Abandoned Angel (15 page)

“Where are your parents?” Angelina persisted, but Tiffany did not answer. Angelina knew that Tiffany didn't want to talk about it, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from asking questions just the same.

“How long have you been riding with this club?”

“I don’t know,” Tiffany answered, trying not to show her agitation. Living as she did had been hard to get used to, and she did not want to think about how it happened.
“About a year-and-a-half or so.”

Most of the months that Tiffany spent with the bikers were a blur because she spent much of her time high. It made everything easier to cope with.

“You could do so much better for yourself Tiffany. Why let these men treat you the way they do?”

Of course, Angelina had no right to judge. She had let one man after another control her life, and, here she was, allowing another man to do the same thing.

Tiffany, who was generally happy go lucky, looked hurt, sad and offended rolled into a simple expression. How could Angelina possibly understand?

“I'm sorry Hun,” said Angelina as she put her arms around the thin girl. “I didn't mean to upset you. I guess I am just not used to this type of lifestyle.” She wanted to add, “For such a young girl,” to the sentence but didn’t.

“No, don't worry about it Angelina.” For a second she hugged back. “I know what I do sucks, but I have nowhere else to go. I’ve gotten used to it, and for the most part it isn’t so bad,” she continued; a shy smile on her humble face. “Besides, some of the guys are really good to me, and Marge treats me like a daughter.” Tiffany’s face lit while talking about the way Marge mothered her. “She takes care of me. She’s great.”

Tiffany loved Marge, and the way the tough woman welcomed her into the family with open arms. It made her feel special, having someone like Marge protect her. The bold woman was the one who had kept Tiffany strong when she first hooked up with the group. Marge taught her the ways of the club. She gave her ways to cope with the things that she had to do. Marge taught her that the biker lifestyle could be fun. She showed Tiffany how the good part of being part of a biker family made the bad stuff not seem so bad.

Angelina listened as she thought about how fresh and innocent Tiffany looked.

“Yeah, I have to sex them up, but it isn’t like this all the time, just when we ride across country. Most of them really are good to me,” Tiffany replied.

Angelina wished she had the means to give Tiffany a better life. Drawn to the girl, she wanted her to be safe. Hell, she wished she had the means to give herself and Justin a better life.

“Ok Tiffany, just make sure you are careful,” was all she could muster because she knew that she could not offer Tiffany anything better.

“Aren't I always?” the young girl laughed half-heartedly and skipped down the trail like a playful child, moving out of sight of Angelina. Angelina grinned to herself, following her.

------

“Nice vest.” She heard a woman's harsh voice proclaim as she rounded the corner. Tiffany was standing outside of the bathroom with two women who stood as if they owned the area. Angelina did not recognize either of them from the night before and wondered where they had come from. With her dark short hair un-brushed, and her jeans cut off just above the knees, the larger of the two women stood with confidence and independence. The smaller of the two stood just the opposite, insecure and jittery. She was very thin and squirrelly, as if she was having difficulty standing still at all.

“What do you think Clair, you want her vest?” questioned the heavier woman, referring to the blue jean vest that Tiffany wore.

“Hell yeah, hand it over bitch,” squealed Clair, as her thin body swayed back and forth. Tiffany took a step back from the women, not wanting any trouble.

“I said, give me the vest bitch!” stated the heavier woman, grabbing at Tiffany. Tiffany knocked her arm down as she drew near. Using the toughest voice she could muster Tiffany replied, “Get your own vest, bitch.”

The child Angelina saw a moment before seemed to have transformed into a tough woman biker right before her eyes. Angelina’s heartbeat increased as she watched from behind the strangers, neither of them noticing her.

“You think your pretty little ass can take the two of us?” continued the heftier of the two women. Although she had not seen Angelina standing behind her yet, Tiffany had, and that seemed to have given her a little more courage. Angelina got the inkling that Tiffany wanted to impress her.

“You think your large ass can keep up with me?” Tiffany threw back at the woman who was close to twice her size. Angelina took that as her cue to stroll up beside a mouthy Tiffany.

“Hey Tiff, what's going on?” she asked; trying not to let the anxiety she felt show through. She was quite the image with her bruised face and fat lip.

“This bitch here thinks she is getting my vest,” responded Tiffany, making a gesture towards the big boned woman, standing even taller yet. “But there is no way in hell that she is.”

“What the hell happened to your ugly face?” The skinny stranger chimed in.

Angelina ignored the question.

“
Ahhh
, this should be interesting,” Angelina chuckled, attempting to intimidate the others. “Can I play?” she asked seriously, trying to create a sneer.

“Yeah,” scoffed Tiffany, “let’s see who ends up with the vest after all.”

“Fuck you bitch, give me the damn vest or I'll take it off of your skinny little ass,” the larger woman hollered. She was not ready to back down, but Angelina took the fact that she didn't advance any closer to them to be a sign of insecurity. She was glad she was not the only one feeling that way. Tiffany stood firm, placing her hands on her hips, ready for a fight. Angelina took a small step closer to the woman to show that they did not intend to back down either. She felt nowhere as confident as she looked.

Clair - the lanky girl - became increasingly antsy. “Come on Tina, I don't need the damn vest anyway,” she told her friend, deciding it was not worth the fight.

Tina hesitated a moment longer, holding her ground, not wanting to back down. She was bigger than both girls
combined
, and had this happened in front of anyone else, she would not back down under any conditions. Being as it was though, no one else was around, and she was only picking on Tiffany because she could. She did not actually have an issue with her.

“Let’s go Tina, she
aint
worth it,” Clair tried again.

Angelina and Tiffany continued to stand their ground, indicating they were a lot tougher than they actually felt.

