Rumbling Thunder

by B. F. Harrolle

  Tinker never said anything to Rainy. She walked beside her until they were at the restrooms. She went inside with her and waited for Rainy to come back out of the stall. When Rainy went to wash her hands, she saw her face in the mirror. She looked as if they had used her as a punching bag. Her lip was split and swollen, and there was blood in the corner of her mouth. Both her cheeks were also swollen. She splashed cold water on her face to help bring the swelling down. Afterwards, they went back to Decker.

  After his tent was set up, he mimicked Maddog and tied her to his motorcycle. At this point, Rainy didn’t care. She was just tired and needed to sleep. The way he tied her to his bike, she had room to stand or sit, even lie down. And she knew she could pull the bike over, but not without hurting herself. She resigned to the fact that she was stuck. Smelling food cooking, she felt her stomach rumble. She had not eaten all day. Unlike the day before, she wasn’t sure they would feed her. She seemed to be the last thing on their minds. Except for Maddog who wanted to own her. No one else seemed to care too much.

  Chapter 8

  South

  Trying her best to get comfortable, Rainy laid down next to the motorcycle. She was still feeling the motion from the motorcycle ride. She closed her eyes, and in no time she’d drifted off to sleep, just to be woken up again. “Here, you need to eat,” said Liz, handing her a hotdog and a can of soda along with a bag of chips. Rainy took the soda can in her left hand and reached for the hotdog with her right hand. She let the bag of chips drop to the ground. “I’ll bring you another hotdog in a minute.” Rainy watched as Liz walked away from her, and she wondered why she was taking care of her. Did Decker ask her to? She didn’t know, but she didn’t understand how she’d managed to get herself in this mess in the first place. And so far, Liz, like the others who had talked to her, had not hit her. Not that she liked Liz; she knew she was a real bitch in her own right. And pushy.

  She saw the tiny dog again. He reminded her of a dog her mother had a long time ago named Godzilla. Zilla, as they called her, only weighed two pounds. But unlike Zilla, who was spoiled rotten, Rainy felt so bad for this little guy. He’d been through so much. And the bikers seemed to take joy in torturing the poor thing. He wanted to get close to them. But when he tried to approach them, they would stomp their feet and the little dog would scurry off with his tail between his legs. Oh, she knew he had to belong to someone, but she didn’t know who. As far as that goes, she didn’t even know the rest of this motorcycle club. There seemed to be so many of them. Liz returned with another hot dog for her. Rainy took it, not that she was still hungry, but she didn’t know when she might eat again.

  Grisly was wandering around looking for any scraps someone may have dropped on the ground. Rainy had eaten half of her second hot dog when she saw him. She took what was left of her food and broke it up into small pieces and sat the paper plate on the ground in front of her. Grisly made his way over to where she was. He came towards her until he was about ten feet away. He then came to an abrupt stop and sat down, tilting his head. He watched her as if he wasn’t sure he could trust her. Rainy pushed the food closer to him. Grisly stayed where he was, still not sure if he should go towards the food or not. “It’s okay, boy. No one is going to hurt you. You can have the hotdog.”

  After a long time, the little dog laid down where he was. Rainy was also tired, so she laid down on the hard ground and closed her eyes.

  That’s all she remembered until morning. It was daylight when she woke up. And she could feel something next to her. It was Grisly. He curled up beside her and was still sleeping. The hot dog had been eaten. “Well hi there, sweety. Are you my friend now?” Rainy said as she stroked his small body. It felt strange because he only had fur in patches and his skin was badly scarred. But she didn’t care; he was a sweet dog. And he deserved to be loved. Not something he got a lot of with these people, she was sure. Grisly jerked his head up like he heard something. Handlebars walked up and when he saw the dog on her lap, he said, “What’s going on here?” Grisly jumped up and ran away.

  “You don’t have to be so mean,” Rainy huffed.

  “When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you,” he shot back.

  Rainy waited until Handlebars walked off then called out, “Jerk!”

