“I’m gonna rip your fuckin’ head off and mount in on my clubhouse wall,” Warlock shouted as we broke apart.
The roar from both clubs was nearly deafening as Warlock and I traded blows. One after another, each of us chopping away at the other man like timber. Both of us were covered in blood and mud as we punched, kicked, and damn-near clawed at each other. God’s honest truth, as the minutes rolled by, I couldn’t even tell you which one of us was winning. All I know is I beat on that son-of-a-bitch with everything I had, and he kept on coming back for more.
Warlock and I hadn’t always been enemies. In fact, we were damn near inseparable when we were young. We started riding at the same time, came into club life together, and even chased the same women, until one of those women was mywife. After that, Warlock and I failed to see eye to eye.
The ever-present drizzle of the night turned into a downpour, making firm footing impossible, and robbing my punches of the necessary leverage I needed to knock Warlock out. A poorly timed punch caused me to swing and miss wildly, leaving my right side exposed. Seizing the opportunity, Warlock delivered a well-timed kick to my right knee causing it to buckle long enough to send me to the muddy ground. I landed directly in front of Warlock, but before he had time to take advantage of his position, I punched him in the balls with everything I had. Warlock dropped to his knees beside me, and I jumped on top of him, pinning his shoulders to the mud with my knees.
“That was for Maisie,” I said, doing my best to put a dent in his skull. “And this one’s for Grip.” I slammed my fist into Warlock’s face, shattering his nose. “This one’s for Cash.”
My right knee felt like it was on fire, but I pushed through the agonizing pain long enough to take his back and sink in a rear naked choke. Without the full use of my right leg, I didn’t have the leverage to snap his neck, but I could at least put him to sleep long enough to improve my position, which is exactly what I did.
“Say goodnight, motherfucker!” I grunted, as I squeezed my biceps as hard as I could aroundWarlock’s thick neck. It was only then that the reality of my position truly sank in.
I could just keep squeezing. I could kill Warlock right now and I’d be justified in the eyes of every man around me. Some of them may hate me for it. Some of them may even try to retaliate, but I’d still be justified. Of course, local law enforcement would certainly have something to say about me killing Warlock, but they wouldn’t find out about that unless one of the Spiders talked to them. The Spiders may have been a lot of things, but they weren’t rats.
I kept squeezing.
Even over the roar of the crowd, I could hear some of my brothers telling me to kill him. More and more of them joining in by the second as I squeezed with all my might. Lactic acid burning though my veins as I tightened my grip. Then I heard a single voice, louder than all the others. In fact, everything around me fell totally silent the moment I heard her speak.
“Let go, love,”Maisie’s voice rang inside my head.
“He will kill you if I do.”
“You’ll be there to protect me if he tries.”
“That’s what I’m doing now.”
“You can’t protect me if you’re in prison. It’s time to let go.”
“I can’t.”
“Connor. Let go.”
I growled as I tightened my hold around Warlock’s neck one last time before finally letting go, pushing Warlock’s limp body off of me, face down in the mud. Pain like I’d never felt before shot through my right leg like lightning as I struggled to make it onto my left.
After a few more seconds Warlock coughed and choked as he began to regain consciousness.
“Stay down… if you know what’s… good for you,” I said through heavy breaths. “I could have… killed you, but… I didn’t.”
“You should have,” Warlock croaked out.
“You and your… club are done. You’re gonna leave town and I don’t ever want to hear your name again. If I do, I swear to God, I won’t show mercy next time.”
“That’s it,” Irish Frank, called out, waving his hands to signify the end of the fight.
I rose to my feet and turned to my club, who were going completely apeshit. Whipped up into a frenzy like I’d never seen my boys before. I waved Mack over to assist me, my back momentarily turned to Warlock, when I heard Rooster bellow, “Hatch, watch out!”
I spun around to see Warlock rushing toward me but didn’t have time to react before he tackled me to the ground. Warlock, now in the top position, grabbed my hair and pushed my head, face down into the mud.
“I told you, you shoulda killed me!” Warlockshouted as he continued to drown me.
I didn’t dare fight for breath, knowing full well that if I inhaled, I’d get a lung full of mud. Instead, I quickly, but calmly, clawed at his hands until I finally got a hold of a finger. His right middle finger, to be exact. As I neared the point of passing out, I peeled his finger backward as hard as I could until I felt it snap. Warlock howled in pain as he let go, and I bucked with all my might until he was off me.
“Mother fucker!” Warlock howled in pain as he cradled his hand.
Finally, able to breathe again, I managed to get to my hand and knees as I choked and wheezed. Warlock, however, was already back on his feet and delivered a swift kick to my ribs.
“You’ve gotten soft, Hatch,” Warlock taunted as I once again struggled for breath.
