For Your Sake (6 page)

              How much
did
Ben want?  Enough to use whatever he found, if needed.  “Whatever you can find.”

              Leaving the kid, he found Aero coming out of the bathroom.  The two men immediately clutched each other.  “Hey, brother,” Aero said, slapping Ben’s back hard before pulling away.  He was a good guy – most vets were – and had a compassionate streak despite his deep loyalty to a club he’d kill for.  “You good?”

              It was a hard question to answer after ending someone’s life, let alone your own family.  But it was his private shit to deal with, so he simply nodded.  “Listen, something  I got to run by you.  Thought maybe I should talk to Vic first.”

              “He and Elle are playing nice-nice with the town until around four,” Aero answered, while motioning for one of the girls to pour two coffees. “What’s up?”

              Other than the enormous amount of ink from his wrists to up under his shirt sleeve, the last thing Aero looked like was a biker.  Forty-three, tall, beard trimmed to a perfect five o’clock shadow and hair he has to run off to the barber as soon as it grew a fraction of an inch, Aero appeared more military than mayhem.  He did two tours in Afghanistan before being honorably discharged due to an eye injury right before 9/11.  It enraged him no longer being able to get out there and shoot down the fuckers who collapsed those buildings.  If he couldn’t fly, then he’d ride.  He bought himself a Harley and wound meeting Vic in a dive bar back in 2002.  The two got drunk while he compared his war experiences to Vic’s in ‘nam.  He was soon asked to prospect, made the cut a year later then leap-frogged to V.P when senior members began to retire.

              “Something she said last night.”  Ben couldn’t bring himself to say his own sister’s name.  Keeping it impersonal was part of the disconnect process.  “That crew wasn’t acting alone.”

              Ben repeated what Lisa told him as Aero stroked his stubbled chin.  “Huh.  That’s…….not good.  If true, they’re still out there and know we’re connected to those narcotics.”

              “Yeah, but we got everything out and stored at Owens.”  Besides coal, lumber was a major commodity in West Virginia. Owens was not only the largest, it was the only local corporation which allied with the MC, due in part to Tanner and Ben still being on the clock there several days a week.  And, oh yeah, Tanner’s cousin ran the place.  When the club found – and dealt with – several workers who were pilching lumber after hours for off-book work, Charles Owens showed his appreciation with the gorgeous, custom-made, three hundred pound table, as well as an interesting business offer – running security at his mill in exchange for anything the club needed.  He had an air-tight storm cellar under the mill which was the perfect spot to store the drugs in a pinch.  But they couldn’t stay there for long.  “We gotta run all that shit out soon before the next shipment arrives.”

              “Yeah, well.” Aero headed towards the bar where their coffees awaited, away from the ears of several club girls hanging in the background.  “Joey just called from the package store. Has a message from his
uncle
.    Probably about how we’re gonna move forward after this mess.  Me and Doug were gonna ride out later.  How ‘bout you come instead?  Think you could use some good ol’ business after last night.”

              Get right back in the saddle, that’s how you dealt with it.  And Aero was right.  Plus Ben had time to kill while Taz worked on his bike.  He thought about it then took a sip of coffee and thought about it.  “Sure, what time?”

              “Three.  But I wanna leave at two and stop at Lou’s.”  Aero ran a hand behind his neck to feel the slightest bit of hair growth.  “I need a cut

~~***~~

              At nine twenty Eva was pleased to see Cyndi already waiting outside the store with a large coffee and dark sunglasses.  She wondered if they were to deflect the bright sunshine or hide the effects of drinking with her girlfriends the night before.  Oh, to be twenty two, living with mommy and daddy and not a care in the world. “Morning, Cyn.”

              “Hi.” 

              It was all the young woman mustered which led Eva to believe her theory about a night filled with too many apple-tinis.  Lifting her hand, she removed Cyndi’s glasses and grimaced.  “How about saving your wild nights for when you can sleep in the next morning?”

