13. Molly
Chapter thirteen
Molly
Isit on a stool near the pool tables at the clubhouse, smoking a cigarette and watching Pony shoot pool with one of the prospects the club has nicknamed Sleaze. If my plans don’t turn out, maybe I’ll have to go for Player’s little brother.
I eye the prospect, too. He’s good-looking. Maybe I could work my magic on him. But God knows when he’d get his patch. I don’t know if I can wait that long.
Taking a drag from my cigarette, I blow smoke toward the ceiling. The music blasting through the speakers wired in the corners is playing Bon Jovi’s She’s a Little Runaway.
Why the hell they’re playing this old shit, I have no clue, but the ol’ man is sitting at the bar, and I suppose it’s from his generation. For all I know, this may be his favorite song.
My eyes skate over him. I once made a play for him, thinking I had a shot at landing him after he lost his ol’ lady, but he wanted nothing to do with me, so I moved on to his son.
Last night I barely escaped without Player spotting me.
Things have been going well in my plot to befriend Cici. She’s young and na?ve, but she likes to play like she’s tough, because she’s a damn club princess. She knows nothing of the world. And she knows even less about men.
Which could work to my advantage if I play it right. As it is, she believes everything I tell her. It’s going to make things so much easier when the time comes.
Last night put me out hundreds of dollars for that fucking show, but it cheered her up when she called crying about her father moving and selling their family home.
I was a runaway who never had a decent home, and this chick is crying because her father bought a place on the fucking beach. What a spoiled brat.
At her age, I’d already been on the street for two years.
If nothing else, life has taught me to be a good actress, and I can play the part of a concerned friend.
Soon, I’ll have her dumping all her other friends, and I’ll be her only confidante.
It won’t be hard. I’ve already planted the seeds of doubt in her head, telling her they’ve taken advantage of her, and that I’ve overheard them at the club talking shit behind her back at the last family picnic the MC threw.
Soon she’ll be putty in my hands.
The afternoon sun is blinding when the clubhouse door opens. At first, all I see is the silhouette of a guy and a girl.
It’s not until they move inside the darkened clubhouse I realize it's Player and that bitch, Taylor.
I wasn’t around in the old days when they were together, but I’ve heard enough to know she was his first love. And now, by the way he’s holding her hand and pulling out a barstool for her, I’d say he’s taken up with her again.
My eyes glaze at the thought of him with someone else. How I wish that could be me.
I move off the stool and head down the hall to the women’s restroom. It’s small, but it’s got two stalls.
Reapplying my lipstick, I stare in the mirror. I’m still pretty, still young, but I’ll never be twenty again. In another ten years, I’ll hit forty. Then I won’t be able to dance for sure. What the hell am I going to do?
I thought hooking up with the Kings of Anarchy would be the answer to my prayers.
When Duck first sent me in here years ago, I did what he and Prez asked of me. Then I met Gage and Player, and everything changed. I thought Gage would be my knight in shining armor. He was a good guy, and he treated me nice. He was nothing like Duck or the Depraved Sinners.
I envisioned this entire future after the bombing. If not with Gage, then with his son. If I couldn’t have the president, then the VP would do.
But nothing’s worked out for me.
Luck never goes my way, so I’ve learned I have to make my own luck.
Taylor comes into the restroom and moves to a stall.
I linger longer, reapplying my mascara, my mind whirling.
When she steps out, I realize I have to play nice with this girl, or I’ll be banned quicker than Player can snap his fingers. But that’s okay. I can use the same method with her I have with Cici.
I smile. “Sorry about the other day. I didn’t know who you were. Player and I… that’s nothing for you to worry about. I know my place around here.” I extend my hand. “I’m Molly.”
She takes it. “Taylor.” She cocks her head. “Are you a hangaround?”
I shrug and giggle to put her at ease. “I guess you could say that. I dance at The Crystal Palace. The MC owns the place. Sometimes it's fun to come up here and hang out. They let me drink for free. What do you do?”
“My mother owns The Rusty Pelican.”
I cock my head. “Never heard of it.”
“It’s down in Dewey Beach.”
“Oh. Do you work there?”
“I’m back in town because she got sick, so I’m helping out.”
“Sorry to hear that. I hope she gets better.”
“Thanks.” She washes her hands and dries them. “Well, nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, you too.”
With that, she tugs the door and walks out.
I return to the pool table and keep a low profile, staying out of sight of the bar around a short wall.
I’d planned to try to get Player drunk tonight and have sex with him, but I can tell that plan has zero hope of working. The only way I’d get that man in bed with me was if I drugged him.
Biting my lip, I consider it. I bet Duck would get me anything I want if I told him it was part of the plan to get the Depraved Sinners what they want when the time comes. If he believes I plan to use it on Gage’s daughter, he’ll give it to me, no problem.