by Tia Siren
Then the familiar rumble of a motorcycle gang filled the canyon. I sense of dread befell me; if it was the person I thought it was, then I had no idea what I’d say to him. I pulled my cycle off the road and clicked her off.
From the bend in the road, a band of motorcycles filed out. I didn’t recognize any of them, which left me with a feeling of relief. But the guys still made eyes at me as they rode by.
I was used to it. I’d had a lot of guys fight over me in the past. But none had been as strong as Buck. I once saw him beat up three guys at the same time just for looking at me. He knew how to impress a woman.
There was a time when I would have done anything for that man, but he could never see me as his one and only. I’d always catch him with another girl, and he never understood why I thought it was such a big deal. If he wanted me to be his, then he needed to be mine.
Two of the bikers from the gang pulled off, and I knew what was coming.
“Hey there,” said the taller of the two who stopped.
“Howdy,” I replied.
“Who do you ride with?” he asked.
“I’m with Buck and his boys,” I replied.
The two of them looked at each other in a sort of horrified way.
“Pleasure meeting you,” they said as they turned and zoomed back to their motorcycles waiting nearby.
I laughed; Buck’s reputation was still just as serious now as it had been before. He had a bad temper and a lousy habit of letting everyone know.
Despite all his faults, I still wanted to see him. I somehow felt that he deserved to know I was back in town. Not a single member of his crew would come through without at least paying homage to the leader. I felt no different.
I slung myself back into the saddle and kicked the old girl back on. I tore down the road and toward the old bar that had raised me; it wasn’t very far from where I was.
The Whiplash Tavern was a sort of landmark in these parts. The sign outside was well past any state of repair. The front of the bar was full of motorcycles of all shapes, sizes, and colors. The signs in the windows hummed their neon tune as I eased my cycle into an empty place.
Before I could finish pulling in, I heard a loud crash echo from inside the bar, then what sounded like glass breaking, followed by the sound of a gunshot.
Then I saw Buck, sauntering out the front door with another man, who he held by his collar and belt.
“You take your shit and stay out of my town,” shouted Buck in his grizzly tone.
He threw the man to the ground as though he were a sack of flour.
“You’ll regret this,” said the man on the ground.
“I get told that a lot,” said Buck, “but I’m still waiting.”
The young pup picked himself up from the ground and sprinted to a nearby motorcycle. Another man, about his same size, ran out of the tavern and joined him. They looked like they were in a hurry.
Then Buck turned to me. It was the first time I’d seen him in five years, and it looked like he hadn’t aged a day. He was still the barrel-chested and grizzled man I’d known since I was a girl. He towered over nearly every other man I knew, and when he wasn’t the tallest, he was still usually the biggest. His cropped and disheveled beard was starting to show slight signs of gray, giving him a distinguished look, and his tattooed arms still looked just as strong as the first day I met him, maybe even a little bigger than before.
He clenched his jaw and let out a grunt before disappearing back inside. SO maybe he wasn’t excited to see me, and that made me a little nervous.
I entered quietly, but I recognized everyone, and they all recognized me. A loud cheer echoed throughout the small establishment, and I waved a meek hello.
“Thought that was your bike comin’ down the road,” Buck said as he walked back behind the bar.
“I’m amazed you can always tell,” I said.
“I damn near built that bike myself,” he replied. “I know my own work.”
He shoved a beer in my direction. I took it and sipped anxiously.
“What brought you back to town?” he asked.
I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye, so I just stared into my drink.
“My momma’s sick,” I said.
He stayed silent and washed a glass with his dishrag. He wasn’t one for words.
“I’ll be here a couple of months till she either gets better or dies,” I said, “and I don’t know which one would be better.”
“That old hag won’t die,” Buck said. “Paul knew how to pick his women, and he picked a good one.”
Paul was my dad’s name; he used to run the gang here. Buck had always been his second, and when Dad finally kicked the bucket, all his assets went straight to Buck: the bar, his bike, and, to some extent, me.
“Whatever happens, I just don’t want to be here too long. I got a new life to get back to.”
Buck slammed the glass he was cleaning on the counter so hard that it shattered.
“Why the hell you gotta go sayin’ stuff like that? You just got back, and you’re already fixin’ to leave.”
“I’m not fixin’ to leave nowhere yet. But my eye is always on the door,” I replied.
“I’ll never get what made you take off the first time.”
“The train of girls that was always walkin’ out of your bedroom would be a good place to look.”
“I quit all that, and you know it,” he said.
“I never saw any of that.”
“Well, maybe if you stuck around like you were supposed to, you would’ve seen it.”
I turned to look him in the eye. He still had that soulful glare; I could never tell if he was getting ready to break something or kiss me, but sometimes I was sure it was both.
“I’m here now, Buck.”
He started sweeping the shards of glass from the bar with his hand.
“That’s right, you are,” he said.
The men around the bar seemed entranced by our conversation, but as I looked around at them, they all did their best to return to their normal conversations.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
He leaned over the bar, which cracked and groaned under his weight, and whispered in my ear.
