Chapter Fourteen
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DAISY
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Skittles called early this morning, saying I needed to get my ass over to the apartments for a meeting. Last time a meeting was called, I was in the emergency room getting my rash checked out. I heard that it wasn’t pretty, but it never is when Ice is pissed. If I’m right about what’s going on at The Kitty Kat, she is going to be more than pissed today.
As soon as I walk into the apartment complex, I see my Grams sitting on the couch. She smiles and motions for me to come and sit by her. I am just getting settled in when Ice walks into the room.
“Okay, ladies, listen up. We got to get some shit straight.”
As she starts to talk, a few of the boys walk in. When Preach comes into the room, I slide closer to Grams, and she wraps her arm around me. Seeing him again, so soon after what happened, just kills me inside.
“We have a problem. Seems there are drugs floating around, and some of you are using. Also, I got word that a few of you ladies decided to spread your legs for more than just our charter. So surprise! It’s testing time,” she shouts, plastering a fake as hell smile on her face.
A few of the girls are scared shitless, but I’m just happy to be getting rid of the garbage. I may take my clothes off for a living, but I don’t sell dope. I want the ones that do it gone.
Ice looks around the room and continues to talk. “This time, there are no more chances. I’ve stuck up for a few of you before, given your circumstances, but that’s not going to happen this time. Anyone testing positive will be out of the club, so don’t even think about asking for a second chance.”
With those words, she heads over to the doc that came in with the guys. Talking loud enough for us to hear, she says, “Go ahead and set up in your usual room. I want you to give them all a pregnancy test too. I don’t want to be kicking out a girl that’s carrying a member’s kid.”
Her words send a chill down my spine. If I take a test here, the whole damn club will know I’m pregnant. I need to tell Preach before it becomes public knowledge.
Ice continues to talk to Doc and Skittles a minute more before she walks back toward us.
“Okay, girls. I want you to break up into groups of five.”
I stand up, my legs feeling like jelly, and suddenly a group of the girls is standing beside me. A few girls are standing with Yvonne, and few more are surrounding Leah. In my mind, I have a label for each group. Yvonne’s girls are the druggies, Leah’s are the girls spreading on the side, and my group is the few that actually follow the rules.
Ice motions toward us. “Leah’s group, go with the doc. Yvonne’s, go with Skittles for pregnancy tests. Daisy’s group is with me.”
I make my way to the bathroom, making sure to place myself at the end of the line. It takes a while to get to me, because Ice is watching each girl fill her cup. By the time I step into the bathroom, I feel like I’m going to pass out. My entire body is shaking with fear, and it only takes a few minutes for Ice to notice that something isn’t right.
“What’s wrong with you?”
I chew on my bottom lip, trying to think of the best way to answer her question. I end up asking one of my own. “Do we have to take pregnancy tests?”
A look of pure shock crosses her face. “Are you pregnant?”
I can’t look her in the eye, so I end up staring at the floor. “I think so.”
I know I am, but there’s no reason to tell her so. Anyways, it’s not official until I see the doctor.
“Who?”
“You know,” I whisper, not wanting to say his name.
“Does he know?”
“No,” I say with a shake of my head. “I go to the doctor Tuesday. I figured I’d tell him after that.”
“Do you need me to go with you?” Anger and pity make her voice sound gruff.
“Nah, I’ll be okay,” I say, barely holding back tears. “But I don’t want everyone here to know. They will if I have to take a pregnancy test.”
She takes a second to think about it and says, “I’ll let Skittles know what’s going on.”
I nod and take the cup to the bathroom stall. A minute later, I hand it to her and walk out without saying another word.
As soon as I step out of the bathroom, I see Preach standing near the front door. His eyes are trained on me as I make my way to him. “I need to talk to you.”
He starts to move closer, but stops himself. I swear it’s like he’s tethered to a leash that’s holding him back. “Then talk.”
I look around the room and realize just how many people are here. “Can we go somewhere private?”
“I gotta guard the door, so if you got something to say, you’ll have to say it here.” His voice is so cold that it chills me to the bone, but there’s something in his eyes that tells me things aren’t how they seem. It’s as if they’re caressing me, sucking me in.
