Page 10 of Abe (Marked Skulls MC 3)
Oz managed to push me off and he got a punch in, a hard one straight to my stomach and I felt the breath being knocked out of me.
“Don’t fucking make me hit you, man,” I growled while he flexed his knuckles, heaving hard.
“You fucked my sister, in my home, behind my back! You fucking motherfucker!” Oz roared and he came at me again.
I grabbed him by his shoulder and whipped myself around, wrapping an arm around his neck and choking him lightly; making sure that he couldn’t move.
“Stop it! Please just stop!” Alexis screamed and I looked at her. She was standing in the corner of the room, with her hands on her mouth, screeching. This was exactly the sort of violence she was against, and we were not doing ourselves any favors by giving her a little demonstration of it.
“Oz, we need to sit down and talk about this like men. I’m going to let you go but you have to stop taking punches at me,” I said while he continued to writhe and struggle in my arms. His face was turning red. He was strong, he was very strong but I was stronger than him and I needed him to know that.
“What is there to talk about? You came in here and fucked my sister!” he groaned and growled while he tried to get out of my grip.
“I wanted it, okay? I wanted him!” Alexis screeched and instantly, I felt Oz stop struggling. I released his neck and he staggered forward, trying to get back his footing.
“What did you just say?” he stepped threateningly towards his sister and I fought the urge to defend her. I was itching to pull him back, away from Alexis but I knew that would be wrong. This was between the two of them and I had caused too much damage already.
“I said that I wanted him to…fuck me,” Alexis said, in a weaker shriller voice. I could see that she was struggling to keep her head up, to meet her brother’s eyes while Oz glared at her.
“You wanted to sleep with Abe? From Marked Skulls? You know who he is, right?” Oz shouted and Alexis licked her lips nervously and nodded her head.
“Yes, I do…what I’m trying to say is that you don’t need to defend my honor because it’s not like he forced himself on me. I wanted it too,” Alexis continued and I could see her cheeks turning pink again. She was ashamed and embarrassed and angry with herself; all at the same time.
Oz was breathing heavily, still glaring at her.
“I don’t believe this. I don’t fucking believe this! This is the man you’re forcing to stay away from me and then you go and sleep with him?” Oz’ voice quivered as he pointed at me.
I was watching Alexis, trying to stop thinking about how I wanted to take her into my arms. I hoped fiercely that she wouldn’t break down in tears again, because I wouldn’t be able to control myself then. My reflex would be to hit Oz, to break anything that had made this woman sad.
“I know how this sounds, Oz, trust me…I didn’t want to…” Alexis said, in a pleading helpless voice and Oz whipped away from her. He glared at me and gulped.
“Look man, maybe we should all sit down and just talk. I don’t want to disrespect you,” I said and he shook his head.
“This is all fucking messed up. I can’t believe your double standards. It’s like you want to do everything to stop me from doing what I want to do. And then, you don’t live by your own rules!” he barked at Alexis again and she looked away from him.
“Okay, that’s enough, Oz. You need to stop screaming at your sister,” I stepped up towards them and Oz looked at me again, his eyes bloodshot.
“Just because you’ve fucked my sister once doesn’t make you an expert on our family,” he hissed and then pushing past me, he strode out of the living room. I heard the front door open and bang shut, while Alexis remained in the corner, with her head hanging low.
“You all right?” I asked and she nodded her head. I could see that she was struggling to keep her tears in.
“You should go after him. I’ll be the last person he wants to talk to right now,” she said and looked back up at me with watery eyes.
“I’m sorry for…” I began to say and she interrupted me.
“Don’t apologize. It was my decision to sleep with you, I’ll deal with it and get over it. You deal with Oz, since that’s what you’re good at,” she said and Alexis left the room too.
I sighed and took a minute to compose myself, before I ran out of the apartment. I needed to find Oz so that I could tell him what I had come here to say in the first place; that I had a job for him.
***
“Oz, wait up, man!” I called after him when I ran out of their apartment building. He was sprinting, trying to cross the road before I could get to him but the traffic made it impossible, he was stuck there, trying to keep his gaze firmly averted from me. I didn’t blame the kid. He must have been forced to have an image in his head of me with his sister. He didn’t want to look me in the eye.
“Are we cool here?” I went up to him, standing behind him. I could see him clenching his jaws. I gave him a minute and then placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“Look man, I get it. I shouldn’t have done anything with your sister, and I know she tells you she hates me,” I said and he whipped around to look at me. There was still some rage in his eyes and I didn’t blame him for it.
