by Ryder Dane
She walked over to the propane burner and turned it on, once it lit she glanced behind her and smiled at the man that was shaking his head no. She began to laugh, and told him, “Mr., you did me a favor and I’m going to do this part of the world a big favor too. I know I won’t be back here again so let’s just call this payback.” She turned the next burner on and stood back far enough to watch the flames. Then walked toward where John stood in the open doorway. “You might want to get a move on it, I got the oven on and the pilot light off, It’s gonna blow this place to hell, and take that poison shit with it.”
She grinned at him through her bloody split lips, lifted her hand to wave to him and did her best to run for the car.
John took a page from the white trash handbook and ran as fast as he could through the trees to get back to his scoot. His arms were tired and his thighs felt like rubber, but he got the Harley out of the trees in record time and he left the track at the same time the cabin blew. From the sound of the explosion, they must have had a large operation going there, but right now he was in no mood to be seen in the area. Hurting men was one thing, but destroying a money making operation was entirely a different thing.
He was going to have to put some miles between him and Arkansas tonight, or the Swamp Kings would have recourse. His hunt was over.
He was passing the state line when he saw the Olds getting on the highway behind him a half a mile or so back, and figured the woman must have stopped for fuel and was heading for the clubhouse. He would be at his house when she arrived, but he had to clean up before he showed up at the club. It was gonna take a hell of a lot of soap to wash the stink of the swamp from his body and clothes.
The first thing he did when he parked the bike was to hose as much mud and road film off it as he could. He left it in the carport and went inside to shower.
As the hot water sluiced down his chest, he thought of Stevie and his dick got hard. He was going to enjoy baring her ass and turning it red as a beet. He made a mental note to stop at the toy store Baron and Gunner owned up by the highway, and pick up a few things she might like.
Washing his hard prick led to the need to drain the damn thing and he groaned, imagining it was her mouth surrounding his flesh as he ran his dick through his fingers, spewing his cum through the soapy palm of his hand.
His cell was ringing as he stepped from the steamy bathroom, and listened to Hightits telling him to get his ass over there pronto.
The message was short and to the point. “Baron just left to meet you at the club, and that woman you called about earlier is here.”
*****
She drove most of the night to get here without attracting the cops, and was thankful that she made it before her right eye swelled shut like the left one had done less than an hour ago. The handsome young men at the gate had taken one look at her and waved her through even as he began punching numbers into a cell phone.
She had to wait in her car for another half an hour until another man rode his bike into the space next to her car. He looked at her and the backseat, and waited for her to speak.
“Mr. uh, the big guy with the dark hair and, I forgot to ask his name like a dummy, well he said to come here and look him up or a guy name of Baron.”
The handsome smiling man opened her car door. She knew he was looking at her wrists, and tried to bring them down to her sides.
He saw her bare legs and the marks on her wrists where the rope had cut in, but didn’t say anything. His hand slowly reached for hers, and she reluctantly gave it to him, allowing herself to be helped from the vehicle.
“Do you want to bring in a change of clothes, we have a room that you can take a shower and change into something warmer if you like. No one will disturb you and there’s a lock on the door if you want to use it.”
He kept staring at her and when she realized he was waiting for her to introduce herself, she nodded as well as her neck would allow and told him. “I’m pleased to meet you. I’m Tonda.”
“Well, Tonda, they call me Leech, let’s see if we can get you comfortable, and as soon as John gets here and sorts this all out, we can offer you some refreshment and some sort of breakfast while you wait.”
So now she was still in the room they’d been allowing her to use, and was afraid they might have forgotten her. That good looking bastard had told her they’d come get her once John got there, but it seemed to have been hours since he’d left her. She was startled when the knock on the door finally sounded, and called for the person to come in.
The rumors were fact. He was a big mother. Dark hair with tats running down his arms from neck to wrists, she knew for a fact those tats didn’t stop at his shoulders. They decorated his back and part of his chest too. She could see why Mel kept sayin’ that he and Willie didn’t have a hope in hell of taking this guy down. There was something attractive about him, but she was too fuckin’ tired to worry about that now.
“I’ve been waitin’ for long enough, Mr. Unless you already killed him, but I would know, I think, if he was dead. I’m tired, and I need to see Donnie this last time before he goes home. Mr., I’m begging you for this one favor, and we’ll be outta your way.”
The woman was beaten to hell and bruised until both of her eyes were almost swollen completely shut, but she had come for her man. She knew no club would allow a rat to stay within the group, but she’d braved shunning to save the Swamp Rat.
Leech told him it looked like she had everything she owned in the backseat of her car, and when John found Candle at the shack, he saw the garbage bags and cardboard boxes for himself. He made a decision and nodded at Leech who was right behind him.
Leech and Burger would move her shit out of the vehicle to the room here, and she could have time to heal or decide to stay. The choice would be hers, the woman had heart, and she had courage. Both were qualities the men admired. Donnie Lee Dean was a dumb bastard who had no idea what he would be throwing away when he left here without her.
