BABY GIRL II For the Ones We Love

by Scott Hildreth

  “Daddy, the other night we were in the bar, and a guy from college said some things to me. Erik took care of it immediately, and it made me very proud of him,” Kelli said as she motioned toward him with her hands.

  “Is that right? What did you do, give him some options?” I asked, jokingly.

  “I gave him one option. As a matter of fact, I told him this, ‘Life is about opportunities and options. I’m going to give you both. An option to apologize, and an opportunity to walk away’, he chose not to apologize. I guess that eliminated his opportunity to walk away. He got a ride though,” Ead responded, smiling.

  “So you gave this fella an opportunity to apologize, and he didn’t do it, then someone gave him a ride home?”

  “An ambulance sir. He got a ride to the hospital in an ambulance,” he tried rather unsuccessfully to hide his smile.

  “Is that right?” I placed my cup on the end table and stood.

  He stood from his chair as soon as I stood.

  Generally speaking, I’m a good judge of character. Once you got past the razor’s edge that this boy walked on with his confidence, he was respectful. He teetered toward arrogance, and I didn’t like nor dislike that. Time would tell if he was able, or if he just thought he was. One thing was certain; he damned sure thought he was. I liked the way he stood when I stood, and how he always made eye contact.

  I walked toward him, my hand extended. He reached out and shook my hand firmly. His face couldn’t hide all of the surprise that his mind contained.

  “I appreciate you defending the honor of my daughter, Ead. First time that’s happened, as far as I know. Ambulance, huh?” I asked, smiling.

  He nodded his head, his lips pursed in a shallow smile.

  “We ain’t done, if that’s what you’re wondering,” I said as I released his hand.

  “Sure you don’t want a coffee?” I asked, still facing him.

  “No, sir. We had one on the way here,” he assured me.

  “Kelli?” I turned to face her.

  “No, Daddy.”

  I stood there for a moment, not really sure why I stood up and walked his direction. Maybe I wanted assurance. Or just to look in his eyes…to see if he stood up again. I looked up and down his long body and up into his eyes. He was an intimidating prick, that’s for sure.

  “So, Ead,” I said as I turned to my chair.

  “What about your parents? What’s your relationship there? You have a well-structured family?” I asked as I sat down.

  “Sir, both my parents are deceased, and I am an only child. My father passed when I was a toddler, and my mother passed back in 2007,” he said calmly, maintaining eye contact the entire time.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Family is important to making a person feel complete. Without that structure and support life can be challenging at best. I’m truly sorry, son,” I tried to think of what else to say.

  “I struggle with it, sir. I do. But I can’t change it,” he responded, still sitting military erect in the chair.

  I drank the rest of my coffee and put the cup on the table. I considered the situation, my daughter, and this man covered in tattoos sitting in my living room. I looked at him, and turned and looked at Kelli, who was focused on Ead. I’d seen that look of admiration in Kelli’s eyes before. It had been some time, but it was a familiar look. She used to look up at me that way when I walked her to kindergarten.

  “Well, we’ve been talking for a few hours here. Hell, we’ve talked about Columbia, graduate school, motorcycles, tattoos, relationships, dealerships, the future, and the past. We’ve covered about all of it. Like I said at the beginning, I don’t give two shits about your age, Ead. I believe love has no boundaries. Here’s what I want. I want three things,” I stood from my chair.

  Erik stood from his chair as soon as I did. Kelli remained seated and looked back and forth between us. I approached Ead and held my hands in front of me.

  “First, I want Kelli running that dealership, successfully, soon. Not in a matter of months. But within a few years. That’s something we’ll all have to talk about. Second, I want my daughter to feel like she’s exactly what she is, and that’s special. All the time. She hasn’t ever had a boyfriend to speak of. I don’t even know if people use that term anymore, and I don’t care. But, whatever this is, this thing you two have…she’s never brought a boy here to meet me like this. I’m proud and I’m scared, both,” I took a deep breath and held my hand out toward Ead.

  Ead extended his hand and shook mine. As I held his hand in mine, I reached out with my left hand and gripped his elbow.

