CHAPTER 8
*~* Molly *~*
Mumbling under my breath, I get showered, dressed and ready to start this ridiculous two-week punishment. Working the kitchen on my own, well, I’ll show these assholes how it’s done. Once I’ve dished out my anger on Carrie-Anne, I’m outta here.
Opening the kitchen door and stepping inside, I come to a grinding halt.
My eyes flick around what should be a beautiful working kitchen.
There are two stoves, both with seven burners and large ovens.
Built in microwaves, two of those as well.
Oh, and a commercial fridge that is suitable for a restaurant.
This place should be a cook’s paradise, but it’s not. It’s a cook’s nightmare!
Food, cartons, mugs, dishes of every kind, pots and pans, all dirty and just dumped for flies and anything else to crawl over it. My stomach heaves a little. I place one hand on my stomach and one over my mouth. I close my eyes to gain control of myself until I hear a noise.
Opening my eyes, I see one of the prospects. Noah, I believe he’s called, watching my reaction to the mess. “I’m sorry, I would help, but we have all been told we can’t do anything for you. We will drive you into town, and back again, but that’s all.”
I give him a nod, turn to the huge sink and pull up my big girl panties. These fuckers are not going to break me. They’ll see what I’m made of, and they’ll not know what’s hit them by the time I’m finished.
It takes a long time to wash all the dishes, cutlery, and pans, and wipe every counter. Breakfast comprises boxes of cereals, milk, and coffee. That is all they are getting until this place is clean.
I start my mass clean by emptying the first cabinet.
Take out all the cans and scrub until I’m satisfied.
As I’m replacing everything brothers are appearing, complaining about no cooked breakfast, but I ignore them and start the next cabinet.
I’m cooking nothing until I know the place is spotless, and once it is, they’d best be on their best behavior.
Whack walks into the kitchen and sees there are no plates of cooked breakfast, no toast, no nothing that they’d expect me to cook. “Where’s breakfast, Molly?”
“On the table,” I snipe back at him, turning and placing my hands on my hips.
“I’m cooking nothing in this pigsty until I’m happy the place is clean, and I feel is hygienic.
You’ve all been living like pigs in here, and I’m in charge of this kitchen, by your say-so, and this is how it’s going to be.
I’m cleaning it out, then I’ll cook meals. ”
Whack looks shocked, with a hint of surprise, then respect crosses his face. Nodding at me, he takes a seat and grabs a bowl and a box of cereal. Seeing he’s settling at the table, I pour him a coffee and place it in front of him, which earns me a grunt and a nod.
My morning involves cleaning, discarding spoiled food from the fridge, and investigating the freezer's contents. None of the items in the freezer have labels or dates showing when they were put in. It’s a nightmare, and I decide that it all has to go in the trash.
I’m not risking mine, or anyone else’s health.
I’m on the home stretch, I just have to clean tables, and I mean every inch of them, and scrub the floor, and I’ll be ready to go to the store and stock up on food we can actually eat.
Noah is still standing on one side of the kitchen, only leaving now and again when asked by a brother to do something. He keeps giving me looks that tell me he would love to help, but his hands are tied.
“Okay, Noah. I’m ready to go to the store. Do they have an account, or how do I pay for the stuff?”
Noah takes a card out of his prospect cut and holds it up for me to see. I give him a smile, and pick up the shopping list I made and walk out to a truck that Noah points to.
I fill the cart with items for the fridge, including kitchen towels, cleaner, and detergent. The dishwashers are fine from this point, but I would have been waiting far too long for all the washing I had to do this morning.
Noah pays for the overflowing cart, and I push it to the SUV where he has to stand watching me pack it into the bed.
I hear people snidely stating he’s not much of a man to stand by and watch me struggling.
At that moment I feel sorry for him, but there is nothing I can do about it, so I get on with what I’m doing.
Once finished, I look at Noah who is more than pissed off. I pat his arm to show I understand, then give a crooked smile. “Okay, Noah, back inside for the freezer stuff.”
“Fuck, how much more, Molly?”
“Enough to refill the freezer with food we can actually eat. The entire kitchen was a nightmare waiting to happen. Who was in charge of the kitchen?”
