by Kara Hart
“First of all, who said I even liked you? Second of all, why would I need to stay over at your place? I could stay over at Jack’s if I wanted to. Jesus, how arrogant are you?” She grabbed the bottle of whisky from his hands and took a sip for herself. I could tell I was getting her riled up. Of course I had to continue messing with her.
“You wouldn’t stay at Jack’s place even if a judge ordered you to. Hell, I know how creepy that guy is just by lookin’ at him.” Finally, I found the number I was looking for. I grabbed up my phone and motioned for her to stop talking. She couldn’t argue against my point anyway.
“Rust. It’s me. Yeah, Avery. How’s the misses? Good, good. Yeah, I got a favor to ask you. It’s pretty big so get ready for it. Ha-ha, alright. I got a friend here whose house is getting repossessed. Need you to go visit some people for her. Yeah, I’ll owe you one. Okay, I’ll owe you two! Yeah, alright, one second.” I covered the phone’s receiver and whispered to her, “He’s gonna need all your info. Write it down for me. Your address, social security number, everything. Got it?” She shook her pretty dumb head. “Okay, Rust. Yeah, I’ll get it to you. Thanks. Be good, brother.” I hung up the phone.
“What did he say?” She exclaimed, practically on her knees in front of me. She always seemed so innocent, despite being such a dirty girl in the sheets. Hell, I’ll admit it. I was staring at her tits the whole time. It’s hard not to when a girl walks in your house wearing a crop top and tight pair of jeans.
“He said he can’t do it. Sorry sweet-cheeks.” I lied.
“Oh…” Her head dropped down all sad like. I couldn’t bear to look at her like this.
“I’m just messin’ with you. Of course he’ll do it.” I said. She wrapped her arms around me tight.
“Whoa there.” I said, losing my balance. “Just trying to help out.” I hated being that guy, but I knew well enough that not much could be done. Rust was just a part of the crew. He didn’t have any in’s with any banks or any of that world. The best he could do was rough some people up. I couldn’t let her down though. I needed her help still.
She kissed my cheeks. “You’re a good friend.” She said, smiling bright. Friend? Who is she kidding?
“I don’t know what you mean by friend. A lady ain’t never been my friend before. Now I said Rust’ll take care of it, so he’ll do it okay?”
She let go of me. “Okay.” She said, sitting back on the couch. Her back was arched against the pillow. I couldn’t help but be infatuated by her body. These pop stars, man…they really knew how to keep in shape. I licked my lips and leaned back, looking smooth as can be. “Avery, I’ve got a question…” she suddenly said.
“Lay it on me.” I said, rolling a cigarette between my fingers.
“What do you mean when you say Rust will take care of everything? And why doesn’t your front door have a handle?”
Well, I couldn’t lie to her forever, I guess. Wasn’t it a bit obvious though? My crew weren’t exactly the moral sort of bunch you see at church. Nah. We were the ones your pastor warned you about. Always liked communion though.
“Hope, there’s just some things you shouldn’t know about. Let’s just say there’s some people in suits who will regret their decision not to give you an extension.” I tried my best to smile, although I could tell she thought I was a villain of sorts. Maybe I was. But I wasn’t about to change for no woman. Not ever. “The doorknob is for my protection. No one can get in without knowing the code. Sometimes I have body guards, but money’s been a little tighter lately.” I admitted. I owed Luke a hell of an earning. Figured if I cut back a little on my spending, I could catch up on my payment.
“Avery, are people going to get hurt?” she innocently asked me. She was as cute as a button, but I had to open her eyes a little bit.
“People always get hurt, Hope. Every single day. The world is a dying orb. You just gotta stay alive for as long as you can.” I lit up that cigarette and felt the smoke pass through my lungs.
“That’s kind of bleak.” she said. Funny though. She didn’t tell me to stop Rust. Of course she didn’t. She wanted that house back and she was going to do anything she could to get it. She was just like us. She just wasn’t strong enough.
“So be it. It’s a bleak world sometimes, baby.” I laughed. “Why do you think I’ve got this big screen TV? Gotta escape sometimes.”
