by Deja Voss
“Bitches. Sometimes they need a little reminder of who’s in charge around here.”
All I can see is red. I punch him so hard, I can feel my knuckles breaking as they make contact with his cheek. He falls over on his back, and the sound of his skull cracking off the marble tile is loud enough we can all hear it.
My dad starts to laugh. “Well, I’d say things just got interesting.”
Catarina groans with anger and drops to her brother’s side.
“You people have no manners. No business sense. My father always said you were nothing but a bunch of filthy animals. He was right. Get out of my home right now. And don’t think this is the end, Lean. You have no idea what you just got yourself into.”
“Filthy animals, huh?” my dad asks. He’s grinning so hard, his wrinkled face is completely smooth, and I can see the crazy in his eyes. He spits directly on Stefano’s face, and Lazarus grabs him by the arms, holding him back. “We might be filthy animals but your father was one of the biggest con artists who ever lived. He’s nothing but a joke. You two better hold on to that casino tag with everything you got, kiddo, because I will make it my life’s mission to make yours miserable.”
Lazarus starts dragging him down the hall, and I follow close behind. My mind is blown. I didn’t expect Bruiser to have my back, especially when I possibly just blew the deal of a lifetime.
“I’m sorry, old man,” I say. “I don’t know what got into me. I couldn’t keep my cool. I’m sorry I fucked it all up.”
He pats me on the shoulder. “You didn’t fuck anything up, son. Now go find that girl. She’s gonna be our keys to the kingdom.”
I nod and take off in the opposite direction, down the long hallway, hoping I can catch her before Stefano gets his wits about him again. I know my dad wants to use her as a tool, as a pawn, as a way to get what he wants, but I can’t help but feel like there’s more to her than that. I don’t know why, but I feel like there’s a reason why I was sent here, and it was to save her. To free her. To keep her safe from whatever demons brought her here.
There’s a muffled sob coming from a dark corner, and she sits there with her arms wrapped around her knees, her mop of hair covering her face.
“Can you get up?” I ask, hunching down next to her. Now that I have a moment with her up close and personal, I’m even more overwhelmed than I was a minute ago. She’s stunning. Scrappy, but stunning.
She looks up at me, her eyes filled with tears and terror. I know I’m not exactly prince charming. Her lip trembles, and it looks like she’s trying to talk, but no words are coming out.
“Who are you?” I ask. “How did you get here?”
She blinks wildly. I extend my hand to help her up, and the sight of her fingers turns my stomach. It looks like somebody ran over them with a truck. “It’s okay. I promise. I’m not going to hurt you. What’s your name?”
As she gets up off the floor, I notice she’s shivering so hard, her teeth are chattering. I don’t know what’s going on in my brain, but I do the one thing I’ve never done in the history of my existence. I take off my cut and I drape it over her shoulders. It doesn’t even come close to fitting right at all. It doesn’t matter. She’s mine to care for now. Mine to save. And I know the only way I can do that is to set her free. I’m sure she has a family, a life, a home, aspirations. I can’t get her to talk, but maybe I’m not the person she wants to talk to.
All I know is it’s my job now to get her away from these sick freaks. I know my father probably plans on using her as bait, but I’m not going to let that happen.
I scoop her up in my arms and carry her out the back door.
Chapter Five
Mani:
I don’t know who I’m more fearful of, this strange man taking me from my home, or Stefano and Catarina and what they’ll probably do to me when I come back.
I know his arms feel good around me, even though I know they are capable of ripping me into shreds. I’m saddened when he puts me in the car, because I know it’ll probably be the last time I see him. No sense in getting attached. No sense in thinking this man could be my knight in leather armor.
If he only knew the only thing on my mind was finding my way back to the mansion, he’d probably realize I’m not the kind of woman who is worth saving. It’s too late for me. The only thing I have worth saving is Ella, and every minute I’m gone is another opportunity for Catarina and Stefano to hurt her. I need to get back so much.
