17
Silvia
Watching the clock didn’t make time pass faster, just like watching a pot of water on the stove didn’t make it boil any faster. It had been three hours since I talked to Andy. It felt like it was ten hours ago. I sensed the final hour would drag on at a snail’s pace.
I hadn’t bothered to leave his room. What would be the point? Nobody would talk to me or accept my help, so I hung out on his bed and played with the phone he bought me. I played games and watched cooking videos.
But now I was bored.
A knock at the door made me jump.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Tito, the club’s chaplain. Can I come in?”
The club had a chaplain?
“It’s okay, Silvia.”
I recognized Quino’s voice and went to open the door.
“Thought you might want to talk to Tito. He’s a good listener.” The corner of his mouth turned up, but it wasn’t a full smile. I could tell Quino was trying to be nice, so I’d meet him halfway.
“I appreciate the thought. Sure, I’ll talk to Tito.” I waved in the man. He didn’t look like a chaplain in his black vest, worn out jeans, and Dodgers cap.
Quino nodded, then left.
“So you’re a chaplain?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Not officially. It’s just the position I hold in the club. I studied anthropology in college and served in the Army for eight years before joining the club. Guess you could say, I’m the sensitive type.”
“No shame in being sensitive. In a world that is so hateful, we need kindhearted, sensitive people too.”
“I know you’ve suffered a lot in your life.” He got right to the point, skipping all the pleasantries. I liked his directness. “Care to talk about it?”
“You heard about the nuns, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” He looked at me with compassion. “It’s tragic.”
“It is. They were the only people I had left. I’m homeless and an orphan now.” I teared up but wouldn’t cry.
“Family isn’t only blood related. Sometimes the best family is the one created during your life journey. Your found family.”
“Wow, that’s deep. I like it, a found family.”
“Here in the MC, most of us were strangers before we became each other’s family. It’s hard to be alone in the world.” Something buzzed. He reached into his vest and took out a cell phone. He read the message, then looked at me.
“Is everything okay?” A chill shot down my spine sensing something was terribly wrong.
Suddenly gunfire ensued and Tito knocked me on the ground and covered my body with his.
“What’s happening!” I screamed as the windows were shot out and glass shattered around us.
“We’re under attack. Crawl to the hallway. We need to get away from the windows.” He got off me, and as he directed, I followed him into the hallway.
“Who’s attacking us?” I asked, but did I really need to? I knew exactly who was out there with machine guns—my brother.
Tito stood up. “Stay here. I need to go help my brothers.”
“I can’t just stand around and do nothing. Take me with you.” I grabbed his arm. “Please.”
“Shh, Mija. You’ll be okay. They won’t hurt you.” His intense black eyes spoke all I needed to hear.
I let him go because he was right. Miguel wasn’t going to hurt me, yet. The damage he caused to the clubhouse was directed at Andy and everyone else for hiding me.
Another round of bullets hit the building. Screaming came from the sweet butts’ wing. I ran, dodging the flying bullets. I dropped to the floor and crawled the rest of the way.
It was evident that the clubhouse had way too many windows. Glass was everywhere. Many of the bikers who were here to guard the place, had erected steel walls in the bar that faced the front of the building, and were shooting back at my brother’s men.
“She’s been hit!” I heard someone yell. “Blanca’s been hit!”
I moved faster to help. Letty was hovering over Blanca’s body, trying to shield her. Blood had soaked through her dress. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing.
“We need to pull her into the hallway where there aren’t windows.” My gosh, the windows in here were blown out, too. Men were also on the backside of the building. “Is she breathing?”
“I don’t know,” Letty cried, helping me move Blanca to a safer place. It got eerily quiet. Almost like it had all ended.
“They have the clubhouse surrounded,” Yoli shouted. When she saw me, she lost it. “You did this!” Her hands wrapped around my throat, and she squeezed the oxygen out of my lungs.
“Yoli, stop!” Letty grabbed onto her wrists and tried to pull her hands off me. “You’ll kill her!”
“Exactly!” Yoli squeezed harder.
“Please stop!” Letty fought to free me. But I wanted Yoli to end me.
How many people had to die because of me? So, I didn’t fight back. I just closed my eyes as she slammed me against the wall, and I prayed to God to forgive me for all the trouble I’d created.
“Jefe will kill you if you don’t let go!” Letty wouldn’t give up.
Suddenly, I could breathe. My legs gave out and I crashed onto the ground, choking and gasping. I held my neck while tears rained down my face.
“You are a worthless piece of shit! You don’t deserve him! You don’t deserve him!” Yoli yelled and her spit sprayed my face.
“You’re right,” I choked out. “I don’t.”
“I hate you because he wants you so badly.” Yoli wiped the sweat off her forehead.
“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” I was giving up. None of them should be fighting to protect one person… me. I glanced at Blanca, who clearly looked dead. Were there any other casualties because of me?
Yoli took a step back, stunned at what I said. “Are you serious? You’ll do anything?”
“Yes. I never meant to hurt anyone. My brother is a monster. He was forcing me to marry a cruel man, and I just wanted to be free.” I shook my head as a tear rolled down my cheek. “But not at the expense of so many.”
“No,” Letty said. “We just need to stay put and let the others deal with the attack.”
“We won’t survive without Jefe and the others. We’re outnumbered. They’re destroying our home.” Yoli stared at me with tears in her eyes. “Make them stop.”
I nodded, knowing what I needed to do.
“Oh, God.” Letty covered her mouth. “She can’t go out there. She’ll get shot.”
I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay, Letty. I’m not afraid to die.”
Somedays, I thought it would be better not to be alive and live through the hell my brother created, like now.
Another round of shots sprayed the building. We all dropped onto our stomachs. I was face to face with Yoli.
“I have an idea,” she told me. “Are you sure about sacrificing yourself for us? I don’t actually want you to die.”
“I think that’s the first nice thing you’ve said to me.” I smiled weakly. “But I’m sure.”
“If you don’t make it out of this alive, I’ll tell every person I know how you saved us.”
“That’s sweet, but if it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.” However, I did feel like Yoli was genuine. Perhaps, she was extending an olive branch to me.
“Very true.” Yoli shrugged. “But still, you’ll be remembered as our hero.”
When the firing stopped, we jumped up. Yoli took my hand and led me to her room. I had no idea what her plan was, I just knew I would do whatever she said to make the attack stop.
Andy would be furious and probably devastated, but he wouldn’t hurt for long. It’d only been a week since we met. He’d forget me and move on eventually.
But I knew if the roles were reversed, I’d never forget him and would want to die to spend eternity with him in heaven.