Page 6 of Twisted Chassis (Foggy Basin)

You smelled the food, didn’t you?

“Haven? God dammit kid, get your ass in here! Holy shit, look at you!”

The transition between bone-crushing hug and a steal hand gripping his chin was as jarring as the booming voice that drowned out everything else around him. Cade Green still seemed more giant than human, from the top of his reddish-brown hair to the mismatched eyes that always gave him a slightly menacing look. He reminded Haven of Diesel, a sinfully hot wrester who gave off serious Biker Daddy vibes whenever he stepped into a ring. The number of times he’d jerked off to him riveled only the number of times he’d pleasured himself thinking about Cade. Now the man was peering down at him, as if searching to be certain that nothing important about Haven had changed.

“Did Gray do right by you?”

“No one ever hurt me.”

“Good deal.”

“Thank you,” Haven said only to find himself yanked back into another hug. This time Cade half-lifted him off the ground and squeezed until Haven was certain that his eyes were gonna pop out of his head.

“Don’t make me have to do it again,” Cade growled.

Wheezing, Haven struggled to choke out, “I won’t.”

“Then you’re welcome.”

Between catching his breath and trying to regain his balance once he’d been turned loose, he wasn’t prepared for the flying tackle that Jeremy laid on him. It knocked him back against the door, crushed the last of the air from his lungs, and he couldn’t even be mad about it. He’d been dying for this moment for years and would eternally be grateful to Cade for bringing Jeremy up on visiting days when he was still in juvie, even if it had meant lying about them being family for them to let a minor in.

That Jeremy had kept writing and coming up to see him when he’d been moved to the adult prison had meant the world to him. Between him and River, they’d kept him sane. Returning the hug, despite the way he was still gasping for breath, Haven closed his eyes and pressed his head to his best friend’s shoulder. Jeremy’s hands sunk into his hair, then they were both laughing, and crying, and clutching one another as Jeremy’s dog ran around them, barking and leaping up on their legs.

“I guess Flea wants to welcome you home too,” Cade said, chuckling.

Despite the fatherly vibe he was currently giving off, Haven knew that Cade, known as Chaos within his motorcycle club, was a force to be reckoned with. He’d also taught Haven as much about repairing Harleys as his Pops had, which was a lot. They’d never had a lot of the Japanese made bikes come through the shop, but Haven had worked on his fair share of Harleys and Indians, several Triumphs and the occasional Volkswagen Trike. He knew how to install conversion kits and sidecars and could turn a standard bike into a stretched-out chopper when given the right materials. If anyone knew how to track down the parts he needed to repair Maddox’s bike, it was Chaos.

“You must have smelled the meat I just threw on the grill,” Cade declared. “You always did have a knack for turning up when we were having barbeque.”

Sniffing hard, Haven grinned when the scent hit his nose. “I didn’t smell it before, but I do now. Thanks, man, you didn’t have to make me a welcome home dinner.”

Chuckling, Chaos shook his head and messed up Haven’s hair more than Jeremy already had. “And you still have a mouth on you.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Come outside when you’re ready, I’ve got to tend to this little welcome home feast of yours,” Cade said as he turned and headed off in the direction of that delicious smell.

Jeremy slugged him in the arm and Haven immediately grabbed the spot and rubbed it. “What was that for!”

“Taking three weeks to get over here!”

Ohhhh.

“Sorry, I was trying to catch up with Meadow and Haven and I needed to spend some time getting to know my niece and nephew plus get the shop up and running,” Haven admitted. “I wanted to come sooner, but I kept finding reasons to stay locked up in the shop.”

“I can’t blame you for that,” Jeremy admitted. “If I’m not good and mellow before I head into town, I wind up stressed and wanting to claw my skin off before I’ve managed half my errands”

“That’s because people still haven’t learned to mind their own business,” Haven said. “I made the mistake of walking to the grocery store the other day because River kept forgetting to pick up coffee, and I spent half my time dodging conversations and the other half being stared at. By the time I got back I needed to smoke a couple and watch a movie before I stopped feeling antsy, then I had to go back out because I ate the last of the milk and cereal and we’d run out of sugar too.”

