by Jade Kuzma
“Mercer… Finally decided to come out tonight. Thinkin’ about testin’ yourself, are you?”
“Shut the fuck up,” I responded. “This is a mistake. You can’t do this.”
“I told you. I don’t make these fights. It’s not my decision.”
“Then who’s in charge?”
“You see those boys over there?”
He whispered it to me like he didn’t want anybody else to hear. He just gave a quick glance across the crowd to point out the bikers I was just looking at.
“Iron Spades,” he said. “They’re the ones who run this thing. Not alone but they’re runnin’ this shit tonight.”
I clenched my jaw and glared at the men across from me. Everybody else was focused on the two fighters who were starting to circle each other.
“You wanna stop this fight, you talk to them. But don’t you worry,” Yates said. “Isaac’s a good fighter. You taught the kid—”
Before he could finish, Isaac decked Thompson with a hard right hand across the face. Thompson’s head turned slightly but the motherfucker kept walking forward like it didn’t faze him.
It was like a scene out of the fucking circus. Thompson slowly moved forward, his arms down while Isaac moved around the circle. Isaac would throw a punch and move out of the way before Thompson was able to grab him.
I lost track of how many punches Isaac had landed. Thompson’s face was bloody but it wasn’t slowing him down. If anything, Isaac’s hand was probably sore as shit. It never felt good to hit someone with your bare knuckles, even if the other guy got the worst of it.
The crowd kept cheering the two of them on. The tension behind the abandoned building was growing. I dug my heels into the dirt and waited for this shit to finally end. Just one false step was all it would take for Isaac to be in a world of hurt.
“The kid knows what he’s doin’,” Yates said. “You ain’t got nothin’ to worry about.”
“Shut up.”
Isaac was starting to grow tired. Even though he hadn’t been touched, he didn’t have the conditioning to keep punching Thompson as hard as he was. Not to mention that his hands probably felt like dog shit right now.
But he kept pushing. One punch. Then another. Then another. Then another. Thompson’s face was bloody red but his eyes were still wide open.
I could see Isaac getting ready. He was prepping for another hard shot. A shot that would end the fight.
He couldn’t get it off in time though. Thompson roared and moved with a speed I hadn’t seen this entire time. He wrapped his arms around Isaac and picked him up clear from the ground. A hard headbutt made Isaac’s nose bleed.
“Shit!”
I shouted out but it was drowned out by the celebration of the crowd.
Isaac somehow managed to kick himself free. He stumbled to the ground and had trouble getting back up to his feet.
“Isaac! Isaac, get up! Come on!”
I yelled loud enough to get through to him. The blood was draining from his nose. He stared at me, his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed with anger.
He screamed at the top of his lungs and turned around with the hardest punch I’d ever seen him throw. It cracked Thompson right on the jaw and made him stumble back a few steps.
Thompson recovered quickly though. All that shit did was make him mad. He reared his hand back and swung it so hard and fast that there was no way Isaac could get out of the way. Isaac was too exhausted and too weak.
Thompson crashed his fist into the side of Isaac’s head and sent him down to the ground in a heap like someone had pulled the rug out from under him.
The crowd cheered loud enough for the entire town to hear. Thompson raised his arms in the air in triumph. I was the only person who wasn’t celebrating.
I rushed over to Isaac and took a knee down next to him. I moved him onto his back and looked down at him. His eyes were flickering open and closed. His face was covered in blood. Just a couple of shots was all it took to put Isaac down.
“Come on, boys!” I heard a man shout over the crowd. “Our man Thompson here just won us a night of celebration! Let’s go to Finn’s, baby!”
The crowd started to disappear as everybody went on their way. I knelt by Isaac’s side but I wasn’t looking at him. All I could do was glare at the group of bikers as they walked away.
One of them noticed me. An older-looking motherfucker. Bald head. A thick beard that looked like he hadn’t shaved in years.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw me looking at him.
He didn’t say anything though. He just kept staring at me.
I looked into his eyes. Those beady-fucking eyes.
The asshole eventually went on his way with the rest of his crew, leaving me alone with Isaac.
“Aw shit, man…”
I looked up and saw that Yates was still standing there, the only man left from the crowd.
“I didn’t know it would go down like that.”
I jumped up to my feet and grabbed him by the collar.
“I told you! I fucking told you this would happen!”
“Hey! That wasn’t my decision! I didn’t make Isaac do anythin’! That was all on him! He’s a grown man. That was his choice.”
I was fuming. I wanted to punch Yates out right then and there but I kept my cool long enough to realize that wouldn’t solve anything.
I looked down at Isaac and saw the bad state that he was in.
“I care about the kid,” he said.
“You only care about Isaac because he made you money.”
“I don’t wanna see him get hurt. But that’s just the nature of the game. Shit happens…”
I couldn’t remember the last time I was as pissed as I was now.
Or maybe…
“Isaac’s a tough kid. He’s strong. He’ll be all right—”
“Shut the fuck up for a second. If you really care about Isaac, you’ll take him to the fuckin’ hospital.”
