Sweet Child of Mine Ch. 03

Sweet Child 3

I stood and stared until she got nervous. "Maybe this was a mistake. I'll go now."

I walked up to her. "No, you won't. Come inside and I'll get you something to drink. Then we'll talk."

I turned around, wondering if she would follow me. I felt her footsteps on the deck as I unlocked the door and held it open for her. She gave the living room and kitchen the once-over. "You got a maid?"

"Why would I need a maid?"

"Because no single guy I ever met was ever this neat. I bet you make your bed every morning, don't you?" All my years in service had instilled a liking for having everything neat and organized. Besides, when you're single and keep up as you go, it's easy to be tidy.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll dirty some dishes and throw them in the sink while I get you something to drink. Beer?"

"Tea, or a soft drink if you have it. I've got a kid at home, and I don't like to come home with alcohol on my breath."

She scored some points with that one. I poured two teas from the pitcher I always kept and carried them into the living room. She'd taken a seat in my rocker, so I handed her her drink and sat on the couch. She grinned. "Where are the coasters?"

I sighed and pulled them out. We stared at each other. She was about five eight, with almost platinum blond hair and cool green eyes. She was at least in her early thirties, but she hadn't gone too fat. There were little lines around her eyes that came out when she smiled. My first estimation of slender was right but she did have nice hips and a good ass as much as I could tell in the jeans she was wearing. Up top, she was on the small size, B cups or a small C, but they fit her body very well. She smiled. "Did I pass?"

"The final grade hasn't been tallied, but it looks good so far. You know, you seem like you have too much sense ever to be tangled up with someone like Theodore."

She sighed and squirmed. "Maybe one of these days I'll tell you about my life and my uncanny ability always to make the wrong choice. Let me hit some of the highlights. I did a lot of things I'm not exactly proud of. Ended up pregnant at 19. My relationship with my father ended badly, and I was just immature enough to keep her from me. By the time I'd wised up, I was afraid to tell him. When Kinsey turned twelve, she took things into her own hands and found her father. It was an ugly confrontation. Now he gets every other weekend, holiday, and week in the summer. She really loves him and his new wife. He tried to be as fair as he could be about all of it, even though I knew at times he could have happily killed me. The whole thing made me grow up just enough to take stock of my life and not like it. Being tied up with T ended up being the caboose on the stupid train, so I cut him loose. He did not take it well, but the.38 I got from my father made him reconsider. His parting shot was 'you'll never find anybody better than me'. I thought about it for a while.

Then I thought of you. I don't think there's anyone or anybody he hates more than you, except maybe my ex. The icing on his shit cake of a life would be me hooking up with you."

She stopped to take a sip of tea. "I'm still friends with the girls. I know them by their real names, but they go by Blondie, Mouse, and Red now, which is a badge of honor for them. Slick swears you're the most decent man he'd ever met. Gary has a case of hero worship where you're concerned, even if you did take his woman away. I've noticed a lack of decent men in my life, so I'd like to try a real one out. How about it? Just one date? After that, who knows, but maybe I'll have a good memory and hope for the future. Think about it. I have to go pick up my girl from softball practice. If nothing else, it was nice to meet you."

It seemed she had finally run out of things to say, but I was wrong. I walked her to the car, and she turned at the door. "If we go out, I want you to treat me like you treated the rest of the girls. It would be nice to be in the hands of a real man for a change."

I decided the only way to stop her was to occupy her mouth with something besides speech, so I kissed her. She pulled back, and I swatted her bottom before she could speak. "Saturday, seven, at the clubhouse. Talk to the girls, they'll tell you the appropriate attire for our night out. Bye, Allie." She was still standing by her car, trying to process when I shut the door.

..............................................................................................

Slick gave me a little background on her on Thursday. "I always thought she was a little too good for T. She must have been at a low spot when she hooked up with him. I've heard the girls talking, and it seems she was quite the party girl until a couple of years ago. I don't know what caused it, but she straightened out, started paying more attention to her little girl, and got a decent job. I remember when her ex came around. She was a mess for a while, but seems to have gotten over it. Talk to the girls, they would know more than I would."

Red called me the next day. "Allie called me. I can't believe she had the nerve to come and see you. Listen to me, Grant. Don't be mean to her even if you're playing. She doesn't need that right now. Take her to the Piston, show her off, show her a good time, and bring her back in one piece. It might lead to something."

I asked our cop about her Thursday, and he frowned again. "She was headed the wrong way for a while. I popped her a couple times for simple possession and figured it was a matter of time before I got her on something serious, but she changed a couple of years ago and seems to have gotten her shit together. At one time I was so pissed at her I threaten to have Social Services take her kid. That scared the hell out of her. At the time, she only cared about her little girl.

She might have slipped when she hooked up with Theodore. That guy's been an ass and a joke since high school. Her ex kicked the shit out of him a while back and I think she saw him for what he was, a poser and a loser. Then he ran into you. I believe that iced the cake for her. Give her a shot, brother. You've got nothing to lose and maybe a lot to gain."

All this got me curious, so I decided to show her a good time. I was waiting when she pulled up. Her hair was up in a nice bun, her jeans skin tight, a nice spaghetti strap top fighting a battle to keep her high sitting rack in. Sometimes it won. After she teased me a bit, she pulled a nice sweater on and grinned. "I want to feel my nipples when we get there."

I grinned. "I want to feel your nipples when we get there. Can't be too careful with nipple health. We should ensure they're all right before entering the bar. I might have to have Wanda get some hot towels for you. I'll gladly apply pressure until they're back to normal."

She looked at me for a moment before she rolled her eyes. "Well, the girls did warn me."

"Warn you about what?"

"They said you had a golden tongue. They also told me you were witty as well."

I was still trying to figure out what she meant exactly when she got on the bike. "Let's go. Those beers aren't going to drink themselves."

She snuggled up to me as we rode. Not a hard, push her chest into my back snuggle, but a comfortable, light contact snuggle. Her eyes widened when we pulled up, and then she grinned. "Ted would die if he knew I was here with you. He talked about this place all the time but was too much of a pussy ever to bring me here."

"He wouldn't have lasted five minutes after they got a look at you. I brought him once and it looked like he was going to piss his pants the whole time. He couldn't even talk the talk, much less walk the walk, for a place like this. Shall we?"

She locked down on my hand, and we went in. She started relaxing when people greeted me and grinning when they called me Stud. She asked me how I got the nickname. "I had to go piss the first night I was here, and a couple of guys wandered in and saw me at the urinal. After that, they called me Stud."

"That doesn't explain shit."

I tried to look embarrassed but ended up smirking. "They saw my cock and told everybody I was hung like a horse, so they called me Stud."

She colored and then laughed. "You're going to be a lot of fun! And as for the rest of it, I was born in Missouri, and we're a firm believer in seeing is believing."

"You don't know me that well."

"I will pretty soon. Now get me something to drink."

I was thinkin' about that as we made our way to the bar. Wanda was standing there grinning. "Damn Stud, don't you know any ugly bitches? Who's this hottie? It would be best if you slowed down a little. I'm not good at names."

"This is..." I stopped because I hadn't thought of a name. "This is Princess. Don't tell her the truth about me. Say nice things."

She leaned over, gave me a little kiss, and smiled at the expression on Allie's face. "Don't sweat it, Princess. We're just friends."

"Only because you keep turning me down."

