Chapter Three
Wednesday, June 4 th .
University Hills. Austin.
The pain shot through me like a heat-seeker missile, and I groaned so loud I woke myself up. My eyes opened and the room wasn’t mine and I couldn’t remember where I was.
My only thought was finding the pain meds, and I sat up way too fast.
Too much time with Tommy and I was becoming him.
Dizzy and about to puke, I ran for the bathroom and dropped to my knees in front of the toilet. After I emptied everything out of my gut, the dizziness started to fade. I washed my face and rinsed out my mouth and decided I needed to be at home.
Regan was standing right outside the bathroom door, and she startled me. “You’re not okay. Tell me what you need.”
“I need to go home and take one of the pain pills and sleep for the next twelve.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“I can do it.”
She smiled. “A stubborn streak. I like that.”
“You’re a great cook and I owe you dinner.” I sat on the side of her bed and pulled my boots on. “I’ll take you someplace extra nice.”
“You don’t look like the suit type, Lukas.”
“I’ve got a nice one. Had to wear it at the VP’s big party.”
“VP of what? Your MC gang?”
“Yeah, that VP.” I laughed.
“Will you give me a word later? Call or text.”
“I’m not good at either one, but I’ll try.”
“Who are you really, Lukas? I have pretty good instincts, and I’m convinced I’m not getting the whole picture.”
“You don’t want to know too much about me, Regan. It’s not safe.”
“I think that’s my decision to make, Lukas.”
Riverside District. Austin.
Fighting the light-headedness, I drove back home to Riverside, my arm aching from using it too much getting in and out of the fuckin’ truck.
Before I crashed, I gave Blacky a call and told him about my arm. “I should be good for a couple of hours tonight, boss.”
“Don’t push yourself, Lukas. You sound tired. How bad is the gash.”
“Deep. A few stitches. I’ll be fine.”
“Take all the time you need. You fool around with the wrong people while you’re wounded and I’m going to lose you for a lot longer than a couple of days. Keep that in mind.”
“Copy that, boss. I’ll take it easy.”
I shook one more pill out of the vial and washed it down with a gulp of water. Out like a light as soon as I laid my head down, and the day was almost gone when I opened my eyes. Checked the time on my phone and noticed a message.
Regan.
“You okay? Yes or no will do.”
“Yes.”
I waited to see if she had her phone handy and saw the dots. She was typing so I lit up a smoke and sat on the side of the bed and waited.
“Sleep well. Talk tomorrow.”
“Good copy.”
I liked her a lot more than I should considering I was in no position to be seeing anybody. Especially somebody as nice as Regan. She couldn’t come here, and she could never know Lukas Weaver.
Why I usually stuck to club girls. Disposable.
Riverside Bar and Grill. Riverside. Austin.
I should’ve stayed home in bed, but I needed a gallon of beer and some food before I slept for another round-the-clock session.
Drove slowly and used my lefty as little as possible. Parked at the back and I was early. The place hadn’t filled up. My booth of choice was empty and as soon as I sat down, the new waitress, Lila, rushed over to see what I wanted. Cute girl, but she was young and seemed too nice to work in a dive bar like this one.
There were only a couple of things on the worn one-page menu that weren’t shit, so I ordered the fish and chips.
“You want a pitcher, Lukas?”
“Yeah. I’ll have Shiners.”
Lila smiled. “Be right back with your beer.” That’s when she noticed the bandage on my arm. I wasn’t wearing the sling like I was supposed to. “Did you get hurt?”
“Just a little cut.”
“Huge bandage for a little cut.”
Without the sling, I should be wearing a jacket to cover the bandage. Never thought of that in my hurry to get over here to the bar. Now I’m like easy prey for the assholes who hang out here.
Trouble breeds trouble.
Pick a fight with somebody you’re sure you can beat. Like a guy with a broken wing.
Crissy appeared out of nowhere and sat down across from me uninvited. “Brandy said you dumped her for no reason. I thought you were a better person than that, Lukas.”
“Fuck off, Crissy. You thought wrong.”
She pointed at my arm. “What happened to you?”
“Some asshole knifed me.”
“Where? In the parking lot?”
“In a parking lot. Not this one.”
“Gonna tell me where it happened?”
“Nope. None of your biz.”
Lila came back with the beer and set down the pitcher and one glass.
Crissy said, “Bring me a glass, Lila. Lukas will let me share.”
I didn’t like Crissy and my mood was foul. “Get out of my booth, Crissy. I don’t feel like having company.”
“Did I mention you’re a piece of shit, Lukas?”
I smiled. “Tell me again.”
Lila laughed and moved on to the next table.
Crissy hadn’t moved her ass out of my private space when my trouble doubled. Brandy slid in next to Crissy and I had two of them facing me.
“I want you to give me another chance, Lukas,” said Brandy. “I miss you, and you have to admit I’ve always been good to you.”
Bad enough she wanted back in my life, but then she noticed my arm.
I never should’ve come here.
“Did you get hurt?”
