by A. J. Wynter
“It would’ve only taken a minute or two.”
“I’m sure that’s very true.” Blaine smiled and threw his arm around her shoulder. No sense being mean to the woman, when all she wanted was, well, him.
Lizzie was thrilled and tried to pull into him for a kiss. Blaine wasn’t having it.
“I haven’t forgotten where those lips were just a few hours ago.”
“Fuck you,” Lizzie said. She pushed him away and stomped off into the clubhouse in a huff, almost knocking Zeb over in the doorway.
“Woah, what did you say now?” Zeb laughed. He took a seat in one of the plastic chairs in the parking lot, cracked a beer, and handed a second one to Blaine. Blaine pulled up a faded green lawn chair beside him, stretched out his long legs, and took a big swig of his beer. The cold beer tasted great, and Blaine leaned his face back to soak in some of the early summer sun.
“Ugh. Don’t worry about it. Lizzie’s just being Lizzie,” Blaine said.
“How did it go with the chief?”
“Good. Better than expected, actually. Got everything we needed for about five grand. Well, and Lizzie threw in one of her specials to seal the deal.”
“Hah. She is damn talented that one.” Zeb smiled with a glint in his eye.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Oh, come on. You’ve never been sucked off by that woman?”
“Nope,” Blaine grunted.
“That’s probably why she wants you so much,” Zeb surmised. “You should give her a go, great stress reliever.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Blaine said. His mind was imagining another set of lips on his cock, Olivia’s, with her big blue eyes gazing up at him.
“Don’t get too comfy there. I need another favor today.”
Blaine sighed and sat up. The sun felt so good. All he wanted to do was sit in the parking lot, drink beer, and get high.
“Sure man. What is it.”
“I’ve got a delivery going out from Ed’s factory to a meeting point in the barn by Parker’s field. I need you to make sure it gets there – and make sure the payment gets back here.”
“What time?”
“The guys are heading out at two. Take Skinny and Crater with you. And make sure you’ve got some firepower between the three of you.”
It had been a long time since Blaine had done any fieldwork. It surprised him that he was getting pulled back into the action, but it also excited him. He needed to do something to keep his mind busy. He kept replaying his interaction with Olivia and was kicking himself for not getting her number, or at least her last name. ‘Ah, fuck it. He thought. She’s way too innocent for me – I would ruin her.’
He drained his beer and leaned into the cooler to grab another. He had a couple of hours to kill before he headed out.
CHAPTER NINE – OLIVIA
“A one. Two. A one, two, three, four!” Steve yelled into the microphone. Randy slapped out his riff and the rest of the band came in on time – for once.
Olivia loved playing with Steve’s band, but couldn’t help but get frustrated with their lack of musical precision. They were definitely a fun jam band, but she had quickly eclipsed all of them in terms of technique – even Steve, who had been playing for thirty years.
They were working on some classic AC/DC. It was so loud and raucous, Olivia loved it.
“Fuckin -A guys. We’ve finally got that one dialed.” Steve cheered.
Olivia looked at him and narrowed her eyes jokingly.
“Oh, I mean, Fuckin- A, guys and Liv!” He laughed.
Olivia smiled and grabbed a slide off the table. She had been working on a solo for one of their ballads and loved the way the slide added a certain sadness to her sound.
She kicked away at some of the hay on the ground. As the weather had gotten nicer they moved the practice space from her dad’s garage to Steve’s barn. The acoustics weren’t as good, but they could be LOUD.
“Let’s hear what you’ve got for your solo, kiddo,” Randy said.
“I’m still trying to work out some of the kinks. I’ll play it for you next week.” Olivia started to lift the sparkly blue guitar off of her shoulder.
“No way. You’re thinking way too much about it. A solo shouldn’t be slick and practiced, it should be wild and driven by your emotion, not the notes in your head,” Randy said.
“I’m working on it,” Olivia lied. She had spent the last week transcribing her guitar solo to paper and had religiously practised it, note for note, every day.
