Truth and Lies: Chapter 6

The last four weeks, we’ve thankfully not had a single MC member in the diner. I hope they’ve decided to eat somewhere else.

Being here with Graham and Suzie is great; they treat me like family, and it’s the first time in years anyone has treated me like that. Even before Gunner, being brought up in foster homes was never easy, and getting my education and a job in the bank was something I could be very proud of, then I lost it all.

Shaking myself out of this pity party, I finish cleaning my apartment and then get ready to walk into town, look for some new shoes, and, depending on how much, a new pair of jeans.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I hear Suzie in the diner talking to someone, and when I hear, ‘Oh, Mia’s not at work today.’ I stop and listen.

‘What days does she work?’ a man asks, I can’t see who it is without being seen myself, so I hang back and then notice Graham waving his hand behind his back at me to move away.

Carefully I turn and tiptoe back up the stairs to my apartment. Shit, this is not good and could be the start of me having to pack up and move on. I hoped for longer, but it seems as though my time here’s run out.

A while later, a soft tapping on my door catches my attention, and I walk over and open it slightly, keeping the chain on just in case.

Seeing Suzie standing there, I take the chain off and open the door. She rushes in and shuts the door behind her.

‘It was that MC asking about you, the one I said kept looking at you. Not the one that you’re running from. I told him you were off for the day and out and about somewhere. He didn’t ask more, but I noticed he kept looking at the kitchen, probably to see if you came back.’ she sits down heavily at the kitchen table and rests her head in her hands.

‘I’m sorry, Suzie. This is not good for you. I’m going to pack up and move on. I’ll be out by the end of the week.’ I feel like crying, but I am not going to allow myself that luxury. I haven’t cried in five years, and I’m not going to start now.

‘We don’t want you to move on, Mia. We want you to stay with us, you’re like a daughter to us, and if we could adopt you, we would.’ Suzie states and a single tear rolls down her cheek.

‘I won’t put you in danger. I couldn’t live with that. If this MC is starting to become aware of who I could be, then it won’t be long before the other one does, and then we could be in danger. They could burn this place down, hurt you both. No, I won’t have that happen, Suzie. I care about you both too much.’ hugging Suzie as I know I’ll have to sneak away, or they won’t let me go.

‘We’ll talk about this tomorrow with Graham, don’t do anything stupid, Mia, don’t run, at least until we’ve spoken to you about this.’ and she takes my hand into hers, squeezing it gently. I nod, but I’m not even sure how honest I’m being right now.

Once Suzie has left, I walk into the bedroom and find my backpack. Checking through my clothes, I select the ones I’ll need most: jeans, t-shirts, and a sweater.

I place the money I’ve saved into a large envelope. I tuck it into the torn lining of the pack. I’m leaving a small amount in my wallet for me to use for bus fare. Placing a few essentials onto the top of the bag, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrush, plus a hairbrush. I have everything I’m going to need for basics.

Laying on top of the bed, I know I’ll have to get a few hour’s sleep as I don’t know when I’ll next be able to close my eyes. I know what it’s like to sleep with one eye open, it’s no fun, but we do what we have to do to stay alive.

Memories of being locked up flash through my mind, my hair being pulled hard as someone tries to get a toothbrush ground down, so it’s a blade to my throat. Punches in my back as I walk past people, spitting into my food as they walk past the dining table where I was sitting.

I shake my head and stop the images and memories. Making a new life is my priority and leaving all this in the past. To do that, I have to shake off the bad that hangs over my head.

Crack

After catching Cara treating Zara like that, I drag her out to the office and throw her down in front of Sharp, our President; her wailing and screaming are just making me want to shut her up for good.

‘What’s goin’ on, Crack?’ he asks, looking at me and then down at this fucking bitch.

‘Caught this bitch mistreating Zara, throwing her on the floor in the kitchen.’ I spit out, feeling like kicking the fucker while she’s down.

‘What the fuck!’ Sharp snaps, shooting a look at Cara.

‘Funny thing is Pres, Zara tried to hide behind me when she saw this bitch. She was scared of her, so what the fuck has she been doin’ to her?’ I snarl, ‘Where the fuck is Gunner these days, he told me he hadn’t seen Zara in days.’

‘He doesn’t care about anyone, only himself.’ Cara snaps as she stands and throws her hands onto her hips.

‘Are you fuckin’ surprised? You had the love of his life thrown in prison for somethin’ she didn’t do and don’t think for a fuckin’ minute I don’t know what you did.’ stepping right into her, which has her back-peddling fast, or I would have knocked her over.

‘I didn’t do nothin’. She stabbed me.’ shouting, spittle flying as she does.

Stepping forward, I wrap my hand around her neck and start to squeeze. It wouldn’t take anything for me to kill this bitch.

‘Let go of her Crack,’ Sharp snarls as he jumps up from his desk. Opening his cell, I hear him snarl, ‘Bring Gunner to my office now.’

I let go of her, alright. I throw her back onto the floor just as she did to Zara.

Sharp walks over to the front of his desk, staring down at the bitch, ‘Where’s Zara?’

