Chapter 5
Hound Dog
T rouble followed us anywhere. If it wasn’t the Razor Hogs. another troublesome and pain in my ass MC, then it was stupid assholes like those fellows.
I knew trouble was going to happen for that little Melody girl but when I saw the prep boys ushering out of the building I knew the night was about to be crappier.
What I didn’t expect was to see them hovering over her like she was a piece of meat. And kicking a lady, now that is way too far on my scale. We never harmed women, even if they were a bitch sometimes. The sense of guilt flooded me seeing the little songbird in pain. I should have gotten there quicker.
I could hear her groan, her body hunched over. My vision blurred into a fiery red, blazing with pure anger.
I didn’t think, I just acted, leading me to firing my gun in the air. It was more of a warning shot. But it got their attention.
The boys whipped their heads up as I pointed the barrel in their direction. Only two scenarios played in my head; one, they came quietly while we called the police or two, it wouldn’t be warning shots anymore.
“We got a problem here?” I asked, not caring about what their answers were.
“Nothing to see here,” one of the fuckers said, I think it was the dark-haired one, or the blonde. Honestly, I didn't care who said it, I wanted them out of my alley way and away from her.
“Well, apparently it is because you’re in my alleyway and hurting my singer.” It sounded possessive. Truly didn’t mean to say my singer, but erring on the side of caution, I’d claim her as mine or ours, at least hoping that they were smart enough to realize their mistakes.
There was only so much hope for humanity.
“Didn’t think she was yours, old man. Don’t worry we’ll take her off your hands.” The blonde one actually laughed.
I cracked my neck; it wasn’t going to turn out pretty. I stepped closer, debating on whether to call for backup.There were four of them and one of me. It was stupid not to call them, but this was one battle I planned on winning.
As I stepped closer, the boys charged as well. These pretty boys thought they could show up and “own” anything they wanted.
Not in my town, not in my business, and not to the poor soul they treated like a soccer ball.
“I’ll give you a chance to make the right choice. Get your asses inside and we’ll let the police handle it or I’ll make you look unrecognizable.” I clicked the gun, “Your choice.”
They snickered back, like they didn’t believe me. I gave them a chance to make it right, but my hope in human decency was out the window and had been for a long time.
“You ain’t going to do shit, old man, you’re not going to touch a hair on our heads unless you want your little business to stay open,” blondie said.
“Is that a threat you little piss ant?”
“Not if it’s a promise.” He reached into his pocket, probably to get a small pocket knife that was supposed to scare me.
There was ambition in their eyes, thinking that I was easily scared off, but they must have been blind not to see the cut that I wore or the emblem that is patched on it. “Last warning, boys,” I growled out.
The stupid blonde lunged forward, only to be elbowed in the back by me as he brushed past me. Another man tried to wrap his hands around me, only to be rewarded with a bullet to the foot. The shot rang out and the other two lackeys that were left behind looked at each other trying to agree on what would come next.
Before they decided, I felt a heavy body collide with mine, wrapping me in a tight neck hold. He smelt of too much booze and sweat. His grip tightened around me, as his height brought me down for a moment, the force of weight bringing both of us down. I landed on top of him, the fall knocked the wind out of us, as my gun clacked to the side.
The two other guys came barreling, attempting to grab my wrists. The fight in me wasn’t going to give up. As soon as they came in my direction, my feet kicked out hitting their shins and bringing them down to my level. My boots kicked each one of them in the face, shoving them down further to the ground.
Blondie rolled around on the ground again. His agonizing groans made me smile slightly. I bent down to pick up my gun, checking the safety on it before walking back over to him. I crouched down, tapping the gun to his leg.
“Could have had an easier solution, you stupid boy,” I said. I holstered my gun.
I grabbed the slime ball by his shirt, bringing him up to face me. “You touched someone that doesn’t belong to you. And now you’ll remember this.” I yanked his face to the patch on my cut, the one that said “president”. “You’ll remember next time, I won’t lay your ass out on the street. You’ll end up in an empty tomb, with no name. Fuck around with the Saints again, and there’ll be no tomorrow.”
“You don’t know who my father is,” he said, his voice weak.
“No, and I don’t give a fuck.” With that, my fist connected to his jaw and the man fell to the ground. He didn’t move a muscle, laying there limply. “Around here, we’re still gentlemen. Guess you lost your manners with that silver spoon in your mouth.”
I didn’t care what was broken, how much noise this would make, or even who they were. There were two things I worried about: my club and a hurt little bird that didn’t ask for any of this.
I walked toward the woman, Melody. She hadn’t moved since I arrived. Everything in me froze when I bent down to check her pulse, hoping that she was still breathing. My mind spun thinking of the next step.
I didn’t know whether to get her to the hospital, which meant police might be involved or take her to my home, a safe place, and watch over her and allow her to make the next move.
Need control.
My hands ran through my hair. I had called her mine, made her feel like a possession to the bar or as a singer. I didn’t know what the hell I was saying. I didn’t know why I felt the way I felt, like she was reaching inside me and shining a light on the empty heart I thought I had.