“Let’s hear it Liv!” Steve prodded.
Olivia felt uncomfortable with all the attention on her, but she knew they wouldn’t let it go. She picked up the slide. She counted in her head and then wailed out the notes – it was perfect. She had hit them all – even the tricky part she added in the night before. She watched their faces as she played but couldn’t tell what they were thinking.
“That was pretty good, Liv,” Steve said.
Pretty good? Olivia was disheartened. It was perfect.
“I can tell that you’re still thinking about it. It was technically spot-on, but I didn’t feel any emotion in there.”
“I don’t know how to infuse emotion into my music.” Olivia scuffed some of the dirt off the barn boards with her combat boots.
“I guess they don’t teach that at the conservatory, do they?” Steve stood up from behind the drums.
“No. No, they don’t.”
“Well, just keep your chin up. If you can try to stop thinking, that will really help you out. Try to feel the music, not think it.”
“A little reefer never hurts either.” Randy laughed.
“Shut it, Randy.” Steve flicked a pick at him.
Olivia smiled. She loved hanging out with these old dudes.
“More Cowbell!” They heard a voice yell out from the barn door. Maddie poked her head in and smiled.
“Maddie!” Steve yelled. “Come on in!”
“I’d love to Steve, but Olivia left me strict instructions to get here with the car by 6:00.”
“Oh. Shit!” Olivia looked at her watch. “I’ve gotta go!” She slid off the guitar and placed it back on the stand.
“Bye Steve, bye Randy, bye Laurie!” She shouted as she grabbed her light canvas jacket and ran out the door.
“Bye guys!” Maddie smiled and followed her sister.
They got in the car and slammed the doors.
“Mr. Tunbridge is going to kill me if I’m late again.”
“You’re not going to be late on my watch!” Maddie spun the tires, sprayed mud everywhere, and peeled out of the farmyard.
“You’re washing the car.” Olivia laughed.
Maddie laughed with her and sped into town with a big smile on her face.
“6:27. You’ve got three minutes to get inside.” Maddie simultaneously popped the hatchback and put the car in park.
Olivia opened the trunk and heaved her cello case out. Maddie locked the car and followed her in.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to wait here until you’re done.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Don’t you worry, I’m not being thoughtful. By the time I get home, I’ll just have to turn around and come to get you. This way, I can drop you at home and go meet the girls for a drink.”
“Whatever!” Olivia bounded up the stairs.
When she reached the waiting room and saw the instruction room door closed, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Maddie sauntered in, slid into the chair beside her, and pulled out her phone.
“There’s some books here if you want,” Olivia said.
“Nah. I’m good,” Maddie said, glued to her screen.
They both looked up as the instruction room door opened and Amelia, one of Olivia’s classmates exited the room. Her face was red and she didn’t meet either of the girl’s eyes as she walked out with her head down. Mr. Tunbridge’s shirt was half tucked in and he was flushed.
“Olivia. I didn’t hear you come in. Come in,” he stammered and stretched his arm out to the practice room.
“You really don’t have to wait,” Olivia said to Maddie.
“Oh, yes. I do. Actually, could I come in and watch your lesson? I’ve always wondered what happens here.”
“I’m sorry, that is not protocol,” Mr. Tunbridge snapped.
“It’s ok, Maddie. You can hear the playing through the door.”
“Mmmhmm. Well, I will be right here Liv.” Maddie narrowed her eyes at Mr. Tunbridge and crossed her arms.
Olivia smiled at her sister and walked into the practice room. Maddie sat alert for the entire lesson, listening for any signs that something inappropriate was going on behind the closed door.
CHAPTER TEN – BLAINE
“Well, that was a total fucking shit show,” Blaine screamed into his phone as soon as Zeb picked up.
“Fuck. What happened?” Zeb asked.
“I’m on my way back to the clubhouse. I can’t talk now, Zebby,” Blaine said, hanging up the phone.
