by Rose Cody
She nods her head up and down as she sighs out.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Chapter 5
Her stomach drops, flipping around inside of her as Jason’s rumbling hog pulls into her driveway.
“Will you come inside with me?” She asks, whispering into his ear as he turns off the engine. “I don’t want to keep you from anything you have to do, but, I just… I don’t want to go in my myself. Just in case.”
He gets off the bike and stretches his arms over his head before turning around to face her.
“Of course.” He says quietly, holding out his hand.
She grips it, hopping down from atop of his black and white Harley before smoothing her skirt against her thighs, biting the inside of her cheek as she avoids the long walk up her front path to the door.
“Alright, let’s do this.” She whispers, forcing her legs to step forward as she walks around Jason and makes her way up the path.
Her hand trembles as she sticks her key into the deadbolt, turning it before twisting the doorknob and opening her front door.
She sighs as the cool air conditioning hits her skin before quietly stepping into the house.
Lily looks around, not noticing anything out of place as Jason steps up beside her before quickly stepping out of his boots.
“I’ll check the rooms for you.” He says, walking out of her front entrance and down the hall as she nods her head gently in thanks.
She kicks off her flats and presses her hot feet against the cool plush carpet before making her way into the living room.
Lily walks over to the couch as she scans her eyes around the dimly lit living room, nothing catching her eye, before bending over and picking up the left over cappuccinos from the night before, stacking the dishes on top of each other.
She takes them into the kitchen, glancing down the hall as she watches Jason open the bathroom door to take a peek inside before she walks over to the sink and places the mugs into the tub, reaching over to the facet to turn it on and run water over the dried rims.
“Everything seems to be okay.” She jumps as she hears Jason’s voice from the door of the kitchen. “No one seems to have gotten in.”
“Thank God.” She whispers, walking over to peek out of the patio door before slowly making her way to the kitchen table.
She pulls out a chair, sitting down and resting her head in her hands before sighing as she reaches up and stretches her arms over her head, finally able to relax.
“You can come and sit down, you know…” She says, her top lip turning up into a gentle smile as she kicks out a chair from under the table.
He smirks, his hands secure in the pockets of his leather jacket as he walks over to her, sitting down in the chair she pushed out for him.
He leans his elbow against the table before resting his fist against cheek.
“Do you feel better?” He asks, his brown eyes locking onto her.
“I really do.” She whispers, her voice hushed.
“They only wanted me.” Jason says, sitting back up straight in his chair and stuffing his hands back into the pockets of his jacket. “It’d be stupid of them to mess with anything else. That’s how people get caught.”
“Are you hungry?” She asks, feeling her stomach rumble. “I’ll make us some lunch.”
She gets up from her chair and walks over to the fridge before gripping the handle and pulling open the door. Lily reaches inside, pulling out a loaf of bread and some lunch meat before opening her crisper and grabbing two slices of processed cheese.
“But why you, specifically?” She asks, her back to him as she opens the loaf of bread and pulls out four slices. “Just because you’re a rival? Seems kind of stupid to hate a group so much that you’d follow random members around like that.”
“Well, yeah.” Jason chuckled. “It is kind of stupid. But they just have it out for me. I don’t blame them, honestly.”
“You don’t blame them?” Lily asks, tearing open the package of sliced chicken and layering pieces on top of the bread before topping it with cheese and then the other slice of bread. “Why? Did you fuck with them or something?”
“Yeah, you could say that.” He nods his head in a thank you as Lily places a sandwich on a napkin in front of him before his face turns solid and serious. “I, uh… I used to be a Serpentine.”
“You used to be part of their gang?” She asks as she brushes her curls behind her ear. “You? Used to be one of them?”
“Yup.” He says, nodding his head as he takes a bite of his sandwich before chewing it up and swallowing it down. “I used to be a Serpentine. They used to be kind of a big deal, you know…”
“I’ve read about stuff like this in the paper.” She says, taking a small bite of the crust of her sandwich.
“Not so much about them anymore though, huh?” He says, wiping his tongue over his teeth. “Back in the day, I used to be in charge of dealing with all the… uh, suppliers… We were on top. Things were going pretty fucking good.” He starts, taking another bite of his sandwich. “But that no good son of a bitch, Rich Durand got greedy and started under cutting me. He’d pay me, but half of it would be missing…”
“So what did you do?” She asks, swallowing down her lunch. “I mean, if you’re going to be putting it on the line like that…”
“Exactly. Asshole thought I was stupid or something.” He says, shaking his head. “I’m getting the supply, paying for it, selling it, bringing back all the cash and then I’m told there isn’t enough for my cut? Fuck that. I’m the one doing the work, what’s even the point of him!”