Wanda smiled wickedly. "Well, if you promise to bring Princess along, I might let you get lucky."

I figured she'd get embarrassed, but Allie fell right into it. "If I ever came along, you'd quickly forget why he was there."

Her tongue snaked out, and from where I was standing, it looked like she licked her eyebrow. Even Wanda was speechless for a minute. Then she came around the bar and hugged her. "I believe Stud here may have met his match. What would you like to drink, honey?"

I never expected a whiskey sour to be her drink of choice. Wanda gave me a beer without asking. We found an empty table and sat. The band hadn't started yet, and we could have a conversation. We talked about general things. Allie told me about her daughter, and her eyes lit up. We talked about the guys she knew and some of the new members of our club. "Ted took all the old Evil Revengers vests when you threw him out. He's got a few more losers who have been lured into riding with him. Be careful if you're around him while he's got his crew. He's too scared to face you alone again, but numbers might make him stupid."

"It won't make him stupid. He's already stupid. Numbers might make him brave. Even if we got in a scuffle and I lost, he'd never be right again. I can promise that." She looked into my eyes and believed me. Brain stopped by with a babe on his arm and had a beer. Leroy came over later and asked me to come by his shop soon. He had something he wanted to show me. They all ended up sharing a table with us, and soon that table was too small, so they pushed another one over. Allie finally relaxed and bantered back, giving as much as she got.

The band started up. She was squirming in the chair, and I leaned over so she could hear me. "I've never told anyone here this, so promise me you can keep a confidence. I can't dance. It isn't that I don't know how. I was injured in an accident when I was younger, and dancing stressed me. That being said, you can dance all you want as long as I'm the only one who gets the slow ones."

Brain broke the ice by asking me first, then Allie. That got them lined up, and they all asked me first. I'd look at Allie, and she would nod yes or no. She said yes to everyone, and I said no to two. They were assholes who liked to maul everyone they danced with. One had got his ass kicked at a rally for grabbing another biker's woman but he never learned anything from it.

He looked pissed but I was sitting with Brain, Leroy, and half a dozen more bikers so he just stomped off.

The slow dances were delightful. Her body would mould to mine, almost full-body contact the whole time. She'd wriggle a certain way and brush certain body parts slowly, all subtle but effective. She'd grin every time we finished a dance.

We said our goodbyes and left about midnight. She held my hand on the way out, and it felt very comfortable. Back at the clubhouse, she didn't hesitate, going in and rummaging around behind the bar until she found the coffee machine. She made a small pot, and we sat and sipped as we talked. She told me a lot about her history, how she was into the 'recreational pharmaceuticals' available when she was younger, how she seemed to make one bad decision after another. Even having her child didn't slow her down for a while.

"Then one day I was sitting around in a bar with my current fuckbuddy and looked around at the other women in the place. They all looked worn down and defeated, clinging to any affection they could find. No one looked at them like a possible mate anymore. They were just meat to be used and then passed along. It shook me a bit, but I started going out less, paying more attention to my daughter. I got a good job that paid the bills, and I wasn't beholden to anyone and found I liked it.

It was petty of me to keep my baby from her father, but we didn't part on the best of terms. It was my fault; I held a grudge for years, thinking of what I'd lost. He owns a very successful business now and has a younger girlfriend who's hot. Kinsey says they'll probably get married. When he found out about her, he was surprisingly calm about everything but made it clear in no uncertain terms that he would be in her life from now on. I still fought, but eventually I learned to let it go. We can even tolerate holding a conversation now."

I told her as much as I could about my life--my parents dying at an early age and me finishing high school in a foster home--how I had no relatives that I knew about, that I went to college on scholarship, and that I liked the profession I had chosen. She asked me why I wasn't married, and I sighed. "I haven't found one I wanted yet."

She stood up, and I looked at the clock, surprised to see it was three in the morning. We'd talked for hours. We rinsed the cups and the coffee maker. "This is the first time I've been out with a guy for this long that hasn't ended up in a bed. Thank you for the evening. It was enjoyable, especially knowing the place could be quite dangerous if I hadn't been with you. I don't think anyone feared you, but most seemed to like you, and it made a difference."

I grinned. "It's not too late, you know. To end up in bed, I mean."

"I thank you for the offer, and I may take you up on that after we get to know each other better--one thing you need to know. If I'm in a relationship, it's the only one I'm in. And if I'm going to be loyal, I expect loyalty in return."

I kissed her softly before opening her car door. "Good enough. I feel the same. Good night, Princess."

She kissed me back a little harder. "Goodnight... Stud."

.............................................................................................................

So we started dating--once a week at first, maybe twice on the weeks that her daughter was with her father. The kisses got harder and longer, and hands wandered, but it was six weeks before things got serious. She showed up at my house right after I got off work.

I didn't remember a date, so I looked at her. "No, we don't have anything planned. Well, you don't. I've got an overnight bag in the car, and I don't have to be home until Sunday evening. How would you like to spend the time?"

"With you."

I took her out to eat at a nicer place than we usually frequent. She wore a very nice, enticing sundress, but not revealing, and I dressed a little better than normal. We looked like every other couple in the place, most of us out on a date night with our spouses. We were affectionate but not overt--little touches, a simple kiss now and then, nothing over the top.

Then we were off to a new place, a piano bar. There, a three-piece combo, piano, drums, and standup bass, played old standards. Allie smiled. "I brought you here so you could dance every dance with me."

That's what we did. Others asked her to dance a few times, but she refused with a smile. "This night is just for us. Maybe next time."

They all took it graciously and wished us a good night. After about an hour and a half of rubbing bodies, I'd reached my limit, and Allie knew it. She danced me over to a dark corner, and her hand slipped between us. She grabbed my erection and squeezed. "Are you ever gonna take me home so I can do something about this?"

I paid my tab and was out the door in record time. The sundress hit the floor as soon as the door closed. She posed in her strapless bra and thong for just a second before dropping both on the floor.

It was so incredible, and I had a hard time trying to describe it. She was fit and lean, muscled where she should be and soft as silk where she wasn't. I don't think there was more than a square inch of her body I didn't kiss, and that was scattered over a wide variety of places. We started with oral before she pulled me around and on top of her. "Now, honey, now!"

All the adjectives, hot, tight, silky, were nothing when describing how she felt. She felt... right. The first time was pretty quick because we were both backed up, but the second and the third lasted a long time. We both passed out with her spooned to me, my hand latched onto her breast. When I woke up, it was still there. I tweaked the nipple a little, and she moaned before pushing me away. "Get up! We need to shower, and I'm starved. Clothes will be optional today."

We tried to shower together, but hands kept wandering, so she shoved me out. I got done and found her in the kitchen wearing my grilling apron and nothing else. It was one with the goofy logo 'Kiss The Cook'. It was excellent advice and did just that. Allie responded hard and then shoved me back. "I'm making pancakes, and I don't want the first meal I cook for you burned. Get the syrup and a cup of coffee while I finish."

I keyed in on the 'first' statement, which made me warm and fuzzy. The pancakes were excellent, and I remarked that I didn't know I had pancake mix. "You don't, these are made from scratch. You'll find I'm not much on mixes."

As good as pancakes were, it wasn't nearly as good as licking maple syrup off an erect nipple.

We eventually took another shower and decided to go for a ride. We tooled around for a few hours without direction, going where the next turn took us. Then we rounded a curve, and I saw a place I'd read about in the state magazine. It talked a lot about how good the food was, so I stopped. There were a dozen bikes and three times that many cars in the lot.

