Interlude – Unholy
Loud banging startled Marion awake and he bolted up in his bed. It took a moment to get his bearings. His benders always interfered with his reflexes and his self-preservation. Two weeks before Christmas and his loneliness unleashed his need for alcohol and sex.
He glanced at the empty spot next to him. Thankfully, the woman he’d hired and snuck in was long gone.
Two rooms over, and the banging rattled the doors.
He swallowed, damning himself for forgetting to close the door that served as a dividing line between his personal space and the small church.
He was hundreds of miles away from Las Vegas, his hometown, and the Red Rum MC, away from the men he’d swindled and the husbands whose wives he’d bedded.
How had they tracked him?
The door shook at the force of the blows against the wood. Shaking, Marion reached over and flicked on a lamp, his hand trembling so vigorously he could barely slide his glasses up his nose.
He should’ve found a place with separate quarters from the sanctuary. Somewhere bigger and more spread out. This was a tiny parish in the middle of nowhere.
“Open this fucking door!”
Joe Foy? He hadn’t heard that voice in at least five years. The digital clock on his nightstand read 2:52AM. Joe turning up, especially at this hour, boded ill.
“Marion!”
Eschewing his slippers, Marion crept through the connecting hallway, into the dark sanctuary. He unbolted the door.
Joe stumbled in. “Took you long enough, motherfucker.”
Before answering, Marion slammed the door shut and bolted it tightly, then flicked on the light. Out of the corner of his eyes, the nativity scene on the altar mocked him.
“She don’t want me to see my girl anymore, Marion,” Joe muttered, and covered his face. His condition shocked Marion. “Been trying to convince her all week.”
Joe never revealed names. Marion only knew the girl was thirteen and lived in Seattle.
“I always thought me and her would work it out, but she married another motherfucker on me. Broke my fucking heart. Now, she’s keeping me from my baby girl. She keeps me grounded.”
Marion cleared his throat, searching for a bible verse. He couldn’t keep his hands off other women or out of other people’s bank accounts. God had been his last resort. Others sought him to save their souls, when his had long ago ripped away.
Joe stood. Stumbling back, Marion flinched at the sight of his cut and the tattoos on his massive arms. Bikers frightened him, but they also infuriated him. He was lawless but he drew the line at murder, rape, and drugs.
Blinking, Joe tipped sideways. Marion thought he’d fall on his ass, but he saved himself at the last minute, swaying on his feet. His pupils dilated.
“Are you high?”
Even in his condition, Joe’s smile lit up his face and his eyes sparkled. “Better than being low.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, then opening them wide, Joe shook his unkempt blond mane and dug inside his cut.
He held out a sheet of paper, fluttering it in front of Marion’s face.
“Sign this. It’s my new will. That cunt wants to take my baby away from me, then fuck her!
” he spat. “My girl gets everything! Fuck ‘em all. Fuck ‘em!”
Before Marion responded, more pounding resounded on his door and a chill slithered down his spine. He swallowed.
“We know you’re in there, Joe.”
“Fuck off!” Joe screamed, spittle flying in all directions. Wiping his arms over his wet lips, he turned toward the door on unsteady legs. “Get the fuck away, Cee Cee.”
“Open this motherfucking door, Joseph!” Cee Cee growled. “Before I go and kill that cunt.”
Joe took one step, stumbled and tumbled to the floor. He farted, then began to cry. “Meggie,” he sobbed. “How can I protect her, Cee Cee?”
Since this Cee Cee person remained outside, he hadn’t heard the question.
Pitying his old friend, Marion tipped toward the door, never too careful.
When he opened it, the man who brushed past him had silvery black hair, cold green eyes, and jingling spurs on his motorcycle boots.
But it was the other man, who followed Cee Cee in, that had Marion gaping.
Sharper Banks.
He almost knelt in fealty. He’d heard the great man sermonize.
Awed, Marion stumbled back, then turned to trail behind his idol, forgetting to shut the door.
“Fuck, Joe!” Cee Cee grumbled, helping Joe to a pew.
Marion realized Cee Cee wore a cut, too. As much as he disdained bikers, Marion only searched for the emblems of one club. He dismissed all other patches.
“My girl, Cee Cee,” Joe said pitifully. The will was nowhere to be seen. “I can’t…she took her from me.”
“You don’t see them much anyway. What the fuck’s the problem?” Cee Cee demanded.
“My daughter! She’s at an age where she needs her daddy. She’s so fucking adorable. I need to be there to make sure motherfuckers aren’t fucking over her. She’s funny. She loves to dance like me. She’s a—”
“Fucking paragon,” Reverend Banks sneered, shocking Marion. “She’s a fucking split-tail! Good for one fucking thing. A cock down her throat and up her ass.”
