Chapter 25 Dakota
DAKOTA
Logan seems to think we’re on the best vacation ever.
He doesn’t really know what happened with our apartment other than it needed the handyman to come fix some things, so he’s just happy to be living in the middle of motorcycle man headquarters.
I think he could happily live here the rest of his life now that we’ve moved a lot of our things here, and Lash got him a couple of actual toy motorcycles.
They’re the only things that get played with.
He’s used all his wooden train tracks to create a whole driving course around the living room.
Right now, Mr. Larson is on the couch watching, with his helmet resting on the dog’s head as Logan gets the motorcycles lined up for a demolition derby versus his big pile of blocks, almost guaranteed to come out victorious. It’s not like motorcycle men can lose, after all.
The doorbell rings, and since I now live in the middle of a biker compound, I’m not even afraid to open it. How many people can say that?
“Mommy, someone’s at the door!”
“I know, Honey. They’re here to meet us, remember? There’s a lady named Bonnie, and her daughter Anne might babysit you sometimes if that’s okay.”
He looks up. “Here?”
“Yeah, Lo. She’d come hang out here with you.”
He nods. “ ‘K.”
I have to admit, I’m dying of curiosity.
So far, I’ve only met the members, and they’re all men.
If I understood correctly, Bonnie was the old president’s wife, or old lady I guess—look at me starting to use the right words—before he was killed, and Anne was adopted after some mess with a rich weapons dealer that I remember seeing in the news about a year and a half ago.
I get the feeling there’s a lot more to the story than the news ever heard.
So I have no idea what to expect from them.
My brain is picturing chain smoking ladies in skimpy clothes with big hair and big attitudes, but I think that’s mostly just what I’ve seen on TV. The guys weren’t at all what I would’ve expected, so I should probably keep my prejudices in check.
When I open the door, I feel like I was half right.
At least a little. Bonnie is a stocky lady in her early fifties, maybe.
She’s wearing ripped jeans, a leather biker jacket and while her hair color isn’t wild, I’m pretty sure that red comes out of a bottle.
She smiles broadly, taking me in just as much as I am her. I wonder what she thinks.
Anne, on the other hand, looks like a regular teenager.
Jeans, a pink hoodie, and long blonde curls with a single pink streak running through them.
You could’ve pulled her out of any high school and not known she’s protected by a whole club’s worth of bikers.
In her hands she has a cardboard box that’s closed up.
Her smile comes much more naturally, especially when she spots Logan, who’s watching the front door curiously.
“Hi, I’m Anne. You must be Logan.” She looks over at Lo with a slightly nervous smile.
He gets shy, ducking his head down and focusing on the motorcycle toy in his hand.
I have to laugh. “Hi, Anne. Nice to meet you. I’m Dakota, and yes, that would be Logan.”
“Why don’t you go over and say hi? You can get to know each other while me and Dakota shoot the shit.” The slight rasp in Bonnie’s voice is almost exactly what I would’ve expected from an old biker chick.
“Sure. Nice to meet you too,” she says over her shoulder before bringing the box over to Logan.
She puts it on the floor in front of the TV.
“I hear you like motorcycles. Have you ever played video games?” And then she opens the box, pulling out a video game system and controllers.
“They’re a little tricky to start, but there’s a motorcycle one that I think you’ll really like.
We can play together, would you like that? ”
And that’s all it takes for her to have Logan on her side, hook, line and sinker.
Bonnie laughs. “She’ll keep a good eye on him. She knows what it’s like to be the only kid in the clubful of bikers. Got coffee or anything?”
“Oh, sorry, yeah, of course. Let’s go to the kitchen.” I gesture the way, like she probably doesn’t know the place better than I do. “I haven’t been here long, but I’m sure there’s something.”
I look over my shoulder at Anne and Logan as we switch rooms. Anne’s obviously an old hand at setting this stuff up.
She’s already done plugging it in, and is patting the rug next to her for Logan to come sit.
He runs over excitedly, bringing his motorcycles and the stuffed toys with him.
