HARD KNOX(15)

Eddie put his hand into the register and Muddy moved fast. He slammed the drawer with Eddie’s fingers still in it. Eddie let out a scream and jumped back. Porter was there and wrapped an arm around Eddie.

Muddy then searched Eddie’s pockets and found four hundred dollars in all twenties.

He was totally busted now.

I figured they were going to beat him up and toss him out.

But they put Eddie right on the bar.

Porter looked at me. “Get some f*cking towels. Now.”

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Muddy tells me we could recoup our money lost with some kidneys.”

My stomach did a flip.

They all started laughing.

I ran away, refusing to take part in whatever they were really going to do.

I bolted from the club, got into my car, and sped away.

In my heart I wanted to go find Knox. I hadn’t seen him since last week when he came to the club with his band. I drove by the old garage and clubhouse for the Reap and saw there were a few floodlights on. I ended up driving by the old houses, too. They were so rundown and left to just collapse, kind of like the rest of town.

What the f*ck am I doing here?

I kept asking myself that.

I went home to my little shithole of an apartment and counted up all my savings. The bulk came from what Knox gave me. It was pathetic. I was trapped.

I decided to just sleep the rest of the night off.

I wasn’t given a choice to do that…





It sounded like a crack of thunder. That’s what woke me up. I jumped up and turned the light on. That’s when Porter came bursting through the door. He had a towel in his hands and was wiping blood off his hands. I feared for what waited outside in my apartment.

“Porter,” I said. “Are you…”

He dropped the towel and lunged at the bed. I kicked back, slamming myself off the wall. I hurt myself as he closed in on me. There was rage in his eyes, vodka on his breath, and death on his hands.

“I had nothing to do with Eddie,” I said. “I told Danny the second I saw it happen. Like you asked.”

Porter gripped the covers on my bed and leaned forward. “What else happened that night?”

“What?”

“Who was f*cking there?”

The color left my face. I wanted to throw up.

Danny must have told Porter about Knox. The question was… how much did Danny see and how much did he tell Porter?

My answer stared at me.

“You f*cking worked over Danny to help out Knoxville,” Porter said. “That’s what I heard.”

“That’s a lie,” I said. “Danny wasn’t going to pay Knoxville’s band. So Knoxville hit Danny a few times.”

“Who gave Knoxville the money?”

I froze. That was a mistake. I was giving myself away.

“Who?!” Porter growled at me.

“I did,” I whispered. “Danny gave me the money and said he was calling you.”

“And you expect me to believe you just gave him the money and that was it?”

“He left,” I said, trying to save face. The money Danny had given to me was under my bed in a shoebox. “He got on his motorcycle and left.”

“What if someone saw more than that?” Porter asked.

My teeth started to chatter with my lips shut. I was terrified. I knew the rage Porter had but I never knew the rage he had after killing someone. It was spilling over, as though he wasn’t done yet.

“You don’t understand,” I said. “What we went through.”

“That’s what you want?” Porter asked. “Some dirty mechanic biker?”

“I never said that,” I said. “I was helping him. He always helped me. When I was younger…”

I saw Porter move his left hand.

I had no idea if he was going to hit me or kill me.

So I snapped. My flight or fight kicked into overdrive and I swung my foot up, kicking Porter in the mouth. His head snapped back and it gave me an opening to escape.

I rolled to the right and jumped off the bed.

The door looked a mile away.

It wasn’t like the movies though. I didn’t make some last second escape and get away. That’s not how real life always worked.

Instead, Porter had a handful of my shirt and pulled. I flew backwards from the door - now it looked two miles away - and he had an arm around me. I thrashed and kicked before he let me go and tossed me forward into the wall. I turned at the last second, my shoulder taking the brunt of the hit.

I turned, not knowing what to expect next.

“I should have known you were a whore,” Porter said. He then closed in on me again. “But you don’t get away with it that easily, Ana. You’re going to be my whore until I’m done with you.”

This time, when Porter moved his left hand, I didn’t try to fight back.

I shut my eyes and braced myself for whatever I had coming…





chapter ten


(knox)



NOW



I threw down an ace and then tossed my cigarette to the garage floor and stepped on it. I put my hand to the middle of the table and grinned.

“You f*cker,” Slam said to me.

“Can’t help it,” I said. “I never f*cking lose.”