Brittany jumped in surprise as her cell phone started ringing. Cautiously she removed it from her pocket and glanced at the number flashing up on the screen.
Max.
Her whole body tumbled off the bed like an uncoiled spring as she hastily closed her bedroom door, being careful not to make too much noise and attract Jameson’s attention. She could picture him on the sofa down the hall, pretending to watch television when he was actually listening out for her like some sort of prison warden.
For a moment, Brittany didn’t know whether to take the call. Her finger lingered over the green button as she bit her lip and battled with indecision. Finally, her heart won out over her head, and she accepted.
“Hi,” she hoped that her voice sounded as brittle and hurt as she felt.
“Hey,” Max sounded huskier than usual. And tired. What was going on with him lately? A pang of fear streaked through Brittany as she considered that maybe her brother was right about him.
“Where are you?” he croaked the question at her.
“I should ask you the same thing!” Brittany retorted contritely, hot tears burning in her eyes. “I called you earlier and some…some woman answered!”
“She was just…a friend,” Max replied vaguely. “I’m sorry if she was rude to you. Where are you?”
“I’m at home.”
“In your apartment?” Max sounded alarmed by this.
“No, home-home. With my brother and his friend.”
“Why are you there?”
Brittany shrugged to herself. “He came to pick me up earlier, insisting I needed to get out of Colridge.”
She heard Max swallow nervously on the other end of the line.
“A bar in Colridge got turned over last night,” she was shaking as she spoke, hoping against hope that Zack was wrong. “Did you have anything to do with that?”
“Brittany - ”
“Don’t even think about lying to me!”
“Yes,” Max sighed in defeat. “I was there. I was involved.”
Brittany clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from sobbing out loud. Max was a monster. She’d fallen in love with a beast. Trembling she scrambled back onto her bed needing to be close to the familiar duvet of her childhood.
“Are you part of some…some gang?” she could barely ask the question.
“Yes,” Max admitted softly. “But Brittany, it’s not like you think.”
“So, you don’t go around cruelly beating on people? You don’t throw acid onto a stranger’s face?”
“No, to the latter,” Max’ voice sounded fragile as though it might break. “Brittany, I’ve done some stuff I’m not proud of, God knows. I made some really bad choices when I was younger. But my uncle scooped me up when I had nothing and no one. When my Mom abandoned me, I didn’t have a big brother to step in and take care of me.”
“You’re making excuses,” Brittany seethed. “And just last night you were making bad choices. You beat up innocent people, Max! How could you!”
“Brittany, I’m sorry,” Max said, dejected. “I’m in too deep with this… lifestyle. And I want out. Truly I do. Even before I met you, I wanted out but you’ve given me something bigger to hope for. You’ve shown me the kind of life I really want.”
Brittany was softly crying. She felt like her world was tumbling around her like a flimsy house of cards.
“My brother was right about you,” she told him tearfully. “You need to stay the hell away from me.”
“Your brother?” Max sounded angry now. “He’s the one who told you I run with Skeleton Kings? I bet he failed to tell you how he knew that.”
“What?” Brittany wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. “What do you mean?”
“Your brother rides with a rival gang, Brittany. He’s part of the fucking Red Riders. I imagine running dirty little errands for them, was a way to help him make decent money when you guys were younger. I heard about the guy who got hit with acid, I had nothing to do with that.”
“The Red Riders?” Brittany thought of Zack’s motorcycle, of how he worked long nights and came back with mysterious injuries. It all made sense, and she felt foolish for not having seen it before. She felt like she was drowning in all the lies she was being told by the men who were supposed to love her.
“Tonight your brother is going to return to Colridge to fight against my pack, because now we are at war. And I never wanted you to get caught up in this, Brittany. You have to know that.”
“My brother,” Brittany was shaking her head, not wanting to believe it.
“You need to get out of the house,” Max urged her. “I’ll come and get you. Together we will run away from all of this. Brittany, for you I’d give it all up. Let’s just get on my bike and ride until we run out of gas.”
“I can’t,” Brittany could barely talk through her waterfall of tears. “I can’t leave the house. My brother’s friend is keeping an eye on me. I’m supposed to stay here.”
“My gang knows about your brother,” Max explained grimly. “If things don’t go well tonight they’ll come to your home seeking revenge. You’re not safe there.”
Brittany blinked through her tears. In her heart, she knew that her home hadn’t been safe since her parents died. The once vibrant room had dulled, taking with it all its magic and Brittany’s childhood dreams.
“I can try and sneak out,” she looked uncertainly at her window. But first she wanted to talk some sense into Zack, to stop him from going to war with the rival gang. If things went badly that night, she could risk losing both Zack and Max and that was just too awful to even contemplate.
“I need some time,” Brittany explained. “If you’re right about my brother then I have to try and stop him.”
“I’m coming for you,” Max promised.