by Jade Allen
Now that the races were over, she ran out to where Ryan was standing, shaking hands with his fellow riders and congratulating them. Mona tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to her, grinning.
She threw her arms around him and gave him a big kiss. “That was amazing!” she told him. “You really did us proud. Especially me.”
He chuckled into her ear. “I did it for you.”
Several of the other members of their club came over to congratulate him with pats on the back. They all got on their bikes and Mona hopped on the back of Ryan’s, ready to ride off to a victory celebration at Hog’s Grogs.
However, she made sure that they all helped Weasel pack up their table and that he got safely into his car before they took off.
“You’ll meet us at the bar, right?” she asked him.
“Are you kidding?” he asked, wheeling around to look at her, smiling. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
****
Seeing the whole band back together made Mona swell with pride. It had been quite a long time since they were all last assembled there for a completely joyful occasion. It was also the first time that a certain asshole wasn’t in attendance.
Ryan stood up in front of everyone at their tables and held up his glass of beer in a toast. “Tonight, we raised a little over two thousand and five hundred dollars!”
Everyone cheered.
“Of course, the majority of the proceeds will be going to the veterans’ fund. But Mona and I have decided that a percentage of it and anything else we can raise in the next few weeks will go towards our friend Weasel and his motorcycle’s repairs.”
The loud applause and shouts went up again.
Weasel sat at a table of honor in the front. He blushed and looked shy when Ryan made that announcement and everyone cheered his name.
Mona still had no idea why Lance had gone after the most unassuming member of the club. Perhaps it was because everyone liked Weasel, or perhaps it was because he was the one least likely to try and seek vengeance. She thought it was mostly just the fact that Lance was a bastard and was trying to lash out at any member of the club.
From her place at the bar, she put in an order in the kitchen for a special cupcake to be delivered to Weasel’s table. She also made sure that Ryan got as many glasses of his favorite beer as he wanted.
“So what about you, Mona?” Arthur asked her when he came up to the bar to order a new drink. “Any chance we’ll see you on your own bike one of these days?”
She smirked a little. “I don’t know. The others might be worthy of that, but are you?”
He laughed. “Maybe not.”
“I’ve been practicing riding around on The Duke,” she replied. “Now that we’ve rescued it from the jaws of Lucifer, I’m never letting that baby out of my sight again. Though it remains to be seen if I’ll be able to race on it. I’m mostly good at not crashing it so far.”
Arthur smiled, amused at her. She was young and spunky, which was different from the older, father-like figure they’d had in Benny. But the group had already gotten used to their new supreme leader. She showed a lot of promise, too. “Not crashing is the first step in becoming a good motorcycle racer,” he said with a wink.
She smiled and handed him his drink. “I’ll keep working on it,” she promised him.
Maybe, if she could convince Ryan to teach her, it wouldn’t even take that long before she was out there on the race track, whizzing past the merchandise table.
She’d been riding bikes for so long that there was really no reason she couldn’t at least try. The baby would have to remove her training wheels at some point, right?
****
With the money they had raised in hand, Mona and Ryan took Weasel’s banged-up motorcycle in for repairs. It was an estimated one thousand dollars’ worth of damage. It was going to need new brakes certainly, along with new controls and fixed up bodywork in order to run right again. But Mona didn’t want to stop there. She didn’t want his bike to simply work again. She wanted to improve upon its performance, because she felt like she owed it to Weasel. She put in about six hundred dollars of her own money to add on some extra features. They would give Weasel’s bike a nice, new blue finish. It wouldn’t just be puttering along again; it would be singing down the race track.
Before they left the bike shop, she checked out the helmets and decided to buy a new one for herself. It was teal and white like The Duke, though a slightly lighter shade of teal. Buying a new helmet for her rides meant that Mona meant business.
The repairs on Weasel’s bike were going to take a week, which was fine with them because his recovery from his injuries was going to still take quite a bit longer than that. As long as the bike was ready for him when he was back on his feet, they would be happy.
Later on, after they’d come home from the bike repair shop, Ryan took Mona out on a date to a restaurant that was a more classy affair. He wore a suit and everything! Mona put on a sexy red dress that showed off the tattoos on her upper arms and the paleness of her skin. Her dyed black hair was a stark contrast with her light skin, particularly when more of her skin was on display. She was not a prude by any means, she just usually reserved showing off this much skin for when she was on a date like this.
She had been waiting to go on a date like this with Ryan.
“Why didn’t you tell me so?” he laughed when she confessed that to him. “I asked you what you wanted to do on our first date and you said you wanted to go to an arcade.”
Mona smiled at him. “It’s better to have waited for you to think of this.” She gave him a wink. “You picked out a nice place.”
The restaurant had white tablecloths, paintings of the walls, a piano player, the works. It did not seem like the sort of place two motorcycle club members would go to. Mona loved that. Just because she lived a life of engine grease didn’t mean that she didn’t want to be treated to a fancy meal.
When she looked at the menu, she let out a giggle.
“What?” Ryan asked her curiously. He looked a bit uncomfortable to be wearing a suit, though it looked quite nice on him.