              The young woman shrugged, then sipped her coffee.  “I didn’t drink too much.  My turn to be designated driver.  Didn’t get home until two.”

              Eva couldn’t remember the last night where she poured herself in after midnight.  She was usually several hours into REM sleep by then.  God, she sounded old.

              Once inside, she went to the office, took the cash drawer out of the safe then gave it over to Cyndi to open the front.  She had pretty much straightened up all the greeting cards, gift displays and jewelry counter containing collections from independent vendors before closing last night.  With October right around the corner, the stretch between Halloween and Valentine’s Day would be a busy one.  Good, because she had a large Christmas list of her own.  Santa was going to need a very strong sleigh this year.

              By ten, the door was unlocked and First Impressions Card & Gift Shop was officially open.  Steady regulars popped in right up until noon, which was when it got real busy.  Located behind town hall in the heart of Tippitt, the local fare included Ticker Liquor, Dell’s Hardware Store, Lou’s Barber, Sugar Me Bakery, hair salon, Tippitt ‘n  Sip-It Coffee Shop, bank, grocer, insurance agency, Clarks Café and even a psychic.  It provided the town folk with everything they needed in one spot as well as its employees to run all their errands on their lunch break.  The establishments were situated in two strips directly across from each other with parking area in the middle.  First Impressions sat between Tippitt ‘n Sip-It Coffee Shop and the psychic where the owner, a sixty-ish woman with a roller-tease-comb-out hairstyle, polyester pantsuits and reeking of Shalimar, would come in and quietly nose around the jewelry. 

              Directly across was Clark’s Café and, a little before one, Eva left Cyndi to hold the fort down while she met her friend there for lunch.  Arriving first, Eva secured a window booth which afforded her a visual watch on her store, then called over a waitress.  Fashionably late by one twenty, MaryLynn walked through door, cell phone in ear, to which Eva waved her over.  Her longtime friend since high school, MaryLynn Marteen – correction, Marteen-
Doyle
- practiced law with her husband over in Morgantown.

              “Smooches.”  MaryLynn offered her face for a kiss before sitting across from Eva.  “Sorry.”  She waved her phone.  “I’m all for texting, but dammit, when I tell a client to
call
me while I’m driving I mean it.”

              Eva took a sip of water.  “Time to break the whip out.”

              “Nah.”  MaryLynn slid her beige-suited body into the booth.  “That stays in the nightstand drawer.”

              What was considered over-share to most, was commonplace with MaryLynn.  She and Eva had been close since grade school and complete opposites.  MaryLynn was brash, bold, a ridiculous flirt and never failed to give her unasked opinion.  Eva, on the other hand, had been guarded, quiet and thought before she spoke.  Parts of their opposite personalities bounced of each and onto the other to blend a strong friendship which lasted past college, moving, marriage and career.

              “Thanks for driving up here this round, Mar.  I’ll come to you next month.”

              MaryLynn went for her water.  “Not a problem.  Have a meeting up in East Liverpool.  Thinking of getting licensed there – expand our reach.”  She lifted the glass, sniffed it, then put it down with a face.  “Smells like swamp and chlorine.  Shit, Eva, don’t drink that stuff, not unless you want parasites eating away your intestines. Order something in a bottle.”

              Eva shrugged.  If she wasn’t dead yet from tap water, it wasn’t going to kill her now. “Oh, I ordered for us.”

              They always had the same thing during their monthly lunches.  Eva had a tuna melt on toasted rye with well done fries and an unsweetened iced tea while MaryLynn’s cob salad (with well washed greens so she wouldn’t ingest any pesticides!) probably had as many calories as Eva’s entire lunch.  Her friend smirked.  “Knew I’d be late, didn’t you?”

              She always was – anywhere from five to fifteen minutes and pushed it today with twenty.  It was one of those quirks MaryLynn never shook off.  If Eva had a job where she was on the clock it’d be different.  But with the afternoon rush over and her store in full view, she had the luxury of someone who owned her own business to take an extended lunch.  “You?  Late?  Really?”

