Magnolia's Fall From Grace

by Zara Teleg

“Of course you are. Man, you are so whipped. Lex is right. Maggie must have a magical pussy.”

  “What did you just say?” I spun around, jacking up my twin by his tee shirt.

  “I didn’t say it. Lex did. Geez, you’re fucking sensitive.” He pushed me off him.

  “If you, Lex, or anyone in the club ever mention or even think about what’s between Maggie’s legs, you will have nothing left between your legs.”

  I grabbed my bag out of the cabin and hit the showers. I didn’t see Maggie anywhere.

  “Hi, Venom,” a choir of girls’ voices sang.

  Tara, Ashley, and DeeDee. Great. Tara’s shirt was tied right up under her tits. She pushed them up and nearly out of the button-down shirt. “Where are you headed in such a hurry?” She hopped off the porch rail she was sitting on, coming quickly to my side.

  “Not interested, Tara.” I kept walking, increasing my pace.

  “Well, that’s a shame. I thought since you and Miss Priss were over, you’d want to actually have some fun.”

  I stopped abruptly, and she ran into me.

  “What did you say?” I turned to Tara.

  “Well, everyone knows the big baby came back here upset, and we all saw you and Alcide having words. You don’t need her. You’ve wasted all summer on that wet blanket.”

  “Tara, you don’t have a speck of what Maggie does, so I suggest you keep your hands to yourself and just tell me where you last saw her.”

  “You’re so not worth it.” Tara rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she’s off somewhere praying.” Her tone was wicked. “You have no idea what you’re missing.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and stomped off.

  “Vincent?” a weak voice called.

  I looked left and right before I found her. Maggie had been right behind a tree where Tara and I were. Tears were in her eyes. I felt awful about how I treated her earlier. I opened my arms and said, “Maggie, I’m sorry.”

  She took off, running, her body crashing into mine. I wrapped my arms around her, lifting her off the ground. Her head nuzzled into my neck, and I could feel the shallow breaths that matched the tears streaming down her face.

  “Baby, I am so sorry,” I whispered, holding the back of her head and kissing her temple. “I never want to make you cry. I’m sorry.”

  “Please don’t let me go,” her broken voice eked out as she held me with all her strength. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have gone looking for you. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have ended up at Alcide’s, and we wouldn’t have fought.”

  “This wasn’t your fault. It was mine.” I set her back down and whispered in her ear, “I’ll never hurt you again. Let’s get out of here.”

  She nodded and we walked off the trail and into our spot in the woods. I laid down a towel, and we sat down facing each other. The sadness in her eyes killed me.

  “Vincent.” She closed her eyes. “I’m scared of what is going to happen to us when next week comes. I’m not ready to leave you.”

  She was so vulnerable at that moment; the innocent girl that arrived here three months ago was sitting before me.

  “Let’s not think about that now, because even if we had forever, it wouldn’t be long enough.”

  I reached around to the back of my neck, unclamping the chain that held my club medallion. I stared down at Maggie, who was still slightly shaking. I placed the medal around her neck, clasping the back.

  “I never thought I’d part with this. It’s been a piece of me since I was a child. There’s not a time I can remember that I was not wearing it.” I lifted Maggie’s chin. “I want you to have it. I want you to wear it and always know you have stolen a piece of me. It will always be yours, just like me. I’ll always be part of you now and forever. Maggie, I’ll never forget or feel this way again, I know it deep inside. You’re it for me. And if what you taught me about fate is true, then someday we will find our way to each other again. Please promise, no matter whatever happens between us, good or bad, you’ll always keep this as a reminder of me, of us and our time together.”

  “There is nothing in this world that could make me forget the way I feel about you. I’m so scared. I wish I could freeze time and be here in this moment forever.” Maggie lifted her eyes to mine.

  I touched her flushed face with my fingertips. Her eyes pleading with mine had me wanting her more than I ever had. She must’ve felt the same way. Her hands reached out, tugging my tee shirt up and pulling it over my head. “I want to feel your skin on mine. I need you, Vincent.” Her voice quivered.

