Page 31 of Hodge
“Don’t do it, Hodge.” I look over my shoulder as he drops the knife and pulls the lighter back out of his pocket, flicking it to life once more. Then he holds the skull ring up in the flame, and I know exactly what he’s about to do.
“No! You can’t do that!” I scream. Someone stop him!” I cry as I look at the others. No one moves. No one attempts to move.
“Hodge,” the other guy, Remy, calls out to him.
“Yeah?”
“You sure about this?”
“I’m sure.”
“You’re brandin’ that girl for life, Hodge. There’s nowhere for her to go after this,” he tells him. What the hell does that mean?
“What? What does that mean?” I ask hurriedly.
“You’d like to know, wouldn’t you, Kemah?” Hodge taunts me now.
“Please, Hodge. Just tell me what’s happening,” I beg now. His dad, Locke, and Remy move closer to us, and I don’t feel the embarrassment I once did because the fear of what he’s doing to me is overriding that.
“You see this ring? It’s our club ring, Kemah. Anything marked with this symbol belongs to us. The Soulless Bastards, regardless of chapter. If anyone from another chapter sees this mark, they’ll know where you belong.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I say as tears begin to well up in my eyes.
“You said you had nothin’ without that money. I’m makin’ sure you have somethin’ without it, Kemah.”
“What? No.”
“You don’t have a say in this,” he tells me as the ring begins to glow. He pulls the lighter away and drops it to the ground before grabbing a handful of my ass. “Sorry, sweetheart.” That’s the last thing he says to me before the burn.
Hodge presses the ring into my flesh as I scream. No one steps in, no one tries to stop him. They all watch as tears pour down my cheeks and pain radiates through my body.
When he’s done, he steps back to admire his work as I sob.
“Why would you do that to me?” I cry as he steps back in front of me.
“You needed a place to belong, darlin’. I just gave you that.”
“You’re the one who said this wasn’t for me, that this club wasn’t for me.”
“No,” he denies, shaking his head. “I said I’m not for you. This club will protect you now. You don’t have to stay here. You can go wherever you want, whatever chapter you want, and you’re protected.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I cry when he reaches up and wipes the tears from my cheek.
“What’s your favorite place to be?”
“I … I don’t know.”
“What do you like? The ocean, the mountains?”
“The ocean.”
“There are chapters all over California, Kemah. Different guys, different girls. A different life,” he tells me.
“Are you telling me I have to leave?”
“No, sweetheart. I’m givin’ you an option. I’m givin’ you a way out of here without worryin’ about that fuckin’ money. I’m givin’ you a family who will actually care about you and take care of you.”
“But that doesn’t include you?” I see him suck in a breath before shaking his head.
