by Lynn, Davida
“Can I ask you a personal question?” I give them a sideways look.
Thunder smiled and shook his head. He dragged a finger all the way down my arm to my fingertip, “Baby, I think were passed that. You can ask me anything you want.”
It was a silly question, but it was something that had been in the back of my mind. “What do you do, exactly? Sorry if that sounds rude, but it’s just never come up.”
After a long sip of coffee, Thunder looked around, “Your wondering how I can afford this lavish lifestyle, huh? I worked in construction until the economy tanked. Growing up poor taught me to squirrel away money, so I did okay for a while. Just about the time my cash started running out, I joined the club. I wasn’t expecting it, but that’s the best group of people I’ve ever met. I was looking for work pretty hard, and one of the boys heard. We got to talking, and he hooked me up with his Pop.”
Thunder had never been so candid. He wasn’t kidding when he said I could ask him anything. He was opening up to me in this beautiful and meaningful way.
He leaned his head toward the side door off the kitchen, “I work out of that small garage. Kyle’s dad runs a gun shop. Any tricky work that comes down the pipeline comes to me. I probably work about 10 hours a week. Doesn’t bring in much money, but I don’t spend much. House is paid for, truck is paid for, bike is paid for. It ain’t much, but it’s mine. What’s with that look? ”
I didn’t realize it, but I was beaming. It wasn’t about what Thunder actually did; it was about… I don’t know. I could hear pride in his voice. I could hear hard work in his voice. It might not have been the American dream, but he was right. It ain’t much, but it’s mine.
We took our time in the shower. Thunder could see I was stressed out about the meeting, and he did what he could to relax me. He lathered up my hair, working his strong fingers over my scalp. I closed my eyes and pressed my hands against the shower wall.
Thunder’s hands were incredible. He was skilled and talented in and out of the bedroom. I moaned as I felt the tension melt off my body. The meeting was still on my mind, but I felt better about it. I have Thunder by my side at least some of the members of the Rising Sons seemed to be behind me.
After I rinsed the shampoo from my hair, it was Thunder’s turn. He had made me feel so good, and I wanted to make him feel good, as well. As the hot water rained down on us, I got to my knees and let him use my mouth however he wanted.
As I toweled off, I looked around at Thunder’s life. I pictured myself with him in the future. It gave me a warm feeling. I understood that there were parts of Thunder’s life that I didn’t exactly understand or agree with, but he was his own man. He managed his life just fine. Was there a place for me in it? Was there a place for me with the Rising Sons?
My hair was still wet as I pulled Thunder’s smallest T-shirt over my head. It was soft and broken in like a cherished guitar. Staring at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help but see myself as Thunder’s girl. It felt more than right.
Thunder popped his head into the bathroom, “Ready to head down to slugger field?”
I gave him a nod and a smile. Everything was planned out between him, myself, and Trask. I knew it was going to be risky, and I knew it could be dangerous. Trask believed that my loyalty laid with him at the club, Thunder believed my loyalty was with him. And me? I had no idea what to believe.
The air seemed thick and hot, but it was probably just the tension. It was evident on every face. The two biker factions eyed each other with heavy suspicion. More than half of the bikers there had handguns at their hips. Too many hands were held close to those pistols.
Thunder’s fingers were intertwined with my own, and he gave me a reassuring squeeze. None of the other bikers gave me as much as a single look. The few that had supported me at the meeting looked the most nervous.
Trask stepped forward from the clump. An older man with a long ponytail and goatee came forward to meet him. The patch on his cut read PRESIDENT and below that, CAPTAIN. Captain looked like a man that had lived in the sun his entire life. He wore a deep tan that was probably ever-present, and his skin with cracked like old concrete. Despite the worn and weathered face, Captain’s smile took a decade off his age. He had a perfect set of teeth, and he was showing them all off.
"Trask Rivers. How's the old man? I hear he's back at the top in Bakersfield. Damn glad to hear that." Captain extended a hand.
Trask shook it, "Full recovery. Fuckin' miracle of miracles. I appreciate you asking. How's Maggie and the kids?"
“Julie just started college, and the wife is at home. Gage is right behind me. Following in the old man's footsteps. Enough with the nice nice. Let's talk business.”
It was a surreal sight. Thirty some bikers sitting around picnic benches behind baseball diamonds. It was a nice, neutral location, but damn, everybody seems so out of place.
Trask and Captain sat across from each other, with the rest of the bikers from the two gangs surrounding them. The president of the Devil's Branch had a briefcase with them. My heart jumped the second I thought. My identity was inside. Not Patience, but me.
“Normally I'd ask for money for something like this, but I know you don't have any. Between starting up the new club and rebuilding the old one, I know you guys are tapped out. I'm open to offers.” Captain turned his hands up, maybe still expecting an envelope of cash to be laid into his open palms.