She nods her head, leaning forward onto the table as she pushes her sandwich to the side.
“So I left. And I took my fucking suppliers with me and now I’m a Demonio. And I’m in charge of my own operations. And the fucking Serpentines?” He scoffs, leaning back into his chair as he takes another bite of his sandwich. “The Serpentines are fucking nothing anymore. I wouldn’t even be able to use all the fingers on my hand if I were to count them. The three from last night. That’s it. They’re a joke now. Durand just can’t let it go.”
“I guess I can see why they’re after you…” She whispers, covering up her nervousness with another bite of sandwich.
“Yeah.” He chuckles. “I guess I can, too. But they’ve never come into our area before. They shouldn’t be here and they know it. They must be getting desperate. Me? I’ll let it slide… They’re mad and I’m not a bad guy, Lily…” He starts, rubbing his hand over his stubble. “But if they come across another Demonio… They don’t have the power to fight back, it would be a death sentence for them. And they know it.”
“A death sentence?” Lily asks, shrugging her shoulders. “You don’t think that would be a little harsh?”
“Harsh?” He asks, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “No.” He chuckles. “What do you think they were trying to do last night? Talk to me? Work it out with hugs? No. We all know how it works, they’re not ignorant as to how all this works…”
Lily jumps, letting out a nervous giggle as she hears the ringer on Jason’s phone go off.
He laughs, a big cheesy grin on his face as he pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the number.
“Still a little jumpy, huh?” He asks, sliding his chair back before standing up and walking over to the patio door, flicking the lock up. “I have to get this.”
She nods, blushing bright red as she watches him walk outside before he pulls the glass door shut behind him.
She sighs, getting up from her seat before picking up the napkins off the table and crunching them into a little ball in her hand. Lily walks over to her garbage can, lifting the lid by pressing her foot against the peddle before tossing in the napkins.
She stretches, reaching over to the counter to pick up the rest of the lunch garbage before glancing back towards her patio door and out into the back yard.
Jason walks back a forth, a few steps right then a few
steps left, as he holds his phone up to his ear.
She watches as he roughly shakes his head, sucking in a large, chest raising breath before jutting out his hand passionately as he speaks into his phone.
Lily quickly turns her head away, picking up the garbage and tossing it into the trash with haste as she notices Jason glance in her direction.
She cringes internally as she hears the patio door slide back open as Jason steps back inside her kitchen.
“Well, looks like I gotta go.” He says, as he stuffs his phone back into his pocket. “Got some stuff to do.”
She nods, following him out of the kitchen and back into her living room where he slips on his boots.
“Thanks for lunch, though.” He says softly, smiling at her as she nervously bites on the tip of her finger. “Haven’t had anything home cooked like that in such a long time.”
“Well, it was only a sandwich…” She starts, letting out a laugh.
“Still, it was nice.” He smirks, turning around to open up her front door.
“Wait.” She says, reaching out to him as he begins to pull the door open. “I just… thank you again. Really, thank you so much for helping me and keeping me company…”
“Hey…” He says, turning back around and raising his hand up to her face, cupping her chin and pulling it up as he leans into her and presses his lips against hers quickly. “I had a good time, Lily.”
She nods her head eagerly up and down as he lets go of her burning hot face before he pushes the door open completely and steps outside.
“See you around.” He smirks before disappearing down the path.
She watches him start to get on his bike before she shuts her front door, locking it and pressing her back against it as she sighs.
Lily smiles, her eyes squeezing shut as she hears the roaring rumble of Jason’s bike as he starts it up before he takes off, the deafening sound muting as gets further and further away from her.
“What the fuck am I doing?” She asks herself as she rests her hand against her stomach to calm the tumbling butterflies. “A fucking biker?”
She pushes herself off the door before walking back into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes as she walks over to the patio door and locks it tightly.
Lily makes her way back to the cupboard, wiping the leftover crumbs away with her hand before leaning herself over in front of the sink, her eyes gazing out from the little window behind the sink.
She stands up straight, stretching her hands over her back as the fatigue from lack of sleep last night begins to hit her like a ton of bricks before she turns on the tap, letting the water heat up and pour out of the faucet.
“Why do I always seem to get in trouble with the bad boys?” She asks herself, picking up a rag and reaching for her bottle of lemon dish soap before dropping a dollop into the cloth and wiping it over one of the mugs. “I want to get away from that scuzzy underground shit, not go even further deeper down!”
She rinses the cup, placing it on the dish rack before reaching into the sink for the other before rinsing that one, too, and placing it beside it’s brother.