  “I’ve accepted you, Ead. Today. Right here and now. You’re either an arrogant prick, or you’re the most confident son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever met. I haven’t decided, but time will tell. There’s something about you I like, and I can’t really place it,” I looked him in the eye.

  “The third thing is, if you’re with Kelli, you’re a part of this family. I am not offering to be a replacement for your father, but I want you to know this - I’m here for you, if you need anything. She’s accepted you, you’ve accepted her, and I am accepting you. Hell, I’m talking in circles. You understand me, don’t you son?” I felt like I was stammering for words, and paused for a response.

  “I do. We’ll resolve the dealership, and Kelli’s involvement. I’ll take care of her and make her feel special, always. And I appreciate your acceptance of me, I truly do. I suppose, in summary, I’m honored, sir,” he nodded his head as he gripped my hand firm.

  We broke our handshake, and Kelli looked up at Ead. He turned her direction as she stood up from her seat and hugged me. As she turned to hug Ead, I studied their faces. A lot can be understood from watching a person’s eyes – my time in the military taught me that.

  As I studied them both, I didn’t think of whether or not these two had the ability to last.

  I knew.

  ERIK. “It’s not bad back here at all,” she said over my shoulder.

  “It’s just going to get warmer,” I screamed.

  She tightened her grip on my waist as I accelerated up the on ramp and onto the highway. Having a rider on the back of my bike was something that I had never really become comfortable with before I met Kelli. Having Kelli ride on the back was satisfying to me. As I found my place in the Saturday morning traffic, she eased her grip on my waist.

  The ride to the bar was about fifteen minutes from Kelli’s house. As always, getting away from the house and getting on the road had taken longer than anticipated, and we were running a few minutes late. Speeding wasn’t an option, so we were just going to be a few fashionable minutes late. My anal retentive way of thinking and living didn’t allow me to digest being late very well, but I was doing my best.

  Typically, for poker runs, we agreed to meet at a particular satellite location, and smaller groups of us would meet, and ride together to the secondary location that the poker run started from. This morning, we had all agreed to meet at the starting point of the poker run, because it was close. This was the club’s annual poker run, and we had sold over one thousand entrees so far. As always, there would be people that show up the day of the run, so the turn-out would exceed a thousand bikes.

  As we exited the freeway, I slowed to a stop at the traffic light. It was the middle of September, and still quite warm at about seventy-five degrees. The forecast for the day was low nineties, and sunny. As I stopped, Kelli rested her head on my right shoulder.

  “Are we going to be late?” she screamed into my right ear.

  “Damn, I’m right here, you don’t have to scream. Yes, we’ll be a few minutes late,” I said after looking at my watch.

  “Sorry, this thing is loud. I’m sorry for making us late,” she apologized quietly.

  “You didn’t make us late. We’re just late. It isn’t anyone’s fault,” I looked at my watch again. About twelve minutes late, we were going to be twelve minutes late.

  As we pulled up to the bar, there were bikes parked a
long the street for approximately a mile. Police cars had parked in the street to direct traffic in and out of the bar where we were to meet. As we approached the entrance, a police officer waved for me to continue through traffic.

  I shook my head, and motioned toward the bar, indicating that I was going to pull past him into the parking lot. He stepped aside, and allowed me to pull into the lot, nodding as we passed.

  “Holy crap, all these people will be riding today?” Kelli asked as we pulled into the lot.

  “Probably a lot more, we don’t leave for an hour or so,” I responded as I rode slowly into the lot.

  I looked at my watch. 9:13. Although we weren’t late for the event, or late for the time we were scheduled to leave, in my mind we were late. We had agreed to meet at 9:00 a.m., and it was past that agreed time. Without a doubt, members would be arriving right up to the 10:00 departure time. I pulled the bike in between two other bikes that were parked in a line at the front of the bar.

  “Remember what we talked about?” I asked over my shoulder as I turned off the bike.

  “Uh huh,” she smiled.

  I raised my right eyebrow.

  “Yes sir,” she showed her teeth when she smiled.

