Vicious Kings Motorcycle Club was born then. They didn’t stop their street dealings, but Haze at least felt like he was doing something good with his time by creating a family with the club and giving back to the community in the name of the club.
Their ride only took fifteen minutes. Gideon smiled as they rode up to the compound. It was the Laurents’ old home. The one where Gideon had his own room and felt love for the bulk of his childhood. In fact, when they bought the home back years after Big Henry died, Gideon moved back in permanently. It just felt right.
They remodeled it to fit their need as a sort of headquarters for the Vicious Kings, but Gideon kept his wing of the place pretty much the same from when the Laurent family lived there as sort of an ode to them.
Haze wasted no time taking his helmet off after he parked his bike as he stormed toward the front door. Gideon followed, his long legs keeping up with Haze’s quick stride just fine.
Normally, niggas were out front kickin’ it and shit, but it was deserted, which Gideon found odd. When they pushed their way into the compound, Deja and Kyomi were the first ones they saw.
“Oh my God, there you two are.” Deja cried as she grabbed Haze’s arm and tugged him forward.
The entire downstairs had been renovated to be an open space that had everything a private club needed—a full kitchen, a bar, plenty of lounge space, a couple of TVs, and there was even a pool table. The club wanted for nothing, and if they had to all come here and hide out, they could do so comfortably.
Today, though, it was chaos. Nothing but a bunch of niggas running around like their heads were cut off.
“She needs some water!”
“Nah, get her some food. A sandwich!”
“Nigga, she ain’t even awake!”
“Get her an icepack!”
Mayhem ensued around them, and Gideon immediately saw the source. A woman lay on one of the green suede couches in what looked to be a tattered wedding dress. Gideon inched his way closer as he watched Haze, Deja, and Kyomi kneel beside the woman. He squinted, trying to figure out where he recognized her from. He normally never forgot a face, but hers was hard to place. Until Kyomi said the name he hadn’t heard in so long with tears in her eyes.
“It’s Glimmer.”
Glimmer.The girl he’d always known of but had only seen a few times when they were kids. He remembered her vividly. She was always such a lively little girl with a vibrant laugh, but he never got to know her. It was like their paths were never meant to cross or something. She’d be in and out of this very home, but somehow, Gideon had only ever gotten glimpses of her at birthday parties or family gatherings.
Then he remembered when Big Henry died. He remembered how hurt Haze was that the Delacroix family seemed to drop off the face of the earth. He remembered how Deja and Kyomi cried many nights for the loss of their best friend.
It seemed strange that she had suddenly reappeared, and in such an odd condition.
“Fuck is she doin’ here?” Haze muttered as he smoothed Glimmer’s straightened hair away from her face. A beautiful damn face it was. She looked like a doll. The perfect representation of what a woman should look like. Petite, curvy body, smooth dark skin, and those lips . . .
“I don’t know,” Kyomi whispered. Gideon realized his mouth was salivating as he looked at Glimmer. He wiped his mouth andcleared his throat, hoping nobody noticed as he glanced around at all the people standing around.
“Haze, you know her?” Rome asked. He was a short and stocky nigga who had been down with VK since its birth. Real loyal mothafucka, and Gideon respected the hell out of him.
Haze glanced behind him at the gang of niggas staring at the woman he once held close as a sister. “Yeah, man. Old family friend. Can y’all give us some space?”
Just like that, everyone dispersed, but Gideon stayed put. He wasn’t about to miss a beat. When it came to people he loved, he could be a bit overbearing. The Laurent family clearly had a situation on their hands, which meant he did too.
“Aight, this what we gon’ do. Ky, you and Deja need to go buy her some clothes. I don’t know why she’s here or for how long she needs to stay, but you know we gon’ hold her down.” Haze looked up at Gideon. “Big dawg, I need you to bring her upstairs and keep an eye on her. I’ma call one of the VK doctors to come through and check on her. I’ll make some calls to see if I can figure out what the hell happened to her.”
Nobody really questioned Haze. Gideon could tell Kyomi and Deja wanted to stay with their old friend. He could also tell there was absolutely no love lost between the women. Once Deja and Kyomi loved someone, they were locked in for life.
Reluctantly, they stood to their feet and walked toward the front door of the compound. Haze looked at Pup, the youngest and newest member of VK. He was a YN who had been on the wrong path, but Gideon got ahold of him and gave him a purpose within the crew. He still did his dirt on the side, like all the niggas here did. It was how they kept their pockets laced, but at least with family on his side, he would be protected. “Go wit’ them. Keep an eye on them.”
“Got it, Prez,” Pup said as he hopped up from his seat and jogged toward the front door. He was a tall, lanky kid with smooth brown skin, baby locs, and a baby face.
Haze stood and looked at Gideon. “You got this?”
Gideon responded by lifting Glimmer up as if she weighed nothing. “I’ll bring her to my room.”
“You can just bring her to a spare room?—”
“My room,” Gideon repeated as he walked toward the stairs.