 Deciding that Clair was probably right, and that they did not need the trouble, Tina asked, “Are you sure? It's pretty nice.”

“Yeah, I'm sure, I don't want it after it's been on that whore’s body anyway,” Clair stated, throwing in the insult.

“Get the hell out of here,” ordered Tiffany, as they were about to leave.

She turned her back on the women, tossing her strawberry blond hair out of her face as she turned towards Angelina. Her blue eyes large with concern, she quietly asked, “Did they leave?” and just like that Tiffany was back to looking like a kid again. Angelina could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

“Hell yeah,” laughed Angelina after glancing towards the path. “Guess I don’t have to worry about you taking care of yourself - you crazy bitch.”

The two confrontational women were heading back up the path to the group they had stayed with - without the vest in hand. Angelina's pulse raced with a newfound form of excitement. Looking down at her hands, she realized that they were not shaking. In the past, any time she was nervous, or tried to stand up for herself her hands had shaken. It was odd.

“I thought we were going to get our asses kicked!” Angelina exclaimed, relieved that they had not. She had a quiet sort of rush flowing through her body.

“God, me too,” laughed Tiffany.

She would have stood her ground and taken the beating rather than allow the other women in the group to intimidate her. She had learned that early on after losing a ring that had belonged to her mother to one of the girls.

“I can't believe we stood up to them,” snickered Angelina, nervously. “What would we have done if she hadn’t back down? She was huge!” She exaggerated the woman’s size with laughter.

“Probably gotten our asses kicked,” responded Tiffany relieved that it didn’t go to that extent.

“Did you see the size of that ugly bitches arms?" she continued, obviously proud of herself.

The laughter echoed thru the trees. The young women stood, side by side for a moment, taking in the victory, enjoying the camaraderie shared between them. Neither of them had felt that in a long time. After using the bathroom, they headed back up the gravel path, chattering away like teenage girls. Their spirits remained high, until Angelina asked, “Why don't you stand up to the men like you did them?” Tiffany had proved that she was tough, so Angelina didn’t understand why she allowed herself to
be treated
the way she was.

Tiffany stopped suddenly. She stared into Angelina’s questioning eyes and answered. “You don't stand up to the men in the club Angelina.” How did she not get that? “You just don't. You need to understand what is expected of you when riding with the club,” she stated, afraid that Angelina would say or do something to one of the members that would get her hurt. She needed to mind them or there would be hell to pay.

Angelina knew she had no right to judge Tiffany because she had given up defending herself from her husband years ago, but she still had the desire to see more for the vibrant girl.

“I don't understand, why not?” she asked.

“You really are dumb aren't you?” mused Tiffany. “You stand up to them and you will look worse than you do now,” she grinned, referring to the bruising on Angelina’s face.

“Don’t you get it? They own us. That is the way of the club. We can do what we want between the girls, but the men own us. We do what they say, or,”

“Or what?”

“Or it will only get worse.” Tiffany paused, praying that it would never get worse for her. “Just do what they tell you Angelina, and you’ll be fine. You are lucky, Blaze is one of the good ones,” finished Tiffany, pushing her fears aside.

Angelina agreed, because she already knew this to be true. From the beginning, he had looked at her differently than the other men.

“Ok,” was all Angelina was able to say. She knew all too well about things getting worse. One time, after Rusty had beaten her, she asked for help from the police. They held the drunken man in jail for one night before releasing him. Rusty nearly beat her to death when he got home. After her stint in the hospital, she spent weeks barely able to get around. The police did nothing to protect her. After that, the beatings became more frequent, and more unexpected, and Angelina never called the police on her husband again. Her faith in the system had been lost.

“I like you Angelina, you aren’t like the other girls,” said Tiffany light heartedly.

“Neither are you Tiffany, remember that,” replied Angelina, “and I like you too.”

The comment put a contagious grin across Tiffany’s smooth face. She looked like she was going to say something, but quickly dismissed the thought.

“Do me a favor Angelina, stay away from Spike while we are here,” she cautioned instead. The chirpy girl wanted Angelina to remain safe.

“I don't plan to go near him.”

“No, I mean, don't let him get near you, especially not alone. He, he's fixated on you, but not in a good way.” Tiffany continued, “And he hates Blaze, which makes it bad for you.”

“Why?” asked Angelina, already knowing the answer.

“Because he thinks you are club property and Blaze won't share.”

Tiffany said this as if she were talking about children fighting over a toy. Angelina replayed that comment from the bar in her head. Blaze had told Spike that he did not share. In her hazed state, the statement had not worried her all that much, but seeing the look on Tiffany’s face, it did now. Blaze never intended to “claim” her as she had initially thought. He was protecting her from Spike.

Blaze - her handsome, ill-tempered hero;
the thought made her grin.

“Why are you smiling? I'm trying to warn you about Spike, and you find it funny?” stammered Tiffany - confused. She was trying to be serious, and helpful, and her new friend seemed amused by her.

“No Tiff, I just think it is awfully sweet that you are trying to protect me.”

“Hell, I’m not sweet,” laughed Tiffany. “I'm a bad-ass - just ask those bitches,” she said thumbing in the direction of the other woman.

The statement caused both women to chuckle as they continued towards the bonfire where they re-joined Jules, Marge and Doc. Cookie, the robust man that she had met the night before was sitting at the fire as well. He had a soft humor about him, but Angelina did not like the way he constantly eyed Tiffany. It was creepy. Tiffany did not seem to
be bothered
by it. Angelina sat quietly, half listening to the conversation that the others were having. She could not get what Tiffany had said about Spike out of her mind. The idea that Spike still intended to “own” her sent shivers down her spine. It seemed more real after hearing it said aloud.