We’re both quiet for a few minutes while I’m lost in my thoughts of the past, before Bowie breaks the silence. “I miss you, Shay.”
His words come out strangled, as if he is admitting some deep dark secret. He’s been gone over two weeks now, and I miss him so much I can’t stand it. I have spent most of my time cleaning or cooking, doing anything to not think about his absence. “I miss you too, honey.”
“I like that.”
“What?” I ask.
“I like you calling me honey,” He says in a sleepy voice, and I can tell he’s about to end our nightly call.
Since the day Cash showed up, he has called me every morning and every night. The morning call is just to check in, remind me to keep myself safe. The nightly call is our play time. When he first told me he wanted me to touch myself, while he listened, I was shocked. After a little coaxing on his part, I gave it a try. For the last three nights, I’ve fallen asleep with a smile on my face.
“I gotta go, baby,” He says, with a yawn. “I’ll call you before I ride out.”
I let out a yawn of my own, not even thinking about the words coming from my mouth. “Talk to you in the morning. Love you, Bowie.”
Fuckin’ Failed
Bowie
Walking out of the Sixes’ clubhouse, I watch as Tin talks on his phone. I can tell by the sound of his voice that something is wrong, but I’m not asking questions until we’re alone. No way do I want the Sixes knowing if shit isn’t playing out like I planned. They may have agreed not to go to war with the Outlaws, but if they get a whiff of any problems with getting Cash out, they’ll be after our blood. In this world, the weak get taken out by the strong and there’s no fuckin’ way I’m gonna let these bastards think I’m weak.
Climbing onto my bike, I look over at my brother. I wait until he places the phone in his pocket and ask, “What’s up?”
“Toke is gone,” Tin answers his face full of rage.
If Toke is heading home, Shay could be in danger. The thought of her with no one to watch over her but a kid has my stomach churning. I wish like hell that Red was still around to keep an eye on her, but he had to head out last night to join the boys up north. He took a beating for not following Cash’s orders before he left though. “What the fuck do you mean he’s gone?”
Tin shakes his head, frustration showing on his face. “I don’t know what the hell happened. Rollo said he went into the room he had been holding him, and the bastard had disappeared.”
“I thought he was keeping his ass drugged?”
Tin shrugs. “Rollo said he was barely able to open an eye, he was so out of it. He didn’t know how the fucker got away.”
“Fuck! We should’ve put a bullet in his damn head.”
When I put my plans for delivering the guns to the Sixes with the others boys, Topper refused to take part in killing off a brother. He said if it came down to bloodshed during the takeover he would deal with it, but he wasn’t having shit to do with killing Toke before it was absolutely necessary. To keep peace, I took a vote. Surprisingly, the vote went in Topper’s favor. So, instead of being dumped on the side of the road with his throat slit, Toke was drugged. Rollo was supposed to be in charge of watching his ass, but he fuckin’ failed.
“Too late for that; now we gotta do some clean up,” Tin replies.
I’m not sure if this is something that can be swept under the rug. If that bastard has made his way back to Rich Hill, then shit’s about to hit the fan. “How the hell are we gonna clean this shit up? You know damn well that fuckers gonna go straight to Cash. When he does, Cash is gonna be out for our blood.”
“I don’t think so,” Tin says with a shake of his head. “I think Toke is a lot like Topper. He does what his president tells him to, but he doesn’t like it.”
“What the hell gave you that idea?”
“Watch him with Cash. He hates his ass,” Tin explains, before going on. “I didn’t notice it until the day we left. Cash said something and I swear that Toke looked like he wanted to gut the motherfucker.”
I don’t agree with the shit my brother’s saying but I still ask, “What did he say?”
Tin’s eyes go hard as his hands tighten on his handle bars. “Domino started some shit with one of the other girls over Cash taking her to his bed. The bitch was stupid enough to come to him about it. He knocked her around a bit and told her to get out. Then he said that he shouldn’t have gotten rid of his spic whore and that she was the only bitch he’d ever met that knew how to keep her mouth shut.”