Dead-Eye Angels MC (Book #1)

⍱Accept and Move On⍱

Shanice's POV

Someone hollering wakes me up from my painful sleep. I try to open my eyes but only manage to open just one. A blurry image of Karl comes into view as he sits next to me.

"Thank God, you're awake," Karl snivels. I try to pat his head, but my hand hurts like it was run over by a Mack truck. "Shani, please don't try to move."

Instead of answering, I nod my head, which also hurts, signaling that it went through hell. Karls starts talking about something, but the buzzing sound of the air conditioning lulls me back to sleep.

The next time I open my eyes, bright sunlight shines through the thin curtains. This time around, I can open both my eyes, scrutinizing the room in which I'm currently taking residence. The vintage wallpaper adds to the antiquated feeling of the space with its mahogany furnishings. The only thing modern is the medical equipment I'm hooked up to. I struggle to sit up and think about how I wound up in this place. My rustling wakes my roommate up, who took the dark-green chesterfield as a bed.

"Morning, sleepyhead," I tease my best friend.

"Shani, you're finally awake," Karl blubbers tears filling his eyes.

"Karl, how did I get here?" I try to sit up again, but this time Karl helps me and fluffs my pillow until I stop him from his dawdling. "Tell me what happened to me, and please don't beat around the bush."

"I-I found you almost half dead behind Zinc," he enunciates.

Flashes from that night assault me in an instant, trying to look away to escape, people taunting and shouting obscenities, and Bryan's face. At the memory, I shiver. "Please continue."

Karl grabs my right hand and holds it tight as a sign of comfort and support. He goes into detail on how he found me. He and Logan brought me to Logan's private doctor.

"Karl, it's alright. I understand why he wouldn't want a record." I try to comfort my friend. Even though they could have treated me more appropriately at the hospital, it would have brought an onslaught of new trouble called the Black Dragons.

"Shani, did you know who did this? Was it that biker, Nate?" Karl coaxes me for an answer.

"It was his buddy, Bryan, who did this. But probably Nate told him to." Before Karl flies to an uncontrollable fury, I stop him. I don't want him to bring his family into my troubles. "Karl, it was my fault."

"What do you mean it's your fault?" Karl throws his hand around, trying to understand what the heck I'm saying.

"I pumped shit from Nate's sewage and spread it all over his yard. I took my enemy lightly." I bow my head in shame because I went around the situation as if it were a child's play. "I should have known better."

"What do you mean you should have known better? He shouldn't have put his hands on you in the first place. It was a damn prank. This is utterly ludicrous!"

"I should have known that he would take his revenge on me."

Karl stops pacing up and down and asks me, "Wait, is this Nate dude the same hot, annoying neighbor you mentioned a while back?"

"Yes," I answer, still with my head down. I'm embarrassed for playing these childish games and putting Karl through unnecessary grief.

Karl flips his lid. "You mean to tell me that you lived next to a racist, criminal, biker, and you didn't tell your family or me that you were in danger! Like what in the hell, Shanice!"

It's middle school all over again. Me sitting in my father's study while my mother goes all HAM on me. Deep down, I want to laugh because I'm crazy and think this is funny, but I know I screwed up. "I apologize for my mistake Karl-san." I bow my head again as a sign of respect and atonement.