Needle

by Jade Kuzma

  I spun around and saw three bikes coming in the distance. They weren’t just any bikers though.

  “Jordan… Shit…”

  My brother had arrived, flanked by two Cobras. Blake joined the two Reapers and stood near his bike as my brother pulled right up to him.

  The two of them eyeballed one another as Jordan walked up to me.

  “What’s going on?” he said to me.

  “W-what—”

  “You went to the hospital. What’s wrong? What happened to you?”

  “How did you know I was at the hospital?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him and the two club members he’d brought with him. It only took me a second to figure it out.

  “You were following me?” I said.

  “I was just checking to make sure you were all right. I gave you your space.”

  “You were following me?” I repeated. “Jordan, I’m not a little girl—”

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re still in danger. Because of this asshole.”

  He turned around and pointed right at Blake.

  “Did he do something to you?” Jordan said. “Did he try to hurt you?”

  “Jordan! What the hell are you doing? Blake didn’t do anything!”

  “What’s he doing here? You know you shouldn’t be around him.”

  “Jordan!”

  My brother had gotten worked up in the blink of an eye. He rushed up to Jordan as the other club members got out of their seats. Blake and Jordan stood face to face with each other.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Jordan said.

  “I was just escorting your sister home,” Blake replied. “I wanted to make sure she got home safe.”

  “Safe? You being next to her just puts a target on her back! Those fucking Spades are out there and they can pull some shit at any second.”

  Jordan snapped his fingers to reiterate his point. Blake stood defiantly, his jaw clenched.

  I looked down and saw that both of them had balled their fists. Muscles tightened and veins bulging on their forearms, they were just seconds away from coming to blows. It didn’t help that there were four other club members just waiting to join in.

  Dammit!

  I had to do something.

  “Jordan! Blake!”

  I jumped between them before anything happened. I put a hand on their chests and pushed them away from each other. Neither of them resisted as they backed away. The tension started to die down and it seemed like I’d gotten their attention.

  “Look, I’m fine, okay?” I said. “It’s no big deal. Blake just wanted to make sure I got home and I’m here. Jordan, you can go back to the clubhouse. There’s no reason for anybody to be here. Everybody just… calm down already.”

  I knew they were listening to me but Blake and Jordan continued to eyeball one another. Blake eventually nodded and kept backing away with the other two Reapers.

  “Stay safe, Katrina,” Blake said to me, his eyes still locked on my brother.

  Blake got on his bike and revved his engine. The other two Reapers did the same.

  I closed my eyes and sighed a deep breath of relief, knowing it was over.

  Just as Blake was about to ride away, Jordan called out to him.

  “You’re a disgrace to Ivory,” my brother shouted. “You don’t deserve to ride on these streets. That kutte is an embarrassment to this town.”

  “Jordan!”

  I shouted in protest. But it was too late.

  Blake cut his engine off and got off of his bike.

  The look in his eyes… He was an enraged bull. He was charging right at my brother. And there was no stopping him.

  “Blake!”

  I yelled helplessly as Blake tackled my brother to the ground. The other four club members joined in the fray.

  Everybody was at each other’s throats, struggling on the pavement of the parking lot, throwing punches and trying to kill each other.

  “Shit…”

  I put my hands up, trying to figure out a way to stop the fracas but a single woman wouldn’t be able to stop six bikers from pulling their punches.

  All I could do was watch.

  Jordan punched Blake in the head like he was trying to knock him out. Blake responded with hard punches of his own.

  “Jordan! Blake!”

  I kept pleading desperately for them to stop but the only way this was going to end was until one of them was on the ground for good.

  “Stop it!”

  I finally jumped in between them when I had the chance. Blake was on top of Jordan. Both of them had their hands around each other’s collars. I forced myself between their bodies, trying and failing to stop them from throwing any more punches.

  “I’m gonna kill you, motherfucker!”

  “You hit like a bitch!”

  I might as well have been yelling at a brick wall. I closed my eyes and used all of my strength to try and separate them.

  They didn’t stop.

  Not even with police sirens growing louder and louder.

  “Everybody put your hands up! Now!”

  I opened my eyes and stumbled to my feet. I didn’t even realize how fast they’d gotten there.

  Three police cruisers had circled the brawl. Officers with guns pointed at all of us yelled instructions.

  “Hands up! Now!”

  I followed their instructions and backed away from the fight.

  But even with cops pointing guns at them, that wasn’t enough to stop the bikers from trying to kill each other.

  More sirens. More cruisers. More cops. It was like the entire Sheriff’s Department had arrived in my parking lot to end the pandemonium.

  There were enough officers to finally separate the two clubs. Jordan looked at me as he was placed in cuffs. His face was scuffed with marks, his eye swollen from one of the punches he’d taken.

  Blake had a cut above his eyebrow. Blood trickled down his cheek like paint. He looked at me and gave me an assuring smirk as he was shoved into the backseat of a cruiser. Even when he was getting arrested, Blake still managed to look as cocky as ever. It was his way of letting me know he was all right.

