“Oh, God, please, you’ve got to help me,” she started to cry. “I know I’ve been stupid, but this is what I need to turn my life around. I haven’t got any family Lacey. You’re the only person I can turn to.”
Lacey’s head felt like it was going to explode. She didn’t have a solution this time.
“Who is it? Who do you owe?” she asked again.
“The bikers,” Charlene said as she looked nervously around. “Satan’s Riders.”
“And what did you say about someone new?” Lacey looked up at the sun and closed her eyes. The warmth on her skin was the only thing keeping her calm.
“The old boss has gone,” Charlene began, “And now this new guy has come in to take over and he’s really dangerous. He’s scary… He’s been imposing all these new rules and trying to turn the town around. He doesn’t want any debts or any authority involvement. He’s cutting all ties with the cops and he’s trying to go as legit as they possibly can in their line of work. No tabs, no borrowing anything. Payment up front and if you owe anything, then he’s coming after you to get it back.”
Lacey swallowed hard and looked up at Charlene. She was shaking and tears were streaming down her face.
“I only have a thousand,” she said finally. “There’s nothing else.”
Charlene sat down next to her and put her head in her hands.
“I can’t take it to him,” Charlene said. “If I go in there, they’ll kill me…”
“And what will happen to me if I go!?” Lacey shouted angrily. “This isn’t even my goddam mess!”
“Please!” Charlene begged holding onto Lacey’s arm. “Please just take him the thousand and beg him… It’s not your debt and he’ll know that… please help me.”
Lacey rubbed her temples and just wanted the ground to open and swallow her up. Her good nature was her Achilles heel. This was the last thing she needed, and she wanted to shoot herself for being such an easy target and a sucker for feeling so bad for Charlene.
But instead, she said, “Okay, I’ll take the money.”
Charlene threw her arms around Lacey’s neck and hugged her tightly.
“Thank you so much, Lace,” she sobbed, “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Lacey couldn’t bring herself to speak. The last of her money was about to be swallowed up by Charlene’s debt… and she was going to have to go into a bike gang’s clubhouse to settle the score.
After she had finished work at the bar that evening, she stood outside and drank the rest of the vodka she had taken out of her tips. She was so nervous, she had been drinking all afternoon, and when her boss, Ray, had come in, she pretended that she had been accepting drinks from the customers to get them to spend more money. On her lunch break she decided to go home and collect the cash. She wanted to get the whole thing over as soon as possible and leaving it even one day could potentially make her lose her nerve.
She swayed on the spot and reached into her bag and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper that Charlene had scrawled the address on. It was across town and she would have to walk. Even though it was dark and late at night, the air was still dense with heat and she wiped her brow with the back of her hand.
“I’m not walking,” she said aloud before she reaching for her cell phone and dialing the number of a cab company.
***
The cab driver pulled up outside the club house and turned to look at her slouching down in the back seat. She paid him and opened the door before stepping out and slamming it behind her. The reality of the situation soon sobered her up when she saw the lines of motorcycles outside and big burly men covered in tattoos who sat astride them. She suddenly wanted to turn and run. She reached down to her purse and checked that the envelope of cash was still there and squeezed it in her palm.
“Come on, Lacey,” she whispered to herself. “You can do this.”
She began to walk towards the main door and tried not to shake or react to the catcalls that followed her. She could feel the men’s eyes all over her huge breasts and curvy waist. She pushed the door open to the clubhouse and stepped inside. It could have been any other bar, except there were no women in there and all of the men were huge, dressed head to toe in leather and looked mean. They looked as bad as they come, and as Lacey stood there in the doorway with no clue what to do next, she realized that her hands were indeed shaking.
“Can we help you, sweetheart?” One of the men got to his feet and took a step towards her.
Lacey instinctively took a step back and clutched onto her purse for dear life.
“I’m here to see whoever is in charge,” she said, trying to sound confident and then cleared her throat. “The new boss.”
She knew she must have sounded like a fool, but she couldn’t think of what else to say.
The man was chewing gum and he spat it out onto the floor and held out his hand.
“Who’s asking?” he eyed her angrily.
“My name is Lacey… I’m here for a friend, Charlene… I have some of the money she owes you.”
His eyebrows raised and his face softened.
“Well, all right then,” he said as if he was mocking her, “You better come this way, Ma’am.”
Lacey moved forward, but didn’t take hold of his arm. She tried not to look around and lock eyes with anyone. Her heart was racing so fast she was sure that they could all hear it and they began to comment on her appearance as she passed. She felt like she was on show and completely vulnerable. She was desperate to get out of that room.
The man led her into a corridor and walked with her down to the end. He stopped outside of a tall iron door and knocked on it lightly. A flap slid open to reveal a pair of eyes looking down on them.
“She’s here to settle Charlene’s debts,” the man with her said.
The eyes narrowed before the flap closed and she heard the turning of keys and the sounds of chains being undone. The man with her turned on his heel and began to walk back towards the bar area.
“Good luck,” he laughed over his shoulder. “Matt will love you.”
