Chapter Two: Marked as a Darley
She pulled up outside Billy's apartment complex, and took a deep breath, finished the soda, placed the empty can in a plastic bag behind the passenger's seat, then got out, ignoring the looks she was getting, and made her way to the elevator. Riding up to the ninth floor, Lyric sighed as she remembered she had left her cell phone, iPod, and gun in the glove compartment out of habit. All three were where they were supposed to be, and as the doors slid open, she stepped out and walked as confidently as she could to her boss' apartment. She kept her hands in her pockets and kicked at the door with her shoe, not really caring if it pissed anyone off. Lyric wasn't in the greatest of moods, and it wasn't hard to tell. Baggy answered the door and let her in, closing the door behind her. In the living room, all of the guys were lounging on the couch, including Joe Darley, Billy's younger brother. Billy was still drinking, which didn't surprise Lyric one bit. It took a lot of alcohol to get Billy Darley drunk, and she was pretty sure he hadn't even gotten close to the amount that would cause him to be even a little buzzed, let alone drunk. Lyric stood their silently for a while, until Billy decided to recognize her and asked, "Ready to get marked?" Giving him a bored gaze, Lyric asked him blandly, "What does that even mean, Billy? I'm not exactly in the mood to guess right now." Billy stood up and in front of her towering a foot over her five foot two, and rumbled, "You're getting the tattoo we all have. Decide where you want it."
Lyric shrugged and acted as if she could care less outwardly, but inwardly she was jumping for joy. She had wanted to get another tattoo on her eighteenth birthday, but it hadn't happened. Now she had the perfect excuse to get another one. Billy took another swig momentarily, and then commanded loudly, "Let's go! Lyric give your keys to Bodie, you riding with me. No one damages her car, or goes through her stuff unless you want a bullet through the foot." Lyric refused to hand over the keys until Billy yanked them out of her hand and chucked them at Bodie who caught them painfully. Billy dragged Lyric out by her wrist until she pulled away and hissed, "I can walk of my own thanks. Why do I have to let Bodie drive my car anyway? Doesn't he have his own?" Billy pushed her in by her shoulder into the elevator and hit the 'L' button before telling her angrily, "I already told you your riding with me. Since when have you ever talked this much?" Lyric shut up, legitimately thinking about his question. She usually didn't talk much because it bugged the hell out of Billy, but that was when she was working for them to pay off Brendan's debts. Now she was a part of the gang, but she had joined just to get out of the bar without being shot. Lyric sighed silently at the conundrum. This tattoo was just going to keep her entwined with the gang, but nothing inside of her cramped or hurt from the thought.
The elevator door opened, and Lyric stepped in front of Billy, getting out first and waiting for him, quite aware of the fact that she had pissed him off greatly. Billy looked slightly red, but shoved her in the direction of the black Mustang, almost knocking her over. She had parked her own car behind the red one, and she glared as Bodie got into her baby. Billy laughed cruelly at her reaction and told her, "Get in the car. Bodie won't hurt your damn car Lyric." Lyric scowled and sulked into her seat, making Billy laugh even more as he peeled out and headed toward a part of the Projects Lyric had yet to see. After a minute, Lyric said randomly, "Upper back." Billy glanced over, and asked her, "What?" Pulling her hair out of the ponytail it was held up in, Lyric ran her fingers through her hair and explained, "I wanna get the tattoo on my upper back. I already have one on each side of my hip and," Lyric pulled off the black and white checked sweatband from her wrist, "twenty-nine stars around my wrist. So I'll get the tattoo on my upper back." The dirty blond replaced the sweatband on her wrist, but Billy stopped her and said, "You don't have to cover up." Lyric nodded and put the accessory in her pocket, tracing the stars on her wrist for a few moments, until Billy spoke up with a neutral tone, "Surprised a good girl like you has been inked." Lyric laughed and told him, "There's a lot you don't know about me Darley." He grinned and prodded, "Like what? You got an A minus and changed it to a plus?" She giggled and looked over, studying him in a new light.
He was different, now that she was one of them. Lyric leant back in her seat and began, "First tattoo was when I was fifteen, on the left side of my hip. Second was my sixteenth birthday, right side of my hip, and the stars were all on my seventeenth birthday." Billy questioned further, "What else? You can't just count ink, kid." Sitting up a bit, Lyric asked back, "Well, what else do you wanna know Darley?" He shrugged and more stated than asked, "Drinking?" Lyric counted on her finger tips then replied, "Like six, six and a half years." Billy laughed at the thought of a drunken twelve year old Lyric and then asked her his final question for the time being, "Sex?" Lyric smirked and said proudly, "Lost my virginity at twelve, haven't had a week since that I haven't fucked a guy at least once." Billy gave a low whistle and commented truthfully, "Damn you getting it more than I am. I gotta say, kid, I am impressed." Lyric grinned and just responded, "Hey, I can't help it if I have guys lined up night and day. I'm just drop dead gorgeous period. I bet I could find some poor tramp that would screw you weekly, though."