His eyes are huge as a cartoony motorcycle game starts up on the screen.
“Dirk Mayhem!” a deep man’s voice declares.
“Don’t worry. If you don’t want him spending too much time in front of screens, just let her know and she’ll handle it. She’s a smart girl,” Bonnie says proudly, rummaging through the cabinets over the kitchen counter.
“It’s fine. I don’t have a game system at home but some of his friends with older siblings do. Right now there’s so much stuff going on that I’m just happy if he’s happy.” I pull a bakery box out of the fridge. “Lash brought these over earlier. He said you’d approve.”
Bonnie glances over. “Oooh, DiMarcellos!”
I cut the string holding the box closed and check out the selection while she gets the coffee machine going. When she sees the options, her eyes light up almost as much as Logan’s did when Anne pulled out the video games.
She grins. “Lash always was one of my favorites. He’s a sweet kid at heart.”
The thought of Lash as a ‘sweet kid’ makes me laugh.
Soon after, we’re sipping coffee and I’m devouring a bear claw while Bonnie enjoys her apple fritter. She’s right, they’re fantastic. In the living room, Logan is laughing with his whole chest at something in the game, while Anne yells at the TV about something being impossible.”
“How did you end up adopting Anne,” I ask Bonnie, curious. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
“Mind? Nah. It’s not a secret. Anne’s mom died when she was young, and her father was an evil son of a bitch.
The club crashed with him a while back and Anne came as a package deal with Jessica, one of the other old ladies.
She and Jess are still real close, but they work better as sisters than mother daughter, you know? ”
Not really, but I nod.
“Anne and I clicked right from the start. We played a lot of video games together.” Bonnie’s smile is infectious.
“Anne was about thirteen, so she didn’t need someone to be a normal sort of mother, and I was too old and been in this life for too long to even try.
It works for us. After General died, I was living on energy drinks and spite.
Having Anne around was the kick in the ass I needed to realize I had too many years ahead of me to sit and rot my life away. ”
Even before Mom passed away, our family was never like this, so friendly and willing to talk.
It could be really easy to get used to having a built in support network.
I suddenly realize I’m not exactly looking forward to finding a new apartment and starting over when the danger is past. Is that crazy?
“You look real thoughtful, honey.” Bonnie sips her coffee mug with both hands.
“Nothing here is like I expected.” I gesture around me, meaning the whole club. “This place is like its own separate world. Like the front gate is the closet into biker Narnia or something.”
“It’s not paradise if that’s what you’re thinking,” she says with a tone of warning in her voice.
“The good parts come with the bad. I won’t speak a bad word against these boys, but if you’re getting hearts in your eyes, then you need a dose of reality, too.
My old man took a bullet to the head because someone decided they’d do a better job of leading this place.
Now he’s dead, and when all was done, Hellfire gave me the honor of avenging it.
Every happy ending you see here was paid for in blood. Anne’s included.
These men are criminals, thieves, murderers, violent and packed with way too much testosterone for their own good, but when the world threw them away, they found each other and they’ll fight tooth and nail before they give that up again.
I wouldn’t trade any of this for the world, but it’s not for everyone.
It’s like being adopted by a pack of wolves.
If you can’t handle getting nipped occasionally, it’s not the spot for you.
” Bonnie leans in closer and grins conspiratorially. “But it’s worth it for the sex.”
I almost choke on my bear claw. Instinctively, I check over my shoulder to make sure Logan isn’t listening.
It’s bad enough that he’s started pointing at everything with his middle finger.
I should probably expect the first F-bomb out of him any day now, but if that’s the worst thing that happens, I’ll live with it.
“You okay, Honey?”
I clear my throat, then swallow what’s left. “Yep, fine. Just went down the wrong way.” A sip of the coffee washes the last crumbs down. “Actually, can I ask you something? It’s a little personal.”
She rubs her hands together. “This sounds good, fire away.”
“The guys seem to do a lot of… sharing. In bed I mean.”
“Or out of it, go on.”
