Authors: Catherine Johnson
It was difficult to know what to do for the best, anyway. Samuel had taken Dizzy’s room for a nap before they’d rode out. She had no idea if he would be taking it once they got back. She decided that the best course of action was to be unobtrusive and take one of the mattresses. Annelle was more than a little enthusiastic about the mattresses. Having been unable to score a fuck the previous night, she’d had to be content with one of the sofas for a bed and she was scathing in her assessment of their suitability for the provision of a good night’s rest.
After she’d gotten Josh settled in a makeshift bed, Thea sat and watched TV with Annelle, Alex and Lyla. She let her ire at her friend go; her head was too full of buzzing thoughts to hold onto it. She was staring blankly at a point somewhere between the sofa and the screen and had no idea at all what show was on. She didn’t feel the least bit tired, but she didn’t want to sleep anyway. She had to keep watch. She had to be awake when they came back. She didn’t know why, but it seemed important that she was. Every so often, she glanced over at Josh’s sleeping form. They had a chance for something here, to be part of something. Thea hoped it wasn’t being snatched away from them before they could investigate it for themselves.
Annelle had fallen asleep slumped over the arm of the sofa, and Alex had left the sofa completely to settle on a mattress, as had Nut and the other girls. Lyla was the only person in the room, other than Thea, who was still awake. Thea didn’t think Lyla had really seen anymore of the vacuous images that had been flickering across the screen than she had. It was obvious that Lyla was as worried for Ferret as Thea was for Dizzy, probably more so.
They sat vigil in silence as the darkness of the night outside the windows gradually receded through the shades of grey and gold of the dawn until another day was born. And then, like the rumble of approaching thunder, Thea heard the distant roar of a number of Harley engines. She had thought she’d feel relieved when she heard the signal of their return, but her anxiety increased tenfold. What if he wasn’t with them? What if he’d been hurt? What if...? She couldn’t sit still with the awful possibilities clouding her mind. She jumped up and ran to the door. Lyla had heard the sound of their return, too, and joined Thea in the cold, new daylight.
The fleet of bikes had been joined by a van that hadn’t been with them when they left. Thea did a quick count. There were two bikes missing. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. And then she saw him. She nearly went to her knees in the doorway. She clung to the frame to keep herself on her feet. She wanted to run to him, but she felt the presence of Lyla at her side. If Lyla, who’d been an old lady for years, wasn’t flinging herself at her man, then Thea didn’t think she had a right to approach Dizzy in any way or form. For one horrific moment she thought Lyla hadn’t moved because Ferret was one of the men missing, but when she looked again, Ferret’s blue bike was backing into its place outside the clubhouse.
They dismounted, and all of them headed straight to the back of the van, and Thea knew it was bad, really bad. She caught Lyla’s arm and tugged her back into the clubhouse. She intended to go and get the First Aid supplies that had been stockpiled behind the bar and realized that she’d need to wake Alex as well. She hadn’t known before this night that Alex had ever worked as anything other than a stripper. Thea had found her going through the medical supplies and Alex had mentioned that she was double checking what was there and had told Thea a little of her history.
Their shared inertia and indecision was interrupted by the men coming in through the door. Thea and Lyla turned as one, and Thea’s heart filled her throat as she realized they were carrying a body into the room. Her stomach joined her heart as she took in the scene fully and saw that the body they were carrying was completely stiff. It wasn’t limp and sagging in their hands, it was grotesquely twisted, although not curled in on itself, and the skin was blotchy in a way that skin should never be. They watched without speaking as the men carried their fallen brother through to the Chapel. Through the open doors Thea caught glimpses of them laying the body on the long table. She hadn’t been able to make out who it was and her brain was too jarred by the fact that one of them was dead to make sense work a process of elimination based on who was still alive.
They trudged slowly back out of their room, heading back out to the bikes. She watched, and as he passed, Dizzy’s eyes locked with hers. His face remained a mask of exhaustion. He didn’t smile or nod, or scowl or acknowledge her in any other way than to keep looking at her until he had to turn his head to watch where he was going as he stepped back out into the day.
