Page 5 of Scar

“You don’t own the fucking gas station. I can go where I want…”

Before he could finish saying what he wanted to, the cops pulled up. The cashier nodded, meaning that he had called them. Good, at least he had done something.

“This is not over!” Steel fixed his eyes on me as he stood up.

The cops entered, and with a bleeding face, he touched his face and looked at it once he saw blood on it. After doing that, he walked out. He would have a lawyer do the talking for him if they did take him in.

“Little lady, if you tell the cops what happened, then they could charge Steel.”

“You’re Silver? He’s Steel? I don’t understand?”

I chuckled, because I hadn’t really thought about it before. I tried to steer as far away as possible from Steel. He was bad news. Usually he kept to his turf, but today he crossed the line, which wasn’t great for me, because he’d made my bad mood even worse.

“Yeah, I’m named after Long John Silver, and as for Steel he’s very stubborn.” I could tell her interest in my explanation lasted all of two seconds, so I should be on my way. “Just report him to the cops and be on your way.”

She shook her head, “For what? He didn’t do anything to me. You came around at the right time.”

Then she sniffled, and I realized she was right. He had been holding her against her will, but he would have to rape or hit her for her to press charges. The cashier calling the cops was a good call, even if they did take their sweet time.

“I need to get to my car. My baby’s in there.”

Shit, she left her kid in the car all this time!

I rushed with her. As we approached the car there was a sleeping baby. She opened the door, but her phone was ringing like crazy. She took it out of her back pocket. I was so annoyed with Steel and now worrying about this long-legged beauty that I’d forgotten what I stopped for in the first place.

She didn’t come from these parts and she had an accent, one I didn’t recognize.

Maybe that was the reason Steel was roughing her up. She was like fresh meat to him.

I felt guilty looking at her that way, because of her age. She must have been around the same age as my son. Too young to have a baby, for sure.

I felt like a chump as I was hanging around, because she was fine. I decided to leave her alone, as I remembered the only reason I came here was for gas.

Until I heard her crying and sobbing.

“No. No. No…” she repeated over and over again.

“What’s up, little lady?” I said as I approached her.

She was throwing her hands up in the air. “I drove all this way for a job at the Queen’s Bay Inn, to live and work there. Now, the job has gone.”

Fuck!

I shook my head, because I felt as though she was slightly confused. “You don’t want to work there. And certainly not with a baby.”

Her eyes were filled with tears, they were like a waterfall. “Why not?”

“It’s a brothel. Pretending to be a hotel, but it’s not that. Not really.”

No doubt they found out about her baby, and the job went. She didn’t realize they’d done her a favor. The way she was crying, I had a feeling it wasn’t just the job that upset her, but finding out that she had no home too.

3

Melinda

Ihad two run-ins with MCs in one day. I hadn’t been near an MC, since I’d lived in Ashland and now I’d done it twice since I came to Portland.

This guy, Silver I think the guy called him, was a lot better than the other guy. I was scared, like I’d been with Russ. Back then I was scared I would lose my job. Russ was overweight and old. That guy Steel had a roughness and more lines than an old map which had been folded too many times. Yet, Silver could be the same age, but he didn’t have the over hanging belly, nor was he wearing skinny jeans a couple of sizes too small for him, unlike Steel.

---