Bear by Lily J. Adams

 

Chapter Three:  Don’t Forget Your Keys

 

Bear

 

Delphia wasn’t as good-natured as the first time I met her, understandably… I still got those cute lips to formulate a smile, so not too bad. As soon as my leg swung off the bike I patted my black jeans down for my house keys. I clicked my fingers as the realization hit me that I must have dropped them at the gas station. They had to be there.

“Shit.” Me and my keys were a real issue. I was always losing those suckers. I couldn’t help but figure it was a good sign this time, if I had left them at the gas station. At least, I could see Delphia’s face again. Hopefully she was holding my keys.

Suddenly, a flashback overpowered my mind of another night when I’d dropped my keys.

The night had been a foggy haze at best and I’d had trouble finding them.

Murphy had pleaded with me, tugging my arm. “Come one, let’s catch a cab. I got a bad feeling about this. They’ve been drinking so much. We can even walk, it’s a nice night! Come on.”

Smirking, I had shrugged her arm off as the car engine revved.

Scotty, Rebecca and Dana were already loaded up. “Come on bitches! It’s not that far. It’s around the corner, Murphy. Be home in no time,” they called out.

I laughed as I staggered a bit and picked up the lost keys from the sidewalk. I grabbed Murphy’s hand and tugged her into the car.

That choice changed my whole life for the worst.

I shook it off and sighed looking up to the sky. A burden I would carry with me for the rest of my life.

Ironically, a spare set of keys I owned currently, were inside my house. The whole point was supposed to be to put the spare set somewhere I could access them.

Straddled over my bike, I scratched my full beard releasing a frustrated sigh. My cell phone vibrated against my thigh and I pulled it out and answered the private number. “Hello.”

“Umm, hi, this is Delphia from Holbeck Gas. I’m calling because I have a set of keys here that are yours. I was thinking you might need them.”

“You would be right. I’m sitting right here outside my house trying to figure out how to get in.” I chuckled.

“Oh, well that’s a problem. If you come down here I have them. They’re in good hands,” she explained in her sweet voice.

“I know they are. Alright, on my way.” My frustration switched to relief. Wouldn’t take me that long to swing by there and pick them up. No skin off my nose to be honest. All I was doing was sweeping over route plans for the reunion, trying to think of places I could take the guys around Holbeck. There were a few in mind, but I liked to get the visual with my own eyes and get the lay of the land.

I traced my bike back to the gas station, striding in through the automatic doors placing my glasses on top of my head. A few customers were being served at the counter. I hung off to the side until she finished up. I got a chance to watch her interactions with the customers, one elderly man and one middle aged woman. She was pleasant to them both, not overly nice, but efficient and calm, especially when the older man couldn’t remember his pump number. She had a nice touch, and the way her flyaway hairs formed a halo around her face made my pulse race.

“Hey, I’m back.” I rolled up to the counter as soon as the customers dispersed.

She dangled the keys, grinning at me.

I laughed. “Those would be mine. I appreciate you holding them.”

“You’re welcome!” She smiled kindly.

There was sweet sincerity in her that I found appealing. A lot of women I’d met didn’t possess that. She didn’t have a jaded look in her eye, maybe a bit of hurt and grief, but not anything that couldn’t be resolved with some TLC.

I cupped my hand for her to drop the keys into.

She held them for a moment and smirked before she dropped them in my hand.

I closed my hand over them wondering what was going on in that head of hers. The next sentence that came out of my own mouth shocked me. “Delphia, if you ever need anything, give me a call. You’ve got my number now, after all,” I offered.

She appeared to consider it as she pressed the pad of her finger on the counter. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, while you’re thinking about it, I wanna invite you down to the Wheelz clubhouse. We got pool, beers, good music and good people. So if you ever wanna hang, let me know and I can introduce you to some folks. We Rebel Saints don’t bite too hard.” I wouldn’t miss a second time. I missed the first time and lost the love of my life. Maybe it was a sign to me from the universe?

From the quirk of her eyebrows and the smile on her face, I thought maybe I’d won her over.

“Maybe. My brother liked bikes. He used to try and get me on the back of one.” She gave me a quick smile.

A stilted response. But I figured that progress was progress. “Oh, yeah?” I didn’t pry or take that part of the conversation further. I knew the truth about the situation. Her opening up would be her choice. I rubbed the back of my neck as a funny, lost look clouded her face. “You should definitely come check us out. I promise you’ll have fun. You can check out the bikes too.”

“Thanks for the offer. I’ll think about it.” She started fixing things up on the counter.

I took that as my cue to leave. “Have a nice day.” I saluted and walked out of the gas station. It was hard to gauge whether she would come down to the club or not. Sometimes, you have to open a flower petal by petal. It took me years to recover from Murphy’s death, especially since I blamed myself for denying that one fucking request, not to get into a car of drunken fools.

