Game Changer (Hell's Saints Motorcycle Club)

by Marinaro, Paula

  I looked at Diego. To my surprise he just looked at me and smirked.

  “Damn fucking wet dream.” He murmured. Then he said, “You good, Raine?”

  I nodded and pulled my leg over the bike, adjusted the helmet and wrapped my arms around him.

  We roared out of there and I held on tight. The beautiful day was turning into an equally beautiful dusk with red and deep blue streaks shooting across the sky. The wind was fresh and cool against my skin. Diego was a great driver and I was an experienced rider so our bodies dipped and straightened, weight shifting in harmony. It felt like a dance. Along the way, he would slow down and point out little things that he thought might interest me.

  Eventually we pulled into a little cantina. He took my hand and pulled me along behind him. Once inside, he pushed me in front of him, his hand guiding me by the small of my back. A pretty, young, obviously pregnant woman smiled when she saw him. He said something to her in Spanish that made her blush and place a hand on her stomach. Her eyes were warm when she smiled at me.

  She seated us at a table at the end of the room and I noticed that Diego seated himself with his back against the wall. The woman put her hand on his shoulder and in response, Diego grabbed it, turned it palm out and planted a kiss right in the middle of it. The woman laughed and hit him with a towel, eyes shining.

  “Ah! Diego when are you going to get a woman of your own and stop making my wife blush?” A smiling man had come upon us quickly. He put his hand protectively and more than a little proudly over his wife’s baby bump and stated, “All this excitement is not good for my son.”

  He had a long dark ponytail, a rosary hanging around his neck, a silver wedding ring on his left hand and a detailed scripted tattoo on his neck that read Alejandra. The pretty pregnant woman, whom I assumed was Alejandra, looked lovingly into her husband’s eyes then nodded at me. She said something softly in Spanish. Her husband turned to me in an exaggerated display of surprise. I knew he had noticed me and was up for giving Diego a hard time.

  “Well, well, well, who do we have here?” He smiled at me.

  I extended my hand and introduced myself. “My name is Raine. Nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Diego’s.”

  At “friend” Diego lost a little of the mirth that danced behind his eyes, but just a little.

  Alejandra’s husband took my hand, then turned it palm down and placed a kiss upon it. His wife shook her head smiling and Diego actually rolled his eyes. Someone called from the kitchen and he said, “Unfortunately duty calls but I’m very pleased to meet the new friend of Diego Montesalto.”

  Then he turned to Diego, “Anything you want brother.”

  He slapped him on the shoulder and they did a thing where they shook each other’s hand but way up so they were more grasping their arms. That thing that guys do

  Diego ordered for us and the food was cheesy, spicy and perfect. I had a margarita and Diego had a Dos Equis. Diego Montesalto, the most interesting man in the world. I smiled into my margarita thinking of the ad for beer. Diego was relaxed and entertaining. He told me how he had met Alejandra and her husband Rafe. It was a good story and made me laugh.

  It was late when we started back and the night had turned really cool. Diego reached into the leather bag on the bike and took out a big thick sweat shirt. He stood close and raised my hands over my head. Then he slipped the sweatshirt on and pulled my braid out of it. He bent down and touched his lips to mine briefly, then full on kissed me. I pulled away when I heard a shrill whistle coming from the cantina and turned to see Rafe standing in the shadows smoking a cigarette and wagging his finger. Diego good naturedly flipped him the bird and we were off.

  When we pulled into the MC compound there was music playing, loud conversation and firelight. The Hell’s Saints were gathered around the fire pit with their women. They were casting long shadows and it made me uneasy. Something wicked this way comes. I hadn’t liked these gatherings as a child and I still didn’t like them. I wanted to go inside. I turned away from Diego to undo my helmet and saw her. The woman who had flashed me the superior smile and had plastered herself against Diego when I first arrived. Had that only been a couple of nights ago? It seemed like a lifetime.