Thea heard the crashes and rattles and curses of something heavy being moved outside. She didn’t go to see what they were doing, instead she stepped carefully around the sleeping bodies until she found Alex. She crouched down and shook her shoulder urgently until she woke with a start.
“They’re back.”
Alex snapped into full wakefulness. “Okay. I got it.” She threw back the covers and scrambled up. She’d fallen asleep fully dressed except for her shoes, and now she padded barefoot into the kitchen to get the kit she needed. Thea followed her. Nut had woken with the sounds of the commotion outside and was stumbling towards the bar. Lyla was already behind it, making sure that hot, fresh coffee would soon be in plentiful supply. Thea hadn’t noticed that Annelle had woken but she joined Thea in the kitchen and together they began to put together food for their returning warriors.
“Thea!”
At the hoarse shout Thea left the kitchen. Dizzy was already crossing the room in her direction. It was her bangs getting in her eyes that made them itch. They needed cutting. She was sure it was that. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself until she reached him and he caught her arms in a harsh grip and pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms round him, wanting to get as close as possible, but he didn’t let her. He buried one hand in her hair, twining his fingers into the tangled strands to hold her still as he kissed her long and hard. Thea slid her hands up over his back and clutched his shoulders so that she could pull herself fully against his body.
When they had to break the kiss to breathe, they didn’t allow any space to intrude between their bodies. Thea laid her head against Dizzy’s chest, needing to hear the beat of his heart to believe that he had truly come back alive, despite the lingering tingle of the bruising pressure of his lips against hers.
From the comfort of Dizzy’s embrace, Thea watched Alex working on Crash. It looked like she was putting stitches in his scalp. His face was smeared with blood and the shoulder of his t-shirt was dark with it.
“Where’s your boy?” Dizzy rasped against her ear.
Oh shit. Oh Christ. Thea stiffened and tried to pull away, but Dizzy wouldn’t let her go, he held her fast. She’d been so caught up that she hadn’t looked to check that Josh was still asleep. She hoped to God he hadn’t seen them bring the body in. She twisted until she could see the corner of the room she’d left Josh in. He was sitting up in the middle of the mattress, the covers bunched around his waist. He was awake and wide-eyed. Dizzy followed her gaze. Keeping an arm firmly around her shoulders he pulled her along with him as he went to Josh. Thea was too disgusted with herself to make her feet move at first. What sort of fucking mother was she bringing her son into the middle of all this?
Josh spoke first when they reached him, his voice steady, but not much above a whisper. “There’s a dead body in the other room. One of your friends.”
“Yes.” Dizzy’s voice was still hoarse.
At first, Josh just stared at them. He didn’t speak. Thea could only imagine the nightmares he was going to have after witnessing all of this, the body, the dusty, bruised and bloody men.
“This wasn’t really a party, was it.”
Josh hadn’t spoken the statement as a question, but Dizzy answered it as such anyway. Thea still couldn’t find her voice. “No, Josh, it wasn’t. Some bad men wanted to hurt us and they threatened your mama and you, too.”
Her boy looked up at her and the disappointed hurt in his eyes tore at her soul. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She had to find her voice. She had to answer the accusation in his question that she hadn’t thought he deserved to know he was in danger. She’d made the right call, she was sure of it. But her son, her boy who was heading into adolescence, had wanted the responsibility of the knowledge. “I didn’t want to scare you, bud. We just had to stay here ‘til it was safe. ‘Til Dizzy made it safe.”
Her son looked back to the man at her side. “Are we safe now?”
“Yes, Josh. Yes, I think we are.”
Josh looked down and then back up again, focusing on Dizzy instead of his mother. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to go back to sleep.” He glanced over to the Chapel doors which were still ajar. Thea followed his gaze and felt a measure of relief that, although the doors weren’t fully shut, there was no view of the body from this spot in the room.
“Lie down and try. Your mama and me’ll be here.”
Josh lay down, turned to his side, and tucked his head into the pillow, but he didn’t close his eyes. Thea disentangled herself from Dizzy’s hold and dropped down onto the mattress by Josh’s back.
