Arrow of Time (12 page)

“
Why do you gals always play vagina-pop when you’re cleaning?” He growled.

“
We’re not,” Edie answered him with a big smile on her face. “We just chose music that has girls singing. But my music isn’t pop.”

“
Sorry,” Mack said and made a correction in his statement. “You play whiny vagina music. Sometimes angry vagina music, but it's all fucking vagina music.”

Edie and Dawn just ignored him and kept cleaning and singing along.

“I hear ya, brother!” Micha said behind the bar where he was dusting and stocking the shelves.

Micha was the only guy besides Mack who was working in the bar. He was a nice kid, and Vasco suspected that he was interested in Edie. He’d kind of hoped she’d hook up with him, but the latest few weeks of hanging out with Dawg had made him wonder about it. She hadn’t immediately fallen for him. He'd passed her almost unnoticed. At the moment though, with Dawg being all friendly, Vasco wasn’t sure what was going on anymore.

The talk with Dawg hadn’t calmed him down either, when he started to really think about it. He knew Dawg. He’d known him since the day he was born, and Dawg liked women. He’d liked women and girls since he was a kid. The boy had been like that already in preschool, charming the shit outta females, even teachers. Once he’d gotten what he wanted, something that moved from kisses when he was a kid to fucking them when he reached his teens, he never looked back. So this interest in Edie might die the second she gave it up.

On the other hand, he'd seen them together and how Dawg reacted to the idea of Edie having sex with someone else. And Dawg didn't usually care if his girls were with others. The good thing was that Dawg knew what he was like and he wouldn't purposely hurt Edie. He wouldn't have sex with her if he thought it would mess her up. Not when she was a part of the club.

Vasco also knew Edie was the kind of girl who could deal with just having sex with a guy, he was pretty sure it was something she did on occasion, but if Dawg and her ever got around to it, that wasn’t what she’d see it like. It would mean more than that to her. Possibly more than it would to Dawg.

Once the bar was cleaned, Edie changed into jeans, her worn old work boots and leather jacket. She came up to him with a big smile. Even if she had a truck these days, she still liked him to take her home. The girl had sure gotten to love rides, and he didn't mind. He wasn’t an idiot, she was a girl about the same age as his daughter that seemed to really like him and talked to him. She was his substitute. And she wasn’t a moron, so she knew that, too. Just like he was her substitute dad, since her own was a complete fucker. If she hadn’t killed him, Vasco would’ve.

It didn’t matter, though. She was a good girl, nice, funny and smart, and he liked to have her around. And today he wanted them to have a talk.

“
Tired, kid?”

“
Nah. My feet hurt, but besides that I'm up for some egg and tea.”

He took her to an all night diner they visited on a regular basis. They both ordered tea and scrambled eggs. If he had coffee he wouldn't be able to sleep. He took honey in his tea and watched her pour an enormous amount of sugar in hers.

“You should probably try honey instead,” he said when she started to stir in her cup. “Think it would be better for you.”

“
I don't eat honey. It's puke.”

He'd heard a lot of comments about what honey tasted like, but never heard it compared to puke.

“It's sweet, just like sugar, it doesn't taste much.”

“
No. I mean it's literally puke. The bees collect the flower nectar in their honey stomach, goes back to the hive and then puke it into the stomach of another bee who then transports it to the honeycomb. So it's puked up twice. I don't eat honey.”

He stared at her and shook his head. She had so many of these crazy ideas.

“Okay, darling. I'm not sure how to comment on that. Let's talk about Dawg instead. What's going on with the two of you?”

“
He helped me. I think we're friends, but that’s it.” She smiled and took his hand. “Don’t worry about it, Vasco. I’m a big girl.”

“
I like Dawg. Known him his entire life and I love the guy, but the way he is with women—and he doesn't have female friends.” He shook his head. “I’m guessing he’ll calm down one of these days, but until then...”

“
Vasco, I know that. You've told me,” she said, and when he looked up she squeezed his hand. “And I’ve seen first hand what he’s like with women.”

He simply raised his eyebrows to get her to keep talking because it sounded like she'd seen more than just him walking off with a sweetbutt or two.

“When Brick had his barbeque, Dawg was in my room with two girls. Let’s just say I saw more than I wanted to.”

“
Gonna get him for that,” Vasco laughed. “Your room was off limits.”

“
Apparently Brick said you couldn’t fuck in my bed, and he wasn’t in my bed. He was leaning against the wall.”

“
Ahh,” he nodded and felt the need to defend Dawg a little. “Like I said, he’s a good kid, good brother and a good friend.”

“
And I’ll keep him like that.”

“
Sure you can do that?”

