Heavy Hogs MC

by Elias Taylor

  Looking across the crowded picnic, Hayden could pick out Heather with ease. She gripped a beer in one hand and chatted with Charlie and George. She was wearing a sky blue sun-dress with spaghetti straps and buttons down the front. The skirt of the dress skimmed over her curves and the hem just hit below the knee. She was classy and casual and sexy, all at the same time.

  She had joked the day before about wearing Daisy Dukes to fit in with the biker crowd.

  Hayden had told her to just be herself. That was what he wanted. Her, by his side, as he had a good time with all his brothers.

  “That girl you got is a class act,” Sugar said. “What’s she doing with a mopey brother like you?”

  He meant it as a joke, but the words hit a sore spot in Hayden. He fixed Sugar with his full Doomsday glare.

  “Chill out, brother,” Sugar said. “You gotta hold onto a girl like that is all I’m sayin’.”

  Hayden softened at Sugar’s sincere advice. He knew Sugar had met his soulmate late in life. Sugar had once confessed over a late night of drinking that he thought he would never find anyone. Then Val showed up and turned his whole life around. At the time, Hayden had thought to himself that he wasn’t waiting for his dream girl. She had already come and gone.

  Now, Hayden had hope. Somehow, he had gotten a second chance. And he was not going to blow it.

  He carried the burgers back to Heather and she smiled up at him as she accepted the plate. Every single time, her smile made him weak in the knees.

  “Heather was just telling us about your classic car auto shop plans,” Charlie said. “It sounds legit.”

  Hayden shrugged. “Just gotta find the right location, I guess.”

  “I am so there when you do,” George said. “I can’t take any more of Louie’s nagging.”

  “He only nags because you’re late half the time,” Heather teased.

  “Doomsday, why are you bringing this cruel woman around to insult me?” George said.

  Hayden only smiled and put his hand on Heather’s back. She leaned back into his touch.

  She had told him about her family’s thoughts. He had been touched by how they thought he was doing a lot for the community, but he had felt renewed guilt over everything he had put Heather through in high school. She had insisted it was no big deal, but Hayden knew he had been unpredictable back then. One second he could be sweet to Heather, the next he could be punching some guy’s lights out in the hallway. It hadn’t been cool. It had been dangerous. He was determined to be steady as a rock this time around.

  She had been quiet the past few days and Hayden could tell something was on her mind. He hadn’t pushed, though. He figured it was taking some adjusting to get used to being back in Lyndon, teaching instead of performing. And being with him again.

  He had his own moments of panic. There were times when he looked at Heather and knew it was all too good to be true. She was going to wake up and realize he still wasn’t good enough for her and then she would be gone.

  Then, like magic, Heather would do or say something to ease his worry. She leaned her back against his chest or snuggled closer to him in her sleep.

  All Hayden could do to ease Heather’s doubts was to let her work it out on her own.

  “I’m going to run to the restroom,” Heather said in his ear. “I’ll be right back.”

  Hayden watched her walk away. He wasn’t the only one observing her fine figure, but everyone in the Hogs only looked at her once. No one made a move. They all knew that Heather was Doomsday’s girl. Hayden had made sure of it.

  Charlie moved to Hayden’s side. “Hey, I got news.”

  “Yeah?” Hayden asked.

  “The Warriors leader wants to chat. Tonight.”

  “Peacefully?”

  “That’s what he says. At a bar across town.”

  Hayden shoved his hands in his pockets and considered. It was risky, but it could also mean a whole new chapter for the Hogs.

  “It’s our only shot,” Charlie said. “We gotta move now before Butcher gets wise to what we’re doing.”

  “You’re right,” Hayden said. “I’m in.”

  “Good, ‘cause I need you, bro. Meet me outside Maverick’s at 7, and we’ll head over together.”

  Charlie stepped away and struck up a conversation with a Hog to his left just as Heather reappeared at Hayden’s side.

  “Everything ok?” she asked. “You and Charlie looked intense just now.”

