Friction (Oath Keepers MC Book 5) (8 page)

“You on a mission, brother?” One of the prospects claps me on the back as he comes up next to me at the bar causing me to let out a growl.

“You wanna lose that fuckin’ hand? And I ain’t your brother, Prospect.” The little weasel winces at first until he notices a few of the other brothers turn, curious to watch. The older man Smiles snickers, noticing my body strung up tightly ready to flip my shit. I hate people touching me, especially when I’m not expecting it. I don’t know why I’m that way, I just am.

“Lose my hand? This isn’t the eighteenth century; I was only trying to make conversation. Chill.”

“Well don’t. You ain’t my fuckin’ buddy. And yes, lose your fuckin’ hand. If you’d like I can turn your shriveled little wanker into a cunt, then we can have you ‘round here with the other bitches.”

I hear a few more brothers let loose chuckles. Stupid fuckers; at least someone’s getting some entertainment out of it.

Daddy, that’s not nice!

Her voice chastises, and I instantly picture her wagging her finger at me.

“You gotta stop that, baby; not here,” I mutter, not realizing I said it out loud.

“All right I get it, but don’t call me baby, man. That’s fucked up,” the Prospect grumbles, irritated. I can’t help myself and I grab the back of his head and slam his face into the bar a few times. He stumbles to the side a little from the hard impact to his head. I jump off my bar stool.

I’ve been needing this—a way to help keep her voice quiet—and it seems blood was the only trick I had to remedy that. I can’t have her talking to me when I’m not alone.

My fingers tap at my side irritated, the same beat I always go back to.

“Aghhhh!” he screams with his hands over his face attempting to stop the blood from running out of his nose. The brothers just sit, watching and laughing, waiting for me to really beat the dude’s ass. Before I have time to get a kick in, Ares is storming between us, dragging the idiot to the bathroom.

“Welp, Twist, Daddy took your plaything away.” Spin laughs as he walks up beside me, resting his elbows on the bar away from the bloody mess I’d created.

“Shouldn’t you be at your shop drawing in your coloring books or some shit?”

He shakes his head at the same line I always give him shit with, as Snake sets a longneck in front of him. Spin’s our patched brother, the club’s treasurer, and he also owns a tattoo shop where he’s usually hiding out. Today his tall Mohawk’s a dark purple color, almost the same color as one of his eyes. The other’s like a pale gray color. His hair’s usually black, but occasionally he’ll pop in with some crazy color.

The first time I saw him match his hair to his eye, I thought the fucker was wearing a contact; turns out it’s real. I punched him to find out. I got my ass kicked pretty good; he’s a buff fucker. But it was worth it, and he doesn’t really annoy me like a lot of the others.

Spin’s one that actually knows how to keep his fuckin’ mouth closed. Most of these asses around here don’t know what quiet is or are scared of it or some shit anyhow. I can head to Spin’s shop, and he’ll tattoo me for hours in silence; it’s one of the few times my mind’s at peace.

“You gettin’ up there in age, man—always repeating yourself. Better think on something new.”

“That’s right; I am older, so respect your elders,” I grumble and stick a toothpick in my mouth. I could go for a line right about now.

“How old are you anyhow?”

“Why? You gonna bake me a cake and suck my dick if I tell you?”

“Fuck no! Just wondering if I needed to tat a milestone on you or something.”

I have nothing to respond to that one, so I just laugh and take a seat back on the bar stool. Slamming the next shot back, I damn near choke hearing Spin.

“I hear you were talking to 2 about Sadie.”

I take a moment to clear my throat at hearing her name come up out in the bar in front of the others. They’re not right beside me, but within listening distance with the music turned off.

“Fuckin’ gossipin’ bitches around here.” I swear to Christ, these guys like to talk about shit they know nothing about. It’s usually Smiles and the damn Prospects running their mouths.

“You shoulda’ waited until I was here.”

“Why? So you can lay into me, too, ‘bout wantin’ somethin’ I ain’t meant to have? No thanks.”

“Nah man, so that I could’ve told 2 Piece that Sadie would be lucky to have you at her six.” My eyes shoot over to his, to gage if he’s bullshitting me or being serious.

“You fuckin’ with me right now?”

“I wouldn’t fuck with you about this; I’ve seen you taking to her since she’s been around and all.”

I keep my mouth shut and nod, focusing back on my empty shot glass. I wasn’t thinking I’d have anyone’s support or if I even deserved it. They’ve all witnessed me do horrifying shit to some busted-ass punks before, and I can’t blame them for wanting what’s best for Sadie, because I do too. That’s what’s making me think so much. When the fuck did I start giving a shit about Sadie and my brothers’ opinions anyhow?

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.

-Oscar Wilde

I’m woken up to
Cain beating on my door. It’s like nails on a chalkboard after I practically crawled into bed around four am, drunker than a skunk. I slide off the side of the bed, landing with a loud painful thump, just as I hear Sadie open the door and great him.

“Tell Twist he’s gotta come now; it’s club business.”

“Errrmmmm,” I groan in response.

“You need to get the fuck out here, brother!” he hollers, upset about some shit, and I cringe.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’,” I mumble, and Sadie shuts the door again.

There’s no way in hell I’m making it out there like this so I slide the nightstand drawer open, shuffling my hand around until I come back with my coke stash. I tuck the dish under my arm on the floor and rake together a decent sized bump, performing my usual morning routine. It’s gonna take a little more than usual today though.

