Railed (Courage MC #2) (18 page)

“
W
ell she’s beautiful
.” I said. “Can I ride her?”

“
U
p you go
.” He said, lifting me off the ground and gently sliding my thighs onto the bike’s seat. I moaned, quickly catching myself. I wasn’t sure why, but little things seemed to send me to weird places lately. Ever since I had turned nineteen, I felt new desires enter my body and mind all of the time. Being around this kind of a guy made it hard to act normal.

H
e massaged
my shoulders lightly and then stepped onto the bike. “I have to tell you something, Rose. I get you.” He said to me. “I was just like you once. But I’m lost now. It’s nice we met and all, but I would stay very far away.” He stepped down hard onto his motorcycle.

R
OARRRR
…

“
L
ost
?” I asked him.

“
L
ong story
. Been feelin’ like a ghost these past few days. You ever have a falling out with your crew?” He asked me.

“
I
don’t have a crew
.” I said, matter-of-factly. He seemed, well, aimless.

“
L
et’s just say
I’ve been left on my own for a while. Until I figure things out.”

“
I
’ll be your friend
.” I said to him, smiling and offering out my hand.

“
N
o thanks
, kid. But I’ll let you hang with me. For one night.”

T
he engine roared loudly
as he stepped down hard onto the pedal. I found myself screaming, “Woo!”

“
H
old on tight
, baby.”

W
e were zipping
through the park, eventually making our way outside, in the direction of east. He swerved violently throughout the neighborhoods, screaming in this moonlit hour.

“
H
ey
! This isn’t the way to my house!” I yelled.

“
I
know
.” He said, staring straight ahead.

T
he whole town
seemed to be asleep. There wasn’t a light on in any house within miles of us. The roar of the engine echoed throughout the quaint little neighborhoods and I suddenly felt a joyous elation.

F
reedom
.

T
hat’s
what it was alright. And I was basking in the warm feeling of it.

I
held
around his leather vest. My small fingers glided around the valleys of his perfect six-pack. I looked up at the stars falling around us. Tonight was the night I would get out, I decided. Tonight was the night my whole life would change, for the better and the worse. I would be like the characters in all those books I read. I’d lead an interesting and exciting life.

“
W
here are we going
?” I yelled over the sound of his bike.

“
Y
ou wanted to get out
, right? Well, here’s your ticket out. One night. Take it or leave it.”

“
U
gh
.” I sighed.

I
really
had
to be home by a certain time. Although my parents never really noticed when I wasn’t there, I still had an overwhelming sense of guilt for disobeying the rules of their home. I was good most of the time, but on a night like tonight, I had to find out more. What was this crew he was talking about? It seemed like he might actually show me, and I just
had
to find out.

C
hapter
4

W
e slowly pulled
up to an abandoned house. It was completely removed from the town, covered in dirt and dust. I assumed it had been rejected decades ago and left to rot. The windows were boarded up and from the looks of it, no one sensible would ever step foot inside that musty home.

I
felt
shivers run down my spine.

“
W
hat is this place
?” I asked him, covering my bare arms. Goose bumps formed around my neck and shoulders. If I had enough street smarts, I would have taken his bike and hauled my butt right out of here, but my curiosity got the best of me.

H
e grabbed
my cold cheeks with his warm hands and squeezed. “Ouch!” I screamed. “Get off me!”

“
S
hut up
, Rose.” He was clenching down hard, treating me like a child. My eyes started to water.

“
Y
ou’re hurting me
…” I explained. He was acting like an old relative or something – completely annoying!

H
e let go and sighed
. “Don’t ask questions around here. This is just a little business opportunity, okay? Now, keep your mouth shut and follow me. If someone asks you who you are, you say nothing. I’ll answer them.”

“
O
kay
.” I said, shivering. The cold air ran across my back, around the insides of my skirt.

H
e led me around back
, where we discovered a huge group of long-haired, derelict-type men and women, drinking and hollering. If I was being honest, I was absolutely terrified. Though I tried to act strong. I went to latch onto Adam’s hand, but realized he had walked ahead of me to talk to an older woman. She was maybe 28, 30 at the oldest and she was wearing an American flag bikini. I did
not
fit in here.

S
lowly but surely
, I walked up to them. They were laughing and he lightly touched her waist. I felt my face get red with anger, although I wasn’t sure exactly why. It wasn’t like I knew the guy. But for some reason, I felt close to him already. It was as if he had known me for years. At the very least, he seemed to understand my deepest need to escape the life of a small town girl.

“
W
ho’s the kid
?” She looked down at me, smoking a cigarette. Her eyes mocked me.

“
W
ho you calling
, kid?” I said, angrily.

“
W
oah
, feisty little girl, are we?” She cackled into the night sky, taking another long drag of her cigarette.

A
dam gazed at me
, condescendingly. He wasn’t happy with me talking back. “She’s supposed to keep her mouth shut around strangers. Aren’t you, honey?”

T
he woman looked amused
. “She your daughter or somethin’?”

