by Kara Parker
It was too soon to tell either way. We had only known each other for a few days, but already being with him felt so normal. It felt like I’d known him my entire life and when I was with him, it felt normal and not awkward and I didn’t have to try I could just be myself. But maybe not. Maybe the adrenaline of the last few days had blinded me to something. All I knew was that there hasn’t been enough time for me to abandon The Bandits. They might still come for me. I’m worth a lot to them. I’m their best driver. I know all their routes and all their pick-up and drop-off locations, they might come for me yet.
Breakfast was over and the plates had been cleared but everyone was still in their seats. It was then I saw Marco at the bar, talking in hushed whispers to someone. The man was gesturing wildly and Marco was trying to calm him down. I looked over at Julian wondering if he had any idea what was going, but his eyes were just as confused as mine. I could see his hand where it traveled to his holster making sure his guns were both there. I wished I had my guns, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen.
My stomach was in my throat as everyone became silent and Marco stood in front of the bar and addressed the crowd. He was a good speaker, waiting until he had everyone’s full attention before he took a deep breath and began to speak, his clear and deep voice resonating through the hall.
“Los Desperados,” he said loudly and all around me people thumped their fists on the table and stomped their feet and only when they were done did Marco continue. “We’ve received news. Everyone needs to be on high alert. All eyes open all the time, and if you see anyone lurking about who shouldn’t be, you bring them to see me or Julian.”
Suddenly all eyes were on Julian who was calm under their gaze. I wish he could have given that calmness to me. I felt sick with so many people staring and I hoped my face wasn’t too red. I was sitting next to him and I knew people were looking at me, as well, trying to figure out who I was and what I was still doing in their clubhouse.
“The Bandits know we have their driver and they want her back,” Marco continued.
As he said the words, I felt suddenly lightheaded and sick. Before today that was all I had wanted to hear, but now I wasn’t so sure. The Bandits coming would mean a lot of people were going to die. The Bandits coming here meant I was officially trouble for Los Desperados, possibly more trouble than I was worth.
I couldn’t help it. I glanced at Julian; he looked at me and gave me a short nod. It was a tiny gesture but it said so much. It said: I know what you’re feeling, I know what you’re worried about and I’m worried about it, too. But I also knew he and I were in this together now. I wished I could reach out and take his hand, but no one knew about last night and no one could know, especially now. So instead I balled my hand into a fist and waited to hear what else Marco had to say.
“The Bandits have declared all out war!” Marco yelled. “And the time for us to strike is now. The Bandits underestimated us; they always have, to our benefit. We’ve kept our operation private, so they think we’ll be easy to take out. They don’t know the half of what we do, or what we have. So if The Bandits are declaring war, then I say, bring it on!” The bar erupted into screams and yells as people slammed their fists into the table. “We’ll show them the strength of Los Desperados. By the time the war is over, there will be nothing left of them!”
The people in clubhouse were hollering and shouting and egging each other on. The noise was deafening and I looked around the room at the people who were declaring war against my brothers. I couldn’t breathe. A war was coming; it was being fought over me and I didn’t know which side I was on. I looked at Julian and he looked back at me. He looked concerned, but not scared and I opened my mouth to speak when there was a huge explosion outside. Everyone stood up and turned to face the windows where, past the fire in the distance, I could see a line of motorcycles headed right for the clubhouse. It was The Bandits; they were coming for me right now. Julian turned to look at me and I didn’t know what to say. I had warned him this would happen. I had warned him over and over again and now it was too late.
There was another loud boom and I turned. Through a south-facing window, I saw an orange plume gush into the sky and, before I could say a word, the walls of the clubhouse were exploding inwards. I heard people scream and guns begin to fire as I hit the deck, hiding below the table. I gripped the edge as debris and fire rained down on us and then there was another loud boom and a push of heat from an explosion and everything went dark.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
There was something ringing loudly. It was the only sound I could hear, an incessant ringing that pounded through my ears and then through my head and drowned out every other noise. It was deafening and horrible and for a moment that felt like an eternity it was the only thing I was aware of. I was shrouded in darkness and I couldn’t move and the only thing that existed was the incessant ringing. I knew that something horrible had happened and that I needed to get up and help or fight; I needed to do something.
In a rush everything came back to me. Breakfast with Los Desperados and then the arrival of The Bandits and then the explosion, and now the darkness. I finally managed to open my eyes and I blinked into the bright light, trying to figure out where I was. I saw the ceiling of the Los Desperados’ headquarters above me and there was an overturned table next to me. But everything else was a fuzzy blur. The explosion must have thrown me across the room. I struggled to move, but I was too weak to get very far. My mind might have been ready for a fight, but my body was lagging behind.
And then pain was added to the ringing. My head was pounding. There was a throbbing pain in both of my temples and I could feel wetness on my neck. My vision still wasn’t clear and I couldn’t see anything. The world I could see was fuzzy and unclear, everything just a vague outline on the light and I could barely discern one shape from another.
