Page 9 of Broken Cracks

“Are you some kind of gang or somethin’?”

The man offered me his hand as he bent closer to me. My feet stayed stuck to the ground; I couldn’t run if I wanted to.“No, we’re a brotherhood, son. We got food for you. You got a place to stay?”the bullish man with the long beard asked.

“Yeah, I got a foam mattress under the Serenity Bridge downtown. I’m good.”

“Well, you don’t anymore. We’re the Dark Angels and you can stay at the clubhouse and learn about bikes.”

I had nothing to lose and nowhere else to go, and as soon I felt the hard thunder as I held onto Bull rumbling on the road, I was hooked. I kept my head down at the clubhouse, learning from the older guys, kicking around with Slash and Sledge, and when it came time for initiation and to don my patch, I wore it proudly. Dark Angels were more than my homies I rolled with; they were my lifeblood. They’d saved me.

As I travel the road of horrors of my fucked-up past, it tortures me to admit I’m scared. I can’t admit that shit, but Izzy’s more to me, and she’s rattling my cage.

As her long strands drape her face and she rests in my arms, I feel her waking up with her hand over my chest. Feels good to have a woman’s touch, but it’s not the same—she’s touching my heart. It’s a dark garden with no light, and once it held two special women there.

Before I know what, I’m saying the words pop out of my mouth.

“I’m a special kinda curse, if a woman is with me. I’m scared of what’s going to happen Izzy, can I call you that?” I say to her as my emotions hit me. “You don’t want me, things get taken from me in a bad, evil twisted way, baby. I’m not the man for you,” I proclaim, but I want to keep her close, to not let anybody put their hands on her. But my past, it’s fucking up my future.

Izzy’s got these special healing powers with those caring, needy eyes. I understand her in ways that doesn’t require either of us to speak.

Her fingertips lightly tap on my heart as a slow smile spreads over her dainty lips.

“Yes, you can call me Izzy. How can you be a curse when you saved my life? I trust you, and I don’t trust many. Nothing will come between us unless we let it. Have faith, it’s something my Poppa always told me. ‘Have faith, Izzy, have faith.’”

Her slender legs wrap over me as those soft pillows for lips bless mine, igniting a fire in my belly. I suck on her bottom lip, her breathing heavy with appetite. Her hand finds its way to the bottom of my neck as the electricity bolt we shared at the border returns, running its circuit to my cock. My hands drift over her petite body as I cup them over her perky ass, and they fit beautifully.

“Straddle me,” I declare as an intrusive pound sounds off at the door. I gently place Izzy to the side in frustration.

“Yo! What do you want?” I snap, irritated that I have to disengage from Izzy.

“Hey man, sorry,” someone says in a guilty tone. I sigh; it’s one of the prospects and he’s likely coming with a message.

“What’s up, dude?”

“Bull and Slash want you at the table right now.”

“Okay, I’m out in a minute.”

Chapter Six

Psych

As much as I’m irritated, I readjust my hard-on and give Izzy a kiss she can remember me by. I stalk through the main compound of the club, cracking my knuckles; my gut’s telling me gloves are going to be off. We have unfinished business as a club. Westilldidn’t get the motherfucking drugs, and shit ain’t been going our way the last little while.

I crick my neck as I cut through to the back room and into Church. Slash is sitting at the head of the table with the guys in a U-shape. I can feel the worry coming off them and it’s directed right at me. I slouch into a free chair, rubbing my head.

"Yo, Psych, we need to talk, bro," Snatch says, shaking his head.

What the hell do we need to talk about?I’m in denial; I know it’s about Isabel, but it’s not going to impact anything negatively in my eyes.

"The girl you brought back..." Slash comments as heat prickles up my neck. I’m about to be judged in a court of law.

"Needs to go back," Bull interjects with his hands in a temple formation, his brow knits together in a hard line.

I’m about to protest and tell them where they can stick it when Slash drops the real. "She's Cardez's side piece, bro."

I can feel fragments breaking apart in my brain. A side effect from being housed in a psych ward. I tap the side of my head lightly as I expand my chest with a hard breath.

"She's probably running from him," Sledge chimes in and the head fuckery starts.

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