He gave me a nasty, satisfied glare. “You go out that door without me at your side, smiling from fucking ear to ear, and they’ll beat you to death before you reach your car. Trevor will do it himself.” He paused and nodded as there was a horrific scream from the other side of the door. From the ring. Was Jason dead? Was Nicky Q. a goner? My blood ran cold in my veins. “You want that to be you?”
“No,” I answered fast. “Fuck no.”
“Good.” He gave my shoulders a surprisingly light squeeze. “Tell me what you know about Trevor,” he demanded.
“He’s my friend. We met at the fights. He says I fight good. He… he likes me.” I wiped my hand over my face and it came away coated with sweat, in spite of the cold.
“No. Trevor’s a recruiter for the Aryan Soldiers. He’s a fucking sociopath.Idon’t even trust him.”
I tried to stand again but stopped as Black lowered his eyebrows and refused to let me move.
“You asked what I get out of all this? I get to watch people bleed. I went to one of your fights. You keep hitting until there’s bone when your blood’s fired up. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen you beat a man until gore’s exposed.” He whispered those words like they were poetry, and I froze in panic as he let go of my shoulders and began to unbuckle his belt. “I get tributes, like all great leaders. I get someone pretty on my cock, whenever I fucking want.”
I jutted my chin at him, and a hate like I’d never felt in my life washed through me. “They’re killing someone out there for being queer,” I whispered, “and you have the fuckingnerve?”
“So, better him than you, right?” He smirked. “And the last fuck who told me ‘no’ is out there, too. He’s probably bleeding out right this second.” The breath gushed from my body. “Don’t want to be next? Better fucking hurry. And when you’re done, you’re going out there to pound someone until they’re dead, or they wish they were, and then you’re coming home with me tonight.”
“I’ll go tell them. Tell them what you’re doing to me in here.”
His belt hung loose and he popped the button on his fly. I didn’t need his pants open to see the wood he had, though. He was straining and ready to fuck. I scrabbled at the desk to try to get leverage to get away, but he hooked a hand around the back of my neck and squeezed.
“They won’t believe you.” Black flexed his fingers on me until it hurt. “Well, except for Trevor. He knew you wanted his nuts. He told me. And you like to make people bleed, like I do. Trevor does, too.” He cupped my chin. “We’re going to do good things together.”
“Please, let me go home. I couldn’t give a shit less what you do, but I don’t want it.”
He laughed. “Oh, you’re going home a new man. An improved man. You’re going to be an Aryan Soldier. One of my favorites.”
I closed my eyes, and outside the door another scream had me flinching. Black only laughed, and the sound of his zipper was too loud. I couldn’tbelieveTrev. He’d been nice to me. Taken me out. Bought me games for my PlayStation. Hung out. Drank with me. I’d thought he wanted tobe with me. A thumb tugged down my bottom lip. I didn’t open my eyes, only bared my teeth in his direction.
“I got all night, but they’re going to be missing you soon. You don’t want to see what they’ll do if they think you can’t be trusted. You need me to talk them around, since you already ran.”
I opened my mouth.
“Good boy.”
Andrew “Drew” Greene
Present Day
I pickedup the note written on an envelope that had been left on the old cream-colored dryer where the last of my laundry for the week was rattling around inside. The thing was half dead and needed to be replaced, and the fact that it took seven lifetimes to dry one load of clothes was part of what had me running late.
Dear Quarter Thief,
I would like my $1.25 back, please. I went to get quarters, and you stole my dryer. I will take this to the monthly community meeting if it is not addressed to my satisfaction.
No signature, of course. Why would anyone put their name to this highway robbery?
My brain refused to process the stupidity I held in my hand. I bit my lip and fought not to roll my eyes, then did it anyway. The bare wooden beams on the ceiling didn’t give me any hints as to who I’d infuriated this week, though I had an idea. I turned to stare at the basket of dry laundry I’d left nearby on the wooden folding table. The tiny room was barely big enough for a man of my size to stand in along with the washer and dryer.
The clothes were rightthere. Sitting there. Dry.
When I’d come down to do laundry earlier, the wet clothes were just taking up space in the dryer, and I’d popped quarters in, figuring someone hadn’t had enough to finish their laundry. Hell, I’d thought I was beingneighborly.
Well, no good deed went unpunished.
The whole thing pissed me off, but I fished the last of my quarters out of my pocket, simply to avoid the irritation of needing to attend the monthly meeting for my tiny lakeside community. I put about three bucks in the envelope. I had to get to work and didn’t have time for this. One of my elderly neighbors was either confused… or broke. I left the envelope of money on top of the basket of ready-to-go laundry. If they couldn’t figure out what happened, I wasn’t sure any amount of explaining from me would do the trick.
I snatched my clothes hamper from where I’d left it tucked under the folding table and emptied the dryer into it, my clean laundry on its way to getting wrinkled because I had no time left to deal with it before I started the hour drive to Trident Falls Correctional Facility. Good old TFC, where I’d probably die in a prison riot someday. I rolled my eyes again and hauled my laundry out to the open back of my Jeep Wrangler. I stuffed everything inside, closed the gate, rolled down the soft top, and thought for maybe the thousandth time I should get a more user-friendly vehicle. I loved the yellow fun wagon too much for that, however. I gave the old girl a pat and ran around to hop into the driver’s seat. One glance at the clock and I groaned.