Trask spoke like a business man, not like someone who pulled bugs out of his teeth after a hard ride. “I’m glad you understand our financial situation, Captain. Yeah, we don't have money right now, but we will. We've got jobs lined up, and here's what I'm willing to offer you: ten percent. Ten percent across the board on all jobs that the Rising Sons work for the next year.”
It was news to everyone but Trask, Thunder, and myself. None of the Sons said anything, but they couldn't hide their displeasure and anger. It was like Trask said: we had a plan. They were angry, but they trusted their leader.
Captain looked behind him at his men. Jameson was back there in the group, still looking a little shaken and beaten from his talk with us a few nights back. None of the Devil’s Branch said anything. Based on their faces, they all seems to be down with the plan.
Captain raised an imaginary glass, “The boys approve, I approve. Just a few notes—Conditions, if you will. One: your territory does not expand for one year after our ten percent comes in. That’s two years from now. Two: all jobs run by us first. We can’t have you guys stealing our jobs and then paying us for it, you understand. And three: at the end of one year, we want a $50,000 bonus.”
I could almost feel the tension building. I knew that the Sons would want nothing to do with this deal. I wanted to tell them about the plan, but Trask said it was best if they didn’t know. He said some of them weren’t the best at keeping their mouths shut. It was hard, but I could understand. I knew Trask would agree to whatever deal they wanted, because it wasn’t going to matter in the long run, anyway. The boys behind me, though; they were almost waiting for a fight to break out. The place was a powder keg; all it would take was a spark.
Without turning around, Trask nodded. “We agree.”
“As simple as that? Got damn, you must be desperate.” Captain slid the briefcase across the picnic table. Trask turned back to me. It was my cue to step forward. As I did, he snapped the latches on either side of the case. I stood over him as he opened it. A manila folder lay inside. Trask handed it to me.
“Carla Landry. Born April 13th, 1988.” The words barely registered to me. I read them again, this time to myself. Carla Landry. Not Patience, but Carla. 27 years old with a home address in Sacramento. That was me.
There was no epiphany. There was no tsunami of memories washing over my blank mind. I wasn’t expecting it, anymore. I had gotten used to the fact that I was starting over from scratch. Hey, at least I had a name.
Trask elbowed me in the thigh. It startled me back to reality. The reality of two groups of tes
tosterone riddled bikers just itching for one wrong move. “Are we golden?”
I turned back to Thunder. I had a smile so wide I could almost see it on his face, “Solid gold, baby.”
As I walked back to my man, my heart was at full speed. I knew what was coming next, and I hated it. My throat was bleached bone dry, but I tried to swallow, anyway.
I was facing away from Trask and the negotiations when he spoke, “All right boys.” I could almost hear the smile on Trask’s face, “Time for the renegotiations.”
As the president spoke, all of the Rising Sons pulled their weapons.
In the blink of an eye, every Rising Son that brought a gun had it pointed across the benches. I kept walking towards them, telling myself one foot after the other. I was terrified, and all I wanted was to get on the other side of Thunder. There was safety next to my man.
“You rotten motherfuckers. I knew this shit smell bad from the start. If that dumb bitch hadn’t been with your boy, we’d have you by the short and curlies right now, assholes.”
Captain didn’t sound as angry as he did disappointed. He had probably seen the betrayal coming from the very beginning, but that was probably life as an outlaw. When I turned around, I expected to see guns pointing back. It was my worst fear.
When I was beside Thunder, I spun around. To my surprise, every Devil’s Branch member was frozen in place, hands at their sides. It almost worried me more.
Their president had a dry smile on his face, “You really thought we would come all the way out here without a contingency?” He looked around at his men, his laughter spurring theirs to start. The old man turned back, his hands up in the air like he was giving up. Then I noticed his eyes.
They weren’t looking at us; they were looking past us. In a flurry, I turned around, expecting to see Harleys riding up behind us. There was nothing but the empty baseball diamonds.
Captain stepped forward, oblivious to the gun in Trask’s hands. “Wanna see a fun party trick?” He unrolled a pack of cigarettes from his T-shirt sleeve. Hamming it up, Captain took a few steps back and tossed the pack into the air.
A crack came from some unknown direction, and a pack of cigarettes turned to torn paper and dust in the air. Everyone except Captain and Trask ducked. Most of the Rising Sons kept their guns trained, but some spun around, looking for the unseen shooter.
As the sound of the gun faded out, Captain’s laughter took over, once again. “That’s what I call an insurance policy. He’s an ex-SEAL, so I wouldn’t push your luck any more than you already have. Now, because you couldn’t play nice, here’s the new terms: twenty percent of everything for two years and one hundred grand at the end of it.” Captain watched Trask, drinking in his victory. “Tell me, Trask, do you really want to try it?”
