65

65
The brawl was already in session when they arrived, and it looked to Jenna like Riley's side was losing badly. A guy she recognised was balled up on the floor, being kicked by three guys at once while a couple of others engaged in one-on-one fistfights.

Her heart rate doubled as she ducked under the broken metal grate. She expected Riley and the others to steamroll in and start kicking butt, but instead of rescuing their mates, they moved slowly.

"You fucked up big this time," Riley said, announcing his presence.

The other group turned and made faces, acting tough.

"I heard you had a girl in your crew now," the leader said, taking a step toward Riley. He looked Jenna up and down, licking his lips. He made the gesture Italians made when talking about food. "She's quite fit. I'll fuck her when I'm d—"

Like lightning, Felix stepped out and whipped out his blade.

Jenna blinked, and the guy who'd been threatening to fuck her was waving about a bloody, mangled stump instead of a hand.

He stared at it for a moment before screaming.

Then all hell broke loose.

Jenna sank to her bum and pushed herself back into a corner, covering her eyes. She quickly realised she had no reason to worry about the other guys winning. These guys were used to violence, but probably not on this level. Riley and his gang didn't take long to knock out or subdue each of them.

When she quit peeking between her fingers and pulled her hands away from her face, Jenna saw Jack had their leader in a hold similar to the one he'd used on her. The guy looked somewhat less comfortable than she had been.

"No, no, no, please, my arm," the guy whimpered, repeatedly tapping on Jack's leg with his free hand.

"You can't tap out of a street fight, silly," Jack informed him, smiling sweetly.

Riley quite deliberately squished one of the severed fingers under his trainer as he walked toward the rival leader.

"Now, I'm going to have to make sure you don't ever even think of challenging me again," he said. He turned to Felix. "What do you think?"

"An ear?" Felix asked, running his blade along the captive's cheek.

"You already cut half my fucking fingers off!" the guy shouted with such force he spat an array of blood and saliva.

"So?" Felix asked, looking down the sword. He tilted it as though checking out his reflection in the silver blade.

The Rival turned to Riley. "Please. I won't start shit again. I swear. I swear on my mum's life. Please."

Jenna had squeezed her fists so tight her nails were digging into her skin. She closed her eyes, praying to whatever God was listening that Riley would show mercy, though she knew it wasn't likely.

He didn't answer one way or the other. Instead, he began to round up the beaten underlings. "You lot have a choice to make. Either decide to join me right now, or I let Felix here use you as target practice."

Most were compliant. Only one guy argued, shouting that he'd never join them no matter what they did to him. Jack released the leader and placed an arm over the outlier.

"I used to be just like you," Jack told him with a smile. "Maybe you'll be an asset."

'So Jack used to be in another gang?' Jenna figured. 'That must be why there's so many of them. They use intimidation to absorb rival groups.'

From the way they interacted, it was odd to think they'd fought in the past. There was a sense of comradery among the lads--a bond. She would never have guessed that bond was forged in blood.

"Come on." Riley offered his hand and pulled Jenna from the hard concrete floor. When she stumbled, tripping over an old pipe, he snickered and offered her a piggyback ride.

"I'm fine," Jenna mumbled. She noted how he seemed to have cheered up, and figured it was the rush of adrenaline from fighting. He was bound to crash and return to his sullen state, and she would rather be out of his hair before that happened.

"Oi, Mike," he cried. "Come over and fix my walls."

"Again?" Mike threw up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright."

Riley turned to Jenna. "And you can keep me company while he fixes the place."

"Erm." She tried to think up an argument, but her brain was too frazzled by the violence.

"We have a lot of product to shift," Felix spoke up, providing one for her. "There's too much to do to take a night off in the midd—"

"No." Riley stopped dead and turned to face him. "I need a night off. This whole thing was your idea, not mine."

"And you agreed to it—" Felix pushed.

"Please!" Riley grabbed fistfuls of his own hair. "Please... just... have some basic human compassion, would you? Urrghh!"

With that, he grabbed Jenna by the wrist and pulled her back to his house, leaving Felix to stare blankly.

"He's useful and I love him but sometimes I think he's not even human," Riley complained. "He's like some kinda robot wearing human skin."

"You love him?" Jenna asked.

"Hmm?" Riley frowned, as though his words hadn't registered with his brain. "Well, you know what I mean. He's my bro."

As they walked up the stairs, the smiling faces of Riley and his brother beamed out of the frames that cluttered the wall.

"Do you get on with your real brother?" she asked.

Riley nodded. "I didn't always. We get on better now he's in prison."

"What's he in for?" Jenna asked. Yes, she was being nosy, but she might as well get to know this guy if he was forcing her to keep him company.

"GBH. He ripped my dad’s kneecaps off with a claw hammer," Riley said, his tone perfectly neutral.

"Wow, he did that?" Jenna asked, stopping to look at the picture of the tiny smiling blonde lad. He looked so... innocent. She couldn't picture him taking a hammer to anyone.

"No." Riley laughed. "But that's what he's inside for."

Jenna stood in confusion for a moment before his meaning sank in.

Riley turned back to her once he reached the top of the stairs, eyebrows raised. "I mean... who else do we know who has violent fits of rage?"

"Oh." Jenna wasn't sure what to say. 'So his brother took the blame for him?'

She took one final look at his picture before following Riley into his room. When he collapsed onto the bed, laying with his arms back behind his head, Jenna was unsure what to do.

'Do I go sit on the bed or just stand here like a spare part?'

"Come here," he patted the bed beside him, making her decision easier. "I won't molest you or anything. I promise. I've given up on women."

Jenna took a seat on the bed, wiping crumbs from the blue sheet and moving a dirty plate to the floor. "I'm sorry... about... you know..."

"Ain't your fault." Riley sat up and looked at her. "I just don't get it. She was so freaking happy one minute. We had everything figured out. Then she just goes and gets an abortion without even telling me first. What's up with that?"

"Honestly, I don't know why people do half the stuff they do." Jenna shrugged. "Maybe a relative changed her mind. Her mum or..."

"I just need to forget about it and move on," Riley said. He pulled a box from under his bed and fiddled with filter papers and a baggie of weed. His expert fingers took only seconds to produce a perfectly formed joint which he lit up, took a toke on and offered to her.

"Oh, no." Jenna shook her head.

"Do it," he demanded. "I don't wanna get high on my own."

'So this the peer pressure the school drug talks warned me about,' Jenna thought, staring at the little spirals of smoke. She took a drag, coughed, and handed it back and coughed a little more.

Riley chuckled. "Here."

He took a deep drag on the joint, pressed his hands against Jenna's cheeks to part her lips and slowly breathed the smoke into her mouth. As Jenna sucked in the second-hand smoke she was acutely aware their lips were on the verge of touching. He stared into her eyes with his strange, golden orbs and smiled before leaning back.

"Better?" he asked.

Jenna nodded, still staring into his eyes. She figured he was about to kiss her and couldn't figure out how she felt about it. Her mind was too hazy and slow.

'Am I high?'

"I got my tools." Mike dropped a bag in the doorway, making her jump. "Make a tea, would ya?"

The bed dipped and bounced back as Riley stood. He passed the joint to Mike as he left, giving Jenna one of those sly, knowing looks. A look that said, 'you would have kissed me, and you know it.'

But was he right?