by Sara Crest
“You trust me enough to power your bike?” I said practically beaming.
“Of course I do, now I want you to hop on and see what damage we can do to this thing.”
I nodded and climbed on the bike, turning the key in the ignition and revving the engine the same way I saw Johnny do it so many times before.
I put it in drive and slowly gave it some gas, the bike moved forward and began tugging on the door. “Is it working?” I called back to Johnny.
“Not yet, give it some more gas!”
I hit the throttle some more, but still the doors refused the budge. Johnny grabbed the rope and began pulling as hard as he could, assisting the bike. “Give it everything you got Ash come on!”
I pulled the throttle all the way and the bike’s engine roared, the tires burned out beneath me as the bike pulled as hard as it could on the rope.
“It’s working!” Johnny cried out as I looked behind me and saw the doors begin to bend from their hinges. I began to hear a horrible creaking noise, I looked down and saw that the rope was pulling on some of the engine parts of the bike, possibly damaging them. I stopped the bike immediately as the doors fell back into place.
“What are you doing? The door was almost pulled off entirely!”
“Johnny, if we keep doing this the rope is gonna destroy your bike” I told him as he walked over to me. He dropped down on his knee and inspected where the rope was tied, his face went from determination to sadness.
“Is there any other way we can tie it to make sure the bike isn’t damaged?” I asked.
Johnny pulled the rope tight, making sure to secure it to the bike “hit the throttle.”
“But Johnny if I do that your bike might be too damaged to ride. There has to be some way to get in, we can get a bolt cutter and get that lock off.”
“Even if we take care of the chains there’s not much we can do about that barricade, one way or another the only means we have to get that door down is to pull it down.”
“You’re willing to give up the bike you love so much just to find out what happened here?”
“This bike’s been good to me, I can’t let my journey end not knowing what the hell happened here. If this baby can give me answers about the first bar of the Rolling Raiders then that’s the best damn send off I can imagine.”
I stepped off of the bike, Johnny had given me permission to ride it but I thought that he should do the honors of the bike’s final sendoff.
He got on, running his hand over the body in his final goodbye. I could tell this was something that not only made him upset but physically pained him, I would have given anything to save that bike from its fate. If it meant that much to him then it meant a lot to me.
He turned the key in the ignition one last time, turning the bike on. He pulled the throttle slowly, letting the engine work its way up to fullpower. The creaking noise rang out as the bike began to slowly break apart from the tension of the rope pulling it. The doors began pulling on their hinges, just a little more forced and they would be ripped clean off
Johnny grimaced but I could tell in his eyes that he knew what must be done. He cried out as he hit the throttle hard, causing the bike to burn out beneath him and pull the doors to their brink.
The creaking noise became unbearable, even over the sound of the engine struggling and the tires burning out beneath him. Parts on the bike began to bend under the stress of the rope. With one final push Johnny forced his bike to its limit, and in one simultaneous event the doors of the bar were ripped from their hinges as Johnny’s bike let out a loud sputter and fell silent.
Johnny immediately hopped off, inspecting his bike. I looked over his shoulder to see several parts completely destroyed from the tension of the rope, I didn’t know much about motorcycles but it didn’t look repairable.
I walked over to Johnny and hugged him from behind, rubbing his shoulders to soothe him. He held my hand in his as he sat there squatted down by his now totaled bike. “The old girl’s been through a lot with me, I’m glad I got to share its last moments with you. Can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have witness her final moments.”
I kissed him on the top of his head, burying my face in his hair as he came to terms with his bike being taken from him. He stood up, looking at the now open entrance to the bar. I stared inside and saw nothing but complete darkness. “Time to find out what happened here” Johnny said as he began walking towards the entrance.
He stepped over the doors that now lay on the ground, walking through the doorway into the dark bar.
Just as he stepped in a loud and powerful bang rang out from inside, startling me. Fear and regret washed over me as I heard what sounded like Johnny falling to the ground.
“Johnny? Is everything alright in there?”
“Johnny?”
7
I bolted inside, running in as fast as I could. I saw Johnny laying motionless on the ground. I dropped down to my knees and grabbed his hand as I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes.
A tall man began to emerge from the shadows of the bar wielding a shotgun. I jumped up and ran towards him, colliding into him and desperately trying to hit him.
“You killed him! Look at what you did you killed him! How could you!” I screamed as I desperately tried to hit the man. He grabbed one of my wrists and tried to distance himself from my swinging hands. I began to sob as my attacks weakened in strength until I collapsed onto my knees in front of him, sobbing into my hands uncontrollably. We hadn’t even gotten a chance to tell each other how we really feel and now he was dead.
I heard a groan come from behind me, I turned around to see Johnny stirring. I rushed over on my hands and knees to his aid.
“Oh my god, Johnny are you alright?” I said as my tears streamed down my face.
“Johnny? Johnny Odell? ” the stranger asked, throwing his shotgun onto the floor and walking towards us.
“Stay back” I warned him “I don’t know how badly he’s hurt I don’t want you anywhere near him!”
Johnny slowly propped himself up on his arms. He winced in pain as he moved his body. “Johnny where did he hit you? We need to get you to a hospital.”
