by Hope Stone
“Bye, Diego.” Fuming, I headed to my vehicle. The California air felt a little colder today. I put my hands on the wheel for a minute, contemplating. Have I been too harsh? Maybe his chapter is good. Am I letting my bias get in the way? I cranked the engine, heading for home with these thoughts in my brain.
Lost in the daze on the drive home, I entered the house. Not a peep. My shoulders released. I didn’t need Palo giving me shit. I went to my room and changed clothes quickly. I looked at my watch. I was making good time. I had class in two hours, plenty of time. I picked up my phone. Diego. He’d texted a bunch of love hearts to me. I couldn’t help but smile. A bad boy softie. Who knew?
I switched on my laptop and googled Outlaw Souls. I scanned for pictures and information to see if I could sense anything or find something to incriminate Diego. I came across something that made my stomach lurch.
Outlaws motto: “We stand united brothers in arms.” “We are a law unto ourselves.”
The members were rough around the edges. Ten of them lined up with their backs facing the camera. Black motorcycle jackets with an emblem on the back. Another picture, Diego all smiles, flipping a burger on the grill surrounded by people. I scanned to the next picture. Bikes lined up in another and one person with a plume of smoke in the parking lot. I clicked out. I’d seen enough. I had to focus and get to class.
I drove through the traffic with my favorite Spanish tracks on in the car. I tapped my fingers and turned it up, trying to come to grips with the fact that I’d just slept with a guy from a motorcycle chapter. My brother rang on the Bluetooth as I drove.
“Hullo?” I answered.
“Ay. Are you all right?” he inquired.
“Yes, Palo, why wouldn’t I be?” I replied with annoyance.
“I’m checking in as big bro’, I wanted to let you know something too.” Another reason for my stomach to tighten.
“Well, I’m good, what is it?”
“I’ve officially been sworn in as president and those two guys at the club will never bother you again.”
Chills ran down my spine. “What did you do, Palo? What the fuck did you do?” I screamed, slamming my palms on the steering wheel. A lady to my left saw me and gave me a weird look.
“Calm down. I did what needed to be done. You just worry about school. Like I told you, we’re going legit now, so get your emotions under control,” Palo said calmly.
“Don’t you tell me to get my emotions under control! I have to worry about you every day in that stupid gang,” I yelled. The overwhelm pounding my chest was too much for me to bear. I wanted to pull over.
“We can talk later. I gotta go to work,” Palo said sharply and clicked off. I closed my eyes for a moment as I sat at the lights. So much confusion swirled in my brain. What could I believe now? I pulled into the parking lot ten minutes later.
First up today was pharmacology; Shauna and I were paired up, working on a project. I texted her as I walked on campus.
“Where you at?”
“Cafeteria, before this dry ass subject.”
“Lol”
Today the place looked bare as I crossed the manicured lawn to the square building in front of me. I spotted Shauna’s curls before her and she was in line, picking up her coffee from the front counter. I approached sneakily.
“Boo!” She jumped and nearly lost her coffee.
“I’m going to kill you! If you made me drop my coffee there would be hell to pay.” She kissed me hello on the cheek.
“I know. I have to get one too. Wait for me.”
“How are you this morning? Ready for Mr. Dry-ass Stewart and his pills?”
I shook my head at her with a downturned mouth. “I don’t know how I am. I saw Diego last night and he’s into some things I didn’t know he was into…” I ordered my coffee and waited.
Shauna’s eyes lit up as bright as her yellow hoodie. “Ooo! Girl, tell me everything! So he really is a badass?”
“Thank you,” I said to the cashier while he handed me my coffee. I walked with Shauna as we headed to class. “I never said that. I just don’t know that I want to be associated with it all.”
She gave me a strange look. “You’re being cryptic. What does that mean?”
We headed up the stairwell to Block C. “He’s part of some motorcycle chapter and he says it’s a good one. I’ve never known a motorcycle chapter to represent anything good,” I blurted out.
“Ohh, so you don’t know if you can trust him yet,” Shauna answered.