“I’ll stay with him. You need food and coffee.”
Dizzy nodded, turned and picked his way between the beds back to the bar. Thea curled herself around Josh, but propped her elbow on the pillow and cupped her head in her palm so that she could observe the room. There were fewer men milling around now. Thea guessed that some of them had retired to the dorms. She watched as Dizzy ate some of the food that Annelle had laid out on the bar and sipped from a mug of coffee that Nut handed him. Alex approached him. She wiped some cotton over a scrape on his neck and he flinched as she did so, the cotton must have been soaked in antiseptic. If he was any more injured than that, he wasn’t letting Alex treat him. He brushed her off and slid off the bar stool he’d been perched on.
Thea watched him come back to them. When he reached them, he toed off his boots and shed his kutte. He folded the leather neatly and laid it on the floor. Josh had relaxed back into sleep, although Thea wasn’t convinced he was much more than dozing, but he didn’t stir as Dizzy joined them on the mattress. Dizzy lay down behind her, as he had the night before, or was it the night before the night before, now? But this time, instead of pulling her to him, he shifted so that he was tight against her back. She moved so that her head was no longer resting on her palm, but instead cradled on her bent arm.
Thea tried not to think of them being bundled together as a family. That was dangerous territory to tread. It was still so early in... whatever it was that they were in. She concentrated on the rise and fall of her son’s body under her arm and on the deepening inhale and exhale of Dizzy’s breathing behind her. Wrapped warmly between the bodies of the boy she’d kill to protect, and the man who had killed to protect them, she slept.
Thea squinted around the room when she woke. There was a Harley Davidson wall clock behind the bar, its face backlit with neon that was shaded a sickly orange in the daylight. She’d slept for a couple of hours. The rest of the world beyond the clubhouse would still only just be emerging into its lazy Sunday morning.
She disentangled herself carefully from Josh’s sleeping form. She rubbed her eyes, and as she worked to throw off the clinging traces of tiredness she saw what had woken her. Dizzy had left their bed, and with the help of some of the others, they were carrying the body out of the Chapel and across the room. Thea quickly checked that Josh was still mercifully asleep. She kept her body as still as possible, only moving her head to observe, determined not to wake him to this grisly ritual.
There was a man she hadn’t seen before waiting by the main door. He was another walking mountain, though thicker around the middle than Scooby, Shaggy or Shark, and he wasn’t wearing a kutte. For one ridiculous moment, Thea wondered if there was some radioactive Jesus Juice that anyone in, or associated with, the Priests had to drink as some sort of initiation.
Other people in the room were stirring now. Thea knew there was no way she was going to be able to fall back asleep, so she rose and stretched once she was standing to get the blood flowing again.
The mood in the clubhouse was still slow and subdued, but there was a palpable feeling of comradeship, of family. Even Lucy and Britney were working together, seemingly without prompt or complaint, to provide food for whoever was still hungry or who hadn’t joined in the early breakfast.
The sight of the body had persuaded Thea’s stomach against food, so she poured herself a cup of coffee for sustenance. Someone, blessed be that person, had put a fresh pot to brew so it wasn’t thick, hours old sludge, that she poured into her mug. Thea felt as though she’d lived a week in this building rather than a weekend.
As more people worked themselves into motion, the noise and movement woke Josh. He shuffled off the mattress and blearily stumbled over to the bar. Thea helped him up onto a stool and found some toast and juice for him. She looked around for Dizzy. He was by the door with Samuel and the other Louisiana visitors. It looked as though they were taking their leave. The big man that she hadn’t seen before had disappeared.
Dizzy was looking around the room; when his eyes landed on her, he waved her over. She murmured a question to Josh to make sure that he was settled, and received an incomprehensible grunt in response.
She hopped off the stool and crossed the room. The visitors were watching her as they filed out into the day. She wasn’t sure whether it said more about her or about Dizzy that their interest was so piqued by any indication of a relationship between the two of them.
By the time she reached Dizzy, only Samuel and a couple of the others were still lingering. As she reached the knot of people, Dizzy slid his arm around her waist and tightened it until she was snug against his body. Thea didn’t mind, it was a good place to be.
