Vicious Hate (Westbrook Blues Book 2)

by Thandiwe Mpofu

  “Yeah, nothing like we’ll fucking do to your school next week!” Noah hollers and then passes Spider a drink.

  “You boys play like you have a chip on your shoulders, but then again, you do have one.”

  “Well, when the whole town looks at you like everything you have has been handed to you on a gold platter, you tend to get sick of that shit real fast.” Emmett says but his eyes, they are on me.

  I feel the coiled tension in me again.

  I can still hear my mother’s words from earlier in the night. I want to hunt her down in this damn mansion, and demand that she explain the fucking shit she spewed tonight.

  More importantly, that jab about Emmett and marriage shit?

  I saw the look of evil merriment in her eyes. I noticed the way her eyes cut to Star, as if she wanted to make sure that she was doing her best work ever, destroying the girl I’m obsessed over.

  My mother doesn’t want Astraea and I to be together, but why? I have no idea. Not that her opinion ever mattered to me before. Hell, I don’t care for her opinion over what fucking socks to wear to church. Her opinion stopped being of importance the day she decided to stop being a mother.

  Denise is a master manipulator but she’s also not a fool. She knows that I’m a sucker for Astraea. That I claimed her for myself the very day she moved in with her family. Hell, Star sealed her fucking fate with the devil when she looked at me over Emmett’s shoulder all those years ago.

  And if anyone thinks they can take her away from me, it’s going to be a fucking blood bath.

  I fucking claimed her for myself the day we met!

  You don’t just fucking ignore a girl who sees you, calls you out on your shit and then challenges you at every turn. You don’t turn away from a girl who makes you come alive, burning you each time to get too close but come back for more anyway.

  “Well, mofos, you do have everything.” Spider exclaims with a laugh. “I mean look at this shit.”

  “It’s just material shit that doesn’t matter in the long run. What does matter though, is life.” Noah says slowly. A chill races down my spine thinking of all the lives we’ve lost.

  But it’s not over. I know it’s not.

  “Yeah well, you have to make sure that you damn well protect that life with everything you have. Everything you are.” Spider says, locking gaze with each of us as he turns around.

  Spider is perceptive as fuck. He knows about the threats, he knows about what happened to George and he’s been working undercover for a while.

  “Did you find something?” Emmett questions him then.

  “That fucking list you gave me was long as fuck but I did get some stuff. The security guy who used to work here? He was murdered a few hours before I found him.”

  Noah whistles then, his body growing tense.

  “Then that means someone knew we were after him.” Noah says.

  “Chief Ealy.” I grunt out, remembering the chat I had with the elderly asshole.

  “Fuck!”

  “Now we have to deal with him too. . .” Emmett’s voice is like thunder but Spider raises a hand to stop him.

  “I thought so until I heard the news that hasn’t hit the airwaves yet. Ealy died of a stroke a few hours ago.”

  “A stroke huh?” I question, taking another swig of my beer.

  “Officially, that’s what they’re going to call it but unofficially, it was murder. That's what Marie said.”

  “We have to keep her safe and anonymous.” Emmett interjects and we all agree. Marie has been nothing but a life line for all of us in this room, hell, maybe for hundreds of other people. We owe her security and protection.

  “Don’t worry about that but y’all might want to know something else.” Spider starts as he accepts a beer bottle from Noah. I tense as soon as he says those words. Something about his voice rubs me the wrong way.

  “Dereck Myers is out.”

  Tense silence follows after Spider’s announcement.

  “And he’s out with a heavy grudge against you, thirsting for your blood to be exact.”

  “But the bail against him was like half a million. Where the hell did he get that money cause I know his asshat of a father doesn’t have shit.” Noah seethes.

  “An anonymous someone paid for him.” Spider says as he looks at me.

  It’s clear to see that the person who killed George, the person who is out to destroy us, the very one who violated and raped. . .

  I grow angry and tense with each thought that I can’t even stand straight or see clearly. Everything in me is now on high alert and I feel fucking reckless.