“Something like that. I guess it takes time and I don’t need that shit right before those exams.” I huffed as we reached the top of the stairs. “Damn, those stairs nearly killed a bitch.”
She laughed as she opened the stairwell door. “You and me both. Might be kind of cool though to date an outlaw. Plus, I can hear the goss’!”
I shook my head. “Girl, you are crazy. I knew I shouldn’t have told you. And you pretty much hit the nail on the head. The chapter is called Outlaw Souls.”
She rolled her eyes as we walked in the classroom. “Well, that’s not predictable, much.” We walked in single file as the classroom filled with students taking their seats. Mr. Stewart, a hefty man, nodded as we entered. “In all seriousness, if you feel uncomfortable, just take your time and see what comes. He might be legit, you know. You don’t want to miss out on something great because you misjudged the guy.”
“When did you become wise, Shauna? What happened?”
She shook her curls and shrugged her shoulders as we slid into two seats near the back. “Life, I guess.”
Pharmacology was not my strong suit as I struggled to focus on the words Mr. Stewart said. Men and their motorbikes... Somehow I couldn't seem to escape them. Maybe I was the secret outlaw.
Diego
I texted her the love hearts. I didn’t know what else to do. I threw the wasted toast in the trash and dumped the cold coffee in the sink. I stood at the sink for minutes, sipping on my coffee after she left. Shit didn’t make sense. It was eight o’clock and my phone buzzed on the counter.
“Hello, Diego speaking.”
“Hi, this is Courier Express, we are confirming pick-up delivery of two motorcycle platforms today. Will you be at the warehouse address of 34A Multon Road Merced between nine a.m. and five p.m.?”
“Yes, I will. Thank you.”
“Great. We will see you then, sir.”
“Okay.” I bobbed my head. At least that part of my life had movement. I drained the last of my coffee and got ready to hit the road. I had a lot to do and a new client with a bike to fix.
Twenty minutes later after showering and heading over to the garage, Misty popped up in my head. Her sensual Spanish fire made me lick my lips at the memory, although it was marred by her anger in the morning. I opened up and paced the length of the garage. I pulled out the tool kit I had housed there and put down a stiff MDF board I found out the back.
I had deliveries in place for a new desktop computer to come, the raised platform for the bikes and now to confirm a few other things before Rick came through to pick up his bike.
“Morning, Ryder,” I said.
“Hey, how you doing?” Ryder enquired in his full-toned voice.
“Alive and kicking,” I replied.
“Good. Good.”
“Hey, I need a few things, I need to stock up on parts. I want to confirm some parts with you.”
Ryder coughed. “Excuse me, just woke up. Okay, so talk to me. I got news too. But tell me what you need first.”
“All right, I wanted to run it by you before I send through the invoice.”
“That’s all right, that’s what I told you to do. Hit me with it.”
“I need a few torque wrenches, a chain breaker and riveter – just a few more depending on how the shop gets going. A hex set too, mine’s in pieces. The platforms are on the way today, so thanks.”
“Okay, that’s not too bad. I got a few more customers for you. A couple of guys I kno
w live up near Merced and I’m sending them your way. You’re going to need these extras. We want to come up there this weekend, you game?”
“Hell, yeah. That will work.”
“Okay, Diego. I’ll let you get to it. Good job.” Ryder’s gravelly voice left the call. I had my coveralls at the warehouse and I put them on over my jeans and T-shirt. Time to get greasy.
Footsteps followed ten minutes later with two people. Both of them were males and they had bikes with them.
“Hey, Diego, right?” One called out from afar.
“That’d be me. We got two, huh?”
He smiled. “Yup. Once I realized you were part of Outlaw Souls I decided to bring my homeboy’s bike in with me. This here’s Derek.”
He pointed to Derek as he stopped with the bikes and set their stands in place. I shook both their hands. Both mild-mannered, meek men. Nothing standing out about them.
“Hey, guys, nice to meet you both and thanks for your business. What’s going on with them?”
Rick sighed as I looked the bike over. “I think I got a problem with the starter drive. I don’t know. It’s a common problem with Harleys.”
