Fuck, it has been a stressful two days. I finally got Nicole packed up and moved into the club. She fought me with every breath, mainly because her girl is being a bitch and refusing to come with her. Nicole had flat out refused to come here with me, until I got a little more creative with my convincing.

Tonight will be the first real night Nicole is staying at the club. I’m not going to fucking lie, I don’t know how she is going to fit in. I’m expecting drama with the Twinkies. Tonight is also a party night, and Nicole will probably see shit that will make her want to run. I won’t let her. At least I’m going to try to make sure that doesn’t happen.

My big problem is that Skull canceled our meeting the night before and we are set up for tonight instead. I’m fucked. I can’t watch over my woman and here with my men and Skull at the same time, and I fucking need to be here.

Crush and I walk into the old factory’s slaughter room. I normally take care of my business at the shed, but since this involves Skull to a certain extent, I’ve moved to a more central location. I don’t like it, but I didn’t want Skull on my turf, knowing where my shit is. Skull and three of his men, Beast, Briar and Torch, are already sitting in the corner watching as Gunner hoses down our entertainment for the night. Bull and Freak are sitting across from Skull’s men saying nothing, just watching. I have Irish, Frog and Striker watching over my woman. I’m still hesitant about Striker, but he seems to be innocent of this shit. I can’t go around blindly accusing all of my men. With three of them there, surely Nicole will be safe. That’s all I can do for now and it’s the only way I can here tonight.

Twist is tied up on a meat hook, and has been here for two days. His face is swollen, his ribs are bruised and I can tell Freak has used his razors on him. There are these fine little lines across Twist’s body, with blood trailing along them. Thy mar Twist’s entire naked body. The lines are cut just deep enough to separate the layers of skin, and in perfect vertical form—straight as an arrow, except for the word rapist, that is written across Twist’s stomach. Freak is an artist with a knife and razor. He is a scary fucker, but handy to have on your side for damn sure.

“Let’s get this damn meeting started,” I growl, as I sit down at the table across from Skull.

“Damn Dragon, I was hoping the lovely Nicole might have improved your mood.”

“She did, that’s why I want to be done with this shit and get back to her.” Skull is wise enough not to say anything back. Good call. “My boys explain shit to you?”

“Si, though I am sure you know that by calling this meeting, I am not so stupid that I would leave a clear trail pointing back to me or my compadres. The note on this girl is fake.” Skull answers. “I know that, which means we both have an enemy we need to find, before this shit escalates.” I tell him. Feeling like I’m sitting on the edge of a cliff. Fuck me, this shit always had a way of escalating. It hasn’t bothered me before, but now that I have Nicole to worry about. It more than bothers me.

“Freak, you about ready to start?”

“Plastic is all rolled out just waiting on you, Boss-man,” he answers, sounding like he is bored.

I look at Skull. “You warned me about this before, motherfucker. Do you have any more intel you’re willing to share?”

“Sorry mi amigo, I wish I did, but I have nothing I wish to speak of to you or your compatriots”

Fuck! That meant he knew something more, though nothing he was willing to tell me. Why can’t shit ever be simple? I rake my hand over my head. I dread what’s coming next. I can handle beating down and torturing motherfuckers, especially when they’ve bought their own ticket. In my world you have to prove you are strong. You have to be someone others could not fuck with. Still, the fact that tonight I will be doing that shit to one of my own is lying bitter in my gut. I have keep my mind on Jess. Twist is one of my men and what he did to her goes against everything the club stands for.

It’s haunting me. The beat down he gave Jess, how he laughed with each kick of his steel toed boot. It pictures how he raped the poor unconscious girl afterwards. It’s all inside of my head. Jess is a sweet girl, and looking at her, she reminds me a little of Nicole. This could have been Nicole and not Jess. I keep that thought firm in my mind as I get up from the table. I make my way over to Twist and remind myself that this fucker destroyed an innocent woman and betrayed his brothers. He’s nothing to me—not anymore. Gunner turns off the hose.

“Untie him and put him in the tub. You got the shit on?” I ask, because there’s not a doubt in my mind how this is going to go down.

“Yeah, Danny has the stuff going now.”

I nod and stand against the wall, watching as Freak and Gunner lower Twist into a cast iron tub. His eyes are swollen together so he can’t see, but he has to know what’s happening. He’s seen what we do to those who betray and try to cross us. There’s a reason we’re the Savage MC. I grab the pliers and knife off of a makeshift table and walk towards him. Truth be told, I don’t have a stomach for this shit. This was only done when information was needed. I’d much rather shoot a fucker between the eyes than go through this. I know my men feel the same. Freak takes care of these crap jobs, because it has to be done and done right, to protect the club. I know he doesn’t truly like it either. Fuck, if he did, I’m not sure I’d want him on my side.

I bend down and take the filthy oiled rag from his mouth that the boys used to gag him with.

“You ready to talk fucker?” I ask, already knowing what the answer will be.

“Fuck you. You’re going to kill me anyway,” Twist says and let’s face it, he’s not wrong. I grab him by the hair of the head and decide to lay it out for him.

