by Xander Hades
“Thanks, boss!” Val said, lifting her diet soda in a toast. “I haven’t felt this good in days.”
“Next time,” Loki said, “let’s rent the RV.”
“And miss the drive up here?” Hoodoo shot back. “You would give up all that ride time just for a shower?”
Loki looked at him for a moment. “No,” he admitted. “No. Maybe we can rent one and have it delivered here….”
Mad-dog threw a fry at him. “So what’s next, boss?” He looked at Hoodoo, ignoring Loki’s cry of dismay, when it turned out that fry had been loaded, and there was now a ketchup smear down the front of his t-shirt.
“Well, I’m feeling full and clean,” he said slowly. “I think that what needs to happen next is that I look up an old friend of mine.”
All eyes turned to Val, who held up one hand. “Easy,” she warned, “easy does it.”
Loki chuckled. “It’s only because we love ya’ Val.”
“Alright,” she said, hand raising higher. “Alright.”
The ride back was fantastic. The open road, the bright blue sky and the pockets of cool air that rose off the side of the road and mingled with the reflected heat of the asphalt put everyone into a very good mood.
Instead of returning to the campground, Hoodoo led them down a side road to where there was a large stage. Unlike the others, the audience here sat in a circle around the stage, completely surrounding it.
There was a large cage in the middle of the platform.
They parked and gathered at the gate. No one gave Val a hard time, although she was visibly nervous. The man behind the gate told them to leave.
“Show’s not until tonight,” he said, impatient to get back to his magazine. “That’s why there’s lights.”
“Rocky is an old friend of mine,” Hoodoo pressed.
“Sure…whatever. I’m trying to read here.”
“It’s hardly reading when all you’re doing is looking at the pictures,” Val observed, craning her neck to see. “They’re all Photoshopped, you know.”
The man whipped the magazine out from under her nose, his face turning scarlet.
Hoodoo pulled out his phone and dialed. “Rock! Hoodoo! Yeah, pretty damn good. I know. New Orleans, that was a lot of fun. No, Hitmon is fine so far as I know. You’re in Sturgis, right? Yeah! Of course, hell, we’re at the gate. No, the one to your playpen here. Yeah! OK! Bye.”
“New Orleans?” Val asked.
Hoodoo nodded. “Just before you joined us, we got a favor called in. Maybe that’s why Hitmon wasn’t so pissed about the money. There were some nasty people wanted to ruin his wedding, we helped it not go quite so bad.”
“The Gilas stepped in to save a wedding?”
“Well… us and Rocky’s people, yeah.”
“’Rocky’s people’?” Val asked.
“He runs a gang in LA.” Danny said.
“He does not!” Hoodoo objected, “he’s a cage fighter. He just knows a gang in LA.”
“Ex-gang,” Andy added.
“Not very ex,” Danny argued.
“Ex enough.” Andy stood his ground.
“Let’s just say that Rocky helps kids get out of the streets.” Mad-dog broke in, “and some of the ones he helps, bring the street with them.”
The man in the ticket booth picked up his phone, which had begun ringing with a certain insistence that had all of them turn to look at it rather expectantly. He looked at Hoodoo like Hoodoo was about to defecate on his lunch and said into the phone, “Yeah, real big. Really? Fine.” He hung up and reached for a button under his desk.
There was a CLICK on the turnstile and he pointed with his thumb for them to go inside. “Alright, you can go in, head behind the stage, there’s a trailer there, use the far door.”
“Very kind of you,” Hoodoo smiled.
“Yeah right, watch your head.”
They walked through the turnstile, one of the most ridiculous features of the area, the “fence” was barely three feet high and Hoodoo and Mad-dog could have easily stepped over it. To get a hundred or a thousand bikers to placidly go through a turnstile was going to be a joke later that evening. Hoodoo told himself it was just while they were setting up the stage, but wasn’t sure he bought it.
