Rev
Dammit! It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I mean, I always imagined myself dying because of the shit I did for a living, but I figured I would go down in a blaze of glory, not because some bitch couldn’t get the courage to fight me like a man. Even as the light is fading and the whole world around me glows in a white, fuzzy haze, I still have the energy to be pissed off at Enrique for taking the easy way out.
He’s all I can think about outside of her. Jenna comes to me as a vision at first. I see her the moment she walks through her brother’s apartment with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and an exhausted look on her face. I see her being pushed down on the couch in front of me by that asshole boyfriend who I decked out. I watch her dog on the back of my bike as she trembles on the way to my apartment, and my mouth waters remembering our first kiss and the first time I took her body on top of my dresser.
Every moment with her flashes in an instant, each coming at me like a polaroid in front of me. The first time I saw her. Our first kiss. The first time I fucked her. And as they go by, one by one but somehow simultaneously, I see our last goodbye.
My mind races. I ordered her to get the hell out of here. I wonder if she listened to me this time. I think she did. I think that’s what she was telling me moments ago—before I was sliced and diced in the gut. At least she won’t be here to see me like this—bleeding out in front of a crowd of fucking posers who have no idea what their fearless leader did to get the win.
The men around me are loud. I honestly can’t believe that these guys are this excited for me to die. Whenever I’ve brought a guy to the brink or delivered him to my clients, I didn’t cheer. Even when they were the most obnoxious fuckers, I still didn’t celebrate them being handed off like that. While it didn’t eat me up much, I have some kind of morals.
I force my eyes open. I want to see the sky again. I remember riding with Tommy a few years after I got my bike. We went on this camping trip in Wisconsin’s North Woods. I was still getting my feet wet then with what I could do on my bike, but there was nothing I loved more than whipping my head back to watch the sky from its highest point and race the clouds over the line of the winding highway. That is what heaven is for me.
I must be close. My mouth has gone dry. My fingers are getting numb. Everything seems louder, yet softer all at the same time. And then there’s Jenna. She appears like an angel crawling towards me. She’s still wearing that dress... that black dress a size too small for her. God, I’d love to have her just one more time in that thing.
She calls my name, begging me not to go. I can’t tell if she’s alive or real. She’s just a shadowy figure with a face that glows and hands that reach towards me. But when she touches me, when she places her hands on my body, I know she’s real. There’s no mistaking that electric sensation that shoots up through me and past the place where I was stabbed. She’s here. She’s back.
With the last bit of strength I have, I growl at her for coming back. It’s shitty of me to do, but what was she doing here? Who let her back? Suddenly, it comes to me. I see a familiar face in the crowd, and I hear the roar of motorcycles closer than they should be. The fight was over, but a new one has started without me. Vic—it has to be him. It’s the only way that Jenna could be here with me without someone noticing her.
Wait just a goddamn minute. If Vic’s here, where the fuck is Enrique? He couldn’t be dead. The guy is a fucking cockroach who could outlast just about anything. He survived me. He’ll always have that over me. I’m shocked he’s not back here, finishing me off in case Vic survives, but there’s no sign of him from the limited view I’ve got. Even with Jenna placing my head in her lap, I can’t see past the ropes along the boxing ring.
As I stare out, I see Jenna’s shadow coming down over me. Goddammit, I told her... Her hair dangles and tickles along my neck and bare shoulders... But holy fuck am I glad to see her... She plants a kiss on me, one I really can’t give back to her... Even if I should be pissed...My lips part and I suck in the taste of her, but I struggle with making my mouth close down on hers—it’s the worst kiss I’ve ever had... It’s the last kiss I’ll ever have... But at least I can take this with me to the grave. I’m going to die in someone’s arms that actually fucking cares about me.
I’m surprised to find a sudden need to get through to her how much I care about her, how my life has been transformed by her. I owe her that. This would be for nothing if I can’t be honest in the few moments I’ve got left. I go to say those three words that have been stuck in the back of my throat since I caught her serving drinks. But my eyes flash to the corner of the ring.