  I laid her back on the towel, crawling over her and planting my lips on her hungry ones. With the weight of my body pressed on her, she moaned into my mouth. I kissed her lips, her face, her neck, and down to her stomach. I removed her button-down shirt and pulled off her top, then she froze, looking around.

  My jeans were straining. “No one is coming out here, Maggie,” I reassured her as I sucked the soft skin of her neck into my mouth, leaving a light stain on her milky skin. I moved down her chest, giving her beautiful breasts attention as she cried out again.

  “I need you inside me,” she begged.

  I had no choice but to oblige. I was going to explode any second. Taking off both our pants, I sat up and lifted her onto my lap. She straddled me, and I’d never felt anything so good in all my life. I wound my hand in her hair, and she squeezed her legs around my back, and I sank even further into her.

  “Oh, Vincent, I love you,” she cried.

  When I thrust again, she squeezed and dug her nails into my back, and she exploded onto me. I couldn’t hold out any longer. I rocked her back and forth until she collapsed onto my chest panting heavily.

  “I love you too.”

  Magnolia

  I love you too. I ran my fingers over the heavy metal that was resting on my chest. I knew he meant it. In almost nineteen years of my life, I’d never felt anyone actually meant it the way Vincent did.

  “Here, put this on.” Vincent handed me the shirt that I had been wearing. I reached out to get it. His smile faded from his face. He grabbed my forearm, his purple eyes zooming in on my wrist, and then the other.

  Oh no.

  “Who did this?” His voice turned demonic. The purple changed to almost black as a storm brewed in his eyes.

  I tried to yank my arms back.

  “You were hiding these,” he accused. “Did Alcide touch you?”

  “What?” I squealed. “No. God, no. I put the shirt on this morning so he wouldn’t see.”

  “Maggie, you need to tell me now.”

  “I-I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I tried to pull my arm back again.

  “Maggie, I will turn this town upside down until I find who did this.”

  I closed my eyes, pressing my lips together and shaking my head no. “I don’t want to cause trouble. I don’t want to make your father hate me.”

  “Wait, what? Someone in my club touched you?” His face dropped like he was shocked. “You said you went to the club last night. Who did you see? Maggie, I want every detail.”

  “Only if you promise not to do anything.”

  “You know I can’t do that.” His voice was calm as he gently stroked his hand down my face.

  “I went to the club, and when I asked for you, the armed guys at the gate called on their radios and said I was there.” I swallowed the rock in my throat.

  “And then?”

  I couldn’t get the words out because I knew they would change everything.

  “And then what, Maggie? You can tell me anything. I promised you were safe with me, and if someone from my family hurt you, it cannot go unanswered. It is a club rule. You’re my girl, and someone put hands on you.”

  I nodded. “And then Lex came to the gate and said he needed to talk to me.”

  Vincent’s face contorted.

  “It was my fault. He called Sissy a whore, and I slapped him. I didn’t mean to, it just hap—”

  “This was not your fault. Lex had no
right, no matter what you said or did.” Vincent pulled his shirt over his head and began putting his boots on.

  “What else, Maggie? I know there’s more.”

  I hesitated pushing the words from my lips. “He told me I didn’t know you and to ask you about Armon.”

  Vincent’s face paled. He stood abruptly. “I need you to go to your cabin and stay there. I’ll be back.”

  “No.” I held onto his arm. “Please, Vincent. I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me. I bruise easily. I’m pale.”

  “This is not going unanswered.” He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Get dressed and go to your cabin. I’ll be back.”

  He handed me the towel and dug his bike keys from his pocket.

  Should I have told him? An unease came over me as he stalked away.

  I paced for hours, driving Shannon crazy. My hand was grasping his medal as I prayed for him.

  “Will you just go to sleep?” She threw my stuffed bunny from my bed and tossed it across the room at me.