Once past the gate, they headed to the back of the stage and found a long trailer, what looked like four standard office trailers set end to end and side by side. There was a door on each end and the door closest to them said KROCKER. Hoodoo stopped and stared, looking at the name. It seemed too coincidental. He was about to say something to Mad-dog when a shout split the air from the other side of the trailer.
“HOODOO!” Rocky cried, his arms thrown open. He closed the gap on the group and embraced the giant.
Against anyone else, Rocky wouldn’t have looked small. He wasn’t very tall, at five-eleven, even Loki carried an inch on him and between Mad-dog and Hoodoo, he should have looked like a hobbit. But as short as Rocky might be, he was wide. Thick. The man looked like he lived in a gym, broad, thick chest, arms that were as thick as Danny’s thighs and a frame that looked like it was barely restraining the power of his muscles.
If he’d been taller, it might not have been as impressive, but at his current height, Rocky looked like a giant dwarf straight out of Tolkien’s imagination in Lord of the Rings.
“Rocky,” Hoodoo said, “Mad-dog, Loki, Danny, Andy, and Valkyrie.” He pointed to each person as he said their name, while the group murmured hellos in response, both sides assessing the other, trying to decide who was fit to be companion to Hoodoo.
The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous. Especially when Val seemed to have forgotten how to speak.
“Valkyrie?” Rocky’s mouth twitched up into a smile. Of course, he noticed the only girl there, but his interest was definitely piqued. Hoodoo wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “Chooser of the slain. I like that.” Of all the introductions, it was only Val’s hand that he shook and he held onto her fingers for an awfully long time. For her part, Val’s mouth opened but no sound came out.
None of the men would embarrass her in front of Rocky. That didn’t mean they weren’t all taking notes for later.
“I saw you on pay per view,” Val said a little breathlessly, staring at their joined hands. “In the Everfield fight. You were impressive.”
“Thank you.” Rocky smiled, maybe a little too friendly, a little too interested. “If you hang around with the little man here,” he nodded once to Hoodoo, “then that’s damn impressive, too.”
Hoodoo crossed his arms, feeling like a parent trying to decide if he should let the nice boy take his little girl to the prom. From the way Rocky was eyeing Val, his kneejerk response was made up of two words. “Hell” and “no.”
“So tell me,” Rocky said, reluctantly releasing her hand and turning toward the twins. “Why don’t you two have great nicknames for Viking gods?”
Danny shrugged. Andy said, “no idea. No one ever thought to use one.”
“On either of us,” Danny added.
“Even from childhood,” Andy said.
“Never had a nickname,” Danny said.
“Ok, I get it now.” Rocky held up his hands in surrender and laughed.
“Hoodoo! I don’t know where you find them. Man, it’s been a long time. I heard you and Hitmon were on the outs?”
“Nah. He’s cool. I felt like I did him wrong, you know? But, he says I didn’t so… I guess I can let it drop.” Hoodoo ignored the surprised look he got from Mad-dog, although he actually appreciated that little nod of approval.
“You all coming to the fight tonight?”
“Yes!” Val said abruptly and coughed. She colored a little. The shout might have been forgiven, but the little jump for joy was definitely a little over the top.
Rocky was watching Val with amusement. Hell, they all were at this point. “Well, you’ll all be my guests. Check at the ticket booth, you can get in the front row. I’ll have them reserved.”
&nbs
p; One by one they thanked him and Hoodoo noticed that Val seemed to be unable to stop grinning. Definitely something worth teasing her about later. “Later, Rocky,” he said, grabbing Val’s wrist, to tow her away. At this point, he highly doubted she’d move of her own volition. “Catch you after?”
“Of course!” Rocky said, slapping the large man on the back. “And I hope you will all be there when I’m done tonight.” He said it to the group, but his eyes were locked onto Val.
Oh god, the feeling was definitely mutual.
Please tell me Tracy and I didn’t look half so idiotic as all that.
“We will,” she said, biting her lower lip and blushing so hard it was amazing her head didn’t explode or something. Hoodoo shook his head as he led her away. Good grief, was she going to get it later.
