CHAPTER FIVE

-:- JIG -:-

Sunday and we are not holding church today, what with Axel at the hospital with Mia and Summer, he hasn’t nominated anyone to hold church. Drag and BS are providing security at the hospital, they’d be the next ones to fill in. No one else is dumb enough to volunteer for that shit, so no church.

I was going over to the hospital this morning with Chaos, but he said he wouldn’t wait while I had eaten breakfast. He was up and ate earlier than we agreed, and I swear he was in a bad mood. He stomped off into the compound, but I haven’t heard his hog fire up yet.

Grabbing some toast and a coffee, I thank Meat and swallow both quickly. Outside, Chaos is waiting.

“C’mon, Jig. For fuck's sake, I ain’t got all day.”

“What the hell’s gotten you so fucking all fired up this morning? Didn’t get any last night?”

Chaos spins his back wheel as he screams off towards the gate and spits gravel all over me and my girl. Now that’s not on and we’ll be having words before we get in and see Mia.

Watching how Chaos is riding has me hanging back. He’s run a red light, overtaken a pickup on a blind bend, and he hasn’t stuck to a speed limit the entire journey. Pulling up in the hospital car park, I get right in his face, nose-to-nose.

“You ever throw gravel over my hog again I’ll wipe your fuckin’ face in it. Understand? You got a foul mood on, that’s fine, but don’t ever do that again. Is that clear?”

“I don’t know what you're talking about, and I’m not in a foul mood.” Chaos pushes his face into mine, but I’m not backing up.

“Your mood is beyond foul, asshole. When you shot out the compound you fired gravel all over me and my girl. Do that to me again and I’ll strap you to your hog, take you to the range, and use both of you for target practice.” I am so angry by now that I’ve pushed him back a step. My forehead is resting against his, so he’s looking down at me. I see some recognition dawning, and he steps back.

“I didn’t realize I’d done that. You know I wouldn’t damage your hog on purpose.” That’s as near to an apology as I’m going to get so I rein in my temper.

“Get rid of the mood, Chaos. Mia will pick up on it straight away. Upset her while she’s here and Axel will bury you.” Turning away, I leave him to get a grip on himself and head into the hospital.

After asking for directions at the reception area, I make my way to the elevator. As the doors slide open I see a man slap a woman across the face. When he makes a fist to hit her again, she flinches which tells me this isn’t an isolated incident.

Stepping into the elevator, I grab his wrist, spin him around, and slam him against the elevator wall. Releasing his wrist, I slap him across the face as hard as I can. Seeing the shock on his face and the tears filling his eyes, I do it again.

“Don’t like it when someone does it to you, eh, asshole? You ever lay a hand on this woman, or any other, and I’ll find you, and I will rain hellfire on you for eternity.” Grabbing him by the throat and holding him still, I look at the woman. It’s only then I see a little boy behind her. Seeing his arm in a cast has my blood boiling in seconds.

“Did he do that to the boy?” Staring at her, I see the truth in her eyes. She nods slowly.

“I was at work when it happened. He said it was an accident, but Evan told me what actually happened.” She looks at her man with such hatred. “We’re done. I’m taking Evan as soon as we get packed. I’m going to my father’s. You wouldn’t dare follow me there.”

I look at the little boy and smile. “Your name is Evan? That’s the name my parents gave me. Hi, Evan. Pleased to meet you.” He looks at me, then his mom, and gives me a shy, nervous smile. I look at his mom and ask, “How long do you need to pack?”

“I can be packed in an hour. We don’t have much. He’s seen to that.”

Releasing the asshole's throat and grabbing his arm, I step closer so that Evan can’t see. Snapping his arm against the grab rail of the elevator, the asshole passes out without a murmur.

“You should have plenty of time to get packed safely now.” I give her one of the garage business cards with my name on it. “If you or Evan get threatened again, call me.”

“This says your name is ‘Jig’? Not Evan?”

“Jig is my road name. Evan is my birth name.”

“If you’re quite finished, ‘Evan’, people are waiting to use the elevator.” Chaos is blocking the elevator doors, preventing people from witnessing too much. I can see that his mood has lifted somewhat.

“Why thank you, ‘Vincent’. That was very noble of you, to have my back.” And there is his mood, back again. Dragging the asshole to the reception, I speak with a nurse who is standing there. “Excuse me. I found this guy in the elevator. He seems to have had some form of accident. His arm is at a funny angle, don’t you think? And he’s unconscious.”

Dropping him on the floor, I turn to head back to the elevator. The woman and Evan step toward me. She stands in front of me, reaches up, and then gives me a kiss full on the lips.

“Thank you, Evan. I’m Sara. You have no idea what you have just done for the two of us. You’ll be my hero forever.” Bending over the asshole, she takes a set of vehicle keys from his pants pocket and turns to leave.

The nurse calls to her, “Excuse me, ma’am. What’s his name?”

Looking at the piece of shit on the floor, she responds, “No idea. Never seen him before in my life. Looks the sort that won’t have medical insurance, though.” Giving me a beaming smile, she takes Evan and leaves.

When we finally get to see Mia, Chaos can’t wait to fill her in with the details of the elevator incident. Axel gives me a nod that conveys ‘well done’ and I nod back. Mia keeps calling me ‘Hero’, which I guarantee Chaos will spread all around not only the clubhouse but all the businesses, too.

Arriving back at the clubhouse, I head straight for my room. I know darn well that Chaos is going to have a field day with the ‘hero’ shit. I just can’t face it right now. Lying on my bed, I think back to little Evan and his broken arm. Kids are resilient, and his arm will heal fast. Living with his grandpa should help him heal emotionally, too, if he’s a good role model.