  I nodded at her to get off of the bike. After she stepped over the seat, I got off and pulled the key from the ignition. I reached out and placed my arms wound Kelli’s shoulders. Grasping her ponytail in my hand, I slowly pulled her head back, exposing the front of her neck.

  I kissed her neck twice, and then kissed her softly on the lips. I leaned back and looked into her eyes.

  “I didn’t even know you were on the back of the bike, baby. You ride really well. We’re going to have a good day, okay?”

  She smiled and nodded.

  “I’ll find Crash, and you can put your purse in his saddle bag. There’s a bathroom in the bar you can use before we go. Make sure you have sunscreen on your face,” I said as I stretched my legs.

  “There they are,” she said excitedly, pointing to Heather and Teddy.

  Heather smiled and started running in our direction. Teddy nodded toward me and shook his head as Heather sprinted toward us.

  “Oh my God. This is so exciting,” Heather squealed as she embraced Kelli.

  Heather was dressed in boots that were obviously new, jeans, and one of Teddy’s old poker run tee shirts from a previous poker run. Typically, with the entry fee, you received a shirt acknowledging your participation in the event. The name of the event and the date were generally on the shirt, and people wore them as a trophy of sorts for having participated in the poker run.

  “There’s so many people here, and Crash says there’s gonna be a lot more, later. Hi Doc,” Heather emphasized my name when she said it.

  “Heather, how the hell are you,” I smiled as I opened my arms.

  “I’m great,” she giggled as she gave me a hug.

  “You look great. Let’s go mingle,” I said as I released her from my grasp.

  Kelli hurried to my left side and grabbed my arm in hers. Heather stood on her right and whispered to her the entire time we walked toward the crowd. The rear of the parking lot had several tables set up for people to gather at. As we maneuvered through the crowd toward Teddy, several people waved and nodded.

  “Doc,” standing with a group gathered around the table at the rear of the parking lot, Bone nodded.

  “Kelli, this is The Bone,” I said as I shook his hand and hugged him.

  “I’m going to do this once,” I laughed.

  “Everyone, this is Kelli. Kelli, that’s Jake, you know Easter and Shakey. This is Toad, and good God, that is the fucking Train. Holy shit Train, how the hell are ya?” I asked as I reached out to shake A-Train’s hand.

  “How the hell you doing, Train?” I asked as I patted him on the back.

  “Hell Doc, it’s all good,” he responded smiling, “so, you get in a scuffle at Twin Peaks the other night?”

  I laughed and responded, “No. Just some disrespectful kid with an alligator mouth and a jaw made of glass.”

  “Ain’t what I heard, Doc. Ain’t what I heard,” he laughed.

  “What’d you hear?” I placed my hands on my hips and waited.

  “Heard you beat the kid half to death. Hell, they brought in medics and an ambulance for him,” he lit a cigarette as he spoke.

  “Still smoking, huh? Give em up, Train. No, he took a couple smacks, just didn’t take them real well. They called an ambulance, yeah. Hell, he was fine. Problem with stories, you know. They grow as they’re told,” I smirked and leaned toward him as I spoke.

  “I didn’t take an assault rifle to his house and threaten to kill him,” I whispered, laughing.

  “Oh, shit. Yeah. Well, that’s all behind me, I’m straight now,” he laughed as he took a drag from his cigarette.

  “Let’s hope, brother,” I nodded.

  “Kelli, let’s go up to the booth and get our shirts,” I motioned to the booth.

  Kelli finished talking to Heather and Crash and walked over to my side, wrapping her arm around mine. I expected she’d like attending the event, and participating in the ritual of obtaining and ‘earning’ the shirt would be something she would be proud of. As we walked to the booth, I pulled her close to me and hugged her at my side.

  “You’re a good girl, Kelli. You’re making me proud of you so far. Bringing a girl around this crowd can be tough - tough for me and tough for you. It can become embarrassing for some of the fella’s when they bring women around. You never embarrass me. Well, you haven’t yet, and I like that,” I said over my shoulder as I pulled her tight to my side.

  “I won’t embarrass you, Sir,” she said as we walked to the booth.

