The man walked right past him with what looked like a baseball bat in his hands and wound up to hit another fellow who was a few feet away in the back of the head. Chad kicked out at the side of assailant's knee and felt it crack. The man fell to the floor and before he could do anything more than scream Chad was standing over him with his big boot planted on the family jewels. The man looked up at him defiantly then crawled quickly across the floor to escape before standing up and stumbling away while glancing over his shoulder.
Chad sat back down and resumed eating his large tasty hamburger and drinking his draft beer. The fellow who had been the target of the assault stood over him. The man was a biker at least six foot three with the broad shoulders and the menacing look that was standard.
"Thanks friend," he said and held out his hand. Chad shook it and looked him in the eyes. Chad was forty-five, just a bit over six feet with the build of a linebacker that he had been in college. He was not easily intimidated.
"No problem. I believe in playing fair and that piece of shit was not following the rule book. What was his beef with you?"
The big biker laughed. "He thought I fucked his wife this afternoon."
"Did you?" Chad asked.
"Yep, a real nice sweet piece of ass."
"Doesn't change anything," Chad said. "Still not right to sneak up and hit a man in the back of the head."
The man turned and returned to where a group of bikers and a couple of women were sitting. One was a younger girl that he saddled up next to, kissed her and then began to fondle her breast through her blouse as he talked to the men around them. It was obvious that the girl was uncomfortable with being pawed while others watched but she did not seem to be objecting to his overtures.
Chad's wife had died a little more than a year before. It had taken him since then to sell their home, quit his job as a management consultant and arrange his finances. He was tired of the daily grind and with no one to share his life with any longer and had decided to just take off for a while. He had bought a used 2003 Harley 100th Anniversary 1200 LX Custom with Sissy Bar, Engine Guards, Vance and Hines pipes, drag bars and decided to take off west to see what there was to see. He's been riding for a month sleeping two out of three nights under the stars and grabbing a cheap motel on the other night for a good hot shower. He was in South Dakota and had seen the dive with a lot of motorcycles in front and decided it was as good a place as any to grab dinner.
The fellow whose skull he had saved came back over and took a chair next to him. "Name's Axle," he said and extended his hand to Chad once again.
"Chad," he responded matching the man's hard grip with his own.
"You seem to be the kind of man we're looking for. We just lost someone and its hard riding doubles when you only have nine guys." He watched to see what Chad's reaction was to his overture. "We're camped up the road a bit and wondered if you'd like to throw down with us tonight and see if you might like to ride with us."