Denny dropped a pound coin into the jar. “You never know when you might need it.”
Mouse laughed and poured him a cider. “You love me.”
“About as much as I love herpes. How your ol' man puts up with you, I'll never know.” Denny took a sip of his pint. “Where is he, anyway?”
“He should be on his way.” Mouse took the money from him and ran it through the till. She dropped the change in the jar. “He had to wait for Mags to pick up Aaron, she was running a bit late.”
“And how is the sprog of Satan?”
Mouse smiled. “Gets more like his dad every day.”
“Lord help us all.” Denny pushed himself away from the bar. “I'm gonna take this upstairs. You coming on this run?”
“No. I was going to, but Vi's not well and there's no one to cover tonight's shift.”
“Nitro okay with you working a Saturday night on your own?” Denny frowned. “Won’t be any patches here to look out for you.”
“I haven't actually told him. But he'll be cool... eventually.”
Denny pulled a face, then turned to the girls sitting next to the window. “Scarlet.”
Scarlet spun around, then hurried to his side. “Yes, Denny?”
“You're working here tonight. The blonde one with the jugs can help if it gets busy.”
“Oh.” Scarlet looked disappointed. “I was going to drive down to Plymouth and meet you guys there.”
“Well now you're working behind the bar.”
“It's okay, Denny. I don't mind working.” Mouse had been looking forward to the run. She'd never been on one before, and apparently the rally in Plymouth was one of the best.
“When was the last time you and Nitro went out without Aaron?”
Mouse frowned. “Not sure we have.”
“Then Scarlet's working tonight.” Denny turned on his heel and headed for the clubhouse door. “Tell the lads to come straight up.”
“Sorry.” Mouse gave Scarlet a rueful smile. “If it's any consolation, it'll be quiet.”
“It's okay.” Scarlet's smile lacked any conviction. “I don't mind.”
They were never going to be best friends, but they were civil to one another. Scarlet didn't have any choice, of course; it was 'play nice or get out' for her. But Mouse felt no animosity towards her. If anything, she kind of felt sorry for her. As lifestyle choices went, being a plaything for a bunch of bikers didn't seem that great. Mouse guessed that Scarlet and her friends had enough issues without her being a bitch adding to them.
The sound of Harleys announced the arrival of more Freaks. Mouse laughed as, automatically, Scarlet checked her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. “Why don't you go upstairs. There's no one behind the bar up there, and I'm sure the guys will want a drink before they set off.”
~oOo~
“Aaron! No.” Nitro prised his son's fingers from the cat's tail. “Remember what Mommy said? Be gentle.”
The cat hissed and swiped at Nitro's hand as he reached out to demonstrate. “Zaphod, dude. Don't take it out on me. I'm the good guy here.” He straightened up and sat Aaron on his hip. “You pooped again, big guy? I can't figure it out. You eat the same as us, but stink so much worse. C'mon let's get you changed before Maggie gets here.” He carried his stinky son to the old vestry, which now served as a boot room, and laid him on the changing mat. “Stay.” Nitro turned and rummaged in the cupboard for his secret supply of disposable diapers. “Don't tell your mom, you know she gets her panties in a twist when I use these.” Then, after a brief battle with his squirming kid, he changed him. He dropped the crappy diaper into the bucket and washed his hands while Aaron toddled off to find something else he shouldn't have. Nitro grinned; his kid had definitely inherited his folks' rebellious streaks.
They'd been living in their new home for six months. There were still a few finishing touches that he really should have dealt with by now, and with the mismatched furniture and toys all over the floor, it probably wasn't as stylish as the architect had envisaged, but it was, for them, perfect.
On the ground floor, on either side of the aisle were three en suite bedrooms and a study. Where the alter had been, was now a kitchen, and beyond that, where once the choir would sing, Nitro had made a long dining table out of the pews. A staircase led from the porch up to a huge living area above the bedrooms. And above the dining area, a mezzanine—Nitro's favourite place—was reached via a spiral staircase.
It still looked like a church—the stained glass windows and vaulted ceiling above the living area were prominent features—but it felt like a home, and Nitro loved nothing more than spending time there with his family.
Aaron scrambled onto one of the pews and grabbed Nitro's sketch pad from the table. “Not that, little buddy.” He retrieved it and handed him the colouring book. “You can draw on this one.” Nitro sat next to him and passed him a crayon. “Daddy needs to finish drawing Mommy's new ink.” He pointed to the stylised mouse inside a two-headed viper in the shape of a heart. “Reckon she'll like it?” He opened his hand and looked down at the mouse he'd inked there. It had hurt like a bitch and would need touching up at least once a year, but that was where he'd wanted her. In the palm of his hand.
