“What sort of woman do you want to have when you grow up, Max?” he asked.
“One with a nice body and nice big boobies. Yeah, that’s what I want,” Max replied.
“Sebastian?”
“A nice girl with a pretty smile who’s really nice to me,” was his choice.
“Marcus? What about you?”
“A girl who follows me around everywhere and has small hands for me to hold on to.” We all knew he was talking about Maribel, so we just shook our heads. What a pussy.
“Range?” He finally asked me last.
“I…it doesn’t really matter what sort of girl I want. They all laugh when they see me coming, and no chick is ever gonna want a dirty kid like me.” The other boys could have their hands, smiles, and boobies. I’d never have a girl of my own, not ever. Buck threw his stick into the fire with the hotdog still on it. He was angry with me, but I didn’t care. I’d accepted the truth about my future a long time ago and nothing he could say was gonna change that.
“Let me tell you boys something about women. You’d better listen up close, ‘cause you all sound pretty stupid where bitches are concerned.” He gave us all the stare down to make sure we were paying attention.
“You boys are too young to understand the true meaning of love and devotion from a real woman. You got years of rubbing your little peckers on some silly-ass school girls before you find your one. Believe me, it’s not all about tits and ass when you finally settle down. The love of a good woman can take all your pains away just by standing by your side, whispering a kind word in your ear. She can warm you heart and your soul with just a touch. Once you have it, you want it as much as you can get it. Bitches don’t give a shit about what your clothes look like or what kind of car you drive when they’re old enough to know better. Take care of your woman, and in return, she’ll take care of you.”
“Yeah, Buck, but what about the boobies?” Max just couldn’t let it go.
“Sebastian is right. Show respect to your woman. You don’t? The ones worth keepin’ will leave your ass quicker than shit for someone who will. It won’t be hard to do. You’ll want that for her, and for yourself.” We all agreed he was right, for once in his life.
“Oh, and Range? Next time you talk that shit around me, I’ll knock your head in. A real woman won’t give a shit about where you came from, only where you’re going. Work hard, show her love, protect her from harm. She’ll love you for it, stay loyal, and fight alongside you. You’re still young, dumb, and full of cum. One day, you’ll understand my meaning, and I’ll be the first one to say ‘I told your dumb ass.’”
“You were right, Buck. She loves me, all of me, the old and the new. I remember what you told us that day at the campground, but I’m scared, Buck, scared I’ll do something to fuck things up and lose her forever…like you did with your wife. I wish you could have gotten to know her before you died. I think you would have liked her. She’s my whole fucking world, Buck. Without her, I can’t breathe. I hope I can live up to her expectations and be the husband she deserves. I wish…I wish you could be here to see me, us, together. I love you, Buck.”
“I’ll always be here, boy, you feel me? Believe that.”
Chapter 5
Clover
Shelly insisted that we go check out the venue for the wedding again, just in case it changed from our last visit a week ago. I had a million other things I could be doing today other than this shit, but who cared what I thought, right? Marcus was coming home in less than two hours, and I needed to make sure his room was ready along with the buffet style dinner I had planned as a welcome celebration. It wouldn’t be a full-blown party, just the boys, Fox, Ashley, and Shelly. Shelly didn’t attend Buck’s funeral, so this would be her first time meeting Marcus in person. Ashley and I got to spend a little time with him before he was forced to return to Afghanistan for duty, and I couldn’t wait to see him again. A funeral wasn’t the ideal setting for a meet and greet, but the little time I did get to spend with him left a lasting impression on me. He was extremely handsome with his military-style haircut and formal uniform on, and it was plain as day that he was very good at leading his troops.
One look at him, and you could tell right off that he was definitely one of Buck’s boys. He stood as tall as Range, but was much more muscular in the arms and chest. He had that thousand-yard-stare thing down to a science; his keen eyes were always assessing any situation for danger even when there was none. He had the look of both predator and prey as he stood with his brothers and said good-bye to the father figure in his life. Marcus revealed very little about himself during his short stay with us; he was mostly anxious to get back to his squad and base camp. He was a great guy, and his loyalties ran as deep for his fellow marines, as much as it did for his junkyard brothers. I prayed for his safe return, and today those prayers would be answered.
