back door, I follow him, stopping in the kitchen. I know he needs space and has a lot on his mind.
Rumor
Struggling to sit up, I look to my left when I spot Rebel and Baby coming down the stairs. His fly is open, and she is buttoning her shirt. I guess everything he said was meaningless. It was all a lie, all of those nights he spent holding me and sleeping on my floor, chasing my demons away meant nothing to him. It was just a means to an end, guess he wanted to know what it would be like to fuck sisters. Glad I never gave him the chance. I don't know why I feel so angry, so betrayed, but something inside of me breaks, and I want to hurt Rebel like he has me. I want to cut him to the bone. Tread is looking down at me with a sweet look on his face, concern for me. I lean up and place a kiss of gratitude on his mouth. When I look back to where Baby and Rebel were standing, they are both gone. I feel like a piece of me has died. I have nothing left in me, nothing to fight for him anymore. Baby can have him. I am so done. I don't know why I ever thought we would ever have a chance anyway. I am out of here soon.
"What was that for?' Tread is holding a bewildered look on his face.
"Just a thank you for not letting me hit the floor. I think I am going to grab a small bite to eat and call it a night."
"Later, Rumor." He walks me to the kitchen before heading out himself.
Baby and Rebel deserve each other, they both like to toy with people. Screw it she can close up the kitchen tonight. I am done being her doormat. Walking out the back door as LL comes in, I give her a weak smile. I can't believe I just did that, that I kissed Tread and left Baby hanging. It feels kind of good. Glancing over at the garage, I see Rebel and Striker smoking one. Rebel waves at me and I flip him the finger. Instead of going home as I planned, I takeout the keys Sunshine left me to her car and decide to pay Inkman a visit.
Inkman has a shop on the outskirts of town. I hope he is in tonight. I didn't think to call first, but I am already here. The sign on the door says open. Inside I take a look at all the different designs showcased on the walls. Some I recognize from some of the work he has done on the Rebels.
"Hey, Rumor, what can I do ya for?" Inkman steps out from the back room. If you didn't know him personally, he would scare the bejeezus out of you at first sight. The man is covered in tattoos. I would be willing to bet that there isn't one inch of him that isn't inked, including his ears.
"You got time to do some work for me tonight?" I have been wanting to get this tattoo for a while and today seems like a good day to get it. I am ready to start living again. I am tired of playing it safe and leaving all the boys to Baby to play with. Why should she have all the fun? I could flirt, I could be one of those girls. It will be good practice for when I am ready to date, after I leave Drag Creek.
"Sure. I have always got time for a beautiful canvas, what did you have
in mind?" He is the sweetest, the first time he inked me he said I had the perfect skin for tattooing.
"Well, I was thinking of getting an empty bird cage with the door open and having a sparrow in flight with a trail of feathers behind it. I want the birdcage on the back of my left shoulder blade and the bird to be right about here." I turn to show him the spot I am talking about, right above my right hipbone.
"Are you wanting it in color or shaded in black and grey?"
"What do you think?"
"Let me sketch on it for a minute and we will go from there. Just have a seat in the lounge and watch some TV or read a magazine for a few. I'll be back out when I have it ready."
"Sounds good."
After flipping through a few magazines, Inkman comes out and brings his sketchpad with him. He has designed exactly what I had envisioned. "It's perfect."
"Okay, follow me." He leads me into the back to where he sees all of his clients. "I'll give you a minute to get settled. I am going to need you to remove your shirt and your bra and lie across the chair on your stomach." The first time I came here I had to take my shirt off I was so uncomfortable with my history, but I trust Inkman and he goes out of his way to make sure I am comfortable with everything he does.
I get undressed from the waist up and take my place. Inkman has the chair at an angle so that I am positioned to give him the best access to my back and to provide me with the most comfortable position he can. Taking an alcohol swab, he cleans the area thoroughly and gets started. The first strike of the needle is always the worst, but I welcome the pain. It reminds me that I can feel. That I am alive. That Grim saved me that fateful night in Alabama. Had I endured much more from Squirrel...I may have ended my life.
Just Ride Black Rebel Riders' MC Volume 1 Page 24