“Did you at least have some Kool-Aid packets?”

“A couple.”

“Then you were in better shape than when we were kids.”

“Oh my god, that was awful,” Haven reminisced.

“Remember coming over here for a snack and we’d have bread but just a smear of jam and no peanut butter?”

“Yeah, so we’d ride over to my house and what wasn’t extra crispy was beginning to mold,” Haven reminded him. “I still can’t believe we choked down those fusty-stale Corn Nuts.”

“Uggggg.”

Despite the groaning they laughed at the memory, then Jeremy abruptly hugged him once more.

“Thanks for getting here when you could,” Jeremy murmured. “I know we just saw each other last month but having you in my house again is different from talking to you through Plexiglas.”

“We had some of our best sleepovers here.”

“Nothing saying we can’t do it again.”

Haven hummed, considering it. “True. Only this time you have to promise we won’t spend half of our time being eaten by mosquitoes while trying to build the perfect chupacabra trap.”

“Deal.”

“I’ve got to talk to your pops about a few bike parts for a ’67 Electra Glide. This guy brought one in smashed to hell but fixable, only tracking down original parts is proving to be a son of a bitch.”

“Are you talking about the hit and run by the bank?” Jeremy asked. “That shit was gnarly.”

“You saw it?”

“Parts of it. I saw the truck jump the curb without even bouncing. Just rolled right over it like it wasn’t even there and kept trucking, every pun intended. I was going to make sure the bike didn’t belong to a member of dad’s crew, then I heard sirens, and you know how the rest of that went.”

“Yeah, you took off with whatever the hell you’d stolen tucked up under your shirt and never looked back to see what else happened.”

“Pretty much.”

“They are gonna catch you one of these days,” Haven warned him.

“You’ve been saying that for a decade.”

“And I’ll be right too, eventually. You need to quit that shit.”

“And they need to quit raising prices.”

“I’m never gonna win this argument, am I?” Haven asked.

“Probably not.”

“Fine, but I’m cussing you out the first time I come visit you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Come on, let’s go talk to pops,” Jeremy suggested. “Just keep what I told you to yourself. If he finds out I was down there, he’ll know exactly what I was doing and that’s another lecture I don’t need. At least I’m too old for him to beat my ass over it.”

“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” Haven said, raising an eyebrow at him.

The way Jeremy’s face paled, and all that cockiness bled away was proof positive that he didn’t believe what he was saying. Haven slung an arm over his shoulders, and they headed through the living room and kitchen, then out the sliding glass door to the patio where Cade stood flipping a thick, juicy looking steak that sizzled where the flames licked at the fat.

“You all go on back in there and bring out the sides,” Cade said the moment he spotted them gawking at the meat. “Grab that pitcher of Sangria on the top shelf too, it’s been chilling since last night, so it should be ready.”

“I’m not driving home later, am I?” Haven asked.

“Nope, so you’d better text whoever’s car you borrowed and let them know where it’s at if they need it,” Cade declared.

“Meh, it’s River’s and he’s tubing the river with a friend for the rest of the weekend.”

“Then it’ll be fine right where it is, now get moving.”

Haven sent the text anyway, in case his brother came home early, then helped Jeremy bring out the foil covered bowls and platters, along with the pitcher of sangria. Cade had laid out paper plates, cups and bowls, along with some plastic cutlery and placed a paper towel stand in the center of the table, the end of the roll fluttering in the breeze. The view of the mountains was obscured only by one of the three sheds in the yard, all meticulously maintained. Growing up, they’d always been filled with an assortment of dirt bikes, motorcycles, jet skis and snow mobiles for weekends at Big Sur. Haven missed the days of loading up in one of the extended cab pickup trucks, a trailer full of fun hitched behind it. Cade’s one rule was don’t break yourself , and they’d never once given him cause to have to take one of them to the hospital.

They’d had a few close calls though.