Shelly arrived on time looking like something out of a glamour-shots spread, hair and makeup done to perfection with not a blemish in sight. My old pair of sweats, dirty chucks, and one of Range’s t-shirts tied on the side of my waist made me feel like the biggest vagabond in town, but whatever, it wasn’t my idea to go to begin with.
“I see you managed to look your best for the occasion, Clove. You could have at least done something with your hair. And would it have killed you to put on a little lipstick?” Shelly bunched up her button nose in disgust as she took in my chosen attire for the day.
“Look, Ms. America’s Next Top Model, this was your dumbass idea anyway. Why don’t we just…” My little tirade was cut off by the rumblings of motorcycle pipes as three bikes quickly pulled down the private road that led up to the main house. The gleam of the chrome was enough to blind me temporarily as the three men circled around us before they came to a stop. Shelly grabbed me by the arm and yanked me behind her as the massive leader of the group removed his goggles and helmet. I was so taken aback by this whole scene that I wasn’t paying attention to the other two riders until one of them finally spoke out.
“You gonna keep hiding, sugar, or come out and say hello?”
“Julian? Oh my god, what are you doing here?” I was happy to see it was him and not some other deranged biker looking to track down a now deceased Buck. I moved from behind Shelly to get a better look, and sure enough, it was Julian in all his one-percent glory. I hadn’t seen him in months, but he still wore that flirty smile that showed both rows of teeth and that sexy little dimple that was now making its appearance under his unshaven cheek. I couldn’t believe he just showed up out of the blue like this, and to the house no less. The last time I saw him was in my hospital room after the shooting just before I fell asleep. I hoped everything turned out okay with his sister and this was just a casual visit. Before I could ask, Shelly made sure Julian would make this the shortest visit in history by stomping on the welcome mat and lighting it on fire.
“What the fuck do you want, asshole? Didn’t you cause enough trouble the last time you came to town? Stay the fuck away from my sister before I kick your ass.” Shelly was right in his face, pointing her finger and snarling like a damn she-wolf, while Julian just sat on his bike, smiling back at her as if he didn’t have a care in the world. My sister was intimidating as hell when she wanted to be, and right now, she was unleashing the Beast of Bitchville on an unsuspecting Julian.
“Sister? With a mouth like that? No way, babe. You better fucking try again.” Julian was smirking at her, while the other two guys started laughing at his attempt at humor. Introductions were in order before these two started throwing blows. I knew enough from watching television that bikers didn’t take a lot of shit from their women, and Shelly was definitely pushing their boundaries when it came to their club rules.
“Julian, this actually is my sister, Shelly. Shelly, this is Julian. He’s a friend of mine.” I had to tread lightly.
“He’s not your fucking friend, Clove. He’s the dick who shot out the fucking windows with us still inside. Now get the hell out
ta here before I call the cops.” I’d be the first to admit that I made a huge mistake telling Ashley and Shelly about the window incident, but in my defense, I was trying to make things better, not worse. It all started when I added his name to the guest list for my wedding. Of course, they’d never heard his name before and the jig was up when I couldn’t produce a last name for the invitation. I gave them the most abbreviated version of events that I could possibly come up with, but there was no way around the fact that Julian had indeed shot the windows out of Range’s house while we were in it. My explanation rang of naïveté and stupidity, but hey, I took a shot. “Um…you see…Julian is a friend of mine, and I would like to invite him to the wedding, of course…he’s kind of a biker of sorts and well…I don’t know his last name…and he was the um…guy who shot at us that day we were visiting Range at the junkyard.” It was a total disaster, but in the end, I made sure that Julian’s name was left on the guest list.
