Page 6

Coming out today proved to be a great idea. I needed this more than I realized. A good laugh and catching up with the old ladies is just what the doctor ordered. Ally is a hoot. She’s had the entire table roaring with stories from rallies with her club and from the bakery. Caroline fits right in. They’ve attended many of the same rallies, and it’s a miracle they haven’t run into each other before.

Sarah looks happy, if a little glassy-eyed, but that’s what five tequilas do to you. She’s in her element, joining the conversation and laughing. Forgotten are her anxieties about her age and looks. She outwardly seems brash and loud sometimes, but in reality, she’s hiding her insecurities. I know she’s worried about her age and going through the change. Menopause frightens her. She suffers from hot flushes at work, needing to go outside or stand by an open window. There was the initial panic when her period didn’t show up and she thought she was pregnant. And the mood swings. She feels old and crusty most of the time and battles with her own mortality.

Then there’s Leo, her beautiful teenage boy who she’s been a single mother to since he was born. He’s autistic, and it took until two years ago to get him diagnosed. Before that, he was merely classed as a naughty, disruptive child who teachers couldn’t cope with. He’d been expelled several times.

She brought Leo to work two years ago, after he’d been expelled yet again. Our manager pulled strings to get him the proper assessment he needed and life has improved for them since then. Leo is now getting the help he needs, going to a special school where he has all the support necessary, and our boss accepted him into the day center. He’s thriving in the new environment. He’ll never be like other children, but is making friends, and better able to make sense of his surroundings.

It’s been tough on Sarah. Being at home with Leo and working is pretty much all she does, if you don’t count our weekly get-together. Playing with Leo comes easy to me.

Sarah and I watch a movie at her place and usually seek comfort in a large tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a bottle of wine. That’s why I don’t mind being designated driver and let her have fun and.

I don’t feel comfortable drinking here, anyway. Too many eyes on me. Jamie frequently looks over and grins at me. Rusty looks too, but he sneers.

I caught Vegas looking over several times with an unreadable look on his face, making me very self-conscious. Every time my eyes wander over to the bar, his bore into mine. The heat in them, making my entire body tingle.

I don’t have a clue why I react so much to the way he looks at me. Maybe it should scare or repulse me. After all, I had seen him in action years ago. I turn my eyes to Sarah, who is currently singing along with AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds”, and I’m amazed at how good she is. She knows it word for word and has a crazy good voice.

“Wow,” Ally silently mouths in my direction. Caroline’s mouth is hanging open in surprise, Debs is clapping her hands, hollering in support. Ally wolf-whistles, and so do some of the members. I catch Dougal eyeing Sarah from the doorway, as he makes his way over to the bar. The song ends under clapping and more wolf whistles. Sarah stands and takes a mock bow to the room and shouts, “Tequila!”

It’s wonderful to see her like this, relaxed, having fun, meeting new people. She sways slightly as she stands, and it’s clear she’s happily drunk. “Right, girls, I’ll get them. It’s my turn.”

I watch her tottering, swaying slightly as she makes her way to the bar. From the other side of the room, I notice Rusty leering at her, his eyes firmly focused on her tits. Sarah is well endowed in the boob department. His expression gives me the creeps, and I shudder. Ally follows my eyes.

“God, he’s a creep. I know he’s a brother, but he needs put in his place,” she mumbles loud enough for Debs and me to hear.

“Tell me about it,” says Debs. “Spen hates him and has forbidden me to wear skirts or dresses to the clubhouse.”

“Rightly so. Sparks won’t let me wear dresses either, not that I often do, unless it’s a wedding, but Rusty has a reputation amongst the members. Not sure why Raven does nothing, probably has something to do with the perv being old school, going back to the time of the dinosaurs.” Ally doesn’t mention Stone’s name since she knows how much that affects me, but it’s who she meant.

“He’s been VP for a long time and has supported Raven when he took over the reins. He’s like the foul stench of mold—lingering so long, you just can’t get rid of it.” Ally’s observation is very astute.

Sparks would never talk club business with her, same as she doesn’t talk club business with him where the Pixies are concerned. Over the years, it’s caused friction, yet I believe she has a very valid point here. I hate that animal. We have ancient history that no one else is aware of, not even Jamie. Rusty threatened me, and I’m not the forgiving type, but I stay out of his way as much as possible.

“Oh, my god,” Ally whispers. “Did you just see that?” I look at her, puzzled. All I see is Sarah tottering over to us with Dougal following her, carrying her tray for her, a grim look on his face. Sarah is smiling. “He just did it again, to Sarah. I’m going over there and knock his teeth out!” Ally is furious, fuming, in fact.

Turning to look at the bar, I notice Rusty and Vegas glaring at each other. Then Mom pulls Vegas away to the other end of the bar, and I release a relieved breath. A fight isn’t what I need to see. Sarah takes her seat again, still laughing.