“Will we see you at my daughter’s wedding, cher?”
She’d agreed days, was it only hours ago, to go with Dizzy if he came back to her. It looked like she and Josh would be finding a way to take a road trip to Louisiana. She glanced up at Dizzy, needing to check that he hadn’t changed his mind. He seemed calm, content; he nodded.
She turned back to Samuel. “Yeah, I guess you will.”
“Good.” His smile was warm and genuine. “It won’t be a formal affair, cher. I think you’ll get along with my old lady. I know she’ll be just dyin’ to meet you.”
Chiz, standing just behind Samuel, was sporting a wide grin in her direction. “You can join the coven.”
Samuel sent a caustic glance over his shoulder. “My brother here is referring to my wife, her friend and my daughter.”
Samuel’s tone was pointed, but Chiz appeared to be completely unapologetic. He turned his wit on Dizzy. “You watch out for her and that catchin’ the flowers shit, bro.”
“Chiz, I think it’s about time you got your ass on your bike. You’ve not long since got the use of that leg back.”
Thea had no idea what Samuel was referring to, but it didn’t diminish Chiz’s humor. “Catch ya in a couple’a weeks, bro.” Chiz stepped forward, and he and Dizzy clasped hands before Chiz headed through the door.
After Chiz left, Samuel and Dizzy repeated the gesture. “Safe travels, brother.” Dizzy said while their hands were still locked.
“Take care, son. You too, cher. I’m lookin’ forward to seein’ you and your boy again.”
Thea stepped outside with Dizzy to see Samuel and his men on their way. There was a black van with the legend “Green Pastures Funeral Home” scrawled in white cursive script along the flank, parked but with its engine running. Thea put two and two together. The van was where they had carried the body to. She figured whatever somber farewells Dizzy and the others had needed to say had already been said.
There was a vehicle recovery truck parked next to the van. A black Harley, more modern looking than most of the ones Thea had yet seen was strapped down to the bed. A tall, thin man with an impressive handlebar moustache and shoulder length hair that were both silver white with age was in the middle of climbing into the cab of the truck. His bushy eyebrows, which were perversely as vibrantly black as his hair was grey, climbed up high onto his forehead as he spotted them. She felt, rather than saw, Dizzy nod in response, and squeezed herself a little closer to him. It simply felt like the natural thing to do.
They watched without comment until the bikes and trucks trundled out of sight in a cloud of dust, fumes and noise. Without separating, they returned inside. It was all noise and friendly commotion again now. The pall of gauzy smoke had been rebuilt. Laughter and conversation rebounded round the space. Annelle and the girls were working to clear the mattresses. Even Reba was tripping around with armfuls of bedding.
Dizzy gave her waist a squeeze. “I’m goin’ for a shower, sweetheart. Think even my skin’s about ready to crawl off me, never mind these clothes.”
Until he’d mentioned it, Thea hadn’t noticed how grimy her own skin felt in her rumpled clothes. Now, immediately, she could feel the past twenty-four hours clinging to her like a visible layer of filth. She’d wait her turn, though. “Okay. I’m going to pitch in here.”
Dizzy gave her an odd look, then shook his head and chuckled. “Okay. You do that.” He kissed the top of her head and with a final squeeze he left her to it.
After she’d helped the others to clear the floor, deflate and repack the mattresses, sort the bedding for a trip to the laundromat and move the tables and chairs back into place, Thea returned to Josh. It didn’t look like he’d moved during the upheaval. He was running his hands though his hair, which was sticking up in all sorts of different directions.
Thea was trying to mentally figure out a plan of action to get them both clean when Shaggy interrupted her planning. His blonde waves were hanging wet on his massive shoulders.
“I saw the boss headin’ back to his room. I take it your shower’s occupied?”
“Yeah, but we can wait.” Thea replied.
“There’s no need.” Shaggy spoke directly to Josh. “Heya li’l bro, you wanna use my bathroom to wash up?”
Josh blinked up at Thea. She nodded her consent.