“Watch your fucking mouth, bitch, before you get yourself in trouble.” The big man who rode in with Julian was climbing off his bike and taking menacing steps toward my sister.
“Take it easy, Gan, she’s a civilian, doesn’t know a bitch’s place.” That came from guy number three, who was much too small to be a part of anyone’s gang. His motorcycle swallowed his tiny body, and if I had to guess, he wasn’t much taller than I was. No way could this guy hold his own against someone as big as a normal-sized biker. He must be the club cook or something, just out for a joyride. Just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse, the little luck I had ran out when a black monster truck came barreling down the driveway at sixty miles per hour, carrying a very pissed off Range Reardon. Shit was about to go…down.
Fuck my life.
If I was a little frightened before, now I was absolutely petrified. Watching Range step down from his truck, his face a hard mask of anger, was like watching a spider crawl across my dashboard while I was casually driving along minding my own business. The crash was imminent; swerving to miss the big giant tree was all I could hope for before I totally crashed and burned. As much as I hated the very idea of the scary fuckers, I would have preferred a spider crawling on my face instead of this colossal catastrophe that was about to unfold.
“You motherfuckers lost or something? Sign says no trespassing, or didn’t they teach you to read in biker school?” He situated himself in front of Shelly and me like a big-ass billboard hanging high in Time Square. This was one of those times I hated being so short, especially when I was thrust to the back of the bus and couldn’t see shit.
“Not trespassing, brother, just stopped by to see my girl, is all.” Julian was unfazed by this show of machoism. His last run-in with Range didn’t teach him a thing about poking the bear. His dumbass response told me that this was definitely going to be a clear case of whose dick was bigger.
“Your girl? Naw, man, your girl is on her knees right about now, taking your president’s cock down her throat. Best you run along and see about that.” Range was being purposefully hurtful, and as much as I could understand his need to show ownership over me in front of all these men, I didn’t much appreciate this nasty confrontation on such a sensitive topic as Julian’s sister. I had a right to choose my own friends and decide who could and couldn’t visit with me. So what if it was an unexpected visit and Julian was a crazy biker who got under his skin? I had to stop this pissing contest before it got completely out of hand and these two bulldogs lost their damn minds.
“Range, Julian is a friend, and need I remind you that he did save my life?” I stated quietly while taking my place next to him.
“See, brother? She wants me…bad.” Julian smirked at Range. Bad move, buddy.
“The fuck you say, motherfucker?” Range grabbed Julian around the neck and lifted him from his bike. The other two men pulled out their guns and pointed them right at his head as he stood toe to toe with the three of them.
“Let him go, fucker, or I’ll blow your fucking head off,” the big guy, Gan I think his name was, threatened. There was a light wisp of air that tickled my ear when an arrow came from out of nowhere and lodged itself in seat of one of the motorcycles. That was when Sebastian came from behind the house, carrying his bow, and trained it on Gan. The midget biker then pulled his gun and pointed it at Sebastian, who was standing a few yards away. He was stopped cold when two guns were pointed at his head then Gan’s head at the same time, but by who?
“You motherfuckers wanna back off before things turn really ugly?” Memory was there, but where in the hell did he come from? I didn’t even hear his approach he was so silent. Now we had four guns, one bow, and a partridge in a pear tree. Shelly was panting, I was crying, and any hopes of a friendly reunion with Julian were quickly dashed when the arsenal came out to play. I’d be the first to admit that if this wasn’t a deadly situation, I might have been slightly turned on by this modern version of Gunfight at the OK Corral, but it was dangerous and certainly no time to fanaticize.
“Julian, please make them stop. Tell them to put their guns away,” I beseeched him quietly, while he shook his head no.
“Please…for me? If you want to be my friend, Julian, tell them to put the guns away. Now.”
“Put ‘em away, boys,” he reluctantly commanded. Peewee lowered his weapon, but Gan stood fast, not moving a muscle.
