“All this in life. Look at it. Look at us. It’s like from the second I stepped out of that moving truck I haven’t been settled. And even before then. I went from coming home from school to rush back out with friends, trying to find a ride to the mall… to my parents splitting up. To everything falling apart.”
The tears filled her eyes. It bothered me so much that years later it still got to her like it did about her father. I tried to reach for her and she pushed me away. She told me to just take a fucking shower.
I made sure she stayed in the apartment before I went back to the bathroom.
A few minutes later I stood in the shower, thinking. About what I had done that night for the MC. About how Ana felt and what she wanted in life.
That shower was the worst of my life.
Washing blood off my hands, arms, and face would become the norm for me. What made it so bad was that I knew things with Ana would never be the same. I would never stop loving her or checking up on her, but anything after that…
I punched the tile wall so hard that I broke a piece. Then I got out of the shower, wearing nothing but a towel, and walked to the bedroom. Ana was crying. I sat on the bed next to her and held her. Her hands touched my bare muscles and I fought with all my might to not get hard.
That night I held her… and we slowly fell back to the bed together. She curled up on me and we kissed only a few times. She fell asleep first and I stared at her for hours. Each time she stirred, I’d whisper I loved her into her ear and play with her hair.
Shit, that should have been nothing but romantic for us, you know? Two lost souls finding each other. We both knew we loved each other. We both knew we were meant for each other. I was holding my girl all night long. I touched her hair, her skin. I tasted her breath when she woke up. I saw her eyes open for the first time the next morning. It was everything I wanted to fight for. It was…
… it was the first and last time I got to do that with Ana…
chapter twelve
(knox)
NOW
I broke off on a side road. The car did the same, the tires squealing. I throttled my ride, gaining some speed. I wasn’t going to get away. I just wanted to get to a well-lit parking lot so I could put up a fucking fight. All I knew right then was that there better have been more than one guy after me. I was in the mood to fight and a little spark of the urge to kill was going through me.
There was a lot of heat coming my way from my decision to have the guys put their cuts back on. Hell, maybe that’s why this car was after me. The Reap had been a little bit underground and quiet. To those in town, they believed we were disbanded by authorities. That was only because the news could run footage of my old man getting thrown into prison.
Fuck that.
I darted to the left and entered a factory parking lot. The steel stacks were like arthritic fingers sticking up into the night. The one side of the building had a few big ‘ol spotlights and that’s where I stopped riding.
I lit up a smoke and watched the car as it came to a skidding halt.
The backdoors opened and two men in suits came out. They drew weapons and rushed right at me. I just stood there like I didn’t have a care in the world. Normally in a situation like that, they’d stand there with their guns and someone else would come out of the car and we’d have a discussion.
Not tonight.
The guy on my left got close and swung his gun at me. He hit me so hard in the jaw, I spit my cigarette across the lot. The second guy then hit me in the back. I felt like every rib of mine shattered. I was then on my hands and knees.
Well then… no hello?
I turned and swung a fist at the guy’s knee. I heard something pop and he tried to stand back, stumbling. I grabbed for my ride and pulled myself up. If these guys were real about shooting me, they would have by then. But they weren’t going to shoot me. This was more than me being dead.
The first guy went after me again, slamming fist and gun against my back.
I threw an elbow, hitting him in the cheek.
The second guy came at me again, driving his gun into my gut, stealing my breath. They then quickly each grabbed an arm and I was being held.
That’s when the passenger door opened and out came Porter.
Of course it was Porter.
He walked toward me with attitude.
He had the clean cut, good boy look about him complete with perfectly slicked back black hair, an expensive suit, an even more expensive watch, and shoes that clicked against the pavement like a counter counting down the steps until I was dead.
The thing was… I could die but a guy like Porter wasn’t going to kill me. Not a fucking chance in hell. I’d fight until one of the goons holding my arms would kill me.
“Look what we have here,” Porter said.
“What the fuck do you want?” I asked.
“I guess we have business, Knoxville. I mean, you did go after one of my guys. Took him outside. Put him against a building that I’m involved with.”
“Danny? This is about that fat prick?” I smiled. “He owed my band money. I don’t tolerate that shit.”
“Good choice of words,” Porter said. “I don’t tolerate that shit. That’s good. It shows we have something in common. Well, besides Ana, right?”
He started to laugh.