The place was packed, but we got a table and ordered off the chalkboard. It listed the specials and credited the farmers who had provided the vegetables. The carrot soup was nothing like I'd ever tasted, smooth and buttery. I got braised pork on a bed of vegetables as an entree, and Allie went with the chicken. We were almost groaning when we asked for the check. The dark-haired teen waitress seemed surprised. "You don't want dessert? Mom made banana pudding, and it's been rated best in the state. There's not much left, so if you want it, you need to order now."

We were groaning when we got back on the bike. I knew we'd be returning soon.

We didn't go out that night and spent it snuggling and watching movies. The night was just as exhausting and glorious as the night before. It might have been better because we were familiar with each other's bodies and knew our triggers. Sunday was bittersweet. Allie had to go home to her child, and I had to rattle around in an empty house. We dated twice more, and she spent the following weekend with her child. The following weekend, she returned, and it was surprisingly comfortable to wake up beside her, and I think it hurt us both when she had to leave.

A month later, her mother fell and broke her ankle, so we didn't get to go out. The weekend after that, she had her daughter and couldn't go out. I thought about that for a bit and called her. "If we're gonna spend time together, I will have to meet her sooner or later. Why not now? I've been craving banana pudding and going to Sam's Grill. Why don't both of you come with me?"

There was a moment of silence before she said she'd call me back. I had just about given up when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi. I'm Kinsey. Your ol' lady's daughter."

"Huh?"

"Do you ride without a helmet much? I'm Kinsey, your girlfriend's daughter. Allie, remember? So tell me about this banana pudding."

I gave her a link to the article about the place, and she hung up. Five minutes later, she called me back. "Come and get us. That banana pudding better be something."

I think they were surprised when I pulled up in my 'weekend' car. It was an '86 Caddy, a proper land yacht. It looked brand new inside and out, and I'd picked it up at an estate sale. It wasn't listed, but I found it in a shed with other stuff for sale. It was tarped, but I peeked. I bought a few things and kind of hung around until the crowd thinned.

"Any chance the car is for sale?"

The two middle-aged women looked at each other for a minute before one spoke. "We hadn't even considered it. Our grandfather bought that new when he was seventy. I thought he'd never get much use out of it, but he lived to be 101 and drove it until he was 97. What will you give us for it?"

"Let's go look at it."

It had about an inch of dust on it, even under the tarp, but there was no rust, no body damage, and the interior looked shiny. I opened the door and wrinkled my nose. They grinned. "Pops coated everything with vaseline to keep the leather from cracking. He did the same thing to the exterior and tires. In the end, he thought he'd get well enough to drive it again. How does fifteen hundred sound?"

"Let's look it up." I pulled up the blue book price and was surprised to see the cost was on the low end of the value. I knew they were having the sale to pay for the expense of his funeral, so I made them a deal. If I put a battery in it and it ran, I'd give them two grand. If it didn't, I'd still give them the fifteen hundred.

I had it pulled to Leroy's garage, and he drooled over it. Then he grinned. "All you need now is a gold tooth, a purple derby, and a tag that says "Where's My Money, Bitch."

After he got done laughing, he told me to give him a week. When I returned to the garage, it shone like new and purring like a kitten. The ladies got their two grand, and I got a conversation starter. When I asked Leroy what I owed him, he asked me to come into the garage. It was odd that he locked the door, then took me to a smaller room. The guy before him used it as a paint room. After swearing me to secrecy, he pulled a tarp, and my mouth hung open. I was looking at a 1941 Indian Scout, the military version. It still had the leather saddlebags and the ammo tins on the front forks.

"I was my grandfather's. He bought at a surplus auction right after the war. He used to show me pictures of it, but couldn't remember what happened to it. He had dementia pretty bad there at the end, so none of us thought anything about it. Last year, Gram decided to sell what was left of the farm and had a guy out to clean the buildings and barn. Gramps was a packrat, and every stall was filled head high with junk. They found this buried in the last stall they cleaned out. Gram still had the title, and she decided I was the one who should have it. Boy did that lead to a bunch of pissed off cousins.

The engine is blown. You told me once you worked on a couple of old bikes, so I'll trade you what I had to spend on the Caddy if you'll help me rebuild her."

I was practically drooling. "Screw that. I'll pay for what you did on the Caddy and throw in helping you with the other bikes if you'll let me help you."

Back to the present, Allie and a little clone of her came out and looked over my ride. "Where did you get that?"

"Bought it at a yard sale. I nearly had to beat an old lady to death to get it but damn it, I was there first. Still got the scar where her dentures got stuck in my arm."

The Kid--the nickname her father gave her, and she liked it enough to want to use it- grinned. I was used to people with nicknames from the military and the biker community, so it was no problem. "My Dad would drool if he saw this. Come on, let's go. I'm hungry."

I was a little surprised when she made her Mom get in the back and jumped in beside me. She sure asked a lot of questions, and she had my life story, fabricated as it was, before we got to the restaurant. I saw Allie in the back, and she was smirking.

"You ever run out of steam?" I asked her when she stopped to draw a breath.

"Not often. Mom tells me you know how to work on bikes. Dad has three, and his wife has her own. I'm going to get a dirt bike for my next birthday."

By the breath intake in the back, I got the feeling this was news to Allie. "Well, that's good for you. Just remember to respect whatever you're riding. It could kill you if you don't."

"You sound just like Dad."

"No, I sound like everyone who's ridden for a while. I got road rash scars and a broken arm from not paying attention, so I know what I'm talking about.

She seemed down for a minute and then grinned. "Well, maybe you can help me out when I'm home. I'll need all the instructions I can get."

"We'll have to let your mother make that decision."

"Then it'll never happen. If it were up to her, I'd still have training wheels on my bicycle."

We pulled into the parking lot, and it was jammed. We had to wait ten minutes for a table. We got the same waitress as before, and she remembered us. "Hi," she said, handing us a printed menu with the night's choices. "If you don't see anything you like, you can order off the regular menu. We got banana pudding, but we've only got two pans left. If you want it, you'd better order now so I can reserve it."

We immediately ordered three servings for dessert. I chose a rack of lamb with mint sauce as a main dish, with braised asparagus and basil-roasted potatoes. The Kid got a steak with a baked purple sweet potato and an endive salad, while her mother got stuffed flounder and crab legs. Kinsey was so impressed that she took pictures of every meal. Then she insisted that her mother give her a taste of her flounder and looked longingly at my lamb. "Kinsey, would you like a..."

Her knife and fork flashed as she carved a piece of lamb, tasted it, and then carved another piece for her mother. We ended up tasting everything we each had on our plates. I thought the Kid would cry when she tasted the banana pudding.

We semi-waddled out to the car, and Kinsey was gracious enough to let Allie sit in the front. I thought the heavy meal would make her drowsy, but she was as chatty as ever. We were almost halfway home when she sat up straighter and said, "Look!"

It was a drive-in. Neither Allie nor I had been to a drive-in in years, and Kinsey had never been, and she wheedled us into turning around. There was a teen horror/slasher movie playing. It was not exactly what I liked to watch, but I figured I could endure it, and it made Kinsey happy, which, by extension, made Allie happy, which made me happy. We had to park towards the back because of the size of the car, and just as soon as we got settled in, Kinsey looked at me.