A tingle on my lip reminds me of the kiss Sara gave me. It was short and sweet. Her lips were soft, but there was a firm pressure there. I could have followed up on kisses like that. If I’d got her father's address… If I’d got her surname. If… If… If. When it comes to women, that’s all I seem to have. Lots of ‘Ifs’ and no success.

Monday mornings come around too fast. One minute it’s Friday afternoon and you're looking forward to the weekend, then all of a sudden, it’s gone and back to work.

I guess I’m more fortunate than most. At least I enjoy my job and my co-workers. Except when Grease and Raven get carried away. It’s not too often, anymore. They’re either settled in their sex life or bored already. There isn’t the amount of kissing and mauling going on these days.

Passing the office as the phone rings. Never one to risk losing business, I pick up. Before I get a chance to speak, I recognize Lily’s voice. “Hi there. It’s Lily. I sold the Jeep.”

“Hi, Lily. It’s Jig. Well done, girly. What have you got now?” I have to smile at her excitement.

“Nothing yet. I only got rid of it on Saturday. It wasn’t advertised five minutes when a woman called giving me a sob story about some junker. I’d advertised way above what I wanted for it, so when she haggled I dropped it to a bit more than I originally wanted and she went for it. Happy days. Now I need to know where to look for my next set of wheels. I thought you guys might know the best places for me to pick up something a bit tasty at a bargain price.”

“Well, Lily, most dealerships ask for top money, so grabbing a bargain there might be a struggle. Do you know what you want?”

I can almost hear the cogs turning as Lily thinks about vehicles. She is far from being knowledgeable about them. She got the Jeep because it was red. That was not the deciding factor, it was the only factor.

“I thought this time I’d like something executive, luxurious. So probably white this time. What do you think?” Lily sounds so serious that I can’t bring myself to laugh. That would hurt her feelings.

“White will do that every time, Lily. You might be better off talking with Web. He does the interweb stuff for the bikes, but I’ll bet he’s got some contacts in the four-wheel stuff as well. Write this number down and give him a call.” Reeling off Web’s digits to Lily, I can’t help grinning. White! That’s what you call a requirement list. Web is going to love this, and may hate me.

Finishing my morning job earlier than expected, I decide to get some air and get the wind in my hair. Rolling through town, I find myself not far from Hot Hogs and Cages. I wonder if any of the guys there know where Lily can pick up a ‘white luxury vehicle’.

Still grinning to myself as I pull up in their parking lot, I hang my brainbox on the handlebars and head inside. Walking through the workshop rather than going through reception, I expect to find Fist hard at work on some custom project. Instead, I find a red Jeep Wrangler that looks familiar.

I approach Raw and after a fist bump welcome, I ask him why they have Lily’s old Jeep in one of their bays.

“Don’t know anything about Lily’s Jeep, Jig. This belongs to some young woman who’s interested in having it spruced up. It’s not our usual thing anymore, but she batted her eyes at Fist and I’m sure he’s as good as agreed to it. They’ve gone to talk to Rock. I think Fist wants him to say no, so he doesn’t have to be the bad guy.”

Heading to Rock's office, I’m looking forward to seeing who Lily says she got one over on. Heading into the kitchen first, I grab a coffee. Reaching Rock’s office, I’m surprised to see it’s empty, so I go into the workshop.

Seeing Clay and Dice play fighting, and Krylon busy doesn’t surprise me. Seeing them nearly piss their pants when I cough loudly has me laughing out loud.

“You two clowns will get your asses handed to you on a plate one day when Rock catches you.”

Dice points accusingly at Clay. “It was this idiot that started it. He put a rubber snake by the wheel of this trike I’m working on. Scared the hell outta me when I saw it out the corner of my eye.”

Clay can’t respond for laughing and has tears in his eyes.

“Where is Rock, anyway?” I ask. “I thought he was talking to a client with Fist.”

Dice points to the Cages workshop. “Yeah. Pretty thing too, the client. They came through here to show her what we actually do rather than what she wants. I think she wants a ‘Picasso to look like a Mona Lisa’ without it costing as much.”

“That’s a bit upmarket for you, isn’t it, Dice? How the hell do you know the difference between the two?” Grinning and shaking my head has him giving me the finger, and throwing the rubber snake at me.

As I get back to the Cages workshop, I see the red Jeep disappearing down the road. Catching up with Rock and Fist, finally, I ask about the Jeep and its new owner.

“She’s a looker, that’s for sure. If she hadn’t been a customer, I’d have made a play for her.” Fist isn’t one to chase women. They usually chase him, so she must be something special to have him say that.

“She’d make someone a fine Ol’ Lady, but I think she’s up there in Meat and Star’s league. I got the feeling she could be a handful.” Rock shakes his head as he says this.

“What makes you say that?” Fist asks him with a genuine look of surprise.

“Oh, I don’t know. Just a feeling I got. Anyway, Fist, you got yourself into this mess, so you’ll get to find out if she is or not. You do the spray job on her Jeep, and no pushing it onto one of the other guys. Next time you take pity on someone, you sort it. Don’t bring any more shit like that to my door.”

Following Rock back to his office, I dump my mug back in the kitchen, then throw myself into an empty chair by his desk.

“Looking to pick your brain, Rock. Won’t take long, I’m sure.”

“Fuck you, Jig. That’s no way to win someone’s cooperation, either.”

“Lily sold her Jeep…”

Before I can say more, Rock’s in there like lightning. “No shit, Sherlock. Worked that out all by yourself, eh?”

“So now she’s in the market for a new ride. I wondered if any of you guys had any leads that might get her a good deal.”

“I’ll ask around. What’s her priority this time?”

Keeping my face as deadpan as possible, “Well, executive and luxurious were two words she used.”

“Asshole. Priority, I said. What fuckin’ color?”

“White,” I reply. Seems everyone knows about Lily and her choice of vehicles.