“Doctor Driving Hawk,” corrected a pretty, bosomy girl.
Yosemite Sam said, “Levon was a Lost Boy. Those are the guys who were kicked out of Cornucopia as teenagers and made to wander the highways of Utah.”
“Sam,” I warned under my breath.
“It’s okay,” said Ford. “Gideon was telling us all about Maximus’ political platform. Booting those motherfuckers out of office is the best thing that could ever happen. I don’t want to mess with your business inside the walls, but those fuckers need to stay inside their walls. Outside is your backyard, and you need to reclaim it from those fundies.”
The pretty girl asked me, “Who are all these other guys in cages? I’m June, by the way.”
I introduced myself to Dr. Driving Hawk’s woman. “You know, I think they’re members of a local riding club, the Lazzat Un Nisa Society. Maximus used to belong to them before we stole him.” It felt odd, saying “we.” It shocked me every time I spoke like that. I’d never belonged to any club or society before. It was a greatly comforting feeling. I felt safe, in a weird way, knowing the club would always be there to protect me. “And I see a couple of Elks.”
“Elks?” giggled June.
“Yeah. You know, the Elks Lodge? They do good for the community. We managed to get them on our side, too.”
“Looks like you’ve got half the town.”
“Sure as shit does,” I replied. I’d been swearing more, being around the Assassins. It just came with the territory. “There’s a band?” Five or six guys in powder blue suits snapped their fingers and twirled in synchronicity while another banged a set of drums behind them.
June said, “Yes, Gollywow’s band. They’re not really playing. Just lip syncing to one of their songs. They thought they could intercut some shots of Maximus with shots of the band. You know, to show how hip he is.”
“I’m not too sure these guys will demonstrate hipness,” I said skeptically.
“Don’t worry,” said June. “To fundies, this band is beyond the pale. Only people willing to be a little open-minded will vote for Maximus.”
“And people sick to fucking death of the same stranglehold over their town for thirty years. Let’s go listen to Maximus.”
“It’s the end of an error!” Maximus shouted. “Meet the new boss! I’m not the same as the old boss!” He was dressed conservatively in a suit and tie. Of course he wouldn’t show his cut, his colors, in the TV spot.
We were surrounded by Bare Boners and Zealots who roared their support. I wondered if we would be shown in the ad. Probably not. Everyone in town knew we were bikers, but we were presenting Maximus to the entire world. Who knew? Maybe he could move on to a job with the State.
“You’re a nurse?” June yelled in my ear. It was obvious she’d already heard about me. “My sister Madison is a nurse, too. She’s somewhere around here. It comes in very handy having a nurse in a club.”
“Yes. I’m already finding that out.”
The crowd seemed to agitate Lazarus, so I said goodbye to June and led him down to the river to get a drink of water. It was gorgeous down there, stepping between sagebrush bushes and patches of fresh untrammeled snow. The rusty walls of the gorge rose up on both sides and I felt like I was in a giant natural cathedral. Soon the rushing of the river water drowned out the hurrahs of the bikers, and Lazarus eagerly drank.
I let him off-leash for a few minutes so he could swim in the water. He found a pool to paddle around in and looked to be in heaven. Quaking aspens waved their mustard leaves against the orange canyon walls. It was serene down there. Lazarus got out of the water, shook himself, and then I threw a stick. He retrieved the stick about twenty times before he was willing to just sit by me, his thick, long fur streaming rivulets of water down the rocks.
“Hey!”
I twisted around. Levon was coming down the trail. I thought I’d never get over the sight of him in that black leather cut. It suited him and it showed the world that he wasn’t going to take shit anymore. I was proud of him for going up against the fundies. I knew Ladell Pratt had threatened him with more shit than printing gossip in a newspaper that only ten thousand people read. That was how many people were within Avalanche town limits. Levon hadn’t told me the whole story of Ladell Pratt, I knew.