I began to panic that something had happened to me. Had I gone blind in the explosion? Struggling to sit up, I realized the fuzziness wasn’t because of my eyes; it was the state of the world. I looked around and saw that an entire wall was gone. There was a huge hole in Los Desperados’ headquarters. The hole was surrounded by rubble, split two-by-fours, and the remnants of sheetrock. Past the rubble was the outside world and through the haze I could see crystal clear blue skies and white puffy clouds.
“Move!”
“Get down!”
“Where’s Marco?”
“Daniela!”
The ringing in my head was clearing and I could finally hear what was going on around me. I was in the middle of a fight. People around me were struggling to their feet and stumbling through the chaos. Men and women were scrambling over the rubble and through the smoke, searching for boyfriends and girlfriends. Men were screaming out orders to each other and arming their weapons. In one corner a man was passing guns to those who could still walk and Los Desperados were creating a barricade on our side of the hole. Next to me Rick stood shakily to his feet and shook the dust out of his hair. There was a cut on his head and blood was pouring from it endlessly. Rick kept wiping it away with the back of his hand, but it wasn't helping. His shirt was stained a deep red.
He needs to put pressure on that I thought to myself and then I remembered the wetness I could feel under my ear. I reached up and my hand came away stained red with blood. Blindly with my fingers I felt for the source and it led to my ears, blood streaming out from them making me realize my eardrums had ruptured – an injury that wasn’t too serious and helped to explain the ringing.
Rick glanced at me as he passed, and there was something in his expression, anger or frustration maybe, but he ignored me and instead he reached down and helped David to his feet. Together, supporting each other, they both limped off to the man who was handing out the guns and I was alone in the chaos.
Where was Julian? Was he all right? I looked around, but moving my head too quickly made me dizzy and I had to stop. Looking around, I couldn’t see Julian in the rubble and all I coul
d do was hope he made it to safety.
I had managed to sit up, but the movements made me feel sick and I still didn’t feel like I could stand up. My legs and arms were shaking uncontrollably, but I knew I had to get up. I couldn’t stay in the middle of a fight. As I struggled to stand I had a perfect view of the hole in the wall. I could see the Bandits as they moved on the other side and I knew what they were doing.
“Get down!” I screamed. I don’t know why I did it; I guess I just didn’t want to see anyone die over me. “Get down. Everybody, down!” I screamed again as I hit the floor and covered my head while bullets poured into the room. The sound of bullets whizzing into the building and hitting wood and metal and people filled my ears. I had never actually been on an attack with The Bandits. I was a driver, not a soldier. But I had seen them plan it and I knew how they went down.
The Bandits would create an entrance. They couldn’t use the door; that would create a bottleneck and it would be too easy for Los Desperados to block them and pick them off as they tried to get inside. So instead The Bandits blew a big old hole in the wall. A hole was a lot harder to defend than a door and it was big enough that a lot of men could get through at once. Now they were creating cover for the infiltration; that was what all the shooting was for. They weren’t aiming at anyone, just making sure Los Desperados couldn’t shoot at The Bandits as they entered the clubhouse. The Bandits were behind cars and around corners and on a signal they would all start shooting so the advanced guard could make their way in.
I could see them. My brothers in The Bandits, their faces covered in black bandanas while they came over the rubble and made their way into Los Desperados’ headquarters. The hail of bullets stopped – it had to or The Bandits would risk hitting their own and the advanced guard had done their job. They were inside the headquarters, protected by broken chairs and piles of rubble. Around and in front of The Bandits I could see fallen and bloodied bodies and my heart stopped in my chest. Were they Bandits or Los Desperados, and which one did I want the dead men to be?
I hadn’t wanted this. I hadn’t wanted any of this and at that moment I hated Julian. If only he had let me go when I had tried to escape, if he had let me return to The Bandits I could have stopped all of this. Or I could have at least tried. Now people were dying and it was all because of me.
Where was Julian? He was so big, such a giant of a man; I had never had a hard time finding him before. But in the dusty aftermath of the explosion people had been reduced to hazy figures. Was he alive? Was he hurt? I needed to find him.
The Bandits were making good progress. They had made their way into the headquarters and were pushing forward. But Los Desperados had shaken off the explosion and were rallying. I could hear gunfire coming from behind the bar where a line of Los Desperados had created a defensive position and were firing at The Bandits, picking them off anytime one tried to move forward. The two sides were locked in a standoff. But this was Los Desperados headquarters and they had the ultimate home team advantage. They had a lot of weapons and men here. The Bandits only had the element of surprise and they were quickly losing it.
I didn't know what to do. I was trapped and I didn’t know which side I was on. I could run to The Bandits; they had come for me. I promised Julian they would come. I had warned him. But I had also doubted it. There had been a part of me that feared my blustering about The Bandits coming for me was nothing more than empty bluffing, but here they were where I suddenly wished they weren’t.