“
He helped me move and taught me to drive. He didn’t exactly give me the moon.” She took a sip of her overly sweetened tea. “Not that remarkable. Also, I think he’s off the ‘really need to nail that girl’-phase with me. I'm probably venturing into 'sister'-land with him.”

Vasco was pretty fucking sure Dawg wasn't out of his 'need to nail'-phase. And he was also pretty sure that Edie now, as opposed to before, was getting interested. She did seem to have her head at the right place, though, and there wasn’t much more he could do. There was no way of ordering the heart around. He'd keep having these talks with them, to make sure they knew what they were doing. At the moment, they seemed to really try to keep it friendly, so he relaxed for now.

“So what’s up with you and Micha?” he asked instead of poking anymore. “Can I hope you're hooking up with him instead?”

“
You haven’t noticed?”

“
Noticed what?”

“
He’s totally into Shauna.”

“
Sorry.”

“
I’m not. He’s not my type.”

“
What is your type?” He asked out of curiosity. “And have you found it here? 'Cause I seem to remember you saying you need to get laid.”

“
I’ll let you know when I figure it out. And no, haven’t gotten laid yet. Working on it, since you, despite saying you didn't want to know about my fuck-plans, keep asking about them.”

“
I don't 'keep' asking. Just looking out for you, doll.”

“
Oookay,” she said with a big smile.

These two kids really left him guessing! It was bugging the hell outta him!

When they were at her place, he took the bag he'd gotten from Brick earlier that day.

“
This is for you. I don't want you buying that shit on the streets anymore.”

It was pot. He'd figured out that she was buying it and when he told Brick he'd agreed with Vasco that if she was buying it in Greenville, it was their stuff and they weren't gonna let her pay for it. He'd keep an eye on her use, but neither one of them was that worried.

“Why?”

“
Honey, I'm gonna try to put this delicately, and you need to shut your mouth about it, but you're buying our stuff.”

“
Oh,” she said with a smile and a slow nod on her head. “I get it. So if I need more I'll come to you?”

“
Yes. Once in a while I'll get you the really good stuff, too. For special occasions.”

“
Thanks. This is gonna last a long time.”

“
Hope so. Hide it well.”

“
I got a spot.”

“
Hey. Take it easy. And call me.” She gave his cheek a kiss. “Soon.”

“
Soon. I promise.”

He watched her to make sure she got in safely. He decided that he liked the general idea of Edie and Dawg. If they could work out their personal problems they'd be great for each other. Dawg could be the very stable person that Edie needed, and Edie was the kind of girl who could stand by Dawg. Even if Mel didn't see it, there was an enormous strength in Edie and she was certainly the kind of girl that could keep Dawg's interest. Sure, there were things that were a problem, like the fact that Dawg was still an immature brat in some ways. And that Edie still had things to work out, but he had high hopes for both of them. It could work.

CHAPTER SIX:

The Dawg-Scale

-o0o-

Tuesday, July 10
th

I'D FELT PRETTY SHIT
when I went to bed the day before, and when I woke up, I felt even worse. Getting out of the bed I realized why. My period had started sometime during the night and there was blood all over my sheet. I had that wonderful kind of period with cramps from hell and massive bleeding, but only for about three days, then it was more or less gone.

Things got even better when I checked my bathroom and realized that I had two tampons left. That wouldn’t get me very far, so I picked up my phone and texted Dawn. Our equally horrific periods had been one of the reasons we started to talk like friends rather than co-workers. She'd feel sorry for me and help me out, I was sure.

‘Fuck! Got my period and woke up on the Japanese flag. Feel like shit. Can you drop by with tampons on your way to work? Please!!! BFF? Grassy ass!’

I got a ‘sure’ back about fifteen minutes later, and I relaxed.

When the coffee was in my stomach and the sheets in the dryer, I sat down in my couch with the second cup of coffee. I really felt horrible and just hoped that the painkillers would do their job sooner rather than later. In an attempt to get rid of the worst pain, I wrapped a blanket around my belly. Sometimes heat could ease some of the ache. It did. I managed to relax and turned on the TV Brick had brought me the week before, along with some of Lanie’s old furniture. The TV had belonged to either Mac or Mitch and so had the DVD, both with skulls in top hats painted on them. I didn't care much; they worked, and even if Brick thought the TV was small I thought it was great. More importantly, it was free.

Thirty minutes later there was a knock on my door, and holding the blanket in place, I went to answer it. When I opened it, I just stared. It was Dawg, and with his usual grin he looked me over.

“Japanese flag and grassy ass? Baby, are you having parties that I'm not invited to? That would really hurt my feelings.”

It took me a few seconds, and then I must’ve turned scarlet red. “That was for Dawn.”

