Sharing Freedom (9 page)

The police were skeptical that a man of her father’s standing could have gotten involved
with a gang. By the time she actually spoke to the police, they had spoken to his
friends and colleagues who painted a completely different picture of him. When Freedom
walked in the station, they already assumed it had been her who dragged her father
into the situation. They had her bank account records that were empty, and it took
the bank manager to tell them that her father had transferred the money out of her
account, rendering her penniless. It had thrown her for a loop and she had wanted
a friend’s shoulder to cry on, but she didn’t get it.

Shady wanted to go with her, but Creed had not allowed it. In fact, she noticed several
times, where Shady was going to come with her different places, Creed stopped her.
Freedom tried not to take it personally, because one of the men always came with her.
But she wanted a girlfriend to talk to sometimes, and no one had been there. She
had relied on the men, who weren’t so touchy feely. The message she got was—suck
it up.

The restaurant was going to close; with no capital and a lot of outstanding bills,
she had little choice. She had spoken to several people about it, and there was no
other recourse unless she came up with tons of cash. The employees blamed her, because
her father had never shown that he was in debt, he covered it well, so they figured
she just didn’t want the business.

Of course, the media showed her upstanding father in the newspaper as a victim of
random violence. None of them called her to ask anything. It was all one sided,
and Freedom didn’t have the energy to correct them.

During the whole ordeal, the Warriors stood by her side. Each of them at one time
or another helping her and protecting her. She began to realize this is what they
did. They also didn’t let her wallow in her grief; they made her face reality, which
is what she needed. She just wished they would have let Shady and the other girls
hang out with her a little. She felt alone, and needed a friend. But it seemed they
were more determined for her to lean on them.

When the day of the funeral arrived, Freedom figured she was going to quietly go to
the service alone and then come back. She hadn’t said a word to any of them about
attending. After getting another talk from Creed about fucking growing up after they
found her crying last night, she assumed this was how they were going to toughen her
up.
She could do it
.

Freedom looked in the mirror above her dresser and grimaced, the black dress made
her pale skin look worse. The bathroom situation over the last few days had been
easy. Both Poke and Easy took their showers at night and so the mornings were hers.
She had made sure her stuff stayed in the small drawer she found empty her first morning.

Walking out of her room, she saw no one was in the leaders’ common area; in fact,
no one was on the floor at all. She wondered briefly where they were, it was unusual
to see the place empty. Not that she had really talked or joined in. For the last
two days, she had remained on the top floor, feeling sorry for herself and trying
to figure out what a mess her life had become. Freedom wasn’t sure what the hell
she was going to do. Feeling lost and alone she thought about Poke’s offer of a bus
ticket, and wondered briefly is she should take it.

As she descended the stairs, she barely noticed how silent the place was, no activity
on the second floor either. Shrugging, she continued on, and the main level was just
as silent.
It was probably good
, she thought,
the pitying gazes she received over the last few days were getting on her nerves
. She had actually gotten her car back.

Her car was the only thing that survived the fire someone set at her home. The day
after she went to the police station it had burned to the ground. Freedom hadn’t
even cared. Numb from any more tragedies, she had just shrugged and nodded when she
was informed. The insurance may cover part of the debts her father had, and any other
money had been seized as well. She was broke, and didn’t really care.

As she stepped out in the crisp morning, she saw something that finally made her show
the emotion she buried the last few days. The Ops Warriors were in the parking lot
waiting for her. The entire club from what she could tell. All on their bikes, wearing
their cuts and sunglasses, ready to follow her to the funeral.

Freedom looked helplessly at the crowd not knowing what to do. Creed got off his
bike and stood with his arms crossed staring at her. He motioned with his head for
her to come to him. She walked slowly, nodding to the bikers as she passed.

Creed’s face showed no emotion, and she stopped in front of him, looking into his
sunglasses reflection waiting. Easy stepped up and looked down at her.

“Get on,” Easy said and waited.

“But…” Freedom said, not sure what the hell she was going to say.

“You are family,” he said with a hard tone, and Freedom let a small sob escape.

“Thank you,” she whispered and looked at the others. None of them looked at her with
pity, they all had a grim expression on their face, but it gave her strength, she
took the helmet, and straddled the leader’s motorcycle. Poke came up next to them
and nodded to her.

Creed raised his hand and whistled, they all started their engines, and with them
in the lead, they pulled out of the driveway and proceeded to bury the last piece
of her old life.

*****

There was no gathering after the funeral, and so Freedom stood at the graveside and
thanked her father’s friends for coming. Although all of them stared at the Warriors
with a mixture of worry and disgust, none of them said a word, or offered to help
her.

