He woke up with a start. The Boss was lying in his bed, on his stomach. I really hope they washed the sheets…
Looking over at the clock on his nightstand, it read 4:23 AM; he'd been out for two hours. Was the whole fight a dream? He wondered, as there were no signs that he'd had a spear in his back. The Boss sat up, and instantly regretted it, as the pain returned. Now that he was fully awake, he was aware of tight bandages around his shoulder. Huh, Shaundi did a good job, and Pierce didn't screw up. You get a surprise each day. Slowly, the Boss stood up and headed towards the door. He could hear someone talking downstairs, so he got out his gun as he descended. It was just Pierce, muttering to himself.
"Man, why do I gotta do the cleaning? I ain't the one who blew a hole in the wall. I ain't the one that did the messy med stuff. I ain't the one who spilled tequila all over the flo- actually no, that was me…" Pierce never stopped complaining. He looked up and saw his leader approaching.
"Psshh, man, this isn't fair. Why am I the only one who cleans?" Pierce put down the sweeper and pulled up a pair of chairs.
"Pierce, after I passed out, what happened?" Asked the Boss, sitting down next to his friend.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, Shaundi was a med student. Whatever, that don't mean she's better than me. I mean, she can't fight for jack-shit! She can't never come up with her own ideas either…" Pierce was off complaining again. The Boss raised a hand, motioning for Pierce to shut up.
"No man, what happened?" He repeated. Pierce understood this time, and explained.
"Oh, right, she fixed you up, then Shaundi and Gat bounced, leavin' me with a dust sweeper and a mop." Pierce sighed, kicking the table. The Boss shook his head, wishing he'd stayed in bed. Suddenly, his phone started ringing. The Boss looked at the caller ID, it was Johhny.
"'Sup?"
"Yo man, there's this chick in the headquarters. She won't say who she is and keeps saying "I need to see the drug leader" or somethin'. Hurry though, she's got this brat with her, and he looks like he's gonna piss on our couch." Came Johhny's voice. The Boss sighed and got up, grabbing his Vice9 on the way out.
"Where you goin' man? You're not gonna leave me with all the work, are you?" Pierce started, but the Boss waved at him and called for his Wheel Woman to pick him up.
Once he got in the car, questions were fired at him like bullets.
"What the fuuuck happened? Who were they? Did they have cars? Did it hurt? How's Johhny? Did you kill them? Was their leader hot? Was Shaundi high? How'd the party go?"
"FUCK! JUST DRIVE!" He yelled, after realising his Wheel Woman wasn't going to give him time to reply.
"Sheesh, someone's cranky…" She muttered, concentrating on the road.
The Boss looked out the window and assessed his situation.
Maero is dead, The General is dead, Akuji is dead, Vogel is dead. We own Stilwater. There's a new gang, some tribal fucks, and they're challenging us. Some weird chick is waiting for us and knows where our hideout is. Oh, and my shoulder hurts like a motherfucker.
Well fuck.
"We're here." Came the Wheel Woman's voice, rousing the Boss from his thoughts.
Without saying 'thank you' or leaving a tip, the Boss got out and walked straight into the hideout.
"Here you are, Miss. He's here." Said a young Saint to the presumed "weird chick", motioning in the Boss's direction.
"That's not who I wanted!" Wailed the woman, instantly welling up with tears. Gat showed up, holding a small child by the scruff of his neck.
"What the fuck's going on here?" Said the Boss, approaching Gat. The small boy had red cheeks, light brown hair and green eyes, and whilst his face said that he was ten or eleven years old, his small height said less.
"She's dead! I know she is! I told her not to go for this lifestyle!" The woman continued crying. The boy looked at his shoes, avoiding Gat's menacing glare.
"This chick won't stop freaking out, this little shit pissed on me, and we have no clue what the fuck the woman's talking about." Informed Johnny, obviously annoyed. The Boss sat on the couch and asked to speak to the woman. The woman looked to be in her late thirties, and appeared to be the boys mother.
"Why did you need me?" Asked the Boss, opening a bottle of beer.
"I didn't." Came the muffled reply. The Boss took a sip of beer and leaned forward.
"You asked for the drug leader of the Saints. I lead everything in the Saints." He said, waving his arms around. The woman looked up, confused.
"Then what does she do?"
"What? Who's she?" The Boss began to stand up, starting to feel suspicious.
"Shaundi." Whispered the woman, looking down at her feet, just like her son was doing.
"Why the fuck do you want Shaundi?" Growled Gat. Woah, since when did he care that much about Shaundi?
"Alright, lemme call her up…" The Boss stood up and walked outside, dialing her number. She'd better not be high…
"CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!" A roar of voices erupted into his ear. Shaundi was at another frat party. He sighed, waiting to hear someone talk to him.
"'Sup?" Came a slurred, male voice. Blake?
"Blake, I need to talk to Shaundi. Please tell me she isn't stoned." The Boss rubbed his forehead, not understanding how she managed to go to so many parties and still be fit and healthy.
"Suuurre dude, and nah, she isn't down yet. She's downing a few cans of cheap beer, and we were gonna make use of the lightbulbs if nobody's using them." Blake began coughing uncontrollably. Fuckin' frat boys. After a little bit of commotion and some indistinct chatter, Shaundi's voice came through the phone.
"Hey Boss, what's up?" She was obviously sober, thank God, but sounded a little too joyful.
"Come to the hideout, we got someone here for you."
"Who is it? Is it another one of my exes? Tell them to fuck off, I'm busy." She huffed.
"Nah, it's not. Seriously, come to the crib, it sounds important." The Boss hung up, and waited for her to show up. He knew she would, she doesn't let him down. Well, not regularly, at least.
After a brief wait, her Voyage showed up, and she hopped out.
"Holy shi-" He began. That wasn't Shaundi. No way in hell was that Shaundi.
"Like my new style?" She smiled and walked up to him. She no longer had dreads, but her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, she still had a small fringe though. She was wearing her sports outfit, despite the fact that she'd been at a frat party.
"Wha- uh… Yeah. Yeah, I do." He was baffled, she didn't look like the teenage junkie he knew. She looked… well… hotter.
"Hey, your shoulder looks better, I did good!"
"Uh-huh. Yeah." The Boss stuttered.
"Well… what did you call me here for?" She snapped him out of it. He felt ridiculous, she was his lieutenant!
"Oh, right, there's this woman waiting for you. We don't know what she wants." The Boss shrugged and led her inside.
Once they arrived in the hideout, they saw that Johnny was now playing with the small boy and making silly faces. Typical… Thought the Boss. They continued down the stairs, with Shaundi whistling a song from the Feed Dogs. Jesus, why does she like that band? I'm so glad Matt's dead.
The second Shaundi saw the woman the whistling stopped, and she froze in her tracks. The woman stood up.
"Shaundi, you alright?" Asked the Boss, looking between the two women. Shaundi's eyes had welled up with tears and her bottom lip quivered. In all the time he'd known her, he'd never seen her in an emotional state. This is new…
"Mom?" Shaundi whispered.