  Handlebars walked back over to where she was tied up. “What did you say?” he asked in a gruff voice. Rainy looked down, not sure what he might do to her. She really didn’t want to be hit again. “That’s what I thought,” he mumbled and then walked away. Rainy saw Grisly following him. He’s still a jerk, Rainy thought, but she wasn’t about to say it out loud again.

  It wasn’t long before the bikers were up and moving about. And within an hour, they were all back on the motorcycles and heading east. Rainy figured they were going back to their clubhouse in Georgia. But realized she had been wrong when they entered the state of Florida, headed south.

  They rode all afternoon. Rainy saw a sign for Disney World. She’d been there with her family as a child. She remembered it like it was yesterday. Oh, she knew that’s not where they were going, but she thought it would be humorous if they did go to the park. The big bad bikers in fantasy land. Now that would be something to see.

  They were about two hundred miles from Miami when they pulled off of I-95 and headed west. It was getting late now. The sky was starting to turn dark. But it was getting ready to rain, so maybe it wasn’t that late. They rode through the town of Westen and kept on moving. They went about ten more miles and turned onto a dirt road. After a few minutes, they pulled into an old abandoned farm. The grass was so tall, you couldn’t see the house. And from where they were parked, Rainy couldn’t see anything. She did know that Decker and Tinman were going towards the house. The other biker waited. Boozer got off of his motorcycle and moved around. Rainy did the same thing.

  It wasn’t long before they were on the road again. They followed Tools until they came to another campground. Thunder was sounding off in the distance. And the storm wasn’t too far away.

  The bikers hurried to set up their tents. And then they climbed inside them. Handlebars had tied her to Decker’s bike and left her there. Rainy didn’t see Decker go into his tent, but he had to be around somewhere. Surely they weren’t going to leave her out in this storm. But it seemed that she and Grisly were stuck out in the rain. And it didn’t just rain, it poured. The rain pounded her. She called out for help, only no one came. The little dog tried to hide under Decker’s bike. But he could only get part way under. Rainy took hold of him and covered him the best she could. Then she scooched over to Handlebars motorcycle. Lifting the lid of his saddlebags, she placed Grisly inside. At least he would be safe from the storm. The beating from the downpour would last another hour before Rainy felt someone next to her. They cut her free and helped her into Decker’s tent.

  Once they were in the tent she realized it was Decker. She would have thanked him for bringing her in out of the rain, but they keep telling her not to talk to the bikers, and he was one of them. He gave her a blanket and laid down, then he turned over away from her. “Thanks to you I get to be wet!” He grumbled. Rainy didn’t talk back; she was just too tired. Even if she was wet, the warmth helped her fall asleep.

  Shouting woke her up. Handlebars was the one shouting at Grisly for being inside his saddle bags. Stomping his foot, he yelled, “Get out of here you stupid mutt. And don’t come back!” Grisly ran as fast as his little legs could move.

  Rainy was out of the tent now. “Stop it!” she ordered. “I’m the one who put him in your saddle bag. He was cold and wet.”

  “Yeah well, you ever do that again, and I’ll tie you to my motorcycle and shove your face into the saddle bag and let you smell it all day. See if you like that shit.”

  “Why don’t you talk to whoever owns the poor dog and see why they don’t take care of him.”

  “Sure thing, girly. The next time we run into The Lawless, I’ll be sure to ask why they don’t take care of their dog, s
eeing that they are the same ones who tossed him into the fire.”

  “I thought he belonged to a bartender?” she heard someone say.

  “Who just happened to be one of The Lawless.” Rainy glared at him, she was speechless. “And since you care so damn much about the dog, you take care of him. Only one thing, I better never find him in my saddle bag again.”

  “I would love to care for him, only that will be hard to do when I’m tied up. And I have no money to buy dog food with.”

  “He won’t go hungry, and you won’t be tied up forever. I’m sure as soon as we get back to the clubhouse, Decker won’t tie you up anymore.”

  “Well, that’s something to look forward to. Why don’t you just turn around and I’ll make my way home, back to where I live.”

  Handlebars laughed, “Sure thing. In your dreams, maybe.”

  “So are you my bodyguard or something?”

  “Nope, not at all.”

  “Good, so you won’t do anything if I run?”

