Death & Paradise: Royal Bastards MC: Ponce, PR

by Rae B. Lake

  Vado walks into Digger’s room and kicks open the false wall where Vale and Storm are sleeping. Both of them jump up in shock at the intrusion. “What the fuck! What’s going on?” Storm cries out. His eyes dart around the small room, looking for the threat. His brother, though, has his back to the wall, and his eyes focused on the exit, a clear indicator of who the fucked up one in their little duo is. It’s usually the bad guys who knows they need to find the exit and the innocent look around for the threat. Vado walks further in the room, and I stand strong at the small door, keeping everyone else out.

  “Storm, Vale. You come into our home, and you disrespect us. I have killed men for less.”

  “No, we didn’t! We haven’t done anything to disrespect you or anyone here.” Storm replies quickly.

  Vado slides quickly in front of Storm and grabs him by his long blond hair. “Wire sends his love.”

  Storm’s eyes widen as he realizes what’s about to happen. Vado rears his head back and slams his forehead into his face. Storm roars out in pain, and Vale tries to jump in to help him. I grab onto him before he even gets close enough to graze Vado. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” I wrap my arm around his neck and drag him out of the room. The boys kick and punch at him as I drag him on the ground.

  He tries to cover up, but there are so many people jumping on him there really isn’t much he can do. Lobo pulls Vale out of the room, and just like his brother, he is beat down too. We drag them into the main area, and every one of us kicks and punches them. After a few minutes of this, Vado picks Vale up from the floor. Lobo and Digger hold him up. Blood is dripping freely from his nose, and every time he breathes, bubbles of blood form at his mouth.

  “What are you doing… leave him alone.” Storm tries to reach up from where he is on the ground. I move closer and put my boot on his neck.

  “Don’t fucking move.” I press down slightly and hear him gagging. When I release the pressure, he gasps in relief but doesn’t try to get up again.

  “Abandoning your patch is unforgivable. You both deserve this beating we gave you and then some for what you did,” Vado pulls out his knife and presses it to Vale’s face, the sharp edge of the blade shining from the lights in the main room. “Turning on your brothers deserves death.”

  I look at Lobo for a second. I agreed with Vado, but that isn’t the deal we made with the Wings. The last thing I want to do is go against my president. I am hoping that Lobo will if we have to.

  “Prez?” Lobo speaks up, and from where I’m standing, I can see the question in his eyes.

  Vado lets out a breath, “Pero, le di mi palabra. If I hadn’t promised to let them handle you, I would cut your guts out and make you eat them. This will have to do.” Vado presses the blade against Vale’s face and etches the letter T large enough to span half of his face. He screams in agony, and his previously identical twin brother tries to get up again. I press my boot down harder.

  “Stop!” Storm wheezes out as Vado takes his time maiming Vale.

  Finally, when the tip of Vado’s blade cuts a jagged slice down toward Vale’s neck, Lobo and Digger let him go. Vale falls to the ground, his sliced open face in his hands. I move my foot from Storm’s neck, and he crawls over to where his brother is crying on the floor. People will never have a hard time telling them apart now.

  Vado leaves the room without another word, and the rest of the boys either linger or go about their business.

  I throw a towel down to Vale. His traitorous blood is leaking into my floor, and I can’t have that shit.

  I address both of them, “You have five minutes to get the fuck out of my clubhouse. Get your shit and move on. If we catch you anywhere near our compound again, we won’t be so merciful.” I glare at both of them. Storm is the only one able to meet my gaze.

  “What about my brother?” he asks like I give a fuck.

  “He’ll probably get an infection and die. Not my fucking concern, get the hell out. Now. You have four minutes now.”