The Warriors stayed until the end, and then just as they came they left, together
with Creed in the lead. When they arrived back to the mansion, the members shrugged
off their funeral attire and everything went back to normal.

Freedom and the leaders went to the top floor in silence as the rest of the club pulled
out food, and Cap began serving beers behind the bar. She looked at them and smiled
as she walked to the stairs.

When she arrived to the top floor, she went to her room and went into the closet.
It was where she changed her clothes so no one could see her. Taking off the black
dress, she threw it on the floor, knowing she was going to throw it away later, and
she pulled on her soft well-worn jeans and a blue tank top, then wandered out to the
main room.

Shady and Rock were cooking something, and Numbers was handing out the beers to people.
They all stopped when she walked out of her room. Creed walked over to her and stared
at her intently.

“Let it go,” Creed ordered and she looked at him in confusion.

“Let what go?” Freedom asked.

“The pain, whatever, let the shit go. It’s over and done. We let you wallow for
a few days but now it's over,” Creed said stoically.

“You make it sound so easy,” Freedom said sadly.

“It is, just let it go. He doesn’t care that you are tearing yourself apart over
it. No one does, except the Diablos and they are fucked up pricks,” Creed shrugged.

“I will try,” Freedom said.

“No, you will do, or I will kick your ass,” Creed said firmly.

Freedom nodded slowly, walked to the couch closest to her, and sunk down in it. Easy
walked up and put a beer in front of her and didn’t say a word, just sat down and
flicked on the television and put a game on.

The room began to fill with talking and laughter. Freedom grabbed the beer and drank
it slowly, watching the interaction of the people. Poke, Easy, and Magnum were arguing
over a play in the game. While Shady and Rock were moving in the kitchen making something
that smelled like BBQ. Creed had walked back over to the table where the rest of
the guys were sitting looking for papers and joined them.

“Come get it,” Shady called and set out plates. The guys jumped up and grabbed a
plate and began filling it. She was slower, and when she finally was staring down
at the food, which was pulled pork sandwiches and potatoes salad, with an array of
veggies, she didn’t know if she could eat any. Freedom was about ready to put her
plate back down with Easy grabbed it with a growl. He filled it up with way more
food than she could actually eat. She opened her mouth to protest but Easy glared
at her and she shut her mouth.

He carried the plate back to the couch and set it on the table that was in front of
them, the whole group had done the same thing, ignoring the dining room table and
sitting on the couches. Freedom followed silently and then sat down. She picked
up her beer and drank it, then slowly began to pick at her food.

“When are we gonna reopen the businesses,” Magnum said before taking a huge bite.
Everyone looked at Freedom intently after he asked the question. Fork is the one
who looked at her in the eye and said.

“Nothing said up here is repeated. We will never discuss specifics unless we are
in church, but there are times when we talk. Creed wanted you up here and so you
are here, but if you open your mouth about anything, we will shut it. You feel me?”
Fork said casually.

Freedom nodded slowly and looked at everyone in the eyes. She could see they didn’t
fully trust her but were giving her a chance for some reason.

Creed finished what he was chewing on before answering, “Monday.”

Freedom looked up surprised. She had totally lost track of time, today was Thursday,
they had been closed since Sunday. A full week of business closed had to hurt their
income.

“The mine too?” Rock asked and she paused.

“Nope, it stays closed until we figure out how they got onto our property. It’s cool,
we are giving employees paid leave,” Numbers shrugged.

“Trick is making waves about Free being up here,” Shady shrugged.

Freedom looked up sharply and bit her lip. “Sorry.”

“Damn it, do not fuckin' apologize,” Creed snapped. “She can get over it, she made
her choice when she went to the apartments.”

Freedom had no idea what was going on and so she sat and listened. She didn’t want
to be here anymore than apparently Trick didn’t want her to, but it was a moot point.
She had nowhere else to go.

They finished eating and took their dishes up one by one and Rock paused and looked
at the board. “I will take dishes if you want me to,” he said quietly to Freedom
who looked up with a surprised expression to see her name had been added to the rotation
on the board. She had dishes today, and bathrooms tomorrow. She shook her head at
him and said.

“No it is fine, I need something to do anyway,” and went to work cleaning up the kitchen.

The group mumbled behind her and she lost herself in her own world. When she was
finally done, she turned and saw that everyone was still sitting in the same spots
but Easy and Poke, they were absent. Freedom went back to the couch, grabbed another
beer, and sat down listening.

Shady plopped down beside her and nudged her shoulder and said, “How you doing?”

