by Debra Kayn
Rage fueled him. Flashes of light invaded the darkness in his vision. He scrambled until he found his feet.
Pushing the man away, he thrust his arm forward. His hand exploded on the man's skull.
His opponent roared his outrage. Nelson jabbed again and again, angry when the man's body lowered with each punch. He wasn't finished.
A powerful hit slammed into his eye. Blindly, he swung, missing. He swayed, stumbling on his feet.
Forcing his eye open, he targeted his opponent. He nailed him with a right jab. Exhaustion, pain, and desperation unleashed from his body. Pummeling him over and over, he found his strength.
The man's body fell. Nelson went down with him, punching and hitting.
His arms fought through the hands and bodies coming between him and the other participant. Pulled back and to his feet, he lowered his arms, breathing heavily.
A cheer deafened him to what others were saying. He stared at the man on the ground. The crowd shouted and pressed in on him. He fought the suffocation, pushing away from each body that came too close.
Fighting his way around the others, he broke out of the circle. He groaned, shaking his hands at his side.
Going to his Harley, he blinked, trying to focus. His right eye already swollen shut. His breathing pulsated behind his nose.
"Hey, Steel." One of the members of Tarkio Motorcycle Club pulled him away. "We need to get you out of here before someone runs over to the pay phone and calls the cops."
"My bike..." He looked over his shoulder.
The noise of the crowd grew louder. He concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
"One of our guys will take it to your house." The biker stopped. "You're going to have to hang on."
Recognizing Curley as the one helping him, Nelson swung his leg over the seat. As if taking the weight off his legs took the strength out of his body, he pressed against Curley's back.
"Hang on, man. I don't want to dump you on the road," said Curley.
Barely aware of moving, Nelson closed his eyes. The air pounded his face.
The next thing he was conscious of was standing at the back door of Steel Mechanics, feeling like shit. He patted his pockets. His keys were in the saddlebag of his Harley. There was nothing he could do until one of the Tarkio members brought his bike around.
Assessing the step in front of the door with one eye, he decided not to sit. He'd never be able to stand back up. He walked over to the tire rack and leaned against the rubber wall.
He let his pounding head hang until his chin rested on his chest. Going to the Tarkio gathering was a stupid idea. Pissed because of having words with his dad about bringing the drug business into the garage and his brothers getting arrested for the third time and sent to prison, he'd left home to let off steam.
He should've found a woman. He should've drunk until he passed out. He should've opened the throttle on the highway.
But he'd let himself lose control.
When they asked for participates for a street fight, he'd stepped forward without a second thought.
The whole time he exchanged punches, he envisioned his dad's face.
A clatter to the side of him failed to raise his head. If the guy he beat the shit out of wanted to follow him home to try and finish the job, he was welcome to give it his best shot. It would take more than a beaten body to kill him.
"Nelson?"
He let his body relax. It wasn't an enemy sneaking up on him.
"It's safe, fox," he whispered through swollen lips.
Her hands gripped his arms. "Oh, Nelson."
He shuddered, unable to steel himself against her softness, the caring, the support. As if she had some sick sense of when he was hurting, she'd shown up.
"You're going to get in trouble for sneaking out." He raised his head.
She gasped at seeing his face under the floodlight. "Mom's working a double shift since they extended the store's hours. She won't be home until midnight."
"How'd you know I was out here?"
"I was watching for you." She cupped his face lightly. "Did he do this to you?"
"Nah. I did this to myself." He closed his eyes at the gentleness of her touch.
"Come over. I'll clean you up." She slipped her fingers into his hand.
He went with her because he couldn't make himself stay away. At the fence, there was no way in hell, he'd be able to crawl under the boards the way she could when she came over.
Gripping the top of the fence, he pulled, snapping the rusty nails off. Then, he took two more boards off.
"I'll fix it tomorrow," he said.
"You won't nail them down completely, right?"
"Nah." He wouldn't cut off her route to him.
He walked across her backyard and through the sliding door. He had never stepped foot inside her house before.
Inhaling, he calmed. The interior smelled nice. Clean. Feminine.
She pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. The bright light hurt his head, but he sat there and watched her take a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer. Only then had he noticed she wore a fuzzy white robe over a long T-shirt that hit her thighs.
He'd never seen her in anything but regular clothes, even when she snuck over to Steel Mechanics at night when her mom was sleeping.
Used to stripping down and falling into bed naked, the nightclothes seemed like overkill to him. Yet on her, she was adorable with her red hair tumbling wild past her shoulders.
His cock pulsed, aware of her moving toward him. She was growing up.
There were curves hidden from him that weren't there a couple of years ago. Still, a quick, little thing when she was running around, he'd noticed that when she wasn't in a hurry, she moved like a kite in the sky, almost hypnotizing him.
Boys in the neighborhood had noticed her, too, and so had the men. He'd seen their heads turn to follow her when she walked by before noticing it was the little neighbor girl. Their attraction to her hit him wrong. He wasn't ready for her to get a boyfriend and discover the opposite sex.