Haven grinned a little at the memory of the branch that had caught Jeremy across the face and knocked him off his snowmobile. Bruised, scratched up and eventually spitting out half a tooth that he didn’t tell his father about until after their next gym class where he’d claimed to have gotten it broken by a dodgeball, he’d still spent the rest of the weekend racing up and down those trails.

Though he had learned to duck better after that.

“What are you laughing about over there?” Jeremey asked.

“Too many things to explain.”

“Well, here’s something I know you won’t joke about,” Cade said as he plopped a still crackling steak down on the center of his plate. “Just remember to let it rest before you dig into it.”

“Yes, sir,” Haven said as he leaned over and inhaled the savory steam wafting up off its beautifully grilled surface.

Jeremy took the foil off everything and soon they were adding heaping spoonful of pasta salad to their plates, followed by deviled eggs and spicy pickles. At first no one said anything, they just dug into the food with a few hums and appreciative grunts, then Haven decided to dive in with his little problem.

“I’ve got a smashed up ’67 Electra Glide in the shop and an owner who will accept nothing less than original parts,” Haven began. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who can help me track down a few pieces, would you?”

“I might,” Chaos replied. “You got a parts list.”

“Always.”

“Let me see it.”

Haven pulled it up on his phone, then passed it over so he could get back to the awesome meal. He heard the ping of Cade sending it to himself and his long, low whistle when he got around to reading it.

“This might be a challenge even for me and Dizzy,” Chaos admitted. “But we’ll work it out.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You might have that bike on a hoist for a while waiting for all of this to come in.”

“That’s fine, it isn’t in the way of anything,” Haven said. “I’ve got a second bike lift, so if I do get another repair, I won’t have to move the Electra Glide to work on it.”

“Speaking of old bikes, that Shovelhead of mine hasn’t been acting right lately. You two wanna give me a hand with him after we eat?”

“Hell yeah!” Haven blurted.

“Awe, come on Pops, do you have to lure him away with a bike already?” Jeremy complained.

Of the two of them, Jeremy had always preferred riding over working on the machines, while Haven loved both equally.

“He’s barely been here a minute;” Jeremy continued. “Can’t he help you the next time he comes by?”

“As long as he doesn’t wait too long to show his face again.”

“Bet.” Haven said.

“You can thrash us at Street Fighter,” Jeremy offered. “Hell, I’ll even break out the Marvel vs. Capcom.”

“Fine. If you’re in that much of a hurry to have your old man embarrass you, then break out the games after we clean up and let me see how many ultimate combos I can pull off before the two of you concede.”

“The only one conceding is gonna be you,” Jeremey challenged while Haven cut into his streak, content to let them banter while he ate.

“You say that like you truly believe it,” Chaos told his son, a bemused expression on his face.

“’cause I do. You’re getting old dad. Weren’t you complaining the other night that your hands hurt after you came in from shooting pool? If you can’t even hold a pool cue, how do you expect to keep up with us on an epic video game afternoon?”

“Because my hands didn’t hurt from the pool cue, you smart mouthed little shit.”

Haven nearly choked at that, while Jeremy groaned.

“Oh my god, dad who the fuck did you beat the shit out of this time?”

“It was a simple misunderstanding.”

“It’s never a simple anything when your fists land in someone’s face.”

“To be fair, the lady did ask him several times to remove his hands from her body,” Chaos declared. “I just helped him accomplish it faster.”

“Sounds like he was just being chivalrous,” Haven offered with a bit of a shrug.

The steak was too good to take his attention off for long, especially with a stream of Yum Yum sauce poured over it.

“Which means ladies are gonna start popping up again to feed the badass teddy bear, bringing casseroles and pastries and whatever else they cooked.”

“And that’s a bad thing why?” Haven asked.

Jeremy snickered at that. “Well, now that I say it outload, I can see where it could be a positive development. Never mind then. Keep right on saving the two-legged strays, dad, especially if they can bake cookies.”

“No one can ever say that you’re not my kid.”

“Good, ‘cause no one else would wanna claim me.”

Cade laughed at that and tossed a pea from his pasta salad Jeremy’s way. “Ain’t that the truth.”