I walked back to my bike with purpose. Now, I wouldn’t be going home as I was due at the clubhouse soon. We had a meeting about the casino, and I was anticipating the Rebels had it in the bag. It was surely a matter of formalities now.

It was no surprise that sweat beads were forming on my forehead before 11 AM. Holbeck did that from time to time. It brought a heatwave early in the morning and then fizzled out in the afternoon.

I arrived a few minutes later and saw the back of Bones’ head as he walked in.

Smoke pulled up right next to me. “Hey, what’s going on, road captain?” Smoke grinned.

“Had to go pick up my keys because I don’t know how to keep them in my pocket.” I killed my engine, sliding off my helmet.

“You and those keys man! You need to keep them on a chain around your neck or something. You’re killing me with how many times you’ve lost them.”

“I know, I’ll get there… one day.” I slapped him on the back as we stepped inside together.

Hawk met us halfway as we climbed the stairs.

“Wazsup, Hawk? You got good news to tell us?” Smoke asked.

Hawk sucked in through his teeth. “Might not be as good as you think. Bones will give us the details.”

“Hmm,” Bones grunted, waiting at the head of the table as we settled in our seats. “Hey brothers, how we doing?” he greeted us.

“You tell us, prez!” Coyote laughed and so did a few of the others.

Bones rubbed his head and chuckled back at him, but his mouth looked tight. “We got ourselves into a nice bidding war. We’ve had a few competitors in the mix. The real estate company won’t reveal the names, but they’re hitting us hard. What I wanted to discuss with you all is how far we’re prepared to take it in order to win this casino deal.”

“All the way. We’ve put a lot into that place and I’d be pissed off if those other bidders won it and took the rug out from under us,” Ink replied quickly in a stern voice. He had worked at the casino for a long while in security.

“Well, all the way means we dip into the kitty from some of the bar savings we put away. Comfortably, we can go up another twenty thousand dollars. After that, there’s no guarantees. Are we down for that as a club?” Bones asked, rubbing his thick hands one over the other.

Most of the heads of the brothers gathered… nodded.

Including Numbers, who ran the finances of the club. “We can do it. We’re holding steady in most areas and we don’t have any weak links,” Numbers confirmed.

“Good. I do wanna know who is bidding against us, I have a fair idea for the most part,” Bones said with irritation.

Coyote replied as he narrowed his eyes, stroking his chin, “I think it probably has something to do with those Road Warriors and the slippery snakes Devil Riders. They have to be involved. I can feel it.”

“Yeah, but do they really have the funds to make that happen?” I asked with skepticism. “If they’re built on dirty money, why would they invest in the casino?” As soon as I said it, I remembered our flawed past as a club and the fact that we had our own shady business dealings that we were built on.

Numbers gave me a sideways glance with interest. “We used to conduct our business a certain way, and we made a lot of money, if you remember correctly.”

“You’re right, we did. My bad. I see how,” I said, correcting myself.

“Maverick, you’ve been quiet. What do you think about the bidding?” Hawk threw the question in his direction.

“I think Bones and Numbers are right on track. Our books look good and we can manage a little more. Even if the silent bidder does take us to the brink, we still have money to spare. We can shake their tree a little bit.” Maverick nodded as he spoke, looking around the room.

“So we’re at war, and I kinda like it.” Bones was still scratching his chin, but he had the gleam of competition in his eye now. “Once we get over the hump and see how we manage the casino, we can talk about what we are going to do with the earnings and where to distribute them.”

“New chapter, maybe?” I added with an enthusiastic smile. “Think we could do it?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Bones countered with realism. “Let’s just see what we can get done. Let’s win this first, and then we can move forward.”

“That’s probably a better way to do things,” I agreed. Bones was a level-headed man who planned stuff out and took his time. I was a little more on the impulsive side and liked to go with the flow once in a while. If the spark was there, then my thought was to follow it. When it came to leading the group out on rides, I kept my flexibility. I had to. If the cops were tailing us on the ride, or if enemies were in my eyeline, I had to make quick decisions and ride the group out to safety.

Once the meeting was over, we all got up and headed back downstairs to start our respective days.

“I gotta catch up with Angie. I wonder how her little interview went with Delphia,” I mentioned to Smoke at the bottom of the stairs.

“You know Angie, she probably gave her a run for her money. But that’s what she does.” Smoke flashed me an ironic smile as we headed out the door.

“Yep. She does,” I replied absently. Delphia was on my mind for some reason. I pulled my keys out of my pocket and held them in my hand for a minute. A smile rose on my face.

One step at a time, one step at a time. I had to get gas often for my job, didn’t I?