by Nicole Fox
My fingers shook as I unwrapped the test and read the directions. It wasn’t all that difficult, but waiting the short amount of time for the results seemed impossible. I needed to know now. I flung my hands nervously as I counted the seconds.
Positive.
My heart and my stomach did swan dives into each other, crashing and banging around inside my body until I thought I might vomit. I leaned against the wall of the stall and closed my eyes, wondering if this could possibly be real or if it was just some nightmare I hadn’t woken up from. I had loved my time with Snake, but I hadn’t really thought about the consequences.
I had to get back to him before I passed out. I lurched out of the restroom and into the dining area, taking deep breaths to try to calm myself down. How would I tell him? I’d always heard romantic stories of women who found cute ways to tell their spouses about their pregnancies, but I just wasn’t in that kind of situation.
Like a shout from a distance, I slowly became aware of the news program that was blasting on the television mounted in the upper corner of the wall. I glanced up as I headed toward the door, and then stopped in my tracks.
A woman with frizzy brown hair was being interviewed, and she flung her hands wildly as she spoke. “I just can’t believe this has happened to my poor baby. You know, you hear about young women getting kidnapped and sold into the sex trade and things like that, but you never think it will happen to your own children. I just want my girl back.” I knew that woman far too well. It was Mother.
The picture flipped to a news reporter, her face serious as she held up the microphone. “We have a sketch of the man who is believed to have kidnapped Bambi Bidwell, and police ask that citizens keep a lookout for anyone who meets either of their descriptions. The man is believed to be armed and dangerous, and the police ask that you don’t approach him under any circumstances. This is Clarissa Thurston, reporting for Action News 12.” A fairly accurate drawing of Snake appeared on the screen, right next to a picture of me being crowned as Peach Festival Queen.
I plunked down into the booth behind me with a thump. How dare she? Mother had thrown me out! And I had gone with Snake willingly in the first place. A flush of anger took over me, mostly replacing the nervous feeling. I knew exactly what she was doing. Mother wasn’t concerned with getting me home. She had simply realized the kind of attention she could get if she claimed I had been taken. Snake had been right; I couldn’t go back home, no matter what.
More importantly, I had to warn Snake. The police were looking for him, and the media had everyone else watching for him, too. We were only an hour or so away from Myrtle Creek, and someone would find us. I had to get back to him and let him know. He would have a plan even if I didn’t.
I stumbled back to the pool hall, my mind reeling and my stomach whirling. There were too many things to think about.
I saw Janet, one of the other biker chicks, when I walked in. She was standing near the bar, flirting with the young bartender. He leaned on the bar and passed her a drink, the look on his face suggesting she could pay him with something other than cash.
“Hey, do you know where Snake is?” I asked feebly.
She looked at me with creased brows. “He’s in the back. Are you okay?” Janet was at least a decade older than me, and she often took it upon herself to be my mother figure.
“I’ll be all right.” But I really wasn’t so sure. I didn’t know if I would be all right ever again.
“If you say so.” She turned back to the bartender with a flirtatious smile. I was used to her batting her eyes at other men even though she rode with a guy named Fish. Nobody else seemed to have anything to say about it, and I certainly wasn’t going to.
The song on the jukebox was just ending as I walked into the back room, where all the pool tables were. Long, low lights hung over each table, illuminating the faces of the players as they bent over the felt with their cues and twisted their mouths to get the shot just right. One entire wall was lined with racks of sticks and extra cubes of chalk. I found Snake easily amongst the crowd, his tall slim figure a unique feature among the bikers. He always hung out with the same group of men, and he was playing pool with Rusty.
The redhaired man shot a solid ball into the corner pocket and then missed the next one. “So?”
“So what?” Snake asked as he stepped up to the table to take his turn. The light was harsh, but it somehow brought out the best features in Snake. He looked sexy and just a little scary.
“The girl. You get her knocked up yet?” Rusty rubbed a little blue cube of chalk against the end of his cue as he studied the table.
I was just about to approach them, but I took a step back when I heard this. I stayed in the shadows between the tables, watching and waiting. I didn’t like to spy on him, but I couldn’t believe they were talking about me like that.
Snake took a long time to respond. He made his shot and bent down for the next one before he looked up at his friend. “Yep.”
“Are you serious?” Rusty slammed the butt of his stick on the floor and gave Snake a scrutinizing look.
“I said she was, and so she is.” Snake stood up and walked around the table. His back was to me now, but I could still hear him clearly. “I did exactly what I said I was going to do.”
Rusty shook his head and looked at Moose. “Did you hear that?”
“What?” The blonde man had been playing cards at a pub table in the corner.
“Snake says he knocked up the beauty queen.”
“Damn it!” Moose threw his cards on the floor. “I really wanted that money.”
I backed away a little further, not liking what I’d heard.
“Shit,” Rubble chimed in. “I should have figured it would be him. Snake gets everything he wants.”
