Page 3 of Being Us (Next Generation 4)

One thing I did know was that I would do whatever I could to clear my name. Even if I died trying.

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WHEN YOUR CLUB BETRAYSyou, that’s when you knew life went to shit. Someone within Devil’s Rejects wanted me out as President. It had been a feeling sitting in the pit of my gut for years. But I was never able to prove it. Not until it actually happened.

I was young. I did things to survive and make my way to the top. I had to earn my power and role as president. Even though I had done that, it didn’t mean the other members liked it. Especially one.

Tommy West and I had gone way back. We were prospects together but even though we were close, I didn’t trust him. I couldn’t put my finger on it but there was something about him that was off. I always caught him looking at me with contempt. Like he should have been president instead of me. He could have been. He just never proved his worth.

I could still hear the gunfire and smell the powder from that night. But I was thankful that we had never met at the clubhouse. Sunny and Shade were smart that way. Meadow on the other hand, wanted answers and she would have done anything to get them.

Lifting my hand, I watched the tremors rippling through it. It shook, pissing me off. The anxiety rushing through me had become worse over the past few months. Especially when I was trying to sleep. That was when the screams started. They shredded into me, tearing my heart in half. I didn’t have a lot of morals. Especially when it came to humans but killing someone in cold blood was not my thing. Watching a fellow biker die, even if he was a member of a rival MC, while his girlfriend screamed beneath him, tugged at the last bit of decency I had left.

When that happened, I didn’t stick around. I knew I would get blamed for pulling the trigger, but it had nothing to do with me. Whoever shot that gun and killed Sunny Harrison, started a war. And it was a war they couldn’t win. EvenIwasn’t stupid enough to go toe-to-toe with Hell’s Harlem.

I had spent weeks looking over my shoulder. It took longer than that for the screams to disappear. I wasn’t a morally sound guy, but I didn’t believe in shooting someone just for the hell of it. Although the rumors going around about me, said different. Bottom line, humans sucked.

Pulling the black hood higher up over my head, I picked up my speed while I walked the few blocks home. I was currently living in a shithole in the worst part of the city. It wasn’t close to the Devil’s Rejects clubhouse. I didn’t know where Hell’s Harlem did their business. Word had gotten around that they had a large house in the middle of nowhere while some of the members lived in a town nearby and in the same city that I did.

When my apartment building came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had the money to afford better but was trying to lay low and out of sight. I needed to stay off the grid and was trying to get this target off my back as best as I knew how. Living in a big fancy house, would only make it worse. So, instead, after everything went down, I took my bike and drove to the city before anyone knew that I was gone. It was a pussy move on my part, but I knew that I would get blamed for shit I couldn’t explain. Hell, I didn’t even know how to talk myself out of this one. I needed to know why the mole in my club turned my brothers against me.

I would bet my life on it that it was Tommy, but I didn’t know what he wanted.

Once I reached an alley, I looked behind me. Satisfied that no one was following me, I went down it and headed through the back way until I reached the doors of my building.

A homeless man sat by the doors. A blanket covered his body and was wrapped around his head like a hood, leaving his face hidden by the shadows. He had his arm resting on his knee with his hand held out.

“Hey, Kid.” Even though I didn’t know how old he actually was, it had been a nickname I had given him. I dropped a wad of bills in his open palm and made my way into the building. It had been the same routine ever since I moved in. Although I didn’t like humans of any variety, I didn’t take it out on the less fortunate. It wasn’t their fault this was a fucked-up world with fucked-up people living in it. And it also wasn’t their fault that vile human beings had taken it out on me as a boy.

I shook my head, forcing the unwanted memories out of my mind before they became too much and completely consumed me.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I stopped at the fourth floor and pushed through the dingy door. The security in this place was lacking. Not that anyone cared what happened here really. Graffiti marked the walls. Puke, piss, and other bodily fluids stained the carpet. The smell was overwhelming at first but after a couple of days, you got used to it. A gunshot rang out from somewhere off in the distance. Probably from one of the apartments nearby. Who knew anymore? It wasn’t the safest place I had ever lived in, but it worked for the moment.

When I reached the end of the hall, I stopped at my door. Unlocking it, I pushed my way inside and quickly clicked all of the locks and deadbolts back into place. Call me paranoid, but when I watched a member of a rival club get shot and killed, it was bound to make a man leery of everything and everyone around him.

“Trigger,” I called out, throwing my keys on the metal kitchen table.

A large German shepherd hobbled from the hall, coming my way.

“Hey, old man.” I crouched as my dog closed the distance between us. He started licking my face, butting his head into the crook of my neck. I chuckled, running my hands through the fur at his throat and over his ears. “How was your day? Did you get some rest?”

He gave me a deep woof, leaning his whole body weight against me.

I kissed his head, reveling in the fact that this living, breathing thing, put all of his trust in me. I had found him in the alley when I moved in. He was old and beaten down. I could see his ribs after what was probably weeks of not eating properly. As much as I wanted to hunt down the fucker who hurt him, I took him in instead. But that didn’t happen right away. It took over a week for me to earn Trigger’s trust and we had been inseparable ever since.

“Alright, old man. Let’s go get you some food.”

He woofed again, heading into the kitchen.

I sighed, noticing the limp in his step. He clearly had arthritis. I tried making him as comfortable as possible, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before he passed away. Until then, I would do what I could for him and give him the best life before that happened.

I followed Trigger into the small kitchen. If you could even call it that. It had a sink, a fridge, a stove, and an oven that was stained. From what, I didn’t want to know. I kept the fridge stocked and ate well constantly but living there, put a damper on things. The only good thing about it was that both Trigger and I were safe. For now. But I wasn’t sure how long that would last.

After feeding him, I made myself something quick to eat and started moving around the apartment to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

Satisfied that everything was fine, I went to the spare room and began working out. It had been the same routine for the past several months. I spent the day trying to find answers as to who the mole was in my club and spent the nights working out and hanging out with my dog.

It was getting boring. And quickly. I needed answers. But no one I knew was able to give me anything.

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