I was driving cross-country to visit my parents. Halfway across the state I stopped in at a motel to spend the night. It was quite a nice motel, all mod cons, including a swimming pool. And, on a hot sultry night like the current one was shaping up to be, a swimming pool sounded rather appealing.
I booked in and was given a room towards the front of the motel. When I say room, it was more like a single bedroom suite, with its own little kitchen, bathroom and lounge room. A very nice place. Being at the front of the motel I was also very close to the attached diner, which was another plus. My only gripe, and that was a very small one, was that the pool was at the back of the motel and I had a bit of a walk if I wanted to go for a swim.
I had some dinner, felt like suggesting that they hire a cook, and then went to my room to watch TV. Typically, there were a thousand channels available with nothing worth watching on any of them. I hooked onto the local wi-fi and found they had terrible response. I will admit that this lovely motel was starting to seriously irritate me.
I don't like using air conditioning, especially at night, as they're noisy machines. I decided to go for that swim I'd been thinking about.
I slipped on my bikini and some flip-flops, wandered down to the pool and fell happily into it. I had it to myself. Too late for children, I suppose, and no-one else seemed interested. I swam and floated and swam some more, enjoying the cool refreshing water after the mugginess of the hot humid day. I probably would have stayed in a lot longer if it hadn't been for the sound of the bikes.
I didn't really notice the first bike, or the second. But when a third and fourth roared up my ears pricked up and I got out of the pool to see what was going on. I can tell you this, I felt distinctly nervous when I saw what appeared to be four Hells Angels standing outside the motel office arguing with the manager. They were standing right next to my unit, so I decided I wasn't going there just yet. Parade in front of some Hells Angels in a tiny bikini? That'll be the day.
I stayed close to the pool, hoping the manager would either give them rooms and they'd go into them or, preferably, tell them there was no room at the inn and send them on their way.
Wouldn't you bloody know it? They were the fucking advance party. What seemed like hundreds of Hells Angels came pouring down the highway and turning into the motel. I'm exaggerating a little here. I suppose there would only have been a couple of dozen Angels all told, but as far as I was concerned that was a couple of dozen too many.
They seemed to be everywhere, running their bikes back and forth along the motel compound, yelling to each other as they went. Several of them were waving bottles. Apparently the drink/drive laws didn't apply to them.
And they were all between me and my room. Some silly woman came out of her room to protest the noise. And they all stopped and looked at her. I heard one of them laugh and another took a couple of steps towards her. She bolted back into her unit and I could swear I heard the locks hit home from where I stood. There was more derisive laughter from the bikies and they continued prowling.
How long, I wondered, until they found me. Me, standing here all alone, wearing a bikini that was feeling skimpier by the minute. And what would happen when they did find me? I had a pretty good idea of what could happen and my mind totally shied from it. I had to do something.
The something turned out to be noticing that the unit nearest me had a light on and the door slightly open. A few quick steps and I was inside the unit, closing the door behind me.
Sitting on the couch was a man, who had been watching TV when I burst in on him. He gave me a disgruntled look.
"Whatever you're selling, I don't want," he snapped. "Go away."
"Um, I'm not selling anything," I protested. "It's just that there's a bunch of Hells Angels out there and they're all between me and my unit. I can't walk past them like this. I was hoping that I could stay here for a short while until they retire to their rooms and then I could sneak down to mine."
"No," came the chilling reply. "You'll find that the bikies aren't nearly as bad as they're made out to be. Did you check you see it they actually were Hells Angels? They may verbal you a bit but I doubt they'll actually molest you. So just trot along to your room."
"Hells Angels or just the local equivalent, it doesn't make much difference. If I was fully dressed I might even take your advice, but wearing a bikini? You've got to be kidding."
"What's wrong with your bikini?" he asked. "It covers you. Just. You'll probably get some extra wolf whistles but I'm sure you'll find that they're just a bunch of good old boys who won't lay a finger on you."
"That's fine for you to say," I pointed out. "You're not the one likely to be ravished by a bunch of drunken yahoos. I'd really prefer to stay here for a short while until they all calm down."
I didn't know what this guy's problem was but he was sure unhappy with my staying. He let me know it too.
"Your choice but I think it's only fair to warn you that I'm going to bed soon. If you're still here I'll just naturally drag you into the bedroom and make sweet, sweet love to you. You may find it safer to walk past the bikies."
I blinked at that and took a closer look at him. While he was a trifle on the largish side he was clean and reasonably neatly dressed. Recently shaved and I couldn't detect any appreciable body odour coming from him. If I had to hazard a guess I'd have said he was a salesman. Even trying to be grouchy he had this unconscious charm that made you like him. I doubted he'd even kiss a girl without permission.
"I doubt very much that you'd try to make love to me against my will," I said. "Anyway, I'm staying. Hopefully the bikies will quieten down fairly soon and then I'll be gone."
He smiled at me and I got a sudden chill. It wasn't a very nice smile.
"You keep telling yourself that," he said. "As far as I'm concerned you've been told what will happen if you remain, so if you remain you're tacitly giving me permission to take you. You can always rescind that permission by leaving."
I just gave him a look and sat down quietly while he went back to watching some silly football match. Who cares who can kick a ball furthest?