AUTHORS NOTE - IMPORTANT PLEASE READ -
Hey everyone! After reading The Animal In Me by my wonderful friend girl-at-home13, we came up with the idea to do a spinoff story! Her OC Thea James will appear in my story as my character Gwen/Gypsy appears in hers. We are very excited about this so please leave a review!
Link to The Animal In Me : s/12099339/1/The-Animal-In-Me
-ANIMAL KINGDOM-
Gwen's Point Of View.
I pushed open the door to the club, already wanting to be anywhere but here. I made my way behind the bar and dumped my bag.
"You're late Gypsy." Candy said, from down the bar. She poured a cocktail into a cheap glass, before sliding it to the customer who gave her a hefty tip for being so flirtatious.
"I know I'm sorry. The babysitter was late and I couldn't leave him by himself." I got to work, bussing glasses.
"Why didn't you call?" She asked sympathetically. I bit my lip before glancing her way.
"Phone's off." I adjusted my boobs in the low cut shirt I was wearing, praying for enough tips tonight to be able to get my phone turned back on.
"Again?" Candy asked. I nodded and made my way down the bar to her.
"Any extra shifts come up, let me know okay? I'll take anything I can get." Candy rested a hand on my bicep, she had been the one to hire me, train me, and the one that covered my ass when I showed up late.
"The only way you're going to be making any more money than you are now is if you get up on that pole, baby girl." Candy nodded towards the pole across the club. At the very least that's what I could pride myself on, was that I didn't have to take my clothes off to provide for myself and my son. Although I thought, the extra income would mean that Mathias and I could find a better place, away from where we were known for my ex's rap sheet.
-ANIMAL KINGDOM-
The shift was flying by, but I kept catching myself staring at the pole on the stage. I shook my head and focused on slicing the limes. Teen mom, high school drop out, working as a bartender in a cheap strip club, this was certainly not the course in life I pictured myself taking. Don't get me wrong, I loved my son but being known as the girl who's ex is in Folsom for a bank robbery gone bad? It made It hard to find respect. I closed my eyes, and concentrated on finishing my shift, pushing all thoughts of Demarcus from my mind. I felt a hand on my waist and turned to see Candy.
"What's up boss lady?" I asked.
"One of the Cody boys is passed out in the bathroom. Can you find somebody to give him a lift? By the time they get here it'll be closing time" She asked, giving me the I'm not really asking look. I sighed and laid down the knife.
"Whatever mess he makes, I'm not cleaning!" I negotiated. Candy let out a laugh and nodded her head.
"That's what the bouncers are for Gyp." She winked. I made my way around the bar, across the club and pushed open the door to the men's room. The overwhelming smell of piss, booze and vomit hit me like a slap to the face. I took a second to acclimatize to the stench and noticed a boot sticking out from under a stall door. I knocked, being polite before pushing the door open. The Cody boys had a reputation that preceded them, Pope, Baz, Craig, Deran and the newest addition I'd heard of, J. Everybody this side of the boulevard knew that you didn't mess with the Cody's, and although I had seen them in the club a time or two, I had never had anything to do with them. I crouched and patted the giant of a man on the shoulder.
"Hey dude, you gotta wake up." I nudged him again. I sighed once again before patting down his pockets to find his phone. I dug it out of his pockets and silently prayed that there wouldn't be a password on it. God must have been listening because the phone unlocked. I felt like a snoop as I clicked on his recent calls. Thea. Thea. Thea. Thea. Baz. Thea. Thea. Thea. Thea. Daren. I'm guessing that Thea would be the best bet to come haul his ass out of here. I hit her name and waited for her to pick up. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Finally a sleepy voice came across the line.
"Craig, you don't talk to me for two weeks and now you wanna talk to me? It's two in the morning!" She mumbled, her voice catching on a yawn.
"Hi Thea?" I paused, why did that name sound familiar. "It's Gypsy. I work at Barely Legal. Craig's passed out in the bathroom and it's closing time." Thea's voice came across the line, more alert this time.
"Do you know if he took anything?" The concern was evident in her voice. I heard rustling on her end, like maybe she was getting out of bed.
