Sledge

by Jessie Cooke

  “Fuck!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. He took his knife out of his pocket and at the same time, he heard the sound of an engine. Looking in the direction it was coming from, he saw two dirt bikes headed across the field away from him. “Shit!” He was dying to get his bike and chase them, but he had to get the fire out first. He started cutting the tie-downs on the cover, finally getting about half of them loose. He used his knife then to cut the cover itself, taking off about half of it. Grabbing it up, he ran back around the warehouse where Ash was. As soon as Ash saw him, he grabbed one side of the cover and they threw it on the fire. They had to lean into it to smother it…it was fucking hot. Sledge could feel the skin on the underside of his arms burning, but he lay on top of it until all that was coming from underneath the cover was smoke.

  He and Ash both stood up. Ash was picking up more dirt and rubbing it on his forearms. “You okay?” Sledge asked him.

  “Yeah, I’m good. You?” Sledge looked down at the scorched skin on his arms. It hurt like a motherfucker.

  “Yeah, good. I saw a couple of dirt bikes when I was around front, looked like they were running.”

  “Somebody definitely set this, it wasn’t even close to any kind of spark. Who the hell would try and burn down the warehouse, though?”

  “Who knows what’s inside is probably the question.”

  “Those guys from down south never showed up the other day. Wolf was pissed and he’s been a little moody all week. Maybe something going on there.”

  “You think it’s safe to leave? I mean, what if we both take off and these little bastards come back?”

  “I’ll stay…” Ash started. Sledge looked at his friend’s arms. They were burned a lot worse than his.

  “No. You go. I’ll stay here. Get Mack to help you clean and bandage those burns, they’ll get infected.”

  “What about yours?”

  “They’re not as bad as yours. Besides, when that bandage comes off your crooked nose, that body is all you’ll have. You’d best take care of it.”

  Ash laughed and flipped him off. Sledge smiled at him and then said, “But hurry the fuck up because I’m hungry.”

  “You got it,” Ash said. As he started to walk away he turned back and said, “You have your piece, and your phone?”

  Sledge nodded. He always had his gun, and his phone, especially after he was shot last month out of the blue…and their friend Smoke was killed. He just hoped he didn’t need to use it. Ash was still standing there looking at him. “Now get the fuck out of here, rich boy.” Ash smiled again before taking off. Sledge really did hope they hurried back…his arms were fucking killing him.

  18

  Fuck, it’s hot. Sledge drank the last of his water. He’d brought a gallon with him that morning, but twelve hours later what was left was hot…and now gone. His arms throbbed and his hands hurt too. He was starting to feel lightheaded. He wasn’t sure if it was from the heat, or the pain. He’d dug through his saddlebags looking for aspirin or anything like it, but hadn’t found anything other than Tums. He ate half a roll of them…just in case they’d help him feel better.

  He was sitting propped up against the warehouse with his gun in one hand and his phone in the other. He stared at the phone and had a sudden, crazy urge to call Daria. Instead, he went to Google and typed in her name. He was surprised at how many hits he got. He clicked on one and it took him to a “Daria Ford Fan Page.” There was a picture of her at the top, holding one of her books. His heart moved in his chest as he looked at her smiling face. He ignored it and scrolled down. There were quotes from some of her books…they all looked like romance stuff. He started scrolling through the descriptions of them, and read a few. They were all about different people…but it seemed they had the same theme, the woman was rich, the man blue-collar and in the end, they found everlasting love. He tried not to let himself get any ideas about that. It was all her imagination, and sappy crap that women wanted to read. He clicked out of that site and onto another one where she was being interviewed by some author site that promoted books. The first question that the interviewer asked her was:

  “Are your books based on real life at all?”

  “Sort of,” Daria had answered.

  “Sort of?”

  “They’re not real people, or even situations…but the premise of what I write is what’s in my heart, I suppose.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Do you mean that you’re hoping for this kind of love?”

  “I’m hoping for a second chance,” she said.

