Wolf? How fitting.
“Blackie, get your ass over here,” Wolf called out over my shoulder, before diverting his eyes back to mine. “You don’t mind if we share you little lady do you? More fun for you. You came here looking for some fun didn’t you?”
“Picked a hell of a night too. Maybe we should let Riggs ride the train too, since it’s his party and all,” Pipe said, ignoring me as he spoke to Wolf.
Ride the train? I needed to get the hell out of this place. I glanced at the two men before me, the ruckus from the warehouse filling my ears, and couldn’t help but think how I truly knew nothing about Jack. If these people were any indication of the man that came into the diner, then I didn’t want to know him and I was better off keeping my apology and my pie to myself.
“What are you two assholes doing?” Questioned a voice from behind me. I slowly turned around and my eyes met his. He was taller than Wolf and Pipe, broader, harder. He crossed his arms against his chest bringing my attention to the leather cut he wore. It was similar to the one I had seen on Jack but instead his patch declared him the vice president of these hooligans. I swallowed, trying to wet my dry mouth and continued to stare at him blankly.
“Look what stumbled into our territory,” said Wolf, laying a hand on my shoulder. I flinched, taking a step closer to Blackie.
He looked down at me, his eyes searching mine for a moment before glancing back to the two men standing closely behind me.
“Piss off you two,” he growled.
“Hey, fuck that, finder’s keepers brother,” Wolf exclaimed.
He fixed his eyes on Wolf, delivering him a deadly glare. Wolf mumbled a slew of curses, some pretty vulgar, before walking around me. He treated me to a wink before pulling Pipe beside him and walking away.
“How’d you get in here?” He asked roughly.
I didn’t know if that was a trick question, there wasn’t exactly a guard at the gate or anything like that.
“A girl like you don’t strut into the Dog Pound because she made a wrong turn. So, I’m going to ask you again. How’d you get in here?”
“I made a mistake,” I stammered. “I don’t belong here.”
“Well, you’re here now so you’re going to tell me why,” Blackie demanded, his voice rising.
“Jack,” I blurted out. “I’m looking for Jack.”
Confusion settled over his features as he raised an eyebrow, assessing me in disbelief.
“You’re looking for the Bulldog?” He took a step back, grazing the stubble that shadowed his face with the back of his hand.
“Is that Jack?” I questioned.
Blackie didn’t answer at first, tearing his eyes from me to look back at the building.
I was seriously contemplating turning around and running while his attention was focused elsewhere but then his cold stare washed over me.
“You want a piece of the Bulldog,” he said. It wasn’t a question, he said it as if it was a stone cold fact. “Let’s see if you got the chops, girl.” He tipped his head toward the door. “After you.”
His voice hung in the air like a dare, taunting me until I accepted and started for the door. I nearly toppled over as the door pushed open and a scantily dressed woman emerged swaying on her six inch heels.
“Watch it,” she hissed, lifting her eyes to Blackie. “Moved on so quickly did you Black?”
Blackie ignored the woman but I couldn’t help but gawk at her. Her hair was a mess, her make-up smeared across her face, and her clothes were in disarray. She looked like a prostitute.
“Keep it moving,” Blackie whispered against my ear, as he held the door open for me.
I exhaled, wishing like hell I never came here. I stepped inside the warehouse and was immediately hit with the foul stench of stale smoke. I blinked through the haze, my eyes finally focusing and I let them travel around the large room. I wasn’t sure if I had walked into a frat house or a brothel. There were people having sex right there in the open for anyone to see. They were smoking pot in the corner and ripping lines across the bar.
I had miscalculated and misjudged the man I came here seeking forgiveness from. I don’t know what I was thinking or what I expected but this, this wasn’t it.
In a world as dark as the one I live in, sometimes I can’t help but crave sunshine.
If this was the world Jack inhabited, then he was right, it was a dark one and sunshine, definitely didn’t fit amongst all this dark shit. I didn’t fit in. Not me, before the fire and certainly not who I was now.