  Lobo, who is still in the main area with me, pulls his gun from his waist and makes a show of cocking it. Storm gets up as best he can and pulls his brother with him. They go back to the room for a second and come out with their bags. The blood is still pouring pretty freely from Vale’s face, and I can see he’s looking pale. “Oro, ven,” I call out, and Oro immediately opens his door to come out. “Take your ass over to Seda and tell Mil I said to give you something to stop bleeding,” I speak to Storm, he is a piece of shit too, but Vale doesn’t even deserve me to address him. “Oro, make sure they don’t take too long.” Oro nods once, and they leave. I watch them hobble over to Seda. Oro knocks on the door, and after a few moments, Oro hands them something, and they are on their way out of our lives, at least for now. I wonder what Wire and the boys will do when they finally catch up with them. I wish I could be there for that.

  By the time I hit my bed after everything went down last night between the block party, Cariña, and the twins, I was dead to the world. It’s no surprise to me that it’s close to noon when I wake up.

  I could have slept longer if it wasn’t for the relentless knocking at my door.

  “Que!” I yell as I lift my head off my pillow.

  “Sorry, AZ. We have a problem.” I hear Oro through the door. Sitting up, I pull my wifebeater over my head and brush my hair with my hand. I make my way to the door and open it up.

  It mustn’t be that big of a problem because no one else is standing here.

  “What is it?” I demand, pissed he disturbed me.

  “I know we haven’t talked about it, but is that woman supposed to be out on her own?”

  Flashes of last night run through my mind, “What the fuck? No!” I push past him and make my way toward the front door. “Why did you let her go?”

  “She said I couldn’t keep her here, and no one else stopped her. You didn’t tell me I should.” Oro goes through every excuse he can come up with.

  “Fucking hell, don’t you have a brain? Think! If she’s here for protection, why the fuck would we let her out without protection!” I scream at him. He looks down but doesn’t say another word.

  “Where did she go?”

  “She said she was going to the market, that she was hungry.” He replies.

  That makes sense. Cariña has been here all night, and I don’t know the last time she ate before she went on the run. She looked worn down when she was in my arms.

  “Stay here in case she comes back. If she does, let me know.” I snap at him before I walk out. Luckily the market she went to is close to the compound. It’s more a group of people on the side of the road that sell food and small items. There isn’t very much of a demand for it since the tourists very rarely make their way this far inland.

  It doesn’t take very long for me to see her. She’s the only one who looks like she doesn’t belong. Her head seems to be held higher than everyone else's, even if she is walking on the dirt road with no shoes on her feet and in the same tattered and dirty clothes she had on last night.

  I move up behind her, quickly but quietly and forcefully wrap my hand around her waist. She gasps and tries to pull away, obviously caught off guard someone has grabbed her.

  “Do you see how easy it would be? You’d be dead before your body even hit the ground.” I turn her around in my arms so I can see her face.

  “Get your fucking hands off me.” She pushes me, but there is no real force behind it.

  “Oh, now you want me off. You didn’t say that last night when you were clinging to my chest, trying to hide from the Cano’s.”

  “That was different, and you know it.” She squints her eyes and tries to intimidate me with her glare.

  “What’s the point of coming to us for help if you’re just going to walk out on your own. How the fuck does that make any sense?”

  “I need to eat, how do you expect me to survive in that box with no food or water? Are you protecting me, or am I your prisoner?”

  �
��Why can’t it be both?” I ask, a small smile inching up my face.

  “Fuck you.” She rolls her eyes.

  “Oh baby, you’re going to have to ask nicer than that.” I turn us around and start walking back to the clubhouse. She drags behind me.

  “Aye, pendejo! Stop it!” She hits me harder, this time on my arm.

  “Woman, I’ll leave you right the hell here and not give a damn who has it out for you if you so much as raise that hand again.” My eyes are trained on her for just a second before a woman walking toward me from the side catches my attention.

  “Muchacho, sus pies.” The old lady says before she continues walking by. Everyone in the area knows not to mess around with our business. We help most of them out financially, so they know better than to stick their noses where it doesn’t belong.

  I watch the old lady for a second and wonder why she’s talking about Cariña’s feet. When I look down, I see that they are caked in dirt. It’s expected and honestly not that unusual. I finally understand the problem when I look behind her. There is a clear trail of blood in the dirt, in the shape of footprints.