Marion stood in speechless horror, his admiration murdered by words. Joe jumped to his feet and punched Sharper with such force, he flew back, then drew his weapon and pointed it at Sharper’s head.
“Fuck!” Cee Cee snarled, knocking Joe’s hand away. Instead of hitting the minister, the bullet penetrated the wall. A punch to the side of Joe’s head knocked him out.
Without hesitation, Cee Cee drew his gun, too, and pointed it toward the open front door just as a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks rushed in, holding a sawed-off.
Before he got his bearings, Cee Cee fired, hitting the man’s shoulder and forcing him to drop the gun.
“Don’t fucking move, Osti, or I will shoot the fuck out of you.”
Osti raised his hands, though pain wrinkled his brow.
“Sharper, you stupid motherfucker, stand the fuck up, before I fuck you up,” Cee Cee ordered.
Groaning, Sharper staggered to his feet, holding his jaw.
“What did you fucking do to him?”
Sharper opened his mouth.
“Shut the fuck up. I should fucking kill you. You’re shooting him up again. Didn’t I tell you motherfuckers to leave him the fuck alone?”
Guilt crossed the minister’s face. After so many years of idolizing this man, to discover he was nothing more than a thug, crushed Marion. Were there no good people left?
“I wasn’t expecting you to come to LA, Cee Cee.”
“Obviously.”
“Why are you—”
“Why the fuck you think?” Cee Cee nodded to Joe, who was unconscious from the hit or the drugs.
He snatched the weapon still gripped in Joe’s hand, then set it on the bench.
“Joe called me three days ago in a fucking state because that cunt made him stay away from that baby cunt. I told the motherfucker to stay in Seattle, but he wanted to come and party with you.” Those green eyes blazed. “Mr. Fucking Holy Man.”
“He was in a state, Cee Cee. I didn’t shoot him up without his knowledge.”
“ This fucking time.”
Sharper cleared his throat. “I promised the drugs would take the edge off.”
“And stupid, trusting motherfucker that he is, he believed you.” Roaring in fury, Cee Cee kicked Joe’s thigh.
“You three have been drugging him for years. The minister, the old lunatic, and the sniveling cunt. I would be offended that Joe is so trusting if I didn’t know it comes from loyalty and an outlook on life that I’ll never fucking understand. ”
“Respect all, fear none,” Sharper said with distaste.
Cee Cee scowled. “Now, you motherfuckers really want to fuck him up.”
“Not her . She’s married now.”
“It doesn’t make a motherfucking difference,” Cee Cee snarled. “That bitch still helped you.”
Marion didn’t want to hear any of the conversation. It was information he shouldn’t know. He’d already heard too much. Anymore and he’d end up dead. A great life snuffed out. After all the measures he’d taken to save himself.
“Gentlemen, please—”
“I don’t give a fuck!” Cee Cee said, ignoring Marion. “She should’ve been dead! That cunt doesn’t deserve life.”
Sharper sighed heavily. “I wish he never would’ve been diverted from Roxy.”
Damn, damn, damn! Mentioning names were a definite death sentence.
“Please—” Marion inserted.
“ You’re the fucking reason Joe met Dinah, fuckhead. He was there because you wouldn’t let Kaleb see his godsons.”
“Arrow’s the reason,” Sharper spat. “Fuckhead lacks a certain je ne sais quoi . Perhaps, his stupidity was a good thing. Roxy would’ve just been another dead cunt. Never would’ve become aware of what a fine bitch she is.”
“She’s exquisite,” Cee Cee acknowledged. “Something about her sass reminds me of Kimber. ”
“A fine compliment by your standards,” Sharper acknowledged without rancor.
Fear surged into Marion and the absurd urge to cry rose. He didn’t want to die. He might’ve entered the priesthood as a false prophet, but that didn’t warrant violent atonement.
“I should’ve carved out Rack’s eyeballs for the stunt he pulled that hurt her so terribly,” Sharper growled.
“Enough!” Marion roared. He pointed to the door. “Out! I did not sign up for lessons on the lifestyles of psychopaths and killers.”
Cee Cee frowned. “You, shut the fuck up. Your eyeballs will make a fine replacement.”
“Then we’ll watch you bleed to death,” Sharper added.
Gulping, Marion raised his hands.
“Patricia added four new trophies to my collection.”
“I don’t want to hear about that cunt. She’s fucking dead to me.”
“Her pussy—”
“Still can’t compete with her daddy’s cock in your estimation, so shut the fuck up.”
Marion squeaked.
“I take umbrage to that!”
“As if I give a fuck.” Anger lit Cee Cee’s face, blazing hatred in his eyes. “Shut the fuck up before I fucking kill you.”
Sharper tensed. “Flip that psychotic switch off—”