Billy rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically, "Thanks kid. Thank you so much." She shrugged and defended, "I'm just saying." He shrugged back and questioned, "So which is an act? The whole daddy's little girl, goody-two-shoes Lyric, or the vicious debt collecting, point blank shooting Lyric?" Lyric opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it, realizing she had no idea. She had grown so accustomed to putting on an act at school and at home for her family, and when she was given the opportunity to hit the streets, she didn't even know that she could shoot a gun point blank without trying, or be so heartless to strangers. Her partying and drinking always seemed to be her break, and she always just considered it a hidden part, nothing important. But she liked that life so much better; she loved the pleasure of sex, the taste of alcohol, the look of tattoos, and now the adrenaline of the streets. Being valedictorian and the twin of Brendan Hume, it was just a façade, forcing herself to act a certain way daily.
"Well?" Lyric snapped out of her thoughts to look at him and she sighed, "I guess the goody-two-shoes is an act. I got so used to playing that every day, and my partying was just my little escape that I got once or so a week, it seemed like that was the act. But I think that I like fucking and drinking more." Billy burst out laughing loudly, and Lyric simply settled into her seat. She wasn't uneasy or annoyed anymore; she was content with this life. But the reminder she had to play good girl all over again the next day just made her angry. The rest of the ride was silent, until they pulled up in front of a tattoo shop. The other two cars were close behind, and Lyric got out and yelled, "Bodie I swear my car better be the same way I left it!" Bodie and the three that rode with him, Baggy, Jamie, and Tommy, just ignored her and the ten walked in. Billy lit up a cigarette and called out, "Yo, Andy!" A man walked out of the back, covered in tattoos and piercings, and replied, "Hey Billy, what's up man?"
Lyric watched as they talked to themselves and after a minute, Lyric stole the cigarette's and lighter out of Billy's pocket without him knowing it at all, then lit one up, and replaced the pack and lighter back in a different pocket. Bodie whispered, "Damn. You've got some skills, Lyric." She grinned and blew the smoke out her mouth, then lent on the wall covered in artwork. Billy finally turned around and caught sight of the newly lit cig held lightly between Lyric's plump red lips and asked, "Where'd you get that?" Holding it between two fingers for a moment, she blew out more smoke and replied smartly, "From you." Everyone except Billy, Andy, and Lyric burst out laughing as they knew what she meant. Billy went to get his pack of cigs, and found they were gone then began searching the other pockets of his jeans and brown leather jacket, then finally found them in a pocket of his jacket.
Lyric stomped out the cig and changed the subject, "So can I get my ink yet?" Andy nodded and waved her back to the very back of the shop, and she was surprised to see that all nine members of the gang were following her, but she ignored it. Andy asked her, "Where do you want it and which tribal design?" When Andy asked which one, all nine proceeded to show theirs. Bodie lifted his chin a bit to show it down his neck, Heco pulled off his shirt and turned to show the one taking up most his back, Jamie turned to the side to show the one on the side of his head, Tommy and Dog took off their jackets to show it on Tommy's left arm and Dog's right, then Spink showed his on his leg, Baggy's on his right side, Joe's on his left side, and Billy's covered his entire torso.
Lyric felt a bit of warmth in her lower stomach glancing at Billy's toned body. Finally she made herself pull her eyes away and quickly studied the other's ink, and lastly Billy's ink. She spent longest observing his because he both had the most and she enjoyed his body best. After a minute, she found a longer narrow section on the gang lord's lower inner right and said, "I like this design." Her delicate finger traced over it and Andy chuckled and nodded, motioning for the others to leave and Billy sat on a chair. After Andy traced the ink on his arm quickly, he told Lyric, "Alright, you have to take your shirt off, and the straps of your bra. I think you probably need to unhook it too." Lyric saw no problem, but Billy seemed tense and angry.
Before her boss could protest, Lyric pulled the sheer white shirt over her head and smirked as both men's jaws dropped to the ground. She smirked slightly but snapped her fingers and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a female tattoo artist on staff would you? I'd rather not risk you messing up." Andy nodded and yelled, "Maddie!" A blonde-ish haired woman came out of a doorway and leant against it and gave a wolf whistle then said, "Alright, alright. Andy, out front. Billy, good to see you, but get out." Lyric laughed as Maddie shooed them out of the back room, then turned and said, "Well, I'm Maddie. I'm not gay, so don't take this the wrong way when I say damn, your hot!" Lyric laughed harder and shook her hand, replying finally, "Not taken the wrong way at all, considering I flaunt my hotness all the time. I'm Lyric." Maddie smiled and told her, "Very awesome name. Ok, so bra straps and hook need to go. Want help?" Lyric grinned back and held the front of her bra over her breasts as Maddie unhooked it, then slipped each arm out of the strap.