  She wasn’t going to say anything, just endure.

  “Jesús santísimo, I hope you’re not as dumb as you’re acting right now. Come on.” I put my arms out to her.

  “What?” she moves back slightly.

  “What do you mean, what? You can’t walk back like that. I’ll carry you.”

  “No. I’d rather walk my feet to the bone.”

  I don’t have time for this shit, bending and grab her by the waist, tossing her over my shoulders like a bag of potatoes. She kicks and wiggles, but I have a firm grasp on her.

  “Stop the shit before I drop you on your ass.”

  When she doesn’t, I push her to make it seem like I’m going to drop her on her head. She stops moving then and grips my shirt tightly. “I said, fucking stop.”

  She doesn’t say a word, but she stops moving. It takes me only a few minutes to make it back to the clubhouse, and Oro is standing by the door waiting for me.

  I turn around so that her head is toward him, “This is Oro. If you need something, you speak with him, and he will help you out. Don’t just walk off on your own.” I wait for a second before I continue on my way toward her space.

  I make it to Garro’s room and unlatch her door. He’s still sleeping and snoring so loud I’m sure he is going to wake the dead.

  I put her down, and she stumbles slightly. “Do I have to stay here? I can’t concentrate with all that racket. It’s driving me crazy.”

  “We don’t let people walk around the clubhouse. Safety precautions and shit.”

  “Honestly, what am I going to do? I’ll even sit in the little main area in the front. Just don’t leave me back here in this fucking coffin.” Her eyes dart around before coming back to me.

  It is one of the smaller hideouts. If Cariña is even the least bit claustrophobic, I can understand how this room might be a trigger for her.

  “Fine, go sit out front but don’t leave the compound without one of us. Is that understood?”

  “Yes. I got it.” She hobbles out of the room, but instead of following her, I make my way over to Pooh.

  I poke my head in, and just like before, I see him in his dark room in front of his computers.

  “Hey, did you find out anything about Cariña?”

  “No, I’m waiting on Ram to get back to me with something. I’ll reach out as soon as I know.” He doesn’t even turn to look at me, just continues to type away.

  I close the door and make my way back toward the main area. I see Cariña sitting on one of the couches, and she is dabbing what looks like paper towels against her feet, wincing every once in a while.

  I stop right in front of her, “Come on." I put my hands out.

  “Where are we going?” she asks but stands up.

  “To get that fixed,” I point to her feet. “And you have been walking around here with the same dirty clothes on all day. We don’t like dirty pussies around here. You need some clothes.”

  Her mouth drops open, and her face flashes a bright red in embarrassment. “My pussy isn’t dirty. You fucking jerk.”

  “Muñeca, you were running for your life, and I know there ain’t no sink in the back room. It may not be dirty, but you sure ain’t sparkling clean.” I step back just in case she tries to swing at me.

  “Fine, I’d like some clothes and a shower, please,” she says as she crosses her arms and looks away, embarrassed.

  “Come on.” She follows behind me, and we walk slowly in the direction of Seda.

  Seda is a health spa. At least that’s what we make it look like. There are saunas, a pool, three hot tubs, and we even have a few girls trained in massage therapy. But under the surface, Seda is nothing more than a top-end brothel. Most of our girls work out of here, and they make a nice piece of change too. Coca runs the entire establishment.

  “What’s this mutt you’re bringing in?” Chuchi asks as she flips her perfectly straight blond hair over her shoulders. Her blue eyes roam over Cariña in disgust.

  “Excuse me.” Cariña straightens up and turns to glare at Chuchi.

  Chuchi completely ignores her and focuses back on me. “Don’t tell me you think she’s going to work here? This place is becoming more and more ghetto by the day.”

  “Don’t worry about what I’m doing.”

  Chuchi is our top slut. We only give her to the highest paying officials. She never has to participate in any parties if she doesn’t want to. Out of all the girls, she is the only one allowed to escort clients outside the compound. She is privileged, and she knows it.