I’m pretty sure my face is the color of a ripe tomato. “And not that I mind, but the other day, I saw a woman at the bar with a jacket from here, and it said Property of um… three different names, I think. Tex maybe? And Ghost? Like, is this just normal?”
Bonnie laughs. “You saw Jessica. Yeah, she managed to wrangle Tex, Ghost and Riot. And no, it’s not usual.
” She stops to think. “Well, didn’t used to be.
But now there’s Paige, with Crank, Savage and Poe, and just a few months ago, Willow managed to wrap Skyhigh, Dragon and Blackout around her little finger.
Maybe it is becoming normal. Wasn’t like that when General claimed me, but I can definitely see the advantages.
There’s another club called the Screaming Eagles, know them? ”
I nod. Who doesn’t? They’re known across the region, if not the country.
“They came in clutch a few years ago when Hellfire took over the club. Sinner’s little sister Mila is one of their old ladies. Anyway, it’s a whole thing there, so maybe it’s contagious.” She shrugs.
“What about the property thing? It seems a little…”
“Sexist?”
“Kinda.”
Bonnie chuckles, not looking offended at all.
“Oh, it is. This is a man’s world, but they don’t ask anything from us that they don’t expect from each other.
Every man here who is a blooded member of the Sons has sworn a loyalty oath on pain of death.
You? Me? The other old ladies? We’re all potential weak spots.
A man can be loyal to his brothers, but if the person sucking his dick starts whispering the wrong things, it’s hard not to hear.
“And by claiming a woman, they’re declaring for everyone to see that she means something.
That’s a real handy thing to know if you want to threaten someone into doing what you want.
Becoming a member’s property means we swear our loyalty to them, and they accept responsibility for our actions.
If Jessica fucks up, her men might have to pay the price.
It’s not something to be taken lightly. It’s not about being less than, it’s about accepting our own role in the club. ”
Logan appears in the doorway. “Mommy? We’re jumping the motorcycles, and they—they have to watch out for biiiiig acid pits and bad guys. Are you gonna come look?” He’s shifting from foot to foot in the doorway, torn between wanting to tell me everything and get back to play.
“I’ll come in a minute. You go play with Anne, okay?”
“Okay!”
“It sounds pretty intense.” I smile at Bonnie. “But I think Logan would hate me forever if I separated him from his heroes.”
“Well, at least you know you won’t be the only one if you make the plunge. We have a girls’ only shooting club that meets weekly, and could always use more members.” She makes a finger gun, shooting and then blowing the imaginary smoke from her finger tip.
I blink at her. “Really?”
“A girl’s got to know how to protect herself, and it’s a good excuse to get together and gossip. Don’t let their macho acts fool you. Sometimes the drama in a bike club is better than any daytime TV. Just don’t let Jessica hustle you. She can put a bullet through a half-dollar at fifty paces.”
I glance over my shoulder. “Does Anne…”
“If anyone comes for your little guy, she knows exactly how to put them down.” When she sees my horrified expression, she quickly tacks on, “Not that I think it’ll be necessary. It’s very safe in here, I swear.”
“Right.”
“Mommy!”
“We should probably see if Anne and Logan want anything to eat.” I nod towards the living room.
I need a little time to actually process all this.
I may have bitten off way more than I can chew.
I wonder what Georgia would think, looking at me living here in a motorcycle club, even considering what it would mean to choose to stay.
If they’d want me to, of course. I bet she’d never let me hear the end of how I used to warn her away from here, but then I know she’d laugh and it would be something we could share.
On the screen, a little guy on a motorcycle is doing backflips through a whole row of rings on fire, with acid pools filled with alligators underneath, and Logan is locked in. Anne seems to be the one manning the controller, but Logan has crawled up to sit in her lap while she plays around him.
The motorcycle guy lands safely and rolls across a finish line. A gold medal fills the screen as that deep male voice yells, “You won the gold! Way to burn rubber!”
Logan jumps to his feet and cheers. “We won!”
Anne laughs as he runs around the living room. “We sure did.”
It’s the most at home I’ve felt in a long, long time. It’s really nice.