Page 15 of Ink

Griz huffs into the phone. “Stop talking. Just shut up and listen to me for once.”

Someone has their panties in a twist tonight. I remain silent not wanting to poke the beast.

“Is Carmen with you?” My veins instantly feel like they’ve been flooded with ice. I scramble to get my boots back on. Not even bothering to respond to him.

“Ink did you hear me?” He barks into the phone. Patronizing and speaking slowly now. “Is Carmen with you?”

I keep getting myself dressed. I don’t even care that I’m not answering him. I can feel it. What’s coming next.

“A bunch of the brothers saw you leave together from the clubhouse tonight and they weren’t the only ones.”

“No. She isn’t with me.” I finally shout into the phone. I manage to get my boots on and loop my arms into my cut to get out to my motorcycle. I have to force the plywood off the front door frame to get out my makeshift door. In the rush to get out, I don’t even bother covering the frame back up.

“You need to get to her house and now. Check on her. They’ve hit two other brothers and their women. I’m on my way over to Shooter’s house right now. They saw him and his sister leave the clubhouse tonight and thought she was his girl. Followed them, waiting till they were least expecting it then broke in. Held him down while they roughed her up and said it was a warning of more to come. Then they shot him in the knee.”

What. The. Fuck. I had just seen both of them a few hours ago. “Jesus Griz. What’s the club’s response?”

“Prez and I are getting ready to talk about it but we’re also getting ready to bring in all the brothers. It’s late. Real late and he’s trying to decide how best to handle it. He doesn’t want to get the ol’ ladies worried but I mean… after tonight they’re gonna be. Prez is over at Shooter’s house and I’m on the way but we’re making the calls and knocking on doors. Get your shit together and go to Carmen because I wouldn’t put anything past these fuckers right now.”

“I’m already out the door. I gotta go.”

“Keep me posted.”

“I’ll meet you back at the clubhouse.”

He doesn’t even huff out a goodbye that’s how frustrated or stressed he is and I don’t even care at this point because I only have one thing on my mind and that is getting on my motorcycle and getting the fuck back over to Carmen’s house. I don’t care if I have to stand on the street all night long just watching the house to make sure she’s okay.

I throw my leg over, start the engine, hit the kickstand, and blaze off into the night not giving one single fuck who I wake up with the roar of my engine.

I know the moment I pulled up to Carmen’s house that all is not right. Every light in the house is on and it’s three-thirty in the morning. As I rush off my cycle, my legs eat up the distance between myself and the house. I am going up the front steps faster than I can even think. I can see the front living room from the porch and when her dad’s eyes met mine through the window, I know something terrible has happened. My stomach sinks and the panic and amount of rage I felt inside me begins to boil over.

I don’t even bother knocking. I try the lock, turn it and find it open. I let myself in and run right into the front room where I had just seen her father in. We’ve only met one time and it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. Not only had he found me with my tongue down his daughter’s throat but he also had a shotgun aimed at me. Tonight isn’t much better. He’s pacing the floor when I come in and he immediately stops and looks at me. I don’t care that he looks like he could kill me with just his bare hands, I am more concerned about Carmen, who is sitting on the sofa behind him. Her mother is sitting beside her with a scowl on her face.

Carmen is wearing a sweatshirt and sleep shorts. She has tear streaks down her face, her eyes are bloodshot, her hair is a mess of knots and her arms are wrapped so tightly around herself that her fingers look white. She is slightly rocking back and forth and when her eyes don’t immediately meet mine, I am overcome with so many different emotions I don’t know what to do first. She looks so scared and small and I just know that my involvement in her life caused this.

I take a step toward her, but her father stops pacing and stands directly in front of me. His words are low and surprisingly steady given the circumstances. “You did this. It may not have been you here but it was because of you that criminals came into my home and violated our safe space. Pedazo de basura.”

I don’t look away from Mr. Castillo, in fact, I don’t even blink as we stand toe to toe and he calls me a piece of trash in his home. I had brought this into his house. Not willingly or knowingly but it was because of her being involved with me that it happened. I can take that responsibility, but it isn’t going to stop me from going to her. Being there for her. I need to know exactly what happened. If she has been harmed in any way, I am going to burn down the world for her.

I sidestep him and he follows my movements. I shake my head. “Mr. Castillo, that may be your daughter sitting there but she is a grown woman now and she’s all mine.”

His face pales and his mouth gapes open. The look of surprise on his face tells me that Carmen hadn’t mentioned anything between us to him. Or her mother if the rush of tears and sobbing now coming from her tells me anything. I take their moment of shock to rush over to Carmen and check on her. I drop down to my knees in front of her. I put my hands over hers on her legs and press my forehead to hers. “Carmen baby, look at me.”

Her soft cries can barely be heard over the bickering between her parents. I can only catch a word here and there because they were talking in Spanish and since the only Spanish I had picked up with in prison, I only know the bad phrases. “Carmen baby, I’m here now. Tell me what happened.”

With more fierceness in her voice than I could have imagined she slowly raises her head up some and pulls her forehead off mine. “The Nordic Fire Vice President came to pay me a visit. He also left you a message.” She slowly turns her head to the side and I get the first glimpse of what he had done to her. The right side of her face is swollen, and the red outline of a massive handprint takes up her entire cheek. The other side matching. Her lip is swollen, appearing that she was hit in the mouth.

I am going to murder someone tonight. I can feel it in my bones. Panic floods me. Then I realize something, only Carmen is sitting in front of me but what about Lucia? “Baby, where’s Lucia?”

Carmen’s eyes widen at the mention of her daughter. “She was in the fucking bed, Ink. Right beside me when they wrenched me out of it. One of them held me as the other asked his questions and when I wouldn’t answer him he slapped the shit out of me. She laid in that bed asleep and thankfully didn’t wake up but I swear to God, I’d be dead or they would be if they would have tried to lay a hand on her.”

“Carmen, listen to me. I’m going to make this right. I’m going to find that mother fucker and I’m going to cut his hand off that hit you. I had no idea any of this was going to happen, you have to believe me.”

She nods her head but it seems more absentmindedly than in agreement. “Ink, I can’t do this.”

Fuck.

“No, Carmen. Don’t say it. Listen to me. This is never going to happen again. You weren’t the only person attacked tonight. It happened to others. They wanted to send a message and they did and now it’s going to be the last thing they do. I don’t care what the club says.”

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