I shake off my thoughts before throwing his attitude back at him. “Do you have to be an ass all the damn time? This is important, and it’s something I can’t talk about in front of everyone else.”
He starts to respond, but stops as a sneer crosses his face. A second later, Leah rushes over and wraps her arms around him. “Hey, baby.”
His body goes stiff, but he doesn’t push her away. Instead, he just keeps staring at me. Regret flashes through his eyes before he closes them, shutting me out.
Of course, Leah doesn’t let that stop her. She goes to her toes and whispers something in Preach’s ear, then turns a saccharine sweet smile my way. “Hey, Daisy.”
I don’t bother replying to the bitch. Instead, I just shake my head and walk away. It’s not worth it.
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PREACH
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I watch Daisy walk away from me. I swear if I keep seeing her back, I’m gonna kill somebody. I keep telling myself this is for the best, but every damn time she walks away, I can’t seem to function. It doesn’t help that Leah is all over me all the damn time.
“So, Preach baby, when you gonna make me your Old Lady?” She asks as she runs her hands up and down my chest.
I remove her hands and take a step back. I don’t even try to keep the sneer off my face. “Keep dreaming, bitch. Only reason Ice is now an Old Lady is because she was never meant to be a whore. You? You’re a whore, and that’s all you’ll ever be,” I say as I walk out into the lounge area of the apartments.
A few minutes later, Ice walks up and hands me the paper with a list of names. “That’s all the bitches that need to go,” she says coldly, but I can see the sadness in her face. I take a look at the names and know why she’s so upset, because several of the girls are ones she helped out. She gave them a safe place to call home and a job. Shit, she’s taken care of them. There’s one name on the list that I’m thrilled to see; one that is going to make my life a hell of a lot easier.
Leah.
Can’t fuckin’ wait to get rid of that cunt. I turn from Ice and motion to Rum. I hand him the list as I walk out the door. “Grab these bitches and bring them to the warehouse.”
I climb on my bike and drive to the warehouse, wishing like fuck Timber was here. This is his job, as Sergeant at Arms, but I’m having to deal with this shit. As soon as I pull up next to the warehouse, I pull out my phone. He answers on the second ring, “Yo, brother.”
“Where the fuck are you?”
I hear a moan in the background as Timber answers, “Right now, I’m balls deep in a hot piece of ass.”
Just where I figured he’d be. At least I know it’s not Daisy. “I need your ass at the warehouse, now.”
I hear shuffling and a whine from the bitch he’s with. “What going on?”
“Got a bunch of Ice’s girls coming in. Their tests came back dirty.”
“Fuck,” he mumbles, followed by sounds of him getting dressed. “I’ll be there in a few.”
After putting my phone in my pocket, I make my way inside and start laying out the tarps. The more prepared I am now, the less cleanup we’ll have after. The club doesn’t usually hurt women, but you never know what will happen. While I’m getting shit ready, I hear a high-pitched scream from outside.
Walking out the door, I see Rum pulling Leah toward the door. She’s fighting him every step of the way. “No, you can’t do this to me. I’m gonna be Preach’s old lady. He won’t let you.”
I bark out a loud laugh and shake my head at the ignorant bitch. Turning away from the scene outside, I head back inside and finish getting shit ready.
An hour later, Leah is on her knees, begging for me to protect her. “I love you. Please don’t let them toss me out.”
I shake my head at her lies. “You don’t fuckin’ love me. You love the patch I wear.”
“How can you say that after all we’ve shared?”
I look around the room at my brothers, shaking my head to let them know the bitch is whacked. “Leah, you were never more than a place to wet my dick. Don’t mistake a couple of half ass fucks for more than it was.”
“You know that’s not true. If it was, you wouldn’t have kept coming back for more.”
“I can’t even remember fuckin’ your ass. Sure, I used your mouth a time or two when I needed to get a nut, but I would’ve never sunk my dick in you if I hadn’t been too drunk to realize how much of a bitch you were.”
“But, I love you. If you just give me a chance, you’ll love me too.”
