Page 77 of Absinthe Dreams
“Yeah.”
I thought about that for a moment and said, “You know, I don’t really know. I do know that when it comes to the psychological effects of trauma, it can manifest in some weird ways and that it’s not always an instantaneous kind of thing.”
He nodded slowly and said, “Yeah, I get that.”
“Club going to meet to discuss the problem?” I asked quietly.
“In the Quarter, women included. You up for it?”
“I’m up for it. I want to check on Sandy and Jessie-Lou,” I said.
“Okay, let’s get dressed and get moving,” he said, setting his phone back down on the bedside table.
“What time and where are we meeting?” I asked him.
“Dinner first,” he said. “Our de facto clubhouse when ours is a crime scene or flooded or otherwise fucked up is Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop.”
“Interesting choice,” I declared, rising and stretching, stiff and arms and legs decorated with a smattering of bruises thanks to my rough treatment the night before.
“Sentimental,” he declared.
We rose and moved around the bedroom silently. He picked my clothes for me, and I was grateful for not having to put any thought into it. I didn’t see it as controlling or whatever at all. He was just taking care of me, or trying to, and I felt that. Cared for.
Charlie came in the house when we went to leave, shouting at me, incensed at being left outside all night. I fed him his dinner and locked him inside, feeling better for having him in. Safe from the world that felt like it was growing increasingly cruel with rapid intensity.
We rode for the Quarter, and I didn’t have my helmet. She was at the club. Chainsaw made me wear his, which was far too loose and offered little protection in the event of the worst happening. We swung into Voodoo Harley-Davidson, but they didn’t have anything but branded tees and souvenir-type shit, for which I got an “I told you so” from Chainsaw. I got a tee shirt anyway, because I was feeling petty about not listening, and rather than be pissy about it, he just seemed amused.
We had dinner as the sun began to set, and walked to Lafitte’s, where almost everyone else was assembled already in a back area with a gate that kept us visible to the street, but more importantly, the street visible tous.
It was a tight fit for all of us, but we managed. Of course, most of the women were seated either right up against their man or in their man’s lap. I opted to sit next to and lean in close to Chainsaw. He put his arm around me.
Everything flowed like how I would imagine a church meeting would go, only less formal due to us being nowhere near the club’s actual chapel, and that we had an audience should we speak too loudly. Some tourists did indeed stop at the gate andlooked at us as though we were specimens in a zoo, to which Saint snapped at them, “The fuck are you looking at?” That startled them into moving on.
Velina looked amused, Jessie-Lou stared vacantly, and poor Sandy jumped in Bennie’s arms.
Corliss rested her head on Hex’s shoulder, and Alina looked on impassively from LaCroix’s knee, his big arms twined protectively around her waist.
“First things first,” Hex declared. “Sandy, nobody’s mad at you, girl.”
Sandy looked up sharply, eyes darting between Hex’s face and LaCroix’s.
“I’m not,” Jessie-Lou said. “I have every reason to be, but I’m not.” She reached out a hand to the other girl across the table, and Sandrine lunged for it, wrapping both hers around it and bursting into sobs.
We were all heavy and silent until Bennie dragged her back and wrapped her up in his arms, soothing her and making sounds of love and commitment to her until she settled once more.
“Doc, we owe you everything,” LaCroix intoned. “No matter what it is, this club is forever in your debt, not only for trying to save Cy in the eleventh hour of his need, but also for – and I never thought I would say this – bringing the cops to our women’s aide.”
I swallowed hard. “I bought this thing before I called Chainsaw for help with my… problem.” I cleared my throat.
“I told her to wear it, and I should have come clean on that earlier, but I was really hoping we wouldn’t need it. I’m sorry for holding it back. It won’t happen again,” Chainsaw said to LaCroix. LaCroix and the rest of the guys and girls all looked in his direction.
“It was a good call, and had they not needed it, there would have been no harm, no foul. But theydidneed it. All of us needed it, in a big damn way, yesterday. It was good lookin’ out,” Hex said.
Everyone started nodding, and some of the tension eased out of me. Good. No one was in trouble.
“That just leaves the rest of this mess,” Saint said, and everyone was suddenlyveryattentive.
“We got Cy’s funeral,” Jessie-Lou declared, and sniffed. “Y’all best get to taking care of the problem, and I do mean once and for all.”