Noah looks a little embarrassed but replies with tongue in cheek. “The club girls, but Mella is supposed to be the one organizing the kitchen.”
Humming to myself, with disgust I might add, I push the cart to the meat section of the store.
I throw into the cart an assortment of chicken and beef, including ground beef and bacon.
Sausages, pizzas, hash browns, and fish all follow.
Frozen and fresh, I don’t care as long as I have what I want and can freeze.
Oh, I see frozen pastry that will be good too.
Pushing the cart through once more, I see Noah itching to help, but biting his cheek to restrain himself. I leave him to pay as I head for the SUV again.
Back at the compound I haul the groceries into the kitchen, and as I’m organizing the freezer Mella walks inside. Giving me a nasty look, she heads for the bags on the table. “Don’t touch the bags.” I snap as I turn to watch what she’s going to do next.
“It’s not your food; it’s the club’s food.” Mella continues to open one of the bags, and my temper rises.
I’m being forced to do all this shit. I’ve cleaned and shopped and I’m tired, hungry, and just fed up with the whole thing.
I step forward grab her wrist and pull her away from the bags.
“Keep your dirty hands off the bags. We don’t know where your hands have been, and you don’t even know you need to wash your hands first. You are just nasty. ”
“Who do you think you are? You can’t speak to me like that.” Mella is looking around, and I know she’s looking to see if anyone is watching before she makes her move. But, I’m ready.
I see Noah enter the kitchen from the corner of my eye at the same time Mella screeches and tries to grab my hair. I in turn grab her wrist, spin so she is behind me, and jerk her over my shoulder. She lands on her back legs akimbo, and oh no, she’s no panties on.
“For fuck’s sake you dirty bitch, you have no underwear on and you come in here to touch the food.”
Trying to get up although she is winded she shows no sign of covering up her womanly parts. “I’m going to kill you.”
“You know I didn’t know before I came here what a skank was, so I Googled it. It says a sexually promiscuous woman, dirty, repulsive and immoral. The description suits you so well.”
Screeching again, Mella lunges for me, but is stopped by Noah.
“Get out of the kitchen. You know Pres forbade anyone to come in here until meal times. You’ll be getting your punishment once I’ve spoken to him.
Now get out and stop that fuckin’ screaming.
You sound like a six-year-old having a tantrum. ”
Checking the time, its past lunch, so hey, they missed eating lunch and I don’t care. I do however make a sandwich for Noah and hand it to him on a plate with a can of soda. “Thanks, Molly.”
“You’re welcome, Noah.” With that I get busy and marinade the ribs that I’ll be placing in the oven later. I make myself a sandwich which I eat as I’m putting everything away.
Once that is done I set to getting the rest of the meal prepped before I dash to my room for a freshen up. On the way to my room, I’m accosted by Floss. Of course, it’s Floss as she is besties with Mella. Christ, this place is a mess, and Whack needs an old lady to put this lot in their place.
“What you saying, Molly?”
Turning when I hear someone speak I’m surprised its Whack behind me.
Floss sees him too, so rushes away. Deciding I’ve nothing to lose I of course spout off.
“You need to find an old lady. One that can put these club women in their place and teach them some hygiene and manners. The place needs sorting out as far as they are concerned.” I can see the shock on his face and I skedaddle while he is surprised, and make my escape to my room.
The meal is laid out for everyone in the main room, roasted ribs, steaks, potato salad, and other sides.
I eat a little in the kitchen, but I’m so tired that I can’t be bothered.
I wash the pans while I wait for all the dishes to be finished with and prep the two dishwashers.
Sitting at the table with a glass of iced water, I feel myself nodding.
I’m struggling to keep my eyes open, but I’m not showing weakness to these assholes, so stand and step over to the back door so I can breathe some fresh air, hoping it will revive me enough to do the meal cleanup.
Dishwashers full, tables cleared and wiped. Sink clean, and the tea towels, towels and cleaning rags I’ve been using are now in the utility room for whoever is doing laundry, and that is not me. I’m not taking that on as well, and if they start that shit I’m outta here.
