Creed
“Goddamn it, that hurts, Creed,” Bax complained, rubbing his eye. It was already turning black around the edges; it’ll be quite the shiner by the morning. I chuckled; he was going to be trying to use his injury to get pity from the girls by the next day. Most likely, that black eye will rough him up some pity pussy from the gang’s ladies.
I had my own injuries from our “business meeting,” but I hadn’t been hit nearly as hard or as injured as visibly as Bax. Lucky asshole.
“Well, I don’t know about you,” I growled, digging through the pockets of my torn-up jeans for my keys. “But I could use a cold beer and a hot shower. That will put us both right as rain.” We walked up the rickety steps to my rented room, glaring at anyone who came too near. Most of the residents already knew to stay away from me; they all knew who Creed Carver was. Not a single one of these cowards even had the spine to look me in the eye.
It didn’t mean I could forget caution; there were no rules where I came from. That meant there could be enemies hiding in any corner of this place. So I kept a close eye out, glaring down anyone who came too close.
“Don’t look so down, Creed! We succeeded in what the Boss wanted us to do, so that’s all good news.” Bax slapped me hard on the shoulder, making me wince as he slammed his hand into some scrape or bruise from the tumble earlier. I’d kicked the shit out of some of those lower on the rungs of the motorcycle club’s society for getting uppity. On the Boss’s orders, of course. And considering, everything had gone pretty well. We only had to kill one of them. The man’s blood was still spattered across my new jacket and stained under my fingernails.
“I’m not down, Bax. I’m just sore. Let’s get to my apartment so I can relax a little, okay?”
We made our way up the stairs and around the corner to their hallway, and I thought about my neighbor, like I usually did on my way around this corner. I found always found myself looking for her, despite my promises to myself that I would stop. I wanted that woman, whatever her name was, wanted her more than any broad I had ever laid eyes on. I wanted to grab a hold of her neck and drag her into my room, pinning her to the wall as I taught her what rough sex was. She could use it; maybe it would get all of that sad, stuck-up out of her blood.
Too bad she’s the most boneless human being I’ve ever laid eyes on. Most of the trash I met around this place had the decency to stay out of my way, most averted their eyes, but no one cowered against the floor the way my neighbor did. Every time I walked by her, she curled up as small as she could, sniveling like a mouse hiding from a lion.
Women like that didn’t belong anywhere near me, that was for sure. The gangs had a tendency to chew up and spit out the weak ones; very few ever left the grounds alive. That’s the way my world worked. At least for people like her, it did.
I was so caught up in my simultaneous lust and dislike of my neighbor, I barely noticed when Bax signaled me to get down. I winced; how could I have let my thoughts of that woman cloud my surroundings so badly?
Now that I was looking, it was pretty clear the signs that had tipped Bax off in the first place. The planter I kept too close to my door had been disturbed; it was one of the many triggers I had around the entrance to my place to help signal me if it had been disturbed. I glanced at the door. There was a small piece of chalk attached to the bottom of the door that would mark the carpet if opened. I glanced down, seeing the little white mark on the carpet. Dead giveaway.
There was someone in my room.
Fuck. This is the last thing I need.
Bax pulled out his nine from inside of his jacket, getting into position on the far side of the door. I just rolled up my sleeve, mentally preparing myself for another battle. A deep breath and the world shifted.
Breeze from the north. A skitter of mouse claws on the wood above my head. A car honking in the distance, but I blocked it out, listening to the apartment. No sound coming from inside. The door was unlocked; I could see the bolt’s home in the door frame from here, and it was vacant. Bax was in position, his arms trembling a little with the beginnings of adrenaline rush. But I was cold, frozen from the inside out. I’d been at this so long, I didn’t get the rush of nerves anymore. Just icy, emotionless readiness that steadied my mind and made everything around me sharper.
Nodding to Bax, I wrapped my hand around the handle as silently as possible. Then I spun it and flung open the door in one swift movement, pushing the door out of the way as Bax slipped around my shoulder to point his weapon into the room.
