Page 12 of Ripper
“Look, man. I don’t make the rules. I was just following orders, okay, I—”
I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked over at Tank who was telling me to stand down.
“Tank, come on, man.”
“Let me handle this, Ripper.”
I pressed my lips together angrily, stepping aside so Tank could lift this motherfucker up by the collar of his shirt.
“You tell Ray that he ain’t gonna fucking pull one over on us this time, okay? Consider this a fucking warning.”
“Ray ain’t the only one calling the shots anymore,” he said through his teeth.
“He still your president?”
That lanky fucker nodded. I could see the fear in his eyes start to dissipate when he realized Tank was gonna let him go.
“Then send him my fucking regards. I don’t care who’s calling the shots now. You tell Ray to get his fuckers out of my town before I have to take ’em out one by one. That clear enough for you?”
He gulped, nodding, just as Tank set him down and he ran right out the damn doors.
“I had a feeling Ray was changing shit, but I didn’t know he was gonna be hitting us this fucking hard this early. I still have no goddamn clue how they even found out about this deal. Look, let’s go get ourselves a drink and head back. Cut our losses.”
“Yeah.”
We head right back outside to where we parked our bikes to find that they were fucking ripped apart. There were coils and chunks of metal scattered across the ground. I could tell that Tank’s blood was boiling now, but I put my hand on his shoulder.
“Look, call Crow to get you outta here. I’ll get Claymore down here to clean this shit up and take it to Axle’s tomorrow, aight? You been dealing with enough shit, Tank.”
“Thanks, Ripper.”
I could see the gratitude in his eyes, and I had a feeling he was gonna head on home to finish a whole damn bottle of something real strong after the night we had.You Freeway Fucks are gonna pay for this shit. Mark my damn words.
***
I pulled up to Axle’s with both of the bikes and their loose parts in the back of my truck. I hated driving the big damn box around the place cause it felt like a damn prison, but there was no way else I could get ’em here. I sauntered inside, seeing Axle there hard at work on my bike, looking up at me, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
“Ripper, what brings you back here so early?”
“I got more business for you, Axle,” I said, pointing to the pickup truck outside with the bikes peeking out the back.
“Damn. The fuck you been up to lately to do this much damage?”
“The Freeway Fucks. They’re back and they’re causing a whole lot more chaos than the last time we had to deal with ’em. I gotta ask, Axle, have any of them rolled in here for repairs? Look, I ain’t gonna judge. I know you can’t turn away perfectly good business,” I said.
He shook his head at me, putting the tools sway in his toolbox before wiping his hands on a washcloth.
“You and I know very well that I don’t do business with those fuckers. This is my shop, and I get to service whoever the fuck I please. I won’t go as far as to say I’m loyal to the Rebels, but I don’t entertain scum,” he said.
“Yeah, I figured as much. It’s been two too nights that I had to deal with ’em. Shit’s getting wild out here, and I just don’t know what the fuck we’re really in for this time. What I do know is that I need these goddamn bikes fixed. It’s Tank’s and my loaner.”
“I’ll take care of it. You ain’t gotta worry about a thing.”
“Thanks, man. Hey, where’s—”
I couldn’t even finish my damn sentence before I heard the sound of a clean engine rolling in. It roared beautifully, and I turned around expecting to see one of the other Rebels pulling up to drop some shit off or fix a cosmetic kink in the damn thing, but what I saw made my jaw drop. I saw the small frame of a woman gripping those bike handles tightly, riding in with such ease that I knew she had to be a natural. When she removed her dome and I caught a glimpse of her warm chestnut hair, I realized who the hell I was looking at.
“Damn, Ronnie. That’s one hell of a ride. I’ve gotta say, I’m impressed. A few days back in town and you’re already outshining the rest of us,” I teased.