“What? Me?”
I stared hard at Yates and he put his hands up like he always did.
“All right, all right. I suppose I could take him. I got the time and it’s the least I could do for him.”
“Good.”
“Why can’t you take him?”
“I’m going somewhere.”
“Where’s that?”
“That guy,” I said. “The guy in charge of the Spades you were talking about. The one who was eyeballing me.”
“I don’t know who was eyeballin’ you but the man in charge is Hawk—”
“Hawk. He said he was going to Finn’s.”
“I think that’s what I heard him say. What about it—Oh, shit, Mercer. You’re not thinkin’ about doin’ somethin’ stupid, are you?”
“Get Isaac to the fuckin’ hospital already.”
I moved through the alley and got to my bike as fast as I could.
Finn’s was on the other side of town. The time it took to get there would be just enough for me to figure out exactly what I was gonna do.
Chapter 13
DANICA
“Looks like somebody’s doing real damn good tonight.”
As soon as Lauren said it, I stuffed the tips I was counting back into my pocket.
“Just another average night,” I said.
“Another average night for you is better than it is for everybody else. You’ve got it going on tonight.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“You’re doing better than me. What do you think I should do?”
Lauren spun around in a circle to let me examine her outfit.
“Let’s see,” I said with a laugh. “Top is right… Jeans are real tight so they can see your curves… And you’re as pretty as you always are. Sorry, Lauren. I don’t think I can be much help for you.”
“Maybe I should shake it for them a little more than usual. You think that’ll work.”
I looked around the bar. The scene at Finn’s was as obnoxious as it always was.
<
br /> “Who knows?” I said. “With how drunk all of these assholes are, there’s no telling what turns them on.”
“Speaking of assholes…”
Lauren looked over my shoulder. I turned around and saw the same MC that gave me trouble last night. They were the only club that gave me trouble. The Iron Spades had returned despite me and every other waitress in the place wishing they hadn’t.
I sighed as I turned back to Lauren. She shrugged at me and gave me a half-hearted smile.
“You work at Finn’s because you wanna make the big bucks,” she said. “That’s all there is to it.”
“Keep reminding me—”
“I want bottles!”
A voice interrupted us.
Hawk and his goons were already at the bar making demands on the Finn’s staff.
“None of that cheap shit!” Hawk shouted. “The good stuff! And a few pitchers! We’re all thirsty and we need to be taken care of.”
Hawk noticed me staring at him. I looked away but it was already too late.
Shit…
“Well, look who it is,” he said. “The little troublemaker. I’m glad you decided to come into work today.”
I kept staring at Lauren, hoping that she would help me get out of this.
“We’re gonna be drinkin’ a lot tonight. Why don’t you make sure you stop by our booth to keep us wet? If you do that, I’ll make sure to do the same for you.”
Just listening to his slithery voice was enough to send a chill up my spine. I didn’t bother trying to hide how much I was shuddering. The bearded biker kept eyeballing me with that lascivious stare of his.
Despite my objections, he wasn’t getting the picture.
“Come on, sweetie. Don’t you feel like makin’ some money tonight—”
He reached up to try and slap me on the ass but I instinctively caught his wrist. I used all my strength to make sure that he didn’t get any ideas. Some of the training that Aden gave me earlier in the day seemed to come in handy.
“We’ve got a lot of waitresses tonight,” I said. “I’m sure they’ll all be more than willing to accommodate you and get you everything you need.”
“Maybe you’ve got a point…”
He looked around the bar before turning back to me.
“…And the other waitresses are probably not frigid cunts like you.”
He tugged his hand free and smiled at me. Even from behind his beard, I could see his dirty teeth.
“Danica.”
Lauren put a hand on my shoulder and turned me to her.
“Come on,” she said. “Your order is up.”
“Right…” I replied.
I didn’t bother giving Hawk another second of my time. I got back to work. Thankfully, Hawk and his crew decided that they had better things to do. They took their spot at the corner of the bar. They were as loud and obnoxious as before but at least they kept everything to themselves.
I didn’t pay much attention to them. Even if my only motivation was the money I would make in tips tonight, it would be more than enough to get me through the evening.
Work managed to distract me long enough that I wasn’t concerned with anybody in the entire building. It helped that there were other workers like Lauren who had to suffer through it with me.
I was at the bar waiting for another drink order when the entrance opened up. People were constantly coming in and out of Finn’s, so I didn’t expect to see anybody special.
But there he was.
“Aden?”
I walked up closer to make sure that it was him.
And it was him. There was no mistaking that. But he looked like I’d never seen him before. His brow was furrowed with anger. His gritted his teeth so hard that I could see his jaw tense.
“Aden?”
I said his name again and he finally turned to me.
“What are you doing here?”
I thought him seeing me would make him relax from however he was feeling. But his face didn’t soften.