“Can you ride?” Blaine asked, turning his attention back to Crater, who was clutching at his arm. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that it was dislocated.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said and grimaced as he tried to lift his arm to grab onto his handlebars. “Nope. That’s not going to happen.”
Blaine sighed and shook his head. “You’re going to have to let Skinny pop it back in. That’s an order.”
Skinny, who was the polar opposite of his nickname, ambled over to Crater and grabbed his wrist.
“I’m going to do it on three, ok?” Skinny said.
“Ok,” Crater said, bracing himself and closing his eyes.
Skinny jerked Crater’s arm towards him and Crater fell to the dirt in agony. He looked up at Skinny and seethed, “I thought you said on three.”
“Nah, it was better this way, you were nice and relaxed,” Skinny said, then lit up a cigarette and laughed. “It feels better now, right?”
Crater nodded and reluctantly rose to his feet. “Thanks, man.”
“Just make sure to drink some whiskey tonight, that will fix you right up,” Skinny said, slapping Crater on the back of his kutte.
“Are you two finished playing doctor?” Blaine asked. “Because if we don’t get back and figure out our next move, a dislocated shoulder is going to be the least of our worries. Let’s go.”
Crater slapped the dust off the ass of his black jeans and threw his leg over his bike. The three of them roared off to the clubhouse to fill Zeb in on the bad news.
When Blaine, Crater, and Skinny arrived back at the clubhouse, Zeb was sitting in the yard with a bunch of the guys and Chrissy. Zeb dismissed them with a nod of his head and headed inside with the returning soldiers.
“Now, are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” he said, wiping his hands with a dirty rag.
“We can’t trust Ed,” Blaine said.
“What did that little weasel pull?”
“Well, I can’t be sure that he was in on it, but I can’t think of any other way the Scorps knew about the drop.”
“The Scorpions? What the fuck were they doing out there? That’s way out of their turf.”
“I know. They were waiting around the back of the shed and when we showed up they were ready for us. They had some serious firepower. They took the ice, they took our guns, and when the buyers showed up, they took their money too.”
“I guess they’re not too impressed with our new venture.” Zeb mused and stroked his beard thoughtfully. Blaine couldn’t see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses, but he knew Zeb’s wheels were turning. It was rare that Blaine saw Zeb get angry, and he saw it now with the redness flushing his neck. “Do you think the buyers were in on it?”
“They could’ve been, boss. But they seemed really surprised when they pulled up and the Scorpions were ready for battle.”
“Anybody put up a fight?” Zeb asked.
“Nobody. Well, Crater resisted when they grabbed the ice from him and they knocked the shit out of him.”
Zeb smiled at Crater. His pock-marked face had turned the greenish shade of yellow that precedes deep purple bruising.
“So, we’re out the dope. We’re out the money. And we have to figure out who the hell stabbed us in the back,” Zeb summarized.
“That’s pretty much it,” Blaine said. “And they took our guns.”
“Did they get your Desert Eagle?” Zeb asked. The Eagle had belonged to Blaine’s dad and was now his prized possession.
“Yeah,” Blaine replied. “But I’m going to get it back. Those fuckers are going to pay.”
“You guys go inside and get some drinks,” Zeb said to Crater and Skinny. They complied, their bodies easing with relief that Zeb hadn’t flown off the handle about the loss of the cash and the dope.
Blaine stepped onto the bench seat of the picnic table and took a seat beside his President.
“We weren’t prepared for that. It’s my fault. We’ve gotten too complacent about our position here in Torver.”
“The thing that’s not sitting right with me is the fact the buyers didn’t put up a fight. They just straight up handed off 50k and left with their tails between their legs?” Zeb asked.
“Someone betrayed us.” Blaine agreed.
“Maybe you and I should visit our friend Eddie,” Zeb said. “Only this time we won’t go in there with our dicks in our hands.”
Blaine looked down, ashamed. They might as well have had their dicks in their hands today. There were at least thirty of their rivals, the Scorpions, heavily armed and ready for them. If Eddie had anything to do with the double-cross, that slime-ball wasn’t going to get off easy.
