Page 3 of Brother In Arms

“What the fuck does she want now?” Reaver mused aloud, staring down the still black curtains of the fishbowl like they were some kind of traitor for hiding Dray’s aunt from our sight.

“Don’t fuckin’ know, and don’t fuckin’ care,” Dray said and Everett squeezed his hand.

For a lot of minutes the only sound in the room was the scrape of knives and forks and the click and clink of glasses and mugs against the worn tabletops. Occasionally, it was the rattle of newspaper as Doc flipped through the pages, peering at the print through his half-moon spectacles. I kept sat at the bar and finished sucking down my Bloody Mary which was a little on the weak side, so more vegetable juice than anything… I guess that counted as breakfast, right?

The sliding door slid open and while I tuned in, I didn’t look, just going off of what I could catch with my peripheral vision. Dragon poked his shaggy head out and called “Dray, get in here, boy; I need you.”

Dray got up, I watched him in the mirror behind the bar. He went into the fishbowl, expression stormy and just in time for Data to come out the archway back towards the rooms. He squinted against the light in the common room and I had to laugh.

“I’ll make you some hair of the dog,” I said and dragged myself around the bar to fix him a remedy.

“Thanks,” he said and hauled himself up onto the barstool next to mine with a groan.

“Help yourself,” I muttered and thrust a chin at the bottle of aspirin on the bar top next to my empty glass. Data grunted and dragged the bottle closer to him, popping the top and chewing four of them. I winced, I couldn’t do it. That shit was nasty.

“Tell me why the fuck we should help her, after all the shit she pulled with mom?” All heads turned toward the fishbowl and Data looked back towards me.

“What the fuck is going on in there?” he asked.

“Tillie’s sister Trudy showed up, apparently she’s lookin’ for help with something,” Trigger said and Data frowned.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” he muttered and reached for the glass I handed him.

“Gatorade would do you better,” Doc said without looking.

“Yeah, that’s next,” Data said after draining half his glass in three long swallows.

Shouting in Spanish emitted from the fishbowl and the slider opened up, the woman stepping out stiffly and more than a little red faced. She slid the door closed behind her and looked up, startled that all eyes in the room were on her. I put my hands on the bar top and leaned on them taking the whole spectacle in.

She squared her shoulders and put on that haughty air of superiority, just as the door slid open behind her. Dragon stopped and she stepped aside lightly to let him out, her pumps clicking smartly as she made the movement. Dragon stepped out and Dray right behind him. Dray looked over everyone in the room, his smoldering look falling on me.

“Rush, help me out. Take a ride with me.”

“You got it,” I said without hesitation, because when the VP of your club asked you to do something and his family was somehow involved, that’s what you did.

We went out front to the line of bikes parked there and each went to our own. Separated by five or six of our brothers’ motorcycles, I asked as we geared the rest of the way up to ride, “Can you fill me in on what the fuck I might be walking into?”

Dray’s aunt slipped out of the club right behind us and drifted to a ghostly grey Jaguar idling nearby, pointing down the driveway ready to leave. “Thank you, Draven,” she murmured as her driver came around to open the back door.

“Don’t thank me yet, Trudy. I said I’d go talk to her and that I’d scope things out, I didn’t promise to get me or mine involved.”

She nodded and I swung a leg over my bike, sticking the key in the ignition. I had my helmet on over a bandana tied tight around my hair which was in need of a cut. I took the time to zip up my jacket and pull another bandana around my face. I didn’t need any added protein of gnashing any bugs in my teeth and there were a lot of them this time of year. Early summer was pretty good for bug activity in farm country.

“We’ll follow you,” Dray called out to the driver who shut his aunt into the car. She settled herself and buckled up.

I was getting the impression there was some kind of deal going on with family in the middle, but I still had no idea what was up.

“You armed?” he asked.

“Always.”

“Good. Someone’s threatening my cousin and her place, we’re going to get the full meal deal. After that, Pops and I will figure out our level of involvement.”

“Cool,” I fired up my bike and yelled, “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks for the heads up.”

Dray fired up his bike and tying a bandana around his own face called, “Sorry I can’t give you more than that right now.”

“No worries!” I slid my protective eyewear onto my face and Dray waved a signal at the driver of his aunt’s car. The expensive cage pulled smoothly down the gravel drive and headed left out onto the highway. We checked, and finding the coast clear, rode out behind them.

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