by Ryder Dane
The D.A.’s attorney stated the dry facts of the case and sat her happy little ass back down. The suspect’s attorney wasn’t any help to his client. More than likely the kid never saw him before an hour ago. This kind of thing made the court system look bad, and she almost hated her job at the moment. When she lifted her fingers to both attorneys indicating them to follow her into her chambers, the kid looked nervous. Good, let him stew for a while, she had things to talk to the lawyers about.
She took her time addressing the two people in front of her. What she said caused the lawyer from the D.A.’s office to set her jaw and narrow her eyes.
“What in the hell do you call this, Ms. Sullivan? No witness statements, no addresses of the alleged vandalism, nothing, you bring me a big nothing with the signature of a dead man who cannot be questioned now. I certainly hope that this is not an indication of your performance as a prosecutor. If you went to law school and learned anything, you might have learned the term ‘Lack of Evidence’.”
She turned her ire on the defense attorney next. “Give me one reason that I shouldn’t advise your client to sue you for failure to perform. I’ve had less than ten minutes to look over the file, and you’ve had how many weeks to punch holes in the cartoon case?
“I am going back into that courtroom and I am going to propose the young man enters into a mentor project that I am organizing. Do not misunderstand me, I refuse to sentence him on the current charges, those will be dismissed, and I will entertain the idea of him being a public menace.
“If the two of you ever decide to bring something like this to my courtroom again, I will make you very sorry. You bring evidence, or do not let me see you again. You,” she pointed her finger at the chastised defense attorney, “I defended innocent people as a younger attorney. I never went into the court without speaking to my client at least twice. I also never allowed a client to be railroaded like you have done with this young man.”
Now that she’d thought of the perfect way to deal with some of the juvenile and very young adult offenders, she figured that she had better hold up her end. She had to find mentors and apprenticeships for the young people to report to, or they would be back on the streets and getting into even more serious trouble with the police.
After court was over, she headed to the Bastard’s clubhouse. Several of the members owned and operated businesses and she hoped to get some volunteers for her pilot program. Hopefully there would be a few of them there this evening.
Tiny smiled at her when she walked in, but most of the men sitting around or playing pool glanced her way to see who had come in, and then ignored her. She knew that they didn’t trust her, but she wasn’t about to let that deter her. This was important and it would go a long way to bridging community relations.
“Hi, Tiny, I hoped to catch Big Dog if he has time to speak to me?”
Tiny handed her a longneck and nodded to the man at the end of the bar. “Sure thing, Selma, Blue will see if Big D has time to chat with the judge wontcha Blue?” The biker walked toward the back of the building where the office was.
“So what’s new? Have you heard from that old fucker lately? He came in here a day or two ago and had words with Demon and Knight, and he didn’t stop by me to talk. All he did was wave like a beauty queen when he walked by me.”
She laughed at the description of Charlie in a focused mood. “I haven’t seen or heard a word from him, but he’s only been gone for a couple of days. He promised to keep in touch, so I expect I’ll hear from him tomorrow sometime.”
Blue came back and waved at her to follow him to where Big D was. She waved at Tiny with the beauty queen gesture and made the big man laugh as she passed the length of the bar.
She noticed the hostility right away and wondered what happened to renew his case of mad at her. She had antagonized him at one time, and the man appeared to not be the forgiving type. As Charlie would say, fuck it, all he can do is say no. She decided to go for broke.
“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, I have several things to discuss, but I want you to know that I received the paperwork for the dismissal of charges on Pressley, the charges are dropped and since the sheriff is no longer with us, there was no reason to continue with the charade.” Big Dog nodded but sat back in his seat with his hands folded across his ribs.
“Second, I have decided to try to get a mentoring program up and running for some of the “at risk” young people in the community. I know that several of the club’s members are business owners and might be persuaded to take on a kid that needs more help than their parents can provide. Would you ask the membership if they would be so kind as to take on a volunteer spot to teach these kids how to keep themselves out of trouble?”
The big man began to laugh, and once he pulled himself together, he looked right at her with disgust. “Lady, you and those like you always try to find a way to fuck with lowlifes like us. Suppose we took these dregs of society kids on and they still fuck up. We both know that the club and brothers would catch the shit from that too. You’d say we were teaching the little saints to turn to a life of crime, but then, what can you expect from biker scum.” He shook his head and sat up straight in his chair.
“My answer to you is fuck you and whoever else is backing your scheme. Get some of your high class fucks to give the little pukes a job. You’ve made it obvious in your feelings about the Bastards, and there isn’t a man here who would help you cross the road if it weren’t for the love and respect we all have for Charlie.”
She had heard enough. “How dare you talk to me that way. You don’t know me, your prejudice against the law is choking you and blinding you to the fact that laws are needed and people are needed to enforce those laws. My plan is to get some of these kids into apprenticeships to keep them off the street and give them a direction. Most of the men I’ve met here appear to be good men with stable work and thriving businesses.