“I get it.” she said. “Anyway, thank you. I don’t think anyone has my back anymore. I thought becoming a star would change things. I thought it would brighten my life, make it more exciting, you know? Instead it’s opened up a darkness I can’t even fathom. I’m alone, Avery. In every sense of the word. No one cares about a rich pop star who has fallen from grace. They relish in it. They love it.” She rested her head against the pillow and sighed loudly.
Women. They were annoying, alright. I wanted to tell her to get off her ass and do something. To quit crying. I wanted to tell her that ain’t nothing mattered. To stop thinking life owed her something. But of course I didn’t. For once, I was going to play nice. It was a new type of character for me, but I kind of liked the feeling. It was…odd.
“I care.” I found myself saying all of a sudden. You care? Since when do you care about anything but yourself? My ex-girlfriend used to say that to me all the time. It hurt, but I knew she was right. Now, I wasn’t too sure where I stood. There was a weird feeling in my stomach and chest that I couldn’t shake. It’s like I had to help her.
“You don’t even know me.” She said back, eyeing me strangely.
“Yeah, well. I hear your words and I see how you’re feeling, and I can see that there’s someone good in there, someone worth while. So cheer up. Did you lose a friend to addiction? Did a family member die? No. You lost your house. And we’ll get that back for you.” I turned on the TV. “Hell, we should be watching Easy Rider right now. Can’t believe you’ve never seen it!”
I pressed play on the DVD and watched as she curled up next to me, as if she had known and loved me for years. She quickly fell asleep, so I went in the kitchen to make a call.
“Bruce. Yeah, it’s Avery. She’s here, what do you want me to do? Bring her in? Aw come on, I can’t do that boss, she’s asleep. It’d be rude.” He quickly started chastising me over the phone. “Okay, you’re right. No, when you’re right, you’re right. I’ll have her there first thing tomorrow morning. Alright. See ya, boss.” I shook my head as I hung up the phone.
I looked at Hope on the couch. She was so peaceful like this. I don’t know what the hell was going on with me, but this whole Bobby Farole job … it just seemed so wrong. I quickly snapped out of it. I had to do it. For the sake of the Courage family. For loyalty and honor. The words, believe it or not, still meant something to me. My oath meant something.
But, shit. How was I going to tell her she had to have sex with Bobby Farole? Worse than that, she was going to have to act like she loved the guy.
What a disgusting thought, I contemplated to myself as I put her to bed.
Hope
“Where are we going?” I said, opening my eyes. From what I could figure out, Avery was carrying me to the shower.
“Time to get up. Boss needs us to come in for something.” he simply said.
“What?” I rubbed my eyes, straining to see against the bathroom light. “Avery, stop it! What the hell is going on?”
He turned on the shower and checked the water temperature. “Get undressed.” he said.
“Get the hell out of here. I’m not undressing in front of you. Seriously Avery, tell me what’s going on or I’m leaving.” I said. Although judging by how he was blocking the door, I don’t think leaving was even an option at this point. I sighed. “Come on, Avery. I won’t do anything stupid. Just tell me. I’m not going to flip out.”
“You owe me a favor.” He said. He was so nice last night. What happened to him?
“I don't owe you anything, Avery. You haven't got my house back.” I argued, refusing to budge.
> “Just get in, will ya? I ain't looking. Just do what I say and you'll get your stupid house back.” He shut the door, unwilling to discuss it with me. Well, I was up. I looked at the door to the bathroom and then glanced back at the shower. Might as well do it. I don't have much of a choice. Frankly, this was about more than my house. This was about my career. If I was going to rise back up in the ranks, I suspected I would be doing a lot of favors from now on.
I slid out of my tight jeans and shirt and ran my hands against my smooth thigh, slapping my ass lightly. Hope, you still got it. I thought to myself. I hadn't worked out in over a week, but my body still held its voluptuous shape.
I smiled at this thought and stepped into the hot water. Thoughts flooded my mind. Avery. Was this guy for real? He acted like he was some kind of a gangster or something. I knew him and his friends were part of a crew of sorts, but it couldn't be that legitimate could it?