He told me Slick would be coming from West Virginia, and he could get me whatever I need to escape from here. He could make me disappear. He could help me start a new life wherever I want as whoever I want.
“My brothers call me Lean,” he says, bending down by the car to talk to me, his frame so big and wide it nearly eclipses the door. “You’re safe now, girl. That life is behind you.”
He pulls out his wallet and hands me more cash than I’ve ever personally handled in my life, and I used to get an allowance from Guilio Gallo.
“You gonna talk, sweetie? At least tell me your name. I’m sure somebody’s looking for you. I’m sure you got people who love you.”
He’s really giving me a lot more credit than I deserve. I guess to an outsider I probably do look pretty banged up. I wonder if he can see my will to live has been completely ripped from my body. I wonder if he can see how fucked up I truly am.
I wish I could just open my mouth and tell him, but I haven’t spoken to anyone outside of the family in years. All I can do is shake my head no.
“It’s okay,” he says. He bends down and kisses my forehead and it makes me feel weird inside. It’s not like the clients I see, although sometimes they want to pretend like they love me before they do horrible things to me. Those are the worst kind of clients. For some reason, I don’t think Lean is anything like them. At least, I don’t want to believe he is. “Bags is gonna take you to the hotel. Money ain’t a thing. Get yourself some room service. Relax. You’re safe. We got eyes all over the place. Nobody is gonna harass you anymore, darlin’.”
“You’re in good hands,” the guy driving the car says as he turns to face me in the back seat. I’m pretty sure he’s telling the truth, but I don’t understand why Lean can’t just ride with us. I don’t understand why he’s gone through all this effort just to leave me.
“That’s my personal phone number,” he says, pointing to a number on a business card. Steel City Bastards Adult Entertainment, it reads. Lean DiCico, vice president. “You want to talk, you need anything, you just call me.”
I blink up at him like a deer in headlights. My stomach turns wondering if they’re just like my brother and sister. Maybe he isn’t here to liberate me.
He’s a beautiful beast, with taut muscles, dark eyes, and tattoos all over his body. I want with all my heart to think he’s honest, that there’s more to him than the life I know, but the fact that he was even associating with my step siblings means he’s probably just a common thug like them.
At the end of the day, the devil I know is better than the one I don’t. As he slams the car door and we drive off down the driveway, I make sure I’m focusing on nothing but the road. Every turn, I make a mental note to myself. Right right, left, I mouth. When I realize we’re driving through the Liberty Tunnel I breath a sigh of relief.
I’ve lived in this city my entire life. Hell, when I was sixteen years old I thought I ran this place. My friends and I had the clothes, the money, the fake IDs, the season tickets to Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins games thanks to my step father.
The city skyline hits me so hard, I feel a tear running down my face. I try to stifle my sobs, but it takes my breath away. So much beauty, so many memories of back when I had the world at my fingertips. Back before Ella was sick, and I was just an ignorant teenager living her best life.
“It’s pretty impressive, isn’t it? Maybe you and I can take a ride on the incline before Slick gets here. Your mind will be blown. As friends, I mean. We’ll go as friends,” he’s s
tammering, and I can tell he’s distracted by the way he swerves a little bit into the other lane until the car next to him lays on its horn. “Don’t tell Lean I said that. Dude already has it out for me. He’d probably feed me to the fish if he thought I was pushing up on his woman.”
His woman? Feed him to the fish? These people are crazy. I need to get back to Ella before I hear too much and they decide to feed me to the fish, too.
He stops at a red light, and I make my move. I reach up in the front seat and smash the unlock button on the door. I throw open the back door and take off running as fast as I can, swerving in between vehicles. I sprint down a one way road, knowing there’s no way in hell he’ll catch me. Traffic is a bitch to begin with and all these random turns will certainly throw him off my trail.
