“Honey!” shouted Bethany. “Where the hell you going?”

  Honey rushed to the bathroom in the dressing room, rushed into the nearest stall, and vomited. Bethany was hot on her heels and followed her into the stall.

  “Oh my God, you’re sick as hell!” said Bethany.

  But once the first burst of vomit left her lips, Honey felt a little bit better.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Bethany. “You eat something that didn’t agree with you?”

  “I don’t know,” said Honey. “I felt fine up until a few minutes ago. Then it just hit me all of a sudden, like out of nowhere.”

  “Hmm,” said Bethany, standing up in the stall, putting her foot on the toilet handle and giving it a flush. “Um, let me ask you something—you and this guy, have you been, you know, hitting it raw?”

  Honey’s eyes went wide.

  “What?”

  “I mean, have you been practicing safe sex?”

  Honey realized that the answer was a definite “no.”

  “Um, shit,” said Honey.

  Pregnant? she thought. I mean, that’s what Bethany is clearly getting at.

  The idea was simply crazy to her. She was barely old enough to drink. How could she have a kid?

  “Girls?” called out Charlie from outside the bathroom. “You all good in there?”

  “We need to get you tested,” said Bethany. “And no way you’re gonna go up on stage and blow chunks on some trucker in the front row.”

  Charlie knocked on the bathroom door.

  “Here,” said Bethany. “Let me handle this.”

  She hurried up and out of the stall, leaving the bathroom.

  Once she was gone, Honey slumped back against the wall. She felt like it was all too much, like she had no idea just how she’d been able to handle the pressure that she was already under, let alone adding a baby on top of everything.

  Who says that’s even what it is? she thought to herself. I might just have a bug or something.

  But part of her knew it was true. And she knew that she and Grit had been having so much sex that it wasn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility that she might just be carrying his baby.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Bethany returning to the bathroom.

  “Okay, we’re good,” she said.

  “What’d you tell him?” asked Honey.

  “You know—the usual excuses a girl can make up when talking to guys. The less said, the better.”

  The two of them went back to the dressing room and got back into their normal clothes. A little while later, they were in Bethany’s car and headed to the nearest pharmacy. There, they purchased a pregnancy test and drove to Bethany’s apartment nearby.

  “Sorry about the mess,” said Bethany, flicking on the lights.

  “Mess” was putting it lightly. Bethany’s apartment struck Honey as near squalor. Alcohol bottles were here and there, along with food wrappers and other assorted trash. It struck Honey as more than just a mess that a girl might have when getting a little behind on her cleaning.

  “Okay, get into the bathroom and do your business,” said Bethany. “I’ll tidy up while we wait for the results.”

  Honey headed into the bathroom. Once there, she did her necessary business. Looking around the dingy bathroom, Honey spotted something under a dirty towel. It was something small and silver. Once Honey was done with her test, she reached under the towel and grabbed the object.

  It was a small, bent, burnt spoon.

  Honey was no expert on drugs, but she’d been around enough junkies to know that this was a telltale sign of use. She washed her hands, took the test, and headed back into the living room. Bethany was there, trying to do what she could to get the apartment looking somewhat presentable.

  “Takes about a half-hour, right?’ asked Bethany.

  “What’s this?” asked Honey, holding up the spoon.

  Bethany’s face turned a deep red, and her hand shot out to grab the thing from Honey.

  “Nothing,” she shot out. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “B, you’re using again, I know it,” said Honey, putting her hands on her hips. “No use lying to me.”

  “It’s …” said Bethany, trailing off. “I mean, I know. But Charlie keeps shoving that shit in my face, telling me that he just tweaked the recipe and that I have to try it. I … can’t say no.”

  “Then you need to get the hell out of that place,” said Honey. “If you can’t trust yourself not use if it’s in front of you, then you need to put as much distance between yourself and temptation as possible.”

  “I know, I know,” said Bethany. “But I’m so close to having enough money to leave; I’m almost there.”

  Honey rushed over to Bethany and took her hands into her own.

  “That doesn’t matter if you die in the process,” said Honey. “This isn’t just some weed after work or something; this is serious shit. And people have been dying from this … fucking poison. Please, Bethany—I can’t lose you. Especially if I’ve got a baby on the way. Promise me that you’ll quit.”

  Bethany looked away for a moment, her expression heavy with shame.

  “Fine,” she said. “I’ll quit. I promise.”

  “Thank you,” said Honey, wrapping her arms around Bethany and hugging her tight.

  “Now,” said Bethany, wiping a tear away. “Let’s wait for this thing to tell us some good news.”

  The minutes passed like hours, and after a time Honey checked the test and saw that her fears were true—she was pregnant.

