The doors to the kitchen suddenly slam open.
“All right, we’re set. You ready?” Vera says, walking up beside Babs with a set of keys in her hand. Vera’s reddish-brown hair is pulled up in a high ponytail. Her tight, black shirt is tucked into short, ripped jean shorts, which are topped with her property patch deemed by Old Guy. I’ve only met Vera once, right before the bike rally where everything went to shit. She wasn’t too friendly if I remember right. Old Guy, her significant other, I met before as well. He didn’t try and hide his attraction toward me when we first met, he was very forward in his advances. Vera’s eyes lazily find me sitting at the bar before scowling.
“Great, what are we going to do about her?” she asks, her eyes never leaving mine.
“What?” I ask, sounding a little nervous.
Babs smiles wolfishly. “Bring ‘er along.”
“What?’ Vera asks, confused.
“She says she’s innocent, that she’s one of us. Make her prove her loyalty,” Babs says, looking at Vera.
Vera smiles. “To us anyway. The boys will have to decide if she’s loyal on their own.”
“You want to clue me in on what you guys are talking about?” I ask, getting a little peeved they are talking as if I’m not even in the room.
“I have a niece who’s almost eighteen. Her name is Silvia. She just got released from the hospital last night because her boyfriend decided to use her as a punching bag,” Babs says, shaking her head in dismay and slowly sliding her tongue over her upper red lip.
“Dislocated her jaw,” Vera says, stepping around the bar. “Babs brought it to Locks’ attention, so he could bring it to the table, but he told her no.” Vera’s tone is angry and hostile at Locks’ decision. Seems Vera has Babs’ back and is upset Locks didn’t stand behind his wife’s request to involve the club.
“So, what does that have to do with me?” I ask, shrugging.
“We, and now you, are going to go scoop up this douche and teach him what happens when you fuck with one of our own,” Babs says, putting her hands on her hips, her tone proud.
“And Daddy and Lover Boy cannot find out about it,” Vera patronizes.
I look at both of them, considering my options. I could use the brownie points with the ladies at this point. It’s not convincing Shadow of anything, but at least I’ll have my foot in the door. Showing the ol’ ladies I can keep a secret would do just that, and if there is anything illegal about to happen, it will prove I am not with my mother and her clan of agents.
“I’m in,” I say, standing.
“Like you had a choice,” Babs laughs.
“If you said otherwise, I would have had to beat the shit out of you and throw you in the closet till we got back,” Vera says, her tone serious.
“Vera!” Babs snaps.
***
I’m sitting on a bench in the back of one of the club’s black vans, with a couple of other ol’ ladies wearing cuts. Babs is driving and Vera has the passenger side. I’m sitting next to Cherry, and Molly and Pepper are sitting across from us. I remember seeing them briefly right before the bike rally, when the raid happened, but I don’t know much about them.
“You cool?” Molly asks, throwing her brown hair into a tight bun.
I nod, not sure what to say or expect.
“She’s fine,” Cherry says, nudging me in my shoulder. “She’s got it in her blood.”
“I’m Phillip’s ol’ lady, by the way,” Cherry says, putting her hand out to shake.
I shake it. “Don’t think I’ve met him,” I respond, trying to put a face with the name.
“Yeah, he’s doing time right now,” she says, looking down. Her strawberry hair skirts across her face, hiding her kind eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I reply, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. I wonder what he did, but I don’t ask.
“No worries, he should be out in a few months.”
“That shit you were in,” Pepper adds, pointing at me. “They say you didn’t have anything to do with it. Did you?” she asks flatly.
I shake my head. “No, that was all the work of my bitch of a mother.” I roll my eyes.
All the girls start laughing, catching me off-guard.
“What?” I ask, confused.
“You sound just like him,” Cherry says, smiling big.
“Like who?” I ask, looking around at the other girls.
“Like Shadow,” Molly says, laughing.
I look down at my hands. Shadow. Just his name is like a punch to the gut, and it hurts.
“We’re here, ladies!” Babs yells over her shoulder.
“Where?” I ask.
“Silvia said this is where the fucker deals,” Bab’s explains, the word deals catching my attention. Like, drug dealer? My eyes widen with fear, wondering what we will face when we get out of the van.
We sit in silence for a few moments as Babs and Vera scout the place. The van doesn’t have any back windows so I can’t see a thing.
“Why’d he hit her?” I ask to no one in particular.
“He needed a reason?” Pepper smarts.