  “Don’t talk to me like that, Azriel.” She pouts her silicon stuffed lips and tries to frown, but the Botox stops her.

  “Don’t question me. Now be a good girl and move out of my way.”

  She smacks her lips and moves. I stroll past her, and as soon as I do, I hear her say, “woof.”

  “Mira, puñeta. Maldita sea la madre…!” Cariña takes a step in Chuchi’s direction, but I catch her and pull her into the building before she can hit Chuchi.

  “Hey! Cut the shit!” I yell at Cariña as she continues to scream obscenities over my shoulder. That Boriquén fire burns hot inside her.

  “Fuck that, who does she think she is talking to me that way.” Cariña pulls away from me.

  “You’re right, she’s wrong. She’s a bitch, to everyone. You can’t do anything to her, though.”

  Cariña raises an eyebrow at me, a dare if I’ve ever seen one. “The hell I can’t.”

  “I mean it. Yes, if you fight her, you’ll win. But Vado will kick you out, and you won’t be getting a fucking refund either. She’s just playing at being a mean girl. Don’t let her get to you.” I try my best to soothe her. I don’t understand why Chuchi bothers everyone; she truly is all bark and no bite. One day she’s going to get her ass kicked, and no one will be able to stop it.

  “Whatever.” Cariña moves away from me.

  I walk further into the building. On the outside, Seda seems like a low-class establishment. The building exterior is not in the best shape, all the windows are draped with dark fabric, and even the door seems to be cracking and ready to give way. Once you get inside, though, you realize not everything is as it seems.

  The floors are covered in plush champagne colored carpet. The decor is various shades of neutral browns, with gold pops of color throughout. All the women are dressed in gorgeous clothing ranging from club outfits to cocktail dresses. The only men on the premises are members of the Royal Bastards crew, and they are here for security purposes. I nod my head at Pablo, who is on duty today. He has been with the crew for longer than three years, but he never gives up his security detail. I think he just likes to watch the women walking around, and I don’t blame him.

  “Joda,” I call out and wait for the woman to come out.

  The side door opens, and Joda looks out. Her face breaks into a huge grin when she se
es me. Her thick curly honey brown hair, tied up in two high ponytails, bounces as she skips to me.

  “AZ, hey, baby.” She jumps up, wrapping her legs around my waist and kissing me square on the mouth before she jumps down and looks over to where Cariña is. “Oh no, what happened?” Joda pouts, and her hazel eyes seem to double in size.

  Joda is closer to thirty than she is to twenty, but she doesn’t look a day over nineteen. Pair that with her childish attitude, and a lot of men fawn over her. She plays up the baby role too much for my tastes but some people like that. She makes good money too, only third in line behind Chuchi.

  “Joda, this is Cariña. She is going to be staying with us for a bit.”

  “Working?” Joda asks innocently.

  “No, she’s a guest.”

  Joda nods and waits for me to continue my introductions. “She needs some clothes and other toiletries. Also, she needs to see Mil. She has some cuts on her feet that need to be looked at.”

  “You got it, babe!” Joda says before she puts her hand out for Cariña.

  Cariña looks at me for a second, to gauge if it is ok. When I nod, she takes Joda’s hand and goes along with her. I know Joda will take care of her. She may act ditzy sometimes, but she really is a sweet girl. It’s such a shame she was sold off for drugs by her people. She could have been a good ol’ lady, but by the time we found her, she was already too damaged.

  “Ok, it’ll be a bit. Digger and Benita are in the back having fun if you want to join in.”

  I shoot her a look of thanks and watch as they stroll off. Cariña turns around and shoots me a non-believing look before continuing to follow Joda. She is judging me, but I don’t care. Everyone has their vices, and I have mine. I like to watch.

  “Ay, Ay, si Papi!” Benita’s voice carried through the walls as I walk closer to the back room.

  I knock once and enter the room. Everyone knows my little bit of kink, and mostly everyone is ok with it. Well, except for Lobo when he’s with Flora and Garro because he doesn’t want anyone eye fucking his ol’ lady.