  “It’s him, isn’t it?” Noah bites out the words, anger taking over the sound and tenor of his voice as his eyes harden.

  “I won’t lie to you boys, the target on your backs is bigger and brighter than ever before. This guy you’re looking for, whoever the fuck he is, he has a pattern, if you really look at it.” Spider explains, his voice deep and solemn.

  “What sort of pattern?” Noah questions, as he lights a joint, his hand trembling and I’m frozen in place, feeling like a spring, coiled with so much tension, I don’t even know how to let it all go.

  “Well for one, he is obviously studying you. Looking for your enemies or people that hate your wealthy guts with a passion.”

  “Well that’s almost everyone.” Emmett snorts.

  “You’re certain he’s still watching us?” I question seriously, but I can see how it can be possible.

  “That should be obvious. I mean, he knew that we were after the security guy. He obviously got rid of Ealy and now Myers is out? You best believe that he has eyes on you. And something tells me those eyes are closer than you think.” Spider warns, looking each one of us in the eyes.

  “So, let me get this right. This dickhead is reaching out to people that hate us, people that are probably close enough to watch us?” Noah questions.

  “Yes.”

  That one word from Spider’s ominous deep voice rings in the room with a clarity that would make a cat run the other way, fearing for its nine lives.

  “Be careful of who comes around you. Be watchful of the kids at that school. Be careful of where you go because trust me, you’re not so golden to most kids out there.”

  “Fucking Dereck Myers included.” I grit out. And he will go after Astraea. . .

  “Can this night stop with the bombs?” Noah groans now, puffing the joint that he has.

  “Yeah, something tells me this is just the beginning.”

  There’s a reason why my mother attacked tonight.

  There’s a reason why Ealy was murdered.

  There’s a fucking reason why Myers is out of prison.

  There’s a reason. . .

  “We need extra security.” Emmett speaks up then. “Especially for Raea. That girl attracts all kinds of trouble and shit.” He says, his eyes on me, his voice hard and authoritative, grating on my nerves.

  “I mean with your mother coming after her tonight, who knows what else awaits her by associating with you.” He continues, watching me.

  My entire body is vibrating with the need to let loose on him. I can see it in his eyes too. He knows what I want to fucking do right now.

  “She’s mine to fucking protect.” I declare, my voice low as I step closer to where he stands.

  “You didn’t protect her tonight as your snake of a mother annihilated her life. . .” He taunts.

  “You would know all about snakes, now wouldn’t you?”

  Closer, I just need to step closer to him. He needs to be taught a lesson. Lucky for him, tonight I’m willing to be a lethally generous teacher.

  “I’m looking at one right now.” He seethes, watching me approach as he loosens his limbs.

  “Uh, yo assholes.” Noah calls “Now is not the time to whip out your dicks and measure that pathetic shit.”

  “Did I step into something?” Spider questions with caution as he watches Emmett and I.

  I can sense
his alarm from here, he has never really experienced what real violence within our tight knit group feels like and now he’s front and center, about to witness a bloody, cutthroat fight which neither one of us wants to lose.

  Noah snorts then. “It’s been one motherfucking hell of a night Spider, let’s leave it at that.”

  But the look Emmett is giving me though, now that shows that the night isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

  “You see Spider.” He starts then, his eyes are still on me, he’s talking to me while measuring my anger at the same time.

  “When you live like fucking gods in this town, you start feeling invincible, as if nothing can touch you.” His voice is quiet, measured and just as lethal as the look in his eyes.

  Emmett never raises his voice, never shouts but that simmering anger of his has always reminded me of some kind of disease, a poison, or a plague.

  It’s rare, profound, destructive in nature, has an incendiary feeling to it that no one can ignore and I hardly think there is a cure for it. He has it deep within himself but for so long, he has managed, on the most part, to keep it to himself.

  But he doesn’t fool me. I’ve seen and experienced his rage before just as I’m doing now. I know he’s a fucking time bomb and tonight, I’m going to light that shit up and blow it away!