She held the peas to his eye. "If your dad didn't—"
"It was just a stupid fight."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
With his eyes closed, he could smell strawberries. It must be her soap. Had she taken a bath before running to him?
"Don't," she said.
"Hm?"
"Don't fight. I don't like it when you're hurt." She removed the bag of peas. "Your nose is swollen, too."
"It's not that bad. I've had worse."
Warmth covered his face. He opened his eyes in time to see her within inches in front of him. She pressed her lips softly to the bridge of his nose.
It wasn't the act that shook him. It wasn't the softness of her mouth on his skin. It rocked him to the center of his chest that she'd closed her eyes when her lips touched him.
"There, I made it all better," she whispered, putting the peas over the upper part of his face.
His heart hammered. It hurt to take a deep breath, and yet, he felt better. All because of her kiss.
Chapter 7
Scarlett
August 1985
HAZEL SHUT THE TRUNK of her Toyota. Scarlett lugged the bag full of food, towels, and suntan lotion, putting everything into the backseat.
"Ready?" Hazel opened the driver's door.
"I think so." She got into the passenger seat. "Unless you want to haul the boombox with us."
Hazel groaned. "Too big. Last time I did that, I ended up burnt everywhere but my stomach and thighs because I had to hold onto it the whole ride. I looked like a freak when I stood up, and half my body was pale. Besides, I don't have enough money to buy all the batteries it takes to play."
They'd planned a day at the river to go tubing all summer, but with Hazel's work schedule and her babysitting job, they'd had to wait until a week before school started to go. While she would've preferred to have two and a half months to hang out with her friends at the w
ater, she'd earned enough over the summer to pay for Driver's Education when school started next month.
With Chuck out of their lives, the last year had been a lesson in pinching pennies. Her mom took on extra hours, and she got a job watching Zachary. Entertaining the five-year-old across the street was an easy job.
"I'll park at the gas station. That way, we can fill up the innertubes with air and get into the river there. That way we don't have to lug them far." Hazel started the car.
Music blared inside the small space. Scarlett rolled down the window. It took fifty cents to fill both tubes if they could do it fast without wasting air. It was highway robbery for the gas station to charge for something that was free to breathe. She could buy a Whatchamacallit for that much.
"Go around the block and stop in front of Steel Mechanics. I'll have Nelson fill them up, and you can put the money we save in your gas tank," she said.
"The tubes won't fit in the trunk. We'll have to wait."
"No, he can tie them to the roof of the car. He's done it for me before when I went with Brady and Cora last summer." She leaned her head toward the window, letting the wind dry the sweat off her face. "It's already hot out."
Her sister drove around the block. Nelson's motorcycle was parked out in front.
Scarlett studied the area, looking for his dad. Over the last year, Mr. Steel spent more time away from the garage than working, leaving Nelson to run the business.
Though Mr. Steel came home every night. The fighting between father and son continued despite Nelson being old enough to live his own life. Luckily, Nelson often had the bikers hanging around once the garage closed. Mr. Steel left him alone when his friends were there.
Hazel stopped the car. Scarlett got out and walked to the first bay, looking for Butch. Spotting him chained, she stepped inside and searched for Nelson.
He stood by the desk with the phone at his ear. Not wanting to interrupt him, she waved to her sister in the car and held up her index finger for her to wait a minute.
Before Nelson set the phone down, he said, "What do you need, fox?"
"How did you know I was here?" She approached the desk, keeping him between her and the dog. "You didn't even see me walk in."
"I always know when you're around." He turned, frowned, and gazed down her body before looking her in the eyes. "This isn't the place to run around almost naked."
"I'm going to the river." She pulled down the underside of her bikini top. "Can you blow up the innertubes for us?"
He peered over her shoulder and lifted his chin at Hazel. "Today's not the best day to float. There's a biker rally in Shoshone Canyon."
"Are the bikers floating?"
"Probably not."
She shrugged and waved Hazel over. "We're not getting out of the water until we hit the three-hour mark. There's a shuttle that will take us back to the car."
"Still not smart to go today." He turned as Hazel carried the deflated tubes inside the garage.
"It'll be okay." She grabbed one of the innertubes and handed it to Nelson. "Thanks for letting us fill them here."
He grunted and stepped over to the air compressor. While he filled, the loud engine made talking impossible. She shook her head at Hazel's silent question about what they were talking about. They'd floated the river since they were little with their mom.
Everyone in Missoula spent their summers on the Clark Fork. It wasn't like they'd be the only people going past Shoshone Canyon. Nobody owned the river.
She grabbed the first filled innertube from Nelson and rolled it out to the car. Before she could heft it up on the roof, he came with the other one and put them both on top. Without asking, he went into the garage and returned with a rope.
Hazel stood off to the side, not saying anything. Scarlett always found it weird how her sister never spoke to Nelson unless forced to join a conversation. They'd gone to school together. She'd think they'd be friendly toward each other. Nelson was the nicest man she knew.
Her skin heated under the morning sun. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Nelson threw the rope over the top of the car. "Fox?"
"Yeah?"
"Open the back windows."