"I like chocolate stars, and Mom likes chocolate-covered raisins. We both like Coke, so make sure you get a large popcorn."

"You just ate! Thirty minutes ago, you were almost comatose. Where you gonna put all that?"

Allie smirked. "Welcome to the world of teenagers. Hurry, honey, before the movie starts."

I was halfway to the concession stand when it hit me she'd called me honey. There was a serious discussion when I returned, but I stopped immediately. Talking about me, no doubt. Kinsey decided to sit between us up front to see better, so I didn't get to snuggle with Allie, but it was all right. Kinsey did the typical teen thing of yelling at the screen when the actors did something stupid, warning them to turn around and not go into the creepy old house, knowing they wouldn't listen.

I had my arm across the back of the seat, playing with Allie's hair, and Kinsey got quieter and quieter until she slumped against me, out cold. I looked over at Allie and discovered she was asleep as well. Kinsey snuggled up to me tightly. Allie snuggled into her and started snoring.

One of the few times in my life, I had regrets about my life. I had done great good, but it had cost me, and I doubted I'd ever have children. I enjoyed the moment for a while before gently waking them. The final credits were rolling as they rubbed their eyes.

"Time to go home," I told them. Kinsey stayed in the front, and for once, I was glad of the bench seat and three seatbelts.

Kinsey asked me how the film ended. "It was disappointing. Right after you went to sleep, it turned into a gay musical. The killer didn't look nearly as scary in a pink tutu."

"What?"

"Nothing. You'll have to watch it on cable."

They invited me in, but I declined. "I have stuff to do tomorrow. You guys get some sleep. Allie, I'll call you sometime after lunch. Goodnight, honey. Goodnight, Kinsey the Kid. Ya'll sleep well."

Kinsey giggled when her Mom kissed me, surprised me with a hug, and went into the house laughing.

..............................................................

I spent most of the morning working with Leroy on the Indian. The engine was smaller than I thought it would be, only about 500cc, but these things were designed to be fast and agile, primarily used to carry messages and sensitive documents. This made them a prime target, and the mortality rates for the riders were pretty high.

We were taking the ammo boxes off when Leroy got quiet. "Look," he said, holding up the ammo can. There were two bullet holes in the right side box and a crease in the fender to match. We talked about it for a while, and he decided to leave them as an homage to the rider. By then, we had the engine stripped down and looked for original parts. There were some vintage Indian clubs in the country, and we contacted some of them, hoping they could help. One sent a man out to take pictures and document our progress. They had a little e-magazine going, and the following month featured Leroy and the bike on the cover. It said in the article that when the bike was finished, there would be another interview and a new set of pictures.

We got a lot of emails and leads on parts from the article. I made sure I was out of the frame when the pictures were taken. My past needed to stay there. I looked very little like I did back then, but there was no need to push it. The official story was I'd died from my wounds, but facial recognition could dispel that myth in a second.

The girls had their meeting the following Wednesday, and it had been one of those nights. One of the members found an old elk head and thought it would look cool hanging behind our little bar, and that's where they hung their bras. There were many hoots and cheers when we opened the doors on Thursday and saw seventeen bras hanging on the antlers. A leopard print bra was right in the middle taped to the nose, and I grinned. Allie is now an accepted member of the club.

Everybody took the bra that belonged to their women, often cross-checking and ensuring they had the right one. The embarrassment from the last time they mixed them up was fresh on their minds. I just grinned and took down the leopard print. "That one's mine."

There were a lot of hoots and jeers, but they all seemed happy I had somebody now. We were up to twenty-two members now, and any more would overrun our little building. Occasionally, someone would drop out, but another was always ready to take their place.

We had a lawyer, two cops, a doctor, two EMTs, a fast food restaurant manager, factory workers, construction owners, and personnel. It was split about half and half between really well-paid and average people. Our last addition was Leroy. He rode with us several times and came to me when another guy moved out of town. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to say. I was in the culture for a long time and was even a one percenter for two years. My club was rough, and I progressively got into riskier things. I got lucky, when they popped the club, I was already in county doing ninety days for roughing up a civilian. I dodged the bullet on that one. They sniffed around but already had the big dogs, and I wasn't worth chasing. I took that as a sign and left that life behind me. It's been ten years since then. I own a business, pay taxes, got married, and stayed straight. There have been a lot of times when guys brought me bikes I knew were stolen, offering to sell them for ridiculous prices. I sent them down the road. You guys are the first people I've enjoyed riding with since those early days."

He was heartily welcomed. I think it wasn't all altruism, It can be damn handy to have a top bike and car mechanic available at times. We set rules, and if one needed work, they took it to his shop and paid his full rate.

We were just a bunch of guys goofing around. Two-thirds of them would have been scared to enter the Piston, and a couple didn't drink. It was funny when one of the wives decided we should do something for the community and volunteered us for a Habitat for Humanity project. We spent three weekends working on a house. The construction workers did the siding and the roof, with the rest of the guys helping where they could. I ran the wiring. I was certified by the state, so everything I did met code. The wives, girlfriends, and their older kids helped on the last weekend, cleaning up the floors and yard, washing windows, and vacuuming carpets. Kinsey the Kid ended up helping me run some last-minute wiring, and her small hands were a great help.

We had an understanding. Treat her mother like gold, and we would get along fine. "She's had enough assholes in her life to last two lifetimes. The last thing she needs is another one fucking it up."

"You learn that language from your mother?"

She grinned as she walked away. "Nope. I learned it from her boyfriends."

Allie and I had started doing something with Kinsey when she was home, usually on Sundays. This went on for about a month, and I got home from helping Leroy to find them sitting on the back deck. Kinsey jumped up, grinning. "We've decided you should reduce commuting, so we'll spend the night. Mom bought a bunch of steaks and pork chops. We made the sides, so you have to do the cooking. I saw your grills, so I'm guessing you can burn meat. We'll keep a close eye on you, just in case."

They set the table on the deck, turned on the muted lighting I'd strung, lit a bunch of citronella candles to keep the mosquitoes away, and watched me like a hawk while I grilled the steaks. The meal was easy and light, and I enjoyed it. Kinsey picked a pay-per-view movie for the big-screen television, and after we'd cleaned up, we sat down to watch it.

Kinsey sneakily grinned and sat between us. As the movie progressed, gravity got to her. She slept soundly with her feet across my lap and her head in Mom's lap.

"Does she ever make it through a whole movie?"

Allie smiled as she ruffled her hair. "Most of the time. So that you know, this was her idea. I keep forgetting she's twelve going on twenty. I hope you didn't mind."

It came out before I thought. "If it were up to me, I'd spend every minute with you, and Kinsey's just the cherry on top of the cake. She's a good kid, Allie. You did a great job with her."

I didn't mean to make her cry, but she did, quiet sniffles as she smiled through the tears. "I'm going to take that as an invitation, Grant. You need to step up here."

....................................................................................................

I thought about that for a while, and one Saturday morning, Allie ran to the store while Kinsey helped me with my bike. She'd polish it up, and I'd give her a twenty. It was worth it; my bike never looked as good as when she finished it. She was waxing the tank, and I had gone into the house for sodas. We sat on the deck, and I told her I had something to run by her.

I stumbled a couple of times before I got it out. "Here's the deal. Your mother has become very important to me in the last eight months. When she returns, I will ask her to move in. If she comes, so do you. Can you handle that?"