“Now that you’re here, I’m going to make you remember why it was so hard to leave. You always get me hard when you walk into the bar in those tight jeans.”
I wanted to have him, but I knew if I did, I would regret it for the rest of my life. I needed to keep that part of my past closed. His boyish charm was the hardest to resist.
I leaned over and whispered a reply in his ear.
“I can’t do it, Buck. I can’t go back to that life.”
He stood back up only to lean on the back bar. I made the mistake of letting my real feelings show in my eyes, and he knew it. I’d always had large, expressive eyes, which were both a blessing and a curse. Buck told me once that he could tell what was on my mind by what showed through my eyes. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew it to be true.
“What the hell, Tara,” he said in frustration.
“I know what I want, and I know what I need,” I said. “You’re what I want, but not what I need.”
He snapped his fingers to a couple of guys in the back of the bar, and the two of them hopped right up.
“I’m goin’ for a ride, and this time I’m ridin’ solo. You’ll come around, but I can’t be here waitin’ for you till you do.”
He stomped his way out of the bar, and my eyes followed him. Buck climbed onto the largest bike outside, beautiful and black glossed. The bike was still covered in scratches and dings from road wear and tear, though. It roared to life, a deafening rumble that shook my glass, and he pulled away.
“You probably shouldn’t have made him angry,” said one of the guys behind the bar.
“He’ll go off and do something stupid like he always does. Except this time I hope it doesn’t get anyone killed in the process,” said the other biker.
“I’m leavin’ my number. If he does something stupid, you make sure to call me.” I polished off my beer and tossed some cash onto the counter.
I had a feeling things were about to get a lot worse.
2.
I wondered how long I would have to wait before getting a call. It was nearly one in the morning when the phone rang.
“Hello?” I said, fighting away sleep.
“Tara, you better get down here quick. It’s not good,” said one of the bikers from earlier.
“I’m on my way,” I replied.
I threw on my clothes from earlier in the day and hopped back on my bike. I walked a couple of blocks down the road so that I wouldn’t wake up my momma when I started the bike.
I was reminded again of when I used to have to sneak out of the house late at night for just this same reason. Buck was more than just a trouble maker; he was a trouble magnet. I couldn’t remember a day when he didn’t go off and do something stupid.
I rode swiftly along the road, taking in the night breeze. The crisp air stung my lungs, and I loved every second. The moon illuminated the road with its faint blue hue.
When I pulled up to the bar, I saw that everyone was there already. I was the last to arrive.
There was a lot of shouting, and I couldn’t make out one bit of it. Things quieted down a little when people noticed me walking in. Buck was sitting at the bar in the center of the commotion.
“This ain’t that bad. Don’t make such a fuss about it,” shouted Buck. His clothes were more disheveled than usual, and I knew what the meant.
“Who the hell did you sleep with now?” I asked sharply.
“What the hell do you care?” he replied.
“I care cause they care. I wouldn’t expect them to wake my ass up unless this was something important,” I said.
Buck look around the group, and a few of them shied away from his gaze.
“He slept with Gracie,” said one of the bikers.
I cocked an eyebrow.
“Who the hell is Gracie?” I asked.
“She’s Connor’s sister,” replied Buck.
“None of this is making sense. Could you just explain it, Buck?” I asked.
Buck crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair.
“If you really gotta know, then I’ll tell you. Take a seat over here.”
A chair near the bar opened up, and I took a seat. Buck loomed over me like a statue while he continued his explanation.
“There’s another crew in town. They’re big, bigger than this gang, and just as mean. I met up with their leader a while back, guy by the name of Connor.
“His sister kept makin’ eyes at me, even called me in the bar from time to time. I knew she was trouble, and I might do stupid things, but I’m not stupid.
“Then you had to show up.” Buck stopped and took a swig of his beer and lit another cigarette.
“I was ridin’ about five miles out of town and I come across Gracie. She’s lookin’ good, so I pulled up alongside her. She just goes and smiles at me.”
“How the hell am I involved in all this?” I asked. “I just showed up this morning.”
Buck slammed his drink back on the bar.
“You always knew how to make me go crazy, Tara. When you wasn’t interested in shacking up earlier, I was pissed off. Figured I could use a little tail to take my mind off it all. It just so happened that the first tail I found was Gracie’s,” he added.
“So I got you hard, and she got you off,” I said matter-of-factly.
“That’s why this is your fault. You’re supposed to keep me from making stupid mistakes like this, but you just up and left like always. It seems to be the only thing you’re good at,” he said.
“I care about you, Buck, but I really don’t care about your love life anymore. I don’t even see what the big deal is anyway. You slept with some dumb biker bitch. Who cares?”
“Connor cares, and he’s the type of guy who backs up his threats. There’s a good chance he’ll start comin’ after someone in the gang. Might even be you.”
I sighed. I wanted to hit him for putting me in this situation, but I had a feeling he was in a mood to hit back.
“What are you goin’ to do?” I asked.
