by Jessie Cooke
The men exchanged a glance and the bald one said, “Curiosity, mostly.”
“Curiosity?” Patty asked.
“Yeah. Curious why some punk in Texas, that none of us have ever heard of, is wearing a kutte that is identical to the one that’s been hanging on our clubhouse wall ever since the man it belonged to died.”
Gunner didn’t hear much of what they said after that, thanks to the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat. He chanced another glance around the corner, though, just as they were leaving. The back of their leather vests both had the same patch sewn on that he had on his. It was a big white circle with a black skull in the center. Across the bottom of the circle it said “Southside Skulls” and across the top, one said “Sergeant at Arms” and the other, “Road Captain.” Gunner stepped back into the kitchen and slipped his off and looked at the back of it, just like he had done a thousand times before. It was the same as theirs, only his said “President,” and on the front, it said “Doc.”
2
“You’re going to work?” Billy was sitting on the couch with the video game controller in one hand and a bowl in the other. He took a long, smoky hit before handing it to Gunner. They’d spent all day cleaning up the mess the bikers had made the night before, and Gunner had called in a favor from a guy that owed him money for some ink he had done for him, and he replaced at least some of the liquor Patty had lost. She’d sent them both home around five to rest and clean up. The bar never got busy before nine or ten, and for the most part she used the guys as bouncers—when they weren’t starting fights of their own, that is.
Gunner took a hit and handed the little glass bowl back. “What am I supposed to do, hide?”
“Did you see those guys? I mean, did you really look at them? I could see every vein in that bald guy’s neck and arms, and that was through all that ink. The other one doesn’t look like anyone you want to mess with either, and they both seemed pretty pissed off that you were walking around wearing their vest.”
“It’s my vest. My father left it for me.”
“So said the drug-addled brain of your mother.”
“Hey!”
“You’re going to defend her?”
“No, fuck, I don’t know. Yours wasn’t any better. She left you in a crack house.”
Billy chuckled. “I’m not judging, man, you know that. All I’m saying is you have hung onto that vest like it was a fucking lifeline all these years, and what if it turns out the guy was just some biker that fucked your old lady and couldn’t afford her fee? I mean, maybe the vest was payment for a blow job or some shit.”
Gunner was ashamed of how pissed off that made him. He knew his mother sold her body for various things. Hell, he was the one that told Billy. But for the first time since they’d been best friends, he actually wanted to kick Billy’s ass. It probably was more about the vest, and his ideas that his old man had been somebody, than it was his mother. “Why are you being such a dick?”
“I’m not trying to be a dick, man. I’m trying to keep you from getting killed. Look, just stay home tonight, give these guys a day or two to leave, and forget about this shit and get rid of the vest so they don’t come back. Those Head Hunters opened a chop shop on the outside of town. Patty says they’ve moved in. Obviously, they have connections to these Skulls that don’t want you wearing their patch, so just don’t. It’s that simple.”
“So I hide like a pussy, and let some assholes I don’t even know tell me what I can and can’t wear?”
“Dude, you’ve spent enough time on the streets that you know not to fuck with someone’s colors, or in the case of bikers, their patches.”
“I’m not fucking with their colors or patches. The vest is mine and I’ll wear it when and where I want to. I’m not spending the rest of my life cowering in Patty’s bar and fighting for extra cash in Kinley Bonner’s barn.”
“And how is that vest going to change any of that, Adam? It’s not magic, dude.”
“The vest isn’t going to change it. I’m not an idiot. It’s the point that they think they can tell me what to do. They think they can treat me like a fucking loser, like a nobody.”