  “If you run, you better hope it’s me who gets to you first. Because if one of the other bikers gets to you first, you might not live to talk about it.” He then walked her to the restroom. And as soon as they returned, he tied her to Decker’s motorcycle once again. She wanted to ask where Decker was at, but that would make it seem like she cared. And she didn’t really, aside from the fact she wished they would all disappear.

  Chapter 9

  Clubhouse

  It was now her fourth day of being in the company of The Screaming Bandits. And she was weary and tired of riding on the back of a motorcycle. Today she was seated behind Bear on his Road King. Decker told her to ride with him, but Bear didn’t seem too pleased with the idea. He didn’t seem to be the friendly type. But at this point, Rainy didn’t care. She did as they told her and didn’t talk back. So far, they had been feeding her, so she figured if they were going to kill her it would be at the clubhouse. After all, she’d seen too much.

  They had been on the road for a few hours when they pulled into a park. Now what? She was thinking. When Bear rolled to a stop, she got off the motorcycle. It didn’t take long for her to see the reason they had stopped. One of the motorcycles had broken down. Tools pulled up in his truck and went over to look at the bike. Tinker was right behind him with her own toolbox. Rainy didn’t know the biker that the motorcycle belonged to or his old lady. But she didn’t want to know them either. Rainy looked around. There were lots of trees here, and she thought maybe now that the bikers were busy with fixing the motorcycle, she might be able to get free of them. Bear had walked over to where they all gathered, and she knew this was her chance. Slowly, she started to move away from them. The farther away she got, the faster she started to move. Now at a run, she kept moving. No one seemed to be following her. This was great, she was thinking. She would be free again.

  She stopped running, now on a path that was heading into a wooded area. As she strolled along, she kept looking back over her shoulder. But she didn’t see anyone. So she decided to find a place to hide until nightfall. The path went two different ways. She decided to go left. Then she heard something and turned around to see if anyone was behind her. She felt relieved when she didn’t see anyone. But when she turned back, Decker was standing right in front of her. He stood for a moment just staring back at her. Rainy looked down. She knew he was angry; she didn’t have to ask him. When she glanced up again, he motioned for her to come to him. When she did, he took hold of her shoulder and walked her back to where the bikers were at. Walking her to Tools’s truck, he opened the door and motioned for her to get in. He slammed the door behind her, making her jump. She knew he had saved her from the other scum bags. But he was still one of them. She wasn’t so sure he wasn’t going kill her himself.

  Rainy waited for a long time, and her mind started to wander. And of all people, she started to think about Pedro. Not about how he’d hurt her, but three years back when they were new to each other and how she felt about him back then. She thought that they would be together forever. But things went bad. And now he was at the one place she’d do just about anything to get to right now. In the dance studio with her dad, Tim, and the other dancers. She may not like all of them, however, she knew they wouldn’t try to harm her.

  Resting her head on the headrest, she closed her eyes and must have drifted off to sleep. Hearing the motorcycle crank up, she sat up straight and looked around. The bikers started to pull away. Tools got back into the cab of his truck, but he was waiting for something. Decker came up to the side of his truck on his motorcycle. “Go ahead and go to the clubhouse. Handlebars and Liz will watch out for the girl after you get there.”

  Tools nodded and pulled out onto the street that led to the highway. She wished that Decker didn’t find her. She could have been on her way home by now. But she wouldn’t return to New York because she knew the gang of bikers would come looking for her. Not that she was worried about what happened to her, but what about her mom and dad? It didn’t do her any good to worry about what might be, so she closed her eyes and she went to sleep.

  Tools slammed on his breaks and it jerked her forward so hard it felt as if she broke her collar bone. “You okay?” Tools asked.

  “Yeah, just sore,” she said, rubbing her shoulder.

  “That truck just came over on us. Glad I redid the brakes last week.”

  “Me too!” It was the first time one of them talked to her like she was human. She had a feeling she was going to like this guy. But she wouldn’t make it obvious.