“Psst…” Turning I see Bri under the long kitchen table.
Stepping closer, I look around to make sure nobody else is watching. Taking a seat, I open a can of soda someone has left on the table. Whispering, I ask, “What’s up?”
“Once you are out of punishment, we’ll track your nasty sister down and nab the bitch. She’s gonna pay for all the shit she landed you in.”
“Are you okay? Did your punishment get done with?” I ask, thinking maybe it’s not something I should be asking.
Bri giggles. “Oh, yeah, I was punished alright. I can’t wait for the next time.”
“Oh, don’t tell me. I’m going to have dishpan hands by the time the two weeks are over.”
“I’m sorry you got the raw deal. It’s because you don’t have an old man.
If you did, you’d get the same sort of punishment we did.
But once you are clear, we’ll find your sister as I said.
So, make sure you have ideas for the next time.
” Bri sounds giddy with excitement, and that worries me because she sounds like she wants it to fail and get caught, just so she can be punished!
Once Bri has successfully disappeared, I leave the dishwashers running, make sure everything is as it should be, and head to the door to switch off the lights. But right before I do Andy walks into the kitchen.
“Hi, Molly. Do you have a minute?”
I point to the table. “Of course I do. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing really. Whack has put a proposition forward, and I’m not sure if I should take it or not. Can I ask what you think?”
“Yes. I’ll be honest with my answer, too.
” I fold my arms on the table and listen while Andy fills me in on a barber shop idea, with the help of his friend Thorn Kincaide.
I’m not sure what the problem is, as it’s an excellent offer, but I can hear the worry in Andy’s voice.
“Andy, what is your worry? They are offering you a brotherhood, a home, business, and a future. What exactly is the issue you are not telling me?”
“I’m just worried I’ll be jumping out of one crock of shit into another.”
“Andy, they’ve shown you nothing but kindness.
They got you out of that town without asking you for anything in return.
You are being offered something special.
Grab it with both hands. Once this mess is over and I’ve confronted my stepsister I’ll be out there on my own again.
Nobody will watch my back. Nobody will support anything I want to do.
You know how lonely and hard that is, so don’t go back to it.
” I pat his shoulder, giving it a last squeeze as I step away and head to my room.
Saying that to Andy has brought the realization back to me. I’ll be on my own once more, and soon.
I shower and throw myself onto the bed, close my eyes and am asleep before you can count to five. But morning comes around way too quickly. That damn alarm on my phone needs uninstalling I’m thinking to myself, as I quickly get washed and dressed.
In the kitchen I empty the dishwashers from last night and get breakfast started.
Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and toast. That is what they are getting with jugs I found and filled with cold orange juice, which I’ve placed on the long bench table.
Coffee is ready and I’m finishing toast when brothers start arriving.
I don’t speak to anyone, keeping my head down, and clear all the pans I used for cooking. When I feel someone standing very close to me at the sink, I look up and Breaker is looking down at me. “Well done, Molly. That was an excellent breakfast.”
Nodding at him as my reply, I turn back to the pans I’m scrubbing, and sigh as I feel him step away. I’m surprised when some of the men say ‘thanks’, ‘great breakfast, Molly’, ‘nice, Molly’.
“Well done, Molly. That was good, and it was well cooked. Not sure when I ate a breakfast that good.” I look up and Whack is standing looking at me. “Thank you,” I say, and he winks at me right before turning and walking out of the kitchen.
For lunch, I make sandwiches which I know will go down well, a pan of soup and a large bowl of broccoli and sausage pasta. I love pasta dishes and find them so quick and easy to make, and the assortment I make keeps them interesting to eat.
Cannon walks into the kitchen. “Molly, tomorrow the mayor wants a sit down to talk about your placard shit, and what happened up to that point. It’ll be in the afternoon, so I’m warning you now, so you have time to organize tomorrow's meals.”
“Okay. Thank you.” I don’t say more, but turn back to what I’m doing.
I’m going to get through these two weeks and I’ve decided I’m going to run at that point.
I want my life back, and I don’t give a shit what anyone else wants.
I’m not sure what the mayor wants or what he can do, but I’ll tell him what happened. No harm in that.