  Vincent never came back that night. The next day he showed up at work. He had another bruise on his cheek, adding to the one that had faded around his eye from last week.

  “I’ll be back in a minute,” I yelled to Alcide as I took off out of the tent.

  “Vincent, I was so worried.” I threw my arms around his neck. Viper glared at me and shook his head.

  “Are you okay? What happened?” I whispered, following him behind the shelves of tools.

  “Lex and I got into it. Voodoo broke it up, but he was not happy when I told him that Lex laid hands on you. And what he alluded to was club business. Voodoo sent him back home. He made him take off last night. Lex didn’t take it well. I spent the rest of the night looking for Sissy and Mongo.” He rubbed his forehead. His eyes had dark circles under them.

  “Sissy?” I asked, my heart clunking in my chest. Acting like I knew nothing racked me with guilt, but I did it to protect Sissy.

  “Yeah, Mongo was supposed to take her to another chapter to stay awhile. Voodoo’s punishment for her breaking the rules. Voodoo is in an uproar ‘cause no one has heard from them and there’s some trouble brewing with another club.”

  Now I really felt awful. I was going to have to call and make sure they arrived at Mongo’s aunt’s safely.

  “I need you to promise me you won’t go anywhere by yourself. Our club has received threats, and I don’t trust anyone around here. The other club knows we are with the mission, but that won’t stop them from taking revenge if Voodoo gets his way with Paw-paw’s land. I’m sorry, I know we don’t have a lot of time left, but I have to help my family after work, and I promise this will not affect your special birthday weekend.” He gave me a reassuring smile. I just smiled and nodded, not wanting to add another lie to the list.

  “I understand, but promise me you will be careful.” I placed my head on his chest, hugging him.

  Chapter 20

  Venom

  My priority this week was to spend as much time with Maggie as I could. I wasn’t coping with the reality that she would be gone in a matter of days. Sleep had evaded me once again. Voodoo had Viper and me running around like fools, making threats to the little boys around town who now considered themselves part of the Devil’s Damned. They were clueless as to what it was to be born and raised in a club.

  In the shadows, I rested on my bike outside the minimarket, witnessing two new Devil’s Damned members shake down the owner. I’d spoken to the owner a few times when I stopped for gas—he was a decent guy.

  It was late, and they were the only ones left in the store. The two clowns threw down a carousel of chips and then grabbed cartons of cigarettes. Voodoo instructed us not to engage until things got out of control. The owner was cooperating, so I did as I was told—until they had him on his knees. One prick yanked the back of the man’s head, smashing it into his knee. These two pussies thought they were big shit.

  I slid the gun from my pants, cocking it. I lit a cigarette as I strolled to the two wimpy bikes that were parked out front. I lifted my boot, kicking the first bike over. That got their attention.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, asswipe?” They both released the man, moving toward me. I nodded at the owner, who scrambled to reach the phone.

  “I’m making these pieces of junk look better.” I blew out a stream of smoke before putting out my cigarette on the leather seat.

  “You’re fucking dead.” One asshole sprinted to me.

  “Nope. I think that more applies to your possibility.” I trained my gun on the closest man.

  “You don’t know who you’re messing with, kid.”

  “Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

  “Didn’t I tell you not to engage? We have enough on our plates,” Voodoo scolded.

  “They were roughing up the owner of the store. I got out before the cops came, and they were the ones caught, not me. I couldn’t let them just beat up an innocent man.”

  “You grow a conscience and now I’ve got to deal with the consequences. Thanks to your girlfriend and Sissy, we’re two men down.”

  “I think both those situations were thanks to Lex, not them.”

  Voodoo’s black eyes rolled. “When are you going to learn? I thought I taught you, always club first.”

  “So if some jerk like Lex was in our club and put hands on Esmeralda, you would’ve been okay with that? Just let it slide?”

  His face changed at the mention of my mother—a name I had not uttered to him in many years.