As the water rushed through my hair, dripping down between my thighs and butt, I couldn't help but feel a slight exhilaration from the idea that maybe Avery was more powerful than I thought. I looked around at the porcelain bathroom. It was completely spotless. It looked brand new. How much money the man really had stored away was a good question, one I couldn't help but try and figure out the answer to.
I soaped my body, thinking about his massive cock. The other night was so perfect. The best one night stand I had ever had. And here I was, putting all of my trust in the man. What the hell was I thinking. His body though…and the control he exuded left me out of breath and soaking wet. I truly hadn't ever been with a man like Avery before…
I got out of the shower and dried myself off. Avery opened the door, “You ready? The boss is waiting.” he said.
“Get out!” I yelled, covering my enormous breasts. I never understood why men thought they could just open any door of their choosing without repercussions.
“Oh come on, it's nothing I ain't seen before.” he winked.
I got ready as fast as I could. If there was one thing I was good at, it was putting myself together quickly. We walked to the front of his house as I checked my phone. I had at least a dozen text messages, all from Jack. Not surprising, not one of them was important. I clicked to the top headlines of the day. And then I see it, the words I was expecting: “HOPE LAWRENCE DROPPED FROM MAJOR LABEL” Great.
“Let's go.” Avery said, walking out the front door. I followed him to his bike and got on, feeling the rumbling between my legs. Avery was rugged. I liked that. He was caring, yet he didn't take any shit. If something wasn't worth his time, he simply moved past it. There was something stoic about him. He was different from the rest of the bikers.
We took off speeding in a direction unknown to me. I held onto his strong chest for dear life as we whipped through stop signs and powered through tight corners. “Slow down.” I said against his ear. But he wasn't slowing down. In fact, he didn't even answer me. It didn't take long for me to realize this might be a serious meeting.
When we finally parked the bike, I found myself staring at a run down strip club. “We’re here.” He said. In front of us was an older man with a large beard. I saw him at the party the other night and figured he was pretty high up in the ranks considering he made the big toast and all.
“You work at a strip club?” I said, to my astonishment. Avery ignored me and embraced the old man. “Bruce. Meet Hope.”
Bruce took one look at me and burst out laughing. “Holy shit. The pop singer from the other night. Avery, you son of a bitch!” When he saw that our expressions remained unchanged, he motioned for us to come inside. “Well alright then. Follow me. I'm Bruce by the way.” he said, turning to me.
When I got inside, two strippers were barely dancing against the poles. They must have been around the age of 30, and they looked pretty worn out. I wasn't judging them, but the club looked awful. “Yeah we need some new talent.” Avery said loudly so they could hear him.
That wasn't the whole of it either. The bar was practically empty. The only customers that seemed to be present were bikers that belonged to Courage. They looked me up and down, eyeing me cautiously as I walked toward the back rooms. They were hungry for me. One guy stood up and pointed, “Hey, isn't that…?” Bruce shut him up by throwing a beer at him.
“Sorry about them.” He said. “They're animals.” We walked into Bruce’s office and I sat awkwardly on a couch, wondering what the hell was even going on.
“Hope Lawrence!” Bruce suddenly yelled. “Can't believe we got you here again. And this time it's free!” He laughed.
“What's going on Avery?” I asked, feeling a bit used. “Enough with the mystery, guys. Come on. Tell me what's going on already!”
Avery looked at Bruce. Bruce sighed and lit up a cigarette. “I ain't telling her.” he said.
Avery gave me a pained look and said, “We need you to do a little job for us.” He didn't elaborate any more than this.
“Okay.” I said.
“Someone we know…well, he just got out of prison. We’re gonna need you to cooperate and help us put him back behind bars.” Avery bit his lip, hoping my response would be positive.
“Are you kidding me?” I screamed. “No. Just no. I'm not participating in your thug-like operations. Take me home, Avery.”
“You don't have a home to be taken to, Hope. You don't even have a damn job anymore! You're all washed up.” Avery said. I couldn't help but start to tear up. What was wrong with him? He was absolutely evil. How could he say such horrible things to a woman?
