Page 12 of Kairo

“Not scared. I respect him.”

Vile sat at the bottom of my throat. There wasn’t anything in my body that respected Prez. He wasn’t shit.

“Hmm that’s what everybody says. Well, I’m going out, so get ready.”

She spun on her heels and headed up the stairs. I watched as her ass wiggled as she went up each step, her gown innocently going in and out of her cheeks. I looked down at my attire. I needed to change. I was in yesterday’s clothes and there was no way I was going out like that. Before she got to the top of the stairs, I called out to her.

“Junebug, let me head to my crib to get a change of clothes. I’ll be back.”

She turned and looked at me. “Junie.”

“Huh?” I asked, raising my brow.

“My name is Junie. Don’t call me Junebug.”

She walked away, shutting her bedroom door. I grabbed the keys off the counter and sprinted out the door. On the ride to my house, for some reason, Junebug—Junie, made her way into my mind. She was different than a lot of the women I’d come across. Fragile and could barely change a tire or the oil in their car. Junie, on the other hand, was vicious and beautiful. There was more to her than the Savage Saints, and a part of me was curious to know. There was no way a woman as educated and beautiful as her would be a vicious motorcycle club leader. She was next in line to be president, and who would want that job?

I opened the door for her after returning to her house in forty-five minutes. She came out in a tan two-piece short set. Her ass sat up fat and the shirt was cropped. She wore a pair of white sneakers, and her hair was pinned up on top of her head. As soon as she walked past me, her sweet perfume hit my nose. I shook off the way it made me feel. It was hypnotizing. On top of her looking innocent and smelling sweet, a stranger would never know that just last night she was bare and almost met God. Yet, she acted as if nothing even happened.

We headed in the direction of the gym. I could feel her looking at me. She would stare at times. There was no reason for me to ask why she was staring because I knew eventually what was brewing in her mind would come to the surface. A fewminutes later, just as I predicted, she said whatever it was that was on her mind.

“What’s your real name?” I glanced over at her then back at the road. “I told you mine. What is yours?”

“Kairo.”

“That’s a nice name.” I could hear the smile in her voice as I continued to look at the road. “Why did the Savage Saints give you the name Conqueror? I understand mine because everyone has always called me Junebug since I was born. What’s the reason for yours?”

“The original way to spell my name is with a C, but my mama wanted to be different, so she added a K. The Arabic meaning is the Conqueror, or the Victorious. I guess the niggas in the Savage Saints were smart enough to put that together and gave me the name.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you low-key throw in a sly comment about the intelligence of the Saints. The club is filled with highly intelligent people.”

Internally, I scoffed. She was clearly biased because this was her family’s club but saying that the club was filled with people with brains was a lie. Instead of speaking my truth I diverted the conversation. I didn’t need to blow my cover.

“Nah, wasn’t no sly shit. I just been there and seen people do dumb shit. Jumping off tables, playing Russian roulette with their guns and chicken on their bikes. Don’t sound like intelligence to me.”

She giggled, and my heart leaped. It was airy and full. This was the first time I heard her laugh and it was probably one of the best tunes I heard in a while.

“You’re right, they do dumb shit. One day I was there because my father left his notebook or something at home. Just so happened I was in town, and he asked me to bring it by. I knew that was his way of trying to get me to come down there. I hadsworn that place off since my mother was killed, but he begged and pleaded.

“When I got there, there were women washing the bikes in nothing but bikinis. Some were topless and some were nude. It was the dumbest shit I ever witnessed. Hell, some of the girls didn’t even look to be over eighteen. When I asked my father what was going on, all he mentioned was they wanted to make some money.” She shook her head. “I tossed the book at my dad, went home, packed my bag, and left. I told him nothing. I knew if my mother was alive none of that shit would’ve happened.”

She was speaking on what she saw on the surface. I was there for the aftermath, and she was lucky she left. Threesomes, orgies, and sometimes spouses switching in front of everybody. The motherfuckers there were sick. If Junie was to find out that her father would sometimes dabble in those actives she would lose her mind.

“And those poor girls, they probably only saw a man on a motorcycle with a leather jacket and got excited. It’s such a disappointment,” she said while shaking her head.

She had a disgusted look on her face. She had gotten herself worked up over the memory. I was shocked. Most of the women in the Iron Knights didn’t bat an eye at the stuff other women went through. Most of them were thrilled to even experience it themselves. Junie was disgusted and disappointed by it all. The curiosity in me that I buried many years ago made its way back to the surface. None of this made sense. Why would she take on this role in the motorcycle club? Instead of asking, I focused back on the road. She didn’t seem bothered by me not responding as she scrolled on her phone.

We finally pulled up to the gym. It wasn’t crowded but a few cars were there. She looked at me after removing her seat belt.

“You coming in?”

“You need me to come in?”

She shrugged. “I could use a spot.”

She got out of the car and stood by the door. My plan was to sit here and follow up on some more notes that Unc had sent over. Again, here she was making me look at her differently than what I expected her to be.

After almost two hours, we headed back to the car. In the midst of me helping Junie, I was able to get me a workout in too. The entire time in the gym when I wasn’t spotting Junie, I kept my eye on her. Everybody who walked by took in her beauty. Men of all races and ethnicities would stop and stare, and Junie acted as if she didn’t notice it. She kept working out, lifting, and pressing weights. By the time we made it to the car, we were both drenched in sweat.

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