"I'm not sure hunny. Maybe coke, I think he's just drunk." I flipped over his arm. "No tracks that I can see." I heard the sound of a car starting, damn this girl was quick.
"I'm on my way, I'll be there in a few minutes." I ended the call and shook Craig's shoulder.
"C'mon wake up." Craig's phone dinged and lit up in my hand, I didn't want to be nosy but I figured that I should check in case it was a text from Thea. That's reasonable, right? Still coming over later? ;) The text was from someone named Renn. I unlocked the phone and then locked it again so that Thea wouldn't see it, just in case she didn't know about whoever this Renn person was. I tucked Craig's hair behind his ear, and tried to wake him again. I sighed, standing up and retreating back to the bar. I waved Craig's cell phone at Candy before sliding it into the back pocket of my cutoff shorts.
"Girlfriend or wife or flavor of the week is on the way to collect the body." Candy laughed.
"Must be a flavor of the week, because Craig Cody does not do relationships." She paused, cocking her head to the side. "And I know damn well Smurf isn't crawling her ass out of bed at 2 AM to home pick his wasted ass up." Twenty minutes went by and the sound of the door opening and closing caught our attention. I turned to see who was joining us and felt my stomach drop. The blonde hair brought a wave of suppressed memories crashing over me. I felt like I was suffocating. I knew this girl.
-ANIMAL KINGDOM-
"What did I tell you about making a fucking mess?! Do you not know how to listen?" I felt my foster father's hand close around my wrist.
"Please it was accident! I'll clean it up! I promise!" I begged and pleaded with him to no avail. He reached down with his free hand and began undoing his belt. He released my wrist to grab a handful of my hair and he started leading me towards the garden.
"Maybe a whooping will refresh your memory on how I feel about messes, hmm?" He jerked his belt loose from his jeans as the tears began to stream down my cheeks.
"Leave her alone! It was a fucking accident!" A voice called. I opened my eyes to see who it was that was coming to my rescue. Thea. I should've known.
"Thea. Don't." I warned, shaking my head. If she tried to intervene our foster father would only beat her too. Thea met my eyes and I saw a flash of sympathy and anger. Like me, she had been bounced around from home to home before ending up here. If I had blinked I would have missed it as Thea jumped forward and sank her teeth into Anthony's arm in an attempt to get him to let go of my hair. Shocked, Anthony released my hair and turned to focus on Thea instead. I ran a hand over the top of my scalp and could feel patches of missing hair. Thea's scream brought me back to reality and I looked up just in time to see her falling backwards down the garden steps. I let out a cry and ran forward, taking the stairs two at a time until I reached Thea laying at the bottom. Her arm was cut and bleeding badly, I glanced up the stairs to see Anthony's face pale before he turned and disappeared. I ripped off the bottom part of my raggedy shirt and wrapped it around Thea's elbow.
"Safe to say he's pissed, eh?" Even in pain, Thea was still trying to make light of the situation. "He's such a fucking prick!"
"Thea you're gunna need stitches." I said, applying pressure to her cut.
"Just get me to Ms. Bethany's. I can't afford the hospital. They'll ask questions too." I nodded and helped her to her feet. We made it around the house and to the laneway as quick as we can where we took one of the boy's bikes. I helped Thea position herself on the handle bars before peddling down the block towards Ms. Bethany's.
-ANIMAL KINGDOM-
"Holy shit, Gwen?" Thea said quietly. Before either of us knew it, we had crashed into each other and wrapped each other in a hug so tight, it hurt to breathe.
"Thea fucking James!" I gasped out. Thea let go of me and stepped back to give me a once over.
"I guess we're not 14 year old kids anymore are we?" We both laughed and pulled each other in for another hug.
"Are you running with the Cody brothers?" I asked when she let go of me. Thea shrugged and sighed.
"It's complicated. My best friend J is their nephew and we've kind of been staying there." I nodded and pointed towards the bathroom. "Craig and I are just…I don't know." Thea half laughed. I was sensing some drama afoot there.
"Gigantor is in there. I'm guessing you're going to need help getting him up though?" Thea chuckled and shook her head.
