by Bella Drake
“Great Sis, I am happy for you.”
“Oh, you don’t get it.”
“Whatever.”
“She's not suicidal, is she?”
“Lucy? No, not anymore.”
“What?!”
“I’m just kidding. She’s fine. She just, well... in a way she found her old self and she likes that person better than the one she had become.”
“I'll say! She seems to like you.”
“Oh yeah, did she say something?”
“Girl Code.”
“There is no girl code,” I laughed.
“There is, you just don’t know about it because it's such a secret code.”
“Oh okay, whatever you say, sis.”
“Really. It’s kind of like the He-Man Woman Haters Club.”
“The what?”
“Never mind. I really like her Matt.”
“Yeah, I can see why.”
“No, not because of the dress. I mean, sure that was nice, but I really like her a lot and you should too.”
“What makes you think I don’t?”
“Well, just don’t screw it up.”
“Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“You know what I mean. You run with a pretty rough crew and I would hate to see that scare her off.”
“Trust me, not much scares Lucy. That’s for sure.”
“Well good, because you too are good for each other.”
“I agree.”
“You do?”
“Laura? Laura!”
“Matt? Matt! What?!” she mimicked.
“I’m in love with her. I love her. I love Lucy.” Laura ran over to me and hugged me tightly. “Okay, okay. Easy. You're pregnant.”
“I’m so happy for you Matt. She is great and you're great and you guys are…”
“Let me guess, 'great'.”
“Yes,” she said, and we both laughed. “What about the trouble?”
“What trouble?”
“You know, the guys at the 'quarry'.”
I looked at Laura for a moment. I almost forgot that I had told her I had some guys after me, in not so many words. “Well, that is the unknown for now, but I have a plan.”
“A plan, what plan?”
“Laura, the less you know the better and please don’t push me on this. I don’t want you worrying about me.”
“Me not worry about you? Yeah, right.”
“You have enough to worry about telling Greg about the mansion across the lake.”
“Please, don’t remind me.”
“Seriously, Matt. What the hell is going on? It obviously has something to do with the motorcycle club.” I didn’t say anything in response to that. “Am I right, are those fuckers after you for something?” she then pressed me. I was still silent though. “God damn it, Matt! I’m trying to help you!”
“I know, I know but some things can't be helped, and this is one of them. It's all going to be okay. I just need to stay gone for a while.”
“Oh God, is it that serious?” I looked at Laura and with that look, she knew I was in real trouble. She hugged me and started to cry as if I was already dead. “C’mon, don’t cry. There’s no crying in baseball,” I said, trying to get her to laugh with a quote from her favorite movie “A League of Their Own.”
“God,” she said, wiping her tears. “I can't lose you, Matt.”
“You're not going to, trust me.”
“Promise me that you’ll be okay and that they don’t want you dead.”
“I promise you I'll be okay.”
“What about the 'they don’t want you dead' part?”
“Fine, I promise you I'll be okay and that they don’t want me dead. Okay?”
“Fine. At least I know I can keep you safe up here for the summer.”
“The shape this place is in? I'll be lucky to finish by the end of summer.”
“You can stay here for as long as you need to as far as I’m concerned.”
“Thanks, sis. I really appreciate it.”
“Anything for my big bro.”
“On a lighter note... you're fucking preggo!”
“I know, it's both amazing and terrifying. Greg is so cute, he is running around buying stuff for the baby like I’m in labor already.”
“That’s great sis, I am really happy you found a good man.”
“He is... he is so wonderful. I totally don’t deserve him but I’m not going to tell him that.”
“Yeah, don’t,” I laughed.
“It’s not too late you know.”
“For what?”
“A baby,” she nudged my arm.
“Oh nooo, not me. I had my baby.”
“I know, but you're young and well.”
“Laura, don’t,” I said, sternly. “My little girl lives in my heart and my mind and I have no reason to have another one.”
“I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”
“Oh yeah, you're on-the-run happy?”
“Well, there is that but besides that, I am as happy as happy gets.”
“Yeah, Lucy seems great and she is just crazy enough to be with you.”
“I know, it's great.”
I told Laura about the night I met Lucy and the bonfire of bones and coo-coo clocks and how she saved me. I left out the part about the gun. Laura told me that Lucy had already told her but the story was so romantic, in a tragic sort of way, that she didn’t mind hearing it twice.
“God, I can't believe she saved you,” Laura said when I had gotten to the end of it.
“Yeah, it was pretty crazy.”
“Have you told her about your... well, situation?”
“I did and she is, I think, more worried about it than you if you can imagine that. She wants to protect me. She even said she vowed to Cassie that she would.”
“Really, so she is crazy?!”
“No, she’s just, well... she believes Cassie is the reason I am here and why we were brought together.”
“Well, if you think about it, it’s a fairly impossible coincidence.”
“It's definitely beyond me.”
“It's like a level ten on the romance scale. The outlaw biker on the run and the rich, suicidal wife both coming together at the lake cabin. Geez, sounds like a Hallmark movie.”