Aaron sneezed.
“Dude, you disgust me.” Nitro grabbed a tissue from his pocket and wiped the snot from his kid's top lip. “If it ain't coming outta one end, it's coming outta the other. The sooner you have control of your bodily functions, the happier I'll be.”
“No Dadda.” Aaron turned his head and pushed his hand away.
“And there are other words apart from no.”
Aaron shook his head. “Noooo.”
Any further debate was ended by a knock at the door. Nitro grinned. “That'll be Maggie. You gonna come an’ answer the door with me?”
~oOo~
As usual, Nitro was last to arrive, but Mouse had noticed a change in his brothers' attitude towards him since he'd got back from America; he was treated with much more respect, and no one berated him for his tardiness anymore. Despite this, after giving her a quick kiss and arse fondle, he made a point of apologising to Denny.
Denny waved his apology away. “I do know what it's like to have young kids, mate. And we've still gotta wait until Carter has finished banging his tart.” He laughed. “He probably finished ages ago, but doesn't want us want us to think he can't last for more than a couple of minutes. Ah, speak of the devil.” He grinned as Carter came out of the toilet, still buttoning his fly and followed closely by Scarlet. “Okay, ladies and gents. Let’s roll.”
Mouse slipped her hands into Nitro's as they followed the patches and their old ladies outside. “Did you tell Mags to put cream on Aaron's bum when she changed his nappy?”
“Yeah.”
“And that he wasn't to have apple juice cos it gives him belly ache.”
“Yes, Mouse. I told her.”
“And...”
He silenced her with a kiss. “He'll be fine. Mags is a doctor, and there are always kids at her place. I'm pretty sure she knows what she's doing.”
“You think I'm fussing?”
“No, punk. I know you're fussing.” He plonked her helmet on her head. “It's one night. If there's a problem—which there won’t be—she'll call. Just relax.” He swung his leg over his bike and fired it up. “What you waiting for?”
“I was just wondering if I should call her and...”
“Just get on the goddamned bike, Mouse.” He revved the engine to emphasise his point.
Mouse did as she was told. She knew Aaron would be fine. He spent a good deal of his life at Hope Farm and adored Mags and Digger, but this would be their first night away from him, and although she was more than happy to leave him there or with Nitro for a few hours, the thought of a whole night away from him was killing her.
She'd been unprepared for just how intense being a mother was. Far from not wanting him, as she'd feared, from the moment she'd laid eyes on him, she'd been overwhelmed
by just how much she loved him. She tried not to smother him, or to be a helicopter parent, but the need to keep him safe filled her whole being.
Of course it was easy to love a kid as perfect as he was. No kid on the planet came close. His dark eyes were the prettiest she'd ever seen, and with his mop of black curls, he promised to be as handsome as his dad. He was smart, too; in fact she was convinced he was a genius. And at a year and a half, he was as easy going and laid back as he'd been as a tiny baby. Nitro had suggested that she might be biased, but she knew she wasn't. Other kids were annoying, and often funny looking, but Aaron was flawless.
She pulled out her phone to text Mags, and Nitro slapped her thigh. “Put it away. Tonight it's just you an' me.”
And thousands of bikers.
Mouse rested her hands on his hips as they pulled off. She was looking forward to tonight, and she could always call when they got there.
~oOo~
Nitro loved the Plymouth run. The rally was held on fields a few miles from the city, and compared to the ones in the States, was pretty small. But there was good camp site with decent music, a beer tent, the usual stalls selling everything from tacky jewellery to bike memorabilia, and of course the ubiquitous trade stands, displaying all the latest models.
Mouse looked a little apprehensive as they pulled up and pitched their tent. She looked around nervously. “There are a lot of bikers here.”
“Yes, Mouse. It's a bike rally.” Nitro handed her the mallet. “Knock those pegs in.”
“I know that.” She knelt down and began hammering the peg into the ground. “Will there be other clubs?”
“A few.” Nitro leaned back against his bike as she moved onto the next peg. “Most will just be ride clubs, though, an' a lot of folk here are just weekend warriors.”
“These other clubs? Do the Freaks get along with them?”
“Usually, yeah. It's a friendly rally.” He pulled a joint from the tin in his pocket and lit it. “Careful. You're bending that peg.”
She raised the mallet, then stopped. “Why am I doing this?”