  “I can’t believe it,” said Honey, standing up and pacing around the apartment. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’m really pregnant with the baby of a man I barely know.”

  “It’s okay,” said Bethany, stopping Honey from pacing around by putting her hand on her shoulder and pulling her close. “It’s gonna be great, you’ll see.”

  “How do you know?” said Honey. “How do you know that this isn’t gonna end up with me living in a fucking alley somewhere, begging for money to live, barely able to support my own baby? Or what if I become one of those stripper single moms, one of those women who’re bringing home strange men in front of their kids. What if she turns out to be a stripper, too?”

  “Oh,” said Bethany, the hint of a smile forming on her face. “That mean you want a little girl?”

  “I … don’t know,” said Honey, now thinking about it. “I, um, I think I do.”

  “This is a little person that you’re carrying right now, sweetie,” said Bethany. “Not a burden, and not a shame. This is a big deal, sure, but the only thing that you have to know now is that this means you’re about to have someone else to worry about, someone bigger than you. Your life isn’t just about yourself anymore. But it’s going to be for the best; I know it.”

  Bethany’s words calmed Honey. She placed her hand on her belly and looked down; she couldn’t believe that there was really a person growing inside of her, a little boy or girl.

  “But … what about Grit?”

  “Who?” asked Bethany.

  “Sorry,” said Honey. “That’s the guy’s name—Grit.”

  “Weird fucking name,” said Bethany.

  “No weirder than ‘Honey’.”

  “Oh, come on,” said Bethany with a smile. “It’s like the DJ says every night—it’s because you’re so damn sweet.”

  Honey smiled.

  “It’ll be fine,” said Bethany. “If he’s a good man, he’ll do the right thing. But … maybe just wait a little while to tell him. You need to do some processing on your own before you lay it all at his feet. Go to him like you’re two people on the same team, not like you’re a woman in pieces who needs him to put you back together.”

  Honey nodded, seeing the wisdom of Bethany’s words. She plopped down onto the nearby couch and shook her head.

  “Things are gonna be different now,” said Honey. “I’m gonna need to make some changes in my life. But I think it’ll be for the best, you know? I can make my life better and give this kid a good life of her own. Maybe.”

  Bethany sat down next to her and slipped her arm around Honey’s shoulders.

  “I know you can, Honey.’

  Honey looked up into the eyes of her friend and smiled. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt hopeful.

  Chapter Ten

  Grit

  Grit gazed down at the body of Pitt, feeling a sense of disbelief. It felt like he was in some kind of terrible dream, that he wasn’t really looking at the body of his friend and brother in the Vandals, a man who’d ridden with Grit for nearly ten years, a man who’d been at his side through thick and thin.

  “How the fuck did this happen?” asked Grit, turning to Stone, his eyes blazing with anger.

  “It’s that same shit,” said Razor. “That same shitty product that’s been on the streets.”

  Grit clenched his jaw hard and turned away from the body of his friend. He looked around the shitty apartment where Pitt had been living for the last few months, noting the signs of drug use along with the rest the mess. Grit knew that Pitt had always had trouble with substance abuse, but as far as Grit knew, Pitt had been clean for the last year.

  “I hadn’t seen him drink so much as fucking Bud Light,” said Grit, shaking his head as he looked around.

  “I thought he was good,” said Stone. “I thought he’d gotten his demons straightened out, you know?”

  Grit had thought the same thing.

  “When people use after a while,” said Razor, “they think that they can handle the same dose, you know? But their tolerance is way down. And then when it’s fucking shitty product like this …”

  Grit bent down and picked up the small case of drugs near Pitt’s body. He looked over the product, knowing he was looking at the murder weapon that’d taken his friend from him. Whoever’d done this was to Grit no more than a common killer, and he swore he’d bring them to justice.

  “Let’s get him taken care of,” said Grit. “No cops. Get the rest of the boys.”

  “You got it, boss,” said Stone.

  Hours later, Grit was at Hammer’s, one of the Vandals’ usual haunts. His whiskey in hand, Grit turned in his seat at the bar to face the rest of the place, watching the other brothers in his club drink and carouse, knowing they were all dealing with the loss of Pitt in their own way. And Grit knew that it was what Pitt would’ve wanted—a bunch of guys sitting around crying into their beers would’ve made Pitt sick enough to puke. He’d want to go out in true style, and that’s what Grit had in mind.

  Razor plopped into the seat next to Grit, a large mug of dark beer in his hands. Grit could tell that he was already three sheets to the wind, and he didn’t blame him one bit. Razor and Pitt had been closer than most brothers in the Vandals, and the Vandals were already one of the tightest crews in Vegas.

