Page 3 of Madame Mayhem
“She’s fired up. Shit’s getting to her, but she can handle herself.”
“Yeah? You guys in together now? You kicking it?”
I draw in a deep weed breath and puff out. Shit is good, soothing. I look around. Fi tends to pop up out of nowhere so I gotta watch my mouth sometimes.
“Yeah. She’s eighteen. I don’t even wanna say it like that. It’s been a steady thing over time. We’re good.” Psych grins. “How about you and Isabella?”
“Mmm. Yeah, I get it. You don’t wanna be like the other guys that took her.” Psych cuts through my bullshit, hitting me in the core. My joint hangs out of my mouth.
“Why the fuck you gotta say it like that?” I ask him in an exasperated tone.
Psych pulls a drag of his weed for a minute. “It’s something I had running through my head with Izzy. Not the age thing per se, just the way she got handled by the cartel. Her family. We got some strong women beside us. Survivors.”
“Yeah,” my eyebrow hitches. “You’re not wrong. I don’t know if I got what it takes to hold Fi down. I got things I gotta take care of.” I drift off realizing I can’t tell Psych about Bull. I gotta keep my mouth shut, but the weed got me floating a little bit. He frowns at me, but doesn’t press it.
“Her and Fi are a lot alike. They’ve gone through some similar shit. Paco and his boys are tough for her to deal with. When she saw them come in here - you know, for that little sit down I had to chill with her for a while. She was real shaken up over that. Miguel did a number on her. They took away everything she had. Her dignity. If I could light that guy on fire, I would.”
As soon as he said it, I thought about Fi having to see her killer’s face every day and act like everything is copasetic. She’s the real MVP in my eyes. “Shit. I didn’t think about that at the time. I think we got Paco and his boys under control, though. We got a better run, a deal and if we hold up our end of the bargain, shit’s going to work out fine.”
“You think it is?”
“Yeah, I think it is. Why you don’t?”
“Nah, I trust you. That’s why I voted you in. You’ve worked shit out even when you lost your father. I know what it’s like to lose everyone.”
I nod because Psych got his name from losing in life, like all of us Dark Angels did. Trauma was the overarching thing that bonded us to one another. We knew what it was like to die, only to be reborn with our wings a shade darker.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m glad you got your girl. Fi talks about Izzy. She encourages her to teach again. Tutoring, to get her confidence back.”
“Yeah, feel you. I do too. She’s gonna do it, but she’s sweet, you know, man. She’s more worried about me than anything else. The chair, this shit with Bull.”
“Bull. He’s an old one that needs to go night, night. Lily, man, if she only knew…”
“Knew what?” Psych squints at me as I keep puffing, staring at the lineup of bikes.
“That he’s not for her, and she’s too young for him. He took her underage. Boomer’s the one you need to be talking to about keeping his dick in his pants with the youngins,” I say bitterly. “I waited for Fi, made sure it was right. Bull does not give a fuck about this club, but you got the memo already.” I slide over the real reason. My girl’s got it covered.
“You’re right. He’s off, and the distro deal is way better than getting involved with another cartel. I don’t get his logic on that one. History shows that two cartels working together on the same turf won’t fly. The old man is trying to get us killed.”
“See. Snatch and Switch got other ideas. They don’t know what the fuck is really up.”
“Thanks man.” I fist bump him.
“Izzy wants to go back to her village… see everyone. She wants to make sure they’re okay, but there’s no chance in hell I’m gonna let her do that. I can’t take her down there right now. Miguel is still there, but she’s talking to her friends down home, trying to figure out a way to get them across the border. I know it’s a lot to think about, but you think we can help them out at some stage? The issue is going to be getting them out of the village without the cartel seeing them.”
“Damn. If I had my head straight, and things were solid with the club, I could help. It’s not like we don’t know the guy at the border. We got the means to do it, but we gotta keep the cops off our back if we want that to happen. Let everything settle down a little bit, and I can talk to Izzy.” My mind’s ticking over all the things I want to go ahead for the club to make it better.
“Don’t worry about that. Bull is in the way and he’s gonna fumble if you bring that up. The way that old man works, he would more want to bring the women across the border to traffic them. Fuck that old crickety kneed fucker.”
“I hear you.” I puff on my joint, thinking…
“You and Snatch cool? Weird seeing you guys fall out after the meeting. I hate that shit.”
I clench my jaw. “We’ll be fine. Biker ego shit. He’s made the wrong call and when things come to light, he’s gonna be at my feet apologizing.” The sun’s starting to bring out its heat, beating on my neck, making me hot.
“Why are you withholding? That’s the second time you mentioned something coming out. What you got up your sleeve, Slash? You know something?”
Psych is a little too perceptive and the fire in my mouth unleashes at the wrong time, so I gotta chill.