  “You start feeling like everything belongs to you.” He continues, watching me flex my muscles as he does now, snapping his neck in the silent room, as if to intimidate me.

  Good thinking, asshole, but small thinking.

  “Touching and defiling everything not knowing that you have done absolutely nothing to prove yourself worthy of it.”

  Spider chuckles then, not knowing how to respond to that, but I know who Emmett is talking to. So, I answer him.

  “True, but that depends. What’s a mere human to a king?” My voice is deep as I question and the level of tense anger, vibrating hate and anticipated violence rises in the room, expanding between us and around us.

  Yeah, tonight. It’s all going to blow up tonight.

  But Emmett doesn’t miss a beat, taking a step of his own towards me. He stares straight at me, his gait getting larger in front of my eyes if that’s possible.

  “And I also wonder.” He responds, taking a step closer to me as he does, staring right at me because the motherfucker doesn’t cower or back away. The Blue Boys don’t bow to anyone. The Blue Boys reign down hell.

  “What’s a king to a god?” He questions, flexing his knuckles with a smirk of his own.

  The god being him, obviously. The Eastons come from a long line of power, according to the history books I was forced to study each Wednesday night, week after week as a young boy. The Eastons’ genealogy traces back to Greek mythology, that their strength, their build, their size, their god-like features are in fact, from the gods themselves.

  It’s no wonder my father has hated their family line for so long. Emmett represents that and so much more. He represents a formidable, smart, tough ally and he is my best friend but when it comes to my girl, MINE, all that is cast out the window as well as common sense because when it concerns Astraea, the girl he has loved for so long, he is nothing.

  I chuckle then, watching him.

  “That’s cute, but I’m a non-believer. What’s a god to that?” I question, my voice deep and low for his ears only.

  The room is so damn silent, I swear you could hear the breaking, the bruising and testing of life long bonds that we have built almost our entire lives.

  “It’s been a long night huh?” Spider chuckles as he chugs his beer, watching Emmett and I with cautious eyes. He can sense that something is up here, so Noah changes the topic, only he just starts talking about the very reason of this. . .anger.

  “So, have you seen her. Your creator?” Noah jokes, trying to break the tension as he gets the game controller, switching the large screen to a video game he’s been obsessing over for the past two weeks. “I wanna show her the new edits to this game.”

  “Ah shit, she’s the reason why I’m here. Where is she?” Spider questions. “She’s still showing your ass up in those games?”

  “Shut up, Spider. It was just one time.” Noah groans rubbing a hand down his face.

  My movements are slow, tense and measured as I turn away from Emmett to stare at Spider, studying him. His eagerness to see Star doesn’t go unnoticed by Emmett and Noah as we all look at him, but the bastard breaks out laughing.

  “That’s how it is huh?” He laughs, questioning with a knowing look in his eyes. And I can see that he’s piecing all this shit together.

  “Come on now, last time I saw her, I was being shipped off to Military School. By the way, that shit was just fucking awful.” He complains, taking a seat beside Noah who passes him a controller to play the game with him, but his eyes are still on Emmett and I.

  “Shit, how the hell did they know you were part of that heist?” Emmett questions.

  “You mean blowing up the Mayor’s house, strapping dynamites to that asshat’s pet cobra and then plastering his wife’s affair all over town? That heist?”

  “Aye, that was your idea.” I say as I chug at my beer, thinking of the good old days when we decided to teach the good ole, then mayor of Westbrook Blues, a little valuable lesson when he decided to be a biased, racist and homophobic pussy.

  “Yeah we didn’t do that heist justice. If only I knew where that asshole was now. . .” Noah grits out.

  Noah has a dark side to him. Having lost a brother who was discriminated against because of his sexual orientation from both home and the community, yeah well, he decided to be a whole lot vengeful. So, when the Mayor, a friend of Noah’s deadbeat, asshole of a father, tried to pass on a law about how gays and lesbians were not allowed here, Spider and Noah decided to teach him a lesson.

