A cold rain beat down on me as I pulled the bike back into the Artillery’s clubhouse parking lot. Nobody was outside the gates, and just the cold chill alone was enough to give me hypothermia. The rain came out of nowhere, blowing in so fast and hard that I had no choice but to walk the motorcycle six miles just to get it back to them.
I was cold, angry, and had a sickness starting to form, something I couldn’t shake.
Banging as loud as I could, I slammed my fist against the wood and chain link of the clubhouse fencing. “Yo, open up, I got your bike!” I shouted.
When no one came for five whole minutes, I started beating on it again. “Let me in! I have your bike.”
Another ten minutes rolled by before someone finally opened up the gates. It was Shotgun. His smug smirk greeted me the second the gate opened, but he refused to open it very far.
“I have your bike. Now give me my sister.”
Shotgun laughed. “Sister? What sister?”
“JOEY! You bastard. I want my fucking sister. A deal is a deal. I got the bike, so you guys need to release me and her.”
Shotgun stroked his chin, the lightning and thunder from above cracking loudly. “If I remember correctly, Beretta’s exact words were that you return the bike in good condition and without anyone seeing you.”
“I did!”
He laughed. “Seems like it’s a little wet.”
“It’s raining, asshole.”
“Is it? Hmm, I didn’t notice. Anyway, Beretta says the deal is off.” He opened the gate and started taking the bike away from me.
“Hey, if the deal’s off, then you don’t get the bike.”
“Bike? You mean this one you stole? The one the cops and those bastards in the Celestial Sons MC saw you ride away on?”
He pushed me to the ground when I lunged at him, knocking me into a muddy puddle.
“Listen, street rat. Beretta is doing you a favor by sparing your life. Don’t throw away his kindness by being stupid. Get lost. Your sister is none of your concern anymore.”
I tried to get up, but the mud had me pinned to the ground, long enough for him to bring the bike in and slam the gate behind him.
“LET ME TALK TO JOEY! GIVE ME MY SISTER!” I shouted over the thunder and pouring rain.
But nothing I said or did mattered anymore. My only bargaining chip was gone, and Joey was as good as dead if she stayed there any longer. How did this happen? Why did everything get so messed up? I trusted a group of lying, cheating bikers, and failed at making a deal with the devil.
They might as well have left me for dead, because a world without my sister is a world I didn’t want to be in. No. I wasn’t going to give up, not when I knew firsthand what my sister was being treated like in there.
If the Hell’s Artillery thought this was going to be the end of our little arrangement, they were sadly mistaken, because I was going to return here every day, demanding they release Joey or die trying.
Five whole days.
That’s how long I’ve waited for the Artillery to release Joey. Not once have they given in to my demands, laughing at me when they saw that I was still hanging around, trying to get them to keep their end of the bargain. I put my life on the line for them, and all I wanted in return was my life, and Joey’s.
The gates squeaked open, and I scrambled to my feet, ready to rush in the second I saw an opening. If they weren’t going to hand me Joey peacefully, then I was going to go in there and release her myself.
I was two seconds away from rushing forward when one of the biggest bikers I’d ever seen came stomping out, heading straight toward me.
“It’s time for you to go, little one.”
“NO! Not without my sister.”
He was being followed by two other men, but both of them parted to let someone else go through.
“Joey!” I shouted in glee, rushing toward her to give her a hug. “You’re alive.” I was only millimeters away from her when she held up her hand, halting me to a stop.
