12. Aasim
AASIM
Rory and I went round for round all night and again this morning.
I would have loved to stay in bed laid up with her all day.
With the gift I got her, I wanted to ride around the city to show her off.
We got ourselves together, but before heading out the door, I grabbed my gift for her.
I went inside the closet to grab the jacket I bought for her.
“What’s this?” Rory asked.
“Just a little something I got for you when we ride,” I said.
I watched as Rory took the jacket out of the garment bag with a look of skepticism on her face.
This was my first time gifting her anything, but it wouldn’t be the last. Last night solidified everything I felt about Rory from the first time we met.
She was something special, and I wanted her in my world.
She looked over the jacket, which had the Sons of Destruction logo in white outlined in red, just like mine. The front of her jacket had her new nickname, “Brick’s Lady” written on the patch.
“Aww, Aasim, this is so cute. Are you trying to tell me something?” she asked.
“I think it’s pretty clear, but if you need me to, I’ll ask. Rory, will you be my lady?” I asked, taking her hand in mine and closing the space between us.
She hesitated for a minute, which made me second guess what I’d been feeling.
“Nah. I don’t think I can. Sike! I’m just messing with you.”
“That wasn’t funny, ya dig? I see you got jokes though. Let’s see how much laughing you do on the back of this bike.” I kissed her lips and palmed her fat ass. After a quick smack, we headed out the door.
“I’m not sure what you have planned, but can we head to this address?
I want to show you something,” Rory said.
She passed me her phone as I locked the address to my memory.
The place was on the west side of town. I didn’t have any specific plans for us.
I just wanted to ride around with my lady.
If she wanted to show me something more, then this was where we’d go.
“Anything for you, sweetheart.” I passed Rory a helmet then grabbed mine.
Once I felt her small hands wrap around my torso, I started the bike.
This ride went a lot smoother for Rory. During our first ride, I could tell she was terrified.
Now, she didn’t hold me as tight. It felt good to know that she felt safe with me.
We pulled up to the address, and I parked the bike.
I took off my helmet, then turned around as Rory did the same.
She shook her hair and fluffed it once it was off.
The sun shined brightly, illuminating her beauty under its glow.
Rory’s beauty was undeniable, and seeing her with that jacket with my patch made me smile.
Pride filled my chest as I looked at the woman who wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
“What’s this place?” I asked.
“Somewhere I love to come when I need to relax,” she replied with a smile.
I followed behind Rory as she led the way into the place.
The sign read “Colors,” which told little about the establishment.
She walked in and immediately sparked a conversation with the woman standing inside.
They conversed like two old friends. Rory wasn’t kidding when she said she came here often.
“Lucy, this is my boyfriend, Aasim. Aasim, this is Lucy, the owner of Colors,” Ava said.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
Rory walked over and placed two easels next to each other. Lucy allowed her to have free rein of the space. When Rory motioned for me to take a seat, I did. She moved around the space, gathering palettes of paint, along with a cup filled with brushes of various sizes.
“I started coming here a few years ago. Lucy and I met at Bottoms Up. Early on in my career, I learned I couldn’t drown my bad days in alcohol.
Instead, I’ve learned to leave it all on the canvas—the good, bad, and ugly.
I can’t draw, but Lucy is nice enough to leave sketches for me when I grow tired of drawing sticks. ”
“And you wanted to share your little piece of peace with me. That’s dope. Thank you, sweetheart,” I said as I placed a kiss on her lips.
Lucy walked over with sketches for us to paint. There were some birds on the ledge of a bridge. This wasn’t really my thing. Rory wanted to share this with me, so I painted. I couldn’t remember the last time I colored or painted anything. Rory grabbed a brush, and I did the same.
There was music playing that reminded me of the kind I would hear in an elevator of a fancy building.
I couldn’t front; the atmosphere in here was relaxed.
A comfortable silence found us as we got lost in our artwork.
Rory and I would take turns peeking over at each other’s paintings.
My painting was nothing as bright or colorful as Rory’s.
“Sim, can you try to stay in the lines? Your painting looks like a kindergarten kid colored it,” she teased.
“Aye, you mind your painting, and I’ll handle mine.”
“Just know we won’t be hanging that thing up anywhere,” she said then chuckled.