“Don’t,” Dougal grates at Ally, who is standing now. “Sit down, leave it alone. I’ll take it to church,” he growls at her. Ally nods and sits, and the table goes quiet.

“Come on, what’s up? Someone die or something?” Sarah giggles. “I thought we were here to have fun. Oh man, this is so great, we have to do this again in town. Let’s exchange numbers and we’ll have a girls’ night out.” She grins around the table. Numbers exchanged and we return to talking, but Ally and me exchange worried glances. Once Rusty has his sights set on something, he’s like a dog with a bone and won’t let it go.

Our worries are confirmed when he appears next to Sarah, crutches in hand, and whispers something in her ear. I can only make out the word ‘lace’ and the music drowns the rest. Sarah nearly topples the table over when she jumps up.

Before he can react, she wallops him right across his face, her red handprint in stark contrast to his pasty skin.

“You dirty old bastard,” she screeches at him. The club goes silent, and all eyes turn to our table, with Dawg, Sparks and Spen making their way over to us, standing close to Ally, Debs, and Caroline.

“You ever touch me again, I swear I’ll put a bullet in your fucked-up legs before I slice your dick off,” Sarah screams.

“What the fuck is going on?” My pissed-off brother steps between Sarah and Rusty, facing Sarah.

“This swine here,” she points at Rusty, “made sure everyone knows what my underwear looks like. He’s a freaking pervert.” Sarah is vibrating with fury. Jamie turns to look at Rusty.

“VP, my office! NOW !” He storms off to his office, and Rusty follows him but not before he glares at me. Jamie waves Slender over, indicating to follow him, and they all disappear into the office. Sarah is heaving with fury, her eyes blazing.

“Someone spit out what happened,” she says, suddenly sounding very sober. Ally looks at me and sighs.

“When you turned around at the bar, he lifted your skirt with his crutch to your waist.” she cannot look Sarah in the eye telling her. Sarah turns to Dougal, who is still standing there.

“And you . . . you didn’t do a thing to stop him.” She’s seething. “Nice one. Thanks for the carry of the tray. You can fuck off now and annoy someone else.” Dougal gives her a hard stare, clearly wanting to say something but thinking better of it. He turns and walks back to the bar, shaking his head.

I stand and take Sarah’s arm. Best to get out of here now that we’ve had enough drama for one night. Why can’t anything ever just go like clockwork?

“Come on, Sarah, let’s go,” I mutter in the now silent room, leading her outside. She follows me out, but then pulls me to stop.

“No! I refuse to let that asshole spoil my night. I had a good time so far, and I like the other girls. If I leave now, he wins, and I’m not having that,” she argues. I sigh, knowing when I’m beat.

“At least let’s go for a little walk around the back to cool off.” She nods at my suggestion, and we start walking to the back of the property, where the cabins are, and sit on the grass at the back of the clubhouse. Breathing deeply to try to calm down, I understand why she doesn’t want to leave, but that glare of Rusty’s really unsettled me, and right now, I wish I was anywhere else.

I can still hear his voice inside my head and see the vile gleam in his eyes, even after all these years. ‘Keep your mouth shut, or your smile won’t be as pretty anymore.’

The cool night air calms us, but my unsettled feeling remains. After ten minutes, I look at Sarah and ask, “Ready to go back inside?”

Sarah stands and nods, holding out her hand and pulling me up. We return to the table, which is now much quieter. The mood in the room seems subdued. The club girls are nowhere to be seen, Dawg and Dougal are standing at the bar talking, and the music is much quieter now. I don’t see Vegas. Maybe he’s in the kitchen. But why do I even care?

“Sorry, Sarah, I should have told you as soon as you got back to the table, but I didn’t want to upset you.” Ally smiles apologetically.

“He does that with every woman. That’s why Spen doesn’t allow me to wear skirts or dresses at club events anymore,” Debs chimes in.

“What a dick. He needs to be sorted out,” Caroline states, looking angry. “That would not have been tolerated everywhere else we’ve been, never mind the founding charter.”

Sarah looks around, shrugging her shoulders. “Let’s not give him the power to ruin our night. I refuse to do that. Others have tried and failed to intimidate me, and he’s no different. Come on, whose round is it?” She grins at all of us.

Caroline smirks. “I’ll get it. I need to check in with my old man at the bar anyway.” We watch her saunter over and wrap her arms around Dawg from behind. He turns, wraps her in his arms, and places a loving kiss on her head. She kisses him full-on and, Jesus, those two emit some heat. We’re all watching, fanning ourselves.

“I need a cold shower now.” Sarah laughs, and we all start giggling, the earlier drama forgotten.

“Yup, these men are hot, hot, hot. Lava hot in bed, for sure.” Ally throws a cheeky grin toward us all.

“Go on, do tell, is Sparks average? Or packing?” Debs giggles.