“Quit your bitching.” Axle clapped Rubble on the shoulder. “You never had a chance of winning the bet, anyway.”
The short man scowled at him, but he didn’t argue.
I turned for the front of the building, tears springing to my eyes. I was just a bet? All this time that Snake had insisted he wanted me to be with him and that he wanted to protect me, he’d just been lying. The only reason he’d wanted me close by was so he could fuck me over and over and make sure I got knocked up. How could I have been so stupid?
I almost ran into Janet as I came through the doorway. “Hey, where are you going in such a hurry?”
Though I had been thinking of Janet as my friend, I knew now that there was nobody associated with the Warriors that I could trust. They were just what the townsfolk of Myrtle Creek feared: rude, brutal people who didn’t care who they hurt as long as they got what they wanted. Snake was no different, and I doubted Janet was either. “I just, um, I got some bad news. I’ve got to go.” I pushed past her and out the door into the night.
Sobbing fully now, I stumbled out toward the sidewalk and started walking. I had no cell phone; I’d left mine at Mother’s house, and there had never been a need to have one while I was with Snake. There were only the few dollars left in my pocket after my trip to the pharmacy. I was alone and on my own. I was free, just like I’d thought I wanted to be, and this was where it had gotten me.
Chapter 11
Snake
I’d had a few beers, and I should have been in a good mood. It was a beautiful night. I had everyone I cared about near me, and most of all, I had Bambi. I was even cleaning up at pool. But I had nearly forgotten about that damn bet, and I wasn’t pleased that we were talking about it once again. It only reminded me of who I was and how I had thought about life before I’d met Bambi. The weeks with her on the back of my bike had been great. She was content to roll with the punches. She never complained about long days on the road or the fact that we were never in the same place for very long. The only argument we’d had was the one time she said she wanted to go home. I hadn’t liked denying her, but I knew how important it was to keep her away from the evil woman who had raised her. I’d learned enough about Monique B
idwell in the small time I’d known Bambi to understand that she was nothing but poison. Bambi hadn’t been pleased that I had told her she would stay with me, but it seemed as though we had come to a mutual understanding. She had never given me any indication that she was mad or resentful over it.
But mention of the bet made it seem like that was the only reason I had kept Bambi at my side. It was fine with me if the guys thought that, but I knew it wasn’t really the truth. I liked having her around, and if it were up to me she would stay with me for a long time. The bet didn’t mean anything at all except that it had allowed me to meet her in the first place.
“I guess that means it’s time for you guys to pay up,” I growled as I made my next shot. I wasn’t bad at pool, but Rusty sure gave me a run for my money. I was thoroughly distracted now, and it was showing. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about what you owe me.”
“Hold on just a minute,” Axle said. “How do we know you’re telling the truth? Bambi sure doesn’t look pregnant.”
“That’s a good point.” Moose bent over to retrieve his cards from the floor. Several of them had landed faceup, so he gathered them into the deck and dealt to himself and Axle. “Maybe we should wait until she gets nice and fat.” He grinned.
Rusty laughed. “Can you imagine what a skinny little girl like that is going to look like with a big round belly? She’ll be waddling around like a little blonde duck!” He was amused enough that he missed his next shot. He grabbed his bottle of beer from the side of the table and took a long drink.
“That’s going to make it hard to keep riding.” Rubble, for a change, was thinking sensibly. “Are you going to shack up with her somewhere? Or just drop her back off in Myrtle Creek and let her mama deal with it?”
My face burned with anger. They had no right to talk about Bambi like that, but I had gotten myself into this mess. I could have picked any girl for the bet, but I had chosen a woman so amazing that she had become more than just someone to fuck. “We’ll figure that out.”
Axle slapped a card down on the table and grinned. “Better do it soon. My cousin Cheryl got knocked up, and she started ballooning out within a couple of weeks. Then there’s the barfing, and the hot flashes, and the mood swings. Oh yeah, you’re in for one hell of a ride!”
I sank the last ball and shook my head. Bambi would be pissed if she knew how they were talking about her, and she would be even more pissed if she found out I had claimed she was pregnant. It was possible, but I had no proof. We hadn’t even talked about it. I could only hope she was knocked up so I wouldn’t be a liar.
“Now, hold on. Shouldn’t we be congratulating him? After all, Snake is about to become a proud papa!” Rusty retrieved the balls from under the table and began racking them up. “Tell me, is the tot going to be a slithering snake in the grass like you are?”
I glared at him and handed my cue stick to Axle. I was done with pool. I was done with the whole conversation.
“Congratulate him all you want,” Moose said as he gathered up the cards and shuffled them once again. “I’m still not paying him jack shit until I have proof.”
A sense of dread fell over me, weighing me down and dragging at my skin. Now that my little lie was out there in the world, I was going to need Bambi to help me make them believe. If she was like any other woman, she would be furious that I’d claimed she was pregnant. Still, I might be able to get her to cooperate. She went along with almost anything I asked her to do. I had her wrapped around my finger, and like it or not, I was going to have to take advantage of that.