I inhale deeply through my right nostril as I use my pointer finger to close the left side and the cool feeling hits me almost immediately as the coke shoots up my nose, the taste and sensation overcoming my other senses.
Ahhh,
if only I could lie here and just soak up this feeling for awhile, but unfortunately I can’t, obviously something is going on.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Her extra shrill voice causes my eyes to fly open, momentarily blinded by the light until my gaze hits hers… And boy does she look fuckin’ pissed about something.

“Waking up?” I ask.

She storms over angrily, kicking my cocaine dish under the bed, and I put my arms in front of my face in case her foot comes my direction next. I’m guessing I’m the one who pissed her off, maybe from getting trashed last night after we were together. Who knows?

“The fuck’s goin’ on?”

“You’re doing drugs! Right in front of me!” she shrieks.

“And? This is my room, and your brother knows I like a little pick-me-up. What’s your damn deal? You need to reel that shit in, right the fuck now, Sadie.”

“Get up! Go talk to your brothers, but this conversation isn’t over! You’re not doing that shit in here with me and my baby!” she nags and plops down on the bed, angrily glaring at me. I almost laugh when I see her fold her arms across her big belly. It wouldn’t be good if I let loose with a chuckle, so I hold it back for fear of further pissing her off.

Standing, I groggily pull on my clothes from the night before and gripe, “You ain’t my fuckin’ woman; so mind your business.”

Wrong move. She picks up whatever she can find on the nightstand and starts chunking it all at me, one by one. I’m too tired for this shit, so I hightail it out of my room; shit still hitting the door when I close it.

Crazy bitch.

“Twist, hurry the fuck up! Some fuckin’ clown on a bike just outside the gate. Pretty fuckin’ sure it’s the guy who was terrorizing London and Avery back at the grocery store,” Cain boasts.

“You sure ‘bout that shit?”

“Fuckin’ A brother.”

Wasting no time, I go flying out of the club, straight for my bike. I hear my brothers behind me. Ares and 2 Piece rev their bikes as well and I spin my back tire, waiting for the stupid prospect to get the gate open. Once there’s about a four-foot gap, I race through it, ready to catch the dumb motherfucker brave enough to threaten my club.

In no time at all, we catch up, only there’s not just one lone rider, but a group, and wouldn’t you know it’s the fucking Iron Fists—a few from the south Texas Chapter. Well, welcome to Central Texas motherfucker. Around
here, we
run this shit.

Seeing it’s the Iron Fists makes this shit even more personal for me. I guess those leads before were right about them finding us, but this heifer here fucked up getting that close to the club. I’ll get these fucks and slice the location out of them to get to Sadie’s baby dad. That asshole wants to play, I’m down.

One of the guys pulls a gun out and I speed up. Ares is acting VP right now since Prez is dealin’ with some shit at home, so ain’t no way in hell I’m gonna let him get hit. I start to gain on them and the dude in the middle raises his fist up.
I’mma break that shit.

That’s my last thought besides
Oh shit,
because next thing I know, they’re dropping handfuls of metal shrapnel onto the pavement and my bike is going wild. I overcorrect and end up propelled through the air. My body hits the ground and everything goes black on impact.

Twist leaves and I’m so upset after our argument this morning. I can’t believe I lost it with+ him like that. I’m never a violent person. I’m normally a fairly rational, calm person, but seeing him doing drugs right in front of me, just sparked so much anger inside. He has no idea what he’s doing with his life. I know he has issues, but they can’t be bad enough for him to want to use that stuff.

Drugs took my parents away from me. They stole any chance from me at having a normal life. I’m forever grateful for the type of man Silas quickly grew into, willing to take such good care of me, but when it boils down to it, drugs ruined my childhood. They weaseled their way in, and I’ve never gotten over my issues when it comes to them.

I put on a brave face for Silas years ago, but deep inside it hurts to know my father hated me enough to leave, and then later on, my mother eventually went away as well. I’ve always thought that if I had been a boy, maybe my father would have stayed.

Would my life be different right now? I could be finishing up college right now, and who knows, Silas could be a doctor or something. Anyhow, I have issues, and Twist has really lost his marbles if he thinks I won’t be bringing it up. I won’t tolerate drugs around me like that, and I won’t let them ruin him as well.

I know this is his room and he’s a grown man, but he’s too important to me to let him go down that path without me at least attempting to get through to him. The part about me not being his woman, after the soft side he showed me yesterday, stung pretty badly. I know I’m not his, but the way he treats me sometimes would make you think that I am.

My phone beeps and I eagerly push the button, thinking it’s Twist. I doubt he’d apologize, but maybe he’s come to his senses or maybe he’s kicking me out—it could go either way.

Unknown:
Miss me? Time to come on home now, Sadie.

Me:
I am home, I moved.

Unknown:
Well, I’m telling you now to get back to Cali.

Me:
Who is this?

Unknown:
It’s G

Me:
We aren’t together anymore Ghost; you don’t get to tell me what to do any longer.

Unknown:
Now, Sadie. Don’t make me come get you.

I close out of my messages and turn the volume on silent. He has some nerve demanding me to do something. Fuck that! He lost his chance at keeping up with my whereabouts.