14. Towles
14
Towles
I stood in the doorway and watched April sleep. I couldn’t help but think the right woman had walked into my life at the right time. As soon as things settled down, I’d have time to really appreciate all that I had.
I missed my parents. I needed to grieve, cry, and be angry about it. The anger part was gone, however—the need to make it right had come and replaced the anger.
When I got to the club, Trixie stood behind the bar, preparing for the day. I still didn’t trust her.
“She’s a good woman, Towles. Don’t fuck it up.”
I stopped and turned away from the exit. Instead, I sat on a stool at the bar. “Bottle of water.” Trixie was hot, but there was no way I’d ever touch her. Trixie placed a bottle on the counter. “I get why you killed Cinder.” I held up a finger to stop her from denying the allegation. “My advice to you, from here on out, is to keep your nose clean. Give anyone a reason to suspect you had anything to do with his death, and the train the brotherhood runs on you will be a dirtiness neither you nor your sister ever thought possible.”
“You’re welcome,” she said. She placed an elbow on the counter, smirking like the cat that ate the canary.
“For what?” I grabbed the bottle and stood. Too much time around the woman wasn’t healthy.
“For helping you become VP.” She turned away and began cleaning glasses and putting away bottles. She glanced at me in the mirror on the wall, a wicked smile creeping across her face.
“Fuck you, Trixie,” I said and joined the others outside.
Dawn licked the sky to the east, and I couldn’t wait for the next time I would sit and watch the sun come up. Even a guy like me needed that kind of relaxation.
Want to see what a group hangover looked like? Get an MC up too early in the morning. The entire group looked like shit. The Street Punishers were definitely going to be surprised.
“Way to look like shit,” I said. Watcher looked as if he might puke. He shuffled toward me, and I jumped back when he bent over. He looked up and smiled. “Asshole.”
“Sounded like you gave it good to your old lady last night,” he said.
I started to say she wasn’t my old lady but then realized she was. I liked the sound of it. “She got what she deserved,” I said. “She definitely liked it.”
“I think the entire club got laid last night,” Diesel said. “The club sounded like a fucking dog pound about two this morning.”
“Three groups of five,” Beast said. He didn’t mind our fucking around, but we had business to deal with. “Me, Towles, Big Kentucky, and you two Prospects are going in through the front.”
“I want the two assholes alive if at all possible,” I said. “Do not kill them if it’s not necessary. ”
“Ashtray will follow in the van.” Beast pointed at Watcher and TexMex. “You and three Prospects will go in through the back. Everyone else will hang back to ensure we don’t get unexpected company. They’re a bunch of dumbasses, but I don’t see them leaving the perimeter unguarded.”
“Ashtray,” I said. “Four ten-foot chains in the van.” Everyone looked at me, but I gave no explanation. I had a friend in a club in Arizona—Hell’s Justice. They dealt with a problem by using chains. It sent a message.
By eight that morning, we were pulling into the woods surrounding the farmhouse. We held steady for a good thirty minutes, watching movement around the house and counting the number of club members watching the place. We never saw the two Punishers who were pictured in the cam photos. I had to trust they were inside. Regardless, two men had to die today.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my pocket to read the text message. “Be careful,” April said.
I simply replied, “Love you.”
“Let’s go,” Beast said. He stopped me. “Your head in the right place?”
“Never better, brother. Let’s get this over with.”
We stayed hidden while we approached the white two-story house. Chickens that looked like they’d just returned from a salon clucked and ran behind us.
The curtains on the second floor were drawn. Through the first-floor windows, we could see six men inside. They were sitting in the living room, laughing and drinking, none paying attention to their assignments. No one guarded the perimeter. They weren’t the brightest MC .
We took our positions around the house and waited. We needed as many as possible to venture outside. It made things easier.
“Idiots,” Beast said. “Fucking weekend warriors.”
“Somebody needs to knock on the front door,” I said, breaking from the group.
“Get the fuck back here, Towles,” Beast said.
But it was too late. Three men came out and spread across the porch, guns drawn. I was twenty feet away from the porch, gun in my hand but down by my leg. A car sat a few feet to my left. I was pretty sure I could make it to the car before getting hit.
“Fuck,” one of the men said. “That’s Towles.”
“It sure is,” I said. None of them looked like the two men in the photos. “Send out the other assholes."
“Fuck you,” the man in the middle said.