I frowned and ran my fingers over the bike. “Yep. Might need a compensator kit. They’re costly but it might be the answer. Leave it with me and I’ll let you know.”
Rick groaned. “I thought it might be that. This beast has cost me more than my house deposit.”
I laughed at his plight. “That’s a Harley for you. They cost money for sure. You have to really love them.”
Rick put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “You got that right. That’s why I waited.”
The other guy waited patiently, looking around the warehouse. “Pretty good spot for a shop. I got this dirt bike and it needs a service, nothing major like Rick here,” Derek said.
I nodded. “Okay, great. If you guys can do me a favor and leave your name and numbers right here, I’ll call you with the quotes. I may need to order parts.”
“Appreciate it. I’ll talk to you about the chapter when you get through fixing the bikes. I want to ask you some questions.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“Thanks, Diego, we’ll leave you to it.” I thanked both of them as they walked out. Confusion reigned in my mind still about Misty. I checked Rick’s bike and decided to take it for a spin in the back parking lot. I wheeled it out and did a hard start and sure enough, a grinding noise began. Like I thought. I rang around for parts in the morning and then attempted to call Misty in the afternoon.
“Hi, you’ve reached Misty Narvaez and I’m not available right now. Please leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you when I can.”
“Hey, Misty, it’s Diego. I just wanted to touch base with you. I’d like to invite you to meet some of the guys I ride with. I don’t know if this will set your mind at ease about things. Anyway…I know you need your space and I respect that. Let me know what you think, either way.”
Derek’s bike was easier to work on and I had the service halfway done by lunch. I added a few extra things to it since it was my first time working with the client. I closed up shop at a reasonable hour and headed to my home with Misty’s reaction still plaguing me.
The rest of the California week rolled into one, apricot skies rolled into blue and sometimes gray. Luckily, the weekend rolled around soon enough but there was still no word from Misty. In my dreams, I saw her kissing my lips and laughing. Even back when I was with Crystal, I didn’t feel the passion I felt now for Misty.
Trainer, Ryder and Yoda were on their way to me and I was preparing to head to the workshop. I wanted to have the place looking great before they arrived. My phone vibrated on the counter as I made my way out the door.
“Yo,” I responded.
“Hey, Diego! It’s Yoda. Are you ready for us up there?”
“For sure. I’m glad the boys are on the way. I got the platforms and it’s starting to shape up now.”
“Sweet. Any ladies up there? What’s the vibe? We might hit the town when we’re up there. We’re going to check into Studio 6.”
l chuckled. “Yeah, there’s some nice ladies up here for sure. You’ll find something you like. The Spanish chicas are stunning.”
Yoda laughed. “Sounds good to me.”
I rode out to the warehouse and opened up. I turned on the new computer and switched on all the lights. Everything was pretty much set up. I heard the roar of the bikes as they rode into the parking lot. The three Outlaw Souls, a formidable force, stepped off their bikes. All three were dressed in Outlaw vests. Ryder, with his rangy stride, stepped forward first, taking off his leather gloves. Yoda followed, shorter in stature with a few wisps of hair that wafted in the wind – he really needed to stop hanging on to them and cut them off. He had a fat round face that resembled his brother Padre. Trainer was a sight to behold. He wore a sleeveless cut-off shirt that showed off his strong arms with intricate tattoos and ripped abs.
“Hey, the cavalry just came to town.” I stood with my hand up in the garage door as they came toward me.
Ryder approached for a hug. “Long time no see, Diego.” He looked around and stalked around the place. “Looks good, Diego, real good.”
Yoda and Trainer surveyed the high ceilings and the expanse of the garage. “This has a lot of potential. We can really get a large chapter going on here.”
I nodded. “It’s a great spot. I got a few guys interested, I’m working on their bikes right now.”
Ryder walked over to them and looked them over. “Huh. Not bad. We got ourselves a rider. A Harley is a lot of upkeep. He must be serious.”
“Looks like it. Do we want to sit and talk about running an open day up here?” I suggested.