  The interview went on, asking about certain characters, how many books she’d written, how many were bestsellers, etc. But Sledge kept going back to that part where she said she was hoping for a second chance. Was his imagination…and maybe now dehydration…working overtime? Maybe, because he wanted to believe the second chance she was looking for was with him. But their first chance was so long ago. She was beautiful and rich and successful…smart…why in God’s name would she want a second chance with a guy like him? He had absolutely nothing to offer her…a trailer behind a clubhouse. No, she couldn’t possibly be talking about him. He was kidding himself. He needed to just stop. She left the night before when he asked her to, and she hadn’t texted or called since. She got it and he needed to get it too. There was no future for them, and hooking up again would just make the inevitable harder when it happened.

  He clicked out of Google and looked at the time. Ash had been gone for almost an hour, but it seemed longer. He sighed and was about to slide the phone back in his pocket when it rang. Through blurry eyes he saw that it was Ash calling.

  “Hey,” he said, putting the phone to his ear.

  “Hey, brother, you okay?”

  “Dandy.”

  Ash laughed. “Dandy? What the fuck kind of word is that?”

  “Learned it from the rich kids in school,” Sledge said with a chuckle. He felt a little drunk, like he’d had more than a few beers.

  “You sure you’re okay? You sound a little out of it.”

  “I’m good. Where the fuck is the cavalry?”

  “They’re on their way, that’s why I called. Wolf wouldn’t let me ride back with them, but Maz, Ransom, Manson, Bruf, and Wolf took off about ten minutes ago. Hang in there, okay? They’re coming. Those bikes been back?”

  “Nah…nobody here but me…oh damn, a lizard…” He could see a little lizard a few feet away. It was looking at him. “Hi, lizard. Come here…come on, boy…”

  “Sledge, man, you alright?”

  “I’m fine, mother. I have to go. My lizard friend is here.”

  “Hang in there, man. They’ll be there in twenty minutes or so, okay?”

  “Okay. I love you.”

  Ash hesitated. Sledge heard himself say the words and they sounded funny, but suddenly he wanted to hear them back. “Love you too, man,” Ash said. Sledge smiled, ended the call, reached out for the lizard, closed his eyes…and passed out.

  “My head fucking hurts, and why the fuck is it so cold in here?” Sledge grumbled, without opening his eyes.

  “I’ll get the doctor.” That voice! He opened his eyes and saw Daria’s pretty hazel ones looking down at him. She turned to head for the door.

  “Wait! What’s going on?” He looked down at himself. He was in his own bed, dressed in a pair of shorts and nothing else. There were ice packs pressed up against his body and his arms were covered in bandages. There was an IV going into one of his arms too. “What the fuck happened? Did I get shot again? Why are they trying to freeze me out? Cover me up.” His head really was throbbing and he couldn’t grasp the memories that lurked at the edges of the fog.

  “You didn’t get shot,” Daria said, coming closer to the bed again. What’s she doing here? “Your arms got burned and you were dehydrated, and heat-exhausted, the doctor thinks. The ice packs are to bring your temperature down and you can’t cover up just yet…I don’t think. I’ll get the doctor.”

  Suddenly it came ba
ck to him. He and Ash at the warehouse, the fire…waiting for Ash to come back. He started to sit up and a pain shot through his head behind his eyes. He groaned and tried to bring his hand up to his head, but that hurt like hell too and he was shaking violently. “Fuck.”

  “Let me go get the doctor to give you some pain medicine, okay? I’ll be right back.”

  “What are you doing here?” She stopped again.

  “I was here, talking with Mack, when Ash came back. I’m sorry, but I was too worried about you to leave. I had to make sure you were okay. I’ll go now…as soon as I let the doctor know you need some medicine.”

  “You were talking to Mack? About what?”

  “You. What else?”

  “Oh, yeah? Did you tell her I was the best you ever had?” His voice was shaky and his teeth were chattering.

  Daria chuckled. “I think you’re still a little drunk from being dehydrated.”

