SNAKE

by Leal, Samantha

  Things were the same, but they were also different.

  She noticed new stores and bars that were scattered along the main drag. And she also noticed that a lot of the old places had closed down. So many of the stores she had been used to were now boarded up and closed, and she felt a sag of disappointment roll through her as she remembered them all as she passed.

  There was a bar she had never seen before, with its door open, and the low drum of jazz music drifted out onto the street. Its windows were dark, but she couldn’t help but be pulled toward it, and as she stepped into the doorway she was greeted by an older woman behind the counter. She was attractive and all big hair and tight clothes, and Sarah thought maybe she could have been around forty.

  “Hey, doll,” she grinned as she waved her inside. “Come on in, take a seat.”

  Sarah looked over her shoulder and back to Main Street. She hadn’t bargained on heading into a bar, or waiting around, but she guessed this was as good a place to meet Nicole as any. And at least she was trying somewhere new.

  She smiled and stepped inside, and the woman slammed a bar mat down on top of the counter and then opened up a menu.

  “I’m Faith,” she smiled.

  Sarah moved in cautiously and took a seat at the bar. The rest of the room was empty, and she was the only customer, but that wasn’t surprising considering it was only 11am.

  “Sarah,” she smiled. “Is this place new?”

  Faith smiled and shook her head.

  “I’ve been here over a year now,” she beamed. “However, I’m not sure how much longer my doors will be open.”

  She traced her fingertips down the menu and pointed to one of the virgin cocktails.

  “It’s a bit early for the strong stuff, unless that floats your boat,” she shrugged. “But if not, I can highly recommend this as a refreshing burst to start the day.”

  Sarah glanced over the ingredients, and it looked pretty complicated for a fruit juice. But she wasn’t going to turn it down.

  “Sure that looks great,” she smiled in agreement.

  Faith turned and started to put the mocktail together, and Sarah reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out her cellphone.

  “What’s this place called?” she asked.

  “Faith’s Bar,” she smiled. “If you’re meeting someone here and they’re from town, then they’ll know it from that.”

  Sarah nodded and started to write a text to Nicole.

  S: I’m waiting for you in Faith’s Bar! Want me to order you an elaborate mocktail in celebration? S x

  She hit send and then she looked back up to Faith, who was watching her and smiling.

  “Haven’t we met?” Faith asked curiously as she placed the lid on the cocktail shaker and started to jig it up and down.

  “I’m not sure…” Sarah faltered. “Have we?”

  Faith considered her for a moment and then she shrugged.

  “Maybe not, never mind,” she smiled. “I just thought you looked familiar.”

  “I haven’t been home in quite a long time,” Sarah admitted. “I’m a Slate Springs girl through and through, but I’ve been away at college for the past four years.”

  “Ahh, well maybe that explains it,” Faith smiled as she stopped shaking the metal cocktail holder and began to pour the refreshing mix of fruit juices into a fancy looking glass. “I must remember you from back in the day. I wouldn’t be surprised if I used to babysit you.”

  Sarah laughed and shrugged.

  “Maybe,” she said. “My parents live out on Cedar Hill.”

  Faith pulled a cherry from out of one of the glass jars in front of her and plopped it down into the mocktail.

  “I’m pretty sure I did,” she nodded. “You had an older brother, if I remember correctly?”

  “Ranger,” Sarah said with a roll of her eyes.

  “Of course,” Faith winked. “I know him well, he and his brothers in arms own this very building.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Sarah said ominously.

  She had only been back in town for a matter of hours, but already, it seemed as if she only existed there under the presence of her older brother. She was beginning to remember, more and more, why she had left, and had never planned on returning.

  Back in Slate Springs, she would always be in his shadow and under his rules.

  “Sarah!” Nicole’s voice rang out from behind her, and Sarah spun around on her stool to see her best friend standing there with the biggest grin on her face.

  She jumped to her feet and the two girls ran at each other with outstretched arms. They hugged and pulled each other close, and Sarah couldn’t believe it had only been a couple of months since they had last seen each other. It really did feel like a lifetime.

  “I am so happy to see you,” Nicole beamed as she held Sarah back at arm’s length and looked at her properly. “You look radiant! Clearly, finishing college and finally having some time to relax is agreeing with you.”

  “Oh well, you know,” Sarah half-laughed. “It’s good to finally have some time to myself.”

  “And now I’ve gone and demanded you come home,” she looked at her sympathetically. “I’m sorry for commandeering your time.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Sarah reassured her. “As if I wouldn’t be here for you, you’re my best friend. And you’re marrying my brother, for crying out loud! I can’t say there would be anything better to come home for.”

  Sarah still didn’t know if she was convinced or not when she told herself this, but the idea was beginning to sink in, and she decided that she had to have faith in it, and in their love.

  The girls moved away from the bar and from Faith’s open ears, and sat themselves down in one of the booths that lined the back of the room, as they sipped their mocktails, and started to catch up on all they had missed in each other’s lives.

  “I would say there’s a ton of prep to do, but the last thing I’m ever going to be is a Bridezilla,” Nicole said as she sipped her drink through a pink, curly straw.