Lacey turned to look at him as he walked away and wondered what he meant. She breathed in and out deeply. This was it.
The door creaked back and a tall, muscular guard stood in front of her. He looked mean and dangerous and he was wearing sunglasses even though it was so dark in there Lacey could barely see in front of her. He didn’t say a word but moved to the side to let her in. She stepped forward nervously and looked up to see another man sitting at a desk in front of her. He eyed her from across the room with wide, interested eyes. The guard left the room and locked them in from the outside. Lacey started shaking. She looked back to the man at the desk and tried to think of the speech she had prepared, but her mind was blank. His cold, dark eyes were fixed on her as she took another step forward to fill the silence.
“How can I help you?” he said slowly. His voice was deep and gruff and he rubbed his big hand across his stubbly chin. He looked dangerous, more so that the guard, but he was also incredibly attractive. Lacey tried to focus on that to take her nerves away, but it ended up making her worse. The last thing she had expected was to be standing there in front of someone as good looking as he was. Her heart was pounding and she noticed something in him light up, too.
“I’m Lacey,” she finally managed to speak. “I’m here for Charlene.”
He laughed and sat back in his chair and kicked his big heavy boots up onto the desk before reaching for his cigarettes and lighting one up. He had long dirty blonde hair that fell softly around his eyes, and Lacey was surprised at how young he was compared to the other men at the clubhouse.
“Lay-cee,” he over-pronounced both syllables. “Well, I’m Matt,” he flashed her a menacing smile, “I’m in charge here.”
“I know,” she stammered.
“Why did Charlene send you?” he asked angrily.
“Charlene doesn’t have any money,” Lacey said nervously. “I’m here to pay you
what I can to help her. She doesn’t want any trouble, and she will get your money back.”
“How do you know?” he exhaled two plumes of smoke from his nostrils.
“Because she promised me,” Lacey said naively.
He laughed again and ran a hand through his hair. He turned back to her and stared at her so intensely, it almost felt like he was undressing her with his eyes. Lacey fought the urge to cover her chest, as if she stood there naked in front of him, trying to save her modesty.
“I haven’t been running things here for long, but one thing I know for sure is that girls like Charlene, they never make good on promises,” he smiled at her, baring his teeth. One of them had a gold cap.
“I just want to help her,” Lacey said quietly. “I don’t like seeing a friend in trouble.”
He clicked his tongue and took another drag on his cigarette.
“How much you got?” he asked.
“I have a thousand dollars for you,” she said stepping forward and reaching into her purse for the envelope. “Here.”
He took it from her and looked inside before he flicked through the notes and nodded.
“Well, that looks about right,” he said.
“So, will you leave off Charlene for a while? She will get you the rest. She just needs some more time.”
He leaned forward so his eyes were level with hers before he blew another two plumes of smoke out of his nostrils. He was so frightening, but at the same time there was something about him that was pulling her in. She didn’t know if she was imagining it, but it felt as if they had an instant connection. His eyes were big and deep and she was getting lost in them. She pinched her arm to snap herself out of the trance.
“I’m not taking your money, sweetheart,” he said sternly. “That bitch can pay for herself.”
Lacey took a step back, shocked and completely uncertain about what to do next.
“But, please,” she stammered. “Please take it.”
He handed the envelope back to her and walked around the front of the desk. He motioned for her to sit down and sat on the edge of the desk in front of her. Lacey nervously sat down, her hands shaking as she clutched onto the envelope.
“She owes me money for drugs,” he said. “Why would you pay for her to never learn her lesson?”
Lacey felt as if she had been slapped. She sat up straight and looked at him. She had never thought of it that way before.
“I just thought I was helping her,” she said.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said warmly, his eyes crinkling around the corners as he smiled, “I’m not going to take that money… But there is something you can do to help your friend…”
“Anything,” Lacey said. “I just don’t want her getting hurt.”
He took another drag on the cigarette and put his hand on her knee.
“You can come back here tomorrow. Maybe we’ll have a drink… Maybe we’ll get to know each other a little better.” He was looking down at Lacey’s chest and she knew what he was thinking.
“I… but…” she tried to hold the envelope out again, but he just pushed it back to her.
“I’ll be here at noon,” he said, “If you don’t show, Charlene’s in trouble.”
He got to his feet and walked towards the iron door before he knocked on it hard and she could hear it opening from the other side. It creaked open and the guard stood there with his arms folded.
“But…” Lacey began.
“That’s all I’ve got,” he shrugged. “Take it or leave it.”
The guard laughed and Lacey stared at Matt. He was teasing her, she was sure, but at the same time, she didn’t want to anger him by asking.
“Noon,” he repeated before he waved her off with his hand. “Oh, and not a word to anyone.”
Lacey left the office and began walking back down the corridor. Her heart was racing and she didn’t know where to turn. Charlene had a lot to answer for. Now it was she who was in big trouble.
5.