  “Can’t … fuckin’ believe it,” he said, his eyes glassy and his voice slurred. “Alive one minute, dead the … fuckin’ … next.”

  Grit reached over and slapped Razor on the shoulder. He was feeling grief tug at his heart too, but he knew that as the president he didn’t have the luxury of letting his emotions show. He had to be the rock for the rest of the crew. And he was damn good at it.

  “I’m sorry, Razor,” said Grit, his voice sincere. “He was one of our best.”

  “You’re … goddamn right he was,” said Razor, wavering back and forth in his seat. “One of the best fuckin’ men in this goddamn crew. And now he’s gone.”

  Grit could tell that Razor, while drunk about to fall off his seat, was trying to keep up a brave face. But Grit knew that not a man there that night would’ve held it against him if he blubbered like a kid with a skinned knee.

  “We gotta …” started Razor. “We gotta … do something about those fuckers. We gotta get ’em. We gotta get that shit off the streets.”

  Grit nodded.

  “You’re goddamn right we do,” he said, his voice taking a hard edge. “And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Tonight, we mourn, but tomorrow, we take the fight right to these fuckers.”

  Razor extended an unsteady hand towards Grit and placed it on his shoulder. Then, he slowly nodded. Grit could tell that Razor was obliterated past the point of any sort of coherence, but he could tell that it was just what Razor wanted to hear.

  And right at that moment, Grit felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He slipped it out and saw that it was a text from Honey.

  Hey. We need to talk ASAP. It’s important.

  Shit, he thought. Maybe she’s finally got info on the strip club. Maybe we can finally make a move on those pricks.

  But Grit knew that he couldn’t leave without saying something to the men. He gathered the attention of everyone there and spoke a few words about Pitt. He told the men about how when he first met him, Pitt was just some skinny punk with a bad attitude straight out of juvie. Grit spoke about how he had taken the kid under his wing and turned him into one of the best men in the crew. He talked about Pitt’s loyalty, and how the Vandals were a family to him. Finally, he spoke about honoring his memory and swearing to all of them that they’d bring to justice whoever put the poison on the streets. By the time he was done, the Vandals were ready to go out and crack some skulls.

  His speech made, Grit left the bar, climbed on his bike, and headed to the usual meeting place. Normally, he’d be thinking about just what he wanted to do with Honey, how badly he wanted to fuck her, but tonight he was all business. All he wanted was information that he could act on.

  A time later, he was at the hotel. He rapped on the door, and Honey called for him to come in.

  Stepping into the room, he could see that Honey wasn’t in the mood for love either. She was seated on the chair nearest to the window, her legs pulled up to her body and her arms wrapped around them. Honey stared out the window towards the neon expanse of Vegas outside of the window, her worried eyes snapping onto Grit as he entered.

  “Hey,” she said.

  Grit gave her a brusque nod as he took a seat on the bed.

  “You look … preoccupied,” said Honey.

  “Just had a rough fuckin’ night,” he said.

  “Oh?” asked Honey. “What happened?”

  Grit debated whether or not to tell her, and decided to do it, figuring it might push Honey in the right direction.

  “One of our men died tonight,” he said, his eyes fixed on Honey.

  “Oh my God,” said Honey, her voice heavy with concern. “What happened?”

  “Well, you know that shit that’s been out on the streets? That poison that some fuck’s been cooking up? One of my men shot that shit into his veins and died. You knew him—it was Pitt.”

  Honey’s eyes went wide.

  “Oh my God,” she repeated. “I can’t believe it. I’m so, so sorry.”

  Grit held up a hand.

  “Just told you so you’d know,” he said. “I don’t need anything else from you.”

  “I … I know,” said Honey, apparently taken a little aback by Grit’s gruff response.

  But it was true; the idea of anyone feeling sorry for him made Grit’s skin crawl. Especially some woman.

  “I just, um, if you need to talk about anything, I’m here,” she said.

  “Noted,” said Grit, eager to move past the topic.

  “It’s weird,” she said. “I’m kind of dealing with the same thing.”

  “Huh?” asked Grit. “Someone you know died?”

  “No, no,” said Honey. “Nothing that severe. But one of my friends at the club, Bethany, started using again, and I’m just worried that something’s going to happen to her. She’s been sober for so long, and then all of a sudden she started using again. And I just told her, “Bethany, just because Charlie gave you some free drugs doesn’t mean you have to do them’ and—”

  “Whoa, whoa,” said Grit, holding up his hands. “You mean to tell me that the bartender at your fuckin’ job was giving out smack?”

  The color drained out of Honey’s face. Grit knew right then and there that something was seriously amiss. He stood up from the bed, stepped over to Honey, looming over her where she sat.

  “When did this happen? Tell me, now.”