              “Smartass.” 

              MaryLynn flagged down the waitress for a bottle of diet cola from the cooler.  She brought it back along with their lunches which Eva had timed perfectly.  They both ate while discussing the updates in their lives in a specific order – business first, personal last.  Always last.  While they weren’t chewing.  With MaryLynn’s licensing quest in Ohio and Eva’s store prep for the holidays out of the way, they got down to the real dirt as their empty dishes were taken away.  Eva went first.

              “So.  How’s George?”

              “Getting plugs next week.”

              Eva choked on what was left of her iced tea.  “What?”  She practically laughed that word.

              “Hey, turning forty and male pattern baldness do
not
an attractive combo make.”

              “I didn’t realize George was so vain.”

                “He isn’t.  I am, as if you didn’t know that already.  One of my lovable flaws.  Anyway, I’m insisting, especially if he wants to have any semblance of a sex life.”

              “God, Mar, that’s cruel.  Even for your standards.”  Eva knew her opinionated friend wouldn’t mind her own dose of honesty.

              “Hey,” MaryLynn cupped her boobs, “don’t think that once these begin to drop that I won’t check in for a lift.  Besides, we have money and no kids to spend it on.  So……speaking of spending money, how’s the ‘pit’?”

              Classic, bold MaryLynn.  She blanched when Eva had given her a tour of the Victorian while mentally calculating how much money it would take to renovate it.  “My
house
is fine.  At least the living room is.  Floors are done and got new furniture from that consignment shop near where I went to business school in Penn.”

              “If it’s consigned then it’s not new.”

              “It’s new to me.”

              Even with good-natured ribbing, they respected each other and Eva appreciated the close bond they had shared since childhood. Seeing the charm hanging from Eva’s wrist, she reached over to dangle it with her fingertip.  She knew where it came from and what it meant.  “Isn’t his birthday this month?”

              That caught Eva by surprise.  She didn’t expect her ultra-busy, always late friend to remember that.  “It was yesterday.  You…..you remember?” 

              MaryLynn put her hand over her friends.  “I remember you always baking cupcakes for his birthday which was right after we went back to school, so I knew it was this month.  You holding up?”

              Eva nodded.  “Yeah.  I’m fine.  I went to go see him………” then cut off.  Again, some things were best kept to herself.  Admitting she had a run in with one of the town’s bikers would keep them here another hour as MaryLynn would want a color commentary of the entire scene.

              “Went where?  The cemetery?”

              “I tried.  I wanted to, but…….car trouble.”  It wasn’t a lie now as she remembered she still had to call the insurance company about the damage. Looking up at the clock, she crumpled the napkin on her lap.  “Almost two thirty, better get the check.”

              As Eva looked for the waitress, MaryLynn stared out the window, then let out a sultry sound.  “Sweet baby Jesus, will you look at that?”

              After getting the waitress’ attention, Eva looked out the window to see what caused her friend to practically orgasm in the booth.  Her heart stopped for a split second, then picked up the regular pace.  It was one of them – the Mountain Skulls– but thankfully not the one she ran into last night.  This one was tall, though not as big as the man who practically side-swiped her last night.  He was more sleek and cut, evidenced by well defined arms covered in ink from wrist up to where they disappeared under the sleeve of a tight, black t-shirt.  She guess-timated  forty-something with dark hair, shadow of a beard and multiple rings on his fingers.  Gold Air Force wings attached to those leather vests they wore indicated he had once served, which explained the military-short hair. 

              “Air Force,” MaryLynn hummed.  “I’d like to ride his cock pit.”

              Eva glanced away from the window.  “Says the married woman .”

              “Pfft, details,” her friend said with a wave of her hand.  “I’m an attorney. I can temporarily divorce myself.”

              “You’re a real estate attorney, Mar.”

              “Well you’re a fantasy buzz-kill.  And, looks like Mr. Air Force has a friend with him…..
holy shit
!”