Chapter 11 Travellin' Men
Pt. 2
It was well after two a.m., when the quiet of the night was disturbed by the low rumble. It grew louder and louder, then vanished all together, as Chico cut the engine out on the road and coasted into the parking lot and up to his unit. He helped Marietta off the back and then got off himself. He untied her suitcase that they used as a makeshift seat and walked to the door. Chico listened to hear if Otto was asleep, or awake and heard no noise. He tried the handle and Otto had left it unlocked for him. As stealthy as they could be, they crept in and closed the door, looking to see if Otto woke up. Chico was hoping the long ride had exhausted him and he was out like a light.
Marietta changed in the bathroom and brought her clothes out, dressed now in a cotton nightie. Chico just undressed at the end of the bed, leaving his boxers on and was waiting for her in bed, holding the sheets open for her to get in. She looked at him and fought against the thoughts of rape still consuming her mind, her body still feeling the violation and came to the bed. Chico's face showed all the compassion she needed to see, to allow her to lay with him. Chico let her have her way and stayed still, only allowing their sides touching, to be the only contact.
The hot air in the room, held the suspense around them, then Marietta reached with her hand for Chico's and felt the acceptance of it in his. After a deep exhaustive sigh, Marietta turned to Chico and lay her head on his chest, putting her arm around him and felt the solace of comfort in his presence. She felt his arms slowly wrapping around her and holding her to him, the love that they gave, made the world disappear and all that was wrong in it, too. She held back the need for tears, as they only added to the pain anyway. Every salty drop stung her lips and brought back the moment of pain, when Joe backhanded her face so many times, she lost count.
She lay her leg over his and felt the warmth of it against the bruises left by brutal fingers. She felt it ease the ache of mental and physical hurt, feeling the love from Chico, coming from every part of him. She turned her face and with as much pressure as her swollen lips would allow, she tenderly kissed Chico's chest and lay her head back down, closing her eyes and knowing somewhere deep inside her, things were going to be okay.
Neither of them saw Otto looking at them, then he closed his eyes, smiling to himself that Chico would have a story to tell about the woman in bed with him. Chico let out a long sigh of his own, releasing the tension and stress of reliving the act he had just committed. He held Marietta a little tighter and closed his eyes, hoping sleep came quick and deep.
Keith was laying in bed, the sun beaming in on his leg. The gash required seven stitches to close, but luckily, the shin bone was only badly bruised, with a small hairline fracture that would heal okay, the doctor said, but may come back to haunt him later in life. He was able to ride, but walking would require a cane or crutches for a few weeks. Keith remembered laughing at the doctor, when he asked about coming for a follow up visit, then remembered he would be coming back down and scheduled a tentative appointment for two weeks time. Lenny woke up and looked over at Keith staring out the window.
"Hey, how's the leg, man?"
"Hey, Lenny. Morning to you. The leg's no bad, aches to shite, though. Bloody pounding going on all the time, so it is. It's settled down some now. Christ, just my fucking luck, yeah. One little rock, led to me hitting the bigger rock. That trail is bloody dangerous. I get where Chico is coming from, keeping it secret and all, but it needs to be easier to ride than that."
"Yeah, I agree. JT talked to Chico already about it, so next time we're down, we're bringing some tools, so we can make it safer to get in, but still keep it hidden. I almost hit that same rock you did. It just jumps out at you."
"Aye, and bit me a good one as well."
Keith and Lenny lit up cigarettes, while next door, JT and Piney were doing much the same, lying in their beds and talking over everything. So many things happened that needed talked about and decided on. The presence of other clubs that acted hostile towards them, meant a need to protect themselves and that meant the carrying of guns as well. With the danger of what they were getting into becoming greater and greater, JT was realizing more and more, as he told Piney, he had no idea that this was happening out there.
"I just wanted to start a club to ride around with the guys, Piney, not get into gun battles with other gangs over territory. I figured making these runs would be easy, just go down, load up and come back to drop it off. What if we're coming back and they come up behind us and want to let us know we're on their turf. Do we act friendly? Give them the dirty looks and give them the finger and just keep riding? Pull out guns and battle it out on the road like we saw them do before? Maybe do nothing and they waste us? We need to talk this out more, before we end up in over our heads. I just wanted to get money for the club, so we could build something for ourselves, we could be proud of. I had no intention of getting us into something this far outside the law. We're not talking a night or two visiting with Unser, shooting the shit about old days, we're talking Stockton, or somewhere else and long time, hard time, Piney."
Piney took the last drag off his cigarette and put it out, then looked at JT.
"JT, ain't nothing we can do about things here. We can talk all day, until that fucking rooster starts crowing again tomorrow morning, but the fact remains, my friend, just get this over with now. We're in it all the way already, shit, I can smell the stuff under my bed. No matter where we are, as long as we got this shit on us, we have trouble. Now get us home and we can talk this out then. Right now, I'm real fucking hungry. I could even handle those burritos."
JT made a face at the mention of eating that kind of food for breakfast. He was willing to wait it out, until a place served something he was familiar with and knew the ingredients. Piney laughed and agreed he would wait as well, then they got up and got ready.
Otto got out of bed very quietly and did what he had to, before getting dressed and sneaking out of the room. Chico stirred, hearing the click of the door and then the shutting of it. He rolled his head over and saw Otto had left him alone with Marietta, then turned his head back to look at her. The clock said it was nine forty three, so they had close to six hours sleep. She was still laying on his chest, never leaving him throughout the night. His arm felt like it was asleep, but he didn't want to disturb her from sleeping as long as she could. He tried to look at her face better, to see how she looked in the daylight. Even from the bad angle he was at, he could see the swelling and discolouration on her cheek and mouth, the blackened eye clearly defining the damage inflicted to her.
Chico felt her stir and awaken, as her hand moved from his chest and pushed the hair away from her eyes. She looked up at him and saw the look in his eyes he held for her. The instance of worry left her and she began smiling, until the pain hit. The trauma of last night was back to her, but Chico calmed her and held her, letting her know it was over and it was time to heal, inside and out. He leaned forward and kissed her head, then she laid it on his chest and caressed it as well.