  “Good,” Sarah smiled. “Because my tolerance level for stuff like that is pretty low, as you well know.”

  “We have a dress fitting at the end of this week and then that’s pretty much it,” Nicole said as she whipped out her diary and started to scour through the pages. “I want to keep things as simple and as stress free as possible.”

  This was all sounding very promising to Sarah. Maybe she would get some time to herself after all.

  “And where is the wedding?” she asked with eagerness.

  “Well,” Nicole began. “We really didn’t want to go all out… And in the end, we decided we would just do it our way. So we aren’t even inviting a whole lot of family or anything. We just want a simple ceremony out in the desert, and then back to a big, old tent out near the clubhouse for the reception.”

  Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Nicole had been brought up with a silver spoon in her mouth, and now she was about to get hitched out in the dusty desert amongst the snakes and the cacti, and then they were going back to a tent at The Forsaken Rider’s club-house? It was enough to make her head spin.

  “I’ve really embraced Ranger’s way of life,” Nicole confirmed. “There’s something just really raw and natural about it. I love it here, Sarah, I truly do.”

  Sarah smiled and could see the genuine happiness in her best friend’s eyes.

  “I’m so happy for you,” she said warmly. And she really did mean it.

  Sarah drained the rest of her glass, and then got to her feet.

  “Well, you can call on me anytime,” she smiled. “If you want a bachelorette party organized, then obviously, I’m your girl.”

  “No way,” Nicole winced. “I’m trying to stay away from anything like that. All I want is to marry the love of my life in a simple ceremony, the rest is all just background noise.”

  Sarah felt as if she were looking at a completely different person.

  “How’
s the design studio going?” she asked.

  When Nicole had left college, she had started her own business and from what Sarah had heard, all was going well.

  “Oh you know, up and down,” she smiled. “But for now, all is good!”

  “I’m glad,” Sarah grinned. “Everything is working out just like you wanted it to.”

  Nicole nodded and grinned.

  “Fancy meeting up tonight?” Nicole asked, as she too got to her feet and the girls put some money down on the table for Faith.

  “Sure,” Sarah smiled. “What do you have in mind?”

  They waved goodbye to Faith as they made their way to the main door and disappeared out of the darkened jazz club and back into the light.

  “Maybe tonight could be a kind of bachelorette party, but just you and me?” Nicole whispered. “I don’t want to invite loads of others, I don’t know anyone in town properly yet, and I know I wouldn’t enjoy it unless it was just us two.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Sarah grinned. “Where we going?”

  Nicole shrugged.

  “Somewhere we’re allowed,” she laughed. “At the moment, it seems as if the entire town is on lockdown.”

  “Not Tanners then,” Sarah said with a snort.

  “No, definitely not Tanners,” Nicole said with raised eyebrows. “I have no idea what is going on there, but Ranger has told me specifically to stay away.”

  Sarah nodded, she had figured this out too, and even though she wanted to know why, she also didn’t want to know.

  “The Bleeding Bullet,” Nicole said with a squeal. “I’ll tell Ranger we’re going and then he can’t get mad.”

  Sarah covered her eyes with her hands.

  “Are you insane?” she laughed. “They’re not going to let us go there.”

  “Of course they will,” Nicole grinned. “It’ll be perfectly safe there, it’s not on the highway, it’s in the depths of town surrounded by Forsaken Riders. I’m sure it’s the only place Ranger would be happy with us going.”

  Sarah wasn’t sure how much Nicole knew about whatever it was that was troubling the bikers, but she didn’t see how the two of them spending the evening in Slate Spring’s most notorious biker bar was going to put her brother at ease. He had been so worked up and annoyed at Sarah for just walking into Tanners. Surely, he would be even more angry at them for getting drunk and dancing the night away in the ultimate den of sin.

  “Are you sure?” Sarah asked nervously.

  Nicole nodded her head and linked her arm with Sarah’s.

  “I’m positive,” she grinned. “I’ll tell him and all with be well. Shall we meet down here at 7pm?”

  Nicole had a light behind her eyes now, and she seemed really happy and excited. It hadn’t been what Sarah had been expecting for her first full day back in town, but it seemed as if they had made plans to hit up a biker bar. Even after she had been warned off doing so.

  “Okay,” she grinned, completely unable to believe she was agreeing to it. “Let’s do it.”

  Nicole squealed a little with excitement and pulled Sarah in a for a hug before she gave her a peck on the cheek and began to move away.

  “I can’t wait!” she beamed as she started to make her way down Main Street. “I’ll see you here at 7?” she pointed to the opening of Faith’s bar, and Sarah nodded.

  Nicole called her goodbyes and Sarah watched as she moved off into the crowds, and then disappeared from view.

  What an odd turn of events.

  After the welcome back to town she had encountered with her brother and the illusive Snake, the last thing she had been expecting was to be heading back into the bikers’ midst anytime soon.

  But, she reasoned, she had returned home for Nicole. And Nicole wanted to do a mini bachelorette party, just the two of them, and at a place where she clearly felt safe and had assured Sarah that Ranger wouldn’t mind.

