Page 10 of Property of Thrasher (Kings of Anarchy MC: South Carolina #1)

MELODY

T he chipped tile behind the front desk caught my eye over and over again.

It curved like a jagged scar across the ceramic like this pale fracture running through an otherwise smooth surface.

I had cleaned the crack five times already this morning, even though I knew it wouldn’t come out. This wasn’t dirt.

It was damage.

Permanently broken.

Kind of like me.

The wall clock behind me ticked far too loudly in the quiet of the lobby, another rhythm I couldn’t ignore.

It was mid-afternoon and I was a full six hours into my shift.

My back ached from the cheap shoes I wore.

The front of my shirt clung to my body like a second skin, damp from the humidity.

The hotel air conditioning was hit or miss lately on blowing cold air versus hot.

This wasn’t exactly how I pictured things going when I took off with Lyric. While I couldn’t exactly put into words how I envisioned our new lives, this definitely wasn’t it. Reality was I hadn’t pictured anything other than we had to leave.

In Montana, the way the men thought, the destiny laid out in front of me made my skin crawl.

I ran.

And here we landed. In a rundown hotel owned by a motorcycle gang that made zero apologies for how they handled things. That was what I had learned recently as Nancy got replaced by some of Tiny’s associates.

Lyric said this was a fresh start for us both. She embraced the ladies who were probably some of the most confident people I ever encountered. Lyric said we could do this. Learn to blend in and all.

I wasn’t sure I believed in it.

The door behind the counter creaked open. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was her.

She moved light on her feet now, easy. It was as if her bones had shed this weight. A weight I now felt held me down threatening to crush my very soul. I could feel the excitement and energy Lyric carried around now, truly relieved to be here and not back home.

“You’re not gonna believe what Lexi just told me,” Lyric burst out buzzing with excitement. “She said Hacksaw was going to take her out tonight. Like out, on his bike and everything.”

“Um,” I tried to smile, “that’s great.” I wasn’t exactly sure what was so exciting about someone who went by Hacksaw taking any female out. It sounded scary if you asked me.

“You aren’t the best at convincing people, Mel.” She huffed back. “You don’t sound like you think this is a good thing.”

I shrugged. “I don’t think anything. I’m just trying to make heads and tails of what we have going on. Good for Lexi if this is what she wants.”

And truly, I meant that. I didn’t know any of the new people well.

I knew Faye was my manager and she was married to someone she called Sweeper.

She had schedules worked out, jobs assigned, and really took charge.

There were a couple of new ones I hadn’t met yet like Maria, Tamra, and someone named Jonesy.

Our shifts haven’t aligned where I had worked with them yet.

I had spent some time with Lexi as she ran the laundry room and on my housekeeping days, I was constantly switching dirty linens for clean ones with her.

Trinity came to relieve me from desk duty a couple of times.

She seemed nice enough for the few moments we were around each other.

I looked at my cousin, my best friend. “Lyric, do what you want, babe. I’m not here to hold you back.

I want you to be happy. I’m just a little slower paced with trusting people.

” Her face was sad and it cut me deep. “I’m sorry, I just struggle with this new found freedom while still looking over my shoulder all the time too. ”

She came closer to me. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. We can do what we want here. No more rules. No elders watching and judging our every move. No more sneaking around to read books to simply day dream about life outside the safety net of our community.”

“Different doesn’t make any of this safe.”

Her smile faltered at my words. In a split second she waved me off.

“You’re stuck in survival mode, Mel. I get it.

I am too. But this place? These people, they don’t hide who they are.

They’re rough around the edges, yes. But what you see is what you get.

We didn’t have that at home, not even with our own parents. ”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you hear yourself? We’re gonna trust self-proclaimed outlaws because they’re up front about it? Yes, Lyric that sounds like a genius idea. Come on, girl, you’re smarter than that.”

She laughed. Full on head thrown back, comfortable like never before laughed.

In front of me stood a woman embracing her newly found freedom.

She wasn’t the Lyric who used to cry in the closet at our grandparents house wishing she didn’t have to go home.

She wasn’t the girl who grew up jumping at everything from a simple handshake to a hug.

No, the woman in front of me was grown and matured, hardened but still soft.

