Two weeks pass, two weeks the card burns a hole in my pocket. A card that says they hold truths I don’t know about that maybe I don’t want to know about. I remember the look on his face, the happiness he saw for me after taking a life. Maybe I’m better off in this life I have now. Maybe I truly was the devil in another life.
My door swings open, the card now in my hand. As I look up I see Grover standing there watching me, he looks at my hand then back to me. He is a large man—the president of the club—a scary man some say. His long gray hair is tied back and he has a bit of a belly. Laziness. To me, he’s nothing but a man short of a bullet. A bullet I sometimes want to lodge straight between his eyes. His cut is proud on his chest, he always wears it, even in our home. I bet he even he sleeps with it on, something to do with pride.
“You spoke to someone on your last job?” he asks, looking back at my hand. There’s no card there, it’s back in my pocket, concealed from his eyes. I give him a blank stare. What’s it to him if I did? “What did they say?” He never talks to me after a job, never. It’s usually a pat on the back, or a paycheck, but never a discussion of who I’ve spoken to or what I did.
“Nothing.”
He steps closer, his face closer to mine. “You wouldn’t lie to me now would ya, boy?” One eyebrow rises in question.
“What’s this about, Pres?” He doesn’t intimidate me, not in the least. He knows it, it just doesn’t stop him from trying. He craves people fearing him. I’m the only one that doesn’t, even his daughter fears him. He snaps up straight and shakes his head, he turns to leave, and just before he does he looks back, back to the pocket of my pants. Then turns and walks off.
Savannah sashays in before the door is even shut, she stands and smiles at me. I know it was her that told the Pres, she’ll play it off like it was nothing. It is nothing, but she doesn’t need to know that. And she sure as shit doesn’t need to run to the Pres to tell him everything that goes on.
“Leave!” I bark at her. She plays it off with a cool smile and steps closer to me. “I’m not playing, Savannah. Leave… go and fuck someone else.” Hurt flashes across her face. She tries to hide it as fast as it was there, I saw it though and it’s too late.
“Baby, I had to tell him.” She doesn’t move, she knows her boundaries when I’m mad.
“There was nothing to tell, don’t make me repeat myself.”
She flinches from the harshness of my voice. “I love you,” she whispers.
“You love yourself.”
“That’s not true, baby.”
“Savannah, do I have to repeat myself?”
Her head drops and she looks back to me, her blue eyes shining under the lights. “I’ll wait baby, forever…” She leaves the last word on her tongue as she opens the door and walks out.
I pack a bag, a small bag and step out. No one stops or even sees me when I leave. Maybe this was what they were afraid of, or maybe that’s what they expected.
I need answers and there’s only one place I can get them, so I’m going back.
The drive was long, it made me wonder if it was worth it. Worth coming all this way to somewhere where I met a man who seemed to know me. That smile, though, it’s stuck in my head like glue. It was like he was happy I was doing it. Like it was expected of me.
A knock sounds on my hotel door. Opening it, I find Sax standing there, his name was on his card. He nods his head and pushes into the room. Walking to the table and sitting down he uncaps two beers, one for himself then he slides one over to me, once I’m standing next to the table. I look at it, knowing I won’t drink it and slide it back.
“Just the same,” he says, spinning his bottle in his hand. The lid is back on the bottle. I didn’t even see him do that, and I don’t miss anything.
“You know me?” The seat screeches as I pull it out, I sit on it staring at this man.
He nods his head.
“I do.”
“How?”
“Work.” He smirks and I know he’s not talking about a normal nine to five job. “Come to this address tonight and wear a suit,” he says standing, grabbing his beers. He walks past me and stops at my bed, looks down at my gun case and brushes his fingers along it. “Some things never change, I guess.” And then he’s gone. Leaving me sitting there wondering what he could be talking about.
I realize I never did get any answers out of him. What he did discuss was brief, but nothing with any detail. I glance at the invite he just handed me and notice that it’s a gala event. I know the price for a table at this place is quite high. All proceeds going to a foundation called Red. I grab my phone and search for it.
Why should I entertain going to this place?
Will it really give me the answers I need?
Red
An organization to help women with addictions. No matter the range of dependency, we offer rehabilitation facilities, group therapy, as well as one-on-one with a psychologist.
Drugs, why would I want to go to a place that helps other people cure addictions and help raise money for that? Why do I feel the need to go?
The phone rings in my pocket, so I retrieve it.
“Savannah,” I answer, she hasn’t stopped calling.
“Baby come back, please.” I hear hushed whispers on the other end. Someone’s speaking to her.
“Put him on.” I hear the shuffle of the phone then his heavy breathing.
“You can’t leave like that, Trace. This is not how we do things. Rules are to be followed.”
“I don’t follow any rules.”
“You can’t leave the brotherhood. It’s death if you do.” He’s used that line on me before, multiple times. A fate worse than death, but he never follows through.
“I’m not your property, Grover. You’d do well to remember that!”
“The minute you wore that cut you became my property.” He’s angry now, at me disrespecting him. “You have a week. If you’re not back by then, you know what follows.” The phone disconnects and I realize he’s just hung up on me. I look back to my phone seeing the Red foundation flash on my screen.
It's time to buy a suit. It’s time to start working things out.