Josh was sitting on the bed, a chip halfway to his mouth. He stared at the two of us with too-wide eyes, completely frozen on the ugly, brown comforter. Chip crumbs were scattered around him, creating a little circle on the bed.
Laughing, Bax slid his gun back into his pocket as he stepped into the rented room. “Well, you little bastard, you trying to get yourself killed?”
Josh laughed, the sound exaggerated and forced. “If you were trying to scare me, Bax, it didn’t work.”
I rolled my eyes stepping into the room and slamming the door behind me. “How the fuck did you get in here, you brat?”
“Ivy helped me,” he said around a mouthful of chips. His brown eyes were still a little too wide. “You’re going to have to try harder if you want to scare me, Bax.”
I growled, bringing Josh’s attention back to me. “Who the hell is Ivy?”
Josh rolled his eyes, bouncing on the bed like he couldn’t hold still. “Our neighbor, the pretty one. She took me down to the office and asked them for a key to let me in.” He held out the key in his grubby little hands and I winced when I saw it. As a nine-year-old, Josh probably didn’t understand the implications of living in a place where locks didn’t matter and anyone could get in. His little child’s mind was too young to grasp what real danger we lived in every day, with his dad being who he was.
Not a father any kid would want. I said, “And those assholes in the office just let you two in?”
Josh shook his head. He was bouncing on the bed now with his socked feet, still shoving chips into his mouth. “The office guy recognized me, and he didn’t want to make you mad. So he let me in.”
I was so furious I was shaking. “Where is that useless sack of flesh that’s supposed to be watching you?”
Josh rolled his eyes, digging at the bottom of the bag for more chip fragments. “She was easy to get away from; her boyfriend came over and they went into her bedroom. So I just left.”
Bax laughed again, slapping his hand against his knee before going to dig around in the fridge. It was empty except for two half-full bottles of ketchup and a case of beer. Pulling out two beers, he tossed one to me. I caught it, busting it open and taking a good, long sip. The icy cold liquid spilled down my throat, settling in my belly. I sighed, my shoulders relaxing the moment the sweet taste of hops slipped past my lips.
Is there no one around here that is useful?
“I told you Josh wouldn’t stay with the sitter. He always slips away, don’t you, kid?” Bax ruffled his hair before downing an entire beer in two huge gulps and tossing the can aside, grabbing for his second before I’d even taken a second sip of mine.
Josh jumped one last time before slamming down onto the bed with his butt, scattering chip pieces all over the room. “Yup!” His little chest was puffed up with pride. “That bitch ain’t never going to keep me; she sucks at her job and deserves to be fired.”
Shaking my head, I slammed the beer down on the side table next to the bed. Josh’s eyes darted to me. “You can’t just hang out here alone all day, you little brat,” I said, my voice a deadly whisper. It was the only thing Josh responded to anymore, and he turned to me with too-wide eyes. “If you won’t stay with the sitters, I guess I’ll just have to buy you a dog cage to stay in while I’m away.”
Josh wrinkled his nose. “Yeah right.”
I wanted to slap him; Josh was all sass like his damned, crackhead momma. A bitch I’d regretting banging every day for the past eight years. Ever since she dropped off this little bundle of joy on my doorstep and disappeared. There was nothing I could do with him, nothing he would take seriously. It was impossible to tame him. The little jerk just did whatever he wanted, and I couldn’t be around enough to make sure he did what he was supposed to.
How on earth was he ever going to get out of the gang life his idiot father was stuck in if he didn’t go to school?
“Ivy’s a nice lady; she bought me these chips!” Josh said excitedly as he dumped the rest of the crumbs into his mouth and all over the bed. “They were so good; that stupid bitch you left me with didn’t feed me because she hates me.”
I rolled my eyes, glancing at the crumbs all over my sheets. “I’m sure Ivy’s a real nice lady,” I said frowning. “I bet she doesn’t eat chips in other people’s beds.”
But Josh just grinned at me, his little face and hands covered in greasy salt. “Well, where’s the fun in that?”