"Nah watch this." She led the way into the men's room and pushed open the door of the stall Craig was slumped in. She made a big show of winking at me and clearing her throat before turning towards Craig. "Yo Craig! Cops are here!" Almost as if we were rising from the dead, Craig's eyes flashed open and he struggled to get to his feet.
"It's behind the tool box!" Craig called. Thea and I burst out laughing and Craig blinked his eyes before realizing that he wasn't in the middle of a raid.
"I saw his brother Deran do that once when he passed out by the pool at Smurfs. I about died." Thea laughed, clutching her stomach. Craig looked at us disoriented and confused.
"You passed out drunk in the stall, so we had to call someone to come get you." I told him, handing him back his cell phone.
"Thea?" He asked. "That's almost worse than the cops." Thea rolled her eyes and pretended to be offended.
"You're lucky I even came at all." Thea snapped, gripping Craig's forearm. Craig staggered as he left the stall.
"He's still too tanked to drive." Thea said as Craig slung his arm around Thea's shoulders, almost knocking her over. "Mind if he leaves his bike here for the night?" Before I could respond, Craig held up both of his hands.
"Woah, woah, woaaaaaaaaaaaah." He dragged out the last one. He pointed a finger at Thea and gave her what I'm assuming was supposed to be a stern look. "I am NOT leaving the Ducati in a parking lot overnight. Are you out of your mind?" He asked.
"No, but you might be." Thea laughed crossing her arms. "You can either sleep out front on the asphalt next to your precious Ducati or you can come home with me. Your choice."
"Well when you put it like that." Craig grinned, grabbing at her hips. Thea pushed him back slightly.
"I so didn't mean it like that!" She chirped at him.
"I can ride it home." I offered. "Follow you guys back to his place?" Craig's eyes met mine in the dim bathroom.
"Can you ride?" He asked, skeptical.
"Can you?" I smirked, holding my hands out for the keys. Craig dug in his pocket.
"I'm gunna regret this." He said." Dropping them into my out stretched palm. I laughed and helped Thea lead him towards the exit.
"I'll see ya tomorrow Candy." I waved to her, before grabbing my bag off the end of the bar and heading out the door. Thea had already loaded Craig into what looked to be a brand new Dodge Ram 1500, I made my way to the bike parked in the spot beside it. I let out a low whistle as I admired Craig's bike.
"Just follow me back to the house, and then I can give you a ride home once we get dumbass inside." Thea offered I nodded, before swinging my leg over the bike and pulling on Craig's voice.
"Whatever you do, don't crash it!" Craig said from the passenger seat of the truck. I winked at him, flipped down the visor and started the bike. What was I getting myself into?
-ANMAL KINGDOM-
Oceanside becomes a different place after two am. The tourists are all locked away in their hotel rooms, the boardwalk vendors are all closed up, the beaches are deserted and the traffic is almost nonexistent. It's almost like a ghost town compared to the daylight hours. I pulled up next to Thea's truck on the passenger side at a stoplight and laughed to myself when I saw that Craig was slumped against the window with his eyes closed. I revved his bike and his eyes opened just in time to see me catwalk through the intersection. Once my front tire hit the ground I glanced over my shoulder to see Craig's jaw dropped and Thea laughing. I grinned inside my helmet and followed Thea as she made a turn down a side street. We were now in a much nicer neighborhood than my own. I almost felt ashamed to be here as I followed Thea down a road with gorgeous houses. She signaled to turn into a driveway and I pulled in behind her, waiting for the gate to swing open. I looked around once I had pulled inside, taking in what was known as The Cody Compound. I killed the engine to Craig's bike, before dropping the kickstand and swinging my leg over. I peeled off the helmet and hung it on the handlebar as Craig practically fell face first out of the truck. He pointed a finger at me and practically screamed in my face.
"What was that!" He demanded.
"That was riding Craig." I smirked, crossing my arms out of the truck. I heard Thea's door close and she made her way around the truck to stand beside us.
"That wasn't riding! You could have wrecked my bike!" His eyes were as wide as saucers and it was clear that booze wasn't the only thing he had been dabbling with tonight. I pointed over my shoulder at his bike.
"Did I crash it?" Craig stayed silent and I looked at Thea.