I dove to the left as the three men opened up on the car. Glass shattered, and the tires deflated. They paused momentarily to reload. Mistake. I watched Beast, Big Kentucky, and the two Prospects move forward, shooting over the car.
When the shooting stopped, I looked over the car’s hood, careful not to take a bullet in the head. All three lay dead on the porch. I stood in time to see Watcher and Texmex coming around the house with the other three Punishers. The men looked terrified. I’m sure my parents did as well before they were murdered.
“They tried to run out the back,” Watcher said. “Fatasses didn’t make it very far.” He smiled and kicked one of the men in the ass. I recognized two of the men.
Beast approached the three men and shot one in the head, leaving behind the two I wanted. Ashtray drove the van to the front porch and got out. He opened the back of the van and dragged out the chains .
If we didn’t meet brutality with brutality, Pine Bluff would be overrun with assholes like the Street Punishers.
“On your knees, assholes,” I said, and they did, whining and pleading the whole time. My parents hadn’t had time to plead for their lives.
“Look, we’re sorry about your parents. We were doing what that asshole wanted the club to do.” The man started crying. His partner stared at the ground.
“Keep an eye on them, Ashtray,” Beast said, and we returned to the trees to get our bikes.
“Are you sure you want it to go down like this?” Beast asked.
“I am. And Pine Bluff isn’t big enough for a second club. We took care of that problem once. This’ll send a message to any other assholes wanting to move in on our territory.” I climbed on my bike and led the way back to the house. I was becoming increasingly entrenched in the MC life with every man I killed. I felt obligated to give April another chance to get out of town. What we were about to do showed just how brutal life could be in an MC.
“You first,” Beast said, pointing at the Punisher, who still stared at the ground. The man said nothing.
We watched two prospects attach chains to the man’s wrists and ankles. The prospects fanned the chains out in a large X. Me, Beast, Big Kentucky, and Watcher backed our bikes up to the free ends of the chains.
“What the fuck?” The other Punisher said. It was hardest on him because he would have to witness the first guy’s demise.
The Prospects attached the chains to our bikes. Ashtray pointed his gun toward the sky. I nodded, and he fired a single shot.
Hearing the shot, Beast, Big Kentucky, Watcher, and I gunned our bikes in different directions, pulling the man apart .
The remaining Punisher screamed like a little bitch and tried to run. I shot him in the leg, and he dropped.
“Do you remember the look in my father’s eyes when you shot him?”
“Fuck you, Towles.”
I hit the man once, but not hard enough to kill him. “Do me a favor when you get to hell. Tell Paul Summers that Ethan Towles says hello.” I walked away from the man and climbed on my bike.
The Prospects attached the now free ends of the chains to the Punisher's wrists and ankles. For those who think we’re filthy animals, that may be true. But we also made sure wrongs were paid for. The two men had executed my parents. The two men were lucky death came so quickly. Other clubs would gut the men and leave them somewhere to die over several days. We were doing them a favor.
We revved our engines again and went in opposite directions. The man tore apart like a wet piece of toilet paper.
The Prospects disconnected the chains and placed them back inside the van. We left the bloodied mess right where we made it. Yeah, the Punishers would know who did it, but the message was significant enough to send them packing.
“We still need to deal with this other prick,” Beast said. “Has he contacted Rose since she got to Pine Bluff?”
I shook my head. “Not that I know of. I definitely want him on my own. No guns. No weapons. Just me and him.”
“We’ll make sure you get that chance,” Big Kentucky said.
“You and April are serious.” Beast started his bike again. “You going to make her your old lady?”
“Looks that way.” I crossed my arms and gave Beast a serious look. “How’d Skittles handle the brutality of what we do when you and her hooked up? Brother, I’m not sure I want to introduce that to April. ”
“I explained to her.” He shrugged. His years of experience made explaining a hell of a lot easier than the few years I had. “She’s experienced the worst of the club and the best. I’ve never kept anything a secret. If you trust April, then you have to be upfront and honest about all this shit. If not, you’re asking for trouble down the road.”
“She watched me shoot her old man in the head,” I said. “That’s some fucked up shit to watch, but she acts like it never happened.”
“That means when she realizes it did happen, your ass better be prepared.” Beast revved his engine, and we followed him from the farm.