She got quiet for a minute and walked around the yard. When she came back, she had a grin on her face. "I'm in. There's a price, though. You have to spoil me something awful. I only met my real Dad less than a year ago, but I discovered I like having a father. So then, if I live with you, you'll need to step up. A girl can't have too many Dads."

I was expecting acceptance, but this took it to a new level. I did the only thing I could think of: I pulled her off her feet in a big hug. She hugged me back, and when I put her down, her smirk was huge. I shocked her with my following statement.

"I misspoke. I don't want her to live with me."

Her face clouded up, and it was my turn to smirk. "I meant to say I don't want her to just live with me. I want her to marry me."

That's when her tears started, and we ended up in another hug. Allie chose that moment to come around back and watch us with a smile on her face. "What's that about?"

You almost couldn't see Kinsey's eyes because her grin was that big. "You'll find out soon enough. Did you get the ice cream?"

She did, and she dipped us all in a bowl. Allie would look from one of us to the other with a frown, and we'd grin bigger. When we were done, I got up.

"I have to run to town to pick something up. You guys want to come?"

Allie had her back to me, and I looked at Kinsey, mimicking sliding a ring on a finger. The grin came back. "Sure. Come on, Mom."

I pulled into the parking lot of a jeweler I knew. He would be the next member of our club. I'd asked him about rings, and he said he had a great selection and would give me a deal. I didn't care about a deal, but I did care about the ring.

"Why are we here?"

"I need to pick up something for a woman I know. It won't take a minute."

She frowned, but Kinsey was pulling her out of the car. "Come on, Mom! We can look for suitable birthday presents for a thirteen-year-old."

I wasn't going to goof around. I pulled her right to the engagement rings and dropped to my knee. She was looking at the rings, and when she turned around, she went pale. "Allie Elizabeth Sneed, will you marry me? I know we have been together long enough for me to know you're it, the woman I've been looking for for a long time. So please, let's spend the rest of our lives together."

The paleness became more pronounced, and she swayed a little. I was getting up to catch her, but she stopped me. "Stay right where you are."

She dropped to her knees, grabbed my head, and gave me a kiss that was probably in the top three of all time. This continued as Kinsey danced around us, filming everything on her phone. When we finally drew back, Kinsey almost yelled, "Say yes, Mom!"

Allie looked at me through tear-stained makeup and smiled a serene smile. "Yes. Two billion, three hundred and eighty-five million, eight hundred and sixty-seven thousand, nine hundred and thirty times yes."

"That's an oddly specific number."

"I've always thought the expression 'a thousand times yes' was a little trite."

About a dozen customers were in the shop, and they applauded and cheered when we finally stood. Kinsey was still dancing around, so I grabbed her and pulled her into our hug. Then she started crying.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm happy, dumbass. I spent many years without a Dad, and now I have two!"

That brought a fresh round of tears from Allie, and my eyes were a little blurry. Finally, I shook myself. "What are we doing here? Oh yeah, we're here to get a ring."

Allie tried on almost every ring in the store, and Kinsey tried a few along with her. I asked her what she was doing, and she grinned. "Practicing." I knew at that moment that my life would never be the same.

Allie picked a ring that didn't have to be sized and wore it home. We returned to the house and ordered takeout; there was no way we were cooking today. The day's emotions made us all sleepy, and I woke in what would be a very familiar position: Allie and I snuggled together, Kinsey draped across us.

We didn't make love that night; we just snuggled, falling asleep in minutes. Kinsey woke us. She'd made breakfast, and we told her we appreciated it. She grinned. "You're welcome. Now get your truck, D2. We got stuff that needs moving."

It didn't take very long, just clothes and keepsakes. She left all the furniture for her mother, who took over the lease. Allie's mom had the worn-out look of a woman who'd tried to live life all at once. Allie told me once it was one of the reasons she was like she was, and it took her a long time to change her ways. It seems Carrie had finally learned her lesson. Now she was big on her book club and quilter's guild and had mostly given up drinking. She had a low-paying job, and Allie clarified that she would keep paying the lease. I just smiled. My house was almost paid for, and I had the money in the bank to pay it off whenever I wanted. I wasn't rich, but I made good money, and the checks I got every month were mainly untouched and sitting in an investment account.

Of course, my house needed an update. They dragged me to a few stores until I gave them the keys to my truck and told them that as long as it wasn't too feminine, they could have what they wanted. Kinsey got a brand new bedroom, and we got new dining and living room furniture.

The wedding happened five months later. All my friends from work came, and all the club members and their wives. Brain and Wanda were there, and a few friends we'd made at the Piston. For such a diverse crowd, it went very well. We were wed in a little country church by a preacher who was one of the newest members of our club. He was a nice guy, and something about how he moved seemed familiar to me. Then one day I saw him at the club with his shirt off and saw the Ranger tattoo.

Kinsey was maid of honor, with Red, Mouse, Blondie, and Wanda as bridesmaids. Leroy was my best man, and Brain was one of the ushers. I grin every time I see the pictures of him in his tux and Wanda in her long dress. I took them to the Piston one night, and everyone liked them so much that I made a big copy and framed it. It hangs over the back of the bar.

Something happened after we left the reception. Brain and Wanda were dancing and lightly flirting, and then they just disappeared. Six months later, I was an usher at their wedding, and Allie was a bridesmaid. Forty-six motorcycles gave them an escort to the airport for the flight to Bali. It was a place Wanda always wanted to see. We asked about pictures, and Wanda blushed. Brain told us later they spent their time at topless and nude beaches, so there weren't a lot of family-friendly photos available.

Brain left his club. It was a complicated but amicable separation. He'd always honored his commitments and led them into profitable ventures. It was his plan to separate the 'management' team from the rank and file. They never flew colors except at club events in private. The management team hand-picked his replacement, and Brian worked with him for six months before he left. Actually, he never really left. Once you joined, you were a member for life, even if you were retired and inactive. They knew all they had to do was call, and he'd come back to help them solve any problem that might arise.

He also got a "retirement" account, a small slice of any venture he'd created and made successful. He always had an exit strategy and funneled a lot of his money into investments.

He laughed about it one night. "The truly successful clubs started polishing their profile and easing away from the illegal stuff long ago. They left that stuff to other clubs because when they were watching them, they weren't watching us. We own three bike dealerships, a winery, money in some very nice stock portfolios, and a very nice internet company specializing in aftermarket parts."

It sounded like a pretty good business model to me. I'd even ordered parts from them before.

..................................................................

I got to meet Kinsey's father and new stepmother the next time he came to pick her up. He was a big guy with a beard and looked me over pretty hard. From the way he carried himself, I could tell he wasn't afraid to mix it up but knew he wasn't in my league. That was a situation I didn't want. We talked while the younger redheaded wife got Kinsey in the car.

I chose safe topics: motorcycles and Kinsey. Once the bike talk was over, I asked about her birthday. She was going to be thirteen, and it didn't fall on his weekend. "You know her birthday is coming up, and I don't want to duplicate presents. I'm going to get her a leather riding jacket, custom-made by a guy I know. Her Mom gave me a list of the stuff she's gotten."