  She was staring at me and not looking happy. At all. She looked mean. Crazy and mean. I stared back, a chill running up my spine. I had had enough of crazy to last a lifetime. I knew this kind of crazy and where it was coming from. If she thought she had a claim on Diego, so be it. I barely knew him, and if it came down to that, that’s what I would say. Have. At. It.

  I wasn’t the kind of woman who fought over men. I never got that. There were so many other things you had to fight to keep in this life, a man should not be one of them. But I knew there were some that didn’t see it that way and this woman full on worried me. I pulled my arms around me, and held on tight. Diego had been talking to Reno and when he turned and looked at me, a frown crossed his brow. He looked passed me and his eyes skirted the wooded edge. By then, she was gone.

  “Raine.”

  I looked at him.

  “You okay Babe?”

  I managed a smile. “Yeah, thanks for a nice night, I’m going to head in now.”

  Diego shook his head, “No babe, you’re not. Prosper got his groove on the harp, you seriously gonna miss that?”

  “What time is it?” Something had just occurred to me, and all of a sudden the time had become very important.

  He looked at his phone. “11:05, why?”

  I had was only fifty five minutes left to end a day that had been just about perfect. I honestly could not ever remember having that before. Ever. And it was something I had aspired to. One day of not worrying about anything. One whole Day. I really didn’t want anything to mess that up for me. But Diego had grabbed my hand and was pulling me along. What could possibly happen in fifty five minutes, I thought to myself. Then the wind tugged at my hair loosening a tendril and whispering in my ear. Something wicked this way comes.

  The air was electric in the way I remembered it as a kid. But now I forced myself to look at the scene before me with adult eyes and damn if I didn’t feel that same shiver go up my spine. It wasn’t the good kind of shiver. It was the kind of shiver that came from being a lifelong watcher and knowing that the secrets that lie deep within these shadow people weredangerous ones. They were the kind of secrets that knowing about could hurt you and even get you killed. These might be Prosper’s people and Diego’s people but they were not my people. These were the kind of people that scared me.

  As I walked through the sea of badass outlaws and their women I felt cold inside. No matter who my dad was, or who my Prosper was, or who the man I was on the arm of was, I wasn’t a part of this. A bunch of bikers and their women. Their women. Some of them were old ladies, some were girlfriends, and some were honest to goodness whores. They were definitely a type. They were fat and skinny, short and tall, blonde, brunettes and red heads. Some were older some younger but definitely a type. Big hair, lots of makeup, and lots of tit showing. Whether those tits were large or small, they were on display. They smelled of cheap perfume, cheap booze and desperation. They were hard women. Hard loving, hard living, hard hearted women. Dangerous women wanting to be owned by dangerous men. Willing to do anything to make that happen. The men knowing that and taking that on. The air crackled with it.

  I looked past all that to Prosper. Prosper definitely had his groove on. He was jamming with Crow and they were both playing some mean guitar. I recognized some of the rifts and my fingers were itching to blow them on my harp. Then Prosper looked at me and crooked his finger. Oh no! No… no…. nope! There was no way I was going to make a display of myself in front of a bunch of bikers. It was one thing belting out a tune in my own back yard, or this afternoon with Prosper alone and soaking in the sunshine. But sharing my music with the people of the shadows seemed wrong.

  Then Prosper was on me and pulling me with him. When he sat me down next to him and called out to the ni
ght, “This one is for Maggie.” I came undone. How could I refuse to sing along to a song dedicated to my mom? He had me there. Crow began to strum out the beginning chords of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.” I took the harp out of my back pocket and replaced the soulful sax with some sweet harmonica. I had been playing this for years by myself and honestly playing with Prosper was a dream come true. Then Prosper and I sang Seger in perfect harmony, taking twists and turns that, while not in the original version, worked well for us. This had been my mother’s swan song and I was going to sing the shit out of it. And I did

  When it was over, Crow, Prosper and I were grinning the hell out of each other and the shadows were going wild with applause. Almost against my will, I turned my eyes to look for Diego and saw him walking with Ellie away from me and towards the porch area. I felt a burst of jealousy that I pushed down. I turned my attention to Prosper when I realized he had been saying something. The something was that Pinky’s sister had gotten into a pretty serious car accident and Prosper was flying down that night to be with her while she sat with her sister. He had just been waiting for me so he could tell me and the playing, I think had taken his mind off it for a moment. I was grateful he had given me that moment and hoped with all my heart that Pinky’s sister would be okay. He thought not longer than a week and that I should stay at the compound.