Part of me believed that April’s psychology background prepared her for what she’d seen me do, but I wasn’t so sure. Biting Paul’s dick off was almost as brutal as me shooting the fucker in the head. However, a man without a dick might as well be dead.
I slowed on the highway and then turned off onto an abandoned road. Beast circled around and stopped next to me. “Something wrong?”
“Go on ahead,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the club. I need to think for a few.”
Beast watched me suspiciously. “Sure you’re okay, brother?”
I nodded. “Something I need to deal with in my head.”
Beast put his hand on my shoulder. “We’re here, Ethan,” he said. “None of us has to deal with shit alone.” He rode away without another word because he understood.
I rode a bit further, far enough that I couldn’t be seen from the road. I climbed off the bike and dropped to my hands and knees, vomiting, tears filling my eyes. Mom and Dad were gone. Dad was proud, but I never heard those words. I wanted to hear those fucking words! “I’m proud of you, son. I always have been.”
That’s all I ever wanted from him. “Proud of you, son. ”
I cried harder than I’ve ever cried. I wanted to be held by my parents one last time. I wanted to tell them how much I loved them. I wanted to hear them say that to me. But never again would those words be spoken to each other. The devastation hit me again and again, and I punched the ground repeatedly.
I pulled the Glock from my waistband and held the barrel beneath my chin. I turned my eyes toward the sky. With my finger dancing around the trigger, my phone buzzed, scaring the shit out of me.
I looked at the gun and tossed it aside. What the fuck was I doing? I then read the text from Skittles. Manning had come to the club and arrested April for Paul’s murder. A second text followed. A man showed up at the club, and Rose left with him.
The fucking roller coaster was on a downward slant.
I wiped my tears and blew two snot rockets across the ground. I shoved the other shit from my head and rode to county. Beast and Watcher were waiting outside.
“What the fuck is Manning doing?” I wanted to tear up the place, but Beast stopped me.
“Manning doesn’t have shit on her,” Beast said. “He’s trying to scare her. Waters is in there now, trying to bail her out. You need to stay in control, brother.”
“That asshole isn’t going to quit until he’s run us out of town.” I started up the steps. “Anything on Rose?”
Watcher nodded. "The guy who came to get her is the same guy she was trying to get away from.” He held out his hands as if to prepare me for the next part. “She went freely, Towles.”
“The fuck she did.” I reached for my Glock and realized I left it on the dirt road—a rookie mistake. “He fucking lied about something, and that’s why she left. She’s protecting someone. Me. ”
As soon as I went inside, Manning met me in the lobby. “Where are you going?” he asked.
“I want to see April. Now.”
Manning chuckled. “This is my town, Ethan. I’m investigating a murder. She’s a suspect.”
“Horse shit,” I said. “April didn’t have it in her to kill that asshole. She wanted away from him. Why would she go back? Oh, wait, unless he forced her. Maybe you should have been protecting her instead of Paul. Maybe he’d still be alive, and she wouldn’t be in jail.”
“So she did kill him,” Manning said.
“Fuck you, Manning. You know she didn’t pull the trigger.”
“Maybe, but she could have bit his dick off.”
“You gotta be a man to have a dick. That asshole was not a man.” I pointed toward the back. “I want to see her.”
Watcher and Beast came in and showed Manning a picture of the guy who had picked up Rose. “You should be finding this fucker,” Watcher said. “He’s the asshole who put the hit on Towles’ parents. To get back at Rose.”
Manning took the picture. He rubbed his chin as he studied the image. He then called over his deputies. “Put everyone on this guy. Turn the fucking town upside down if you have to.”
“You let the Street Punishers into this town because you were trying to run us out,” Beast said. “This shit is on you. We’ve known about these assholes for less than a week, and already you have three people in this town murdered and another missing. Do your fucking job.”
Manning didn’t budge, but he knew Beast was right. I walked right by him and his deputies.
“April,” I said when I got to holding. I was surprised to see her so calm. I held a finger to my lips for her to stay quiet. “ I’m going to get you out, and then we can talk about what’s happening. Manning doesn’t know shit.”
Waters came back with a deputy, who unlocked the cell.
“You okay?” April asked.
“Never better.” I grabbed her hand and led her outside. Beast and Watcher followed.
There was nothing I could do for Rose at county, so we returned to the club. On the way, April wrapped her arms around my waist, reminding me I had a purpose. Reminding me it was okay to fall apart a little.