I paused before going on, making sure I got my words right. "I really like the kid, but I want to be clear here. I'm not her father. You are, and I'll never get between you two. She's gonna be a teenager, and their natural instinct is to play both sets against each other to get what she wants. If you say no, it means no. If I say no, I'll call you and tell you why. If we present a united front, I think it will be much better for everyone involved. I know it's not your week for her birthday, and while the holidays were decided, you forgot to consider that when you made the custody agreement, so Allie has agreed to let you have her Sunday of that weekend. That way, she can celebrate her birthday with everyone. I hope that will work for you."

He looked at me briefly and said, "I have to talk to Allie." He was inside for about twenty minutes, and when he came back outside, he was grinning. "That's the calmest conversation I've had with her in twelve years. I think you're good for her." Kyle held out his hand and I shook it. Then he grinned.

"You and I have no experience with a teen girl. God help us both."

I went back in after they left to find Allie sniffling. Then she dragged me to the bedroom. We're going to be all right.

She got more presents than one child should have, and two parties for her birthday. Kinsey had a lot of friends and for some reason they liked to hang out at my, correction, our house. It was nothing to come home from work and find three or four girls camped out in front of the big television, wanting me to grill for them. Most were kids of our motorcycle group, and before I knew what was happening, there was a father/daughter ride planned.

Seventeen bikes pulled away from the club that morning, all with a young girl on the back. Some had more than one child close to the same age, and a few of the single guys volunteered to help out.

We rode for three hours until we came to the amusement park. They stayed with us for a while, then darted off altogether while we followed at a distance. They were mainly early teen girls, and some, including 'mine', were very pretty. A few boys tried to cut some out of the herd and found themselves surrounded by irate and scary-looking fathers. One turned out to be eighteen, and I spoke quietly with him. There was a spreading stain on the front of his jeans when I allowed him to scurry off. Leroy looked at me and grinned, before holding the other up by his neck while he asked him politely to leave his fourteen-year-old daughter alone. As soon as Leroy let him go, he ran away. The girls weren't bothered the rest of the day.

The Moms were waiting anxiously at the clubhouse, happy to see their very tired and happy daughters. They were all babbling a mile a minute as they got into their cars. They all agreed the next outing would be with their sons. I was going to ride with the second son of the attorney. They wanted something different from the amusement park, and we'd have to get creative. We ended up at a paintball camp, and the mothers grinned, though they complained about getting the paint out of their clothes.

There were frequent cookouts and social gatherings, and we meshed as a collective. We automatically went to the lawyer if we had a legal issue. Leroy worked on all the vehicles unless it was warranty work. The doctor was a general practitioner, so he became the supplier of our medical needs. Need work done on your house? One of the contractors would give you a good deal unless it was something simple. Then three or four guys would just show up at your home, tools in hand, to take care of it. The county deputy or the city detective would alert us about scams and anything that could threaten the children. Once or twice, they would step in and help someone's relative if it was minor and the person had good character.

It was a good life.

.......................................................................

Kinsey's Dad and I would talk to the point that she would have to remind him they had to leave when he came over. I didn't ask, but he and Allie finally talked, and things became less tense between them. Most of the time, his wife would come along, and they would be in the house talking about kids while we wandered around the yard. He came to pick Kinsey up one day, riding a vintage Norton that looked like it had just rolled off the factory floor. I hadn't seen that type of bike in years.

I knew he owned a very successful janitorial supply business and that he wheeled and dealed in anything of value on the side. I'd lived with a foster family, and the man was much like that. Some of my fondest memories were of going with him while he hustled and got good deals. He gave me a bit of advice that sticks with me to this day. "Don't ever cheat anybody, boy. Word will get out, and no one will want to deal with you. If they offer you a great deal of their own volition, take it."

We kind of liked each other, but I know it bothered him that I got to spend more time with his daughter than he did. That ended in her fourteenth summer. She woke up not feeling well, so her grandmother came over to sit with her while we worked. I was easiest to reach because of my position with the company, so she would call me first if anything came up. Three hours later, she called in a panic.

"Grant! Come home! Something's wrong with Kinsey. She fell out of bed screaming and won't wake up."

I screamed "Family emergency" at my assistant and set a land speed record on that Vulcan. I lived only two miles away, so I was there within minutes.

Grandma was panicking, and I grabbed Kinsey up and loaded her on the backseat of the Caddy, got Grandma in the front, and threw her my phone, telling her to scroll down to the name of the deputy sheriff. His patrol area included my house. I told him what was happening, and he met me three miles out, falling in front of me with his lights on and siren wailing. He'd called the hospital, and they were waiting by the emergency room door. I got hold of Allie and told her to let Mouse drive her. They worked together. She got there just as the E. R. doctor came out.

"Our first estimation is that her appendix has either burst or is about to. We're prepping her for surgery as we speak. It's a fairly routine operation, so the risk is minimal, depending on whether or not the appendix bursts. We'll know once the surgeon gets in and has a look. It should take no more than an hour, and we'll let you know as soon as we can.

Allie was almost hysterical, and after I calmed her down and made sure she had friends around her, I went outside and called Kyle.

He was cheerful when he answered the phone, but got serious quickly when I told him the news. "Kyle, Kinsey is at County General. They're doing an emergency appendectomy as we speak. As far as we know, she's not in danger, but you and Suzette need to get here as soon as possible. I'm sure she's going to want to see the faces of the people who love her when she wakes up."

"On our way." It was about a fifty-minute drive from their house to the hospital, but they were there in 35. Allie grabbed Suzette and pulled her into the huddle while Kyle and I went to get coffee.

We stood, and I could tell he wanted to say something. "Thanks, man. I'm glad you were there for her. I owe you."

"You don't owe me diddly. It was just a matter of timing that it happened with me instead of you. She's a great kid, and I know she's yours, but I'm pretty fond of her, just like you. I'd do everything I can to ensure she's happy and healthy."

I expected a lot, but not what I got. It was one of the tightest hugs I've ever received. He almost had me up off the ground before he let go, grinning. "Let's head back in and see how our girl is doing."

Our girl was out of surgery and awake. She was also very uncomfortable, but she smiled when she saw us walk in. Kyle took one hand, and she grabbed mine with the other. She held on until the pain meds knocked her out again.

We took Suzette and Kyle to get some dinner, talking about Kinsey before the conversation turned to Suzette's pregnancy. She was five months along and glowing. Kinsey was going crazy waiting for her to come along. Yes, it was going to be a little sister. It saddened me, wishing Allie and I had gotten together early enough to have one of our own, but she was 34 and I was 41, so I doubted that it would ever happen.

They spent the night at our house, and Kyle and I woke to the smells of breakfast. Allie and Suzette had gotten up early to fix it.

When we got there, Kinsey was awake and in good spirits. Barring complications, she could go home the next day. It occurred to me that it was his weekend, but he waved it off when I brought it up. "She's not up to travelling right now. Give it a couple of weeks."

Allie countered by telling them to come over Saturday and spend the day with her. Kyle looked at me and grinned. Two years ago, Allie hated his guts and didn't have a thing nice to say about him. He wasn't all warm and fuzzy about her either. But time, maturity, and a little love can accomplish great things.

They came over on Saturday on their bikes. Suzette had a little chopped-down Sportster, and he was on a hog. We decided to give the girls a little alone time and rode over to see Leroy. The Indian was just about completed. The engine was rebuilt, and all the wiring was new, but everything else was original. Leroy decided not to repaint it but buffed and compounded until the finish looked almost new. He would be riding it in three weeks.