“Okay, sis.”
“Why don’t you guys just take off?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Lucy obviously has more money than God and she is hell-bent on protecting you. You should take off. Like, out of the county.”
“Woah, hold your horses. We just met.”
“Yeah, and you love her right? Never mind, I know you do and I know she loves you.”
“She does?”
“C’mon Matt, really. You guys are destined to be together and I think she just might be your soulmate.”
“Hmm…running is a thought, but I need to take care of a few things first and one of those things is this cabin. So, I won't be running anytime soon. Plus, no one knows about this place or you, or Greg. It's all good.”
“Okay, but promise me you’ll stay up here and not go back there anytime soon.”
I looked at my sis and little did she know, I was going back later tonight with Lucy on our covert mission to get Cassie’s hospital wristband from my apartment. I wasn’t about to tell her knowing that if I did, I would end up with two women on the mission instead of one. The last thing I needed was my pregnant sister and Lucy on that run.
“Nope, I don’t plan on going anywhere until this place is worthy of you and that little one in your tummy,” I said, touching her flat stomach.
“I can't wait 'til I’m a big, fat pregnant lady.”
“You're crazy, sis.”
“I know. Crazy and hungry. I am eating for two, you know? And I am craving Mexican and there just happens to be a good place in town, believe it or not.”
“I don’t believe it, but I don’t think I have a choice.”
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“No, you don’t. Let’s go.”
I spent the entire day talking and laughing with my sis. It was great. We talked about old times and plans for the future. Even though I was happy to spend time with my sister, I couldn’t help but think about Lucy all day. I kept thinking I would hear her drive up or swim over, but she didn’t. She was giving me space and that was cool too. Even though I didn’t want space, it made me want her more knowing how thoughtful she was. I couldn’t wait for another Texas Twist. Damn, that was an out-of-this-fucking-world level blowjob. But beyond the sex, I loved her. I loved her even though I only knew her for a few days. Hell, my sister met Greg when she took a class from him and three days later, they were living together. The universe works in mysterious ways and right now it was pulling off some pretty cool shit with Lucy and me.
At five thirty, Laura decided she better get home. She wanted to stay but had things back at home that she needed to take care of on Sunday. That was good because so did Lucy and I. As soon as my sis left, I decided to jump in my van and go on this mission without Lucy. I couldn’t put her in danger. I grabbed my gun and stashed it in the van. I turned the key and nothing. Fuck! It wouldn’t start. "Great! Fucking battery's dead. Piece of shit!” I was sitting yelling profanities in the van when Lucy pulled up in her Range Rover with blacked out windows. She saw me in the van and immediately knew I was trying to go without her. She pulled in front of me causing a dust cloud, preventing me from having any chance of escaping.
“What the fuck Matt?! We had an agreement!” she yelled as she got out. She was wearing black pants, black boots, and a black long sleeve shirt. She had her hair in a ponytail that was held in place with a black baseball cap. She was even sporting some black driving gloves. I started laughing even though she was pissed at me for trying to leave her behind. She walked over and opened the door of my van. “Really?! Really?! You were going without me in your van that they know you own? Yeah, that’s really smart Matt. Hell, why don’t you just call everyone you know back home and tell them you’ll be in town for the day? I’m sure someone would throw you a welcome party. I can't believe you were going to leave me, that’s bullshit.”
“Lucy! Stop. I can’t have you involved in this.”
“I’m already involved, don’t you get it? You and I, we need each other and that’s just the way it is.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, really,” Lucy said as she grabbed my head and kissed me. She started crying and I just kept kissing her until she stopped. I could tell she was scared. I know she wasn’t scared of the MC, even though she should be. She was scared that the only person that got her, that really knew her, was in danger and could possibly be taken out in the near future. “Don’t leave me, Matt. Don’t you get it, we are a team and if you go out then I go out.”
She was pulled on my jacket sleeve really hard like it was her lifeline. I knew what she meant. I felt alive when I was with her and I couldn’t imagine being in this world without her. I looked at her and she was right. We were a team brought together to help each other. I leaned over and grabbed the gun from the glove compartment and put it in my jacket pocket. Lucy saw the gun and wasn’t fazed by it.
“I’ve got the shotgun in the Rover but I still don’t know how to load it,” she told me.
“Well first off, this isn’t a movie and I don’t think we will be needing a shotgun. Not to mention, considering you are staying in the car you don’t need to be dressed like it's Mission Impossible,” I said, laughing.
“What? I just wanted to be prepared.”
“For what, robbing a museum?”
“Oh, shut up. I look cute.”
“Yes, yes you do.”
I wasn’t surprised when she brought the shotgun. In the short time, I have known Lucy, I have learned she is capable of most anything.
“Well darlin', let's do this.”
We got in the Rover and headed south out of the mountain range – south towards an unknown outcome of a surely dangerous plan. As the miles ticked away, we listened to Led Zeppelin and talked. We hadn’t said it out loud yet, but we were in love. We danced around the word while getting to know one another at the same time. We both knew it, we just held back. It seemed unnatural saying something so permanent after only knowing each other for such a short time. But, we also didn’t need words to tell us how we felt. When Lucy reached over and grabbed my hand, I squeezed hers hard and looked over at her. Her eyes spoke volumes and so did mine. For every word we spoke, our eyes spoke a thousand.