‘I don’t know. He dragged me in here.’ she spouts off, pointing at me with attitude. I’m about done with this bitch and itching to give her a bullet.

Gunner walks into the office and sees Cara on the floor, ‘What the fuck is goin’ on?’

‘This bitch was mistreating Zara, caught her myself, she threw Zara on the fuckin’ floor in the kitchen.’ making sure I stayed near this bitch, ready to take her out if necessary, I never hated a woman, but I hate this one.

‘Where’s Zara Gunner?’ Pres asks, and I can tell by his face he knows that the answer is not going to be good.

‘No idea Pres,’ Gunner responds, then looks down at Cara, ‘Where is she?’

‘I don’t know. The little bitch ran off after he grabbed me.’ She mouths off.

‘You find her, and you find her now,’ he shouts.

‘What you shouting at her for? She’s your daughter too. You admit you’ve not seen her for days. This bitch has been mistreating her, and how do I know? Because Zara was hiding behind me to stay away from this bitch.’ I shout right in Gunner’s face. I’m enraged and about ready to pop them both off.

‘You two, go find your daughter and bring her to me.’ Sharp snarls, dragging Cara up off the floor and throwing her at Gunner.

When they’ve both left the office, I slam the door and turn to Sharp. ‘Something is terribly wrong, Zara is nearly thirteen, and she’s scared of her mother. Her father doesn’t give a damn, the same father who was supposed to be so enraged when Miriam stabbed Cara because of jealousy over Zara. Now, why would Miriam stab Cara unless she was protecting Zara? That is how I see it.’

‘I agree, Crack, and I want you to start digging, find out what happened, why Zara has never spoken since it happened either.’ Sharp sits behind his desk and runs his hands over the paperwork in front of him, ‘I was to blame at that time too. I had so much work that I struggled to find time to sleep. I allowed Miriam to be railroaded. I’ll always regret it as she was good for the MC. She helped everyone, and all of us should have stood up to find out what went on.’

Nodding agreement, ‘I’ll see what I can find out, it’s five years too late, but I’ll try and get Zara to talk to me.’

‘With Miriam being Gunner’s ol’ lady, we had the issue where he got the last word, and that’s what happened. He shut it all down, stopped anyone from getting near her. He could do that again if he finds out you’re digging around, so keep it on the down-low the best you can.’ Sharp states, nodding at the door for me to leave, then adds, ‘Crack, I’ll override him this time if I need to.’

Walking out of Sharp’s office, I keep my eyes peeled as to who’s watching. Also, I need to find Zara and why she is frightened, and what she has to say about what happened with Miriam back then.

Zara

Rushing back to my hiding place, I quickly climb up and put the hatch down. I’m going to find Miriam, I know what town she was in, and I’m taking my savings and going to find her. I don’t want to be here anymore. It’s not safe.

Cara hates me, and I hate her. My dad, I love, but he doesn’t care anymore, not since Miriam was sent to prison. I’ve seen him going into bedrooms with the club women. I know he sleeps around with all of them. Well, he can have them as I’m going to make a run for it.

Making sure I have the laptop, cell, and savings, I tuck them into the backpack I stole out of my dad’s bureau. He won’t know as he’s never home.

Looking at the time, I know I have to wait until everyone goes to bed before I can sneak out. There‘s a break in the fencing at the back of the compound, I’ve been through it before, so I know where to get out. I have to make sure one of the prospects doesn’t catch me.

‘Zara, where are you?’

Oh no, that’s my dad looking for me. I crawl near the hatch and place my ear on it. I’m not going to open it.

‘Zara, where are you? Come out now.’

I hear my dad shouting, but he has Cara with him. I can hear her bitching about what a worthless little bitch I am.

When I grow up, I’m gonna learn how to shoot and fight. I’m not having someone like her calling me names. I need to find Miriam. She loved me, and she protects me.

When the clubhouse is quiet, I check the cellphone and see it’s three in the morning. I’m going to make my move and get out of here. I need to walk to the bus station and find the one that takes me to the town where the prison is to look for Miriam.

Slipping out of the loft, I grab the backpack and quietly make my way out of the clubhouse, dodging someone as they make their way towards the bedrooms.

As I pass the main room, I hear my dad talking to someone, telling them he can’t find me and he’ll look again tomorrow. Good luck with that, I think to myself.

I squeeze out the back door, trying not to let any light out that will have the prospect looking this way. I know one is on the gate, and one walks around the edges of the fencing, so I have to get out when they’ve walked away.

Creeping to the picnic table, I duck behind it and wait until the prospect passes, then I dash to the fencing and squeeze out. I keep low as I don’t want to be seen, but I take off running once I get a little ways away. I want to get to town as fast as possible, then I can get the first bus, so I keep running for as long as I can before I run out of breath and start gasping.

When I get to where I have to walk up the side of the road, I keep watch, and every time a vehicle comes, I duck behind anything I can so I’m not seen.

It’s a bit frightening as it’s still dark and I can hear animals moving around. But I’m not stopping. I need to get away before they find I’m missing.