“Go tell the crew that we’re having Church here tonight, and it’s mandatory.” Zeb stood up and walked back inside.
Blaine knew that Zeb wasn’t impressed with him, and had to put together a plan to make things right to get back into his good books.
CHAPTER ELEVEN – OLIVIA
Olivia lounged on her bed, swirling her toes in the air to the rhythm of the Brahms concerto blaring in her earphones. She smiled and imagined herself as First Chair cellist, being singled out for a solo. Olivia was good, and she was confident without being cocky. However, there were going to be lots of good players at the fall audition. She needed to focus on practicing if she wanted to stand out in the crowd of prodigies.
She jumped as her dad tapped her on her shoulder. “LIV,” he screamed.
“Yeah.” She smiled at her dad and removed one side of her headset.
“Zeesh kid. You should be protecting those ears of yours. That was the third time I yelled your name!”
“Sorry, dad. I was just really into it.”
“I can see that,” he said and smiled. “Can you run to the store and pick up some stuff for dinner? I have a bit more work to do in the yard.”
“Dad, Maddie has the car at work.”
“Ah, Shit. I guess we can heat up the meatloaf leftovers. Again.”
“What’s that in your hand?” Olivia asked, pointing to the tape clutched in his hand.
“This? Why this is what the kids used to call a ‘mixed-tape’.”
“I can see that it’s a tape. What’s on it?”
“Oh, Steve put together some tunes he thought that you would enjoy. They all have kick-ass guitar solos.” He tossed the tape onto her bed.
“Thanks, Dad. How the hell do I play this thing?”
“Excuse me? I don’t think I’ve ever heard language like that from you! Maddie on the other hand…”
“I guess I have been spending a lot of time with Maddie – looks like she’s a bad influence on me.”
Olivia’s dad laughed. “I don’t worry about either of my girls, you both have your heads screwed on right. There’s a tape deck in the garage. Dinner will be ready in half an hour,” her dad said as he walked downstairs to the kitchen.
Olivia
held the plastic case in her hand. She creaked it open and pulled out the paper inside. She smiled as she saw Steve’s handwriting – ‘Won’t take you long to master these classics.” S. She wondered what it would’ve been like to be young and in love in the era of mixed tapes. Her mind drifted back to Blaine and she wondered what he listened to. She guessed that he was into heavy stuff – a stereotype based on what she had seen in biker movies.
She threw her hair up into a high ponytail and skipped down to the garage, excited to hear the guitar solos.
Turned out she recognized most of the songs. She pressed rewind and play and rewind and play over and over again, listening to the intricacies of the notes. ‘These guys sure are talented,’ she thought to herself. She longed to pick up a guitar and try to mimic Clapton, but Steve and the guys had taken everything over to the barn.
She settled into an old lawn chair, closed her eyes, and turned up the music. It wasn’t long until her imagination had taken hold of her and she was whisked away on the back of a Harley.
She threaded her arms around his leather kutte and felt her hair whip her face. She had on black ray-bans, ripped jeans, and a white t-shirt. He gunned the bike and took the first exit off the highway toward the lake country. He squeezed her thigh as he pulled over to the side of the road.
“What are we doing? Why are we stopping?”
“I couldn’t drive one more mile without doing this.” He ripped her t-shirt, exposing her lacy black bra.
She gasped, and her skin prickled at the feel of his breath as he kissed her breasts through the lace. Her pink nipples responded and pressed hard against the sheer fabric. She swung her leg off the bike and stood to kiss him. She buried her hands in his hair at the nape of his neck and flicked at his lips with her tongue.
He smiled and reached around to grab her ass. He pulled her roughly toward him and she could feel his giant hard-on through his jeans.
She ran her hands up his shirt, feeling his taut abs before fumbling with the button on his jeans. He moaned with pleasure as she slipped her slender hands into the band of his briefs and tugged them down, allowing his rock-hard member to spring free into the warm summer air.