I needed Julian here. There was no telling what would happen if I ran back to Los Desperados. They would blame me for this attack despite the fact that they had kidnapped me and held me here. I would risk being turned back over to The Bandits, a club who most certainly viewed me as a traitor.
I needed to do something. If only my arms or legs would work. But I was shaking all over and bullets were whizzing past my head every time I sat up. So, inch-by-inch, I began to crawl. My belly dragging on the ground, I pulled myself past splintered table legs and rusted nails and broken pieces of sheet rock.
I was moving slowly and not headed towards either side. Los Desperados were to my left and The Bandits to my right. I headed straight ahead towards a wall where I could get some cover and look for Julian. I didn’t know what side I was on, and at that moment I didn’t care. I wanted to be with Julian. I wasn’t ready to pick sides other than his.
I had made it about five feet when there was the sudden, horrible sound of guns exploding. There had to have been at least ten of them and they were coming from The Bandits. They were firing hard into the Los Desperados bar and, under the barrage of bullets, Los Desperados took cover and waited for the firing to be over. Where was Julian? Was he okay? Did The Bandits know he was the one who had taken me? Were they looking for him specifically? I needed to find him and somehow the two of us had to get out here.
In a few moments, the gunshots stopped. The Bandits were planning something, but it wasn’t until I saw the two black boots appear next to my head that I realized what it was.
“Let’s go,” a voice hissed, and I felt someone grab me by my arms and hoist me up.
“Put me down!” I shouted, but my voice was hoarse and I knew there was no chance that whoever had me could hear me.
Suddenly I was lifted up and tossed over the shoulder of whoever was rescuing me, or kidnapping me. I still wasn’t sure which was worse or which I wanted. I was hanging upside down and the blood rush made the pounding in my head even worse. There was a searing pain in my head that blinded me and I closed my eyes, waiting for it to pass.
“Stop,” I cried out. “Please, put me down.” I felt like I was going to be sick and my vision in front me was going in and out. Blackness kept impeding, coloring the edges of my vision with an inky darkness as nausea rose in my throat. I could see that we were moving towards the hole in the wall. Whoever had me was taking me away from Los Desperados.
“Relax, Daniela. I’ve got you,” the man said as he swung me over his shoulder and down on to the ground where I leaned against the wall and tried to make the world stop spinning.
I took a deep breath and looked into the eyes of the man who had pulled me from the rubble and my jaw dropped. It was my ex, Paul. The man who had saved me from foster care and brought me into The Bandits.
“Paul?” I asked.
“It’s me, baby. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.” He pulled his bandana down to reveal his face and caressed my cheek with his hand. For a moment the world was silent and there was nothing more than Paul sitting in front of me. And then Julian appeared. Like an angry bull, he raced past The Bandits front line and tackled Paul into the dirt outside.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It happened in a second. Paul was there, kneeling in the rubble in front of me, his hand gently caressing my face, and then he was gone. I was still half out of it and unsure what I was supposed to be doing. To my right there was a still a firefight in Los Desperados’ headquarters. Pistols and shotguns were firing into the melee, the noise occasionally broken up by shouts and cries of men and women. The dust was still being stirred up and the inside of the headquarters looked like a whirling tornado. Everything was spinning and tumbling around and no one was really in control.
To my left I could hear fighting. I didn’t want to look and I didn’t want to see. But I wasn’t the type of girl to hide my head in the sand. I looked over and saw that Paul had regained his footing and he and Julian were locked in a fistfight. I winced as Paul punched Julian’s stomach making him double over in pain, but he recovered quickly and was standing up, his fists in front of him in a second.
“Stop it!” I cried out. But no one could hear me over the sound of the gunfire and the shouting. I struggled to my feet, but the movement made me dizzy and sick, and I only got half a step before I was on the ground again.
Paul made a jab at Julian’s face, but Julian, despite his mass, was fast and he dodged the punch before responding with his own, a right hook right to the side of P
aul’s face. Paul staggered back and Julian came at him again, socking him in the stomach. Paul collapsed on the ground and I watched as Julian took him by the collar and began to pound his fist into Paul’s face, his fist coming up bloodier every time.
“No!” I screamed, my hoarse voice rising above the sound.
It was Paul, my Paul – Paul who was immature and messy and never thought ahead, Paul who was jealous of my success and slept around on me, Paul who had broken my heart in half when he admitted that he had spent the night with another old lady in the club. It was Paul who had saved me.
I was just another useless, lazy, angry high school kid. I hadn’t officially dropped out of high school yet, but I was well on my way. I had stopped going to school a few months ago. The school was poor and dirty and riddled with gang members. Girls were attacked in the bathrooms and guns were a regular sight. Classes were a joke, so one day I decided to just stop going. I lived in a miserable over-crowded foster home. The “parents” only saw me as a check that came at the beginning of the month and a nuisance every other day.
