Fifteen
M y dad had called me into one of the private rooms in the clubhouse, but it wasn’t his room. When I knocked on the door and stepped inside, he pointed to the bed, where a half dressed lady sat. She was pretty, but old like him, so I wasn’t sure what he was trying to tell me.
“Dad?”
He got up from his chair and moved fast in my direction, grabbing my throat in a firm grip.
“Speak when I fucking permit it, boy. Thought I told you that stupid girly hair needed to be cut short.” I liked my hair longer, and some of his biker brothers had long hair, so I didn’t understand why it bothered him that mine was almost down to my chin.
“Fucking brat!” He dragged me to the bathroom by my throat, and shoved me at the small mirror on the bathroom cabinet.
“Look at you, boy. You look like a pathetic girl, are you a girl, boy? Are you a fucking pansy?” I knew that wasn’t a good word. I’d seen his club beat a man to death for being one, and I knew I shouldn’t let him think it.
“No, father.”
Before I realised what he was doing, he’d grabbed a pair of scissors from the cabinet, and grabbed a fistful of my hair at the back, hacking away at it with the blunt scissors, as jagged curls of my hair started to rain down around me. I bit my tongue against my desperate urge to argue, to tell him to stop, because that would only earn me another beating. I kept wincing at the pain, as he pulled harshly at my beloved hair, carving chunks of it away, finally releasing a satisfied grunt, as he tossed the scissors in the sink, amid hair I’d lost forever.
“That’s better, you little punk. You can clean this up after.”
After? After what? I didn’t get a chance to ask, but when he shoved me back into the bedroom, the woman stood up, and dropped the robe she wore, baring her naked skin to us. What was she doing? My dad shoved me in her direction.
“Time to become a man.”
I turned to look at him in horror, because his meaning was obvious, even to a teen like me.
“But-”
“Don’t let me down, boy. You fuck her, or I’ll beat you senseless, and let Skull have you.”
“It’s okay, Lowell, I’ll take good care of you.” The woman reached out and took my hand, leading me to the bed, but a quick glance at my dad told me he planned to stay and watch.
Micro
W hy the fuck did I just tell her my true name? Why the hell were my defences always down around her? I was weak like my dad had always said, a poor excuse for a man, and I’d finally built up the courage to do the right thing, to let things happen the way they should, but her hating me was something I couldn’t bear the idea of. Unfortunately, if she knew who I really was, there was no way she couldn’t hate me.
“Micro? Wait… that’s why you said Mike. Finally it makes sense.” Soph took my hand and drew me further away from the phone, and my stupid idea of calling the cops and shopping myself to them.
“That’s what they called you too.” She pulled me onto the sofa beside her, and it was pretty clear to me that I was allowing it, otherwise she couldn’t have nudged me a fucking inch. She was adorably petite, and I was still a bulky fucker, even though I’d gone months without any of the supplies I’d become almost dependent upon. Had to be big, strong, just to keep myself alive in the fucking twisted world I’d grown up in.
“It’s who I was, and I keep telling you, that person was a fucking monster. You heard Ice, telling me I should die, and I fucking should.” I wasn’t sure exactly when this fucking epiphany had struck, but I’d finally fully accepted what I was, and the fact that I should be paying for it.
“Low… Micro … that’s going to take some getting used to. Please tell me this is the last name change I have to learn,” Soph said with a soft giggle. She didn’t get it. She thought this was some cute development in our little story here, but what it was… Jesus, it was an end game. My end game. After this, I couldn’t go back. From here, either justice or retribution was my only path.
“I’ve had a few names over the years. The ones you should remember are these; asshole, loser, pussy, monster, cunt, fucker. Trust me, that’s what you’ll hear from them.”
“Them who?”
Fuck it. “My old club… let’s just say I wasn’t my best self there.” Why didn’t I just bite the bullet and tell her the whole sordid story?