I shake my head at her words. “I’ll only ever love one woman, and you know who that is.”
Her eyes go dark, anger starting to shine in them. “Daisy’s nothing compared to me.”
I decide not to argue that idiotic statement. Anyone one with a fuckin’ brain knows what a lie it is. “All that matters is she’s the woman I want on the back of my bike.”
Her love quickly turns to hate, and she starts to spew threats at me. “I heard that Timmons likes his pussy young. Daisy may be twenty-one, but she still looks like a kid. I’m sure he can pretend she’s what he likes.”
Without even thinking to ask her how she knows about Timmons, I pull out my piece and blow a hole right through her fuckin’ head. With fury coursing through me, I almost pull the trigger a second time, when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“She’s gone. No need to waste another bullet on her skank ass,” Timber says, taking a step back.
I nod and look back to her body, staring at her, while I slide my piece into its holster on the back of my jeans. Not looking at anyone in particular, I say, “Clean this mess up and make sure the rest of these bitches know to keep their mouths shut.”
I walk to my bike and drive to the clubhouse. I make my way straight to the bar and grab a bottle before I go to my room. I open it as I walk. Taking a swig, I start to pray for the oblivion I can only find at the bottom of a bottle.
****
My bed shakes, but I’m too fucked up to figure out why. Another shake draws a nearly silent curse from my lips. A second later, something sends me flying to the floor. I hit it face first, and blood immediately starts pooling in my mouth.
“Fuckin’ floor,” I mutter, trying to push myself onto my knees.
“Get the fuck up!” someone shouts from behind me.
I slowly pull myself up and lean against the wall, knowing my legs are not strong enough to hold me just yet. I take a minute to get my balance, and start to walk back to bed, but stop when I notice someone is in my room. It takes a few seconds to work my way through the alcohol-induced haze to realize that Kidd is standing there looking at me. I try to take a step toward him, but stumble backwards, landing hard against the wall.
“Yo, Pres, what’s up?” I slur, trying, but failing to sound halfway sober.
He doesn’t reply. Instead, his fist comes smashing into my jaw. I’m too drunk to defend myself, so within seconds I’m lying on the floor in pain. A minute later, I hear Kidd yell for a prospect and a low whistle.
“What the fuck happened to him?” I hear from my doorway.
“Call Doc and get his ass over here. Tell him to fix Preach up, but he’s not allowed to give him a fuckin’ thing for pain,” Kidd says, then a few seconds later adds, “Hurry the fuck up. He’s bleeding like a stuck pig. I just want him to hurt, not die.”
Blackness starts to take over as I hear Rum talking on the phone. “Shit, brother. You must’ve fucked up royally.”
I’m not sure how long I’ve been out, when I wake up and notice Doc standing over me. What the hell?
“Get out,” I say, my head pounding.
“I don’t think I need to tell you to rest. Don’t know how well you’ll be moving around today. Pain killers are on the table by your bed,” he says.
“Nope, Doc. The Pres said nothing for pain,” Rum says, shaking his head.
“He has to have something. He has two broken ribs, and his entire body is covered in bruises.”
Kidd walks in to hear Doc’s response. “He can have Tylenol if his punk ass can’t handle the pain.”
Confused as fuck, I make my way to the bathroom down the hall. I can feel every brother’s eyes on me as I walk by them. By the time I open the door, my ribs are killing me, and it’s taking all I have just to stay upright.
I go straight to the sink and glance into the mirror of the bathroom, surprised by what I see. “What the fuck!” I shout.
No wonder I could barely walk. Hell, I’m lucky I can even see. Dried blood and bruises cover my face. I lean forward to get a better look, and a searing pain shoots through my side. Stepping back, I lift up my shirt and see bruising around the edges of the bandage Doc wrapped around my torso.
The door opens, and Kidd walks through. He smirks as he says, “How you feeling, brother?”
“What the fuck did I do last night?” Last thing I remember was lying down with a bottle.
He smirks. “You’ll figure it out. Just know, that’s not the last fuckin’ beating you’ll be getting either,” he says cryptically.
As he walks away, the sight of his fist flying at my face flashes through my mind. What the hell?