Chapter 13
One month later, the four of them were sitting around a table at an outside bar on the other side of the county they lived in, and Sally asked Petra a question.
“Do you ever think of driving your own bike?”
“Not really. Don’t get me wrong, I love riding, but I really don’t want the responsibility of being in charge of another passenger or fighting the asshole cagers when they try to run us off the road.
Knowing my luck, I would chase them down, pull my gun, and shoot them.
” They all laughed and when they were under control their meals had been delivered and no one spoke for several minutes as they appeased their hunger.
When they slowed down, Petra looked at Sally.
“Have you always ridden by yourself?”
“Not always,” Sally said with a grin. She looked at her brother and grinned harder when he hung his head and shook it. Petra and Paul exchanged confused looks.
“Years ago, I’m talking like twenty-five or so years ago, I was barely twenty-two when I met someone. Warren had been riding all his life. It started out with dirt bikes and gradually worked its way up to what he rides now.”
“Before you continue, Sally, they’re going to need some context.
” Warren nodded as he held a fry, dripping with Ketsup, in his fingers.
“Our grandparents started the diner, and the bar. When they passed, Mom ran the restaurant, while Dad ran the bar. When they passed, Sally took over the diner, and I took over the bar. Don’t get me wrong, nor our parents, and we’re not being sexist, but all three generations thought it would be better for the men to run the bar, while the women ran the diner. ”
“At the time Sally mentioned, Grandpa and Grandma were already gone, but Mom and Dad were still around. Because we’ve lived here all our lives, and it was more than three generations that lived here, everyone knew us. When the factory came to town, it brought a lot of people.”
“What was here before this factory came to town?” Paul asked as he paused in eating his own burger and fries.
Warren shrugged. “Locals, farmers, people who owned businesses in town. The factory was a big deal, and I think it was thirty years ago that they came to town.”
“Yeah, it was,” Sally said with a sigh. She looked at Petra with a grin.
“I didn’t want to age myself. Anyway, the factory was set up outside of town, and like Warren said, it brought a lot of people with it.
Oh, not that they were associated with it, but people came to work there.
That’s when houses started being built, and the community as a whole expanded.
Anyway, there was a guy that worked at the factory.
He was one of the people hired to work on constructing the building.
He stopped into the diner every day for lunch and dinner.
He had already been here for a couple of months before I finished college and returned home. ”
She looked at her new friends with a grin.
“My college was for business. I already knew how to cook and run the diner, but Mama and Daddy wanted me to know the business aspect of it. You know, doing the books, the taxes, ordering, making sure I made a profit every quarter, paying the invoices on time. Things like that.”
Warren snorted a laugh, and when they looked at him, he shook his head. “Maybe the executives at the factory should have taken the same classes, because that’s why they closed their doors. Piss poor management. They went bankrupt.”
“Oh wow. So, what did this guy do?” Petra asked.
“We started dating, but not right away, I played hard to get for at least eight or nine months before I’d even agree to go out on one date with him.
It was good, and though we were exclusive, there weren’t any bells and whistles.
Looking back now, I would say that it was a comfortable relationship, something you settle into.
About six months after we started officially dating, he started to show his true colors. ”
“How so?” Paul asked as he moved his empty plate away and settled back with his cup of coffee.
“Mind you, if you add up the waiting time of nine months, and dating, we’re talking fifteen months, maybe a little bit longer, but not much.”
“What did he do?” Petra asked as she mimicked Paul.
“It started subtly at first, then when Mama pointed out what he was doing, I took off the rose-colored glasses, and played along for another six months.” She shook her head, finished her meal, and settled back herself.
They all remained silent as the waitress approached to remove their plates, and dessert was offered and ordered.
Once they were alone again, Sally continued talking.
“As I said it was subtle at first. He’d mention that he was short on cash and if we were at the diner, he would ask if it could be put on his tab.
We never ever had people run a tab for as long as the restaurant has been open in the past seventy-five years.
When I told him no tab, he would tell me to get it, meaning he wanted me to pay for our meal.
It wasn’t until Mama pointed it out to me that I really paid attention.
That’s when I realized that if we ever went out for a meal, we always went to the diner, then he would have me pick up the tab, and demand a family discount.
Again, no discount had ever been issued before. ”
“That was ballsy of him.”
“It was, anyway, Mama got sick and couldn’t come into work for about a month.
” Sally held up her hand. “She got better, but I started taking over more and more of the responsibilities then. I thought Ben would be upset that we couldn’t go out, but he would show up at the same time every day for lunch and dinner.
Again, I didn’t catch on at first, but it wasn’t until the waitresses pointed out he would leave without paying the check.
After about a week, I confronted him in the full restaurant.
I waited until he ordered, ate, then got up to leave.
I called him out on it. He did end up paying, but it was begrudgingly. ”
“I feel like a train wreck is coming,” Petra whispered as she sat up to eat her piece of pie that had just been delivered.
“It happened,” Warren said with a grin. He looked at his sister.
“One thing you need to know about Sally, both her and I were brought up with strong female role models. Hell, Dad and Grandpa were also strong role models, but Grandma and Mom ruled the roost, so to speak. Anyway, Ben came back to the restaurant after it was closed and confronted Sally. He belittled her for embarrassing him to make him pay. She flat out told him that she wasn’t running a soup kitchen, and the food cost her money, so it would cost the customers money. ”
“That’s when he opened his mouth to spout off some shit, and I broke up with him right then and there and banned him from ever stepping into the diner again.”
“That’s also the night the cops were called to the diner, and I happened to be on duty that night.
Ben ended up spending a week in jail, until he could pay for his bail, and he had to pay for the damages he did to the restaurant.