“Yes, please.” Josh was already jumping down from the stool as he accepted the invitation.
“I’ll get your clothes and stuff, bud.” Thea pushed away from the bar and followed Shaggy as he led them down the corridor to one of the dorm room doors. He pulled on the chain that was hooked from his belt to one of his pockets. His wallet was attached to it, along with a small bunch of silver keys. Shaggy selected one and unlocked the door. As he led Josh into his room, Thea continued down the corridor to Dizzy’s room.
She tried the door, and was happily surprised that it opened freely. She found their bag of belongings and rummaged through it for clothes and toiletries for Josh. She could hear the shower in the adjoining bathroom. She stacked the items that Josh would need, trying to ignore all the while the imagery running through her mind that accompanied the sound of the running water. The click of the corridor door opening caught her attention. Shaggy stepped into the room.
“I’ll get those to the little guy.” He held his hands out and Thea handed him the pile. He winked at her before he turned and left.
Thea stood, looking dumbly at the door that Shaggy had shut behind him, belatedly wondering if there wasn’t some sort of subtext going on that she should have been aware of.
“Hey.”
She spun at the sound of Dizzy’s voice. She hadn’t noticed that the shower had been turned off. She hoped her jaw wasn’t sagging as badly as she feared it was, since Dizzy was standing there wearing nothing but a small, white towel wrapped around his hips. Water was beading on his skin, dripping over his shoulders and down his chest from his wet hair.
“Uh, hey.”
Dizzy held his hand out to her. “Your turn.”
“Say what now?”
Dizzy laughed, deep and full-throated. “It’s your turn to shower.”
“Oh.” Thea felt herself blushing. It was quite possible that the majority of the blood in her body was currently pooled in her face. “I thought....”
Dizzy took the short steps that brought him across the room, up close. Considering he was practically naked, up close was very close, very close indeed. Some of the blood from her face started flowed away to heat other parts of her body. “Oh you weren’t wrong, sweetheart. Not at all.”
She looked down dumbly as his fingertips traced over the lace edge of her bra, just visible over the neckline of her top. She wouldn’t normally show off her lingerie like this, but the top she’d grabbed hadn’t been the one she’d thought it was, and she hadn’t had a great deal of time to fret about her ensemble as she’d dressed. Those worries seemed to be days away now. Now she couldn’t think past the electric tingles that followed Dizzy’s fingers across her skin.
“Damn thing’s been distractin’ the hell outta me. Time you got out of it.
Thea wasn’t in the least bit virginal, but she felt like she’d just been cornered by the Big Bad Wolf, and that was making her a little shy. She dropped her eyes, but that didn’t help at all, because that put her gaze directly in line with Dizzy’s crotch, and that part of his anatomy definitely wasn’t feeling shy. If it got any less shy, he’d have to readjust the towel.
He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. “If you don’t want this, sweetheart, I ain’t gonna keep you in here and force you.” He said gently.
“No it’s not that. I do. It’s... just...” Thea’s brain had hit a brick wall, and being face to well-defined, dripping wet chest wasn’t helping her to find words.
“Arms up, sweetheart.”
Her limbs automatically complied with his command. She let him catch the hem of her beater and peel it up her body and over her head. He flung it into a corner of the room, somewhere in the vicinity of the desk. His fingertips barely touched her skin as they ran over and along her shoulder, and down over her lace-covered breast. It was only an almost touch, made more so only by the metal through her nipple. By instinct alone, Thea’s body arched, seeking more. Impatient now, she twisted her arms up behind her back and unclipped the fastening of her bra. She pulled it off and flung it in the general direction that her top had taken. The fierce light in Dizzy’s eyes only increased her irritation with her clothing, and she quickly rid herself of the rest of it.
“That’s it, sweetheart.”
He seemed determined to torture her. Instead of moving closer, he stepped back, but he caught her fingers with his own, pulling her with him. He walked backwards to the bathroom, and she let him lead her. She’d play his game, for now.
Once inside the smaller room, still damp with humidity, Dizzy turned and switched the shower to a hot spray.