  It’s never a good thing when those two ink up. Like I said, Noah worships Spider. . .for a reason.

  Emmett snorts. “Don’t shit all over this room asshole, we all know you know where McFeeble is.”

  “Well, what kind of angel of death would I be if I didn’t know where my targets are? That reminds me, I need to shit all over someone. This week” Noah chuckles as he plays his damn game.

  “But seriously, where’s that beauty? I bet time only made her fucking gorgeous.” Spider speaks up again but I know he’s baiting me.

  I turn to look at Spider, knowing that his question is directed at me.

  You see, Astraea likes naming things, people, animals whatever. She has always liked giving identities that never really go away. And in so doing, that’s where her enchanting magic starts.

  She gave Spider his name after his fascination with the damn things. Then soon, he came home with a tattoo of a fucking pink and black spider. Apparently, the pink was to symbolize the day Star named him, she was wearing a freaking pink dress, and well black just makes it look much more sinister.

  Since then, Spider has been fucking enchanted with her. Fuck, the guy would die for her, even if he is a few years older than us. But I never thought it would be like how Emmett feels for her. Spider looked at Star more like George did, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t on alert. Star has always been beautiful but now that she’s grown, she is a bit different now, I’m sure Spider will be able to see that too.

  “Careful, I mean nothing by it.” Spider says with a huge, knowing smile on his face watching my reaction to his question. I ease up just a little but the tension never really goes away.

  “She’s out getting drunk like a skunk by the deck. I’ve got people watching her.” Emmett answers, walking towards the fridge where he takes out a two cans of beer, tossing one to me. I catch it on auto pilot but this is not a peace offering at all because I still once again as his words soak into me.

  “And what gave you the right to do that?” My voice is eerily deep, the tension radiating in waves.

  Noah looks up from where he and Spider are playing the game, sensing the impending disaster that’s about to r
ip this entire mansion, hell, the entire city, to shreds. This time, nothing will stop this.

  “After what happened to her, I’ve kept eyes on her. Something that you would have seen to if your head wasn’t in your ass all the time, busy being a possessive shmuck.” He taunts, looking for a fight.

  “Whoa, Em, I think that’s enough.” Noah interjects, getting on his feet again.

  “Stay out of this Noah.” Emmett growls, watching me like a hawk—but maybe like I’m a wild beast. “The almighty king here isn’t really a king after all. Thinking he can lord over Astraea like she is his kingdom. She is a girl. A heartbroken, soul shattered girl.”

  “And you know her better because of that, then? You know exactly what she wants, what she needs, huh?” I smirk, taunting him. I know I’m being an asshole but he fucking knows nothing about her but the shit she displays, hiding who she really is. Hiding the vicious, cold, thorny and bruised parts of her that I saw from the day we met, concealed by fucking stars in her eyes.

  “You know every inch of her?” I taunt.

  I start advancing towards him again. He watches me stepping closer but he doesn’t blink, doesn’t cower and he doesn’t look surprised. Emmett was never one to be scared of anything, hell he knew just how violent I could be, he was like me in that sense, but this. . .we are in deep, unclear, uncharted territory, and there is no going back from this.

  Not ever.

  “Hey guys, I think tonight’s events are enough to stew over. Let’s take it down a notch.” Noah tries again, but even he knows that we are at a point of no return.

  I ignore him, my hooded and hard gaze trained steadily on Emmett.

  “Answer me. You think you know her, don’t you?”

  “I saw her first. And you damn well know she loved me first!” He seethes.

  I still in my tracks, my entire body seems like it’s twisting out of shape, bending me as needles, sticks and sharp objects skewer me. Silence falls heavy over the room.

  “Uh, dude. I think you should go say hello or some shit to Baby Blue out there. I wonder if she can even talk.” Noah starts ushering Spider out of the room. Emmett and I are breathing heavily but this is none of Spider’s business.