“Kind of assumed it wasn’t for me. Still...” he said and held up a bag. “Got you tampons, chocolate and a movie.”

I just stared at him. I couldn't fucking believe it, and I was desperately trying to decide whether I was embarrassed or really glad. “Wow.”

“So... Japanese flag?”

“
White sheets. Japanese flag is white with a red circle.” I was prepared to tell him pretty much anything he wanted to know if it meant I could have the chocolate he claimed was in the bag.

“
Aahhh,” he hummed in a laugh. “And grassy ass?”

“
Gracias. Spanish.”

“
Classy.” He looked down at me again and the blanket around me. “Is that the temporary maxi pad?”

“
No. Heat helps for the cramps.” I looked at him as he flopped down into the couch. “Are you staying?”

“
You’re not gonna let me watch the movie that I paid for?”

I closed the door and walked over to him. “Okay, but you’re not getting any chocolate.”

I opened the bag. He wasn’t kidding about the chocolate. He’d bought loads, and the movie was an action, obviously, like I needed more blood in my life. There were boxes of tampons in the bottom of the bag and I picked them up. Small and Medium. I held up the small with a smile and he shrugged.

“
A guy can hope.”

“
You know it's not the size of the vagina, more how much you bleed.”

“
So you're not a small then. Bummer,” he mumbled, but he was still smiling, and since I didn't want to get into a too-detailed description of my periods, I dropped the subject.

I dropped them back into the bag, took the movie and walked over to the TV-set to put it on. It was ‘Fight Club’. All guys loved that movie. I didn’t. When I was back on the couch I looked at him again. He’d taken off his beanie and looked at the movie and given his focus, it was clear he was one of the guys who just loved the bull this movie fed them. And when all that fake anarchy philosophy bullshit started, I couldn't help myself, and started huffing in disagreement. When they said ‘the things you own end up owning you’ I even snorted out loud.

“What?” he asked and turned to look at me.

“
It’s true in a sense that what we own ends up owning us, but the solution isn’t to not own anything. The trick or the crux of life isn’t to not own things or not work for anything. Some things and some people are worth working for. The tricky part is to find the things
worth
working for and owning.”

“
This is from the girl who wandered the world for six years without any possessions.”

“
That’s how I know that the problem isn’t the shit you own or don’t own, it’s where your mind is at. I might not have had possessions, but I still had a lot of baggage and thinking you can get rid of that by getting rid of possessions is stupid.” I looked at him. “So to sum it up: find what’s worth working for and stick to it. Could be that bike you can’t stop polishing or your brothers, the club, whatever makes you happy, and it’s worth the headache.”

“
What’s your happy headache?” Dawg asked, and I laughed.

“
Happy headache? I like that.” I took a deep breath. “My happy headache is peace of mind at the moment. Forgiving myself. That’s what I’m working for.”

“
How’s that going?”

“
I’m getting there.” I handed him one of the chocolate bars, and he took it with a smile. “Thank you, Dawg. You're really a nice guy sometimes.”

“
Don’t have sound so fucking surprised,” he muttered but she could see the tiny smile he was trying to hide. “I can be nice.”

“
Yeah, but willingly walk into the home of menstruating woman is nice even on a normal scale.”

“
Normal scale! What fucking scale am I usually on?”

“
Obviously the dawg-scale.”

“
Dawg-scale?” He tried to sound pissed, but he was desperately trying to hold back laughter.

“
Yeah, not 'Dawg' as in your name, but dawg as in guys... who are mostly nice to get a piece of ass. And you know that’s not gonna happen with a chick on the rag. Hence this being nice on the normal scale.”

He couldn’t hold it back anymore and I watched in amazement as he cracked up. I liked it when he did that, just laughed his ass off.

“Dawg scale,” he chuckled when he calmed down. “Gotta tell my ma’ about that. She doesn’t think I’m on any scale.”

“
What’s she like?”

What little I knew about Dawg had come from Vasco. Lanie had mentioned him briefly in her emails, mainly that Eliza loved him and that he got around, but was hot as hell. Vasco had mostly talked about Dawg's dad and how he grew up in the club.

“She’s great. Love her like crazy. I’m obviously her biggest heartache.”

“
So you've broken her heart as well, just like you break all women's hearts?”

“
She’s my mom, a bit worse with her. You know, since she really loves me,” he shrugged. “My sister has a husband, a kid, good job and all that. I’m my dad, and as much as ma’ loves my dad, she doesn’t want me to be him.”

I wasn’t sure how to put this. “You’re your dad? Like... the women thing or...?”

“Naw. Dad’s crazy about ma’, doesn’t roam, never would. But he’s a biker.”