“Gan! Put that shit away… now! I gave you an order. You damn well better fucking follow it.” He was still pissed, but he finally did as he was told. Once their guns were securely away, Memory lowered his two and walked around to our side of the standoff. By the time he arrived, Sebastian had moved away from the house and we were all standing together. Three men on one side, three on the other, all angry, all dangerous. This situation needed a woman’s touch, and fast. I gave Range a hard kiss on the mouth to draw his attention then turned to the angry bikers with a suggestion of my own.
“Well…glad to see us all getting along so well. Why don’t we go inside for some beer and pretzels, my treat?”
Chapter 6
Range
I was looking forward to the spanking I was gonna lay on Clover’s little ass later on tonight. Forcing me to act civil towards these assholes was one thing, allowing them in my house was another. Clover was the love of my life, but a man has to draw the line somewhere when it comes to his household, and that’s why we were all standing around outside and not in my fucking living room. The atmosphere was still full of tension even after Clover passed out her beer and pretzels as she tried to turn this clusterfuck into some sort of weird-ass impromptu party, complete with guns and ammo.
They were all standing on one side, the rest of us on the other, close enough where I could listen in on the conversation Craze was having with my woman. She was completely at ease as she chatted away like he was some kind of long lost girlfriend just returning from backpacking in Europe instead of a lowlife criminal who tried to kill us. Her willingness to look past those minor details was one of the reasons I loved her so much. She forgave easily, trusted foolishly, and remained loyal to anyone she considered a friend. To Clover, Craze was the man who saved her life by jumping over a glass display case and shoving her to the ground when shots rang out. She didn’t know it was one of his biker friends and not some random robber who had been the actual shooter. Since the months following Buck’s death, this was the only time I regretted not telling her the truth.
“Do something about this, Range. Don’t just stand here and let her play nice with these fucking criminals,” Shelly was hissing in my ear as I strained to hear the conversations going on.
“What the fuck you want me to do, Shelly? Drag her by the hair and lock her in the bathroom?”
“Yes, damnit…drag her little ass kicking and screaming if you have to. She’s lost her damn mind,” she whisper yelled.
“You know, that might not be a bad idea. This could turn into a major problem. I read somewhere that bikers like to treat their women like property, branding and tatt
ooing signs on them like cattle. Can you imagine Clover with a brand on her back? Not to mention the sanitary concerns with infection and disease.” Sebastian gave his two cents.
“Not the time, brother. Keep your bullshit to yourself, so I can hear what the hell they’re talking about. Both of you just shut the fuck up and let me deal with this shit. I know that I’m doing.”
These two were doing my head in, yammering on and on like I couldn’t see what was going on right in front of me. Mem was the only one with his game face on, silently watching the situation from his spot leaning against the house. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Clover and the rest of those assholes since they arrived. I hadn’t had a chance to ask him how or why he didn’t call to tell us he had arrived early. There’d be plenty of time for that later. For now, we waited.
“So, Julian, what are you guys doing back here in Virginia?” Yeah, motherfucker, what are you doing here?
“Shit went down recently with the club, changes being made. Club business. We’re relocating the chapter closer to this side of the country.” What a bunch of horse shit.
“Oh, I see, it’s a secret and I’m not in the club so I can’t know.” Clover giggled like a silly school girl. “How’re things going with Mia?” Only my woman would show concern for a girl she never met a day in her life.
“Still working that out, sugar.” Hmm, interesting. Still too much of a pussy to take out his president and end this whole fiasco.
“Oh, Julian, I hope you find a way to help Mia. I can’t imagine what I would do if I were in your situation.” Clover reached for this hand and held it in her tiny one. I wanted to rip if off and scratch my ass with it.
“Me too, sugar, me too. The brothers and I just drove up to scout out the new location, make sure shit was in order before the rest of the crew arrived.” Wipe that fucking smile off your face, dick brain, before I bash your head in with a hammer.
Refuse: A Junkyard Wedding Page 3