noticed those?”
“Babe, there are like, hundreds of cigarette burns on you. I’d be blind not to notice.”
“Well it wasn't a cigarette on your thigh. How did you burn it?”
He stands up and stomps his foot, wedging his heel into his boot.
“Get too close to a fire, you’re bound to get burned,” he says, opening the door.
“That’s your answer?”
“Yeah. It is. Now - Stay. Put. Understand?”
I nod , watching him lock the door and leave, and missing him already. Standing up, I head to the bathroom to clean myself up. Looking in the mirror as I re-braid my hair, I see for the first time the fear in my eyes. Right now, this whole club is on high alert. And it’s all because of me. If I hadn’t run, none of this would be happening.
I’m the only one who knows why they came. And I’m the only one who knows when they’ll come again. I’m also the only one who can stop it.
As much as it hurts my heart to know that I’m going to destroy my relationship with both my parents and Cole, I have to go. I have to protect them, or else they could die protecting me. And I couldn’t live with that. I’d rather die first. And really, it’s no great loss. I never had much of a life to begin with.
Going through Cole’s drawers to find something to sleep in, I think about my plan. I figure that in a couple of days they should all calm down. Then I can go back to my parent’s house, and in the dead of night, I can sneak away.
I open the drawers beside his bed, moving things around as I look for boxer shorts or a T-shirt. Instead, I find a gun. Standing up, I hold the cold steel in my hands, testing the weight of it, contemplating what I could do with it.
There’s a knock on the door, and I jump in fright . I quickly put the gun back where I found it and close the drawer. “One minute,” I call out when the knock sounds again. I quickly put my pants on and pull my shirt over my head before answering the door.
“Mind explainin’ what the fuck you’re doin’ in Cole’s room?”
“Shit. Mum .”
Chapter Ten
If the imminent danger of a gang of volatile bikers hanging over our heads wasn’t enough, my father is now in the meeting rooms with Cole, berating him, as I sit outside and chain smoke with my mother while I listen to the boom of their voices.
“Is this all because I was in Cole’s room?” I ask.
She stands up and puts out her cigarette on the ground with the toe of her boot. “It’s about a lot of things, sweetheart,” she smiles, touching my check lightly before excusing herself to go and check on the other women, promising to return soon.
I look over at the shed, trying to decipher the words, but can’t understand a word of it. I’m not allowed close enough to hear properly. There’s two guards posted outside the door. So it’s not just me - no one’s allowed near. You can feel the tension in the air as bikers and women hover around in small groups, speculating on the night's events. I feel more than a few eyes on me. I’m pretty sure they’re all blaming me for this right now (and they’d be right) but I just stare straight ahead into the fire. I don’t have time for them right now.
“Maybe you should have listened to me, and stayed the fuck away from him,” Monique sneers from behind me, taking out a cigarette from her own packet and lighting up.
“Shut the fuck up bitch, or I’ll break the rest of your fucking ribs,” I growl at her over my shoulder, not even bothering to look at her properly.
“Don’t hate on me. You ’re the one that’s been sneakin’ around.”
“We weren’t sneaking. We just weren’t broadcasting.”
“Broadcasting? What are you – a fuckin’ radio tower?”
I roll my eyes. Fuck, I think all the implants she has , have started to leak and seep into her brain. “You’re an idiot. It means we weren’t making it obvious, as in, we weren’t hanging all over each other in public. Get it?”
“Oh, sure. I get it. He was
“Babe, there are like, hundreds of cigarette burns on you. I’d be blind not to notice.”
“Well it wasn't a cigarette on your thigh. How did you burn it?”
He stands up and stomps his foot, wedging his heel into his boot.
“Get too close to a fire, you’re bound to get burned,” he says, opening the door.
“That’s your answer?”
“Yeah. It is. Now - Stay. Put. Understand?”
I nod , watching him lock the door and leave, and missing him already. Standing up, I head to the bathroom to clean myself up. Looking in the mirror as I re-braid my hair, I see for the first time the fear in my eyes. Right now, this whole club is on high alert. And it’s all because of me. If I hadn’t run, none of this would be happening.
I’m the only one who knows why they came. And I’m the only one who knows when they’ll come again. I’m also the only one who can stop it.
As much as it hurts my heart to know that I’m going to destroy my relationship with both my parents and Cole, I have to go. I have to protect them, or else they could die protecting me. And I couldn’t live with that. I’d rather die first. And really, it’s no great loss. I never had much of a life to begin with.
Going through Cole’s drawers to find something to sleep in, I think about my plan. I figure that in a couple of days they should all calm down. Then I can go back to my parent’s house, and in the dead of night, I can sneak away.
I open the drawers beside his bed, moving things around as I look for boxer shorts or a T-shirt. Instead, I find a gun. Standing up, I hold the cold steel in my hands, testing the weight of it, contemplating what I could do with it.
There’s a knock on the door, and I jump in fright . I quickly put the gun back where I found it and close the drawer. “One minute,” I call out when the knock sounds again. I quickly put my pants on and pull my shirt over my head before answering the door.
“Mind explainin’ what the fuck you’re doin’ in Cole’s room?”
“Shit. Mum .”
Chapter Ten
If the imminent danger of a gang of volatile bikers hanging over our heads wasn’t enough, my father is now in the meeting rooms with Cole, berating him, as I sit outside and chain smoke with my mother while I listen to the boom of their voices.
“Is this all because I was in Cole’s room?” I ask.
She stands up and puts out her cigarette on the ground with the toe of her boot. “It’s about a lot of things, sweetheart,” she smiles, touching my check lightly before excusing herself to go and check on the other women, promising to return soon.
I look over at the shed, trying to decipher the words, but can’t understand a word of it. I’m not allowed close enough to hear properly. There’s two guards posted outside the door. So it’s not just me - no one’s allowed near. You can feel the tension in the air as bikers and women hover around in small groups, speculating on the night's events. I feel more than a few eyes on me. I’m pretty sure they’re all blaming me for this right now (and they’d be right) but I just stare straight ahead into the fire. I don’t have time for them right now.
“Maybe you should have listened to me, and stayed the fuck away from him,” Monique sneers from behind me, taking out a cigarette from her own packet and lighting up.
“Shut the fuck up bitch, or I’ll break the rest of your fucking ribs,” I growl at her over my shoulder, not even bothering to look at her properly.
“Don’t hate on me. You ’re the one that’s been sneakin’ around.”
“We weren’t sneaking. We just weren’t broadcasting.”
“Broadcasting? What are you – a fuckin’ radio tower?”
I roll my eyes. Fuck, I think all the implants she has , have started to leak and seep into her brain. “You’re an idiot. It means we weren’t making it obvious, as in, we weren’t hanging all over each other in public. Get it?”
“Oh, sure. I get it. He was
Similar Books