One of the Indian clubs took the serial numbers and ran them. The bike was built on contract for Britain and used in Italy and France. It ended its military career during the Battle Of The Bulge, abandoned when its rider was killed. Six months later, the Brits did an equipment salvage operation and found it in a barn. The Indian company apparently had some sort of lend/lease agreement, and it was shipped back to the States and sold at auction.

When the bike was done, they came back out for a photo shoot and wrote an article about the machine's history. Both Britain and France sent out overtures, wanting it for military museums, but Leroy refused.

Kyle was impressed both with the bike and with Leroy. He'd had a man who worked on vintage stuff for him, but he'd retired and moved to Arizona and asked if he might be interested in doing a little work for him from time to time. Leroy grinned. "Sure. You know, Grant is one of the best Harley mechanics I've ever seen, especially on old stuff, don't you? You should ask him. Maybe he'll give you a family rate."

Kyle couldn't hide the grin on his face.

I rode over one Saturday, and he showed me one of the two warehouses he owned. I was suitably impressed. There were currently five bikes there, none newer than 1964. There were probably a dozen cars there, most of them pre-1974. We drove two over to Leroy's shop, with Suzette and Allie following us, and I promised to help him with a bike the next week.

A year went by. We were feeling froggy one day and rode our bikes to the Piston. Wanda and Brain welcomed us back, warmed up to Kyle and Suzette, and we enjoyed ourselves. I saw Allie freeze and look at the door. There in the flesh stood Theodore. He had three big dudes with him, and they all looked a little rough around the edges. Wanda followed our gaze and frowned. Brain grinned.

"Look honey, it's the Asshole Gang."

Wanda snorted. "One of these days those jerks are gonna do something stupid enough to get their asses kicked and I'm not gonna do anything but watch. I might even give them a kick or two when the guys are done with them."

"If they're that big a bunch of jerks, why don't you bar them?"

"You know this place is famous for being a neutral zone. Everyone is welcome if you leave politics and business out of it and keep it civil. That being said, everyone also has the opportunity to get their ass kicked and barred if they cross the line. They're standing on that line but haven't crossed it yet."

Allie made a point of giving me a lot of PDA's that seemed to make T pissed off. It had been two years. Get over it. What did he have to be mad about anyway? Well, besides the fact that I ended up with the woman he wanted and basically kicked his ass not once but twice? Like I said, he needed to get over it.

Apparently, he didn't. The fact that he had three bigger, meaner-looking friends gave him enough confidence to be stupid. He came to the table. He ignored me and spoke directly to Allie.

"Hey, Al. I see you're still with this loser. Whenever you're ready to trade up, let me know. I might give you a shot."

I tensed up, and she squeezed my arm. "The only loser I see here is you, Theodore. My MAN has given me a good life. He has a career and not a job, owns our home, our cars are paid for, and we have a pretty nice nest egg built up for future things, like the college education our child is going to get. You probably still don't have a pot to piss in. He's got something else going for him. He's the guy who knocked me up. I'm guessing your little swimmers weren't smart enough to know which way to go when we were together. Then again those pitiful little squirts out of that tiny dick were probably blanks anyway. Shoo now, my nose is more sensitive since I got pregnant, and the smell is starting to get to me."

Yep. Two months before, Allie came to me from a doctor's appointment looking really upset. I immediately thought bad things and cuddled her. "Is something wrong? Are you sick?"

"I got a condition and it will be months before I'm recovered."

I was thinking the big C when she wailed it out. "I'm pregnant! I don't know how it happened. I've been on the pill forever. What are we gonna do?"

It took me a little while to talk, which made her really nervous. I never thought I would ever be a parent. I was 42 and she was 35. We were a little long in the tooth for babies. I'd be sixty when the child graduated from high school. Then I grinned. We were going to have a baby!

I held her tighter. "Well, my first thought is we're going to have a baby! This is going to change a lot of things, baby. We have to get a bigger house. I doubt Kinsey will want to share her room with a newborn. And I know you don't like your job, so I suggest you leave it and take the position of full-time mother to a teen and a baby. You know we can afford it. That is, if you want to."

That little speech made her cry harder, but she seemed to think it was a grand plan when she was coherent. Kinsey was over the moon that afternoon when we told her. Suzetted was two months along with their second, which meant the children would be born within weeks of each other. She'd be up to her knees in babies.

I asked the doctor how it had happened later. He shrugged. "Birth control isn't foolproof. I personally know of three times this has happened. Sometimes, over-the-counter medicines or herbal remedies neutralize it. And I like to think that sometimes it's the hand of God. Take your choice."

Everyone at the table and that part of the bar heard the way Allie dissed T, and he went pale, red, then redder when people started laughing. He was about to say something stupid. I could see it in his eyes, so I got up, Brian and Kyle right behind me. "I think this conversation is over. You say one stupid thing about my wife and the ass kickings I gave you before will seems like a love pat. I'm talkin' about the kind of beatdown you don't get up from. Like the lady said, move along."

One of his bros spoke up. "Hey asshole! You can't talk to him like that! We'll...."

"Shut the hell up and move along. I've already warned you guys. You smart off, and I'll let him take you to the parking lot. Maybe I'll call for an ambulance when he's done with you. Maybe not. Maybe I'll just have a couple of guys drag you out of the parking lot so you don't get run over when my patrons leave. Go back to your table and behave." Wanda was a little woman but when she was pissed off she looked a lot bigger and she was about as pissed off as I'd ever seen her. The guy wanted to argue, but they had at least one guy with smarts, and he pulled him away. They left mumbling. Dire threats, no doubt.

Brain did not like to see his bride upset. It made him upset, and when he was upset, bad things could happen. He had a quiet word with a few of his friends, who watched closely.

In the meantime, we relaxed and talked about the club. Allie had quit her job without a look back and taken on the role as denmother to all of us. If somebody needed something, usually one of the wives would tell her, she'd tell us, and we'd take care of it. For some reason, we got a reputation for being guys who could get things done. One guy had a grandparent in a nursing home, and when we found out he was about to get kicked out because he couldn't afford it anymore, we stepped up. We did a couple of fundraisers. Leroy and a couple more were combat vets, and they talked it up on social media. I probably had as much experience as they did, and it was the only time I regretted not being able to tell them about my past. Kyle found us a bike that we could restore, and we rebuilt it in three months, customizing it as much as we could. In the end, we had about five grand in it and auctioned it off in a charity event, getting twelve thousand for it. We used the whole amount to make sure the old guy was safe for another year.

He wouldn't be set for life with the other things we'd done, but he'd be okay for about three years. The old dude was in his nineties, and I didn't think he would last much longer. He told us tales of WW2, including stories about the Battle Of The Bulge that made your hair stand on end. Leroy took the Indian to the nursing home, and all the vets there came to look at it. We even got the old guy on it and took a bunch of pictures.

The women of the club took it on themselves to see that he had visitors at least twice a week until he passed. The funeral was talked about for years. Leroy led the funeral procession on the Indian.

Despite our good-guy reputation, quite a few of us still didn't mind mixing it up. Another group found that out at a swap meet/rally we were attending. They were drunk or high, and one of them made the mistake of grabbing the lawyer's wife late at night. Eric tried his best to knock him into next week. He didn't hit him hard enough to cause time travel, but the guy was out cold and didn't wake up for six hours. Fifteen of his brothers took offense and in the melee that followed most of them got their ass kicked. I took down three before I got a fist to the head, but I bounced up and got another down before we looked around and noticed there was no one left to fight.