  Most of the guys would pre-register for the event. I had my own ritual of registering the day of the event. I was probably the only member of the club that didn’t pre-register. I never really understood why, but I could never bring myself to register in advance. As we stepped to the booth, I released my grasp on Kelli.

  “Hi, Erik. Need to register?” Tracey asked from behind the booth.

  “Yeah, I always wait to the last minute,” I responded.

  “Just one, no rider?” she asked as she grabbed a large manila envelope and handed it to me.

  “No, I have a rider. Kelli, this is Tracey,” I said as I motioned to Kelli, smiling.

  Smiling, Kelli waved, “Nice to meet you, Tracey.”

  “Well, here’s your packet. Nice to meet you, Kelli. Watch him, he’s a heartbreaker. Shirts?” Tracey asked, giggling.

  “Give me a two XL, and a small,” I responded as I handed the packet to Kelli.

  “Thirty-five dollars,” Tracey demanded as she handed me the shirts.

  I handed Kelli the shirts, and paid Tracey forty dollars. “Donate the five, thanks Tracey.”

  “What’s in here?” Kelli asked, shaking the envelope.

  “It’s a rider’s packet - it has stickers, a map of our route, patches for our cuts, and a bunch of other shit. You can look in there if you want to. I want you to study the map and have an idea of the route, okay?”

  She nodded excitedly, and opened the packet as we walked. There would be a large group of us riding together, and the Road Captain would lead the group. We rode in formation, and each rider to the rear of the Road Captain followed him. If he made a mistake in the route, we all made a mistake. Kelli reviewing the map would allow her to feel like she was an active participant in this event, and I wanted to make her feel comfortable that she wasn’t just here as a decoration.

  “If you want to, you can wear that shirt today. If not, wear what you’re wearing. You can change in the bathroom, and we can put the rest of your shit in Teddy’s saddle bag,” I said as she dug through the packet.

  “Are you going to wear yours?” she asked as she pulled out the map.

  “No, I never wear them,” she couldn’t hide her disappointment when I responded.

  “But everyone else will, baby girl. I’m jus
t weird about shirts. If you want to, wear it. You decide,” I smiled.

  “Where’s the bathroom?” she asked, as she stuffed the folded map in her jeans pocket.

  “Follow me,” I said as I turned and walked toward the bar.

  “I like it,” she said as she stepped out of the bathroom.

  “It looks good onyou, Kelli,” I assured her.

  The pleasure I received from Kelli was new to me. Seeing her wear the poker run shirt, her excitement in holding the map, and the fact that she didn’t feel the need to be the center of attention made me feel proud we were together for this event.

  “Let’s find Teddy’s bike and put your stuff in it,” I slid my hand to the back of her neck and pulled her face close to mine.

  “I like your ponytail, baby girl. It makes it easy to whisper in your ear,” I whispered into her ear.

  “I like it when you whisper in my ear. It gives me chills,” she shivered when she spoke.

  “Three things,” I whispered.

  She looked up at me as we walked. I pulled her face close to mine and placed my mouth against her ear, my lips barely touching her earlobe.

  “One, I own you, understand that,” I whispered into her ear then moved away.

  We took a few steps. I kept my hand on her neck as we walked side-by-side toward the group. As we approached the group, I pulled her head close to mine, and nibbled the bottom of her earlobe.

  “Two, I’m proud of you today,” I whispered, and released her neck as we stepped to the table where everyone was gathered.

  She turned my direction, made eye contact, and smiled.

  “Fifteen minutes, Kelli. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes,” Heather jumped up from her seat as we approached.

  “Let’s get saddled up. Colors in the front and colors in the rear. Get ‘em lined up, fella’s,” Bone said, holding his hand in the air.

  “We’re gonna put some shit in your bag, Crash,” I said to Teddy as he stood from his seat.

  “Fuck that, make her hold her own shit,” Teddy laughed as he slapped Kelli on the back.

  As we walked to our bikes, I took Kelli’s purse, shirt, and the packet. I placed them in Teddy’s saddle bag, and secured the latch.