“No. I’m wearing this bandage for fun. Get out of my booth, girls. I’m not good company.”
“That’s for damned sure,” said Crissy. “Let’s go, Brandy.”
“You go. I have things to say to Lukas in private.”
“We’re besties, Brandy. I want to stay and hear this.” Crissy wasn’t moving.
“This is between me and Lukas,” said Brandy. “Give us some private time.”
Crissy laughed. “Hell no. This is just getting good.”
Brandy snarled as she slid out of the booth, turned and reached in to grab Crissy’s long hair. She wound a bunch around her fist and jerked hard.
Crissy screamed bloody murder as Brandy tugged her right out of the booth and onto the floor.
“Lukas is mine, you bitch, and I want you to stay the hell away from him.” Brandy dropped down, straddled Crissy and pounded her in the face. She got in two or three good punches and did some damage.
“Cat fight,” yelled one of the bikers and that brought a bunch of onlookers and cheerleaders.
The girls were pounding the shit out of each other right beside my booth when Lila brought my fish and chips, and she couldn’t get close enough to give me the fuckin’ plate and cutlery.
“Get those bitches away from me so I can eat,” I hollered.
“I’ve got this, Lukas.” Ready, the sometimes bouncer, grabbed both girls by the hair and dragged them kicking and screaming to the back door.
The door slammed and the bar went quiet.
Ready came back and took a stance next to my table. “You have to work them up like that, Lukas?” He gave me the finger. “Fuck off, man. You make my job harder, and I’ll have to toss you out too.”
“Piss off, Ready. You had nothing to fuckin’ do until that fight started. Your thumb was up your fuckin’ ass.” I pointed my fork at him. “I saved your fuckin’ job.”
The bikers laughed and at that moment, I was one of them. That was the whole point of me being there.
Fit in.
Become part of the furniture.
Be there so often, they don’t see you as a threat.
While I ate my fish and chips, one of the Blast sent me over a pitcher and I gave him a thumbs up.
I drank all my beer and ate what I could of the fish and chips, then decided it was time to sleep again. Got nothing useful from this visit, but I did provide some entertainment for the boys.
I walked out to the parking lot and saw somebody I didn’t want to see. Brandy was leaning on my truck. Her hair was a mess, her mascara had run down her face and she had a huge scratch down her cheek and another red one on her neck.
I guess Crissy was the winner of that one.
“I want to come to your place.”
I shook my head. “Nope. I have to sleep. Doctor’s orders.”
“What doctor?”
“The one who sewed up my arm.”
“Take me back, please, Lukas. I need you. You know I love you.”
“You don’t love me, Brandy. I was your meal ticket and now you don’t have one. That’s what it amounts to.”
“Fuck you, Lukas.” She blocked my way so I couldn’t get in the driver’s door of my truck.
“Don’t make me move you out of the way, Brandy. I don’t hurt girls.”
She stepped to the side, and I let go of the breath I was holding as I climbed in.
“I’m not giving up, Lukas. You’re mine and I’ll fight to the death for you.”
“Don’t talk crazy, Brandy. I’m not worth the trouble.”
Riverside District. Austin.
I was so glad to get home. I slammed the door and locked it and let out a huge groan as I flopped down into the only easy chair.
The place came furnished and I couldn’t complain. I hadn’t done one goddamned thing to fix it up since the day I’d moved in.
Dead tired, and the pain in my fuckin’ arm was killing me. Never should’ve gone out. Beyond fuckin’ stupid.
Why didn’t I drink the beer in the fridge? That would’ve been the smart thing to do.
I lit up a smoke and closed my eyes while I decided what to do with the long night ahead. It was close to midnight, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep, even with the strong meds.
A glance at the bloody bandage told me there’d been some oozing and by morning I’d need a new one. Impossible to do on my own.
I might have to go back to the clinic and get the nurse to do it.
While I thought about that, and tried to forget about the pain, I almost dozed off.
Until the pounding started.
Comfortable at last in my chair, I hated to get up, but I had to stop the noise. “I’m coming. Stop fuckin’ pounding on my goddamned door.”
I glanced through the peephole and saw Brandy’s scratched up face screaming at me. She was going to wake up my landlord and get me kicked out of a place I loved.
I unlocked the door, jerked it open and grabbed her by the arm. “You get down those steps and leave me alone or I’m gonna call the cops and have you arrested for soliciting.”
Brandy sobbed and I wanted to push her down the steps in the worst way, but I couldn’t do it. Against my better judgement, I let her in just to stop the noise.
“Shut the hell up, Brandy. I don’t want you here. I’ve got to sleep, and I’m sleeping alone. What don’t you get about that? Are you fuckin’ brain dead?”
By this time more blood had seeped through the bandage and Brandy saw it. “I’m sorry Lukas. I didn’t know you were hurt so bad.”
“Now you know, so please go home and leave me alone. I’ve had more from you than I can take in one day.”
I opened the door, and she left without making any more fuss.
I locked up, turned out the lights and moaned as I lay down on my messed-up bed.