Page 12 of Diesel

“Fuck that, I did.”

“Shit. He’s still alive.”

They raised their guns, and I stood. “Assholes!”

“She’s mine,” the larger of the two men said.

“Na,” the other guy said. “There’s enough pussy there for the both of us. We’ll split that bitch right down the middle.”

The two men started toward me, and I backed up until a display of Budweiser stopped me. I grabbed the mace from my purse and sprayed it when they were close enough. Unfortunately, nothing happened.

They laughed again, and the bigger guy handed the smaller guy his gun and jacket. “Check out those tits.”

“I’m gonna hit that ass,” the other guy said.

Between the men, I saw Diesel standing at the aisle’s end. He started down the aisle, and even if I wanted to stop him from killing the men, there was no way I could.

The entire store had mirrors where the walls met the ceiling. The men noticed Diesel approaching, but it was a second too late. Diesel knocked out the man holding the guns and then grabbed the other man by the neck. I’d never seen terror on anyone’s face like he had on his. He knew death was knocking on the door.

Diesel slammed the man into a glass door, sending milk and juice flying into the back room. The second man came to and reached for a gun. I had no choice. I stomped the man once in the face, and his head hit the floor. Blood gushed from his nose and oozed from his skull.

“Diesel,” I yelled when the man jumped through the shattered door.

Diesel caught the man in mid-air and tossed him sideways through another glass door. He didn’t move again. Diesel stood over the man. I could tell he was listening to the voices again.

I looked in on the man and saw his chest moving up and down.

Diesel raised his foot.

“Diesel,” I said softly. “Don’t. Let him live.”

“I can’t. The voice is telling me he has to die.”

“Don’t listen, baby. Push the voice away.” I placed my hand on his forearm, the large muscle flexing. “You can beat the voices.”

Diesel turned. “The voices always win, G.”

“They don’t have to,” I said. “Just take a step back. That’s all I want.”

Diesel stepped away from the man. He put his arm around my lower back and lifted me into his arms. “You’re gonna help me, G.”

“I am, baby. You gotta trust me. Let’s go.”

Diesel carried me back to the bike as sirens blared in the distance. I scanned our surroundings and saw nobody. Maybe we were free. Nobody would ever know what happened.

5

Diesel

I considered going back inside the store and killing the two men. The man G had stomped was waking up as we left. The other guy would need an ambulance, emergency surgery, and year-long rehab.

Something told me the voices were pissed. When the next time to kill a man came around, the voices would give me no other choice.

I patted G’s leg and pulled away from the store, passing three police cars a few minutes later.

We spent the next two and a half hours on the road, speeding beneath the stars, the night's heat chasing away a summer breeze. Riding at night with little to no traffic was a biker’s dream. Though G was behind me, I was really alone with the night. Clearing my head of the incident at the store, I thought about my childhood, my parents, Harvard, and G.

G had gone out on a weak and dangerous limb, coming with me and ignoring her father’s demands. Actions always spoke louder than words, and I did not intend to disappoint her. Was I in love with a woman I’d just met? It was pretty damn close. She’d also saved my life back at the store. Yeah, maybe I finally loved someone.

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