Three or four were running away, and the rest lay on the ground in various forms of distress. We had three guys down. Doc checked them out first, then he checked out those who allowed it. One guy grinned. "You don't hit like no doctor!"

Doc rubbed his jaw. "Well, you hit like a biker. I think I'll be visiting the dentist if these teeth stay loose."

He actually looked ashamed. "Dog is just that, a dog, when it comes to women. This ain't the first mess he's got us into. Still, he's a bro."

"That bro might get you killed one day. You think about that."

Brain was laughing about the memory while the ladies were in the bathroom when one of the bouncers said, "You guys might want to come with me."

He led us past the restrooms and out the back door. Our wives were standing there looking scared and very angry at the same time. Two more of the bouncers and about five guys from the bar were holding T and his friends. I got a bad feeling.

"What happened?"

Allie was beside me, trying to calm me down. What she told me made that impossible: "They were waiting for us at the bathrooms. The bouncers noticed how long they had been standing there and were heading in their direction when they grabbed us. Barry and the guys showed up and gently persuaded them to leave us alone."

Barry was one of the biggest people I'd ever seen. I often think of the old joke of a man telling another how big and bad the other was. The guy wasn't buying it until the first pointed at a man standing in front of a black wall. "See that guy?"

The other guy shrugged. "Yeah. So what. He don't look that big."

"No, not him. See that black wall behind him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he's the wall."

He held the mighty T, and his grip wasn't the gentlest. He had T bent over and whining about how bad his arm hurt. "Don't worry asshole. I'm about to let you go." Barry let the pressure off his arm enough that he could straighten out a little and see who was in front of him. The man looked like he was about to pass out when he saw me.

"I don't want any trouble."

I sneered at him. "Really? And you think the best way to do that is to grab someone else's woman? His pregnant woman?"

Wanda showed up just then. I noticed her hair was mussed and her top was torn. I looked over at Brain and realized I was looking into the eyes of death. I looked at Kyle. He didn't look like death. He looked like murder and mayhem waiting to happen. I had no idea how I looked but it was scaring the shit out of Theodore.

"Boys, you've finally done it. You're barred. Try showing up here again and your ass will get kicked every time. I suggest that if you go somewhere and you have to pass here, you take another route. Barry, would you escort these pieces of shit off my property? Once they're out on the streets, I'm sure our husbands will want to talk to them."

They had picked up another guy somewhere, and now there were five of them. There were three of us, and we grinned. They needed more guys. Brain and Kyle told me to share. A used car lot was across the street, and they frog-marched them to it.

Barry gave the word, and they turned them loose. T turned to flee and I caught him right behind his knee, driving him to the ground. He got up and turned, giving me the opportunity to grab his arm and turn him. His arm went backwards as I did a palm strike and broke it at his elbow. Then I let go and kicked him in the short ribs. I know for a fact that hurts like hell. The kick was so hard that two of his ribs broke completely. I figured he'd be down now, but he was still up, holding his ribs with his good hand and crying. I kicked like I was going for his face. I reached his balls, and the force lifted him off his feet. He let out a little squeak and hit the ground. All this took about ten seconds, and I turned to see one coming towards me with a chain in his hand. I faked a block and let the chain wrap around my arm, grabbing it and pulling him to me. He tried to let go of the chain, but it was too late. I used a jiu-jitsu move I'd learned and broke his cheekbone. I walloped him so hard he had a detached retina. He dropped to the ground and let go of the chain. I used it to rake across his face a couple of times. He could really make up some good lies about the scars he'd have for the rest of his life.

Kyle had his guy down kicking the shit out of him but Brain was trying to fight two at once and one moved like he knew what he was doing. He never saw the fist that hit him in the back of the neck, and he fell unconscious. That left the other guy for Brain, and he literally beat the hell out of him. None of them could get up when we walked across the street. The people parted for us to pass with awe in their eyes. Maybe a third of the bar had witnessed the beat down but the next day when one of them bitched out and whined to the cops no one in the bar had a clear recollection of us being there. They talked to all of us, and since we didn't have a mark on us and clammed up, they had no case. It was good that I had a jacket on because I had some pretty ugly bruises from the chain.

Theodore took months to recover. He had no insurance and couldn't work, so soon he didn't have a job or an apartment. He sofa surfed until people got tired of his whining, and then he spent two months at a shelter. He swore vengeance on anyone who would listen, and most laughed at him. "Dude, he's kicked your ass three times in a row. He damn near killed you the last time. I feel you'll try it again and won't walk away from it. Let it go."

He didn't ride anymore because he had to sell his bike to eat. Someone finally felt pity for him and gave him a job, but it still left him living hand to mouth.

............................................................................................................

Allie was seven months into her pregnancy, and Suzette was about a month ahead of her, so our riding got curtailed. I managed to ride maybe once a month, and Kyle even less. Kinsey was old enough now to stay on her own, but we didn't let her do it often because we didn't feel comfortable with it. Since Allie was home now, it wasn't a big deal anyway.

Allie had a doctor's appointment, and her mother was going to take her while I worked. Kinsey opted to stay home to finish a homework assignment due the next day. I'd be home in an hour, so she wouldn't be alone long.

I knew something was wrong the minute I pulled into the driveway. The door was open, and we had drummed it into her head not to leave it that way. The minute I walked in, I was filled with dread. A scuffle had definitely occurred, furniture and lamps had been knocked over, and some were broken. I ran through the house, calling her name, and found a note written by cutting and pasting letters from magazines.

GOT THE GIRL. COME UP WITH 100,000 BY TOMORROW. WILL TEXT FOR EXCHANGE. CALL COPS AND GIRL DIES! CALL ANYONE GIRL DIES!

I immediately called the cops, and they were there in record time. One was in our club, and a detective. They took my statement and asked if my wife and I had enemies. "I can save you a lot of trouble. I know who took her."

We'd installed video when some kids went on a vandalizing spree in the neighborhood, and it ran 24/7. It also uploaded everything and stored it for a month before deleting it. I pulled it up for them.

It showed Theodore knocking on the door. Kinsey answered, but was smart enough to leave the storm door locked. They argued for a few minutes, and I figured Kinsey was giving him an earful when the other guy popped up from where he was hiding with a hammer. Kinsey almost made it to the back door before they caught her, which explained the damage. They rolled her in a blanket and carried her to a van. The license plate was clearly in view.

Allie got home and fainted when I told her what happened. I held her head so she had no choice but to look into my eyes. "Listen to me. We're getting her back. They're idiots, but they're not stupid enough to harm her." I leaned in so that only she could hear and whispered to her. "When I catch them, you'll never again in this life worry about what T might do. He'll be on the other side of the ground. I'll make sure he's buried face down so he can see hell clearly."

She held my gaze for a minute and then gave me a little nod.

The detective could not believe how stupid and clumsy they were. "Nobody in their right mind asks for a cash drop anymore. It's always an electronic transfer. These guys are too dumb to breathe. We'll get them pretty soon. In the meantime, don't do anything stupid. Leave it to us."

I agreed and got on the phone as soon as they left. I called Brain first. There was dead silence for just a second before he exploded. His rant would have been funny if it hadn't been so serious. I knew as soon as he hung up, he'd reach out to every club he had good relations with to be watching for them.

After I hung up, I made the hardest call of my life.

"Kyle, I have some bad news. Kinsey's been kidnapped."