Trey

 

I stalked away from Angel’s little ramshackle house in anger and climbed on my bike, gunning it into a high gear and driving out of Centerville. I had to be alone. I had to think. I was so angry I could have spat, so I turned up music loudly and stuffed headphones in my ears. I just wanted to ride and ride until all of the adrenaline and anger had subsided. That’ll take a billion fuckin’ years, I thought to myself in anger. Fuck!

 

She had a son! My son! He had to be my son. There was no way he was anyone else’s. He was the spitting image of myself at that age. I had to close my eyes and count backwards. She’d called him Chuckie. He had to be at least eight. It had been over eight years since I’d last seen Angel. That set me off all over again. I couldn’t believe she’d had my son and not said a goddamn word! Who did that woman think she was! Just because we had a past together didn’t seem like a good reason to punish that poor kid. Shaking my head, I sped up and navigated around a turn.

 

I’d grown up without a dad. While it hadn’t been my mom’s fault, I’d always wished I could have had a father. My old man had been a biker, too, but in a different club. A bad club, a club that was more like a gang. He got killed while my mom was still pregnant. At first, she’d vowed to make a better life for me but that was damn near impossible. She’d never even finished high school. I remembered her trying hard when I was a little kid but by the time I started school, she had started to flounder. Mom had always had drug problems and she started using again by the time I was in second or third grade. I’d come home and find her passed out, no food in the house, the TV sold for more junk. After a while, I resented that she’d never cared enough to quit for me. I mean, I was her only kid. I was supposed to be the only thing in her life, right?

 

My mind flashed back to Angel’s cramped little house. Even though she obviously didn’t have much money, I could tell how much she loved her son. The living room had been covered with framed pictures he’d obviously drawn, and there had been a giant pile of his crayons on the kitchen table. Hell, even the room where I’d dragged Angel was filled with his toys. Against my will, that brought a smile to my face.

 

I shook my head. No, I didn’t feel good about Angel right now. I was angrier than ever that she’d never contacted me. After all, she was the one who had left me! She’d never talked to me again! Not after that fateful night.

 

“No,” I said aloud. I couldn’t let myself get dragged back into the memories. That was only dangerous, and something that was guaranteed to bring me more pain for now. I had to stop thinking about Angel. I had to do something to take my mind off of her.

 

Angel’s parents had never thought I was good enough for her. Even back then, even when I was actually trying. Nothing I did was good enough. I thought it was something I’d managed to move past, but I apparently hadn’t. Now, the pain and the wound felt as fresh as they had the day that I knew it had all been over.

 

My phone buzzed in my pants.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hey, Trey, dude.” I heard the voice of one of my fellow Skullbreakers, Ram. He was my best friend and my second-in-command. Without him, I wouldn’t have gotten to the top. Without him, I probably would have died six times over.

 

“Hey, man,” I greeted him. His gruff voice was a welcome distraction from the turmoil raging in my brain. “What can I do for you?”

 

“I got some bad news,” Ram said. He let out a deep sigh. “You remember Damien?”

 

“Oh man, do I,” I said slowly. Damien had been my best friend growing up. We’d been from the same wrong side of the tracks, and we’d gotten into a lot of trouble together. When I met Angel, Damien had always been jealous. Not because I had a girlfriend, just because it was a sign that I was doing better. Damien never would have treated a girl like a gentleman; he would have abused her and scared her off. But because I was able to date some high class girl, he couldn’t stand it. He accused me of being a sellout. I was too loyal to Angel to even want to reconsider mending things. Ever since then, we’d drifted apart. Now, he was in a rival MC, the Steel Demons. They were dirty — into guns and drugs — and they resented the Skullbreakers. After all, we’d had a hold on Centerville for a long time. They didn’t have a chance to get close.

 

“Well, Damien and his boys were involved in some kinda shootout on the outskirts of town. I think a lot of people were shot or injured, or something.” Ram paused and I heard the click of a lighter. “They were selling guns to the Russians, outside of town, and it must have gone bad.”

 

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “Just what we fuckin’ need right now.”

 

“I know,” Ram said. “I know, man.”