The ominous rumbling of incoming motorbikes silenced us, and fear washed over me, like a bucket of ice water. Ironic, since it was obvious that Ice had found me, despite my efforts to remain anonymous, and the moment of my judgement was clearly at hand.
I stood up and grabbed Sophie’s good hand, pulling her up from the sofa and kissing her, hard, fast, too briefly.
“Babe, I just want you to know that this time with you meant everything to me. It was my first real chance to learn who I could have been. That I could have had love.”
She gasped, but I turned her and shoved her out of the room.
“Go wait in your bedroom, they won’t come after you. It’s me they’re here for.”
It was time to meet my fucking doom, and the last thing I wanted was her seeing me die, or getting caught in the damn crossfire. Would I die to protect her? You bet your fucking ass, I would.
Sophie
H e was behaving irrationally, because he seemed to have made some decision that he deserved to die, but I was pretty sure if bikers were here, it was because of me rather than him. I waited until he headed for the front door, and followed him out once more, watching him pause by the door with his fists clenched.
“I deserve this,” I heard him hiss to himself, before he wrenched the door open and stormed outside.
“Wait. What the fuck are you doing here?”
I broke into a run, just in time to see him lunge at Reaper, knocking him over as he stepped off his bike, and crashing to the ground, where they started punching each other.
“Uh… you wanna call off the dog?” the other biker, Nash, asked with a smirk. He was quite happily watching his brother getting beaten without even trying to help him.
“Low… Micro , dammit, will you stop?!”
Everyone froze, and Micro scrambled up from the ground, directing one last kick at Reaper’s ribs.
“Micro? Thought your name was Psycho, man,” Reaper practically spat, as he got up, and smoothed his cut, before he dragged a hand over his bleeding face.
“Private joke,” Micro snapped, pointing at the two of them in turn, “but this is the welcome that fucking unexpected asshole visitors get, so you might wanna bear that in mind.” I wasn’t sure why he was hiding behind his true name being a private thing, but I was willing to take his lead. The man was an enigma, surrounded by so many dark secrets, that I wondered if I’d ever know the real him, but I was willing to take the risk, because the man he’d shown me, when there was no need for bravado, was a man I could fall in love with. Maybe already had fallen in love with.
“We’re here to see our employee, so why don’t you butt the fuck out. In fact, why don’t you go get the kettle on, since you’re good for nothing else,” Reaper baited Lowell, Micro , but I caught his hand and stepped up beside him, resting my entire body against him, to try and keep him with me.
“You don’t stop by for visits, Reaper. What’s this about?” I didn’t want them here, because even though they knew of my property, and Reaper had been here before, this visit was unprecedented, and it made me nervous.
He pressed his fingers against his nose with a hiss, checking them for blood. I felt Micro’s soft chuckle in response, and was secretly pretty proud of how he’d leapt at the bastard to defend me. Possessiveness, in him, was incredibly sexy, and not the scary prospect it should probably be.
“You were ignoring my messages, so the Pres wanted us to check in, and make sure your delivery will be on time.” Is he kidding me?
“I call bullshit. This is some fucking lame power play, and you know it. Just admit it. She’s good for it, and it’ll be on time, so you can fuck off now.”
“You know we don’t accept delays, Soph.” Micro practically bristled beside me, like an angry hound ready to tear out Reaper’s throat for the insult.
“There won’t be a delay, although the longer you detain us here, the less time I have to work on your product. Shall I advise your ‘Pres’ of the reason if I’m delayed now?”
Reaper practically sneered at me as he straddled his bike again.
“Just a friendly reminder, Soph. I know you’re probably spending half your time sucking cock, but you have responsibilities, and there are consequences for failing to supply.”
Nash mock saluted at me, and we watched until they were finally outside of my property, and we could breathe again.
“Low… Micro , I need your help… uh… with their product. Can you help me, so they don’t have to come back here?”
His eyes widened, but he nodded.
“Sure thing, babe, let’s make sure you’re safe before I die.”