Bruce was even worse, although he tried to come off as the nice guy. “We’re here to help, Hope. We want to see you up on those big stages again, not in shitty bars like this. We see big potential for you. I wouldn't say no to this offer if I were you.”
I took two steps back. I was out of my depth, I couldn't figure out how any of this had happened to me. Life used to be so good. Everything used to work out. Now I was stuck in a life of crime, surrounded by these biker thugs.
“Are … are you … threatening me?” I looked from Avery to Bruce, who was simply smiling and acting cheerful.
“Threatening? No, ‘course not, darlin’. Who would ever threaten a beautiful girl like you? All we’re saying is, good things come to those who help out around these parts…” Bruce took another drag and chucked it against the wall. “So what’s it gonna’ be?” he asked me, arms crossed and impatient.
I bit my lower lip and thought about it for a sec. “You’ll get my house back?” I asked them.
“Of course we will. We ain’t liars.” Bruce assured me.
But you are thugs, criminals, and law-breakers, I thought to myself. There was no use arguing. It was obvious they would have their way in the end. I was clearly dealing with some people who would use any type of force to get their way. I just wish I hadn’t of been so stupid to trust this Avery guy. “And my career? You’ll get that back for me?”
“I’ll tell you what.” Bruce began. “If you write another album, we’ll make sure it gets into the right hands.” He walked up to me and put his arms around my shoulders. “Look, you’re in a good place. It don’t look like it yet, but you are. We help people like you all the time. People don’t think much of us, but we get things done. I can at least say that about the Courage crew. We’ll sacrifice if you sacrifice for us.” Courage or death, right? What a great slogan.
“Okay. Fuck it. I’m in. What do I have to do?”
Bruce smiled. “Well, alright, little lady. Let’s go over the plan.”
Avery
“So let me get this straight,” she began, “I go on a couple dates with this guy, make sure he's distracted, and you plant the evidence in his garage?”
“More or less.” I said. That's not exactly how it would go down, but I didn't want to scare the girl or anything. Still, I had to at least warn her, or give her some sort of insight, before she signed up for the job. “It's going to take some time. It's not going to be easy.” Bruce looked at me an
grily. I wasn't sure why Hope grabbed my attention like this, but lately she was always on my mind. This wasn't like me. Normally I didn't give a shit.
“I'll do it. Whatever it takes.” she said, looking at me, as if to say, ‘I know you'll protect me. I trust you.’ She shook Bruce’s hand. There it was. It was a deal.
“Listen, Bruce.” I said, rethinking the whole plan. Who knows, maybe this girl was worth something. I couldn’t just give her up to Bobby. But just as I was about to call the deal off, Angelo came running into the room, covered in blood.
“It's Luke…” he said. “He went crazy. Went and robbed The Sapo Boys. He ruined the whole truce, Bruce!” He was bleeding pretty bad out of his left leg.
“Someone get him to the fucking hospital!” I screamed. “Bruce, what're we gonna do?”
Bruce turned around and clenched his fist. His temper was starting up again, I could see it in plain sight. He wound his arm back and let out a large roar, “FUCK!” He punched the back wall, his fist making its way through the dry wall. We all jumped, including Angelo.
Bruce stormed out into the hallway, punching everything in sight. When he got into the main room of the club, he shut off the music and screamed, “Does anyone have any sense here? We got a man bleeding in the back!” No one moved, out of fear Bruce might turn on them. “God dammit, call an ambulance! Now!” He turned back around, running back into the room.
“I'm going to be okay, man.” Angelo sighed, tightly wrapping his shirt over the wound.
Hope looked as if she were about to faint. In her world, this kind of thing never happened. In our world, this happened all the time. “You need to go.” I said to her.
“I think I'm going to be sick…” she moaned. I almost burst out laughing. It was a childish reaction, but if she couldn't stomach this, how was she going to put up with Bobby Farole? Bruce and Angelo were both staring at me, waiting for the right call. Now was the time to display some leadership.