“Nothin’, I guess,” he said.
Most the guys in the club looked around, a little confused.
“The way I see it is, he doesn’t know. The only way he’ll find out is if his sister tells him what happened. She might be dumb, but she’s not an idiot either. I’m sure she doesn’t want to see a bunch of guys beating the shit out of each other.”
He might be right, but I still had a bad feeling about the entire situation. If Gracie was that crazy about Buck, then she might do something rash.
“I’m headin’ home for the night. I can’t deal with this right now,” I said.
The door slammed open. Two bikers were making their way inside. One of them was bloodied and beaten, and the other was so bruised that he couldn’t hold himself up at all.
“Connor’s gang, they just attacked us on the road,” said the conscious one. “They told me to give you a message.”
“What is it?” Buck asked.
“They said, ‘don’t mess with things that aren’t yours.’”
Buck polished off his cigarette and stamped it out on the table before lighting another one. I hadn’t known Buck to chain smoke except for times when he was incredibly upset.
He stood up and loomed over the crowd. His rage was palpable, but after a glance from me, he seemed to calm down a little.
“Connor needs to pay for this. I say we ride out and beat the ever-living snot out of every single one of ’em.”
Buck reached behind the counter and pulled out a familiar shotgun.
“Buck, wait,” I said, running over to him and throwing my arms around him to try to make him stop for even a moment.
“Wait for what? He didn’t wait to start attacking us,” he said.
“Buck, you started this. You slept with the guy’s sister. Will you at least talk to the guy first, before bullets start flying?”
He grunted and let out a puff of smoke.
“Fine,” he said. “But I’m taking my shotgun with me.”
3.
I rode with Buck for the first time in a long time. It was another thing I had missed about living here. The drive was long, but I didn’t mind. I got the chance to hold on to the man I had loved for a long time.
I wanted to have him pull off the road and have his way with me like he used to, but it wasn’t the time or place for such flights of fancy. The vibration of the motorbike hit me in just the right places, and I could feel myself grinding my hips into the bike.
I thought Buck noticed, but he didn’t do anything to prove it. He just gripped the chopper’s handlebars and carved out a path to the rival gang’s hideout.
It was probably near an hour-long ride. I didn’t mind the time; I enjoyed being driven again.
The tavern we pulled up to was in much better shape than the one Buck owned. The neon sign stood prominently by the road, inviting us inside.
As we turned into the lot, we were met by several members of the rival gang. All of them brandished a weapon of some kind, and I felt helplessly unprepared. Buck seemed unfazed by all of it as he parked in the middle of the entryway.
“Which way is that prick, Connor?” he asked.
A few of their number seemed to be preparing to attack, but a shout echoed out from the tavern.
“I’m in here,” he shouted.
The two of us pressed onward. I stayed close enough to Buck that I could smell him, which really wasn’t that close, if I was being honest. I wrapped my arm around his.
The inside of the bar was quite nice. The tables were mostly new, the bar was decently lit, and they even had a pool table in the back that didn’t appear to be missing any balls.
“You beat up two of my boys,” Buck said.
“And you
fucked my sister,” Connor replied.
“Yeah, but she wanted it,” Buck barked out.
“I didn’t,” Connor said.
“And what does that matter to me?” Buck asked.
“It should mean everything. I have enough guys here to wipe your small club off the map.”
Buck laughed. “But you wouldn’t all make it back.”
A girl walked in and sat next to Connor. I could only assume it was Gracie. She was a petite thing, and I was surprised Buck hadn’t broken her in half when they’d slept together.
I wondered if that was what Buck preferred now, petite women. He had always seemed more interested in full-bodied women when we were together. Not that I would consider myself very busty in any way, but I still had curves. More guys liked me for my long, taught legs, though, and even I thought they were my best feature.
“You Gracie?” I asked the girl.
“That’s my name. Now what does an old worn-out hag like you want with me?” she asked spitefully.
I wanted to break her, and Buck could tell. He threw an arm in front of me and shook his head no. I understood what that meant right away, and Buck always made good on his threats.
“I’m glad I got to see the little slut Buck spent the night with,” I said. “Now I know what a broken condom looks like.”
Gracie went red in the face and dang near leaped from her seat to strangle me. She would have if Connor hadn’t held her down.
Connor and Buck just seemed to share a laugh, watching us girls duke it out. It probably did well to diffuse whatever animosity was between the two men. Still, the more I looked at Gracie, the more I could see the man Buck was. It was as though I were staring at every woman Buck had ever slept with while we were an item. It only served to make me fume.
“Tara, get your ass outside. This is between me an’ Connor. I don’t wanna listen to a shouting match between two bitch seats.”
I exhaled, trying to rid my lungs of the fire that was building. I knew Buck was right. Taking his advice, I marched out of the bar and took a seat on his bike.
I was interested in hearing what was going on, but a nagging feeling in the back of my head told me Buck wouldn’t like knowing he was being spied on. I shuffled nervously in my seat while the rest of Connor’s gang eyed me like a pack of ravenous wolves.