“I’ll give you his measurements, if you give me Spen’s.” Ally playfully slaps Debs’s shoulder. “But then you’d only be jealous.”

I groan and roll my eyes. The booze is clearly talking, and by the looks of Dawg and Caroline, it will make some clothes fall off any minute now. It’s nice to see them so obviously in love and lust, and it warms my jaded heart.

A piercing scream rips me out of my thoughts and every head whips toward where the noise is coming from. Ebony is on the stairs, tears streaming down her face.

“Help! Help! Flakey collapsed and he’s bleeding everywhere!” The door to the office opens, and Slender and Jamie burst out. I look at Sarah, and we nod at each other. Sarah takes her shoes off and sprints to the stairs, and I follow close behind her. Being trained in First Aid through work, if we can help, we will. Sarah shouts at Ebony to lead the way, and we run after her.

She opens Flakey’s door, where he’s sprawled out on the floor unconscious, blood everywhere. He retches and more blood bubbles out of his mouth. On instinct, Sarah and I jump in and turn him on his side, so he doesn’t choke. Sarah feels for a pulse.

“His heart is beating way too fast, and his breathing is too rapid.” She looks at me, and I turn to Jamie.

“Call 9-1-1! Now !” I order, and Slender makes the call as Jamie tries to find out what happened.

All Ebony repeats over and over is that Flakey was fucking her from behind, then he suddenly stopped, threw up blood, and collapsed on the floor. That’s when she ran to us for help. Sarah and I are watching Flakey closely, but there’s nothing else we can do. At last, the ambulance arrives, and the paramedics load him onto a stretcher and carry him out to the vehicle. The guys all get on their bikes, and Sarah and I follow the ambulance to the Emergency Room in her car.

Almost the entire club has turned out. Relieved to see that Rusty is absent, I don’t question why, just count myself lucky. Worried sick about Flakey, I blame myself for not noticing him being unwell. He seemed tired earlier but perked right up when Ebony gave him her attention. Flakey is one of the quieter guys, liked by all, and always willing to help anyone and everyone. Everyone is on tenterhooks, me included, so I stand, walk to the coffee machine, and begin to grab coffee for everyone. Sarah, Ally, and Debs join me to help carry.

The wait seems endless, and the guys are pacing back and forth. All eyes turn to the ER door as it opens and a nurse approaches.

“James Saunders?” Jamie steps forward. “Mr. Staunton is awake now, and the doctor will see you in a minute.” A sigh of relief goes round the club. So, we wait some more.

The doctor steps into the waiting room. “Mr. Saunders?”

“Raven. No one calls me by my given name.”

“Well, I had to go from the next of kin information, and Mr. Staunton listed you as his next of kin.”

Ally leans toward me and whispers, “Doesn’t he have family? Someone we should notify?”

“No, there isn’t anyone,” I whisper back, shrugging my shoulders.

The doc continues talking to Jamie. “He lost a lot of blood. We’re giving him a transfusion right now. We need to run more tests to find out reasons for the bleeding. It could be a stomach ulcer, or it could be something else. We’re keeping him here, anyway. Could you organize his personal things to be brought in?”

My brother nods. “Of course. When can we see him?”

“We’re just helping him clean up. When we are done, you can see him for a few minutes. He’ll be on his ward tomorrow. The front desk will tell you where he’s moved to and what the visiting hours are.”

An audible sigh of relief and the sound of the brothers backslapping each other travels through the waiting area. Slowly, people disperse until there’s only Jamie, Vegas, Sarah, and me left.

“Vegas, you stay here in case he needs anything. I’ll let the doc know.” Vegas nods and gets comfortable on the seats in the waiting room. He looks tired and runs his hands over his stubbled chin. The stubble suits him, adding to the handsome features of his face. His eyes catch mine and a little smirk plays around his lips. The lips I want on mine so badly.

Oh my god, where did that come from? I shake my head at myself in disgust. Ashley Saunders, stop this right now. He’s not for you. The man is a member of the club. He’s bad news, and Raven would kill both of us. It can’t happen. My thoughts ran away from me for a second. Sarah yawns. We’re exhausted now that the adrenalin rush has worn off.

“Raven, you can go in and see him now,” a nurse calls out, but I grab his arm.

“I’ll see him tomorrow. I’m off, so have someone drop his stuff by mine. It’ll release Vegas. I’ll be here about nine in the morning. I know you have church.” He nods gratefully.

“Get yourself home, sis. Thanks for everything you and Sarah did tonight. The club owes you.”

“Nonsense,” Sarah pipes up, “we did what we could, and we would’ve done the same for anyone. You don’t owe us a thing.” I nod in total agreement. We make our way out of the waiting area as Jamie walks in to see Flakey. Vegas nods as we leave, but I can feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of my head. The sense of him watching me is intense.