“How far is Jacksonville?” she asked me.
“About four hours.”
“That means it will be about midnight.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“What are we going to do until morning?”
“Well, that plan is to lay low. I know a spot.”
“Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“I need to pee.”
“Oh God.”
“What?!”
“Never mind.”
“What, biker chicks don’t need to pee?”
“Alright, alright. I'll pull off,” I said, seeing a gas station sign.
I pulled up to the gas station and Lucy jumped out and hurried inside. I would normally just go inside and grab a coffee or a snack, but I realized nothing about my life now was normal. I was free, but I was only four hours away from the MC’s stronghold and there could easily be guys or someone I knew in this neck of the woods. As soon as I opened the door of Lucy’s Rover, I closed it and scanned the cars getting gas and watched the people filter in and out of the mini-mart. This sucks, I thought. Maybe sis is right. Maybe Lucy and I need to take off for real. I don’t want to spend my life looking over my shoulder, especially when I am protecting Lucy. I can’t let anything happen to her. I looked over towards the mini-mart again. Good girl, I thought as I saw a smiling Lucy coming out of it with coffees and a bag of road munchies.
“I thought we could use some snacks.”
“Good work.”
“See, you're lucky you brought me,” she said, handing me a coffee.
“This is true,” I said, smiling at her.
“Don’t you need to pee?”
“No, I'll pee later.”
Lucy could tell I was being cautious and didn’t want to get out of the car in a public place. Her face went from excited and adventurous to concerned. The closer we got to Jacksonville the tenser I became. We passed places I had been a thousand times. We passed the park where the club would have its annual picnic. I remember I had to man the BBQ for a hundred hungry, drunk bikers when I first started prospecting. It was the same park we brought Cassie to when she was a toddler. We were so happy, and life seemed complete back then. I passed through town and it was dead. Jacksonville was small, only a couple of lights. I saw a cop car posted on the corner downtown and the hairs on my back instantly stood up. As we passed he didn’t even look at us. Must be the car we were in, it was like a cloaking device. A Range Rover meant money and no cop is going to bother people driving a car like this. No, he would wait for some unlucky schmuck driving an old pick-up who had a couple beers at the bar and was driving home. Yeah, he would pinch that guy and ruin his world. I was hating on rich people but at the same time, I was really happy to be rolling in this ride with its blacked-out windows.
I drove through town and into the hills. The road twisted and turned into the darkness.
“Where are we going?” Lucy asked me.
“I need to check on something.”
We drove for about thirty minutes. I slowed when I saw the pull-out on the right side of the road. My heart raced, and I stopped the car.
“Why are you stopping?”
I didn’t answer her. Lucy was looking at me, but she didn’t say anything.
“Wait here,” I said, and got out.
The wind whipped against my face, it was gusting pretty hard. The trees that lined the road brushed back and forth, fighting against the wind. I
slowly walked forward to the edge of the road. I got to the edge and with the headlights, I could see traces of where a tire track made an indentation in the dirt heading off into the trees. I looked down into the darkness where we had thrown the poor guy and his bike. This was the spot. I wondered if he was found or still lying down there alone in the dark with his crushed bike next to him. I got my answer when the wind picked up. I got a whiff of something awful. I put my hand to my mouth as I inhaled the stench. It's him, I thought, it has to be. It smelled like roadkill but ten times worse. “Oh God, he’s still down there,” I said aloud. Without warning, the lunch that I had with my sister hours before came back up. I knelt over and puked as the overwhelming smell enveloped me.
“Are you okay?! Lucy yelled from the Rover. “Oh God, what’s that smell?!” she slammed the door.
I turned, wiped my mouth and then hurried back to the car and got in.
“Matt, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“I’m fine.”
“What is that awful smell?”
“Just a deer.”
“A deer! That is so sad.”
“Yeah, it's sad alright.”
“Here, take a sip of water.”
“Thanks.”
I pulled back onto the road and drove back towards town. I was like a zombie. I was driving and looking but I wasn’t really there. I was with that guy at the bottom of the cliff who was now rotting in the night. I didn’t kill him, but I did put a hole in him and throw him down there. If I was a decent person I would have just gone to the cops but I couldn’t. Not with the gun and my prints on it. I slammed my hand on the steering wheel in frustration.
“What is it, Matt?” Lucy said, putting her hand on my thigh.
Her touch startled me and pulled me back into reality. “I’m fine, I just need to rest for a while.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I'll be fine,” I said, squeezing her hand and smiling at her. “I know a place.”
We drove further and just before town, there was an abandoned campground. I pulled into it and drove to the back, parking behind a large overgrown blackberry patch that I used to take Cassie to. It was out of sight from the road and from any cop patrol that might come by. I got out and relieved myself under a nearby tree.