 

We were silent for a moment and I knew he was thinking of the implications of this. Even though the Skullbreakers were usually in good with the cops, no one liked a bloody shootout. Especially not the local law enforcement.

 

“Any word about the cops?”

 

Ram sighed again. “Yeah, man, they’re gonna look into us,” he said after a pause. “You want me to tell the other guys?”

 

“It’s fine. I’ll take care of it. I’m headed to the clubhouse now.”

 

“Listen,” Ram said. “You and Damien used to be tight, right? You used to be close?”

 

“Not for a long time,” I said bitterly. “Try almost ten years ago. He hates me now. He wants me dead.”

 

“All the same,” Ram said. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. “You should probably go talk to him. Maybe he’ll listen to you, who knows. But either way, we can’t have these kinds of attacks, you know? I mean, the cops are gonna crack down on us a lot tighter if shit like this keeps happening.”

 

“Right,” I said. “Fine. I got it. I’ll go see him.”

 

“Man, don’t be pissed. You know I wouldn’t willingly ask you to take care of this, okay?”

 

“It’s fine,” I said, trying to relax. “I’ve just had one hell of a day.”

 

“I bet,” Ram said drily.

 

I had to chuckle at that. Ram was used to tales of my white-knighting and seduction, to the point where he would just start making stories up to counter which outrageous claim I’d come up with next. I got into the clubhouse one morning after spending it with a couple of beer models and Ram was already making up stories about the orgy he’d attended the night before. It was a sign of our friendship. But this time, he had no idea just how crazy shit had gotten. He didn’t even know about Angel. None of the Skullbreakers did. It was easier that way.

 

“All right, I’ll see you later, man,” I said, shoving my phone in my pocket after I’d hung up.

 

I let out a long sigh. Damien still lived on the wrong side of the tracks. His house was actually pretty damn close to where Angel lived. The idea of heading back over there didn’t exactly fill me with happiness, but I knew it had to be done.

 

The sky was an inky black over my head as I rode my hog through the streets of town. I pointed my bike towards Damien’s place. His house was a ramshackle wooden building that had definitely seen better days. At least the yard and hedges outside of Angel’s place had been well-manicured, but Damien’s house looked like a shack.

 

He must have heard my bike rumbling because he’d stepped out onto the porch before I could even climb off the bike. Damien was tall but squat. All of his features looked too large for his body, including his giant face and chest. His pec muscles were well-defined, even through the loose cotton shirt he was wearing. And his biceps were bigger than his head — which was a feat, considering he practically had no neck. He grinned at me. It was a nasty, yellowing smile. Behind him, inside the house, I heard the fierce barking of hungry dogs.

 

“Hey there,” I said in a guarded voice. “I need to talk to you, man.”

 

“Oh, now you wanna come crawling back?” Damien gave me another nasty grin.

 

I rolled my eyes. “If you’re trying to scare me, it’s not working. I mean, come the fuck on. Shooting up those Russians? What the fuck did you think was going to happen?”

 

There was an evil gleam in Damien’s eyes. “You’re one to talk, asshole. You think you’re too good for the rest of us but you’re biker trash just like me. Just wait, you’re one gun away from turning into an Steel Demon.”

 

I shook my head. “No way, man,” I said, trying to stay calm. Being around Damien was making me angry. I could feel my hands balling up into fists at my sides. “You don’t fuckin’ know anything, Damien. You don’t know how this town works.”

 

“I know how you work,” Damien said. He winked at me and I felt rage boil through my body. “And I know you saved that pretty little librarian from a bad fate.”

 

My mouth went dry but I shook my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “But I’ll make you pay if you don’t stop this shit. Stop being such a goddamn jackass, Damien.”

 

Damien worked his lips into a slow grin. “She’ll have to watch her little back in the future,” he said. “And boy, does she have a nice back.” He held his hand up and squeezed the air.

 

“Fuck you,” I snarled. “You stay away from her.”

 

Damien only chuckled. It was only when I climbed on my bike that I’d realized my mistake. By acknowledging I knew who he was talking about, I’d only put Angel directly into the face of danger.