“Adam, listen to me. That vest is not taking you places. You’re the only one who is impressed by it.” That did it—Gunner snapped. Before Billy even had time to react, Gunner was on his feet and his fist was connecting with the side of Billy’s face. The glass bowl went flying and shattered on the wood floor, and the couch tipped backward, nearly throwing Billy off in the process. Gunner’s muscles were tight, coiled, and bracing for a fight. Billy wiped the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up at his friend. He wasn’t smiling any longer, but he wasn’t fighting back, either. “I’m not fighting you, Adam, not over this stupid shit. Look, man, if anyone knows what a shit deal you were given in life, it’s me. The day they were handing out parents you and me were in the same line. The difference between us is, I accepted a long time ago that there’s no one out there on this fucking planet who gives a shit about me. You and Patty are all I’ve fucking ever had, and that’s okay, you’re all I need. But you…you’ve been holding onto this fantasy for almost ten years that the guy who owned the vest was going to walk back into your life and claim you or something. You have to get it out of your head. These guys aren’t here to claim you, man, they’re here to fuck you up for wearing their colors. Wearing a vest and driving a Harley doesn’t make you one of them. That’s it. That’s all I have to say. Go ahead and hit me again. Judging from the way you got your ass kicked the other night, you need the practice.”
Gunner tried to stay pissed but he couldn’t keep a straight face. “Fuck you, I was wasted.”
“Yeah, I used to know an eight-year-old girl who could fight better than that after she had a six-pack.”
Gunner was laughing as he dropped down into the recliner. He stopped when he looked down at his red knuckles. “Shit, man, I’m sorry I hit you.”
“Barely felt it,” Billy said with a lopsided grin through his bloody lips.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“As long as it’s not too deep. I had a headache before you hit me—now the fucker is pounding.”
“Sorry.” Gunner sighed and then he said, “You really think he wasn’t my dad?”
“Really? I really have no clue. But we both know that your own mother probably had no way of knowing who knocked her up, and I’m not sure tangling up with these bikers to find out is going to be worth it.”
Gunner ran his hand through his long, loose dreadlocks. “My mother was Puerto Rican.”
Billy nodded. “Yeah, I think you told me that.” Billy was looking at him like he was stating the obvious, and other than his blue eyes Gunner probably was.
“She had dark hair and dark eyes and skin. Her hair was black, like mine.”
“What are you getting at, Gunner?”
“My whole life, I just wondered about the blue eyes. I wonder if he had blue eyes.”
Billy cocked an eyebrow. “The biker?”
Gunner nodded. “I know I look like her. I can remember her face…but she was small, thin…I got this height and bulk from someone.” He sighed. “I know it’s stupid, Billy, but lately I’ve just been really curious to know where I came from.”
“What if you find out and he was even worse than she was?”
“Then I’ll know. Don’t you ever just want to know?”
“Honestly? No. It won’t change who I am.”
“I’m not looking to change me, just know more about me. You know, those guys looking for me might be a good thing. I wasn’t ever going to find anything sitting in this piece-of-shit town in Texas.”
Billy put his head in his hands and shook it. “Oh, Jesus Christ, I’m going to a fucking funeral next week, aren’t I?”
Gunner laughed. “Shit, like anybody around here could or would afford to bury my ass. Patty will just put my body in the incinerator and I’ll count myself lucky if she doesn’t just mix the a
shes with yesterday’s garbage. Billy, I need to find out who I am. I know it won’t change anything. I mean, obviously if this guy was my father, he’s not rich or anything so it won’t change my life. I just need to know.”
“Alright, man, but if these guys kill you in the bar tonight, Patty’s really going to be pissed.”
“I’ll ask them to kill me outside.”
Billy chuckled. “Let’s hope they’re gentlemen. You broke my last bowl and I don’t have any papers.”
Gunner reached for an empty beer can on the end table and fished his pocketknife out. He bent the can in half and stabbed it a few times and handed it to Billy. “How soon they forget what it was like on the streets.”
Gunner got up and finished getting ready to go to the bar. The last thing he did before leaving the house was slip on his vest. When he passed Billy in the hall, his friend just shook his head again. Gunner wasn’t going to hide. He was a fighter. It was all he’d ever been good at. Fighters live out loud. It was the only way he knew how to live, and if he could discover something about himself in the meantime, well, that was all the better.
