Page 103 of Size King

Then, just as Cody and I are about to head out, someone comes out from the back of the shop. He is a big, grizzled man in his mid-forties, clearly a biker and clearly ready for us to leave. If I knew why he wants us to leave, I would have insisted that I stay.

Before the man can even speak, Cody and I have summed him up. He is scum. He has tattoos on his arms and neck that are visible to me, and it gives him away as being a member of a rival gang. Not just any rival gang, but one that I have a heavy personal grievance with.

“Hey,” the man barks. “I’m Jacob Evans, shop owner.”

Cody and I both nod at him. “Hey.”

“Didn’t mean to interrupt whatever is going on out here,” says Jacob. “I just wanted to come out and greet our customers. What you boys in for?”

“Their bike isn’t starting,” Megan answers. “It’s out front if you want to take a look at it. I’m sure the boys wouldn’t mind.”

“I’m sure they can speak for themselves, darlin’,” says Jacob snidely. He puts his hand on Megan’s back and begins to caress her.

I can see a few things: for one, Megan is visibly uncomfortable with the way Jacob is touching her; she clearly doesn’t like it and he only seems creepier by the second. Secondly, his advances on her seem oddly animalistic; he appears to feel threatened by us (he is right to feel that way). Third, based on all the tattoos he has, I can tell he is high in the organization. I wonder how high he is. All the people in their gang have tattoos to identify themselves, but no one has ever publicly identified as the leader. My theory is that they want to remain as mysterious as possible so that people will be more intimidated by them just by seeing them; plus, they can collectively get away with more shit because it’s a fuckingherd.

“You leave your contact info?” Jacob asks us.

“Yeah, our number’s there,” says Cody.

“Might not be able to look at your bike today,” says Jacob as he stands closer to Megan and keeps touching her. “I’ll fit you guys in before the weekend, and I’ll give it to you for the best price in all of Reno. How does that sound?”

I just want his odd, creepy behavior toward Megan to end. “Sounds good, Jacob.”

We all shake hands, and I look into his eyes as I do it. There is something behind them…

Cody and I leave Ultra-Cycle. He gets on his bike, and I have my eyes set on an Uber back to the clubhouse.

“What you thinking?” Cody asks me.

“Well, it’s certainly interesting, to say the least.”

“It’s more than interesting or strange; it’s goddamn crazy,” says Cody. “Seeing that our bike shop competition might very well be operated by our club competition? There might literally be bloodshed over motorcycle shops.”

“How interesting and strange is his behavior with Megan?” I bring up. “He is being so weird and touchy on her.”

“He is definitely being creepy,” he agrees. “But how much better are you? You went from flirty to ‘Come over and suck my dick’ in ten seconds.”

“Please,” I say, insulted. “I was being a proper gentleman. So… Jacob Evans. Owner of Ultra-Cycle… I feel like I’ve heard that name before.”

“I know the name, but I’ve never met him,” says Cody. “He’s definitely one of the Hell-Snakes.”

The Hell-Snakes are the rival gang that I have unfinished business with. I’m not sure who the President of the club is; his identity is kept quiet. For all I know at this point, it could be Jacob. Regardless, the President of that club gave an order that changed my life forever almost two years ago.

“We can’t move too quickly yet,” says Cody while he tries reading my expression. “We don’t know much about this guy yet. You don’t want to enact revenge on the wrong biker.”

“I’m only thinking he could be our guy because of his attitude and the tattoos,” I inform him. “I’m not going to do anything. Relax.”

The reason that Cody fears an inappropriate reaction from me is because the President of the Hell-Snakes ordered his men to kill my wife.

Needless to say, there isn’t a single Hell-Snake that I like, but I am still looking for the President—the nameless leader who took away the mother of my children. I intend to kill for a kill.

I only wanted revenge… until I met Megan.

40

Megan

Ilove working on Thursdays because I always share the same shift as my new friend Kelsey. Not only do I like becoming better friends with her, but she also provides support whenever Jacob behaves indecently with me. She never even has to do anything—just her being there ensures that Jacob will keep his hands to himself.