“
S
omething like that
…” Adam said back. He grabbed her cigarette and took a drag himself. He placed it back into her mouth smoothly.

S
uddenly she became quite serious
. She stomped out the burning embers of her smoke and put her hands on his shoulders. “So what do you want, babe?” She asked him. “You know full well you shouldn’t show your face around these parts.”

“
I
need
two hundred pounds of the good stuff.” He said, looking at the other guests of the party.

T
here were men with long
, red beards revving their bike engines. Tough looking people were throwing bottles of whiskey at the boarded up house. There were strange figures in the darkness, playing pool and screaming at each other. It was a terrifying scene for someone just out of high school, but I remained as strong as I could.
Maybe Adam was right about shutting up,
I thought. I decided to keep quiet.

“
Y
ou mean
two hundred pounds of the
bad
stuff?” She laughed, sizing him up.

“
T
he badder
, the better, I’d say.” His voice was deep. At least it was deeper now that he was talking to this woman. I realized quickly this was no normal get together. This was some bad shit and I was in the thick of it.

A
man came
out of the bushes, zipping up his pants. His head was completely shaved and covered in a dragon-like tattoo. He smiled, revealing a row of broken teeth. One looked like it was solid gold. He was Mexican, maybe even involved with the Cartel. It would make sense since we were close to the border. He took a swig from his beer and let out a loud burp.

“
Y
ou think
you can handle all that weight, padre?”

“
Y
ou calling me a pussy
, Jorge?” Adam said back. They stared each other down for a brief moment. Then, calm and steady-like, Adam said, “Because, if you are…I’ll lay your ass down like a ton of breaks. I’ll make sure you never see the light of day…padre.” He practically spit that last word out at the guy.

T
hey stood
close to one another, completely dead faced. Their chests were touching. My heart was racing. I didn’t know what to do. I looked at the man and noticed he had a pistol on his hip. I stood in silence, sure that my life was about to end.

C
hapter
5

I
never really prayed
, but in that moment I took a step back and closed my eyes. I began mumbling to myself,
Dear Lord, I’m sorry for all that I’ve done. I’m sorry I’ve said bad stuff about this town I grew up in. I’m sorry for bad mouthing my parents and for getting angry, even with all the opportunities they’ve given me. Most of all, I’m sorry for not reaching out to you, for not believing in you with all my heart, and for getting caught up in this mess with these evil men. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, “I’M SORRY!”

A
t that moment
, the two men burst into laughter and embraced each other. Adam kissed the Mexican on his shiny forehead. The man looked down at me. “Hey, what’s the matter with her?”

T
ears were streaming
down my face. I was strewn across the dirt below them, holding on to Adam’s knees. Apparently I had yelled out loud and those around me heard everything. I was so embarrassed. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and got up from the ground.

“
H
ey
, Adam…you don’t have a kid now, do you? ‘Cause that would be kind of weird.” The man asked him, laughing loudly.

A
dam looked away
. “Nah, man. No kid. This here’s a distant cousin of mine.” He said.

C
ousin
? Is he for real?

“
A
lright
, I can respect that, homes.” He bent down to greet me. “The name’s Jorge. I’m also a relative of Adam, you hear me?” He hoisted my butt into his arms and pushed me onto his shoulders. “We’re all family here.” He said to me.

W
e’re all family here
. I liked the sound of that…

“
M
y name’s Rose
.” I said, rubbing his bald head.

“
N
ice to meet you
, Rose.” Adam walked closer to the house and Jorge followed.

“
W
hat’s this tattoo anyway
?” I said, perhaps a bit too inquiringly. Adam looked at me angrily, so I closed my mouth.

J
orge reassured Adam
. “Nah, man. It’s cool. Rose, if I were to tell you, I’d have to kill you.” His smile turned into a menacing grimace. Shadows from the fire crossed over his face, reflecting off the gold of his teeth.

“
A
dam
, man. Let’s talk inside.” He motioned for him to follow.

“
T
he girl comes with
.”

H
e looked at Adam
. Then me. Then back at him. “Ah man! Alright, alright. I’ll trust you on this. But if you fuck me over, I swear…the girl is gone, man. Gone. You hear me?” They were both staring at me now.

“
Y
ou hear him
, Rose?” Adam asked me. How I ever got mixed up in this, I would never understand. But I nodded my head like a good girl should and walked inside.

T
he house was
old and rickety. Spider webs covered the ceiling and dust hung low in the air. We walked into what appeared to be the living room and stood around an old wooden table. On top of it was a few big duffle bags full of what looked like glass shards. My guess was that this was the bad stuff they were talking about earlier.

“
S
ee this house
? At one point in time, this house was worth a cold hard million.” Jorge told us. “But now look at it. It’s old and falling apart. It’s been
neglected
. Now it’s worth
jack shit.
” He motioned towards the bags. “But this stuff? This glass right here?
This
will remain the same
forever.
This shit is like
gold.”
He smiled, opening one of the zip locked bags with his tattoo-covered fingers.