  I didn’t want him to go. And if he had to go, I wanted to go with him. I didn’t want to stay with people I didn’t know and I was really starting to miss Claire. We had never been apart this long and I knew she missed me as much as I missed her.

  But if he had to, I wanted Prosper to go with a clear state of mind. So I smiled, kissed him on the cheek and told him that I would be fine. And I would be, because this was my perfectly happy day. He got on his bike and left for the airport. It was 11:45.

  I was tired and started heading away from the crowd and back to my room at the kitchen house. I felt Jules fall in step with me and I was glad because I didn’t want to walk alone in the dark. I also didn’t want to run into Ellie and Diego doing whatever the hell they were doing. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to help it but I couldn’t. As I walked by my eyes searched for them. And Bingo. There they were. Ellie was plastered against him again but this time Diego had his hands in her hair and his mouth was moving against hers. Just Great. While I watched I saw him pull her head away from him, a scowl on his face and she was smiling up at him. My heart hurt and before I could look away, he saw me.

  “Raine.” He frowned still holding her away from him. He dropped his grip on her and moved towards me.

  Ellie pulled at him and he growled at her. “Get Off Me.”

  I took a step back, feeling broken. Damn. I wished it hadn’t hurt seeing them together like that but it did and not just a little bit. Especially after the time we had just shared. What was going on? Was it really that easy for Diego to go from me to Ellie and then back again? I knew what I needed to do. I needed to keep walking and let tonight be forgotten.

  Walkaway Joe.

  Diego stood in my path. Big arms crossed, feet wide apart. Blocking my way and blotting out my view of the she devil he had just seconds ago been wrapped around.

  Ellie, on her part, wasn’t going to be forgotten that easily. She moved quickly to put herself in front of Diego and way too close to me.

  “Yeah, that’s right. Pocahontas,” She sneered.

  Oh no, she didn’t.

  “Me and Diego, for two years now. Me and Diego.”

  “Shut up, Ellie.” Diego face dark and body tense. Watching me.

  “Really, honey, she should know.” Ellie looked back at him, smiled brilliantly and tossed her hair.

  Then she was back on me, at full attention and she wasn’t smiling.

  “Yeah, that’s right, Raine.” She spat may name out as though it tasted bad on her tongue.

  “Diego took you for a ride on his bike tonight, but it’s me that he has been riding in his bed. You were sitting on his bike, I was sitting on his face.”

  OH MY GOD! WHO SAYS THAT?

  “Come to think of it, I was wearing that same sweatshirt the last time I went down on him. Yeah, on my knees for my man with nothing on but his sweatshirt. Is that why she’s wearing it, baby? Because you like the smell of me on her?”

  Her words hit me like they meant to and pierced a spray of heavy artillery right through me. My stomach cramped and my fingers were so tight at my sides I broke skin. I felt that shot everywhere. It filled me with such a deep ache that it didn’t even leave any room for me to go into. So I had to just stand there, all out and take it. Then I wrapped my arms so tight around me that my ribs hurt.

  Jules flew into action and wrapped his fingers around Ellie’s throat, almost lifting her off the ground. Diego and I were locked in an eye battle. He almost looked as shocked as I felt. Almost.

  “Shut up you fucking skank.” Jules Roared.

  Ellie wasn’t done. She still wasn’t done.

  How could she not be done?

  “Let me go Jules!” She spat out. She twisted violently. Her eyes on me with hate. She was heaving and there was spittle at the edges of her mouth.

  Jules let go of her neck but wrapped his big arms around her middle trying to drag her away from me. She was so angry she was convulsing.

  “How stupid are you bitch? You think for a minute he is going to choose a beat up, beat down dirty little Indian whore over me? You think you’re special? You think he’s into you? You’re just the flavor of the month, bitch.”

