Six Months Living with the Stone Riders
SIX MONTHS LIVING WITH THE STONE RIDERS
Tears streamed down my face from how hard I was laughing. It was so bad; I could hardly breathe. Red kept swatting my arm to make me stop, but I couldn’t.
“Why are you two laughin’ at me?” Brooks only made things worse by putting his hand to his hip.
We were in their small apartment that sat off to the side and on top of one of the club garages. It was nestled back, so out of the way that I had to be shown where the steps were. The small house looked like something you’d find crowding the shoreline in a beach town. It was painted blue, with wooden decorations, hanging from a rope that clinked together when the wind swirled through them.
Their door was even worn as if it had seen several storms over the years, but their home was cozy and every single faded piece of siding along their apartment seemed to boast of love and happiness. Inside their home, a tiny, two-seater couch faced a large flat screen television. A tattered rocker was angled to the side, with a side table next to it. An ashtray was there that looked like something a child would make in a pottery class during school.
When I asked where it came from, Red smiled and said it was Callie who had made it for them. There were all sorts of tiny treasures around their home that spoke of their deep fondness of this girl I still hadn’t met. She was Simon’s daughter but had moved away and hadn’t returned in several years. I could tell it was difficult for Red to talk about, so I moved the conversation along.
But I saw photos of a young Killian too, and those made me laugh and smile. The vice president of the club had been nice to me in the months since I arrived. Always checking to make sure I was okay, but distant enough not to seem like he was flirting. He gave off brotherly vibes, which made me relax around him.
So as I touched photo frame after photo frame and little mementos of the beautiful history this club had lived, I would smile. Simon Stone was a frequent person in their photos, along with his daughter when she was young. She and Killian looked more like siblings growing up, as they stood there, dirty clothes, tangled hair and glares at the camera.
Brooks and Red had invited me into their home, nearly twice a week for dinner. It opened up our relationship in such a way that they quickly became like pseudo parents I never had. Even as special as Sasha was to me, she never treated me the way these two did. Brooks would teach me how to work on bikes in the garage and ask me to be his helper. He showed me his old Harley that had been in an accident a few years prior; he was working to restore it every time he had a chance.
It allowed me to get to know Hamish, and a man named Harris, and Pops. Killian would stop in and check on us. Wes too. Wes seemed empty inside. Like his eyes were there but not, his soul vacant and searching for something that once belonged there but had left. It made me wonder about Simon’s daughter. I noticed he was gone quite a bit too, often on road trips that no one seemed to talk about, so I didn’t ask. Although, I once heard Killian joking about how he needed to stop going to DC.
I wondered if that was where the missing Stone daughter had gone.
Mostly, I stuck to myself. Fostering my new life and trying to thrive in the new place I’d been forced to grow.
I tried to ignore the ache in my chest where Silas had always been.
Being with Brooks and Red helped. Especially when we did game night, and Brooks wanted to try his hand at charades, which is what had Red and me laughing so hard that we couldn’t breathe.
He’d attempted impersonating a tree, but the way he’d stood there and waved his arms around, while making the sound of the wind, was just enough to push us over the edge.
“You two aren’t any fun to play with, you always laugh at me.” Brooks huffed, stalking off toward the kitchen.
I was still giggling when Red let out a sigh.
“You seem happier than you were a few months back, and I’m glad for it. You’ve brought sunshine into our lives, sweetheart.”
My gaze slid up to hers and found her watching me with affection. The reminder of sunshine made something prickle in my chest. An ache. I pushed it down while getting up and walking to the kitchen.
“Well, you two make me happy.”
Brooks came back out, spearing a piece of pie with his fork. “Well, we certainly should, we’re the happiest people you’ll ever meet.”
Red came up behind him and swatted his arm. But he was right.
They were the happiest people I’d ever met, and I felt, for the first time in my life, that feeling happy could extend further to just being with Silas.