  Sledge smiled. “So, I wasn’t the best you ever had?”

  “I’m just not sure now is the time to talk about it. You’re freezing, which means your temperature is down. Let me get the doc.”

  “Wait! You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Which one was that?”

  He grinned again through his chattering teeth. “Whether or not I was the best…the best you ever had. Throw me a bone here.”

  She shook her head, sat down in the chair next to the bed, and leaned in close enough for him to smell her faint perfume and the peppermint on her breath; she said, “Yes.”

  “Say it.” Sledge noticed he was slurring his speech, but of course it could be the violent shaking. He was fucking freezing.

  She blushed and for some strange reason that actually excited him. Just his luck, his dick was going to get hard and he wouldn’t be able to jack off thanks to the bandages on his hands and the fact that he was shaking so hard. “You were the best I ever had.”

  He smiled at her again. “Thanks. Now do me a favor and stop lusting after me and go get the doctor, will you, before I freeze to death?”

  She laughed again but this time left the room. He still felt drunk. It was like he could hear himself saying things, but he wasn’t in control of what he was saying.

  “Hey, welcome back.” Doc, aka Ernie Tubbs, was an EMT whose father was a Skull. The kid had grown up in the club, but his father had encouraged him to do something else with his life. “Doc” had wanted to go to medical school, but after a short stint in the Army, returned to Fresno and got a job with a local ambulance service. When he wasn’t driving an ambulance and saving people on the streets, he donated his time to saving the Skulls…especially when something happened to them that they didn’t want to explain to the police.

  “Doc! How’s it hanging, buddy?”

  The young man smiled. “It’s dragging the floor, Sledge.”

  Sledge cracked up at that. Laughing made his head hurt worse, but it was funny. When he finished laughing he said, “My head fucking hurts.”

  “You’re lucky. You were dehydrated. Your pulse was up over 130 and your blood pressure was 80/48 when they got you back here.”

  “That’s bad, I take it?”

  “Your temperature was 105.”

  “Bad?”

  Doc laughed. “Yeah, dude, it was bad.”

  “Explains why I’m almost naked and packed in ice. Can I cover up now? I’m so fucking cold.”

  “That’s a good sign,” the doctor said. “Let me take your temp again.” Sledge heard himself rattling on about stupid stuff while the doctor checked his vital signs. He gave him something in the IV and covered him with a sheet. Sledge could feel himself getting sleepy even before Doc left the room. His eyes were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open, but he heard himself say:

  “Send back the pretty lady.”

  He felt a warm hand on his cheek. “I’m here,” Daria said. He smiled. Being burned and dehydrated wasn’t so bad. That was his last conscious thought and then he drifted off again.

  19

  Sledge slept the bulk of twenty-four hours. When he was finally awake, and alert, Mack and Ash were at his bedside. “Hey,” he croaked.

  “Hey!” Mack rushed over. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m good,” he said. His voice sounded raw or strained.

  “Are you in pain?”

  “Nah, I’m alright.” He looked at Ash and again remembered what had happened. Ash still had bandages on his arms too. “You okay?” The bandage that had been on his nose was gone, but his nose was still bruised and swollen. What a pair they were.

  “I’m good,” Ash said. “Doc says the burns might need to be debrided again, which sucks because that fucking hurt, and Charlie and Mack have already talked to a plastic surgeon. I guess they’re both embarrassed to be seen with a guy with a crooked nose and burns on his arms.”

  Sledge chuckled. “I think I’ll keep the burns, they’ll match the gunshot wound. Chicks love scars.”

  “Speaking of chicks,” Mack said. “Daria had to go to work, but she was here all night.”

  “Daria was here?”

  “You don’t remember talking to her?”

  “Not really…” He did, but it felt like a dream. “Why was she here?”

  Mack and Ash looked at each other and Ash said, “Because she likes you. I told you that.” Sledge grasped at a vague memory…Daria was telling him that he was the best she ever had…but was that real, or a dream?

