LULA
I didn’t wake up this morning wanting to get punched in the face. Even before the garage attack, I was leery about violence. I have a daughter to think about, so rushing toward danger had never been my passion.
However, the LM Jokers frequently acted like thugs around Little Memphis. Many of their newest members were rejects from Baton Rouge. They came to our town, harassed the foxes, and showed disrespect to our allies.
Clint claimed the Jokers grew too fast for Tricky to control. Maybe my cousin was right, but I also figured Tricky wasn’t the kind of guy to control anyone. Clint knew when to push or ease off a person based on the individual’s traits rather than his own needs.
Tricky couldn’t think like that. He expected people to bend to him, even while being too much of a “bro” to actually bring down the hammer on his club guys.
So, as much as I didn’t want to get bruised up tonight, I understood why Clint chose to face off with the LM Jokers.
“I forgot my brass knuckles at home,” I told Exile while Clint pushed his way through the crowd at the door. “I should bring a broken bottle with me.”
“You need to stay behind me.”
“But you’re tall. How will I see what’s happening?”
“You’re not funny,” Exile muttered.
Zodiac nodded at Exile’s irritation before looking at me. “You and your girlfriends ought to stay inside.”
“That’s half our club. Why would we leave the other half vulnerable? You can’t possibly think we’re all on our periods right now.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Goldie said and handed me her brass knuckles. “Men from Louisiana are weak-kneed. They can’t stand up to our Arkansas mettle.”
As I started to slide the brass knuckles on my fingers, Exile swiped them from me and insisted, “You’re not fighting anyone.”
“It’s okay. My dad trained me to punch people in the face.”
“Didn’t stop you from getting lawyer-napped,” Zodiac said and snapped at his guys. “You don’t let these little ladies get black and blue, okay?”
“Stop protecting us!” Sabrina hollered at him. “We like pain! Right?”
Xandy shrugged while Moe gave a rebel yell. I smiled at their reaction while Clint signaled to Rock that the LM Jokers had arrived.
“No fighting,” Exile said, wedging himself between my club and me. “What about Dillon?”
“She punched a kid at the park who was bullying one of my parents’ foster kids. Dillon isn’t a debutante, and neither am I. Now, let’s kick some Baton Rouge ass!”
Zodiac and the rest of the Black Rainbow club frowned at me in unison.
“I’ll rephrase. Now, let’s kick the asses of some Baton Rouge rejects!”
I noticed Zodiac shake his head at my bloodlust. Exile kept standing in front of me until I finally ducked under his arm and ran over to my sisters.
Sabrina looked at me and smiled like an excited kid. “There’s one guy from Baton Rouge with the most punchable fucking face. He’s all mine.”
Once the front doors opened, we poured outside to face the arriving LM Jokers. The only members of our party to stay inside were Ivy and Nova.
Still on his motorcycle, Tricky looked pissed. I noticed how his VP seemed annoyed to be here. Jagger was a guy who wanted to run a solid club. His father was Joker’s VP. His grandfather was Trigger, who once controlled Little Memphis.
Jagger was royalty in this town, but he took orders from an impulsive dipshit. Now, he was forced to face off with his childhood friends to protect a bunch of recent transplants.
One of the Jokers yelled, “Zodiac’s a pussy!”
“Yeah!” Elle hollered before laughing so hard that she ended up on the ground next to Sabrina.
I glanced at Zodiac to find him rolling his eyes at her antics and basically oblivious to the mockery from the sons of his former clubmates.
Clint asked the obvious, “Why are you here, Tricky?”
“He wants me to bash his head in!” Vanessa yelled and lifted a chair leg.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Xandy asked.
“From one of the wobbly chairs in the back. I’m going to use it to crack Tricky’s head open in Cher’s honor.”
“Don’t you dare say her name!” Tricky yelled at Vanessa.
Undaunted, she hollered back, “Don’t you dare say her name, you fucker! You made her waste time on your sorry ass!”
Clint waited until they stopped yelling and asked Tricky what he wanted.
“They shouldn’t be here.”
“This is our clubhouse, and these are our allies. In what fucking universe do they not belong here?”
“Allies? They did this shit!” Trick said and threw his leg over the motorcycle and took a step closer. “Can’t you see how they’re playing you? It was them behind the garage attack! You’re so fucking blind! You’re even letting Lula spread for one of them!”
I gripped Exile’s arm before he was baited into rushing at the man. “Don’t show your cards,” I murmured. “Besides, if you’re over there battling him, you aren’t over here protecting me.”
Exile’s frown softened when he considered his role as my shield. Tricky’s bullshit couldn’t compete with the love I felt for the man next to me.
“I’m cutting off your dicks!” Goldie yelled, snapping me out of my lovestruck trance.
“Yeah!” the foxes chimed in.
“We’ll cut off your clits!” a member of the Jokers screamed back.
“Bullshit,” Sabrina muttered. “No one believes you know where the clit is located, you fucking turd.”
“People, people, please,” Rowdy said and stepped in front of the rest of the club. “Tricky is our childhood friend. Jagger made some of your panties wet.”
“Not mine,” Sabrina replied immediately.
“Well, duh,” Rowdy said and looked at the LM Jokers. “I wish we could all live and work in this town like one big family. But since we can’t, if even one of you messes with my sisters’ clits, I will not only bite off your nose, but I’ll eat the fucking thing, too. Shalom.”
The foxes and a few Crimson Guard guys applauded Rowdy’s heartwarming speech.
“You’re all idiots!” Tricky shouted and stepped closer. “But I don’t want to pound on you dumb fucks. I just want to tear off Zodiac’s head.”
“Yeah!” Elle yelled from her spot on the ground. “I hope you’ve been working out, ginger boy. His head is screwed on pretty tight.”
“Shut up!”
“You shut up!” Sabrina said, erasing the space between Tricky and her. “Fucking candy-ass bitch. You wouldn’t be pulling this move if Cher were here to join the fight. Instead, she’ll only hear what a dickhead you are.”
Tricky and Sabrina had been butting heads since they were kids. My sister claimed Tricky bullied her, so she learned to bully him back.
However, I had always suspected the truth was that Tricky had bullied our brother.
As the youngest child and only boy, Rowdy was rewarded with extra protection in our family.
Sabrina tended to let things roll off her back if they were directed toward her.
However, she showed zero mercy if someone messed with her siblings.
Right now, she challenged Tricky. He knew how she was, and that he wasn’t facing off with a normal chick. Sabrina would hurt him and feel zero guilt.
But his feelings were jumbled up over Cher, making him stupid and suicidal. The moment his large hand shoved Sabrina’s shoulder, the chance to de-escalate was over. Rowdy rushed at Tricky, and the brawl was on.