Page 1 of Dusty and Dented
Chapter One
Andy stood in the hotsunshine, staring unseeing at the long box in front of her suspended over the hole that had already been dug when they’d arrived.Her chest ached and her eyes burned.
How had this happened to Travis?He’d been fine.She’d talked to him earlier in the day.Then the next thing she knew, a man she barely knew, or more accurately, barely remembered was knocking on her door telling her that her brother was dead.
In that moment, with those few words, her world shattered.
Somehow, she’d forced herself to get up and go on.She went to work, she came home, she did what had to get done.She’d shed more tears in the last week than she could remember crying in her entire life.With the way they’d grown up, with just their dad who’d struggled to make sure they had what they needed, but hadn’t had time for much more than that, Travis had been her rock.Then Dad had died during her senior year of high school, and it had really been just her and Travis left.For years it had been the two of them against the world.And now he was gone.
“We’re gathered here today to say goodbye to our friend and brother Travis ‘Panther’ Hickman.”A man Andy had met a couple of times before but couldn’t recall his name stood on the far side of the casket that held what was left of her brother and continued to speak.She kept her attention on the box and let her mind drift.These other people may have called him brother, but they hadn’t been there for her.Not like he had, as long as she could remember.They shared no blood.
Andy didn’t know what she would do without Travis.Continue?Yeah, she would do that.She’d been supporting herself, at least financially, since she was seventeen when their father had died of a heart attack at work.Travis had helped where he could, but he was trying to survive too.
By then, he’d already been a prospect with the Fallen Angels for a while, and somewhere in there—she wasn’t exactly sure when as she’d been doing everything she could to get by and still get her high school diploma—he’d become a full member of the club.She’d been happy for him.It meant he had people to rely on, a family other than her.She’d been glad he had that.But now that club had taken him from her.
She was jarred from her thoughts by the revving of an engine.Looking around, she realized that nearly all of the men wearing the leather vests like Travis wore even now, who’d been standing around his grave, were gone.They’d moved to the row of bikes on either side of the trailer that had been towed behind one of the motorcycles to bring Travis here.One man revved the engine on his bike, then everyone else repeated it, reminding her of those songs they’d sung in school where the teacher would say something then the rest of the class would repeat it, but after the rest of the bikes echoed the engine revs, the man who’d started it all shut off his engine.The rest, all but one, did the same.The final man twisted the throttle one last time, letting his engine scream long and loud before he too turned off his engine.
“Now the honored angels know one of their fallen brethren is returning to the fold.Enjoy them wings, brother.Until we ride together again,” the man with President on his vest said as he lowered his head as if in prayer.He looked familiar but she hadn’t spent much time around Travis’s friends in so long she didn’t know their names anymore.This one, though, his name was Raven according to the patch on his right shoulder, and she thought he was the same guy who had been Travis’s best friend back when they’d been kids but she wasn’t sure, and right now, she didn’t care enough to ask.
Andy didn’t bother to try to stop the tears that streamed down her face.She’d long since given up trying to control them.And right now, she hurt too much to even try.
“Ride hard and ride long, we’ll all see you again when it’s your turn to come and get us,” the same man said before he stepped away from the bike and approached Andy.
“The Fallen Angels are sorry for your loss,” he said when he stopped in front of her.She let her eyes skim down him, taking him in.She stared at him, not sure what to say.She wanted to yell.She wanted to scream.She wanted to tell him she wanted nothing to do with him or any of them.She wanted to scream that his club was the reason her brother was dead.She wanted to ask if he was the boy she remembered.She wanted to ask how his club and his business had cost her the only family she had left.She did none of that.Instead, she continued to stare at him.
“We know that you and Panther were all each other had.I know losing him is painful.It’s painful for all of us.He was one of my best friends.I trusted him with my life.I want to make sure you’re taken care of.If you need anything, and I mean anything.Call me.”He held out a card between two fingers.
Andy glanced down at the card, then back up at his face without taking the card.She wanted to tell him to fuck off, to stay the hell away from her.She wanted to tell him that she wanted nothing to do with him or his club, but she couldn’t.Without Travis she had no one.If the Angels wanted to step up, she wouldn’t stop them.But she also couldn’t bring herself to take the card.Not now.Not here.Her gaze dropped down to the card once more, and she stared at it almost as if it were a snake that was going to bite her if she got too close.
She was still looking at the card being held in front of her, when a large hand she didn’t recognize moved in front of her and took the card.
“I’ll make sure she’s taken care of today,” a deep voice rumbled from beside her.“And I’ll make sure she gets this too.”
Her gaze lifted to Raven’s face.He watched her for a moment, then glanced over at the man who’d taken the card before looking back to her, waiting for a moment.She could only assume he was waiting for her to argue.She didn’t have the energy or desire for that now.She didn’t care if someone thought they were going to be helping her or taking care of her.She just wanted to get away from here.To go home where she could climb into bed and pull the blankets up over her head again.
Raven nodded, then turned and walked away.Slowly, everyone drifted away, going back to the vehicles, their cars and motorcycles.But the man who stood beside her didn’t move.She didn’t look at him, but she could feel the heat from his body as she watched people walk away from all that was left of Travis.All that was left of her brother.She stared at the casket until she was the last one there and people started shuffling around, trying not to look impatient to finish what needed to be done.
Still in a daze, she turned and went to her car.She didn’t know where she was going.It didn’t matter.The only person she wanted to see was gone.She’d never see him again.