  Then she sneered, “You’re being used Raine. And if you don’t believe me, just wait and see. Wait long enough, you’ll even get used to it. Christ, half your body is black and blue. You’re used to it already.” Ellie’s voice cracked. “You feeling me bitch?”

  I heard something in her fall apart and I watched Ellie then. Under all that venom and teased hair and heavy makeup Ellie was young. And desperate. And hurt. And fighting for something she felt slipping away from her. We were not unalike in that way. But life had twisted Ellie in a way that I had worked hard to keep from happening to me. And to Claire. Ellie was spiteful and mean and dangerous. Ellie was poison. And Ellie was wrong.

  I was all over it then, and cat spitting mad.

  “You done? You done now, Ellie?”

  Then I took a step closer and leaned into her.

  “I get that you’re not happy seeing me with Diego. I get that you don’t like me being anywhere near him. I get that he has had you … let me see if I’ve got this right….. in his bed, on his face, and what was that last one? Oh yeah, blowing him for the past two years. I get that you’re his regular fuck buddy and to you that means he’s your man. Am I feeling you so far, Ellie?”

  Jules was holding on to the finally subdued Ellie, and Diego hadn’t taken his eyes off me the entire time. His eyes dark with fury and his mouth grim. I couldn’t even look at him. My eyes were hard on Ellie and hers were harder on me. I had her full attention, and she was certainly feeling me.

  “I get because of your fuck buddy status that you don’t appreciate a……..hmmm what was that again? Oh yeah, a beaten up, beaten down, dirty little Pocahontas coming in to threaten that. I get that you think I’m too stupid to understand that I’m nothing more than a flavor of the month. I get that you think beaten up whores like me should be used to life’s little disappointments.”

  Oh yes I did, and I wasn’t done yet.

  “I’m definitely feeling you, Ellie. Now listen up, because this is you feeling me.”

  “Pocahontas, just to be clear, was the daughter of Powhatan. He was the chief of the Algonquian Indians. She was an honest to Christ, real Native American princess. I’m not her. My name is Raine, Ellie. You got issues with me, you call me by my goddamn name.”

  She was watching me and you know I was watching her. None of the crazy was gone from her eyes, but she was listening.

  “I met your man a week ago. In that time I’ve been threatened by him, rescued by him, and j
udged by him. I’ve had dinner with him and been for a ride with him. What I’ve not been is fooled by him or used by him. Or, and hear this clearly, fucked by him. So you don’t get to call me a whore. The Diego trophy is still all yours girlfriend, and it certainly sounds like you have earned it.”

  I paused for a minute to let that sink in. Then I full on started again.

  Oh yes I did.

  Because really? Really?

  “You’re right about one thing Ellie. That black and blue you see on me is from a man. He hit me and I left. The reason I went back wasn’t because I needed him, but because I needed something he had that was mine. He found me and he beat me again. That’s not something I plan on ever getting used to. There’s no reason for me to ever go back there again. The hope I had of him loving me died with that first punch. If he ever comes back to get me, I’ll not go back to him. I’ll kill him. You still feeling me Ellie?”

  Ellie’s eyes were on me brittle with hate but also just a glimmer of understanding.

  And I had more.

  “I don’t fight over men. I don’t respond to threats made by women who want to fight over men. Whatever there is between you and Diego is none of my business. And honestly, despite the crazy you’re wearing, I get this is what it costs you to love him. I get it and I’m sorry for the part I might have played in making you feel this.”

  And I honestly was. No woman should be made to feel that much pain over loving a man. I didn’t like being part of what caused that.

  But because Ellie was too far gone, she wouldn’t take the out I had just given her.

  “Bitch you don’t even know what it takes to love a man like him.” She just couldn’t quit.

  I took a step back then. There are some woman who will just never get it.

  I was talking to Ellie, but I was looking straight at Diego.

  “I do know. I know exactly what it takes. It takes everything. It takes it all. And every time, every single time you dare to hope it’s gone for good. It sneaks right back in and then it takes some more.”