Page 3 of Gang of Roses: Kash

The further I got down the road, the more my vision became blurry. I was bawling underneath my helmet. I felt like somebody ripped my heart out my chest and was just squeezing the fuck out of it.

She didn’t deserve that.

My vision was so impaired I had no choice but to pull over on the highway.

“Dammit Rose. Why did you have to spare that bitch?” I screamed pulling off my helmet then throwing it into the woods.

I leaned onto my bike and allowed every piece of me to shatter without restriction. Every ounce of pain was heard in the cries I released. These were tears I didn’t even give my father. It was something about this death that hit different.

Time and time again, I would tell Rose how her kindness would get her in trouble. If only she had the balls to put bitches down no matter the reason, she would still be by our side. I spared no one when my sisters were involved. Their lives came first. I’d put down the family dog behind them because the love I carried for them wouldn’t allow me to see them harmed in any shape, form, or fashion.

“I miss you like crazy, Rose,” I whispered touching the yellow patch on my jacket that was dedicated to her. I was trying my best to contain my emotions but damn I selfishly wanted her here.

Magnolia was home to all of us, but now it was a place of pain. I no longer wanted any parts of it. I had no reason to be here if I was being honest. I retrieved my helmet and was back on my bike within moments. I didn’t know where I was going, but I was getting the hell out of Magnolia Valley.

FOREWORD

A YEAR LATER…

1

TAKE A SHOT WITH ME

KASH

Landing in Texas had been a huge adjustment from Magnolia Valley. After the fallout at the gravesite, I really didn’t know where I would lay my head. My only goal was to hop on my bike and leave the Valley behind.

Gang of Roses stayed on the move, with each one of us having our own safehouse. It was a rule we made when we started making bread. I ended up in the opposite direction of mine, which was in the Carolinas. Going to the clubhouse in the Valley was off the table since neither one could stand the other at the time. If I knew my best friend well enough, nine times out of ten, that was where Dice went to be alone.

One thing about the gang, we all knew to back up during a heated argument. However, this wasn’t no ordinary argument; this shit was different. This time, we all needed to grieve… alone. We lost a sister. One that created a different bond with each of us.

How the hell is the person that started this shit the reason we fell out? Her being six feet under and not on top created more damage and hurt than any of us ever felt before. Rose wouldn’t have wanted none of that shit, though. That’s why I had to make my bitches remember the club law we created before peeling out.

We don’t leave sisters.

Not on the road. Not in prison.

Not in the ground.

Pulling in the local bar near the Airbnb I was tucked away at, I saw a lot of bikes in the parking lot. I really wasn’t in the mood for a crowd, but I liked the vibe here. Climbing off my bike, I walked into the usually laid-back establishment, but it was far from it tonight.

“What the hell? Who all these damn people?” I muttered under my breath. Walking over to the bar, I was glad to see a familiar face.

“Wassup, Kash?” Meekie, the bubbly-ass bartender asked.

She was cool, just too damn happy all the time, or maybe I was just too damn depressed. These days, I really couldn’t tell.

“Hi, boo. What’s going on in here tonight?”

“Bike rally. They do one every year around this time. Folks come from all over Texas and a few surrounding states.” Meekie grabbed a glass from underneath the bar. “You want your usual?”

“Please and make that bitch strong.”

“I got you.”

I turned around and leaned my back against the bar, taking in the crowd. Leather cuts, loud mouths, and enough testosterone floating around the bitch to choke on. Now all the bikes outside made sense.

“Here you go.”