  “Biker stuff. No big deal.”

  Heather looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but instead, she just nodded and let Hayden keep his secrets. He didn’t like hiding stuff from her, but since the talks were peaceful, there was no need to worry her.

  As the barbecue started to wane, Heather got quieter. She sat down on a picnic bench next to Hayden and leaned against him. It had been an overwhelming day and she had met a lot of new people. She had done well though. Everyone liked her. Even Butcher hadn’t been grumpy with her.

  The biggest surprise of all was Brenda Russel’s reaction. Hayden had given Heather a gentle heads-up. He didn’t want to freak her out, but he figured it was only fair that his mom might not be thrilled about them being back together.

  Instead of glaring or saying something snarky, Brenda had embraced Heather.

  “I missed you, sweetheart,” she had said in Heather’s ear. “Take care of my son, now.”

  Beside him on the bench, Heather took one last sip of her drink and then set it down. She tried to stifle a yawn but didn’t do a great job of it.

  “You’re tired, huh?”

  “It’s not your fault. I just had a big day with classes and even more to plan for tomorrow.”

  “I’m taking you home.”

  She grabbed his hand and squeezed as Hayden stood up and led her towards his bike.

  “And you’ll stay over?” she asked.

  “I gotta help Charlie out with something,” Hayden said. “But then I’ll come back.”

  He wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t telling the whole story and guilt crawled through Hayden’s stomach. He would tell her later, he vowed.

  Heather seemed lost in her own thoughts anyway.

  On the ride back to her apartment, Hayden reveled in how she pressed her entire body against his back.

  At her place, she hopped off the bike, but instead of running inside, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a long kiss.

  “I had a good time today,” she said.

  “Me too.”

  “These last few weeks have been amazing.”

  She kissed him again, and even as he enjoyed her touch, Hayden felt a lump of coldness in his gut. Why did this feel like more of a goodbye than it was?

  “I’ll be right back in a few hours,” Hayden said.

  “You promise?”

  “I promise.”

  She finally released him and turned to her door. Hayden gritted his teeth. He wanted to follow her upstairs and hold her tight for the rest of the night.

  But this meeting had to be done. If it meant a peaceful alliance with the Warriors, it would all be worth it. It would be good for him and Heather too. He wouldn’t be stressed and she wouldn’t have to worry about the rivalry.

  With one final longing glance at the dance studio, Hayden pulled away.

  The bar the Warriors leader wanted to meet in was a bit seedy, but nothing totally out of the norm.

  After they had parked their bikes, Hayden and Charlie wandered towards the door. They were stopped by a guy in a Warriors jacket.

  “Hey, you the Hogs?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Charlie said.

  “I’m Lizard,” he said. “The Warriors leader.”

  That was the name of the head of the Road Warriors, but Hayden was surprised he was so young. He had assumed Lizard would be at least in his 40’s.

  “This way,” Lizard said. “My guys are in the alley.”

  “Guys?” Charlie said. “We agreed to just bring one brother e
ach.”

  “Chill,” Lizard said. He flashed a thin-lipped smile and walked into the alley.

  Charlie and Hayden followed. As soon as they stepped in, Hayden got worried. There were five other guys loitering near a dumpster with their bikes stalling behind them.

  “Look, we came here to discuss a Peace Treaty,” Charlie said. “Figure out a way to co-exist that benefits the both of us, we don’t wanna hang out near trash.”

  Charlie was already backing up and Hayden moved with his brother. This was bad.

  “Co-exist?” Lizard growled. “That’s a nice-sounding word.”

  Hayden’s back hit something. He turned to see another two bikers behind him and Charlie. They were trapped. It had been a set-up.

  Charlie held up his hands to show he didn’t want to fight, but Hayden knew it was useless. These guys were no good.

  In a flash, Lizard had struck Charlie across the face. Hayden leaped to his brother’s defense. He got Lizard once in the stomach and again in the face with a right hook before he was jumped by the other bikers.