I knew something was wrong. If it wasn’t the look on his face, it was everything else.
“What is this?” I said as I looked at his shirt. “Why do you have blood all over you? Are you hurt—”
“It’s not my blood. I’m all right.”
“You didn’t answer my question. What the hell are you doing here?”
I knew he wasn’t here for me. He would’ve called. He would’ve been in a better mood. He wouldn’t be searching the bar like he was now.
“I’m looking for someone,” he said.
“Clearly… Who is it?”
“A group of bikers. Shaved heads. Tattoos on their skulls.”
“The Spades?”
Aden’s eyes lit-up as soon as I said it. But he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring right at the group in their corner booth.
He immediately started moving toward them as soon as he spotted them.
“Wait!”
I grabbed his wrist with both hands and dug my heels into the ground to stop him from walking away. Aden relented and stopped moving.
“Why are you looking for them?” I asked.
“I’ve got some business to take care of.”
“Aden, I don’t think you should—”
“Get out of my way.”
“Those guys… Those guys are dangerous. I don’t think you should mess with them. Not by yourself.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
He moved around me. I knew he was determined to get to them. I let out a frustrated sigh because there was no way I could stop him.
Aden made a beeline right toward the men who were celebrating. I stood right behind him and looked around to see where security was at.
“Hey!”
Aden’s voice boomed and interrupted the conversation and laughter that all of the men were having. They all turned toward Aden. The smiles on their faces slowly disappeared. They raised their eyebrows in curiosity at the man who had the gall to bother them.
Hawk narrowed his eyes at Aden and pointed an index finger.
“I know you,” he said as he got up from his seat. “You were just at the fight.”
“Yeah, you know me,” Aden replied. “You’re about to know me real fuckin’ good.”
“I think I know you good enough. The way you were cryin’ over that bitch with his face all bleedin’. You’re a real pussy.”
He burst into laughter and the rest of his club joined in. Aden kept glaring at Hawk, a cold stare that he couldn’t fake.
“You must be real proud of yourself,” Aden said. “Beating up some 18-year-old who doesn’t know any better.”
“And who are you? His daddy?”
Another round of laughter made my stomach twist with anxiety. Aden was just getting angrier.
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” Aden said.
“That’s right,” Hawk said.
Hawk took a step toward him and looked him dead in the eye.
“It doesn’t matter who the fuck you are. You’re just some bum. You wanna go cry a river over that cocky asshole that just got his shit pushed in, you do it somewhere else. Drown yourself with a beer, you little bitch.”
Hawk got back into his seat but the tension between the two men hadn’t gone away.
“You set those fights up,” Aden said.
“So what if I did?” Hawk replied. “That was the kid’s choice to fight.”
“The kid’s choice,” Aden scoffed. “You know damn well what was gonna happen.”
“Hey, easy money. You’d do the same if it was there for you.”
“Nah,” Aden said, shaking his head. “When I kick someone’s ass, I beat on someone my own size. How about you?”
He turned to one of the other men.
“Thompson,” Aden said.
The other man glared at Aden as he got up from his seat.
Aden was tall enough that I had to turn my head up to look at him. But the man now standing in front of him was somehow a fe
w inches taller. His eyes bulged as much as his muscles. That sadistic look in his gaze was more than enough to tell me he had a few screws loose. He had some bruises and scuffs on his face, no doubt from a scrap he was probably just in.
Aden and the other man eyeballed each other like they were going to kill one another.
“Now hold on just a second,” Hawk said as he got back out of his seat. “You want a fight with Thompson, you go through me.”
“I don’t want a fight with Thompson,” Aden said, not taking his eyes off the big man. “I’m just gonna beat his ass right here—”
Without warning, Aden raised his fist up and clocked the man in the chin. The punch was so loud that I could hear it. Bone meeting bone. A hard swing that rotated the man’s head on his neck.
The big man slumped down into a heap in a split-second, his legs suddenly giving out.
“Aden!”
I yelled out helplessly.
“Get him!”
The Spades all jumped up from the table and jumped toward Aden.
“Help!” I shouted. “Someone help!”
Aden struggled on the ground with the Spades for only a few seconds before security jumped in. As violent and strong as all of the men were, Finn’s was prepared for situations like this. There’d been enough trouble before that they’d beefed up security.
Aden and the Spades were all escorted out of the bar by security. I paced alongside them and got outside. A couple of police cruisers were already there waiting. The cops started to cuff Aden.
“Wait! You can’t do that—”
A police officer stopped me from getting to Aden. They bent him over the hood of their car and forced his hands behind his back.
“What are you doing?” I said.
“What do you think?” the cop said to me.
There was no point in trying to argue. There was no disputing what Aden did. There was a whole bar full of people who saw what happened.
I looked at Aden and sighed, still helpless to do anything.
Hawk and the other Spades were being arrested, too, but it didn’t give me as much relief as I thought it would.
“You know this guy?” the cop asked me.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod, my eyes locked on Aden. “I know him.”