When his employers found out what he did, they fired him, and Dad and Grandpa ran him out of town on a rail.
But not before he paid for all the damages he caused.
” He chuckled with a shake of his head. “When they went to his place to fleece him, they found stacks and stacks of cash in his drawers. He didn’t believe in banks, and never spent his money.
Both Dad and Grandpa said that all his bills had red ‘past due’ stamped on the envelopes. Yet, he had the money to pay.”
“What the hell happened?” Petra asked in shock.
“After I told him that just because we were dating, he wasn’t entitled to a free meal, ever, let alone two to three times a day, he informed me that because I was dating him, then all the money the restaurant made was his.
He informed me that what was his was his, and what was mine was his.
I laughed so hard I had to grip my stomach and grab the counter to hold myself upright.
I told him that he was an asshole if he thought that.
That’s when he picked up a chair and threw it at me.
I ducked, but two of the legs embedded themselves in the wall.
” She looked at Petra with a grin. “That’s the pass through where we pick up the food from the kitchen.
Before that night, we always went into the kitchen to see if it was ready. ”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, after that night, I vowed that I would never marry anyone unless the butterflies were in my stomach, and he made me swoon. Oh, I’m not saying I never dated, I did, but I was never in a committed relationship after that.
I became independent. If I wanted something, I went after it.
When I told Warren I wanted to learn to ride, he taught me.
I don’t think I’ve ever been on the back of anyone’s bike, other than riding behind Daddy and Granddad on the farm before the age of ten.
” She looked at Petra with another grin.
“Remember that Billy Club beneath the counter?”
“Yes.”
“Granddaddy made that after that incident, because I grabbed the one we had there for decades and hit Ben with it to get him off me. He didn’t slap me, he punched me.
I told the authorities that I feared for my life and what I did was considered self-defense.
The club I used was half the size of what is there now.
” No one spoke as they finished their desserts, and settled back with another cup of coffee.
“What about you, Warren? Do you have a story?”
“Nothing as dramatic as Sally’s. After high school, I did a stint in the Army and was sent over to the Gulf War, I ended up doing two tours there, then I got out about three years later.
I wandered around, came home, settled into work with the State Police, and took over the bar when Dad passed.
I had a wife, but she passed, and the kid I thought was mine turned out not to be.
She cheated on me when I was over there fighting, and it wasn’t until the kid was eighteen that I found out he wasn’t mine. ”
“How did you find out? Sorry, that wasn’t nice of me. I shouldn’t be so nosy.”
“No, it’s okay. He was in a car wreck and needed a blood transfusion.
I automatically volunteered. It turns out that my blood type wasn’t a match.
The doctors even told me that my blood type would never ever father a child with his type.
I waited until he was out of the woods, and recovering when I confronted his mother.
It turned out she had been seeing Steven’s father behind my back the entirety of our marriage. ”
“Why did she stay with you, then?”
“She liked the benefits from my military and police career. Steven’s father never held a steady job at first, it wasn’t until the factory came that he was able to get steady work, but because they didn’t want to rock the boat, they kept on seeing one another, leaving me clueless and in the dark.
As soon as Steven was released from the hospital, I asked him if he knew.
He admitted he had, and I went to my lawyer to start divorce papers, and he was good. ”
“Good how? Or for what?” Paul asked in confusion.
“While Steven was in the hospital, I demanded a DNA test to be done. It took almost three months to get the results, but because I was like Sally, and the other members of my family, I kept meticulous notes. Everything I paid for Steven, food, clothing, school sports, doctor visits, trips, his first car, the savings I put away for his college, everything, the lawyer drew up a bill and in front of the judge, he presented the DNA results, that I was not the father, and the bill of everything I spent on Steven his entire life. It took almost a year, but in the end, I was granted my divorce, my name was removed from his birth certificate, she had to pay me for cheating on me, and he had to pay me everything I paid for his kid. I know I sound cold and clinical, but when Steven reached fourteen, he acted like the typical sully teenager and fought me on everything. That’s when he found out I wasn’t his father, and instead of coming to me, he admitted he acted the way he did, hoping I would divorce his mother so he could go live with his bio dad.
Or, in his words, his real Dad. Thank god I had inherited the family home after the divorce and not before. ”
“Are they still around?”
“Not any longer. They stayed on the other side of town until the factory shut down, then they moved. I have no clue where they are, where they went, or what they are doing. They cut off all ties with me the second the ink was dry on the divorce papers.”
No one said anything for several minutes, then Warren let out a pent-up breath.
“Now that you know our story, and we’ve been out riding a few times in the last month, how would you feel about riding over and meeting some of the clubs in the area?
Maybe you can get to know the locals, and tell them you’re starting your own club.
I wouldn’t tell them why, or exactly who you are, you know, undercover federal agents, but just that you are doing it. ”
Paul looked at Petra and reached out to take her hand in his. They both gave the other a gentle squeeze, then turned and nodded.
“Sounds good.”
“Okay, we’ll be going to the Vulture’s event.
They’re not as bad as the Iron Men, but they have a reputation for being ruthless if they need to.
We stopped here to eat because they don’t serve food at any of their events.
” He looked at the couple across from him, then at his sister, who snorted a laugh.
“Cheap bastards, but they will charge you twenty bucks a piece as an entrance fee.”
“What is the event for?”
“Themselves,” Warren said as he stood, tossed some bills on the table, and headed toward the motorcycles.
No one spoke as they got ready to ride out, and then he nodded.
“Act like you did when you first came to my bar, and everything should be fine. I don’t anticipate any problems, I’ve never had any with them when they come into The Last Chance. ”
Paul nodded and looked at Petra, who also nodded. They mounted his bike, fired it up, and followed Warren and Sally to this event.