  Charlie was on his feet and swinging, but they were too outnumbered.

  One guy got a hold of Hayden’s arms while another started pummeling him. Another two guys pinned Charlie to the ground while Lizard kicked him again and again with his boot.

  “You Hogs are either gonna get in line and do as we say,” Lizard said. “Or we end you... tonight.”

  “Fuck you!” Hayden spat blood from his mouth and the tangy taste burned his throat.

  As a Warrior hit him hard in the face with a fist that had to be wearing a metal ring, Hayden thought of Heather, sitting in her apartment, waiting for him to come home.

  He was an idiot. He shouldn’t have walked right into this. Charlie and he had been so desperate that they were blind.

  Hayden closed his eyes as the pain took over.

  Then there was a siren’s blare. The Warriors scattered as policemen poured into the alleyway. Someone in the bar must have called 9-1-1.

  It was good that he was not going to be beaten to death tonight, but Hayden was positive the police weren’t going to care who started the fight.

  Hayden lunged towards Charlie, and to his relief, his brother was still breathing. He was covered in blood and Hayden knew he didn’t look much better.

  A hand gripped his shoulder and tugged him to his feet.

  “You’re under arrest.”

  It had been ages since Hayden had found himself on the wrong side of the law. After juvie, he had been cautious. And then Heather had encouraged him to find another way. To be better. With the Hogs, Hayden had dreamed of running a decent club.

  But all that had just been evasion. He had only been stalling the inevitable. No more stalling. Hayden’s old self had finally caught up with him.

  Hayden grimaced and allowed them to pull his hands behind his back. The click of the handcuffs seemed to echo through his head.

  Chapter Seventeen: Fury

  Heather watched as her intro to ballet class filed in. She was not her usual enthusiastic self, but she couldn’t help it.

  Hayden had never come back. She had texted him and called a bunch of times, but after the third call, it went straight to voicemail. Meaning his phone was dead. Or he was ignoring her.

  It wasn’t like Hayden to just disappear without any warning. It wasn’t like him to promise he would come back and then not show up.

  Or was it? The longer Heather sat up waiting for him and worrying about him, the more she thought about how Hayden had been in high school. So careless about his school work and so preoccupied with the biker club. He hadn’t even been an official member back then but sometimes he would just bail on plans.

  “Hogs stuff,” he would say. “I’ll see you later.”

  Only he would never specify when later was.

  Maybe this wasn’t like the recent Hayden, but it was all too similar to the old Hayden.

  Heather took a steadying breath. She couldn’t spiral, not right now. She would put on a chipper face for her students, get through her classes, and then figure out what to do about Hayden.

  She was a bit short-tempered with a few students, but overall she managed to pull it together.

  When she was done for the day, she decided to swing by Louie’s. Hayden had work that day, so that was where he was supposed to be.

  As soon as she pulled into the parking lot, she took an inventory of the vehicles and saw that Hayden’s bike wasn’t there. Neither was his car. Even so, she went inside and asked Louie.

  “He didn’t show,” Louie grumbled. “Unlike him.”

  The fear in Heather’s stomach grew. What if something terrible had happened?

  “Is George here?” she asked.

  “Nah, it’s his day off.”

  Heather stumbled out to the car in a daze. She was starting to get images of Hayden lying injured in a ditch. Or at the hospital.

  She would check his apartment and then she would get George’s number from Melinda. She wished she had his brother’s number.

  Of course, Heather and Hayden had been in their own little world for a whole month. Just the two of them. No talk of Heather’s future, no talk of risky Hogs stuff. They had been sharing stories from the past 10 years and remembering their good times in high school and savoring new times together, but had they actually thought seriously about their future? No.

  When she pulled up to his apartment, Heather was relieved to see his motorbike parked outside. She dashed up to the door and knocked. Her frantic desire to make sure he was alright made it sound like she was trying to break down the door.

  “Hayden?” she called. “Are you in there?”