Through clenched teeth, “What’s that?”
“Taking a swing at me. It’s written all over your face. I wouldn’t recommend it, though. You’ve got some crosshairs on you, Trask Rivers, so move with care. Y’all are new in town, so maybe you don’t know all the tricks of the trade quite yet.”
I stood half-hidden behind Thunder, holding in a scream. The men might have been used to the violence and tension, but I wasn’t. I didn’t know if I wanted to be part of that world. It was harsh and constant.
Trask turned, a smile on his face. He tilted his head for me to join him. It was all part of the plan, but I felt rigid. My feet weren't moving, no matter how much my brain screamed at them. Thunder leaned down, “You’re up, baby. I’ve got your back. I’ve got it here, there, and everywhere.” He whispered so that he and I were the only ones that could hear.
Thunder was my strength. His voice rumbled inside of me and broke whatever fear was holding me tight. The biker lifestyle might not have worked for me, but fuck, Thunder knew me better than I knew myself.
I walked forward. Trask threw an arm around me and pulled me against him. “Real cute, Captain. You think we didn’t come with a backup, too? Our backup is standing right next to me. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t see this one coming. You might be losing your edge, old man.”
Captain’s smile faded, but just a hint. He still thought he had the upper hand. “The fuck you talkin’ about, Rivers?”
“Really? Are you forgetting what she does? Carla is DEA, and Carla is on our side. One word from her and satellites thirty miles up are starin’ at your wrinkly balls. Or maybe she gets your door busted in on suspicion of trafficking.”
The expression on Captain’s face went from pure joy to pure anger. Trask said that the Devil’s Chasers took in most of their cash running coke up the coast. Thunder confirmed that the DB were drug runners. Captain’s look was concrete.
“You kidding? She doesn’t even know her name.”
It was true, but I could hear Captain grasping at straws. I had to step in. “Do you think that is gonna save you? I don’t. I lost my memory, not my deductive skills.” I looked back around to all the Rising Sons standing behind me, “Any one of these guys could call in and put you on the radar, but if I call? If I make the call, you aren’t just on the radar; you’re on every billboard in California, and maybe even the FBI’s top ten most wanted list.” A voice came from inside of me that I hadn’t heard before. It wasn’t Patience. It was Carla.
“You’ve got a sniper? That’s wonderful, really. Very twentieth century, but I’ve got news for you: a phone call is one thousand times more powerful and deadly than a bullet in this century. You know it’s true; you just can’t admit it to yourself.”
Trask had a wide grin on his face. He leaned forward and extended his hands, “So, now that you understand the stakes, all that shit about us paying you is out the window. Obviously.”
Captain was defeated, “Obviously.”
Trask gave his approval. “Now’s the part where you leave, Captain. Things are going to stay quiet around here, right?”
The president of the Devil’s Branch looked out past the diamonds. I wanted to follow his eyes, but I couldn’t tear myself from his face. “For now, Rivers. For now.” He turned to the dozen or so bikers behind him. “Let’s give them what they want, boys. Tails between our legs.” With a heavy wave of his hand, they began to walk away.
With speed that completely defied his age, Captain spun around and lurched towards me. His quickness caught Trask off guard, and I closed my eyes, preparing for whatever pain was coming. My body tensed as I prepared, but it didn’t come. Instead, it sounded like the devil himself with screaming behind me.
I open my eyes in time to see Thunder tackle Captain. Thunder outweighed the Devil’s Branch president by fifty pounds, and all of his weight came down on top of Captain. By the time Trask and a few other bikers pulled Thunder off, my man connected with three solid punches. There was something completely devoid of sanity in his eyes.
Thunder was panting when they pulled him from Captain. When his men pulled him up, Captain was bleeding from the nose and one of his eyes was already swelling shut. When I thought about violence, I hated it. When I saw Thunder protecting me with his fists, I couldn’t get enough of it. It was some part of me that I didn’t understand. It scared me, but at the same time there was an addictive quality about it.
“Nice try, Captain. Fair is fair, but you just don’t have the speed anymore, old man.” Trask waved his handgun at the opposing bikers, “Be gone with you, foul wretches.”
Thunder wasn’t in such a good mood. He spent his words out like fiery death, “Try that again, fucker, and God himself couldn’t pull me from you. You won’t need a funeral, ’cause I’ll pound every inch of you straight into the dirt myself.”
I never wanted to fuck Thunder so badly the entire time that I knew him. Lust consumed me, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. We had a long haul before the two of us would be alone, and I didn’t know if I’d survive.
We regrouped at the Watering Hole. I held Thunder as tightly as I could on the ride back to Davis. There were so many naughty things I wanted to whisper in h
is ear, but the roar of the Harley between our legs drowned it all out. I wasn’t worried, though. I was saving up everything for him.