“You did the right thing, I know it probably doesn’t seem like it, but looking at you right now, you must know that you saved more women from that fucker. You’re brave, and if that little fucker doesn’t appreciate you, then it’s his loss. This room is yours for as long as you need it, and from what I can see, it’s gonna take at least a week before you will be able to see again, so you’re in a good place to rest and heal.”
“I’ll bring the Swamp Rat to you, he can take your car back to where he came from, and we’ll call it even. You don’t have to go back and catch a bunch of shit.”
He turned and left the room.
Donnie Lee was lying on his back thinking about home. When he became the prez, he was gonna make the Swamp Kings into a group that was respected by other bikers. He knew the Breed were some evil mothers, but they hadn’t touched him. The other two men still screamed in the middle of the night, but even their cries had slowed down to once or twice a night.
The door opened and that cold fucker walked into his cell. The dark-haired son-of-a-bitch was with him.
It was the big fucker who reached down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulled him to his feet, and slammed him against the wall. It didn’t hurt much, the only damage he felt was done to his pride, but Leech grabbed his ankles and snapped the shackles on. The leash was removed, but they still hadn’t said anything, and that worried him a bit. Had they gotten tired of waiting? Was it his turn to suffer like his brothers in the other cells? A bag was placed over his head, and he tried to struggle, but the two men let him wear himself out before one of them pulled him down a long hallway and up some stairs.
He was so confused that nothing made sense. He had been led outside, and then inside another building, until his captor stopped. The hood was taken from his head, and the shackles released from his legs. The last thing to be removed was the cuffs, but no one made a move to release his hands.
John enjoyed the fear he saw on the younger man’s face, but he worried about the girl in the room in
front of them.
“You are one lucky son-of-a-bitch, someone is about to learn what an ungrateful fuck Pappy D raised, but you don’t deserve loyalty and the courage I saw today. I doubt if she’ll think you’re worth the sacrifice when you come out of the room.”
The door was opened, and he was shoved into the room. The door shut behind him, and before he could wonder what the fucker was talking about, he saw Tonda sitting on a small bed in the corner of the room. He had to look closer to be sure it was her. Seeing the way she’d been beat on enraged him.
“Who the fuck did that?” She whimpered and made a sobbing noise, before moving as if she was in pain to stand next to the bed. She held out her hand and he knew, she was here for more than just to say hello. “What did you do, Tonda? Tell me you didn’t find a way to bring Candle here, tell me you didn’t betray the Kings.”
She was crying and trying to talk. Nothing came out of her throat, so she swallowed again. “Candle did this to me, and I was worried about you. Donnie Lee, I had to try to help you, don’t you see that? They said the Breed snatched you right off the side of the road. With all of the damage this guy did to the other men, I worried that he’d kill you. I know how bad your temper can get.”
She sat back down when Donnie didn’t approach her, she took a deep breath and told him of her plan. “Things didn’t go like I planned, he was so fucked up on that poison shit, he went wild on me. If someone hadn’t helped me, I’d be dead by now, and he’d be feedin’ my ass to those gators.”
She hung her head, tired of talking, just bone weary of the whole damn subject. “Donnie Lee, I’ve loved you since you picked me up off the ground when I was in high school. I know I was always a charity case for you. After school, I was just another whore you brought to the club to play your games with.”
She leaned back against the wall behind her. Talked out. She knew he’d be like this when she planned to abduct Candle and exchange him for Donnie. Somewhere in the back of her mind, yeah, buried deep, but somewhere, she pictured them being together forever. It was what kept her bending over and allowing herself to be used by anyone who wanted her, Donnie wanted her to and so she did.
He almost shit his pants when he saw her sitting on that bed, and he knew then and there she was the reason he was free from his cell. She had to know she couldn’t go back to the group with him, and damned her, it wasn’t her place to be rescuing him. He could understand why she did it, she was a woman and a split tail didn’t live by the biker code like men of honor did.
“Do you think I’m gonna thank you for this? You broke the rules, and you got your ass handed to you. There’s a reason we men don’t allow no women in the group, they got no morals or loyalty. Did you think I would take you back and pretend that you aren’t a damn snake? You say you love me, well this ain’t the way to prove it, and now you damn sure won’t get a second chance you stupid whore.”
He walked up to her and looked down at the pathetic mess Candle had turned her into. “I sure hope you think losing everything we gave you was worth it.”
Her head came up and she looked at him through the slits of her eyes. “Was it worth it? I thought your life was worth any sacrifice.” Her head was too heavy to hold up any longer, and she allowed it to dip back down, feeling the tears drop onto her hands. “Just go, Donnie Lee. Go home and forget about me. You’ll find some other whore to play with soon enough. Just go please, just take the car, and leave.”
Donnie went to the door and was surprised to find it opened when he turned the knob. He looked back at Tonda and shook his head, hating to leave her here, but knowing he couldn’t take her home with him. She betrayed him and every member of the Kings, now she had to live with the consequences, just as he had to live with knowing she wouldn’t be coming back and why.