My phone went off, interrupting our moment. The energy shifted as I read the text from Gavin. I groaned because he needed me at the club.
“Sweetheart, I hate to do this, but I have to take you home. The fellas need me at the spot.” I looked over at Rory as she smiled at me. I could sense her disappointment, but she didn’t show it.
“Don’t worry. I get it. You owe me a raincheck. Maybe next time we paint, you’ll stay in the lines,” she teased as she kissed my lips.
Rory got up to let Lucy know we were leaving. I shot a text to Dobbs and Curry to meet me at Rory’s place, then thanked Lucy for her time. Rory and I hopped on the bike and headed to her spot. Twenty minutes later, we spotted Dobbs’ truck as I pulled up to her place. I pulled up beside them.
“Aye, y’all take care of my lady,” I said to Dobbs and Curry.
“Fam, you know she’s in good hands,” Dobbs said.
I turned around to see Rory taking off her helmet. A hint of sadness was in her eyes, which made me feel terrible. She put the helmet away, then walked over to me.
“Be safe, babe. Call me when you can,” she said.
“Always, sweetheart. Soon as I wrap up, I’ll hit you. Come here. Give me a kiss.”
The smile I loved to see spread across her lips as her lips met mine. I hated to let her go, but duty called. After a final peck on her lips, I let Rory go with Dobbs and Curry.
When I arrived at the clubhouse, I searched for Gavin. He was usually in his office, staring at the monitors. I went to the back of the clubhouse. There he was, along with Jaxx and Major. They had the prospects, Jalani and Kurt, tied to chairs.
“Somebody wanna tell me what’s going on here?” I asked as I approached them.
“Ya man, Kurt. here has been busy. Not only is he the one that stole the money; he’s been talking to the police. Jalani over here got caught trying to steal some bricks from last night’s shipment. The prospects have been real busy,” Jaxx explained.
I looked over at Jalani and Kurt and shook my head.
“I guess my warning that I would kill you myself wasn’t enough, huh?
Y’all don’t value your lives, going against your club like this.
Major, what the fuck you were doing while these fools were running around making a fool of this club?
” I asked as I pinched my nose out of frustration.
Major stared at me with a blank expression. His position in the club was to lead our new prospects in the brotherhood. I guess he wasn’t the man for the job. These two fools didn’t respect anything we had going on with the Sons of Destruction.
“Brick, my bad. I don’t know how any of this got past me. Whatever you gotta do to me, I’ll take it,” Major replied.
I pulled my gun off my waist band. Major, I would deal with later. I walked over to Kurt first and took the rope from around his mouth.
“Since you like talking to cops, tell me what you told them,” I said.
Fear was in his eyes. “I didn’t give them anything. They wanted me to tell on y’all, but I didn’t. I swear.”
He was lying, and listening to him was pointless, so I pulled the trigger and put a bullet in between his eyes. I heard liquid creating a puddle on the floor coming from Jalani as he wet himself.
“You got enough courage to steal, but you can’t hold your piss. What made you think you could get away with stealing from the club?” I asked.
I pulled the rope from around his mouth so he could speak. He coughed a little then said, “Kurt told me he needed some money. He said you guys wouldn’t miss one brick. I was trying to help him out. Please don’t kill me, Brick.”
His plea fell on deaf ears. The moment he agreed to help Kurt, he chose his loyalty, and obviously, it wasn’t to the club. I gave him the same fate as his homie, putting a bullet in his forehead.
“Gavin, do me a favor. Pull the tapes from the last couple of weeks. We gotta see what Major was doing while these two were plotting, scheming, and talking to police,” I said.
Gavin gave me a nod while Major had a frightened look on his face. The prospects were too comfortable with taking from us, and I needed to understand why. This wasn’t Major’s first time training prospects, so I couldn’t understand what went wrong. Gavin would find out sooner rather than later.
“Can y’all call the crew to clean this shit up? And Major, don’t leave the clubhouse. If Gavin finds anything I don’t like, your ass will join your prospects,” I said.
I gave Gavin and Jaxx dap as I headed out.
These fools ruined my day. I had caught too many bodies to count; that part wasn’t new to me.
Kurt was dead, so he could no longer be an informant.
The downside was I would never know what he told the police.
With the shit going on at the club and making sure Rory was safe, I was exhausted.