Page 93 of Brother In Arms

We didn’t say anything to that, what was there to say? You don’t live in hell for years and come out unscathed. Dani did pretty good, but she was fragile from her time with the Suicide Cunts. I was pretty sure that the shit going on with Bailey was probably bringing up quite a bit for her, too.

“Best take a cage, not the bikes for this one.” Revelator suggested.

Thirteen and I nodded and I said, “Just let me finish my beer.”

We drove out in my truck, about ten pounds of sugar in a plastic container in the back of it. Sunshine was going to be pissed we raided her kitchen, but fuck it. This was for fun and a damn good cause.

We were laughing and joking the whole way there, Thirteen sitting shotgun while Rev sat in the bed keeping the sugar from spilling and talking to us through the back sliding window.

“They got any welding shit left out, I’m calling dibs.” Thirteen said and Revelator came right back with, “Man, I am not hauling all that shit back to the truck. You can fuck that noise.”

We laughed, and pulled off to the side of the road about two minutes from the site. We got out of the truck and moved into the trees surrounding the place so we could scope it out. There was a temporary construction fence put up around the place which when we got around to the back side of it, we had no trouble untwisting the wires that held the chain link to one of the fence posts to let ourselves in.

It was dark and only a sliver of moon was out so we had to bumble around a bit. We passed a flask between us, sippin’ on some whiskey in it so if we did get snatched up, we might be able to get by with a misdemeanor drunk and disorderly or a simple trespass charge.

We were laughing and fuckin’ cuttin’ up trying to be quiet while still getting the job done. There was a backhoe and a bulldozer nearby that we liberally dosed with sugar to the gas tanks when Rev asked, “You sure this is even going to work? I mean, I know it’d work on a car but don’t these things run on diesel?”

“Yes, it’ll work, dumbass! I’m a mechanic, this’ll fuck with the engine just like any car or truck.” We did as much damage as we could to the site, but Data had been right. There wasn’t much to fuck with at this one. We got the fuck out of there before anyone happened along and went back to the club.

When we walked through the front door, Dragon leaned back in his chair and asked, “Have fun?”

We all busted up laughing and I said, “See you guys, I’m goin’ back to Bailey.”

“Night, man, thanks for the trip, it was a riot.”

Fun was over when I walked out the back door. Bailey was curled on one of the swinging benches, staring into the fire, expression somber.

No one else was out here, and I paused, watching the play of firelight against her pale skin. Her hair was loose and flowing around her face and she looked beautiful. Like some kind of angel sitting there in her satin night things. I went over to her and dropped onto the bench beside her.

“I woke up and you were gone,” she said softly.

“Kind of hard to be two places at once,” I said back and waited for her to flip out on me. I was surprised when she didn’t. Instead she just kind of slouched over, laying her head against my shoulder, twining her arms around my bicep.

“Not gonna yell at me?” I asked with a wry smile.

“Not sure what kind of women you’re used to dating, but you’re not on a lead, Rush. You don’t have to tell me where you go or everything you do. I get it. Some of it you can’t.”

“Still bothers you though, I can hear it in your voice.”

“Well, yeah… I wake up in the middle of the night and my boyfriend is just gone, doing god knows what… just… just promise that if you ever want to cheat, that you’d tell me first before actually doing anything.”

I put my arms around her then and she tipped on her side, laying her head in my lap. She looked fragile, all curled up on herself like that, staring into the flames.

“I’ll never cheat, Bailey. That’s one thing you never have to worry about from me. I know that kind of pain, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody else.”

“He used to, you know? A lot. Mom would just make excuses and hide it. I could tell it hurt her, but she just let him. Saving face was more important. I think it was one of the reasons she hated Aunt Tillie.”

“What the fuck did you just say?”

Shit.

Bailey sat up swiftly, Dray marching up the grass from the back door. Bailey was shaking her head.

“Dray, she was jealous. She always hated the fact that Dragon was faithful to your mother. That what they shared was real. She felt like your mother rubbed it in her face that she was free and that my mom was trapped in this loveless marriage with a man who couldn’t even be faithful to her. My mom may have loved my dad, but I don’t think my dad ever really appreciated or loved my mother… It just wasn’t who he was.”

Dray turned one of the lounge chairs around and dropped into it, facing Bailey. Bailey wiped at a tear and said, “How did we all just get so fucked up?”

Dray snorted, “I don’t know, Bales. I wasn’t really there. Not for my mom’s lack of trying.”

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