“I'm all about equality, punk.”
“You're an arsehole, biker boy.” She stood and held out the mallet.
Nitro straightened up and took it from her. “Don't you go feeling bad about my aching shoulder.”
Mouse took the joint from him and took a long pull. “I would if you weren't left-handed. And quit limping, I'm not buying it.”
He stuck out his bottom lip. “You don't care about me at all. I've a good mind to not fuck you tonight.”
Mouse raised an eyebrow and ran her hand down his chest. She moved closer, so their bodies were almost touching. “Really? That's a shame, cos I really get turned on by men wielding big hammers.” She licked her lips. “And that's a really big hammer you've got there, biker boy.”
Nitro groaned and added 'Hammering in tent pegs when you have a hard-on' to his list of things that are incredibly hard to do.
~oOo~
Bike rallies, it seemed, were just like any other festival, but with bikes and shittier music. She trailed around after Nitro as he'd visited stalls that sold rusty hunks of metal, and feigned enthusiasm at the Harley stand. She ate dodgy burgers, and rode on the bumper cars at the funfair with Jojo and Josie. It was fun, she guessed, but if she was honest, she would've rather spent the day at home with Nitro and Aaron.
Nitro was tattooing full time now, and was getting quite a reputation. This was good, of course; his diary was full, and people were having to wait well over a month for even small pieces, but it did mean that, with her working three evenings a week, they didn't see much of each other.
Mouse looked up at her man and nudged him with her elbow. “Wanna go back to the tent?”
“Already? It's still early.” He caught the expression on her face and grinned. “Ah. Okay.”
In common with all festivals, most of the fun to be had was happening on the camp site. Fires and barbecues had been lit, music was playing, and there was a party atmosphere. And Nitro, because he was annoyingly friendly, was stopping at every other bonfire to admire bikes, or talk about bikes, or just talk. Mouse was dutifully being a good ol' lady, but she was starting to get pissed off. Not least because he'd been on his feet pretty much all day, which meant his leg would be getting sore, and that meant he'd be grumpy for at least the next day or so.
She sighed and looked around. Carter was walking back to where the Freaks had set up camp. She nudged Nitro and nodded over to his VP. “I'm going to walk back with Carter.”
Nitro nodded and let go of her hand. “Hey, Carter. Walk my ol' lady back to the tent.”
Carter waited for her to catch up. “Wassup, Mouse?”
“Not much.” She took his arm. “Nitro's going to be talking for ages, and there's only so much entertainment I can get from a conversation about fork positioning.”
“The position of your forks is very important, Mouse.”
Mouse rolled her eyes. “Don't, please.”
He laughed. “Bike rallies not your thing, huh?”
“Actually, I've had a pretty good day. The ride down was awesome, and all this.” She looked around her. “Is pretty cool. But it would have been nice to have some time alone with Nitro.”
“I'd've thought you see enough of each other.”
Mouse shrugged. “Not alone. We've got a toddler, remember.”
“Ah.” He fell silent.
“What's up with you?” She gave his arm a squeeze. “Missing Scarlet?”
“Don't be daft.” He frowned. “She's just a pass-around.”
“A pass-around who you've been fucking almost exclusively for the last year. You obviously like her, and I know she likes you. Why don't you just bite the bullet and make a go of it with her?”
“Because she's been fucked by all my brothers.”
Mouse rolled her eyes. “We've all got history, Carter, but it doesn't have to define us.”
“Well, her history is too close to home. So how about you drop the subject.”
“Consider it dropped.” She let go of his arm and kissed his cheek as their tents came into view. “Thanks for walking me back.”
Mouse crawled into the tent, wriggled out of her jeans and into the sleeping bag, and waited for her man. She closed her eyes. Shit she was tired, and they had another day of this tomorrow.
“Mouse?”
“Mmm?” Mouse opened her eyes and stretched. Outside a dawn chorus of groans, coughs and farts told her that morning had broken. “Oh, I fell asleep.”
“You sure did.” Nitro helped her to sit up and handed her a cup of tea. “Jojo is cooking breakfast.”
“Great.”
“The guys are getting ready to head into Plymouth.”
“Oh, okay.” Mouse rubbed her eyes. “What for?”
“Charity thing. Everyone pays a couple of quid to ride to Plymouth Hoe, then comes back here to party.” He grinned. “We're not, though.”
“Oh?” Mouse took a sip of her tea. Conversations first thing in the morning weren't her strong point. “Why?”
“Because you an' me are going home.”
THE END
Itinerant Child Page 27