My feet ache within seconds thanks to my lack of shoes. The hot cement of the road combined with broken glass and bits of gravel tears into my flesh, but I don’t stop running until I know Bags is probably so far backed up in traffic, he’ll never catch me.
Sweet freedom. Even if it’s short lived, in this one moment, I am not property of anyone. I missed the smell of the city air, of soul food and french pressed coffee drifting from the storefronts. Watching everyone milling around, going about their day, random clips of music blaring through car windows as people drive by. It makes me nostalgic for the time when my mother was still alive.
Before everything turned to shit.
Before I went inside my head and never came out.
I know I need to get back to the mansion. I know there’s probably a whole gang of bikers looking for me. Something inside me urges me to sit with my nostalgia for a minute. To embrace that spark. I haven’t had a luxury like this for as long as I can remember.
“Mani the Man-Eater” my friends used to call me. Eight years ago I walked into this exact restaurant in a black leather mini skirt and a leopard print halter and every single eye was on me.
I guess the same thing is happening right now, but probably not for the same reason as before. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror hanging behind the counter at Primantis. It’s scary, the way my hair is wild, my face and neck all bruised, this long leather vest hanging from my lanky body.
“What can I get you?” the man working behind the counter asks. I can tell by the tone of his voice I’m disgusting in his eyes. I can tell by the way he won’t make eye contact that the simple sight of me scares him.
I don’t care. I’m starving at this point. I want one of everything on the menu and a beer to wash it down. I want to sit my ass in a booth and watch the Pirate’s Game on the big screen TV and not feel like some captive mutant.
“Fries,” is all I can muster up, and even that sounds weird coming out of my mouth. “Ketchup, please.” I pull a hundred dollar bill off the wad and slap it down on the counter as I take a number and go sit in a booth. I duck down low enough that nobody can see me, but I can see everything going on around me. I look for all the exits in case I have to make a quick getaway.
The man from behind the counter comes over and sets a basket of fries down on the table in front of me, and my growling stomach takes me over. I don’t think twice about using both hands, the salty deep fried goodness taking me back to a time where me and my girlfriends would’ve walked into a place like this and never had to pay a dime. How far I’ve fallen.
I only wish Ella could be here with me. She always loved when I would take her into the city. I start feeling guilty that I’m not already on my way back to her.
Before I can finish the last bite, a man walks up to the table. He’s pretty rough looking with a long gray beard and tobacco stained teeth. He stops and shakes his head.
“What are you doing here, girl?” he asks. “Does anybody know you’re missing?”
I don’t recognize him, but that’s not to say he doesn’t know who I am. I know Catarina and Stefano make a lot of money selling live streams of me on the internet. They also have a lot of shady business partners.
I shrug, knowing it’s time to get back to the grind.
I could scream. I could tell someone to call the police. I could tell someone I am being held hostage, but I know if I do, Ella will have to pay for it. So, I stand up when the man grabs my arm, trying not to yelp as he digs his fingers into my bruises.
“You’re a long way from home, girl,” he says with a sneer. “Definitely shouldn’t be wearing that patch on this turf.”
It doesn’t register to me what he’s talking about until I catch another glimpse of myself in the mirror on the way out the door. The leather vest with “Lean” and “Vice President” stitched on the front. This man isn’t taking me home.
Before I can even run, I feel the pressure of his hand over my nose and mouth.
“You bite me, I shoot you,” he growls. My heart races and I realize nobody in the city really gives a damn about what anybody else is doing. I try to make eye contact, but everyone’s in their own little world, and this crazy guy drags me through the street, pops open the trunk of his car, and tosses me in.
Everything goes black, and I start to scream, kick, and punch, but it doesn’t make any difference. I feel the wheels start to move, feel my body bounce around with every pot hole he hits, feel the greasy french fries sloshing around in my stomach, and try not throw up as I make peace with the fact that my day’s about to get a whole lot worse.