"Looks like it's all in one piece to me." Thea said with a shrug. Craig grumbled something about women drivers and Thea rolled her eyes. She put a hand on his back and gestured towards the house. "Let's get you inside before Smurf wakes up." Thea nodded at me and we both linked our arms around Craig's waist, steering him towards the house. The sound of the gate opening made us stop in our tracks, a topless green Jeep pulled in beside Thea's truck and a guy that didn't look much older than Thea and I hoped out.
"Who's this?" He gave me a once over and I rolled my eyes. He was cute in the beach bum sort of way and I couldn't help but wonder if he was that tan all over.
"This is my friend Gwen, Gwen this is Craig's brother Deran." Deran lit a cigarette and took a haul.
"Why is she here?" Thea rolled her eyes at Deran's question.
"Don't be an asshole. She's here because I had to go pick up your idiot brother from the club and she rode his bike back." Thea explained.
"Who are you calling an idiot?" Craig slurred. Deran turned towards the house, obviously done with the conversation and Thea cleared her throat.
"Not so fast Deran." He turned around and gave Thea a what now look. "You can either drive Gwen home or you can help get Craig into the house." Deran weighed his options for a minute and without speaking headed towards the Jeep. Thea and I pulled each other into a hug, before trading cell phone numbers and promising to catch up later this week. I opened the door to Deran's Jeep and climbed inside, pulling the door closed softly behind me.
"You have to slam it or it won't latch." Deran said as he started the Jeep.
"What?" I asked, having not been paying attention.
"The door. Slam the door." Deran explained. I opened the door again and slammed it shut as hard as I could, hearing it click into place.
"There we go." Deran said, as he backed out of the driveway. "Where are we going?" He asked.
"Oh, you can just drop me off at the bus station." I said, not wanting him to see the rough part of town that I was from. Deran pointed at the clock on the dash.
"Last bus already ran, now tell me where you live so I can take you home." He drummed his fingers on the wheel before turning to look at me. 'What forget where you're from?" I bit my lip and realized that the sooner I told him the less embarrassing it was going to be.
"I live off of Vincent." I said quietly. Had I blinked I would have missed the expression that crossed Deran's face. "What?" I snapped at him.
"Nothing." He said. "Just didn't think you were that type of girl." I could feel my face starting to turn red but I wasn't backing down.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.
"Just seems like there's more to you than a ghetto girl." Deran shrugged.
"Did you really just say that cause I'm black?" I said slowly.
"You're black? I never noticed." Deran said with a grin. I shook my head at him, I couldn't tell if I wanted to punch him in the mouth or kiss him. I mentally smacked myself, get it together Gwen, you're better than fawning over some guy that you just met. Deran stayed quiet for the majority of the ride home and I closed my eyes and tried to relax. Mathias would be home early in the morning, so I could either catch up on the chores around the house or I could try to sleep. I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at Deran when I heard him ask which building was mine.
"Last one on the right." Deran nodded and followed my directions before pulling into the parking lot. I opened the door and started to say thank you when he killed the engine.
"I appreciate - what are you doing?" I asked when he opened his door. He pointed towards my building.
"I'm walking you to your door. It's not safe in this neighborhood for you to be walking around this late by yourself." He climbed out of the Jeep and slammed his door. I did the same, slamming my door shut behind me.
"I can take care of myself thank you very much." Deran had his hands tucked into his pockets and shrugged.
"Which door?" He asked again. I turned on my heel and set off towards the stairs that led to the second floor. I could hear Deran's flip flops on the stairs behind me.
"Stop looking at my ass Cody." I heard him laugh as I glanced over my shoulder, he held his hands up in a you caught me motion and then joined me at my door. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the four locks that I had installed myself.
"Safe neighborhood eh?" He said. I gave him a look and pushed open the door, stepping inside. Deran followed me in and flopped down on my couch as I turned on the lights.
"Oh please, make yourself at home. I don't mind." I said sarcastically. He flashed me a cheesy grin.
"How do you know Thea?" He asked. I picked up Mathias's toys and tossed them into his toy bin beside the couch.
"Foster care." Deran must have noticed that I was cleaning up children's toys, and he leaned forward.
"Do you have a little brother?" My eyes met Deran's and for a second I wondered if I should lie to him.
"Mathias. He's my son." I said softly.