I pushed her hair to the side, brushing it away from her face. The back of my hand grazed her cheek. A bit of dark red blood smeared across, probably from where one of them hit her. Seeing her like this boiled my blood. The thought that someone would harm her, rattled me and I didn’t know why.
She was beautiful, that’s what caught my eye in the first place. I wanted nothing more than to talk with her, keep her safe. The purity in her prescenes made something in me move in a way that scared me.
Snap out of it. It’s just a woman. You’re just helping a woman.
Only it felt like I was going to be wrong. This feeling was throwing me off. Everything in the past ten years has been planned and in order. One little birdie was going to throw everything into a tailspin.
I pulled out my phone and called Twitty, our Sergeant at Arms. Lord knew that if I called B.B he’d be either knee deep in pussy or planning to be.
After two rings, Twitty’s bass voice pierced through the phone, “Prez.”
“Twitty, I need you tonight,” I looked around laughing to myself at the mess needing to be cleaned.
“What the hell you’d break now?” he growled. The roughneck was a former bouncer and bodyguard. The man was the epitome of brute strength. Yet when you got to know him, he reminded me of my brother, a hidden soft side. Emphasis on the hidden part.
“Let’s see, possibly a broken femur, a couple concussions, a broken jaw, maybe a nose,” I started to list off as I peaked at the aftermath and the light, barely audible groans.
“Went a little wild, did we?”
“Fuckers had it coming.”
“Do I need to get Greene involved?”
I sighed. “Might as well give him a heads up.” Last thing I wanted was to get him involved.
“What happened?” Twitty asked.
“A few drunk idiots decided on being monsters and assaulted one of the singers from tonight.” I gave him the short version.
“Where’s the girl?” he asked.
“I got her, don’t worry about it.” It came out a little harsher than intended.
“Want Shooter to come check her out?” Twitty asked.
I thought about it for a moment. Shooter used to be a former army medic who came recommended by Memphis’s member D.R. One of the best decisions, but I didn’t need him right away. I shook my head. “No, if I need anything then I’ll call.”
“Alright Prez. For now, then, clean up?” he asked, reassuring me that I knew what we were doing.
“Make it sparkling clean,” I ordered before hanging up the phone.
I attempted to wake her up, enough to where she could consent. I didn’t know if it would work or not. “Honey, I need you to show me a sign that you’re listening.” I gently shook her, listening for a groan or looking for some kind of movement. I tried again after no success.
After the second time, I heard a small whimper that tugged at my heart. Her eyes started to spring tears down her face.
“I got you, little songbird. Can you look at me?” I pressed the question, hoping I’d get a response before I scooped her up and took her to the truck. Her whimpers turned into groans as she attempted to lift her head, one of her eyes starting to open.
I couldn’t tell if the other one was bruised or coated in dry blood. “Jesus Christ, hold on for me. I’m going to move, I’m going to help you. Okay?” I said in a soft voice.
Just trust me for a moment.
She weakly nodded her head, giving me the okay to move her. I carefully scooped her up, holding her close to me. “That’s it, I won’t let anyone else hurt you.” Her groans vibrated into my chest as I quickly got her into my truck.
She started to stir more when I got her laying down on the truck seats. I didn’t live far, only a few minutes down the road. She started to mumble something, her voice still ragged.
“It’s okay, you’re okay,” was all I could say.
She mumbled again. I leaned over, straightening her head to glance at me through her one clear eye. “What are you trying to say?” I asked again, hoping for a clearer answer.
“Case,” she whispered.
“Case?” I tried to ask, betting that I wouldn’t get very far. Case? What did she mean by case?
“My case,” she groaned.
Her case? Then it dawned on me. Her guitar case with a backpack next to it was still in the alley. I shook my head, knowing that I needed her out of there, quickly.
“We have to go, honey.”
“Please,” she whimpered, blinking at me. Her look gutted me. I tossed my head back and forth debating if I was going to pull the full knight in shining armor act that I know Mama would have wanted me to do at that moment.
I let out a growl. “Stay here.”
I rushed back to the alley, still seeing the boys laid out on the ground. I chuckled at the weak picture I saw.
Idiots, all of them.
I found her black, rugged case and her backpack that was thrown on the ground. I started to wonder if she had a car and where it was. I rushed, my feet picking up speed, having a little faith that the men would be there soon to clean up and make it shine. I tossed the stuff in the bed of the truck, then I was back into my seat to drive off.
She was where I left her, like I would have expected her to run off in the condition she was in.
“Honey, I’m going to move you. That means I have to put my hands on you. Are you okay with that?” I asked sincerely before touching her, although she didn’t have much of a choice. But it was the thought that counted right?
She slowly moved her head, tilting her head to glance at me again. She slowly nodded her head.
There’s my little fighter.
My hands hoist her closer to me, resting her head on my thigh. I wanted her comfortable, I needed her to feel safe or else this wasn’t going to work. I worried about internal bleeding and bruising, maybe I needed Shooter more than I thought. I didn’t know much but I learned over the years what I could and especially when Pops was in his club at the time, learned to help patch him up a few times.
Part of me wasn’t ready for the whole club to be involved. I needed her to have a low profile. I’d fix her up and she’d be on her way.