She had not noticed before how young Ryan still looked. Sure, he was older than her by a few years, but he was at the young end of the Running Hill Riders’ spectrum. She wondered, feeling suddenly bashful, if she looked young to him, too.
Pointing at the menu, she showed him the cause of her giggling. “They actually have caviar. Ryan, where did you find this place?”
He blushed a bit. “I looked it up online. I actually searched for ‘fancy restaurants in Detroit.’”
“Awww,” she said, grinning at him. “Are you serious?”
Ryan looked down, embarrassed.
That only made her coo more. “AWW! Well, I think you did a great job. This place is very fancy.”
The duo ended up mostly sticking to tried and true entrees. She got some ravioli and he got a steak.
“I’d get the caviar as an appetizer,” she said. “Except that I’ve heard from reliable sources that it’s a fancier concept than an actual food. I heard it’s really salty.” She made a face.
Ryan chuckled. “Well, that’s a relief because it’s also expensive.”
After they gorged themselves on fancy, less familiar types of food, they went home together to have a dessert of Tarts Du Pop. The s’mores flavor.
“Given the choice between fancy and laid-back, I do prefer laid-back,” Mona told him, taking a bite of her lightly-toasted pastry. “Let’s save dinners like that for once a year.”
Ryan smiled at her. “I like the way you think. Although, some years might need to be fancier than others.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
All of a sudden, Mona felt like she was dreaming. Ryan got down on one knee beside her chair in the kitchen. He placed his small plate on the table in front of her. It had his pop tart on it, as well as a diamond ring placed on top of the pastry as though the chocolate and graham flavored treat served
as its cushion.
“You don’t have to answer right now, and it doesn’t have to be anytime soon, if you want to wait, but… Mona Myers, will you marry me?”
Mona brought her hands up to cover her mouth. This was a surprise. It felt like they hadn’t been dating for very long, but then again they had known each other for years. She was already so comfortable with him. She trusted him more than anyone. She lived with him. She loved him.
“Yes!” she said, looking into his eyes and beaming tearfully. She nodded to confirm it. “YES!”
Smiling back and getting a little tearful himself, Ryan took the ring off the pop tart and placed it onto Mona’s left ring finger. They kissed happily.
He laughed softly. “You taste like s’mores.”
They were going to have quite a few announcements to make at their next meeting. For now, they celebrated privately over their silly treats, before going upstairs and celebrating further between the sheets.
****
It was several months before the Running Hill Riders held another meeting at Hog’s Grogs. In that time, so as not to spoil the fun for everyone, Ryan and Mona kept their engagement a secret. They wanted to have a big summer meet-up in order to celebrate Weasel’s recovery and kick off a summer of races and events around the community.
Some new recruits even showed up and signed their names on the members list. Mona was so happy that their little club was growing and garnering attention for Benny’s noble, charitable cause.
As usual, Ryan stood before everyone else as they sat at their tables. Mona was behind the counter at the bar, keeping the beverages flowing and making sure that everyone was having a good time.
“Hi everyone,” Ryan said, speaking in his usual friendly, upbeat voice. “Welcome back to Hog’s Grogs. I hope you all have been having a great summer so far. We’re very excited to kick off the summer season of biking. We’ve got a lot of fun activities and events planned this year. There’s going to be a Fourth of July race. That’s a normal thing, but this year we’re planning to hold this event at Belle Isle Park. It’s going to be a bigger deal, more up-scale and, we think, tons of fun.”
The bikers that were assembled cheered. Weasel was sitting in the front row. His leg was finally out of its cast and he seemed to be back in full form. Mona wondered if he had been on a bike since his accident. They were about to find out.
“And now, we have two more announcements. Mona, please come up here with me.”
She grinned and hopped over the bar, making everyone laugh and applaud even more. She jogged up and joined Ryan at the front of the room, wearing one of the black shirts that Arthur’s wife had designed for the team.
“Hello!” she said. She couldn’t help but beam as she looked around the large space of her bar. This was her family. “I’m not sure if you all realize this yet, but you people are the most important people in my life. The number one person is standing right up here with me.” Mona looked up at Ryan and took his hand in hers. “Ryan and I wanted to announce that Weasel has a surprise gift from all of us. And it’s waiting outside, so if you all want to, follow us!”
She and Ryan went outside, followed by the rest of the group. Standing on the sidewalk right by the entrance of the bar was Weasel’s shiny, newly-crafted bike. He stepped out and looked at it, his mouth falling open.
“Wow!” he said. He went up to it and got on immediately. “It’s beautiful. Thank you!”
“We all pitched in and made sure that it was modified in a way that would make it run smoother and cooler.” Mona grinned.
“I can’t wait to race now,” he said.
All the Riders clapped for him as he started up the engine and listened to it purr.
“And now, we have one final announcement,” Ryan shouted over the lovely sound of Weasel’s purring bike. “Mona and I are getting married!”
She held up her left hand so everyone could feast their eyes on her diamond engagement ring.
More applause rang out and echoed in the parking lot. “We haven’t set a date yet, but of course you will all be invited,” Mona told them excitedly. “Now let’s go back inside and get wasted!”