More than anything though, she sparkled. She relaxed.

“Come on Mel. Take a break with me, Lexi, and Trinity. Get to know them.”

I looked at the annoying clock, the empty lobby and finally gave in. “Fine, ten minutes. I don’t want Tiny or Faye to see me away from the desk too long.”

The little courtyard behind the hotel was a patchy rectangle of dead grass surrounded in a cracked side walk. There was a picnic table under a sun-faded umbrella that was for employee breaks. Lexi and Trinity were already there halfway through their lunches.

“This is Mel,” Lyric introduced sliding onto the bench. “My cousin.” She waved a hand at Lexi, “you know Lexi, but Mel this is Trinity.”

The small framed red head gave me a soft smile. “Hey, nice to meet you officially.”

Lexi piped up, “glad you joined us.” She swung her head to look around, her giant silver hoops swinging into her neck. “We can actually talk instead of in passing.”

I smiled, “we definitely don’t have much time. The jobs are always coming.”

Another woman I had seen coming and going walked over, her curls tucked behind her ears with dark circles under her eyes as if she slept less than I did which would be saying a lot. Sleep has not come easy since leaving Montana.

“You work the desk and do housekeeping, right?” she asked me and I nodded. “I’m Tamra, I see you when I set up the coffee and morning pastries. Faye is talking to the guys about maybe doing a continental breakfast. If so, I’ll see you more because I volunteered to do set up for that.”

“I think offering a breakfast would be nice. I don’t know why it isn’t already a thing,” I remarked unsure on how I fit in with this group.

“The club didn’t take possession of the Velvet Inn until two months ago. Tiny’s been doin’ his best to handle it, but it’s more than a one man show.” Tamra explained while Lexi nodded. “Now though it seems like the whole club is getting involved.”

“You can have all that public service stuff,” Lexi teased. “I’ll gladly die from bleach fumes in the laundry than deal with all the people.”

“Oh yeah, because we have them beating down the doors to stay here,” Lyric joked.

Everyone was at ease together. Was this what real female friendships were supposed to be? Coming from our background, trust among women was hard to find.

“I wish there was eyeball bleach,” I chimed in.

Lexi laughed, “Hey, I helped you that morning.”

“Don’t be holding out on us,” Trinity added, “spill it? What did you see?”

I shook my head. “It was gross.”

Lexi leaned in, “y’all Mel here goes to clean this room. There isn’t a do not disturb tag. She uses the master key to go in. Calls out ‘housekeeping’ and no reply. She gets in the room. No lie, had the beds stripped, went to the bathroom to get towels and found the man.”

I felt my cheeks flush.

“She embarrass easy?” Tamra asked.

“Who me?” I asked looking at my cousin who was nodding.

Tamra’s face softened. “Not a bad thing, Mel. Just you seem?—”

I cut her off, “Embarrassed, no. Guarded?”

She nodded. “It’s like you have to constantly look over your shoulder. You both do it. Whatever you’re runnin’ from it’s okay. You have support here with us. We all got skeletons in our closets.”

“I just don’t have a lot of experience.” I explained feeling like these women might misunderstand my hesitation in friendship. “I went in the bathroom and this man was passed out on the toilet. Naked. Just wearing cowboy boots.”

Lexi beamed, “motherfucker was hung.”

They all laughed and I gasped.

“Relax,” Lyric leaned in and whispered.

I couldn’t manage to do that. In fact, I sat stiff on the edge of the bench while they all chatted around me. Inevitably the conversation turned to the bikers.

“Hacksaw said he wanted to take me out, for real,” Lexi boasted changing the subject and I was grateful. “He’s gonna take me for a ride and to dinner.”

“I bet he’s gonna take you for a ride,” this remark was from Tamara.

“What’s it like?” Lyric asked and I swear I wanted to crawl right under the table. This wasn’t how things went where we were from.

While I had to admit I was curious, it didn’t mean I needed to share this with the others.

There wasn’t a man that had come into the hotel to supervise, work security, or do maintenance that wasn’t hot in their own way.

The eye candy definitely did not disappoint.

I considered it a perk of the job, but I wasn’t about to tell the others.