“Her fucking double standards, man!” he growled, flaring his nostrils, and I nodded my head.
“I don’t understand women either,” I said, grinning and Oz shook his head, like his mind was all messed up inside.
“It’s like…she doesn’t want me to be happy or something. She wants me to lead this picture perfect life, according to her fantasy. What happens to what I want?” Oz continued and I nodded my head.
“I hear you, and I think you need at least one chance to decide if this is the life you want or not,” I said and Oz looked at me hopefully.
“This is the life I want. I know that already,” he stated and I smiled.
“Okay, then I have a job for you. Consider it a preliminary test, one of probably several more before you get officially patched in to the MC,” I said and now Oz couldn’t help but smile.
“Where and when do you need me?” he asked.
“Tomorrow, midnight, I’ll text you the address when the location is decided,” I said and Oz nodded, looking all serious.
“I’ll be there,” he said, then his expression changed again. “Look, man, I didn’t mean to hit you. As in, I did, but I wasn’t thinking straight…I mean, she’s my sister and all,” Oz said sounding apologetic, and I thumped his back and smiled.
“It’s already forgotten. Can’t blame you for the way you reacted. I would have done the same thing if I was in your place, and if I had a sister,” I said and we smiled at each other. Oz ran a hand through his hair.
“Is it like…are you two like a thing now or something?” he asked and I forced myself to laugh, even though that question felt like a slap across the face.
“I don’t think any man can tie down that woman to one place. No, we’re not a thing, we’re just…” I said and Oz looked away from me, embarrassed.
“Yeah, cool, you don’t have to explain it to me,” he said and I laughed at his embarrassment.
“Honestly man, I don’t know what to do about her. I want this job, I want to be a part of the MC, this is the life I want to lead…but my sister, Alexis, she’s just making everything difficult for me. I don’t want to sound like a pussy right now, not right after you’ve offered me a job, but I don’t want to upset her. I don’t want her to worry about me constantly,” Oz continued.
I watched him as he spoke about Alexis, and I knew exactly what he was talking about. I didn’t even know her, and already, I felt like it would kill me to see her disappointed in me. It didn’t matter that I was stronger than her, or more powerful. What mattered was the effect she had on me when we were alone together.
I grabbed the back of Oz’ neck and squeezed.
“I hear you, and let me see what I can do about it. I’m going to try and make her come around,”
I said and he nodded his head.
“Cool, okay, best of luck,” he said with a laugh and I smiled at him too.
Then we shook hands, we exchanged phone numbers and I walked in the direction of where I’d parked my bike.
I was riding back to T-Bone, and thinking about Alexis and how mind-blowing it was to have sex with her. No woman, not Vanity or any of the other sizzling hot women I was used to fucking; had felt as good as Alexis had. It wasn’t even like she was the hottest or the prettiest girl I’d set my eyes on, there was just something else about her—like she lit up a spark in me. I’d felt that from the moment I’d walked into the storeroom at the supermarket.
I knew immediately that she was someone who was going to leave her mark on me. And now, I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I felt like I was getting obsessed with her and that was bad, that was very bad.
I didn’t know what a relationship looked like, what sharing a meal with a woman alone felt like, what it meant to talk about the future with someone…I wasn’t experienced in any of those things and I was comfortable. Vanity was comfortable, all the other casual sexual relationships I had with women were comfortable, and now Alexis was making me think about if I wanted something more.
I cursed under my breath as I rode the bike to the bar. I needed a drink. I needed to get my mind off all these crazy thoughts. What was happening to me? It was like Alexis had left a grenade inside me which was blowing up and shattering me into pieces.
Chapter 12
Abe
It was midnight the next night, when Rodeo and Girth followed me on their bikes to the old abandoned warehouse. Lewis had given us the nod to get back in touch with the Garcias and they in turn had set up this meeting with one of their men.
We parked our bikes at the rusty shutters of the warehouse and got off. Girth passed around the cigarettes and we each took one, to help us with the wait. We wanted to get here early so that we weren’t unprepared for any surprises.
“This still feels like a bloody bad idea to me,” Rodeo said, when he took his first drag. Girth was characteristically quiet as he smoked his cigarette and I stood in the middle of them, watching at the distant dark space beyond for any sound or movement.
“This feels like a new beginning to me,” I replied, just when we heard the sound of a beaten up truck approaching, rattling along the way. I heard Rodeo and Girth both cock their guns.
“It’s the kid,” I said, raising a hand to stop them.
Oz’ car rattled along the dusty path towards us, with one headlight beaming weakly at us.