  She heard a muffled grunt and some shuffling.

  “Hayden, I can hear you. I’ve been worried.” She hated how her voice cracked.

  At last, the door swung open and Heather gasped in surprise at what she saw. Hayden was sporting a black eye, a massive bruise on one side of his face, several scrapes and a split lip. Heather could see another bruise peeking out from his T-shirt.

  Her hands flew towards his face but she dared not touch him too firmly.

  “Are you alright? What happened?”

  “I’m fine,” Hayden said. “Just come on in.”

  He grimaced with each step as he led Heather towards the couch.

  “Do you need ice or something?” Heather said.

  “It’s fine,” Hayden said. “Nothing’s broken or anything.”

  He sat down, but Heather remained standing. Her concern started to ebb as she began to grow curious about what Hayden had been doing to end up like this.

  “Tell me what happened,” Heather said. “I was calling you all night. I was worried sick.”

  “Charlie and I were set up,” Hayden said. “A bunch of guys from the rival club beat us up.”

  “I called you—”

  “Some cops picked us up,” Hayden muttered. “Spent the night in jail.”

  “Jesus, Hayden. I thought you were done with all this bullshit.”

  “The club isn’t bullshit.”

  “Getting beat up and put in jail is, though.”

  “I told you, we were set up.”

  All the stress of the past several hours started to mount in Heather. This wasn’t fair. He couldn’t just do this and then act like it was no big deal. It was a big deal. It was affecting her.

  “This is classic you,” Heather said. “You’re so great, but then all of a sudden you get into massive trouble and I’m the one left waiting for the phone to ring.”

  “That’s not fair,” Hayden said. “This wasn’t supposed to be trouble. Charlie and I went to talk about a peace treaty with the Warriors, but they were lying.”

  “People don’t get arrested for talking about peace treaties.”

  She stood before him, her chest heaving with emotion. Hayden leaned forward on his knees and looked up at her with beseeching eyes.

  “I had good intentions, Heather. I promise you t
hat.”

  “I don’t know what to believe.”

  Those words hurt him. Heather could see him flinch. But he didn’t lash back at her. He just looked sad.

  “I’m really sorry,” Hayden said. “I made a mistake last night, but I wasn’t looking for trouble.”

  Heather started to pace back and forth in front of him. Her limbs buzzed with manic energy. She felt like she was about to explode, there were so many conflicting emotions within her. She cared for Hayden, but he drove her crazy. She wanted to go dance in a big city, but she also was tempted to stay. It was all too much.

  “Baby, can you please sit down?” Hayden said. “Let’s talk about this and then I’ll take you out to dinner.”

  “We can’t go out with you looking like that,” Heather snapped. “You look crazy.”

  “What’s going on with you, baby?”

  “Stop calling me ‘baby.’ That’s not...we’re not there yet.”

  “We can order in.”

  He was being kind and reasonable and so gentle. That was just like Hayden. Stirring up hell one night, then being Mr. Good Guy the next morning.

  “I don’t have time,” Heather said. “I’m flying to Chicago for an audition this week. I’ve got to prepare.”

  Hayden’s head reared back as if he had been smacked across the face.

  “What?” he asked. “An audition for what?”

  “A choreographer position with the ballet,” Heather said. “I got the call a few days ago and the audition is this Thursday.”

  “And when the fuck were you going to tell me?” Hayden asked.

  He wasn’t shouting, but his voice was low and lethal. Heather straightened her spine and glared down at him. She didn’t owe him an apology for this, not after what he had just put her through.

  “It’s not really your business, is it? It’s my career.”

  “Are you kidding me right now?” Hayden asked. “Is this some sort of cosmic joke to prove that I’m an idiot?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  His anger stung, but Heather put on her Ice Queen mask and kept her voice cool and composed.

  “This is just like last time,” Hayden said. “You use me for a good time, but then when you’re done. You drop me and leave because I’ll never be good enough for you.”