Page 73 of Stoker's Serenity

“I didn’t think I’d gotten this bad,” she confessed, her arm around my waist, mine around her shoulders as our flip-flops and sandals scuffed along the dirt path to the steps leading to the upper back deck of the lodge, where the food was.

“You’re fine, I promise. I know it probably feels like you aren't, but it’s not as bad as you think or as it probably feels – but how you feel is perfectly valid, given your circumstances.”

She stared up at me and asked, “How are you so patient?”

I laughed a little. “I don’t know. Ask anyone, it’s never really been my strong suit. At least, not when it comes to the little shit that don’t matter. You? You matter,” I said, and bent to kiss her. She kissed me back, her lips curving into a smile as she melted into me and I loved that I could have that kind of effect on her.

We ate at a giant picnic table, the SHMC crew knocking it out of the park with some down-home country barbecue. Our table was a healthy mix of Kraken and Sacred Hearts with me and my woman and the VP, Dray, and his ol’ lady taking up one end of the table.

The laughs were plenty, the jokes dirty, and the sun was well on its way down. Dusk settled over the party, the citronella tiki torches getting lit, and the bonfires down at the lake starting to smoke and catch.

“Thank you so much for all of this,” Serenity told Dray when she found out his position in his club. She was gazing out toward the lake, past the winking flames of the citronella candles and torches along the paths and staked out in the flowerbeds.

“It’s our pleasure,” he said, and he sounded so much like his dad, the SHMC’s president, I couldn’t help but smile to myself over it.

We ended up by the fire, in a circle with mostly SHMC and their women. Dray and his woman, Everett. Trigger and Sunshine, along with Reaver and Doll. Reaver’s son, Nox and Maren, and her little brother Sage. Of our crew, Cutter, Hope, Galahad, Charity, and Faith were there and I was just about to ask about Marlin, when my acoustic bass was passed in front of my face.

“Ha, ha! Yeah,” I took it and Marlin stepped over the log my little orchid and I were leaning against.

It was cooling off, and Data came by with a stack of plaid throw blankets.

“Anyone need one?” he asked as I tuned up my rig.

“Yeah, man. Can you give one to my girl?” I asked.

He handed one down to Serenity, who took it with a soft thank you and wrapped it around her shoulders. She cast a grateful look in my direction for speaking up for her. I winked and Marlin put his cig between his lips and strummed his guitar.

“Lay somethin’ down for me,” he said, and I gave a nod, and heard someone say from the other fire “Oh, no shit? They gonna play?”

“Ya shut up, we will!” Marlin called out.

Truth be told, these times around the random fires, late at night, playing with Marlin or even just by myself were my favorite.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved playing with my band but metal wasn’t always my scene. These quiet moments were something else. Something good for the soul. Thrashing it out on stage was a great way to let off steam, to belt out some anger, let it out barreling into the world with all the force of a fuckin’ freight train – but when I finished one of those shows I was exhausted, like I’d spent so much of myself.

This kind of playing, this music, did the exact opposite. This type of playing, this music, put something back.

“Ready when you are,” he said and I nodded and knocked against the side of my rig, tapping out a pattern between knuckles and a slap of my fingers against the glossy black wood. I laid down some chords and kept at it until Marlin figured me out and could lay over my bassline.

The melody poured from us both, an impressive array, but him and me? We’d been doing this kind of shit for a while.

Pretty soon, people were laughing, suitably surprised or impressed, some body rockin’ going on in their seats, and even some claps to keep the rhythm. What I wanted to see was what my little orchid thought, and that sight? Well, that was something else. Her eyes were closed, her face slack and at peace as she listened. It catapulted my heart straight into the stratosphere, I’m telling you.

We drank around the fire, played long into the night, and by the time we decided enough was enough, my little orchid was sound asleep, leaned back against the log, cuddled in her blanket.

“Hey, somebody take this and follow me up so I can take her?” I asked.

“Yeah, brother. I got you.” Trigger got up, and Sunshine rose like her namesake from the ground, her sunny disposition a little ragged around the edges.

“I’ll meet you back at the cabin if that’s alright, baby?”

“Yeah, yeah!” he said and kissed her quickly. “Have Reaver walk you along with Doll,” he said.

“I got ‘em, bro,” Reaver said, helping his woman to her feet.

“Thanks.”

Trig reached out and took my bass from me and I gave a nod. Serenity sucked in a sharp breath and jolted, her arms going around my neck and shoulders as I lifted her. She was barely a buck and some change, and I was used to holding up more on the regular in my line of work. Still, I couldn’t do it forever, and I was glad the lodge wasn’t too far.

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