Enrique.
Fuck!
I should’ve known this wasn’t over. It’s never over with him. I brace for it—for him to launch on me and finish the job—but instead of Enrique, it’s Jenna who tackles me. She presses her thin body around me, protecting my chest and head with her body. I can feel her scream better than I can hear it before Enrique charges.
This is it. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since I met her and made the decision to take her with me. Looking back to that day, I should’ve known that I would be stuck with her for better or for worse and that I’d be responsible for her. I’m not about to let her down now. She deserves much more than to die because of a piece of scum like me. Jenna has her whole life ahead of her, and I’m not about to let her waste it.
With all of my strength, every last ounce of it, I push her away. My hips rise into the air followed by my chest. The pain races through me, causing my spine to tingle and throb. The side where Enrique got his little toy dagger in me feels as if it weighs the amount of a sack of bricks, but I tumble her off of me while Enrique rolls to avoid her. The knife in his hand reaches high in the air at my neck, but he misses me by inches.
He lands hard on his shoulder, crying out in pain. Someone must have gotten him before now because he looks worse for wear than ever. His bruised body has small cuts and a bruise the size of a two-by-four. I’m going to take advantage of that. Using my legs, I hoist myself up and over to him, pinning the bad shoulder into the ground. Enrique screams and curses at me in Spanish. God, I’d love to know what he’s saying to me.
The second arm is easier. He makes the mistake of trying to hit my wounded side with his fist, but I’m there faster. I use my knee to crush his wrist down, so he won’t be moving at all. That hand holds the knife, still pointed out in hopes of connecting with me again. I’m not going to let him make that mistake again.
“Jenna!” I shout, but I’m not exactly sure if I’m actually speaking. The blood running through my mouth is stronger than ever. “Get it... Get the...” I’m seconds away from falling on him.
“Tommy!” Jenna shouts as she crawls towards me on her hands. She reaches over Enrique’s hips towards the knife and manages to yank it out of his dirty claws. Like magic, Tommy, my cousin, appears. Where’d he come from? What was he doing with Vic’s guys?
Without any instruction, he takes over for me by placing his weight on Enrique’s knees and using his bandana to quickly tie his wrists together above his head. Jenna holds the knife to his neck; her hands shake so much that the blade continues to vibrate into his skin. Still, she doesn’t flinch as Tommy lands blow after blow to Enrique’s face. She keeps her dazzling blue eyes on him as his eyes roll back in his head and his face falls limp to the side. Tommy wipes his face with the sleeve of his flannel shirt and turns to her, nodding that it’s done. She places the knife in his hand and finally looks back at me, satisfied.
For her, this was over. For me, it was ending. Taking Enrique out like that has spent the last life of me. But to save her was all worth it. My head grows heavy, and my eyes lose the ability to focus. Everything fades except for Jenna’s and Tommy’s shouts. Hands are placed on my body, but it’s hers I remember. Jenna’s fingers scan my face and trace my jaw. They run over my cheeks and along my closed eyes. And as everything goes black, one small tear drips on my lips.
***
“Is he up yet?” Vic’s voice seems a million miles away from me, but yet, clear as ever. While I can’t see a thing, I can sense him leaning over my bed, staring at the beeping monitors that have annoyed me to death for the last few hours.
Jenna, who has probably faithfully been by my side since whenever they brought me to this makeshift, backdoor hospital, replies, “No, not yet.”
“Good,” he mutters to himself. “We’ve got some business to attend to.” My skin crawls listening to him. The bastard is up to something. Even in my weakened state with me unable to talk or move, I know better than to trust him alone with my woman.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Vic. If you have business with Rev, it can wait until he’s up and recovered. The doctors say it should be in a few days’ time.” She places a hand protectively on my arm, rubbing gently near where they put my IV line.
“It has everything to do with you. The deal was that if I were going to help you and him take down Enrique, he’d be part of the Blazers for one year.” He walks around the bed towards Jenna, and I feel the mattress slightly move as she turns and leans against its side. He continues, this time directly addressing Jenna, “In the Blazers, we have a rule that no man can have claim on a woman except for me. If you want to stay with Rev, there’s gonna be a few things you’ll have to, well, do for me.”