Gunner was taking it easy on the alcohol, just in case he had to be on his game before the night was over. He smoked a little more weed and did a few lines to keep things even, but he’d promised Patty no fighting in the bar, so he wanted to stay alert. It was after midnight already and the bikers hadn’t shown up…none of them…and he’d just made eye contact with a hot, albeit slightly nervous-looking redhead whose boyfriend was going to be way too fucked up to get it up tonight.
He was standing behind the bar, pouring a beer for one of the regulars when she glanced at him for about the tenth time. This time she licked her lips, absently. Damn, she had some nice, full lips. He looked over at her boyfriend. He was some preppy-looking college dick who looked more interested in playing grab-ass with his buddies than in the hot little piece standing right next to him all night. Gunner looked back at her, ran his own tongue over his bottom lip, winked at her and tossed his head slightly toward the ladies’ room. Her green eyes widened, but she didn’t look away and she gave him a sexy little smile that said she was thinking about it. Laughing to himself he went back to pouring beer. He’d give her a minute to think about it. He didn’t doubt that she was on board.
“Hey, kid, hear you got a big one coming up this weekend.” Phil, a middle-aged tow truck driver who spent more time at the bar than he did with his tow truck or his wife, yelled out to him from the end of the bar.
“Yep. Kinley lined up a fight with some big Indian that’s been underground fighting for a while. Word is he almost went pro at one time.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of him. He won’t be an easy one for you to beat.”
Gunner shrugged. “I’m not worried.”
“I hope not. Kinley’s got the odds set in the Indian’s favor so I put mine on you. I need a new truck.”
Gunner rolled his eyes. “How much did you bet, Phil, your usual twenty?”
“Hell no, I went a hundred this time. You get a KO in the first round and I make like…a hell of a lot of money.”
“I’ll see what I can do for you,” Gunner told him. He was smiling when he looked back over toward the pool tables. The preppy college kid was drinking a shot out of Lucy’s cleavage. Lucy was Patty’s niece, and she was also Gunner’s first fuck ever. He found out quickly that Lucy was practically everyone in Bexar County’s first fuck. Lucy loved to fuck, almost as much as he did, and she liked variety even more. Gunner liked to think he at least had standards. Lucy would fuck anyone if she was drunk enough. Some nights they didn’t even have to be male. Not that Gunner ever complained about that when she invited him to join in. Right now she seemed to have her sights and her massive tits set on Preppy Boy. Gunner told himself the least he could do for her was take his girlfriend out of the mix for a minute, or five. He shot his eyes back over to the curvy redhead, who was giving Lucy a distasteful look. He kept staring at her until she looked back his way. She blushed when she realized he was watching her. He raised a questioning eyebrow in her boyfriend’s direction, one he hoped said, “Are you really going to just stand there and let him get away with that?” She gave Lucy another disgusted look and this time she was the one to cut her eyes over at the bathroom. Gunner grinned, pulled the towel off his shoulder, and yelled down the bar at Billy, “Gonna take a break.”
Billy looked over toward the bathroom. He knew his friend too well. He grinned and said, “Five minutes?”
Gunner flipped him off. “Fifteen.”
Billy laughed. “Odds of you beating the Indian are better than that.”
Gunner was still chuckling as he made his way toward the bathroom. He checked over his shoulder to make sure her boyfriend was still busy. He was licking spilled tequila out of Lucy’s cleavage now. He’d be busy for a while. Without saying a word, Gunner pushed open the men’s room door and used his big body to nudge the little redhead inside.
He didn’t waste time with introductions. He wasn’t going to remember her name in a few hours anyway. He locked the door behind them and wrapped his big arms around her curvy little body, pulling her in for a kiss. Damn, those lips. He licked and sucked and then shoved his tongue in between them and tangled it up with hers. She smelled good, and she tasted like the sweet drinks he’d been mixing for her all night. He loved that first kiss with a woman you’ve never had before. All his senses got involved, and it made his pulse race and he loved the feeling of hot blood pulsing through him, making its way down to fill up his dick.