  “I’m hungry,” he said, changing the subject.

  Mack smiled. “Doc said you could eat when you’re ready. I’ll go fix you a bowl of soup. I’ll be right back.” She left the room and Ash sat down next to the bed.

  “Wolf figure out who tried to burn us out?”

  Ash shook his head. “He’s pretty sure it wasn’t the guys from down south. They don’t have any motive. It wasn’t like whoever did this was trying to rob us…they were trying to destroy everything in that warehouse and around it.”

  “Bruf’s brother’s men still in prison?”

  “Yeah, and as far as Wolf’s been able to find out, there aren’t any of them left hanging around here looking to get even. He’s got everyone out on the streets today, seeing what they can find out. But for now, the construction up there has been put on hold and Wolf is looking for somewhere to move the…merchandise…out of the warehouse.”

  “I’ll bet he’s in one hell of a mood, huh?”

  Ash smiled. “Yeah, he’s growling out one order after the other, and chewing asses. He’s living up to the name.”

  “I’m glad we were able to put the fire out,” Sledge said. Then a few seconds later he grinned and said, “Did it make us any points?”

  Ash laughed. “He was happy with us…but don’t think he won’t put us right back up there working as soon as we’re both all healed up.”

  “I would never,” Sledge said with a grin.

  “Your mother called.”

  “Shit. You didn’t tell her about any of this, did you?”

  “No. Mack actually talked to her. She lied so smoothly it made me a little nervous,” he said with a laugh. “She told her you came over for dinner and left your phone. But Mack said the reason she called was that she saw that picture of you and Daria online or something.”

  Sledge’s first thought was that he was happy he’d been in a blazer and tie and not in his kutte. His mother still had no idea he was in an MC. “What did she say about it?”

  “She wanted to know if she was really the girl from high school and if you were dating her.”

  Sledge smiled again. “She’s starting to ache for grandkids.”

  “Maybe you can give her some, soon.”

  “Don’t start on me about Daria again, brother, okay? That’s not going to happen.”

  Ash raised an eyebrow and stood up when Mack came back into the room with a tray. He dropped the subject, but as Sledge ate, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to what it would be like to have a baby…a baby that looke
d like Daria. His oldest brother was still in prison and would be until he was dead, or a very old man. His middle brother was still on the streets…somewhere. He showed up from time to time and his mother gave him money…but he never stayed for long and the last time Sledge talked to her she told him that his brother was worse off than ever. Sledge was really her only chance at having a grandchild…but he was being an idiot again if he thought that would happen with Daria.

  He finished his food and after showing Mack he was able to get up and could use his right hand enough to call for help if he needed it, she and Ash finally left. He was well-rested after all the sleep he’d gotten, and he was restless and tired of being in bed. He got up and roamed around the trailer for a while, but he wasn’t able to really do anything thanks to the bulky bandages on his arms. Finally, he sat down in his recliner and turned on the television. He had been staring at it for close to an hour when there was a knock on his door.

  “Yeah! It’s open.”

  The door opened up and Daria stuck her head inside. “For me, too?”

  Sledge wasn’t sure. There was no question whether he wanted to see her. She was gorgeous. Of course he wanted to see her. But fuck…he’d already decided that was a bad idea, hadn’t he? “Yeah,” he said, still unsure if it was the right decision or not. “Come on in.”

  Daria came in and closed the door. She was wearing a yellow sundress and a pair of sandals. Her dark hair looked even darker against the yellow fabric. He had a flash of memory about how soft it was, and how good it had smelled. He wanted to touch it, again. “Hi,” she said.

  “Hey. I thought you had to work.”

  “I did. I’ve been gone all day.”

  He ran his eyes over her. “Don’t look like you’ve been at work.”

  She smiled. “I’m a consultant. It’s not really hot, sweaty work.”

  “Have a seat. You want something to drink?”

  “No, I’m okay. I just wanted to come by and check on you on my way back to the hotel.”