“I’ll go find her, and she can tell you herself.” I turned from the pool table and stepped into the bar, hoping I could at least get a moment with her to explain what I needed her to do. The bar area of the place was practically empty. It was a beat-up old place, with old wooden tables that had been carved on with pocket knives over the years. Not all the neon lights hung near the tops of the walls worked, and they cast a dim, eerie glow on the few drunks gathered in the corner.
Janet was at the bar, getting dangerously close to the young man behind it. She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and leaned down, letting the bartender get a full view of her cleavage. I cleared my throat as I came up behind her. “Hey, have you seen Bambi? She went to the pharmacy, across the street, but I haven’t seen her since then.”
Janet straightened and turned to glare at me. She had never been all that fond of me in the first place, and now I had ruined her game. Her dark eyebrows crunched together and she stuck her tongue in her cheek. “She was here, but she took off.” She flung her hand toward the front door.
Every system in my body was on high alert. My muscles were tensed and ready for action. My heart thundered in my ears, and a major dose of adrenaline shot through my bloodstream. I was ready to pummel whoever had done something to Bambi to make her act that way. “Took off? Where?”
“Beats me. She was crying her eyes out, though. Said she’d gotten bad news.” Janet lifted a shoulder and let it fall carelessly, as though none of this was all that important. Maybe it wasn’t to her, but Bambi wasn’t just some biker bitch. She wouldn’t have just left like that without saying a word.
I grabbed her by the shoulders, my fingers clenching around her leather jacket. “Did she say where she was going? How long ago was this?”
She pushed against my chest uselessly. “Hey, chill out! For all I know she was headed back to the motel. She didn’t say. And it was just a few minutes ago.” Her bright red lips were twisted with anger, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even pay attention to the young man at the bar, who was getting concerned and trying to tell me nicely to calm down and back off.
I let go of Janet and dashed out into the parking lot, taking a moment to look around. There was always a possibility she had just stepped out for some fresh air, but in my heart I knew that wasn’t the case. Bambi knew how protective I was of her, and she wouldn’t have done something like that without telling me first. No, whatever had happened, it was much worse than that. My mind flew back to what she had told me about life with her mother in Myrtle Creek. Had Monique found her? Had she convinced her daughter to go home?
The parking lot was dark in the moonlight, with only a distant streetlight casting a small gleam on the hoods of cars and on the gas tanks of the motorcycles. The gravel crunched under my boots as I slowly walked between the rows, watching the shadows for any sign of movement. But she wasn’t there, just as I knew she wouldn’t be.
I jogged out of the parking lot and over to the pharmacy. It was brilliantly lit compared to the pool hall, with its bright sign and the interior lights making large rectangles of yellow on the parking lot. I burst in through the front door.
The clerk at the counter to my right recited her greeting. “Hello, and welcome to Hometown Pharmacy.” She didn’t look up as she slowly rang up a purchase for a customer.
I ran up to her and slammed my hands down on the counter. “Have you seen a girl come in here tonight? About this tall, with blonde hair and a purple tank top?” I was desperate for information and yet terrified of what I might learn, and this woman had no idea what she was doing to me by holding out.
The clerk looked up at me over her glasses, her drawn-on eyebrows creasing. “Excuse me, sir, but you’ll have to wait in line.”
“I don’t have time to wait in line! I just want to know if you’ve seen her!” I slapped the counter once again.
The customer, a woman in her forties with bleached hair and a loudly patterned dress, cleared her throat. “You’re being very rude, you know.” She glared at the clerk. “Can we please finish this?”
“Of course.” The cashier grabbed a bottle of vitamins on the counter and slowly scanned it, setting it gently in the bottom of a plastic bag before reaching for the next item.
“Damn it! Stop being like that. This is an emergency!” They were lucky they were women.
They both ignored me while they finished up, the customer digging in her purse for an
eternity before she finally found her debit card and then had to swipe it three times to get it to work.
When she finally left, the clerk regarded me with a steely glance. “Now, can I help you?”
“You already know what I want. I’m looking for my girlfriend, and she said she was coming here. Have you seen her?” I tried to keep my voice calm, since it was clear that was the only way to deal with this woman, but it was hard.
She tapped a manicured nail on her chin and rolled her heavily lined eyes toward the ceiling. “Blonde, you said? Purple tank top? Yes, I believe I rang her up just a little bit ago.”
“Did she say where she was going?” I suddenly remembered that Bambi had claimed not to be feeling well. “What did she buy?”
The clerk shook her head at me. “Now, now. I don’t just go giving away all my customers’ secrets. What they buy at the Hometown Pharmacy is their business, not yours. I’m sure if she wants you to know, she’ll tell you.” She gave me a smug smile and turned toward the cash register, pretending to do something.