He turned his body around so that the other side was facing me. “I… I think I’m gonna be alright he groaned.”
I inspected the damage, but sheer luck Johnny’s wounds were minor. The stranger’s shot had missed, the shrapnel from the shotgun had only grazed the side of Johnny’s head as well as grazing his shoulder and giving him a minor wound on his arm. He was bleeding a little bit from the side of his head and the wound on his arm but it was nothing too serious. I tore off a piece of the white t-shirt I was wearing under my clothes and used it to wrap it around the wound, the pressure seemed to help.
“If I had known that it was Johnny Odell that was walking through that door I probably wouldn’t have shot you, probably” said the stranger as he walked over to us.
“You always were a shitty shot Chuck” Johnny said to the man.
I helped Johnny up to his feet, he was still disoriented from the shrapnel that had grazed his head. As I helped him up I held him close, thankful that he wasn’t taken from me.
“Well that’s because of… well you know.”
Chuck’s voice was deep and raspy, you could tell just from the way he talked that he had been a smoker all his life. I got a good look at him for the first time, when I had charged him I was too blinded by what had just happened to Johnny to even see what he looked like. He was a fairly old man with a long gray beard that went halfway down his stomach. He was completely bald with two black R’s tattooed on the side of his head. His left eye he kept squeezed shut, I could only assume he was blinded in that eye but was too proud to wear an eyepatch. He wore dark gray jeans and a beat up white t-shirt that revealed that every inch of his arms were covered in tattoos.
I helped Johnny over to a barstool, he sighed in relief as he sat down. Chuck walked around behind the bar, picking up a bottle
of vodka and taking a swig before tossing it over to Johnny. Johnny caught the bottle in one hand, taking off the bandage I applied and soaking it in the liquor before dabbing his cuts and wounds with it.
I hugged him tightly, treasuring him the that moment “don’t you ever leave me again Johnny” I said as I dried my tears on his shirt.
He chuckled, running his hand over my hair and pulling me closer into him.“Ash I assume you’d like to be filled in on who this man is.”
“That’d be pretty nice... just a few moments ago I thought I had lost you but he doesn’t seem to be trying to kill you anymore so I assume you two go way back.”
“Well, yes and no. This is Chuck Stafford, the last of the original Raiders founders alive.”
“You? You founded the Raiders?” I said in disbelief.
“What you don’t believe him?” chuck asked “back when I was his age I was the baddest motherfucker alive, you don’t build a gang like the Rolling Raiders without the moxy I had.”
“Shooting one of your chapters members isn’t exactly moxy” I said crossing my arms.
“It ain’t my fault you two busted down my doors and barged in here like you own the place, man’s got a right to defend himself don’t he?”
I tore off another piece of my t-shirt and went to Johnny to help him with his first aid, soaking the rag in alcohol as I patted down the cut on his head. It was deeper than I originally thought but it was still pretty shallow so it seemed like he would be alright.
“Chuck, where the hell is everyone?” Johnny asked as he winced from the sting of the alcohol.
“Pfft you should know, everyone’s gone because of you two” he said as he pointed at us.
“What does that even mean?” I asked “did you all hear we were coming and run away scared?”
“Scared yes, of you? No. Johnny your chapter’s revolt turned into a real issue, and I ain’t just talking about within the club I mean in the goddamn states of both Florida and Georgia. I’m talking rioting, blatant drug dealing, brawls with cops... the federal government is after our guys Johnny and it’s because your guys got too antsy and ruined a perfectly good thing we had going. Used to be the government looked the other way but this is too much for them to ignore. Now all the chickenshit leaders and their chickenshit guards ran up to their safehouse in Alaska. Can’t blame em too much since I doubt they’ll be found up there, unless you know where to look that place is damn near invisible.”
Johnny put his head in his hands, groaning. “You mean the club had to abandon the founding bar all because of me?”
“No it ain’t like that Johnny. Truth be told we heard about the deserting and splintering going on in your chapter, normally we send over some guys to help out when that happens. Things just slipped through the cracks and we didn’t do our part.” He walked over behind the bar and put his arm on Johnny’s shoulder, making sure he didn’t touch the part he had wounded “I’m sorry son, I guess you were such a good leader that we thought you’d be fine. We let you out there alone and now we’re all paying the price.”
“Chuck if everyone else is gone why did you stay?” I asked. I rubbed Johnny’s back and tried to console him.
“I’m getting out of this thing, I know you’re supposed to be a Raider for life but things just ain’t the same anymore. Rather than fight it I might as well step aside and let someone else take my place. I’m too old to run, I’d rather wait here for the feds to bust down my door rather than run off to Alaska.” He looked at the open doorway, the doors lying defeated on the pavement “although I guess there’s nothing to bust down now.”
Johnny stood up, walking towards the corner of the bar “I need some time to think” he said as he found a small booth and sat down.
I looked at him and sighed, seeing how disappointed he was at how everything turned out. “Can I ask you opinion of something?” Chuck whispered to me, trying to make sure Johnny didn’t hear.
“Yeah sure, go ahead.”