“There is a world of difference in how you die. I can make it easy, I can make it hard. Now, I know what I hope you’ll choose, but betraying the MC shows me you’re not the brightest fuck. So, I figure you might need some convincing.”

“I’m not telling you a thing,” Twist rasps.

I pull over the small stool by the tub to sit on. I was right, he’s not that bright and obviously this is going to take a while.

“Do you know what lye is fuck-wad? See everyone talks about acid, but if you heat lye up way past boiling and pour that shit on a human body? In just a few hours all you got is liquid slop,” I tell him, as I run my Bowie knife along the outline of the Savage MC tat on his chest. All the brothers have one and clearly I needed to be more careful about who I let wear it.

This fuck up is on me. I know I should have blackballed Twist from the beginning, I had that gut instinct. But, Irish, Gunner and Striker all voted to patch him in. I usually tried to run the club by majority vote. This was one time I should’ve paid attention to my instincts.

“Just get on with it,” Twist responds, and maybe it would sound more believable if his voice was stronger.

“We’ve used it before. Fuck, stinks worse than pigs in shit. There won’t be a trace of you left for one sorry-ass to grieve. It’ll be like you never existed. All we do is pull the drain open and wash you down into the sewers where shit like you belongs.”

“Fuck you,” Twist replies back, but I can hear the fear in his voice this time. That is good, because fear means the fucker might still tell me what I need to know.

“What really bothers me the most is that none of the other punks who tried to betray the MC held our mark on their chest.”

“Yo, Crusher! You think we should allow Twist to carry our symbol on him into hell?” I ask, my knife still dancing around the tat in question, which was placed over his heart.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not, Prez!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so either, but let’s be fair. We’ll take a vote. All those that say this fuck-wad can keep his tat, say Aye.”

I reach over and put on the latex gloves that Freak placed on the floor beside me. I waited a minute for effect and then lean even further down so my voice is in Twist’s ear.

“Listen to that silence, fucker. Looks like fun time is about to begin.” Then I let my knife slice into the skin in a deep “X” through the tattoo. I pick up one of the loose pieces of skin and saw it off, throwing it into the tub. I do that four more times until the tat is removed and the pieces are lying along Twist’s naked legs.

Twist screamed during each of my cuts and is crying now, but I block that shit out. I’m sure Jess cried out too, and she was just a helpless slip of a thing. Twist deserves this and worse. I lay my knife on a rag that was placed on the floor and then take off my bloodied gloves, throwing them in the tub.

“I swear you might be more of a pussy than I thought Twist. You’re crying more than poor Jess did. Did it make you feel like a big man hurting someone innocent? To rape a woman you’d already beaten to the point of unconsciousness.” I pick up the pliers and twist the fucker’s head back. “Danny told me his stew manages to melt everything, but you know me Twist, better to be safe than sorry. Hold still now, this is going to hurt like a son of a bitch. Kind of like how poor Jess must have felt when you broke her fucking arm,” I tell him forcefully, while using my pliers to rip out one of his front teeth. “Or maybe it will hurt as much as when you broke three of her fucking ribs, you ass-fuck.” I put the tooth on the plastic by my feet and yank out two more. Twist is trying to moan, but since I keep the pliers jabbed into his mouth that’s pretty much impossible.

It comes out, “Mmm…fff...,” and ends with a sad gurgle from the blood.

“Shit boys, Twist smells like he’s been sucking your dicks. His damn breath is killing me,” I complain, going in to pull another one. Twist passes out and I put the new tooth with the other three. Then I yank off the new set of gloves I had put on before starting on his teeth. I throw those in the tub too.

“I’m taking a break. Wake the fucker up in a bit and get him ready for round two,” I growl walking to the door. “Skull, you and me now,” I order, and don’t look back. I light a cigarette and lean up against the outer wall of the building, waiting for Skull. He doesn’t take long and I offer him a smoke.

I don’t usually smoke, but some things call for a good smoke and a stiff drink. Fuck if this isn’t one of them, I may even let myself get lost in the booze later tonight.

“It is not easy being a leader mi amigo,” Skull says, taking a draw from the cigarette, while looking out over the abandoned property.

The cement is cracked and weeds are growing through it. There are a couple of old junked cars and lots of trash. The place is a shit hole, but with the purpose it serves, that seems fitting.

“What aren’t you telling me, Skull?” I ask straight out. It is time to cut the bullshit. Skull and I will never be the best of friends, but there is a grudging respect between us.

He takes a drag on his cigarette and blows out the smoke. In the distance a train whistle lets out a lonely wail.

“Dragon, talk on the street is of two adders in your nest, mi amigo. The fuck up in there being a small fry in a big ocean, and word is trouble is headed your way.”

“Trouble is headed my way every damn day,” I growl, watching the glow of the fire burn on the butt of my cigarette.

“Perhaps.”

“Besides, I already know that shit from the call Twist made at the end of the tape, asking if I was distracted.”

“Si.”

“So, you have names?”

“None I am willing to share at this time, but I will when I find a reliable source. Doing so now may implicate an innocent man. I warn you though, you shouldn’t trust anyone.”

I throw the cigarette away and give Skull a hateful look. I might understand what the fuck he’s about, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

“Let’s get this shit done. I got some place to be.”