  “I’m not convinced,” Sarah whispered to herself as she turned and began to walk back in the direction of her family home. “But I guess we will see later tonight.”

  She laughed to herself and smiled as she started to walk home.

  It had been a funny few days, but she was already starting to enjoy being back. And now she found herself oddly excited about seeing what The Bleeding Bullet was all about.

  She had heard rumors of the place when she had been a girl growing up in Slate Springs. And it was the kind of bar that had become legendary, but she had never set foot inside it.

  It was where The Forsaken Riders did a lot of their trading, they owned it, they ran it, and they hung out there every night as both a social and a work spot.

  It was on the darker side of town.

  The wrong side of the tracks.

  And it wasn’t the kind of place good girls like Nicole or Sarah would ever find themselves by accident. So Sarah figured it was a good job her brother was a biker, and that if anything was to go down, he would be the first person to step in and protect her.

  She just hoped he wouldn’t mind.

  Snake… that asshole… he had been so sure of himself when he had stormed over to her the previous evening and declared that he had been sent to watch out for her. She wondered if her brother would be dumb enough to send him along tonight too once Nicole told him that’s where they intended on going.

  As the idea crossed her mind, she felt a little niggle deep in her belly, and she felt her skin flush hot.

  She’d been trying to deny how sexy she thought he was, but it was inevitable that, at some point, she would have to cave and admit it.

  Snake was hot.

  He may have been an asshole, but he was gorgeous.

  And now Sarah had a dilemma, because if he was there tonight in The Bleeding Bullet… She didn’t know how she was going to keep herself away.

  5.

  Sarah walked down Main Street and flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, as she passed by a store window and checked out her reflection.

  She had been nervous while she was getting ready, and as a result, she had found herself wearing an outfit that was completely out of her comfort zone. She had rifled through her closet, and found things she had long forgotten about. She couldn’t believe some of the miniskirts she had worn when she was younger. They were tiny and tight, and very revealing, but at least they still fit her. She had felt rather smug as she slipped into the small, black leather one she had worn to a party in high school. And was delighted as it even seemed a little bit looser than it had been back in the days when she would have worn it without fear of being too overdone.

  She looked at herself now in the frosted window of the closed down store she was standing in front of, and she was glad she had taken the risk. This was her best friend’s bachelorette after all.

  She looked at how long and lean her legs looked, she had managed to sculpt them perfectly after many hours of yoga, and she was finally beginning to see the brilliant results. She smiled at herself and was happy that she had decided to wear the short leather skirt; it flattered her in all the right ways, and coupled with her high heels, it made her look badass and as if she meant business. It was a complete change to how she usually dressed now that she was older and a lot wiser, but she thought, to hell with it. She was heading to a biker bar, and she was sending her best friend off into married life in style. Why shouldn’t she let her own hair down and enjoy herself too?

  She had coupled the skirt with a tight little black t-shirt, and she had volumized her hair and secured it in place behind one ear with a black clip to contrast against the gold of the blonde. She had done her eyeshadow dark, and she had painted her nails a deep, dark red.

  She looked vampy, and she felt as if it were kind of like an armor, setting her up for the battle that lay ahead.

  She had no idea what she was walking into, but she could only assume it would be as crazy as it had been in Tanners, if not more so.

  She clutched her purse to her side and carried on walking. Up ahead,
she could see the sandwich board out on the sidewalk that announced the location of Faith’s Bar, and she was relieved to see that Nicole had already arrived.

  “Hey!” she called ahead to her as she held up her hand and waved.

  “Here comes the bride!” Sarah laughed as she pointed at Nicole as they tottered toward each other and bumped into a hug.

  “I still can’t believe it when I hear statements like that,” Nicole grinned. “Now come on, let’s get ourselves a drink.”

  She looped her arm through Sarah’s and began to pull her away from Faith’s and down the street toward the intersection.

  “Are we going straight there?” Sarah asked, almost with alarm. There was a part of her that was hoping they would stop and have a drink to calm their nerves somewhere else first. But it didn’t appear that was on Nicole’s agenda.

  “I told Ranger we would be there not long after seven,” she said as she smiled across at Sarah. “He’s fine with us going, by the way.”

  Sarah felt a wave of relief. She had been somewhat worried that her brother may have been saving up another lecture for them when they arrived.

  “Oh, so he knows we’re on our way? That’s a relief,” she laughed.

  “Of course,” Nicole smiled. “Husband to be and all that.”

  Sarah found herself nodding.

  The girls tottered along on their heels and Sarah found herself beginning to get excited. She had heard so much about this bar, and yet she had never even seen it from the outside.

  She remembered her brother talking about it when he was younger, long before he was part of The Forsaken Riders, and long before he had gone off to join the military. He had looked on toward it with a kind of awe, and the way he had spoken about it to Sarah had made her view it in a kind of legendary light.

  She had heard stories of illicit love affairs, of late night drug deals, of lawless bikers fighting in the streets, and of how the cops had long decided to leave that part of town to their own devices. It was crazy to think it was all just normal for her brother now. That he had gone into that world, embraced it, and was now a fully fledged member of that kind of society.