  Finally, they pulled into a fenced-in compound. There were three different buildings on the grounds. The first one was a long trailer-like house. The one right behind it looked as if it might be a garage. The third building was set off to the right. Tools parked the truck, opened his door, and slid out. He walked around for a minute as if he were waiting for all the bikers to pull into the fenced in area. And she was right. As soon as the last motorcycle pulled in, he walked over and closed the gate and locked it. Tools walked over to her side of the truck. “Come on,” was all he said. And then opened her door. Rainy got out and followed him into the first building. As she walked in, she realized this must be their clubhouse. It looked like one big bar. The bar was in the center of everything. Off to the side were tables and chairs. In another room was a sofa and chair with a television. A long hallway was to the left of the bar and there were five rooms. Hidden behind the bar was a kitchen. Rainy could smell the stale beer and it was making her stomach turn. The house filled with noise as the bikers filtered into the bar. Boozer went behind the bar and started to serve drinks. She wondered if this was their favorite pastime. Feeling displaced, she wasn’t sure what to do or where she should go. So she stood in the middle of the room. Feeling someone touch her, she jumped. It was Liz. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Come with me and I’ll show your room.”

  “I get a room?”

  Liz smiled at her. “Okay, it’s Decker’s room.”

  “And he is going to let me stay in his room?”

  “He told me to get you settled in his room. So I would say, yes.”

  As they walked down the long hallway, Rainy asked, “Do all the bikers live here?”

  “No, just a few. Now, they all hang out here, but most of them have families and live in the city.”

  “Oh.”

  “Mostly the officers live here.”

  “Officers?”

  “Yes. Tinman, Decker, Tools, Boozer, Handlebars, and me.”

  Rainy gave her a sideways glance. “You’re an officer?”

  “No, I’m Handlebars’s old lady.”

  “Does Barb live here?”

  “Oh yeah, there are about six women who live here now that you’re here.”

  Rainy shook her head. “But I’m not anyone’s old lady.”

  “No, but what you are is one lucky young lady. You have the right people on your side. So I don’t think you have too much to worry about. Just keep to yourself and d
o as Decker tells you.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “You don’t want to find out.”

  Rainy wondered why this woman found Decker to be so good. Hell, he was the same as the others, just scum.

  Now at the end of the hall, Liz opened the door. Rainy followed her in. There wasn’t much in the room. Only a full-size bed and a dresser And a television set on a wall mount. The remote control was lying on the bedside table. “Make yourself at home. The bathroom is right over here. I’ll bring you a towel and washcloth. And I’ll see if I can find you a change of clothes.”

  Rainy didn’t understand why Liz was being this kind. And really she didn’t care. “That’s really nice of you, but I’d rather go home,” her voice breaking as she said it.

  Liz took a hold of Rainy’s chin and tilted her head back, looking right at her. “Don’t cry or beg. Stay strong. Act as if you don’t care about anything. Be tough. Your life depends on your actions now.”

  “Is this my new jail? I have to stay in the room?”

  “No, not unless that’s what you want to do. You’re free to move around. You can even go outside if you like. Because you can’t get out. And whatever you do, don’t try. You will get hurt.”

  Rainy didn’t ask why. She sat down on the bed. Liz left the room, returning with a change of clothes and a towel and washcloth for her.

  She took a shower and dressed. The outfit wasn’t something she would ordinarily wear. She wouldn’t wear her shorts this short or a shirt so low cut. However, the outfit was clean and that made her feel better.

  Still tired from all the traveling, Rainy curled up on the bed and went to sleep. Hearing a noise, she looked up and saw Decker standing next to the dresser. He’d been in the room for a while. His hair was wet from the shower, and he only had a pair of jeans on. He never turned around so she could see his face. She wanted to see his eyes, but he always seemed to be wearing his shades. And this man just had to have the perfect body. He looked like a bodybuilder with his broad shoulders and slim waist. His abs were so tight, it looked as if he was trying to show them off. He was maybe a little over six feet tall. His hair was long and dirty blonde. His skin was dark tan, and it seemed to glisten from being wet from the shower. He had tats on both his upper arms, but none on his body. He was looking even better than the first time she saw him. Boy, what she wouldn’t do to have him for just one night. Letting out a long sigh, she thought, If he just wasn’t one of them. But he was, so that was that. Rainy closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, trying her best not to dream of Decker.