Hoodoo couldn’t wait. It was about time someone else got raked over the coals around here. Especially the way they’d given him so much grief about Tracy.
Although not today. They’d all been careful about saying anything about her today.
OK, maybe I won’t tease her too much then.
Nah. Who was he kiddin?
Chapter Eighteen
“Hoodoo.” He wasn’t sure who he was talking to. Over the noise of the crowd it was nearly impossible to hear him. Hoodoo pressed the phone to his ear and held his hand over the other ear but even then it was a toss-up.
“Danny?”
“No, Andy!”
“The cage fight is about to start, are you two coming or not?”
“Hoodoo, she’s here!”
“Who’s where?” Hoodoo looked at Loki and shrugged. Mad-dog was still trying to not smile at Loki’s blackening eye, but it was a losing battle at best. Hoodoo and Mad-dog drove Val half mad with teasing, but they knew when to stop. With any luck, Loki was a little wiser now, too.
“Your girl!” Andy said. At least that’s what he thought he said. Andy was trying to whisper. With all the noise Hoodoo was desperately trying to block out on his end, it didn’t work out too well. The end result was muffled at best. “Her rig… outside of town, the Buffalo Chip… bike… Bandits…”
“Andy? ANDY?” Hoodoo looked at his phone. He had a good signal, four bars, but Andy wasn’t at the other end of the line anymore.
“What’s up?” Loki asked. Even Mad-dog looked more concerned than smug.
“I don’t know!” Hoodoo shouted over the crowd. “I’m not sure… Something about ‘my girl’ and ‘The Buffalo Chip.’ I couldn’t make it out.”
“Tracy?” Val piped up from where she was examining her knuckles. By all rights her hand should have been broken. She shook it off. “I thought she split?”
“Me too…” Hoodoo looked at his phone and then back at the venue. The crowds had been getting thick for the last half hour. If he left now, finding a place to watch the fight later would require binoculars at best.
On the other hand, Tracy needed him.
Mad-dog shook his head. “Dude, you have plenty of time, the fight doesn’t start for two hours yet, go check it out…”
Hoodoo paced in a small circle. “No. No, Tracy was right. We split up. Well, she did anyway, and that’s enough. This isn’t any of my business anymore, I don’ have a dog in this fight. If she’s gotta throw it all away on her cousin, then so be it.” He came to a halt, arms crossed in front of him. “My mind is made up.”
“But you’re the one that paid for the bike!” Val objected.
“Yeah…” Hoodoo said, “but if I give you a… a new pair of cruise pegs for your bike, I give them to you, I don’t tell you you can’ give them to Loki or trade em’ in for a rearview. They yours once they’re given. Hitmon, he don’ care about the money, he said I owe him nothin’, so… I got no say in what she does with the bike.”
“That’s shit, boss and you know it.”
“It is.” Hoodoo agreed. “But that’s the way the world is.” He shrugged. “I can’ just go bustin’ in like pulling a Girl Scout out of a burnin’ building. She has to handle herself.”
“Hoodoo.” Mad-dog said, grabbing the giant’s wrist. “Andy’s there. Danny must be, too. They’re deep in Bandit territory.”
Of course, that changed things completely. Hoodoo looked at his wingman. “Ok, that we should check.” He ignored the way the others exchanged glances behind him. He knew he’d been had. On the other hand, having a decent rationalization might come in handy. In case Tracy had a few things to say when he showed up.
Which of course she would.
Hoodoo grinned. Let her talk. He was a big boy. He could handle it.
He walked back to the trailer where Rocky was staying and knocked on his door. Rocky’s agent, never happy to see someone that might be a distraction to his client, very reluctantly let Hoodoo in. Especially after Rocky heard his voice and demanded that Hoodoo be allowed entrance.
“Hey, Rock,” Hoodoo said, standing on the top step. His head was already above the door jamb. Hoodoo preferred to stand outside, the trailer was painfully short and he felt like he needed to crouch just to get in it.
