Sicko(39)
He takes the seat beside me as Gypsy sits opposite, on the other side of his old man aka Lion. The little shit is a complete fucking headcase, driving his old man nuts. He’ll never be taken seriously in the club and will only ever be respected because of his lineage to Wolf Pack. Which makes him a brat. Justice goes beside Gypsy, our level-headed ex-lawyer who can negotiate his way out of any deal at the fucking drop of a hat. Beside Wicked is Roo, the Australian in the club and a thirty-three-year-old Thor looking motherfucker. I wanted his name to be Thor when he patched in, but he got Roo instead, because when he fought Gypsy in the ring, Lion said he kicked like a kangaroo. If you’ve ever seen one of those muscled machines kick, you’d know that’s not a fucking compliment. He has long blond hair, blue as fuck eyes, and skin as golden as the Sydney Bondi sand he comes from. Pretty fucker can crush your skull with a flick of his wrist too, so I wouldn’t fuck with him. Opposite Roo is Billie The Puppet, yeah, after the very same psychopath from Saw. I mean, need I say more? Billie is fucked in the head, and I don’t mean that lightly. He likes to play games with his victims, which means I very rarely take him with me on kills. He fucks around, likes to drag out death as long as he can before actually putting the poor fucker out of his misery. One time, in Sicily, we got in the middle of a mafia war between the Italians and the Russians. Was a fucking mess, but Billie here decided to send a message to the Bratva who had apparently personally insulted him by wearing the color pink. It was one man who wore pink, but Billie was offended. He took him, laid this poor little fucker beneath a hydraulic machine, and slowly crushed him. I’m putting it very fucking lightly. There were minutes there, before he sandwiched this poor cunt like a fucking crepe, that his flesh was popping out the sides, swollen and about to burst. Every time this little shit answered a question wrong, Billie would push the button. And I mean, he was asking stupid questions, like what’s after B? The kid would say “C!” and Billie would laugh like a maniac, scratch the Fuck the Police tattoo over his neckline and say, “Ehhhh! Wrong!” then push the button again. We’d all be sitting there fucking dumbfounded, but we knew this was what he liked to play. I mean, his story is one fucked up enough for the books. He is also the exception of how you should judge someone by their past. Even if they don’t live there no more, they still decided to live there once upon a time. He is that fucked in the head.
Opposite Billie is Fury. Fury is a Vet, African American man who, for real, you don’t want no beef with. He is old-school and has no problem ending your life with his fist. Fury is also one of the smartest fuckers I’ve ever met. Ever. He’s a single father to the most annoying brat in the world, but she’s also the MC princess, so if anyone picks on her, I’ll kill them.
Fluffy and Slim are our two prospects—for now—but they don’t sit in church with us. We leave the prospects with Billie. He has enough fun with them to last a fucking lifetime. Poor little fucks.
Lion’s gavel drops and the pounding on the solid piece of wood silences everyone. “Sicko, what the fuck is going on with your old man?”
School is beginning to feel more and more like a prison. It’s worse here, because I don’t have the safety of my mom to fall back on. I’m caged between reality and my nightmare, I can’t move. I can’t breathe. I’m alone, even though Sloane is always with me.
“Hey, you’re okay?” Sloane asks, handing me a Solo cup. It’s a Friday night and I usually have James on Saturdays, but I haven’t heard from him since Tuesday. I’m thankful that I haven’t seen him since then because it was weird.
We move through the sea of people as my head pounds with the music and my blood warms from the alcohol inside of me. I tip my drink down my throat. “I need to get out of here, Sloane,” I yell into her ear when she pulls me onto the lounge dance floor.
“What do you mean?” she asks, wrapping her arm around my waist and falling into my back. “We just got here!”
I spin around to face her, my hands coming to her cheeks. “I mean out of college. I don’t think I’m in the right frame of mind to complete it right now. I already know that I’m failing.”
Sloane waves me off, grabbing my hand and moving me to the front of the house. “Nonsense!” She pulls through the front door until we’re out on the patio. “But I will support you if you were to take a break. I get it, J. You’ve been a little bit off lately. I will support whatever it is that you need to do.”
My shoulders relax slightly as emotion builds in my throat. I love Sloane. I truly believe that every girl needs a best friend, but not every girl needs a husband. A spouse’s love is conditional, whether you see it or not. When you first fell for your partner, it was for reasons. A best friend will love you forever.
“Thank—” The rumble of bikes coming down the street halt my words. I shake my head and internally roll my eyes. There’s no fucking way. “Thank you. I need another drink.”
“Another drink?” an unfamiliar voice murmurs behind me, and I shuffle to see who it belongs to. He flashes his pearly white teeth at me, a complete contrast to his black hair. “Name’s Jensen.”
I smile softly, trying not to cringe. I don’t know why college boys don’t do it for me, and very briefly, I thought this one could. But now, face-to-face, I know that’s another fail.