Usually I stay for an hour during my Sunday visits always after I watch Evelyn leave. Like Rita and her cheesecake, it’s my one small indulgence of the month. The only glimpse I allow myself of her before I go back to Emerald Isle and do my best to live without her.
“Why the hell do you want to be a Savage King?”
That’s one of the questions that Reece, one of the more senior members of the Savage Kings MC, asks during his interrogation. I’m hooked up to an actual lie detector in the basement of the Savage Asylum and have been answering Reece and Maddox’s questions about my name, family, criminal record and everything else under the sun for hours now. Some questions were ridiculous, like ‘which Star Wars movie is the best’, but I still answered honestly. Besides, there is nothing for me to hide from the Kings.
Nothing except for Evelyn.
I can’t tell these guys the complete and total truth – that trying to patch in is the only semi-sane thing I know to do to try and get Evelyn back. I’m going to fight fire with fire no matter how long it takes me to earn my blow torch. I don’t want the Kings or anyone else to know about her before I get patched in. She’s my only weakness that can be exploited. Soon, I’ll be moving out of my parents’ house just to make sure they won’t ever be in danger of getting caught up in any of the shit I may get myself into with the MC.
“Dude, answer the question,” Maddox, a longtime prospect, says with a snap of his fingers in front of my face. “Why do you want to be a Savage King?”
The only honest answer I can give them is, “Because all my life I’ve been a pussy. I don’t want to be a pussy anymore.”
Reece smirks from behind his computer desk and then goes on to ask his next question. “Why do you think a little shithead pussy like you has what it takes to ever become a Savage fucking King?”
That one is a little more difficult to answer. I’m not sure if I could, in fact, spend a few years prospecting for the toughest guys I’ve ever met without losing my mind waiting to do something for Ev. Still, I am not going to give up on her. To get her back, I may need an army of badasses. Also, a stupid part of me thinks that maybe, just maybe, if I could patch in as a King, I could finally be more like the type of man Evelyn prefers – the bad boy who can fuck her instead of the nice guy, a friend who is “sweet” and makes love to her.
Not that I would tell these guys any of that.
Instead, I say to Reece, “I’m honest, loyal to a fault, and need to be something other than a shithead little pussy in a small coastal town. I’ve seen you guys. I’ve seen your brotherhood, what you stand for. I’ve got nothing to lose, but everything to gain. I want to be a part of…well, everything you guys are.”
That is also the honest to god truth. I don’t have anything worth losing. I have already lost the one person I love in the world other than my parents. And I would die trying to get her back before I ever give up.
Then, I ask Reece my questions. “Do the Savage Kings really have each other’s back, no matter what? Will they go to any length to protect what’s theirs?”
“Absolutely,” he answers unequivocally. “Any other questions I can answer for you?” he asks sarcastically.
“Yeah. Do the Kings have any flame throwers?” Even if it’s a metaphor, I still need to know. I think I need some sort of sign that giving up college to join an outlaw MC was the right thing for me to do.
“Possibly,” Reece answers with a grin that I take to mean yes.
“Then I’ll do whatever it takes to patch in.”
“Even if it takes years as a prospect doing menial bullshit like washing bikes and serving us beers?” Maddox asks.
“Sign me up. I’m ready,” I tell them.
“Cut him loose,” Reece says to Maddox, who starts removing all the devices attached to me. “We’ll be in touch if we decide you’re worthy.”
“Thank you. Sir,” I tack on at the end. I know these guys are all about respect, and you have to show some before you receive it.
Chapter Six
Cedric
Two years later…
For the past two years, I’ve occasionally tried to reach out to Evelyn, calling or texting her on her old phone number to see how she’s doing. I never failed to get a response, just not the comforting one I wanted from her.
Instead, I usually get a short video clip, one of Lowell fucking her or her giving him head. The clips are disgusting and sent by the asshole to make me jealous, but at least I know she’s still alive and well between my monthly visits to Carolina Beach. I always search her naked body for bruises, signs of him hurting her, but never find any. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t abuse her in some shape or form. Each time I see her face she looks more miserable and depressed, the dark circles under her eyes becoming more pronounced. She does whatever Lowell wants because she has to, not because she wants to. At least that’s what I tell myself.
I still check on her mom Rita who told me Ev only visits her with Lowell twice a week. She says she’s busy with “work” on the Aces’ gambling boat. Rita stupidly thinks Lowell walks on water because he’s been paying her medical bills for years. I wonder if she has any clue where his money comes from. It ain’t from a hard day’s work, that’s for sure. Still, I’ve made Rita promise not to tell Evelyn or Lowell that I visit her by continuing to bribe her with cheesecake. She’s been doing well for someone who depends on almost daily dialysis after waiting three years for a kidney transplant. Hopefully she’ll get one soon.
I would be willing to cut out Lowell’s and give it to her, but it’s probably too fucked up by drugs and shit to be worth a damn.
I’ve kept an eye on the Dirty Aces and know that they have a reputation for being a big-time drug distribution center on the east coast. But since they’re in New Hanover, three counties away, and they steer clear of Emerald Isle, the Savage Kings have refused to intervene to make them stop. Which is fine. I have a plan for how to get Evelyn away from that prick, one I’ve been carefully following even though sometimes I want to pull my hair out. I’ve always been a patient man, but prospecting is taking so fucking long!
My plan starts with getting patched in with the Kings, saving every dime I make, and then taking over Rita’s medical bills so that Evelyn can finally leave that asshole for good. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight, so I’m trying my best to be patient. It’s just hard to do sometimes, especially when I see videos of Ev with Lowell, making me want to walk right into the Dirty Aces bar and blow his head off.
“Fuel up all the bikes, kid. You know what today is, right?” Chase Fury, the VP of the Savage Kings, asks when he comes into the bar where I had zoned out. Shit, what is today?
“Today’s November fourth,” I mutter, unable to believe it’s been more than two years since Evelyn married that raging asshole Lowell.
“Yeah, smartass. That’s right, it’s November fourth,” Chase huffs. “And it’s also the fifth annual Toys for Tots Ride hosted by the Myrtle Beach Savage Kings.”