Page 12 of Bourbon & Blood

In fact, we needed to have a club vote on it sooner rather than later given we were going to these lengths for the kid.

We pulled up down the block from the dilapidated shotgun house that’d the kid had been so proud to point out to some of the rest of the boys that late afternoon sometime last year, and we killed the bikes.

There were still a couple cop cars outside the place, and a woman sat smoking on the front steps.

She might have been attractive once, but now she was wrinkled and entirely too thin. Her reddish hair a bad dye job and kinked and crackling around her head with a straw-like texture. She looked like someone had poked a drinking straw in her and sucked out just about every nutrient a healthy body needed. Even all the way from here, Saint and I could see the crusty scabbed sores down the side of her leg where it was probably being eaten by whatever drug she’d been shooting.

She smoked furiously and shook her head at something the female cop asked her as she sucked on her cigarette. From here, I could see her eyes were as hollow as her fuckin’ cheeks – empty and devoid of any fuckin’ soul.

“That’sLouie’s momma?” Saint asked, and I didn’t even have to look to see the disgust on his face when I could plainly hear it in his voice. It was a derision I shared. I mean, Louie was a good kid, as far as kids went. Twenty something and an unfortunate Army washout; he could and would have done well in the military if not for this bitch. He’d come running home when she’d OD’d on whatever the fuck and he’d gotten word of it. Loyal to a fault to the woman that’d birthed him, he’d fucked up any ability to remain by bailing to come to her rescue, and the Army had kicked him to the curb.

He'd crossed paths with the lot of us on the city’s underground-fighting circuit. He was a good fighter, had heart, and liked to ride. Things just sort of naturally progressed to what it was today.

Still, I stared at this woman and all I felt was a certain amount of anger at her mixed with my disgust. She’d yanked chance after chance out from in front of her boy with her selfishness, and it was time for that shit to stop.

“How you want to play this?” Saint asked.

“We got all fuckin’ day,” I replied. “We wait.”

“Looks like we’re gonna be waitin’ a while, boss. I don’t see any dude that looks like he could stick ol’ Louie. Think he was arrested?”

“Probably. As for this,” I said, thrusting my chin at the scene unfolding out in front of us, “we wait long enough for the pigs to fuck off, and we have a go at Louie’s mom.”

“You think Louie gon’ be right with that?” Saint sucked his teeth, his keen gaze fixed on the cops and Louie’s junky mom.

“Louie don’t get a say no more,” I declared. “The blood of the covenant is thicker ‘n the water of the womb.”

Saint gave a sage nod. “Too right,” he agreed and leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his gas tank.

And so, we waited…

CHAPTERFIVE

Alina…

“Lina!” I whirled behind my bar and I couldfeelmy face light up as Maya leaned way over it.

“Hey, you! What brings you around these parts?” I called over the thumping bass of the bar music.

“I got a gig!” she cried. “Modeling, this time!”

“Alright!” I cried, and I hugged her over the bar.

“Hey, watch out now!” Mike cried as I disengaged from Maya and nearly stepped on him as he passed behind me.

“Sorry!” I cried, and he waved me off, hitting up a guy further down the bar to see what he wanted.

I smiled and called out, “We gon’ celebrate when I get home?”

“I can’t,” she called. “I have a date.” She made a face, and I knew it was one ofthosedates. I didn’t judge, though. She was an adult and could do what she wanted. To be honest, she madereallygood money, to the point that I justwishthat I could do it… but I just couldn’t. Not me. I made good tips behind the bar, but nothing like what Maya could make in just a couple of hours with one of her… eh-hem…gentleman callers, as I liked to call them.

“Okay, I love you!” I called out. “Be careful!”

“Aren’t I always?” she called back with a shrewd grin and I had to grin back.

I rolled my eyes, my giggle swallowed by the loud music and the general bar noise as she blew me a kiss and melted into the crowd.

I set myself to working the bar and mixing up drinks for a group of ladies just out to have a good time.

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