“You rode with that man all the way here, what did you have to gain?”
“Chuck I… I love him. I wanted to see him happy, but back in Florida he said he wanted a life of adventure with me. Yeah my life would be more interesting being with him and the Raiders but it would pale in comparison to being an independent couple. Being able to travel the country and the world together without any responsibilities. That’s the life that I was hoping we would be able to have, and it’s one that I thought he would be fine with. Now that I see how disappointed he is I can’t be happy, it’s just… it’s just not what he wanted.”
“So he came all the way here to get back in the gang, and I assume to become a chapter leader again?”
“Yeah” I said nodding my head.
“I could do him one better, I could make him one of the goddamn club leaders. He could take my spot.”
“Chuck are you kidding? He said that’s what he always wanted.”
“Question is, how would you feel about it?”
I felt my whole body sulk, I wanted Johnny to myself so bad but I knew that Chuck’s offer would be too good to pass up. It would be selfish of me to demand that Johnny fulfill his promise to me and adventure with me after not being able to regain his status as a chapter leader. Being one of the top leaders of the club was his dream and I didn’t want to stand in the way of that. I would have to wait for the man who I wanted to be my driving force, I would have to wait until he grew tired of the life of a biker.
“It’s not what I wanted” I said to Chuck “but it’s what Johnny wants, and I love him enough to wait for him while he lives his dream. I only wish him and I could live my dream sooner.”
Chuck put his hand on my shoulder “you’re a good woman, caring and unselfish. If I had a girl like you by my side during my early years with the club then maybe things would be a little different around here. I hope everything works out for you.”
We walked over to Johnny, he was sitting and massaging his cuts, he looked as if he was contemplating his next step.
“Johnny boy I got a proposition for you” Chuck said as Johnny stopped what he was doing and looked up. I took a deep sigh as I prepared for what was going to come next.
“Since I’m stepping down as one of the club’s major leaders there’s going to be an open spot, I want you to fill it.”
“Me? You want me to fill it? After everything that’s happened?”
“Johnny all this isn’t your fault, besides you’re the best chapter leader this club has had. You’ve stopped corruption more times than I can count while still staying true to the men that signed up to follow you. You drove all the way across the country with this little lady in tow just for a chance to be a chapter leader again, I want to do you one better and make you a club leader. With my blessing they’ll be forced to accept you.”
Johnny looked at me and then back at Chuck “No, I’m not going to do it. I’m done with all of this Chuck…”
When I saw Johnny say that it looked as if the life was sucked out of him, even though it was the answer I wanted to hear I didn’t want him to be this upset.
“Well I’m sorry to hear that kid, wish I could change your mind but the heart wants what the heart wants” Chuck replied.
“Now wait just a second” I said stepping in between them. I couldn’t believe I was doing this, Johnny had just declined becoming a leader and I was about to try and convince him otherwise. This was going to go against everything that I wanted and go against what I thought would make me happy but I wasn’t doing this for me, I was doing this for Johnny.
I turned and stared Johnny straight in his green eyes “Johnny Odell I just rode across the country with you, I sat on that seat for damn near days on end and why? Because I love you and I believed in you when you said you wanted to be a leader again. Now this man is handing you your dream and you say no? I’m not going to let that happen.” I grabbed Johnny by both of his arms, squeezing him and looking at him in the eye. “Johnny we both know this is your dream
, we both know that deep down inside this is what you really want. I’m not gonna sit by and watch you throw away your dream when it is staring at you right in your face. You didn’t give up when your chapter turned on you, you didn’t give up when your friend turned on you, you didn’t give up when you were sitting on that seat tired and exhausted and barely able to keep your eyes open, and you didn’t give up when your bike lay wrecked out in that parking lot. You… we, are going to haul our asses to Alaska and you are making your dream come true.”
Johnny looked deep into my eyes, I could see that spark come back when he looked at me. He kissed me deeply and passionately, more passionately than he ever had before. He stood up, his determination renewed and his eyes flaring with desire and ambition. A smile came across his face and he lifted me up into the air effortlessly, twirling me around before setting me back down and kissed me again. “I love you so much Ashley” he said beaming, “with you I can do anything.”
He turned to Chuck “I’ll do it, I’m gonna get my ass up there and I’m gonna turn this damn club around. I don’t care what you say Chuck, this split is my fault and a man owns up to his faults. I’m gonna be the best damn successor there is, I’m gonna make you proud.”
Chuck crossed his arms and smiled as Johnny wrapped his arm around me and looked down at me. “Thank you baby doll, sometimes I need a fire lit under me to get my head back in the right place.”
Even though all of that pained me to say I felt much better seeing the ambitious man I had fallen in love with, the man who I knew I could count on.
“Y’all better get out of here, those bozos probably think I’m dead by now and are looking to appoint someone. If they swear someone in before you get there then there’s nothing I can do.”
“How are we gonna get up there Johnny, your bike isn’t gonna take us anywhere in the state it’s in.”
Johnny scratched his face, contemplating what to do. “Chuck you wouldn’t happen to know anyone that can loan me a bike for a day or two would you.”