Chapter Eleven
Stevie’s Roots
Thor’s Legion was one of the most feared MC groups in the country. They were blatant, brash, and outright outrageous. Citizens in the community loved it there, the town was slowly getting bigger, but the population was gaining numbers almost daily. The Legion established its influence long ago, and the last burglary was over ten years old. No one with a brain in their head came into Wescott, Alabama, with breaking the law on their agenda. It would be a revelation for outsiders to know that the hundred or so bikers that lived in the small township actually kept the riff raff out. The Legion didn’t piss in their own backyard, and weren’t about to allow anyone else to take a shit in it.
That’s not to say they didn’t raise a little hell away from home. If other communities couldn’t keep their own places protected, it wasn’t the Legion’s place to moralize for them. Life as a Thor’s Legion MC member put them as elite in the few 1% groups, and they enjoyed the benefits.
There were smaller chapters scattered throughout the Southern states, and a few scattered throughout the mid-west, Wescott was the mother chapter.
At times, the Feds decided to target them to investigate. To be fair, there were times the Feds would ask a favor or two in exchange for information or a less than legal activity that needed doing, but the chicken shits were too bound by politics to take care of it themselves. The special favor was never mentioned again, but money, goods, or charges against one or more of the Legion were dropped for lack of evidence.
Such was the case of Rolf and June Bug James. They’d been sentenced to seven years each, but served only three of those years, and instead of parole, they got community service. Unfortunately, by the time anyone had thought about the couple’s children being left to fend for themselves, the state had snagged Stevie, and Harry disappeared off the radar.
It was a bitter crack in the family structure of the chapter, and June Bug hadn’t given up finding her kids. Something bad had to have happened for Harry not to come back to the club, and the county had no explanation for Stevie’s disappearance. The foster family had left the state under a cloud of suspicion, especially given the evidence of a familial relationship with a top Federal investigator who had an overt hard-on for arresting bikers, who worked in the gangs division.
Rolf James distained the notions that some people chose to believe. The rumors were just that and he had no problem laughing at the more outrageous of the bunch. He was sitting at the end of the bar listening to the three punks behind him at the table in the corner discussing him. June Bug was working the beer flippers drawing buckets and drafts for the thirsty patrons. He laughed out loud upon hearing one of the few truthful exploits he was actually guilty of doing, and June turned to see what amused him. He indicated the table behind him with his thumb, and she shook her head at him with a smile.
“Man, did you ever see the video of the big motherfucker tossing that Fed bastard through a plate glass window? He took six of those sons-a-bitches on and knocked them all on their asses, sent them to the hospital, and one dumbass stumbled over his buddy and landed on a chair leg, bloody fuckin mess.
“Ol’ Rolf, there he stood in the middle of the room like a berserker or some shit. They shot him three times, blood was drippin’ all over the fuckin’ place and there he was, roaring like a goddamned grizzly with that Fed hanging over his head before he threw him. Fuckin’ impressive.”
Another voice chimed in and Rolf stopped laughing.
“They grabbed his daughter and sent her inside to talk him down. She got through to him by tossing a pitcher of beer over his head. By the way, I don’t recommend anyone else try that on him, he’d probably hurt you bad.”
The shouted enthusiastic approval made Rolf smile, but the last voice was a female’s voice who teased the back of his mind. His beer was halfway to his lips when it hit him. The beer glass bounced on the bar as his attention turned toward the spot he heard the voice coming from.
There, her back was facing him, and he could see her hair was still worn long. The blond strands at the end of the hair wrap were unmistakable in color. He walked up behind her within touching distance and continued the story while the thr
ee young tuffs watched open-mouthed when the girl turned around crying, “Daddy,” while the huge man grabbed her and pulled her tight into his arms, tears ran down his bearded cheeks unashamedly.
“That girl was the only thing that saved those cum stains from the slab, they never should have threatened my family.”
The ear splitting scream and breaking glass broke the sudden silence caused by the open display of emotion from the arguably meanest fucker in the group. June Bug ran up to the two and was pulled into their embrace.
Clapping and cheers began from the table back by the jukebox, and seemed to roll over the room as they stood together in the middle of the aisle.
The younger people didn’t know what they were witnessing, but the elders did, and it was cause for celebration. History was again being made by the James family. After all, how many times did the presumed dead rise and walk through your door?
Stevie Ray James was home.
The small family separated when Jonah and Bull came in the front door and started yelling for a beer. Jonah didn’t have time to duck the pitcher of beer that came sailing through the air toward him, hitting him squarely upside his head.
Rolf hadn’t even thought about it, when the fucker came in like that and disrupted the moment with Stevie, he’d reached down on the table closest to him and heaved the pitcher before he even realized he’d done it.
“You got your fuckin’ beer, asswipe, shut up and sit ya ass down or leave the way you came in.”
Stevie was laughing through her tears, and June Bug held tight to his arm to keep him from further disturbing their reunion with their daughter. He shook his head and shrugged. He apologized to no one, that fuck got what he deserved.
“You got some talkin’ to do, girlie, but it can wait for now.” He looked at June Bug through his own watery eyes, “Ain’t that right, momma?”