“Fine,” Freedom responded and looked down.

“You know they are right, don’t you,” Shady said.

“Not so easy to do though,” Freedom said and felt the tears threaten again.

“Yeah, well it wasn’t easy for any of us to admit that we needed something other than
ourselves. I mean growing up my parents were fucking assholes, didn’t give two shits
about me or where I was most of the time. Stumbled into town with only a few bucks
left to my name, Rock and Magnum were at the store, saw me shoplifting, and offered
to help,” Shady said with a shrug. “Now, it is like the before me, and the me now.
I like the me now better, ‘cause I am loyal to the Warriors and they are loyal to
me. As long as you don’t fuck up and break any hard rules, you will have a family
for life.”

Freedom looked around the room and then leaned in and whispered, “Do you sleep with
all of them?”

Shady grinned at her question. “Yep. I won’t apologize for liking sex, have since
I was young, the thing is though, it isn’t weird because of that. I mean if I am
feeling rowdy then I go to Rock, if I need it soft, Numbers. That is just the way
it is. No one will expect you to fuck them though, they respect your choices.”

“Where are Easy and Poke?” Freedom asked finally, she knew the answer but wanted to
hear it.

“On this floor you can’t come up unless invited. So, if I wanna fuck someone, I go
there. The guys do the same because this floor is just kinda sacred, I guess you
could say, so unless they are fucking me, they go somewhere else. Poke and Easy like
to share, and so they went to go see Rain probably.” Shady shrugged.

“Share as in?” Freedom swallowed.

“Honey, all these guys like to share or take you single. If you are with one, fine,
or you could be with two or more. Whatever you want. They like to fuck and don't
care who sees or who is involved. Easy and Poke are the only pair who stick together
all the time, the rest mix it up. See it’s just how everyone is feeling,” Shady said.
“None of them have old ladies, and if they find one, cool.”

“So what am I here for?” Freedom asked.

Shady looked at her with her head tilted and stared for a moment before responding.
“Well, depends.”

Freedom frowned and said, “On?”

“You, there is no doubt the guys think you are hot. Not to say they are gonna force
themselves on you or anything. Creed brought you here the first night ‘cause you
needed protection. They knew it, but they let you stay because they saw something
in you. We all did. A kindred spirit. Being a Bitch is not something most girls
dream about when they are young. However, to girls like us, ones that need the feel
of belonging, there is no better place. You pledge yourself to them, they will never
let you down. You're considered a Bitch but you do have to pass by the major vote
for it to be permanent. If it is not what you want, then you will be moved down to
club rat or whore. You don’t want that, and they will be fair,” Shady promised.

“But I didn’t want this, any of it. I have a degree, I had plans. Now it is all
a mess,” Freedom whispered furiously.

“You think any of us didn’t have plans too? You think you are so much better than
us?” Creed said slowly.

“No that is not what I meant.” Freedom blushed.

“Whether you want to admit it you need us. Not just for protection. You don’t just
walk into a fucking strip club and apply because you were on the run. You had nowhere
else to go, face it. Well we are giving you some place. You just have to take it.
But if you don’t want it, quit wasting our fucking time. Because none of us need
a stupid stuck up cunt looking down her nose at us, as we provide food and shelter.
I for one don’t think your pussy is worth that much,” Fork said and stood up.

“I don’t get you people!” Freedom finally lost it, stood, and started yelling. “First
you are all nice to me, then you are pricks, what the hell is your damn problem?
Were you not breast-fed or something? Well let me tell you something. I will not
be your whore, or your club rat. Fuck that, I am worth more than that. If you want
to fuck me, you have to be nice to me you stupid bastards. My life may be a goddamn
mess, but guess what? It is my fucking mess. I am not some stupid bimbo you can
push around. I have a damn brain, and it may have not been working much the last
few weeks, but guess what. When you get your entire fucking world blown apart in
twenty minutes, it takes a while to get your feet back under you. Well I got them
just fine now and you all better get used to it, cause the days of Freedom being a
target are fucking over.”

Everyone in the room was silent and Freedom figured she was going to get killed now.
No one talked to these men like that and got away with it, especially not one of the
women.

“Back from the dead,” Creed looked at her intently. He didn’t smile or yell, he only
nodded. “Now, figure out what you want to do, ‘cause we aren’t going wait forever.”

Freedom nodded as the men stood and left. She turned to Shady who was laughing.
“What the fuck just happened?”

“You showed them you weren’t a gutless cunt,” Shady said. “They put you on notice,
either leave, or fuck one of them.”

There were only two men she wanted like that and they were currently screwing someone
else.