“I am sick of seeing these kids turning to crime to keep them busy and occupied while parents are too busy or too downtrodden to care what their kids are up to. I had a young tough guy in my courtroom today that had nothing but contempt for his parents, his lawyer, and the court too. He has some impressive tattoos that you could tell he’d done himself. Do you know the first thing that popped into my mind? I thought about Freakshow and the beautiful tats that I have seen him do. That is what gave me the idea for mentors.
“By the way, what makes you think I consider you lowlifes? For God’s sake, Charlie is one of you and I sleep with him. I have never said a word against your organization since Charlie brought me into the fold and I am baffled by your accusations.”
“Lady, I think it’s time you left. You haven’t earned the right to speak or speculate about this club or its members. We all know the only reason you stepped in for Pressley was to keep Charlie from going ape shit on your fuckwad sheriff.
“Although it would be interesting to see you sitting on your throne judging him in court now, wouldn’t it. That’s something you will have to think about too. Cops love nothing better than to harass bikers, they will lie, trump up charges, and do their damndest to pin any crime on a biker. What’s gonna’ happen when one of us goes to jail and then we are brought in front of you? Charlie turned in his colors to keep you from having to worry about whether you would sentence one of us to prison or worse.”
He pointed his finger at her and his voice steadily rose until the last words were nothing less than a shout. “You’re the reason he quit, and for that, lady, I hope you rot in hell for taking his family and his freedom. Now, you selfish bitch, get out of here before I toss you out on your skinny ass.”
Selma was stunned, she’d never asked Charlie to give up the close knit family unit that he had with the Bastards. She never wanted him to have to choose between her and the group of men that were closer than brothers. She tossed her hands in the air, and let them flop into her lap. Standing up, she continued to face the man that Charlie spoke of with such affection.
“I never asked him to leave the Bastards, I never wanted to put him in the position that you are describing, and I never look down on people. For your information, and not that I consider it any of your business, but I was raised in juvie and foster homes. My parents were the lowlife dregs you are harping about and the last time I saw them, they were headed to prison and I was headed to juvenile detention. I act like a lady by choice, not because I want to lord it over other people. And Mr. Smartassed-Fucker, I do make a difference in people’s lives. So I’m not versed in biker regulations, I am human. You cut me I bleed, you piss me off and I get mad, you fuck with my man and I’ll be the one doing the cutting. Ignore his resignation, he will be back.”
She turned to walk to the door, but turned with her hand on the doorknob. “All you had to do was to pick up the phone and talk to me. We could have avoided this conversation and gotten everything taken care of in a friendly manner. I might be going to hell, but when you die, just remember, I’ll volunteer to drive the bus to pick you up and I guarantee it will be an interesting trip.”
She turned the knob and walked out of the door, quietly shutting it behind her. She looked up and saw the hallway was packed and had to shake her head. She shrugged her shoulders and tried to smile. “He’s still breathing, his face is red, and steam is blowing out of his ears, but he’s alive.”
The crowd backed out of the small area and she walked out of the building with her head held high. She’d be damned if she would let any of them see her break down and cry.
Chapter Twelve
Charlie was headed home. He’d gone to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. and read every name on the wall. A bare handful were familiar to him, and he took the time to remember and at times speak to the person who had given his life for his country. By the time he walked out of the memorial, he finally felt the heaviness in his heart lighten. His name should have been on that wall. By the grace of God and the survival skills he used at the time, he’d been spared.
He hadn’t been the only veteran that held a one-sided conversation with the dead, and somehow it helped him understand that feeling of guilt for being alive when more deserving men had died. He talked with a few of the old guys, and wiped unashamed tears from his own face, seeing that some were in wheelchairs, some with missing limbs, and even one young man in an Army uniform was there to visit with his grandfather’s shadow. The kid was headed for Afghanistan the next day and Charlie sent up a prayer for God to carry this boy through until it was time for him to come home, and make a family that his grandfather could watch over and be proud to see his legacy carry on.
His stomach had been bothering him for a week before he stopped in at a clinic in Pennsylvania, and they gave him some chalky shit to coat his stomach, thinking that he must be developing an ulcer. It was a bitch pulling over every day to puke his guts up on the side of the road, but he always ate a hearty meal around two in the afternoon and something light for dinner.
Selma would have a fit if he came home with some serious illness, just thinking about her pampering him made him smile and groan at the same time. She had a way about her that gave him comfort and happiness. He missed the brothers, but after his month and a half trip down memory lane, he was ready to settle into a new life and maybe find something to keep himself occupied with in his free time.
The Indian broke down in southern Ohio, and it took a few days to find the parts to fix the old bike, but eventually he’d gotten it repaired and was back on the road that same hour. Now he was an hour out of town and he slowed his speed. He knew in his heart that he’d done the right thing, but even with the peace he’d achieved during his mental health ride, his only regret would be the loss of the Bastards.
Selma’s car was in the driveway when he turned onto their road. She must have had the day off. It didn’t happen often, but he knew he had to face her, needed to talk about his ride and hope she wasn’t too mad at him for being absent. He parked his sled next to her car and entered the house with his key.