“Hacksaw?” Lexi asked.

“Yeah or just all of it. Where we are from, men are in charge, sure. But the Kings seem to carry themselves differently.” Lyric explained and she was not wrong.

These men all carried this danger and edge to them that was both alluring and scary.

They all let out a small chuckle. “It’s the best you’ll ever have and the biggest heartbreak if you don’t keep your feelings out of it.”

“What does that mean?” I asked unable to stop the question from tumbling out.

“We’re not ol’ ladies. We aren’t gonna get that title or respect.”

“Well, none of you are old.” Lyric stated the obvious.

Tamra gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You are so sweet. Honey, old lady is a term of endearment. It means you’re claimed.”

“Claimed?”

Trinity beamed, “yeah, you belong to them. Property of a King.”

Instantly this fierceness washed through me. “Nope. I’m not claimed. I’m not owned and I don’t want to be. Why would anyone want to give up their freedom to a man?”

The ladies all laughed.

“Babe, learn this quick. Being tied to the club isn’t a bad thing. They take care of their girls, from the bunnies to the old ladies.”

“Bunny?” Lyric asked.

“You two really were sheltered,” this came from Trinity.

“We’re the club bunnies. We hang around and provide the men with the release, companionship, bar tending duties, cleaning, or whatever else may come up.

In return we have a safe place to stay, protection if we decide to work the street, and now this job to make legitimate money. ”

Quickly, I read between the lines. “You sleep with all of them?”

Tamra nodded, “the ones who are looking for that, yes. Some of them no. Sweeper is one. He’s tied to his old lady, Faye, and does not stray, ever.”

I didn’t know what to think or say.

“They keep us out of the problems we left in our pasts and we don’t get dragged into any new messes.”

“Where we come from, women aren’t protected from anyone,” Lyric explained somberly.

There was a long, thick silence.

“We all come from somewhere,” Lexi shared. “No matter what sits in your past, as long as you do right by the Kings, they’ll do right by you.”

“I can understand that,” I muttered more to myself than anyone.

“Pussy has power,” Tamara said with a bright smile breaking up the seriousness of the mood. “And thank God we all got some great snatch.”

I didn’t have a chance to process her words or let this new life I found sink in. Lexi’s phone pinged with her lunch alarm signaling our break was over. Everyone let out a sigh, but rose up to head back inside.

Nancy came in taking over my shift at the desk which put me back to housekeeping.

I had a particularly challenging room. I literally scrubbed the bathroom tiles until my knuckles bled.

There was something sticky under the sink along with some kind of oil that made the floor far too slick to be safe.

I didn’t ask questions, not even in my mind.

Some things were better left without an explanation.

When my shift ended and I returned to our room, the fatigue of the day, of our life had consumed me. I noticed absently Lyric was gone. A note sat on my pillow written in her picture perfect cursive:

Gone to the clubhouse with the girls. Don’t wait up. Love you.

My chest tightened. On one hand I was glad she had found herself comfortable enough here to venture out. Afterall what kind of life would we be leading sticking to ourselves? The point in leaving Montana was to be free not tie ourselves down in a smaller prison.

Still I worried. I found myself pacing and telling myself we were going to buy phones first thing in the morning.

We hadn’t done it yet because one there was no one to call us, why spend the money, and two we worked where we slept, we were never apart.

This distance even short as it was left me concerned and wishing I had a way to reach her.

Tiny had provided us phones, but neither us felt comfortable using them for anything but work since it was a company provided thing.

I guess if she didn’t turn up in the morning, I would have to call that number.

Eventually I forced myself to lay down, staring at the ceiling fan while listening to the distant sounds of motorcycle engines as they came and went into the night.

I didn’t sleep. Not really that was. I considered it more of a dozing on and off.

Lyric made her way home around four in the morning. Climbing in bed she smelled like smoke and man’s cologne. She didn’t say a word. Neither did I.

It didn’t take her long to fall asleep. I sat up and watched her.

She smiled.

In all the chaos of leaving home and the things she left behind, here in a run-down hotel room, engrossed in a whole new life, she smiled a genuine expression of the peace she found.

And suddenly in her peace, I found my own drifting into the deepest sleep I had since we left Montana.