Lily smirks, walking over to her fridge before opening up the door and looking inside.
“But I can’t help it.” She whispers to herself, as she reaches for a clove of garlic. “There’s just something about him that isn’t so bad after all.”
Chapter 6
Lily shifts in her seat, being extra careful of the warm Pyrex dish bundled in towels and a canvas grocery bag on her lap as her bus hits a pot hole.
“Why am I spending my day off on this fucking bus?” She whispers, asking herself as she leans over to look out the window. “I’m not a teenage girl, why am I doing this?”
She hesitates, sighing out deeply as she squeezes her eyes shut before reaching up above her head and pulling the stop cord.
Her stomach flips, panicking as she feels the bus come to a slow halt before she gets up from her seat and steps out the back door and onto the cracked sidewalk of the street.
“I think this is the place.” She says, clearing her throat as she walks down the sidewalk, looking at the houses before spotting Jason’s black and white bike in front of a house half a block away.
She hurries over, her heart fluttering as she makes her way up the crumbled path in the yard up to the front porch.
“Can I help you?” The same old smoking biker from the night before asks as he leans back in his chair.
“Hi.” Lily whispers, lifting up the bag slightly to show him. “I was wondering if Jason was here… I have something for him…”
“Oh, you’re the girl from last night who spent the night, huh?” The old guy says, grunting as he pulls a smoke from out of his pack before bringing it up to his mouth and lighting it. “Yeah.” He says as he exhales. “Jason’s here. Downstairs.”
“Thanks…” She whispers as she nervously walks up the steps before reaching out to the doorknob of the front door.
“But be quiet, will ya?” He asks, glancing back at her. “Not off of us can go all night and then wake up with the sun like you guys can.”
Her cheeks flush as she nods her head up and down, embarrassed at the sounds they must have caused the night before, before pushing the front door open and quietly stepping inside.
She lets out a soft laugh as she notices sleeping men slouched over on the couch, beer bottles littered all over their area before she continues her way deeper inside the house.
She meekly steps into the kitchen, looking around before noticing a slightly ajar door beside the fridge.
Lily walks over to it, opening it up to find a long set of narrowly set stairs.
She steps down, turning back to close the door behind her as a familiar smell hits her nose.
“Oh, my God…” She whispers to herself as she continues stepping down the stairs.
Lily walks across the concrete floor of the unfinished, dark and damp basement towards the sliver of light peeking out from the cracked open door at the other side of the floor.
She knocks gently against the door before slowly pushing it open and peeking her head inside.
“Oh!” She gasps, her eyes widening over the piles of green bud before she backs out of the room. “Sorry!”
“Lily?” She hears him ask.
She stops, glancing back up to Jason as he sits behind the pot covered table.
“Get in here.” He smirks, raising his eyebrow as he watches her nod her head before shakily walking into the thick, skunk smelling room. “Sit down.”
She grabs a black folding chair from the corner, placing it off to the side of the table before awkwardly sitting down.
“I, uh…” She starts, clearing her throat as she watches Jason weigh and stuff the pot into a little baggie before pinching it sealed a tossing it into a large plastic tub on the other side of him. “I brought you this.” She says, holding up the bag before placing it back down on her lap. “I made you a lasagna. You said you never get home cooked meals and I just thought… that that was so sad…” She smirks, biting her bottom lip as she watches him work.
“Really?” He asks, his lips curling upwards as she hands him the bag. “That’s so nice of you.”
She blushes as she watches him place the package on his lap before pushing away the canvas bag and lifting up the towels to take a deep breath.
“Wow, that smells so good.” He says, licking his lips. “I can’t wait to eat it.”
“I can put it in the fridge if you want?” She asks, reaching her hands out and taking the dish from him.
“Yeah, you know what, sure.” He says, smiling at her. “And then maybe you can heat it up for me later.” He chuckles. “Don’t be too long.”
She giggles, nodding her head up and down as she gets up from her seat before rushing out of the room and across the basement.
She quickly steps up the stairs, her heart fluttering as she enters the kitchen and opens the fridge before shoving the lasagna onto an empty shelf.
> Lily bite her bottom lip as she walks back down the stairs and over to the room with Jason before stepping back inside.
“You smoke?” He says, looking up from the table at her as he places two small buds into a silver metal grinder before replacing the top and twisting the lid back and forth.
“I… have, yes.” She says, raising her eyebrow, hesitating for a second before walking back over to him and sitting down in her seat.
“And you want to now, right?” He chuckles, opening his grinder up before opening the top drawer of the desk.