“
I knew that actually.”

He nodded. “He's one of the founding members, the president at the mother charter. He was Vasco’s sponsor. It was early on, Vasco was like the tenth member joining.”

“How did he end up here? Vasco, I mean.” I hadn't heard that part of the story. Vasco had talked about some of his background, but it was more about his family and things before the club.

“
They branched out. Vasco needed to get out of town and volunteered to keep an eye on this place, and he got stuck. That’s... shit, think it's fifteen years ago. When I needed to get away from dad, he called Vasco, who told me to come here and prospect with him as a sponsor.”

“
You don’t get along with your dad?” When he looked at me I could feel myself blush. I wasn't sure how much I was supposed to know. “Sorry, that’s none of my business.”

“
That’s not it, Nibbles. And I do—get along with him I mean. I just didn’t want to prospect in his charter. I wanted the same prospecting as everyone else, you know. No favors. Not be the president’s son and all that shit.”

That did surprise me, and I was also a bit impressed. Dawg had struck me as the kind of guy who took the easy way through stuff, but I was apparently wrong about that. He probably was when it came to some things, like getting laid and getting away from his lays, but he was serious about the club. I should’ve known. Vasco kept telling me that.

“Anyway, I love my dad. He’s a great guy, a great dad.”

And once again I was stunned. There weren’t that many guys that just threw out that they loved their dad. On the other hand, Brick pretty often talked about loving his brothers. They all did. So I didn’t say anything, just nodded.

“Never heard much ‘bout your family,” he said and looked at me.

“
Not much to say,” I shrugged, hoping I’d get away with it. “Just me and Lanie now. Of the original family, I mean,” I hurried to add, so I didn’t get the ‘You’re in the Marauder family now’ speech.

“
I like Mel. She’s good.” Then he laughed. “Fuck! Laughed so hard when she ran into the lot and had a go at Mac. She’s lucky she’s hot, Brick would’ve decked her if she wasn’t. She yelled at him, Mac and pretty much everyone else she could see.”

That’s how Lanie and Brick met. Mac stole her bike, and she came running into the lot, chasing him. I hadn’t heard about the yelling part, though. She'd left that out when she wrote to me about it. And I definitely didn't know she'd yelled at Brick. She must've been so fucking pissed to do that.

“At Brick?”

“
Sure. Almost went at him. Big fucking biker and it didn’t stop her for a second.”

“
Shit!”

“
Like I said. Lucky she was so hot cause he just stared at her, smile got bigger and then he asked where she lived and if she had a comfortable bed. Mel almost blew a fuse.”

“
She wrote to me when she got home, how pissed she was. The next week he was the dream guy in the form of a biker. So big and hot.” I laughed and so did Dawg. “Can’t tell her I said that.”

“
Cross my heart.”

The pills I had taken were starting to have effect and when the pain finally left I was getting tired. So I laid down in the couch to watch the rest of movie. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. I woke up when Dawg put a blanket over me.

“Gotta go, Nibbles.”

“
Okay,” I mumbled, curling up and pulling the blanket tighter around me. “Thanks again.”

“
No prob. Just text me the next time you’re on the rag and I’ll do the same thing.”

“
Can I get a chick flick that time?”

He laughed. “Sure. Might have to suggest some titles 'cause I don’t know shit about chick flicks.”

“I will.”

The second the door slammed shut and I heard it being locked, I dozed off. The strangeness of the locking-part didn’t hit me until I woke up the next time. How the fuck did he get a key to my place?

-o0o-

Thursday, July 19
th

BULL LEANED BACK AND
watched the girl moving on stage. She was new at the Booty Bank, but he was pretty damn sure it wasn't her first time stripping, she was good. Red, curly hair cascaded down her back, and she was currently in only her thong. If she was gonna keep the deal about a minimum of 4 out of 15 minutes on stage in nude, they were gonna come off soon. They did. Watching her he decided that was his girl for the night, and he took a sip from his beer, turned to the others and nodded, indicating she was his.

He was there with the single guys of the club, Mace, Sisco and Dawg. He might not be single himself, but he'd given the monogamous relationship a try and it turned out he was the only one in the relationship that did. He'd taught that bitch a lesson about straying on men, tossed her out and kept the kid. Ricky. He was six years old and currently at home in with Angie. Angie, who wouldn't object to him staying at the club for a night or two.

She was a great mom and from Bull's point of view a good wife. Didn't ask questions and would definitely not try to cheat on him. She'd met Debbie, the ex-wife, and knew what would happen if she did. He himself hadn't seen Debbie in years. Ricky stayed with her every second weekend, and as far as Bull was concerned, even that was a lot more than the bitch deserved.