Chapter Six
Lean:
“What do you mean you lost her?” I punch my fist into the bar, but I wish I was punching it into his face. “She can barely walk. You mean to tell me she ran away?”
“She’s fast, dude,” Bags says. He’s hanging his head, his hands shoved in his pockets. “I tried to find her, I swear. I got eyes out everywhere. I’m sure she’ll turn up.”
I don’t even know her name, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since I left her with Bags. “I should’ve just handled it myself.”
“Don’t be like that,” Bags says.
“You’re the one who put your cut on her,” Lazarus says with a toothy smile. He hasn’t stopped busting my balls about it since I got back to the house. Everybody around here knows putting your cut on a bitch means serious business. When I gave mine to her, I meant it. I wanted her to know she was mine to protect, mine to keep safe, my responsibility, and I fucked it all up.
“Lean’s got an old lady,” Rowdy teases in a sing song voice. “When are you gonna tell us all about her? All we know so far is her name is ‘girl’ and she don’t talk. She sounds like a real keeper.”
“You don’t worry about my business,” I say. “You would’ve put your cut on her, too if you saw how fucked up she was. We gotta find her.”
“I don’t think she wants found, brother,” Lazarus said. “Least not by you.”
I don’t know why I thought for one second that girl would trust me. Nobody in their right mind should trust me. That’s why I sent her with Bags. At least he comes off as a harmless teddy bear for the most part.
“I blame this on you, Bags,” I say, pushing past him, making sure to elbow him a little as I do.
“Where the fuck you think you’re going?” Lazarus asks.
“I’m going to find her.”
I’m certain Bags probably did something to freak her out. For all I know, he talked some shit about me to try and get her for himself. I don’t know why I keep trusting this motherfucker when every time I put him in charge of something it goes to shit. I can’t blame him, though. I should’ve personally taken her to the hotel. Should’ve personally hooked her up with Slick and made sure the transaction went down like it was supposed to.
I knew if I did that, I’d end up keeping her for myself.
I don’t know why she’s making me so crazy. I don’t know why I’m not acting like myself. I don’t know why I think she’d ever love a guy like me. She doesn’t deserve this life.
“Terrible idea,” Lazarus shouts after me as I walk out the front door into the night.
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br /> All I can picture is her passed out in a ditch somewhere, or worse, back at that mansion being kicked and tased and abused by that bastard Stefano. I’m sure as soon as he realized she was missing he sent his goons out looking, too.
An unfamiliar car pulls up in the parking lot, and I squint my eyes in the dark trying to make out the figure approaching me.
“Lean! My boy!” he shouts. “Just the man I wanted to see!”
“Get out of here with your bullshit, Lenny,” I say. “I don’t have time for you today.”
Lenny is like a bad case of athlete’s foot that just won’t go away. He’s been hanging around the club as long as I can remember, and just when you think you’ve shaken him, he pops back up more irritating than before. He’s a little bit hippie and a little bit redneck, and he’s always trying to wheel and deal to make a quick buck be it off scrap metal or hot television sets he’s jacked off the back of a truck. He’s mostly harmless, but in his mind he’s convinced he’s one of the baddest motherfuckers on the planet. If he wasn’t so obnoxious, he’d probably be endearing like a crazy old uncle.
“Oh trust me, I’m pretty sure you’re going to have plenty of time for my bullshit when you see what it is.”
He walks to the back of his car and stands over his trunk. I can only imagine what he has inside today. Last time it was six garbage bags full of ditch weed he found growing in his neighbor’s backyard. Time before a trunkful of knockoff sneakers - “Air Jorbans” they said down the side.
Then the pounding starts.
“What the fuck,” I mutter, running over to him. “Open it up, dude.”
There she is in all her glory, thrashing wildly as the trunk pops open.
She’s just as perfect as I remember her, even though she’s even more wild looking than before. Her eyes look like she wants to rip somebody’s face off, and she’s throwing punches into the air.