While they kissed, he slid his hands up underneath the tight blouse she was wearing and underneath her lacy bra. He knew her nipples would be huge. He’d seen them through her shirt before he’d even looked at her face. He loved big nipples. His mouth was watering just thinking about them. He tweaked them for a bit while he kissed her and pressed her ass up against the sink. Then he finally jerked the blouse and bra up out of his way and leaned down for a mouthful. She tipped her head back and moaned, putting her hands up in his hair. He sucked hard, aggressively, and she used her hold on his long hair to press him harder into her chest. His dick was hard as a rock and when he moved over to suck on the other one he slid a hand up underneath the little skirt she was wearing and into her soaking wet panties. When he touched her clit, she pulled his hair, hard. He liked it. He liked when they got just as rough as he was.
He stood up and moved his hands around to her ass, sliding them underneath the underwear and gripping those big, fleshy globes. He ground himself into her and finally spoke. “Take this shit off or I’m going to shred it.”
She nudged him back slightly, and he watched her slide off a pair of pink panties. Then she turned toward the mirror, and braced her hands on the sink, arching her back and pointing that big ass in his direction. This wasn’t her first rodeo. He smacked her ass and pulled a condom out of his pocket. He used one hand to unbutton and unzip his jeans and the other to bring the wrapper to his mouth and rip it open. It took him two seconds to cover his throbbing erection and then suddenly he was inside of that tight, soaking-wet pussy. He reached around and found her hard clit and pinched it with his fingers while he fucked her. He was glad the bar was so loud with the jukebox screaming and people talking, because this one wasn’t quiet. She wasn’t saying anything intelligible, but every time he buried himself inside of her she let out a sexy, wild little scream. Billy was wrong—he went longer than five minutes, not quite fifteen, but fuck, she was a hot little thing. He wasn’t even sure how many orgasms she’d had before he finally exploded into the condom. He rocked into her several times before grinning at her in the mirror and then pulling back with a distinct “pop.” She groaned and, while he pulled the condom off and tossed it into the trash, she didn’t move. He pulled his pants up, zipped and buttoned them, and smacked her big ass once more before saying,
“Thanks, babe.”
She finally stood up straight and looked at him in the mirror. “You won’t…” She
looked out toward the bar.
Gunner laughed. “Ain’t nobody hearing it from me.”
She looked shy again suddenly. It always amazed him how girls could go from sweet and innocent to wild as fuck and back again in minutes. She reached down for her panties while he washed his hands. When he finished drying them he said, “Give me a sec. I’ll knock on the door when the coast is clear and you slip out.” She nodded and finally looked him directly in the eye.
“Thank you.”
He winked at her again. “No problem, babe.” He was still smiling when he stepped out of the bathroom and right into a fist. He didn’t see who hit him but as he went down to his knees he thought, if it was that preppy guy, he’d way underestimated him.
3
When Gunner woke up in the parking lot, that one punch was all he remembered. He was lying on his side looking up at the two bikers that had been in that morning looking for him. He started laughing, and they looked at him and then each other like maybe he was a little crazy. Maybe he was, but his first thought was that he was actually thankful the preppy asshole hadn’t been the one to knock him out. He would have never lived that one down. “What the fuck are you laughing at?” the big, bald one asked him.
“Sorry, man, inside joke.”
“Sit up,” the tall, super-serious guy said, giving him a little kick with the toe of his boot. That was easier said than done. They must have thrown him out here. His ribs hurt like hell. He pushed up onto his butt and his head started spinning. It took a second before his eyes could focus. When they did, he saw Billy sitting up against his own car with blood all over the front of his shirt.
“Fuck, man. He’s got nothing to do with this.”
The muscular guy looked over at Billy and back at Gunner and shrugged. “I tried to tell him that myself. I guess even assholes have friends. Take off the vest.”
