eighteen
(slam)
*NOW*
We sat around a card table like we used to do. Throwing down money, chips, and hands like we had nothing better to do. It was almost a calming relief from being in chapel. Pushing back against other crews and the PD in town was stressful. We had to protect our territory and some days were easier than others.
“I have to bring this up,” Knox said. “Tommy.”
“Shit,” I said.
“We could get him right now,” Knox said.
I folded up my cards and put them down. I looked at the bottle of whiskey to my left. Normally by then I’d have half the bottle gone but I didn’t do that yet. I was waiting for some damn reason. Maybe it was to have a coherent conversation about this Tommy situation that Knox refused to let go.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m ending this right now. This guy fucked the club. I get that. He sold us out to score for himself. Every time I turn around, someone is talking to me about it. We want him? Get him right now. Get out of the fucking chair and move.”
“You can’t get involved,” Matteo said.
“I fucking get that,” I said. “Say it again and I’ll knock your teeth out.”
“Come on, Slam,” Matteo said. “Right now. Let’s have a talk.”
Matteo stood up and so did I.
We both took our leather cuts off. Nobody tried to step in and stop us.
We took it three feet to the left, put our fists up, and had a conversation.
Matteo was a damn good fighter. Trained both in a ring and on the streets. He had a wicked right that always got to my ribs, making me lose my breath for a second. Most of his opponents would drop their hands then, leaving themselves open for the knockout.
Not me.
I just went for Matteo’s pretty face.
We ended up going three rounds before Knox called it.
My lip was bleeding, my right eye a little swollen. Matteo had a hell of a bruise on his jaw and his nose pouring blood.
When it stopped, we hugged each other.
“I love you, brother,” Matteo said to me.
“You too,” I said.
That was how we settled up when tension got too high. Not that Matteo did anything wrong to me or me to him, it was just life. Sometimes it was easier to throw a fist than talk about our feelings.
I cleaned myself up in the bathroom and found Knox waiting for me.
He handed me a towel. “What do you want done to him?”
“Who?”
“Tommy.”
“This guy again? Holy shit.”
“Give me an idea.”
“You know what? Just bring him here, Knox. Use him for information. Simple. Get all you can and then get rid of him. If any of his people come looking then we gear up for a little war. I don’t know what else to say here.”
“You didn’t say kill him,” Knox said.
“What?”
“Normally you’d have gory details of how you wanted someone taken out.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not allowed to be like that anymore, right? I have to keep my head straight.”
Knox tossed me the towel and nodded. “Good, Slam. Keep it straight. I’ll go talk to the guys and we’ll get this thing settled.”
That was supposed to be the end of my day. The boys would go for a ride and catch up with Tommy. I’d hang back, drinking whiskey, waiting for them. Maybe find someone to fuck to kill some time.
The last thing I expected to do was save Belle’s life.
The call came right as the guys were gearing up to leave. When I saw it was Belle, I smiled. I figured she was going to give me something to do for a little while. But the second I heard her voice I knew something was very wrong.
Very fucking wrong.
I grabbed Knox by the shoulder and spun him around, shaking my head.
I mouthed to him Don’t fucking move.
Belle told me that Kyle had been in her apartment when she got home. That he had grabbed her and put her on the dining room table. Right then my mind feared the worst. That this prick forced himself on her, taking her innocence in perhaps the worst way possible.
But Belle fought back. Kyle fought back too.
To make a long story a little bit shorter, Kyle had Belle’s pants open, kissing her neck, telling her he loved her. He had her against the wall before Belle was able to lift her knee and get him in the balls. He then stepped back and slapped Belle. A fucking man slapping a woman. Are you fucking kidding me?
The second I heard that I looked at Knox and knew this whole stay out of trouble thing was not going to happen anymore.
Belle swung at Kyle and hit him in the jaw. She then managed to run into the kitchen and grab a knife. That was all Kyle needed to see to take off. So this fucker broke into her apartment with some bad intentions and then just skirts when shit goes bad. All I could think about was him casually cruising through town, not giving a fuck about a thing. Or that her goddamn father - Chief fucking Richards - was okay with the way this guy acted toward his daughter.
So I gave Bell the worst job ever.
“I need you to call him,” I said. “Tell him you’re sorry for what happened. Tell him you freaked out. Ask him where he is and to pull over right there.”
It was a long shot to have the plan actually work. I told Belle she was going to be okay. I would be there soon enough and I’d make sure nothing bad ever happened to her ever again. The words just poured from my mouth. Knox stared at me wide eyed. I was digging a really deep fucking hole but couldn’t stop myself.
I cared about her.
Shit.
I cared…
That was a problem and I would address that later in life.
For now, it was about finding Kyle and making sure he never went near Belle again.
When the call ended, Knox just stared without talking.
“What?”
“What are you doing? What did you just say to her?”
“Doesn’t fucking matter. I have something to do tonight. I need you all to be my witness that I was with you tonight. No matter what.”
“Jesus, Slam, you can’t…”
I grabbed Knox by his leather and pulled him close. “I’m done with people telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m fucking done with it. If I end up back in prison, fine. I’d rather have honor and a big dick to swing in jail than holed up touching my pussy right here. Got it?”
Knox put his hands up in defeat. “Call me if you need anything. And just keep running, Slam. If shit goes bad run. Run until they can’t find you. Okay?”
“I know what I’m doing.”