  Everybody in the vicinity had come to see what was going on. The police kept everybody back as the cops hauled the bikers off.

  One of the officers walked up to me with a notepad.

  He was young, probably in his early 20s or so. He had brown hair that was combed neatly on the top of his head. He looked like a schoolboy. A guy like him was completely out of place in Ivory. It only made sense that he was in a uniform.

  “Hello,” he greeted me with a friendly smile. “You can put your hands down.”

  “What? Oh…”

  I put my hands down, not realizing I had them up this entire time. I glanced down at the badge on his chest and read his name.

  “Officer… Officer Rose,” I said. “You’re not going to arrest me, are you?”

  “No,” he said with a chuckle. “Clubs get into brawls all the time. I’m assuming you were trying to separate them and you weren’t actually fighting… were you?”

  “N-no,” I said, vigorously shaking my head. “I was trying to stop them.”

  “Probably not a good idea. When these bikers throw down, the best thing to do is to let it happen and wait for the police to arrive.”

  “Well… Thanks for showing up.”

  “That’s why we’re on patrol. Now, just for my notes, can you tell me what happened? These bikers fight all the time but there was a reason. Do you know why?”

  “I…”

  It was because of me. I was stuck in the middle of two clubs. And it had finally reached its boiling point.

  “Just… Just two clubs who had a disagreement. One man thought he was disrespecting the other and—”

  “I get it,” Rose said, nodding his head as he scribbled on his pad. “The usual club bravado. Thanks for your time, Miss…”

  “Katrina.”

  “Thank you, Katrina. You shoul
d be all right.”

  Officer Rose turned around to leave.

  “Wait!” I said.

  He spun back around and raised his eyebrows at me.

  “Yes?”

  “What’s going to happen to them? They’re not in trouble, are they?”

  Officer Rose put his hands on hips, still giving me that friendly smile he’d been giving me this entire time.

  “I’m sure they’re used to this by now,” he said. “I’m assuming you know them.”

  “One of them is my brother.”

  “Right… It’s okay. Whatever bad blood he might have with the other club, it’s nothing that a night in jail won’t fix. Take care now, Katrina.”

  He bowed his head to me and went on his way. A truck arrived to tow all of the bikes that were still there. The cruisers all left one by one.

  I made my way back to my apartment and collapsed onto my couch. I closed my eyes. I was tired but I couldn’t fall asleep.

  If Jordan and Blake kept this up, they were going to kill each other. I couldn’t let that happen. But with them stuck in jail for the rest of the day, the only thing I could do was wait until I finally got the chance to talk to one of them.

  Chapter 20

  KATRINA

  The first time my brother got arrested and spent the night in jail, he’d gotten into a brawl just outside of Finn’s bar. I’d heard stories about bikers getting into scuffles and the cops having to clean it up, so it wasn’t as much of a surprise as it would be to other people. My parents were upset, as they should have been, but they quickly got over it. Everybody knew what kind of man Jordan was. There was no changing him.

  Over the years, we learned to accept him. My parents were proud of him and I felt the same way. He worked his way up the ladder of the Winter Cobras. I’m sure my parents would have been happy that he’d become president, even though the lifestyle of a club member was less than ideal.

  I imagined it wasn’t anything new for Blake either. Every biker in Ivory had an arrest record. Just from looking at Blake, the only question was how long it was.

  I was definitely bothered that both of them ended up in jail. I pictured the guards having their hands full as the two of them barked at one another in their cells. But I was so fatigued that I passed out for the rest of the day, spending most of my time sleeping on my couch.

  The next day, I headed to The Bone Pit to try and distract myself with work. It was another lazy day at the Winter Cobras’ clubhouse.

  It was the middle of the day when the front entrance burst open. I wasn’t looking but the number of cheers that erupted around me told me who it was. A few moments later, I finally looked up and saw my brother walking up to me.

  “Kat…”

  He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. I wasn’t interested in hugging him the same, though I was relieved that the incident with Blake was over.

  “What’s wrong?” he said as he pulled away from me.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “As if you don’t already know…”

  Jordan’s left eye was swollen purple with a few scuffs on his cheeks. He still smiled at me like nothing was wrong.

  “Look at your damn face,” I said. “You got into a fight right in front of my apartment. And for what? Because you had to insult some other club member.”

  “That asshole isn’t just some other club member. He’s a fucking Reaper. I wasn’t telling that prick anything he didn’t already know.”

  “Whatever…”

  I kept my head down and moved to another table to wipe it down. Jordan followed closely behind me.

  “It was just a night in jail,” he said. “Cops in this town are used to that shit.”

  I didn’t respond to him. It was like he was being intentionally oblivious.

  “I got my bike back,” he said. “Cops keep those things on lockdown, so nobody even gets a glimpse of them.”

  “Jordan…” I sighed, finally looking at him.