  “You have one more chance. I’m done with your mistakes. You need to get your head in the game. That fucking pager goes off, I don’t care what you’re doing or where you are, you get to a phone and you answer or you get to the club. You got that?” Voodoo’s hand slapped the back of my head, rattling my teeth.

  Viper entered the room after Voodoo left. He had been on his own stakeout when he got a page to come back.

  “Brother, your head just isn’t focused on the club anymore. I’ll never understand why Voodoo keeps giving you chances. Fuck, I do everything he asks without question, yet it’s always you that he wants to be involved in everything. You’re throwing away your future in this club because you’re distracted.” Viper slammed his hands on the table where I sat. “We’re fucking twins. We used to be close, talk about anything, but now all you care about is Magnolia. She has you blinded by virginal pussy.”

  “Fuck you, Viper. I told you not to talk about her like that. I’m sorry you don’t understand, but I don’t have to explain anything to you. You’ll figure it out yourself someday.”

  “I hope the fuck not,” Viper mocked.

  “Brother, I have less than a week before I never see her again. You think she’s going to want to slum it with me once she’s with those rich college boys?”

  “I don’t understand how you don’t see what’s happening with the club. You’re letting this short-term relationship put your family in danger. I don’t want to keep talking about this, but fuck, brother, you need to get your head on straight and be ready to jump into action if that pager goes off.”

  “I will. Don’t worry.” I slapped my brother’s shoulder.

  “So, you think Mongo and Sissy went and joined a carnival or what? Sienna said someone called and left her a message not to worry and that they were safe and would be in touch soon. They got balls, though Voodoo might take Mongo’s if he comes back.”

  Things were eerily calm over the next few days. The Devil’s Damned was nowhere around. Voodoo was convinced they got out of town since Kingston lost the deal on the property and we brought in reinforcements. I wasn’t sure what had gone down with Paw-paw and Voodoo, but he was celebrating the compromise they had come to on the land. Voodoo spent the entire day with women coming and going from his room. Viper and I had been working every day, and we had one more week to go.

  Maggie was set to leave in a few days. I did everything I could to distract myself and instead focused on making the most
of her birthday weekend. Last night, me, Maggie, Shannon, and the guy Shannon was crushing on at the camp went out for some ice cream and mini golf. I loved how relaxed Maggie was around Shannon. Her smile lit the room, and no matter where we were, eyes always fell on her quiet beauty.

  “Where are we going?” Maggie buckled her seatbelt. It was really early in the morning. I had the directions to the little chapel and a day full of surprises planned. I borrowed Sienna’s GM convertible since it was too long of a drive for the old truck and the picnic Maggie packed was more than I could take on my bike. Maggie was thrilled when I pulled up with the top down.

  “Shannon made me a mixed tape for my birthday. She said it would always remind me of the summer of ’93.”

  Maggie pushed the cassette into the player and sang her heart out. Her ankles were crossed, and her bare feet sat on the door. Her head leaned on my shoulder, and pink mirrored sunglasses covered her eyes as her white sundress blew in the wind.

  When Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” began to play, she cranked the volume up. When the chorus started, she released her seatbelt. Kneeling on her seat, she lifted her arms in the air as she screamed the lyrics.

  “Sit down, Maggie.” I yanked at her dress as we flew down the highway. Maggie laughed as she sang, balling her hand into a fist as she sang the rest of the song into her invisible microphone. When she turned it to me, I sang the words knowing they were true. I wanted to write her name in the sky.

  “Where are we going?” she asked again.

  I drove off the road and took out the tee shirt fabric I’d cut off to make a blindfold.

  “What are you doing with that?”

  “Take off your sunglasses.” I opened my palm so she could hand them to me.

  “I don’t know how I feel about surprises. Just tell me,” she begged.

  “I promise. You’ll like it.”

  After securing the blindfold behind her head, I waved my hand in front of her face to verify she couldn’t see.