“Hey, Hoodoo, how’d you like to be in my corner?” Rocky said with a big gap-toothed grin. “I could use someone to watch my back and hey, maybe you can scare Krocker just by leering at him. I hear he’s a pipsqueak. Some little guy only six-feet-six or so.”
“I’m honored, Rock, but… I don’t know if I might not make it back on time. I gotta run and check something.”
“Yeah?” Rocky said, his head coming up real sharp. “What’s up? What’s more important than holding down a part of the stage while I kick someone’s ass?”
Hoodoo smiled and gave a sidelong glance at the manager. “I think I might have a problem…” He said carefully. “Like Hitmon had in New Orleans.”
Rocky looked at the manager and back at Hoodoo, “I got an exhibition in a couple hours,” he pointed out, although his tone was thoughtful. Not saying yes exactly, but at least not saying no.
“Hey, wait a minute…” The manager looked between the two of them, and scrambling to his feet, sending his chair backwards against the side of the trailer with a hard bang. His eyes were wide. Panicked. “Yeah, you do. There’s a lot of money in this exhibition, too.”
“Just be a min,” Hoodoo smiled at the manager, trying to be reassuring. Somewhat. Maybe the grin was overkill. The guy actually turned pale and he managed cage fighters.
“Alright,” Rocky stood, decision made. “I got your back.”
“Wait, WHAT?” The manager spluttered and coughed, turning his attention to the one person he thought he could still control. “You can’t run off! You can’t just…” but Rocky was already following Hoodoo through the grass and to the parking areas.
“You all have an extra helmet?” Rocky asked. As one, each of the Gilas turned slowly. Rocky was grinning from ear to ear, “just kidding!” He held up his hands in surrender. “I do need to bum a ride, though.”
“No one rides behind me,” Hoodoo said real quiet-like, “but Tracy.”
The others exchanged glances. No one said anything.
“My rear seat is… uh… busted.” Mad-dog said after a moment. “It’s starting to bust loose, I need to fix that….”
“I can…” Loki offered, but Mad-dog’s finger made him exhale forcibly when he jammed it into Loki’s rib. “I mean, it’s no good. Sorry, man.”
“Val,” Hoodoo was already on his bike. “You mind giving my friend a ride? We could use his help.”
Val blinked and looked between them. “Ah… yeah… sure… if that’s ok with you…” she stuttered, looking at Rocky.
“It’s an honor.” Rocky’s grin seemed to actually grow as he spoke to her. She fired up her bike and Rocky perched his considerable bulk behind her. It made for an interesting picture. When Val sat, there was very little room, Rocky was a thick-chested man. He gripped her hips and Hoodoo saw the sudden widening of her eyes.
Hell, this was worth the trip just to see that.
The dri
ve to The Buffalo Chip was all part of the stream of bikes that ran up and down the city streets, but in the dirt behind the building, Hoodoo could see Tracy’s rental RV. The back end was open. The end where one might park a motorcycle.
Hoodoo cruised to a nearby park and held up a hand. The rest of The Gilas stopped and waited as he drove on.
There was Tracy, under a tree at a picnic table. Joey was with her, as were nearly a dozen Bandits. The Crocker was in the middle of the grass beside them all like a fantastical creature frozen in its tracks.
Hoodoo pulled up, Joey stood, as well the rest of the Bandits. Not one of them had a friendly face. There was one other person there, a heavily built man, young, thick black hair who moved like a brawler. Hoodoo recognized him from the fliers. Krocker. Rocky’s opponent.
“Damn it, Hoodoo!” Tracy swore as he walked up to her. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from me?”
Hoodoo, spread his hands and finger to show he was unarmed and not trying to start a fight. “Just here to see if you’re ok.” He looked at the table. A pen and an official looking form… yeah, sure enough that was a title there on the table. He had a pretty clear idea which bike it was for.