I tried to move and Knox put a hand to my chest. “This is all for her, isn’t it?”
“It’s not your business.”
“It is. You have to be careful with this, man. Who she is… what you’re doing…”
“Leave it,” I growled. “Go get our guy. I’m going to take care of my business. This is personal. I’m going to save her.”
“So you could destroy her?”
“Exactly,” I said.
I didn’t look Knox in the eyes when I said that last part.
What the fuck did it matter how I felt? Belle was stuck in her own world of hell and I was going to relieve her of that.
She called me back five minutes later and told me what I hoped to hear. Kyle believed her and he was pulled to the side of the road. He was in a perfect spot for this to happen. I told Belle to stay put and I’d be there soon. She started to ask me something but I hung up the call.
I grabbed a black hoodie and stepped out to the lot to see the sun just about to set.
It was perfect.
When darkness came, so did hell…
I parked my ride far enough away so Kyle wouldn’t get suspicious. I took off my leather cut and placed it on the seat. I put on the black hoodie and put the hood up. The anger hadn’t calmed for a split second. Neither had the rage. Shit, bring in the guilt and I was a fucking mess on the inside. All I could tell myself was that I was helping Belle. I’d take care of her problems, even if I was going to become one.
I walked off the road and blended perfectly into the growing night. I saw the car up ahead and the rage built even more on itself. Shit, I wanted to kill this prick for what he had done, but that would only lead to some serious trouble for me.
As I walked, I saw a large rock and picked it up. A plan started to come to me. It was risky to dive head first into this shit without a plan. Without proper recon on Kyle. Who he was. Where he came from. If he had any connections. I could have been putting not just myself and Belle at risk, but the entire Reaper’s Bastards club.
Inside me though, I knew nothing but what my mind and heart were raging for.
When I got close enough to the car, I crouched down. I got right to the back door and took a deep breath.
Time for hell, Kyle.
I swung my hand and slammed the rock against the passenger window. It shattered with a booming sound. I then waited, listening as Kyle got out of the car.
“What the fuck was that?” he yelled.
I heard his footsteps as he came around the front of the car. My fists were balled up tight, ready to unleash. I was almost bouncing with excitement for this. I hadn’t been on a real mission since my arrest. And even that… I was simply just riding with some guns packed in my motorcycle. I hadn’t had real action in a long time.
The second I saw Kyle turn to look at the broken window, I struck.
I stood and jumped forward, throwing a right punch that landed on his jaw. He lifted off the ground, arms flailing. All I thought about was him swinging at Belle.
I walked to him as he was on his ass.
“What the hell…”
I dropped down with a knee to his balls. He crunched forward and I swung again, busting his nose like a water balloon. I grabbed his throat and held him down. I could’ve fucking broken his throat and neck right then but I held back.
“You fucking piece of shit,” I growled. “You ever go near Belle again and you will be killed. Do you understand me?”
I let him go and stood up. He reached with his hands; they were shaking with fear.
“She’s my girlfriend.”
Oh, that was the wrong thing to say to me.
I grabbed Kyle and lifted him to his feet with ease. He was so much shorter than me I had him off his feet to put him eye level.
“No she’s not,” I said. “You don’t own her. You don’t think about her. You don’t contact her. She’s nothing to you. Understand?”
“Wait wait wait…”
I turned and threw Kyle onto the hood of his car. I swung three hard rights, crack after crack after crack to his face. I backed away and Kyle climbed up on the hood and curled up like a baby, weeping uncontrollably.
“Do you understand me?” I asked again.
I could feel his blood on my knuckles. It felt good. It felt like revenge.
I stepped toward the car and Kyle kicked back. He was resting on the damn windshield, his face covered in tears and blood.
“You stay away,” I said. I reached back and took out my gun. “Or else this is next.”
“Please, stop,” Kyle said. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
I reached for and grabbed his chicken bone ankle and pulled him down the hood of the car. He let out a scream so I swung and hit him with the gun. The thud made me shiver for a second. And it made me smile.
“You’re going to give me your wallet and your cell phone. When you get home you’re going to call the police and say that a man in a black hoodie mugged you. Just like what happened outside the restaurant that Belle works at. I’m going to leave your wallet and cell a mile down the road. You can get it later. I’m memorizing where you live and I’ll find out everything. You think you’re a computer geek, you don’t know what I’m capable of. I’ll burn your life down piece by fucking piece, asshole. And if you ever raise a hand to a woman again, I’ll be there to cut that fucking hand off. And if you ever so much as think about Belle again, I’ll put a bullet in your head. Do you understand me now?”
“Yes,” Kyle said. “Jesus Christ, yes. Please…”
“Good.”
I put the gun away and I stood Kyle up. I walked him to the driver’s side of the car. I was going to end it right there but then the fucking prick looked back at me.
“You’ll never get away with this,” he said. “I have connections.”
“Yeah? Well here’s another connection…”
I pulled Kyle back and then threw him through the back window of the car. His head smashed the glass and he just dangled there in the window. I quickly checked for a pulse and found one.
Thankfully.
I then dug through his car and found what I wanted. I deleted Belle’s number from his phone and made it a point to get her a new cell.
And that was that.
I walked away feeling a little calmer about myself. It was good to feed the rage sometimes. It was good to feel alive on the streets that I had lived on my entire life and worked so hard to protect. It felt good to know Belle was going to be safe again.
But now… I had to go face her and begin to destroy her.