Weasel secured his bike in a parking space and they went back inside to drink, chat, listen to the fun music blaring from the speakers and enjoy each other’s company.
Mona continued to work the bar for a while before Lenny finally insisted that she go relax and celebrate with her friends. Then she joined Ryan at his table and sipped happily at her whisky sour.
“What have you guys been talking about?” she asked curiously.
“Are you planning to ride up the aisle on the back of The Duke?” Arthur asked. “Everyone wants to see you ride that beauty.”
Mona blushed a little. “Oh, yeah?” she asked. “Well, all right. I think that can be arranged. Just don’t leave early.” She winked.
She was being her typical, playfully mysterious self. She’d been like that with these guys since she was knee high to a grasshopper.
Ryan ate, drank and was merry while Mona took it upon herself to be his ride home. They’d arrived before everyone else, as on the day of her father’s funeral and dammit if they weren’t planning on leaving last in much the same way. She sipped Diet Coke and munched on French fries while sitting beside him, laughing along with their in-jokes and feeling like, at last, she was a part of the club instead of just an outsider who wanted in.
As everyone began to stand up and collect their helmets and things for their rides home, Mona whistled. “You all are so eager to see me ride The Duke?” she said. “Well, you can watch me ride it right now. I’m going to take Ryan home with me.” She mimed drinking and pointed a thumb at Ryan. He’d had a bit too much.
Several woops went up. She grinned and turned off the lights in her bar, locking up once everyone was outside in the parking lot.
They all got onto the bikes and Mona felt a buzzing in her body as the adrenaline and excitement filled her up. For the first time, she knew what she was doing and everyone was going to witness. She made sure Ryan’s helmet was on and buckled before double-checking her own and starting up her engine.
She was truly one of the club members now.
“For Benny!” she suddenly called as she peeled out of the parking lot ahead of the rest of them.
“FOR BENNY!” they all yelled, following her on each of their big, wonderful, souped-up Harleys.
Benny Myers would be so proud.
THE END
Deadly Fortune
PART ONE
Rachel groaned into her pillow as the sound of Muse’s “Hysteria” ripped her out of the depths of an intense sleep. She reached out blindly, groping for her phone on the bedside table, trying to decide whether or not it was worth it to cue the snooze function. It would only net her an extra nine minutes—just enough time to start drifting off again before the alarm came back on—but the weight behind her eyes, the heaviness of her arms and legs against the soft, warm bed, was so tempting to give into.
She pulled her face free of the pillow and opened her eyes, staring dumbly at the still-playing alarm flashing on the screen. She knew if she didn’t make up her mind soon, she would be fully awake, and there would be no point in tapping the snooze icon. Groaning again, she tapped the icon and dropped the phone onto the bed next to her, curling up. She could at least pretend, for the moment, that she didn’t have anywhere to be.
Rachel was still hovering in the mental space between asleep and awake when the alarm went off again; her brain had started to perk up into function, insistently cataloging everything she would have to get done that day, in spite of the deep-seated desire to return to sleep. God, I don’t want to go to work, she thought, sitting up in bed and reaching for her phone to shut off the alarm for good. She could have, theoretically, hit the snooze button one more time; she only needed twenty minutes to get ready for work, and the alarm was set to forty-five minutes before she had to leave. But she was awake; there was no point in pretending
anymore.
She took a deep breath and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, climbing down and scrubbing at her slightly greasy-feeling face. Rachel decided that a big glass of water, a toothbrush, and some face soap would complete the process of transitioning out of sleep and into waking life. But first, she absolutely had to get the coffee started.
Rachel wandered out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, blinking sleepily as her feet shuffled along the rug; for the moment, she was determined not to check her email, or even to look and see what was going on amongst her friends online. The quiet of the house, so early in her day, was not to be interrupted by considerations of the incredible mess waiting for her when she arrived at work. Her body moved automatically as she went into the small apartment kitchen: turning on the faucet, rinsing the coffee pot, scooping coffee into the basket, reaching up to retrieve a glass from the cupboard. Slowly but surely, her body was coming awake, her brain losing the lingering fog of sleep.
While the coffee brewed, Rachel downed the glass of water in a few rapid swallows, washed her face, and brushed her teeth, sitting down heavily at the tiny table in her dining room—a second-hand rescue from when a distant aunt had passed away while she was in college, and her cousins had needed to get rid of as much of the woman’s hoarded furniture as they could. She poured herself a cup of coffee and added milk and sugar, giving it an experimental, necessary sip before she finally unlocked her phone and tapped on the email icon.
A resigned sigh gusted through her lips as the screen loaded, showing somewhere between fourteen and twenty new emails. Rachel took a deep breath and began to skim the previews, her eyes taking in subject lines and the first sentence or so of the messages themselves. She mentally prioritized them based on who they were from, whether or not the subject line said “urgent” and her own experience. It had been a little over two years since she had gratefully taken the job of Administrative Assistant, feeling the hot breath of student loan debt collectors on her neck. She had worked hard to get as many scholarships as possible to make her way through college, but Rachel had been forced to resort to loans when there was simply not enough money.
