Thrash by Kaylee Song

killed.
    We remembered. We had been there. We had owed them, and besides they promised us something even better. They promised to give us any and all information they had on Bones, the man who betrayed our club and left it to crumble. That was no small offer and it cost more than a few pretty words.
    “Call it whatever you want, DeMarcus. You and your club aren’t on a great journey. You just make a mess of men. You were such a sweet boy, but you’ve been in trouble ever since that club was founded…” she trailed off.
    I knew these accusations. They were the same words that came out of my mother’s mouth years ago when we were kids. That was before she left my father. He was one of the founding members, after all, and he had been responsible for the violence back then. At least in her eyes. It hurt to think my sister saw us as just violent. This wasn’t a choice. It was life. It was surviving. Bones wasn’t going to quit trying to destroy us if we played nicely. He had broken our rules. He had betrayed us, too. Hell, he had hung us out to dry. And if we let him get away with it, not only would every other group in town try to piss on us, he’d just come back and crush us.
    No one was nice to you on the playground of life. They tried to take what was yours and kick you into the dirt while they were at it. You had to make sure they knew not to try it. And that meant that sometimes, you had to get your hands dirty.
    I wouldn’t apologize for standing up for me and mine. I’d do it for Fire and Steel, and I would do it for her.
    “I won’t fight about this, Desiree. You know the life. You’ve lived it, and you understand what is expected of you. What is expected of me. So quit giving me shit about something that isn’t going to change. It puts us both down.”
    She looked disgusted but she nodded, and I sighed. We always got to the same place when we were alone. Hurt and anger always rose up, the ashes of my father sparking the discontent we both felt.
    She had thrived off blaming him, and maybe it was different for her, but I relished his legacy.
    I knocked on the door in front of me, sure that Hawk was behind it, laughing about our little quarrel, but his wasn’t the face that greeted me.
    Instead, a large man I didn’t recognize blocked our entrance, his gaze beady and unpleasant, warning us not to start shit.
    “You here for something?” he asked. He had to be a bodyguard. Little smartass was wise to have one. Or maybe it was his brother whose wisdom kept him alive.
    I played the game. “Brought the medical care that was asked for,” I told the man. I didn’t share any details about who I was or why I was there. I just told him the information he needed to hear.
    That was a trick no one taught you in school: never tell more than you had to. Unless you were gifted at the art of never sharing anything that didn’t suit you, running your mouth was a good way to wind up dead. That was, in a way, Hawk’s gift. The little shithead jawed off more than any sane person I’d ever met, and yet he was still alive, if only just barely.
    Then again, that probably had more to do with luck than any skill on his part. He had the right brother.
    The bodyguard eyed me a moment, then snapped, “In. Now.” He ushered us in. “You made a scene.”
    I nodded. “Maybe that’ll throw them off,” I said.
    Desiree grinned. “If you want me to really throw them off, I can start asking Thrash here about his new lady love.”
    I glared at her fit to melt a damned mountain. This was not the time to be bringing up people like Nora. The woman was beautiful and sensitive and smarter than she let on. I could tell. She was also oblivious on how to protect herself from people like this.
    I did not want her getting mixed up in this mess.
    Desiree just smiled and strolled past the bodyguard. I had to push past a bit, but that was just showmanship.
    We quickly found a very ashen Hawk crouched on a bed in the corner. He stared at the