Maddie transferred the stencil to Lyric's upper back, then informed her, "Because Billy is, well, he's just Billy. He'll say okay, then I'll get started with it." Lyric nodded and Maddie poked her head out and yelled for Billy. Lyric pulled her hair up and turned so her back was facing the door frame Billy walked in from. Maddie leant on the wall and asked a frozen Billy Darley, "May I start or are you going to nit pick Andy's tracing skills?" Billy just waved his hand and walked back out to the front. The two girls laughed and Lyric asked, "Could you please pull my hair up?" The dirty blond felt the inker pulling it and tying it up on the top of her head. Forty minutes later, Maddie was almost entirely done with the tattoo and both were laughing and simply talking about whatever they could think of. While Maddie got more ink, Lyric shifted and asked her, "So, what's the deal with Billy?" Maddie went back to working on the tribal design and said slowly, "Well, he's not as tough as he pretends to be." Lyric tugged at her bra a bit and dug, "What exactly does that mean? He seems pretty damn tough to me." Maddie shrugged and continued, "He is, but he doesn't let emotion show. Like when his mom left, Joe was confused and sad, but Billy stayed hard and cold for Joe. Won't get a steady girl either. Just a quick fuck, nothing over a one night, two nights tops. But, he is good at running the streets. Protects people he cares for, won't let people disrespect him, puts his guys were the fit best. What about you? What do you think of him? Alright all done."
Getting up, Lyric let Maddie hook her bra again, but before she could put her t-shirt back on, Maddie handed her a thin black camisole, telling her, "You're best off not putting anything over it or a few hours. I wouldn't suggest laying down or leaning on it." She accepted the top and the tattoo artist pushed, "You never answered my question." Lyric shrugged and replied, "He's my boss. I respect him for his position and the fact he could break my neck." Maddie shook her head and explained, "No, not like that. Why did you accept his offer, to join? It can't just be because of that? You have to at least like him a little bit." She yanked the hair tie out of her hair, letting the light brown locks cascade down her back, then answered, "I was just trying to get out of the bar at the time, but I guess I tolerate him. I like living like this, but I usually only get a Saturday night to party and get a good fuck in, before going back to being the perfect little daughter. It'll take a little getting used to not having to wait for the weekend, though, and more practice of not wanting to punch Billy face in, but I'll adjust." Maddie sighed then said bluntly, "I've known Billy for years. So I don't have to ask him what he's thinking to much. But I don't know you. Like you said, you know your hot, and so does everyone else, but that means I can't tell if you are just teasing or if you might really care. Do you like Billy or were you just teasing him?" Lyric blinked then shrugged and looked at her feet, thinking about it. He was handsome, no question, but the entire two years she had been working for him, she had only seen him as a thug that her brother owed money to. But now things would change. She was a part of the gang, not just a temporary collector anymore, a permanent member.
"Let me," Maddie interrupted her thoughts, "ask you this: at any point in the past however long you've known him, have you ever gotten turned on by him and how?" Lyric felt heat rise in her cheeks, but she shifted the weight on her hips and admitted, "Anytime he grabs me, shoves me, or drags me." Maddie gaped at her and questioned incredulously, "So when he's being rough, you get horny? You do realize that's called being 'masochistic' right?" It was the debt collector's turn to shrug and she muttered a 'yeah'. Before either could say anything else Billy walked back and said coldly, "Move your ass, kid. We're leaving!" Lyric turned and placed her hands on her hip, still only in an almost sheer black laced bra and argued, "Well, I have to put a shirt on first, and I have to get home because it's a fucking school night, Billy." Maddie sat on a stool and watched as Billy yelled back, "You'll leave when I say you'll leave!" Lyric growled, "You can't tell me what do to! You don't own me!" Billy shot his arm out and grabbed her shoulder in an agonizingly painful grip, then said in one of the cruelest voices Maddie and Lyric had ever heard, "You do what I tell you to. That mark on your back proves that I do own you. So move that nice ass of yours or I will." Maddie pressed her hands over her mouth as she held in laughter and Lyric chewed her lower lip, debating her response. Billy did not wait for one, and moved his grip to the back of her neck, pushing her ahead of him, but she dug her feet into the ground, arching her back to push against the force and in pleasure, and yelped at him, "I need to put a fucking shirt on, Darley! I am not walking out in my bra!" He let go and ordered lowly, "Put it on then." Lyric and Maddie glanced at each other, and Maddie just shook her head, telling Lyric not to argue anymore, and she didn't, pulling the paper thin shirt over her upper body, being careful with the fresh tattoo on her back. Billy yanked her wrist, forcing her out of the back room.