She got inside the car from the passenger side and climbed between the seats into the back. Rolling down the windows as fast as she could until her arm tired, she helped him thread the rope through twice. Last time she'd gone, she had to climb on top of Brady's car once they got to the river and sit on the tubes to pry the rope off. Nelson was stronger than anyone she knew and made the knots tight.
She climbed back into the front seat and poked her head out the window. "Do you want to go with us?"
"No." He reached into his pocket. "Do you have fifty cents for the pay phone if something happens?"
"Yeah, in my sock." She reached down and patted her calf.
Nelson leaned down and looked her in the eyes. "Watch yourself."
"I know how to swim."
"That's not what I'm talking about." He turned and looked at Hazel. "Keep an eye on her."
Scarlett scoffed at the idea that she needed someone older watching over her, all the while warming that he cared about her. "Have fun working."
"Always do." He tapped the hood of the car and walked back into the garage.
Hazel slid into the driver's seat. "He's so weird."
"Why do you always say that?"
"Because it's always Scarlett this and Scarlett that with him. It's not right." Hazel started the engine and turned the car around. "I use to think he was a creep when he was in school with me because he liked hanging with you more than kids his own age."
She laughed. "He's not a creep."
"Why would a grown man hang around you?"
"He wasn't grown when I met him. He was our neighbor. You used to spy on him, Ollie and Josh with me when we first moved here."
"Duh. They were boys and the only neighbors that were near our...or at least, my age, at the time. Ollie and Josh are stoners, though. Even in middle school, they'd smoked pot. In high school, I heard they went on to bigger drugs. That rumor turned out to be true."
"Well, Nelson isn't like his brothers."
"You don't know."
"I do."
"Someday, you'll realize you don't know anything about him. Trust me."
Not wanting to spoil the day arguing about Nelson, she wrapped a strand of hair around her finger. "If you knew him as well as I do, you'd know. Trust me. He's good."
"Why are we even talking about him?" Hazel slapped Scarlett's arm. "It's our day. The Color Sisters are going floating."
She shared a smile with Hazel. It always made her feel good to hang out with her sister. She felt more mature listening to Hazel's favorite radio station and talking about stuff that she never mentioned around her friends from school who were always chatting about boys and football games.
They listened to Duran Duran, singing Hungry Like The Wolf at the top of their lungs until they arrived at the gas station. Finding a parking spot in the grassy lot next door, they unloaded everything. After a brief struggle to get the innertubes off the car, they finally put their feet in the water.
"No way." Hazel shivered. "The water is supposed to be warm this time of year."
Scarlett pushed the inner tube out into deeper water. "Don't be a baby. Bring the bag. I need the Bungee cords."
Her sister took her sweet time walking across the slippery rocks despite wearing tennis shoes. Once Scarlett had the tubes tied together, she put the bag on the two joined parts and used another cord to hold their supplies above the water.
"Okay, you get on first." She held the floats for her sister. "Hold the bag in case I knock into it."
She dipped underneath the water, getting all wet. Then, she hoisted herself on top of the innertube. Laughing at how clumsy she was, she rocked until she got turned around and plopped her butt into the middle.
Out of breath, she relaxed. "I hope nobody was watching."
"Only ab
out thirty people waiting to get in the water." Hazel kicked her feet, spraying Scarlett.
"The current is slow." She watched the bank of the river. "I hope we don't hit any low spots. It is late in the season. I hate walking over the rocks to get to deeper water."
"Yeah, me, too." Hazel kicked her feet, propelling them faster. "I need to be home by four o'clock, so if we do end up walking in shallow spots, we'll need to walk fast."
"I thought you didn't have to work."
"I don't." Hazel shook her hair behind her shoulders and tilted her face toward the sun. "I have a date."
"With who?"
"Scott. You don't know him." She paused. "It's our third date."
Scarlett slapped her sister's arm. "Get out of here."
Hazel laughed. "God, you should see him. He's so sexy."
"What's he look like?"
"Tall, dark, and handsome."
She pushed up on the innertube. "Like Nelson?"
"Ugh. No." Hazel shrugged. "Short hair. Dark eyes. Oh, and you should see his eyelashes. They're black and long. I would die for his lashes."
"He sounds..." She stretched out again in the innertube. "Pretty."
"Jerk." Hazel splashed her with water. "Okay, three questions. Who?"
"Nelson." Her answers were always the same every time she played their game.
"You can't marry Nelson. Pick someone else."
Scarlett sighed. "That guy from the movie Sixteen Candles."
"Michael Schoeffling?"
"Yeah, him."
"Where?" Hazel waited for the next answer.
"Glacier National Park in early summer." She had no idea where she'd have sex with Michael Schoeffling if her fantasy came true.
If Hazel had let her pick Nelson, she would've picked a hotel room because she couldn't imagine having sex in her bedroom with her mom nearby or at Nelson's house with his dad around. Especially for the first time. She shivered. Maybe they could even go up on the mountain and go tent camping.
"How many babies?" asked Hazel.
She groaned. At fifteen years old, having a kid was the last thing she wanted after spending her whole summer babysitting. The fear of pregnancy was one reason she hadn't had sex yet when other girls she was friends with at school had boyfriends already.