Lacey tossed and turned all night, terrified of what the next day may hold. She knew she didn’t have to go and she could tell Charlene that he was bribing her and making her feel uncomfortable. But now that Lacey had put herself in his presence, he knew what she looked like and who she was. It wouldn’t take much for him to find her in a small town like Clay Springs.
She stared up at the ceiling and wiped a tear away. What was going to happen to her if she went back? What could he realistically want from her? She tried to recall the features of his face in her mind’s eye, but they were all blurred and distant… it reminded her of when she had a crush on someone when she was younger and she couldn’t remember what they looked like.
She knew he was handsome, and she knew she had been attracted to him on first sight… But she was also afraid. He was dangerous, an outlaw who was threatening people to settle debts. Charlene had said he could be capable of killing people if they didn’t do as he asked. Lacey bit her lip and sat up. She knew she had no way out of the situation. Matt had asked to see her, and she was going to have to go…
***
As soon as noon had passed, she left her apartment and made her way back to the Satan’s Riders clubhouse. She decided to walk and as the sun beat down on her hard from above, she found herself wondering if it would be the last time she saw daylight.
You’re going to get yourself killed, she thought. Turn back and run.
She shook the thought off, knowing there was no way back from this. She had been foolish by putting herself in the situation, and now she was going to have to deal with it. She still had her money. As soon as the day was over she was going to make a run for it. Disappear out of town and never see bad influences like Charlene ever again.
She turned a corner and saw the building looming in front of her. It was dusty out front and there were around ten bikes in different positions, all empty and cold as if they’d been there from the night before. It didn’t look anything like the previous night. In daylight, it looked like any other building in town, but she knew what lay inside.
She approached the two steps and climbed them before crossing to the door and trying the handle. It was locked, so she knocked lightly. Inside it was quiet, but she could hear men’s voices getting closer and then the dull thump of boots as someone made their way across to the front door. It swung open and a man with a long beard stood there, shielding his eyes from the light.
“What?” he barked before realizing she was a woman and looking her up and down with a satisfied grin.
“I’m here to see Matt,” she said nervously.
The man looked at her as if she was insane and then slammed the door on her. She turned and looked back to the road, confused and worried.
Okay, she thought, this is good, now I can leave and it isn’t my fault… I tried.
She was about to skip quickly down the steps when from around the side of the building a familiar set of eyes came into view. Matt walked towards her in a pair of low-slung ripped jeans and a black vest. He was dirty, covered in oil like he had been working on one of the bikes and sweat glistened all over his tanned skin. Lacey stopped in her tracks and stared at him. His face cracked into a grin.
“Lay-cee,” he said her name slowly again. “Wasn’t sure you’d show.”
She felt frozen to the floor. Her legs wouldn’t move and she just stood there staring at him, not knowing whether to speak or just do whatever he asked.
“You don’t have to look so nervous,” he laughed. “Come down here.”
Lacey walked down to meet him and followed him around the back of the clubhouse. There were around ten garages, all in differing states. Some were locked up tight with no way of seeing what was inside, while others had their doors wide open with bike parts and stacks of boxes. Matt led her around to the last garage where a bike was on its side, with rags and oil canisters littered around it. He kneeled down and continued what he was doing.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said.
“What am I here for?” she asked quietly.
“To help Charlene pay her debts,” he sniffed before he held a cigarette to his lips and clamped it between his teeth. “You want to help your friend, right?”
“I’m not so sure she’s such a good friend anymore…” Lacey said as she thought back to her frantic calls to Charlene’s cell phone as soon as she had left the clubhouse the night before, which had been ignored… Charlene had no doubt been somewhere getting high and drinking herself into oblivion.
“I thought as much,” Matt said. “That’s why I wasn’t about to take your money.”
He pointed at a large rock not far from where he was working.
“Wanna take a seat?” he asked.
Lacey walked past him and sat down. The rock was blisteringly hot but she pulled down her shorts so they covered enough of her skin.
“Matt,” she said, “I don’t want to be rude, but I just want to know how I can help…”
He looked up at her and smiled.
“I thought you were all about the money,” she stammered. “I, I thought you would take the thousand and that would be the end of my involvement…”
“And like I said, I’m not taking your money,” he said as he took a drag on the cigarette. “Good girl like you, bet it took you a while to save… Bet you work hard…?”
Lacey nodded.
“Fuck-ups like Charlene don’t deserve the easy way out. I’ve been like you, I’ve worked hard and I’ve been taken advantage of, I can spot it a mile off… And if there’s one thing I don’t like is seeing good people lose out through no fault of their own.”
Lacey realized her mouth was gaping open. She couldn’t stop staring at his muscular arms as they flexed each time he moved.
“I suppose you’re right,” she agreed.
“Plus,” he stared at her, “You’re pretty hot.”
No one had paid Lacey attention in such a long time she had almost forgotten what it felt like to get a compliment. She felt herself blush and she looked down at her feet. He was nothing like she had imagined when she had turned up there. His hardened exterior was still there visually, but as he spoke to her and she got to know him more, it was as if he was genuine and kind on the inside.
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