“Great idea. I can round up the chapter at the quarterly meeting and we can talk about it. Set a date,” Trainer replied.
Ryder placed a heavy hand on my shoulder, lowering his voice. “So let’s talk about what’s really going on up here. How are the women? Have you bagged any?” The guys laughed.
“Take a seat, fellas. I got coffee here but that's about it. In answer to your question, I met someone pretty special. Unexpected, you know.”
Ryder sat at the main table in the office and leaned forward. “Well, let’s order pizza and drinks, then we can really get down to business.” He paused and looked at me. “Okay, so tell me about her…heritage?”
I stroked my chin and grabbed a notepad and pen. “She’s Puerto Rican, she's bad. I’m telling you. Studying to be a doctor. We’re working on it, kind of turned cool...but that’s Spanish women for you.”
Ryder clicked his neck in place. “Ah, a Puerto Rican, she loco?” he laughed.
“Don’t you know it. But we Argentinians wouldn’t have it any other way.” I winked.
Trainer was on the phone calling in the pizza while Yoda waited patiently for us to start.
“What’s her name?” Ryder enquired.
“Misty Narvaez.”
Ryder and Trainer looked at one another with raised eyebrows.
“What?” I said, puzzled.
“That name sounds mighty familiar…”
Misty
“You have a maximum of ninety minutes to complete your test. No talking and no eating. If you are caught cheating, you will be escorted from the room and your grade disqualified. This is a multiple-choice questionnaire response for the first thirty minutes of the test. The second thirty minutes will be a case scenario and the third component will be a patient diagnosis where you will be asked to step into the clinical rooms to the left of the hallway. Good luck. Your time starts now.”
My palms were sweating bullets. I’d worked so hard that I thought my head would explode from study overload. Words jumped out of my anatomy book and swirled in my brain. I was seated in a large classroom with approximately sixty other students at the University of California. The examiners were standing at the front of the room like soldiers, a large clock ticking away in th
e background. All the desks were three feet apart. I sharpened my pencil and stared blankly at the circles in front of me. So it came down to this, the first quarter of medical exams in ninety minutes. The sound of the tick from the clock was equal to the pounding in my head. I talked the first question through to myself.
“What would I do if…” First question down, and then it got easier. The information I’d learned started to make sense. My heartbeat eased as I got into the groove of answering the questions. A flash of Shauna and me in the library broke through.
“No, c’mon. Go back to it, that's not right. The pulmonary valve doesn’t function if you do that. Read it again.” Shauna was a hard taskmaster. She wanted to be a surgeon. That was why she was the best person to study with, and those sessions rang steady and true in my ears. I breathed a sigh of relief as I got through the first thirty minutes of the test. I shook the cramps out of my fingers and looked up briefly. Mostly everyone had their heads down and pencils poised for the remaining questions. Only a few meerkats were peeking around the room. Shauna’s curls caught the light at the front of the desks; she too had her head down.
The second part of the test was my forte, and I felt the pencil write automatically under my fingertips. A memory of me as a little girl at my grandfather's house popped up. We’d taken a family vacay to Puerto Rico, and he had me on his knee.
“I wanna be a doctor, Grandpa. I want to help people!” I smiled at the memory. I had pigtails then so I guessed I was around eight years old. I loved it there. My grandfather's house was more like a shack facing the tumultuous Caribbean Sea. The winds would be so strong the palm trees would bend back and forth, howling in the night. The thatched roof would shift and I thought we would get swept away. In all of his forty years living there, he never once was touched by any natural disasters.
“Baby girl, you can save the world. You can be anything you want to be.”
I sailed through the questions and headed to the front to drop off my paper. The next part of the test was the doctor-patient test. I stepped into the examination room where a mock patient sat. I looked at the diagnosis on the clipboard. Pulmonary heart failure. I secretly smiled at the one area I’d studied extensively. I breezed through it and blew out a sigh of relief when it was all over. I finished and walked out into the open air. I rubbed my neck, which was sore from holding it in the same position.