  The confident smile on his face disappeared

  “Ivory is a dangerous place right now,” he said. “Especially for anybody associated with a club. The Sheriff’s Department is keeping tabs on us. The feds are up to something, too. That’s not even mentioning the Spades and the shit they’ve got going on with the Reapers.”

  He put a hand on my shoulder.

  “I wasn’t following you because I wanted to be nosy,” he continued. “I was just looking out for you. I wanted to protect you.”

  “And does that mean you had to start a fight with Blake? Jordan, you were trying to kill each other.”

  “I wasn’t going to kill him. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, that’s all. It’s not safe being around him. You know that.”

  “And I suppose it’s safe being around you, a guy picking fights with someone who’s trying to walk away?”

  Jordan narrowed his eyes at me. I knew he wasn’t too happy with me but I didn’t care. The last person I would ever be afraid of was my brother. He wouldn’t lay a finger on me.

  “Look,” he sighed. “I know that you might have had some thing with this guy. I get it, okay? And it might not seem like it now because nothing has happened these past two weeks. But the Spades are volatile. Bunch of psychotic skinheads… They’re capable of anything. I’m trying to make sure that nothing happens to you. That means watching over you and keeping away people like Blake.”

  “I get it. You don’t have to explain it to me like a child.”

  “Then what’s the problem? So, you have feelings for this guy. And? Is it worth putting yourself at risk like that? Kat, if you’re anywhere near that guy, you’re in danger. Period.”

  “I’m in a lot more danger than you think.”

  I knocked his hand away from my shoulder and went back to wiping the table in front of me. Jordan didn’t move from his spot.

  “…What’s that supposed to mean?” he said.

  I ignored him as best I could. But I knew I couldn’t ignore him forever.

  I closed my eyes and sighed, knowing I had to tell him.

  “I need to talk to you,” I said. “I need to tell you something.”

  “Of course. What is it?”

  “Not here. Somewhere… private. I can’t risk anybody else hearing this.”

  He nodded and led the way through the back of the clubhouse. We made our way to one of the back storage rooms. The sound of music and conversation was distant but I still locked the door anyway.

  Jordan leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms. He waited patiently for my answer. I knew I had to tell him but it wasn’t easy.

  I paced back and forth, fiddling with my fingers, trying to find the right way to tell him.

  “Jordan,” I sighed. “I have to tell you something.”

  “You know you can tell me anything.”

  “You have to promise me something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Promise me you won’t get upset. Promise me you won’t do anything crazy. Can you do that for me?”

  Jordan paused. He bit his tongue. Looking into his eyes, I could see the gears turning in his head. But he eventually nodded and held his hand out.

  “Okay,” I sighed. “You know that I spent more than a week with Blake…”

  “He abducted you. How could I forget something like that?”

  “I… I spent a lot of time with him. Together. We… We were close.”

  Jordan closed his eyes and shook his head. The disgust on his face was obvious, as he did little to try and hide it.

  “Why are you bringing this up?”

  “Because… yesterday when I went to the hospital, I spoke to the doctor.”

  “And?”

  “And he told me why I was feeling so tired, why I was… feeling so nauseous in the morning.”

  I stopped pacing. I sighed a deep breath and looked up at my brother. I looked into his eyes, trying to tell him without saying anything. There was a part of him that already knew but I had to sa
y it.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  Jordan clenched his jaw. His eyes unblinking, he stayed leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed.

  “Jordan… Did you hear what I said—”

  “Is it his?”

  “You know I’m not like that. I haven’t been with anybody else.”

  “Yeah,” Jordan sighed. “You always were faithful. Never one to cheat. Remember when you were a teenager? Who was that one guy you liked? What was his name again?”

  “Art?” I said, laughing as the memory came back to me.

  “Art! Remember him?”

  “How could I forget?”

  “You were so into the guy… You only had eyes for him. Even with so many other men would have treated you like a queen, you were loyal to him. And he didn’t even look in your direction.”

  “Yeah…”

  “That’s just who you are.”

  Jordan finally moved, walking forward and wrapping his arms around me. I squeezed him tight, relieved that I had someone else to share my secret with.

  “What do I do?” I whispered, my head pressing against his chest.

  “It’s all right, Kat. I’m here. Everything will be all right.”

  My emotions started to get the best of me. I felt the tears leaking into the cotton of his shirt. Jordan held me in his arms, running his fingers through my hair to console me.

  It felt like I was in his arms for so long until he finally released me. He smiled down at me with his hands on my shoulders.

  “I’m here for you,” he said. “And I’ll be here for your child.”

  “And Blake—”

  “He doesn’t matter. The club will be here for your baby. That’s all he’ll need.”

  “Jordan! I’m not going to let my child not be with his father.”

  The tenderness I saw just moments ago left Jordan’s face. He dropped his hands from my shoulders and took a step back.

  “You can’t tell him,” he said.

  “Why not?” I exclaimed.

  “Because anybody associated with him or any of the other Reapers has a target on their back. If the Spades find out you’re carrying one of their kids, then you’re in more danger than you’ve ever been in.”