Page 26 of Acid

“Huh?” Dixie asks, confused.

Star’s smile widens. “As in Gyno appointment. But what you mean is g-n-o, aka girls’ night out. But when we say gno, the guys will ignore what we are saying, thinking we are talking about our vagina appointments,” Star explains, laughing.

We all laugh and nod our heads. Star places her hand out in the centre. “Covert gno on three,” she says. We all place our hands on top of hers and chant gno in unison.

CHAPTER TEN

ACID

As we stand around waitingfor the Satan’s to show up, Rage shows off photos on his phone of his latest item in his collection; a foreskin he had taken from a local guy’s circumcision procedure.

“Brother, I swear to god, if you put that thing in my face one more time, I’m going to fucking make you swallow your phone,” Ghost growls in warning.

Beast looks down at his phone, checking the time. “Where the fuck are they? They ain’t normally this fucking late.” As if he summoned them, the rumbling of the bikes are heard in the distance.

“You need to chill out a bit,” Spider tells him.

Beast glares at Spider. “My woman is pregnant, and I don’t like fucking leaving her,” he states.

“Jesus, she’s safe there. She ain’t due to go into labour for months yet. Calm the fuck down,” Hawk sighs.

Beast just glares at him, but there is no time for a retort as the Satan’s come to a stop in front of us. Rip, their President, gets off his bike and walks over to Ghost. They both reach out and shake hands, slapping each other on the back. The once enemies arenow allies. They talk amongst themselves while the rest of us and the Satan’s stand, waiting for our orders.

Ghost clicks his fingers, and Spider and Khan, the two VP’s, walk over. Things look intense as they talk. I look to Cash, and he looks at me, both of us wondering what is causing the tension. I’m about to walk over but stop once Ghost shakes hands again with Rip and they turn, each of them going back to their bikes. We wait until the Satan’s have left before walking over.

As we approach, Ghost holds out his hand. “Cigarette,” he demands. Spider is quick to place one in his hand before holding out his lighter to light it.

“I’m taking this as not a good fucking sign,” I state, crossing my arms over my chest.

Ghost’s eyes land on mine. He takes a long pull on the cigarette, leaning his head back as he exhales the smoke into the night sky. “The Terminator is in an unresponsive coma,” he says, looking a Spider. “We won’t be going to the fucking hospital to question him as they are turning his machines off tomorrow. He is unresponsive, a fucking vegetable,” he growls.

Spider runs his fingers through his hair, gripping it tightly. “Fuck!” he hisses.

“Fuck is fucking right,” Ghost snaps.

“But this ain’t the first time something like this has happened. Everyone steps into that ring knowing the risks, knowing what could go fucking wrong. It’s bare knuckle boxing in an abandoned warehouse for fuck’s sake,” I snap, squeezing Spider’s shoulder in support.

“You’re right. Him dying ain’t our problem,” Ghost states.

I frown and look to the rest of my brothers, who are also looking confused. “His father is Eugene Lorne.” I catch the expression of recognition on a few of the brothers faces, while I stand there clueless.

“Yeah, I’ve got no fucking idea who that is,” I point out.

“Eugene is an evil bastard, even by our standards. He isn’t from around here. He’s rumoured to have a place further north,” Ghost states.

“I’ve heard of him, once before. I was in this bar, and the guy next to me said he knew someone that owed him money, and when he didn’t pay up, Eugene tortured him. Not just the usual ripping out the nails or chopping off a finger here and there. He peeled his skin back on his legs, and he attached tiny needles along his eyelids so that every time the guy blinked, they would scratch and cut through his eyes.” Beast scrunches his face up with disgust. “And the worst part is he did shit to the guy’s wife right in front of him. Genital mutilation,” he says with disgust.

“So, what now? How is that his son? I mean, surely they weren’t close. The guy was Austrian for Christ’s sake,” I argue.

Ghost shakes his head. “For a guy like Eugene, it doesn’t matter if he was his long lost son that he never knew he had. All that matters to him is that it is his blood. We killed his blood. Now we’ve either got to get on the right side of Eugene and kiss ass, or we fight. If we fight, it ain’t going to be quick, and it ain’t going to be a simple war. Eugene fights and plays dirty. He double crosses and plays games with his enemies. Our decision on this needs to be thought through and discussed. We’ve played chess with our enemies before, each making a move, watching and waiting to see what they do next. But with Eugene, we don’t just play and wait, we predict. We need to coax his hand, force him to make the move we want him to take, but all without him knowing. Our ability, to shoot or stab, isn’t our only weapon when it comes to Eugene. We need to think. Always fucking think,” he warns, the muscle in his jaw set tight.

I look to my brothers and see that the mood has shifted. All of us are now on edge, knowing whatever is to come will be one, or if not, the biggest fucking war we’ve ever fought.

“Church?” Spider asks.

Ghost shakes his head no. “Not tonight. I don’t want any of the women knowing shit about this. Not one of them. I don’t want them suspecting anything is up. With Belle pregnant and the kids, my son, I want calm. I want them safe. We watch them, we keep an eye out, always keeping a fucking eye out, but we keep it fucking normal,” he growls, dropping his cigarette butt to the floor and stamping it out. I pull out a chewing gum and offer it to him, knowing damn well he is supposed to have quit and knowing Star will kick his ass if she suspects he’s been smoking. He nods his thanks and takes one.

We all mount our bikes, the sound of our engines rumbling the only noise. “Bet you’re glad you came back from being a nomad now, aren’t cha?” Scar laughs.

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