Page 42 of Sparrow

He’d seen the handprint on Sparrow’s throat, he knew what the man had done. Now it was time to give the junkie what he’d deserved.

“I’ll kill you,” Pipes growled.

“And Bowie says he’s not a threat,” Romeo mused over his shoulder.

“I’ll kill all of you. All of Odin’s Fury. Fucking disloyal savages peddling crank, pimping, stealing women.”

“What?” Dash stepped forward.

Romeo paused as well, glancing at his brother curiously.

“You fucks roll in from Montana thinking you know shit, you don’t know dick,” the crazed man spat. “Fuck you. Riders Forever. Forever Riders. I ain’t no goddamn Fury. Take that shit and shove it up your ass.”

Romeo had enough crazy ramblings from Pipes, so he slipped the rope over his neck, avoiding more spitting. He tugged. The satisfying gurgles and struggles were music to his ears as the piece of shit choked. The more he fought, the tighter the noose became.

Just when Pipes was about to lose consciousness, Romeo released the rope, and the loud gasps from the man tied to the chair irked him. He didn’t deserve to breathe, but Bowie said death wasn’t due. So, he’d have to do something else, something worse.

“Cut him loose,” he said while he looked over the knives, but decided on the wooden bat.

“What?” Dash repeated.

“Cut him fucking loose. Sitting in the chair ain’t right.” Romeo barked as he turned and slapped the bat into his palm. “Ain’t no fucking honor in beating a man who can’t fight back.”

Giving him an uneasy eye, Dash pulled a switchblade from the inside pocket of his cut and started cutting the ropes. “You realize he’s a junkie detoxing, right?”

“Fuck if I care, I don’t want him thinking I couldn’t take him unless he was tied,” Romeo roared.

Once free, Pipes fell flat on his face with a sickening splat on the floor. Dash stepped back and blocked the only means of escape. Romeo met his sponsor’s gaze, nodding in acknowledgment. Shit was on and his brother had his back.

Pipes laid on the ground for a moment, moaning. The man had to be in pain, but Romeo couldn’t give less of a shit. Bringing the bat over his head, he used all the momentum he could to bring it down on the small of Pipes’s back, hitting the kidneys.

“Oooaaafff,” Pipes let out as his body jumped.

Another blow.

Same response

Another.

More air puffing from Pipes, but he didn’t get off the ground. He didn’t even curl into a ball to protect himself. He just laid there, taking it. The only sounds that came from him were in response to the beatings.

Letting the bat go, it clattered to the floor. There was no satisfaction in beating a broken man. The revenge he wanted, he couldn’t find in Pipes in his current state.

Crouching down, he laced his fingers into the length of the greasy hair and yanked his head upward to see the beaten face.

“Sparrow is mine,” Romeo said in terms he knew the other man would understand. “Bowie doesn’t want me to kill you. You’ve earned your death in spades, but Bowie wants you to live for some fucking reason.”

Pipes gurgled, and Romeo let him go. The sound of his face colliding with the floor was just as disgusting as the man himself.

“Come on,” he told Dash and looped his arm under Pipes’s.

Dash went to the other side. Together, the two men hoisted him up and laid him out on the cot. The shackles went first on his wrists and then his legs. Once effectively restrained, the brothers looked down at the pathetic man.

“What a fucking waste,” Dash said.

Chapter 27

Sparrow

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