shadowy hall to the right that led to the bedrooms. I could barely make out a red-headed woman spilling out of a tiny white bikini top on her knees. She was sucking off a tall man facing away from us wearing a knit cap. His hands were fisted in her hair, and he thrust his hips into her greedy mouth. Her hand rubbed the base of his shaft as her head bobbed over his dick. Junk turned to me and shrugged. I grinned and rolled my eyes back at him.
Junk stopped. “Yo, Lock!”
Mr. Blow Job jerked his head towards us in the shadows.
“Wrap it up, dude,” Junk said. “You’re gonna want to be inside for this one.”
Lock flicked his fingers at us and only pumped his hips faster into the girl’s mouth. How efficient. I had ceased to find these sorts of things embarrassing a very long time ago. It was part of the shameless freedom of club life. Maybe it was awkward and crude, but I didn’t find it shocking or as very dramatic as I had when I had first walked into this clubhouse over eighteen years ago. That was the day I had left the courthouse choking on tears, because my sister had just been sentenced to a year and a half in jail for a crime she was not responsible for.
The judge’s gavel cracked against wood. I began to shake.
As Mom used to say: you play, you pay. Ruby Hastings now had to pay.
I knew Ruby must have had a hand in the drug deal she was being accused of, but Jump certainly had engineered it and was the main player in the equation. Not to mention the two members of the Demon Seeds, the rival gang, whom she also hung out with.
Ruby had been sleeping with Jump, but she wasn’t his Old Lady. In truth, she was a club bitch who was going to take the fall. She didn’t really merit their full loyalty or support. However, as Dig had mentioned, Ruby had come through for them time and time again on odd jobs and little missions. I never knew what exactly. “Club business,” she would mutter and wave me off. “Don’t ask me that shit,” Dig had said over that breakfast he had treated me to. Was it drug deals? Did the club pimp her out undercover when she worked at Tingle to rival gangs or drug dealers? My imagination swam with the lurid possibilities.
All of Ruby’s bad-assness and diligence had earned her a certain measure of respect, though. If her going to jail was somehow going to “resolve major issues” for them, and she had been loyal to the club in the past, I was confident they wouldn’t let us “flap in the wind,” as Dig had pointed out. Somehow that didn’t comfort me much, though. That only meant I was in trouble too. Ruby most certainly was aware of this. She agreed to go down for all of us.
I was used to fending for myself, but Ruby had always been around, flitting about like a moth to a bright light in the darkness, sometimes out of sight, but always fluttering back. I never felt alone; she’d always returned eventually.
Ruby rose from her chair, and the officers immediately clicked handcuffs on her wrists. She turned slightly, and her hard eyes found mine. I knew what she was thinking. I could hear her voice burning through my heart.
“Love you no matter what, so just suck it up . ”
But now those words took on a whole new meaning. My sister was taking on a heavy burden, a responsibility, for herself, for me, for the club. The force of it positively gleamed from her steely gaze. My lungs froze.
Her body stiffened, and she turned away from me. The officers pulled her out of the courtroom. The club lawyer tucked his papers and folders into his briefcase and clicked the lock. Acid rose in the back of my throat.
I drove home in my dad’s old Chevy Jimmy. I should be grateful he had left it behind, right? What was left? Just me and everyone’s castoffs. The sobs broke from my chest and wouldn’t stop. I could barely see the road ahead of me. I barreled through the front door, collapsed on my bed, and heaved for air and salvation.
But I knew there was none to be had.
I
Junk stopped. “Yo, Lock!”
Mr. Blow Job jerked his head towards us in the shadows.
“Wrap it up, dude,” Junk said. “You’re gonna want to be inside for this one.”
Lock flicked his fingers at us and only pumped his hips faster into the girl’s mouth. How efficient. I had ceased to find these sorts of things embarrassing a very long time ago. It was part of the shameless freedom of club life. Maybe it was awkward and crude, but I didn’t find it shocking or as very dramatic as I had when I had first walked into this clubhouse over eighteen years ago. That was the day I had left the courthouse choking on tears, because my sister had just been sentenced to a year and a half in jail for a crime she was not responsible for.
The judge’s gavel cracked against wood. I began to shake.
As Mom used to say: you play, you pay. Ruby Hastings now had to pay.
I knew Ruby must have had a hand in the drug deal she was being accused of, but Jump certainly had engineered it and was the main player in the equation. Not to mention the two members of the Demon Seeds, the rival gang, whom she also hung out with.
Ruby had been sleeping with Jump, but she wasn’t his Old Lady. In truth, she was a club bitch who was going to take the fall. She didn’t really merit their full loyalty or support. However, as Dig had mentioned, Ruby had come through for them time and time again on odd jobs and little missions. I never knew what exactly. “Club business,” she would mutter and wave me off. “Don’t ask me that shit,” Dig had said over that breakfast he had treated me to. Was it drug deals? Did the club pimp her out undercover when she worked at Tingle to rival gangs or drug dealers? My imagination swam with the lurid possibilities.
All of Ruby’s bad-assness and diligence had earned her a certain measure of respect, though. If her going to jail was somehow going to “resolve major issues” for them, and she had been loyal to the club in the past, I was confident they wouldn’t let us “flap in the wind,” as Dig had pointed out. Somehow that didn’t comfort me much, though. That only meant I was in trouble too. Ruby most certainly was aware of this. She agreed to go down for all of us.
I was used to fending for myself, but Ruby had always been around, flitting about like a moth to a bright light in the darkness, sometimes out of sight, but always fluttering back. I never felt alone; she’d always returned eventually.
Ruby rose from her chair, and the officers immediately clicked handcuffs on her wrists. She turned slightly, and her hard eyes found mine. I knew what she was thinking. I could hear her voice burning through my heart.
“Love you no matter what, so just suck it up . ”
But now those words took on a whole new meaning. My sister was taking on a heavy burden, a responsibility, for herself, for me, for the club. The force of it positively gleamed from her steely gaze. My lungs froze.
Her body stiffened, and she turned away from me. The officers pulled her out of the courtroom. The club lawyer tucked his papers and folders into his briefcase and clicked the lock. Acid rose in the back of my throat.
I drove home in my dad’s old Chevy Jimmy. I should be grateful he had left it behind, right? What was left? Just me and everyone’s castoffs. The sobs broke from my chest and wouldn’t stop. I could barely see the road ahead of me. I barreled through the front door, collapsed on my bed, and heaved for air and salvation.
But I knew there was none to be had.
I
Similar Books