She wasn’t there, the place was empty once he searched it looking for her. Well so much for his dramatic entrance. He dropped his kit on the bedroom floor by the closet and headed for the shower.
Selma was at the hospital planning to visit Pressley after the tech finished sucking the blood from her arm through a huge needle. She watched the little tube fill with her blood and absently thought it was interesting that her blood was actually a dark purple. She had been lightheaded for a few days and ended up at the doctor’s office this morning. He sent her over to the hospital for tests. The blood and urine samples would tell him what he needed to know and he always called in a day or two with the results.
She walked into Pressley’s room and discovered Big Dog and Tiny were already visiting. Big Dog was reading a book out loud to the man in the bed, and Tiny frowned at her when she walked into the space interrupting the story. Since their little bitch session at the clubhouse, things had progressed to almost a friendly kind of truce. Thankfully, three days after she’d walked out, the huge man had come knocking on her door and they sat down and talked about her program.
She had made a few changes in her life in the past weeks, and she felt good about them. She had tendered her resignation to the County Board of Commissioners, and would be replaced as soon as the special election was put together to replace the sheriff, district attorney, and her position as a circuit court judge. She cited family needs as her reason for her resignation and although she caught flack from some people, she stayed firm.
Big Dog had been right. She was being a selfish bitch and her new plan of action would benefit the community and the MC. Charlie could keep his place in the family of bikers, and she would be fulfilled in her law career as well. Reopening a law practice would take some time to become self-sufficient, but she had time. The Bastards had a building that would work for her purposes. So far her plans were falling into place.
All that was left for her to do was to talk to Charlie, and if things set well with him, they could start planning that wedding he’d mentioned in his note. She hoped that his journey came to an end soon, she missed being held in his strong arms every night and waking up to his kisses each morning. Just thinking about his absence made her eyes water, and she had to switch her thoughts or she’d end up crying for no good reason.
“Hi, guys, how’s Pressley doing today? I had to have some tests taken and thought I would stop in to see if there was any improvement before calling a cab to take me home. My car is at the garage and they just texted me that it is now in my driveway. So a lot of good it does me there, but at least it won’t make me seasick to drive down the road with a broken shock in the rear end.”
Tiny grinned at her. “Today is your lucky day then, we drove the van to town to pick up supplies and drop off a few things, so we can give you a ride.” He looked to Big Dog to confirm, and got the nod. “See?”
She stood by Pressley’s bed and noticed how slender the young man had become and reached for his hand to hold between her own hands. As she looked at his face, she saw his eyelids flutter, but no matter how close she looked they didn’t open. “What do the doctors say? He looks so skinny lying here.” She was talking more to him than the others in the room “Boy, when you wake up from your nap, you will be at the mercy of every female in the county trying to feed you. Charlie will drag you home with him and I’ll fix pasta like you enjoy so much. If you eat your dinner I might even find some of my triple treat cookies, the last time I made them you and Charlie ate the entire batch, do you remember?”
Big Dog cleared his throat and Tiny acted like he didn’t notice the tears sliding down her cheeks. So she laid the young biker’s hand down next to his hip and leaned over him to give him a quick kiss on the forehead. “You rest and heal. I’ll check back with you in a day or two.” She walked around the bed and remembered her purse was on the nightstand. Turning to reach for it was a mistake. The room spun around her and she collapsed to the floor in a faint.<
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She woke up in the emergency room, with two smiling men and a female doctor that was issuing instructions to them for her care for the night. “Make certain she sees her doctor as soon as possible. When she wakes up,” they noticed that she was awake and the doctor smiled at her as if she hadn’t been interrupted just moments before.
“As I told your brothers, you need to stay off your feet, and you need to make an appointment to see your gynecologist as soon as possible. Pregnancy at your age is risky, and you will need to be monitored closely.” She shook her head and smiled. “You must really want a baby to risk getting pregnant at this stage in your life. Good luck.” The woman patted her shoulder and left the curtained cubicle, leaving her with the two grinning bikers staring at her.
“Did she just say baby?” Selma felt bewildered. She hadn’t given a thought to birth control and had been having amazing sex with Charlie for… “Oh no, what will Charlie say about this?”
Her question went unanswered as the two laughed out loud and Tiny had to sit down in the lone chair to get his breath back.
Big Dog kept smiling as they waited for Tiny to bring the van to the door to pick them up. He said, “Don’t worry, Charlie will be thrilled after he gets over the heart attack you are going to give him when you tell him. Look at me, Future is due in July, and after the idea sunk in, I am thrilled to pieces. Steven needs a sibling to boss around, and I always wanted a little girl to spoil, so if I can like the idea, Charlie can get used to it too.”
He heard the vehicle outside and walked into the living room to see who had pulled up. He was surprised to see the Bastard’s van parked at the curb, but what shocked him into moving was seeing Big Dog get out of the passenger side and open the back side door to reach in and carry Selma out of the vehicle. As they approached the door, Charlie flung it open and stood aside in concern while he waited for the big man to set her down.