Without hesitation, I hear the sharp ring of a slap. I try to turn my head towards her, but the painkillers they got me on leave me fucking catatonic. I can’t stop him as he grabs her and throws her up on the side of the bed next to me. But then, as soon it has begun, it stops. Something has happened.
The tides have changed, she sits up straight and gets off the bed to walk forward a few steps. I hear Vic’s boots walk backward towards the far wall of the room.
“Put down the knife, girl. You don’t know what you’re fucking doing here.”
“I know what I’m doing, and I’m done being threatened and pushed around like a piece of damn meat to you guys. I will not be your girl. I will not let you fucking touch me! Do you understand?!”
My heart rate must have ticked up because the monitors begin to buzz and ring. They don’t seem to notice as she continues, “Here’s what’s going to happen, Vic. You’re gonna forget the deal you have with Rev. If he wants to join up with the Blazers, that’s gonna be on him. And you’re going to march out of this room and never try to pull that shit with me again. I’m no man’s woman!”
Vic chuckles to himself and then replies, “Whoa, honey. Enrique must’ve done a number on you. It was a joke. I want nothing to do with a skinny, mouthy chick like you. You’re not my type. But I’m not letting up on that deal. He shook hands and gave me his word. I had two men die out there for him to end up alive.”
“No!” Jenna states, her voice pitching higher. “He will not be part of the Blazers!”
“Jenna...” I murmur. “Jenna....”
“Rev?”
Did she hear me? I’ve been trying to say her name for hours now. After my surgery, I did my best to scream it, but it was like communicating with the dead. Now, she runs back to my side, her hand on mine as she repeats my name over and over again.
My eyes flicker open. The pain from the sharp white overhead stings. I’ve been in the dark for way too long. I try to squint and focus on the two shapes leaning over me until they become crisp as possible. Still, a white fog surrounds them—the drugs.
“Well, fucking hell... you’re awake,” Vic says with a hint of excitement.
“Yeah, I am.” I try to press myself up, but the stitches along my side stop me from getting even an inch higher. I may be awake, but my body still has me pinned to the bed. I settle on looking straight up at the pair as I say, “Jenna, I’m a Blazer now. That’s how this is gonna work.”
“No, Rev... why would you do that? You gave up everything!”
“I didn’t give up anything,” I sigh. “At the end of the day, I get you. That’s everything.”I watch the corners of her lips peel up into a wary smile while the worried look crinkles the line on her forehead. A few tears fall like steady rain onto the scratchy hospital blanket. I squeeze her hand—the best I can do to comfort her. It was going to be okay.
“Don’t act like I fucking sentenced you to death. Jesus,” Vic interrupts. “I came here with an offer. After we got you the hell out of there, we started taking inventory of Enrique’s shit and the men who stayed behind. While he might have been a dumbass fucker for messing with us, he knew his business and had quite the empire growing. It’s too big for the Blazers to do alone.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, frustrated.
“It means, I’m putting you in charge of it. You’ll report to me, but you run the guys, the business, the show... etc. You ride under the Blazer’s colors and come to a few business meetings with the secretary. But that’s all I need from you... for now.”
“My own club?” I struggle, not sure if I’m hearing him right.
“My club,” he corrects me, “but yours to manage. Don’t fuck it up. I’ll send you more details when you get the fuck out of here.” With that, he turns and heads out the door, not looking back to see if I accept. It doesn’t matter. The deal is sealed. I’m now the manager and president of the former Red Dukes, current Blazers. Didn’t think that day would ever come.
After a few long seconds where I mull the thought of me in charge, Jenna clears her throat. “Rev, you okay?”
“I’m better than okay.” I smile as I lean back into the thin pillow. Jenna crawls into bed next to me, her head resting on my chest. For a long while, we do nothing but listen to the sound of my heartbeats on the monitor.