FOUND: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (10 page)

“Use your inhaler, idiot!” Antia, without any tact,
encouraged
.

“It's... a
hh
... Not... u
hh
---”

“What's wrong? Is something wrong?” My intuition told me something was up. Kenny would never make a scene like this for nothing.

“Boyd... He's... u
hh
... Fighting! Again.”

I jumped from the rope and ran straight to him. “Who is he fighting?”

Kenny doubled over resting his hands on his knees. Wheezing breaths poured from his mouth while he struggled to talk. Try as he might he couldn't speak.

“Please. Try your hardest. Where is he?”

Anita unhelpfully barged in. “Come on Kenny. I told you you shouldn't eat all those Twinkies. No wonder they call you fat!”

Kenny stared at Anita with eyes bulging in anger. “Down at the... Imperial!” The spiteful words she spoke forced it out of him.

“Who? Who is it?”

“Her... ahh... Brother!”

I felt sick to the pit of my stomach. Boyd and Anita's brother Herschell have never got along, and their wasn't the first time they fought. Last time Boyd got roughed up pretty bad.

Anita jumped off the tire. “I doubt that. I think you're lying.”

“Believe... uhh.. Believe me.”

“Come on. Let's go.” I gripped his hand and we started running.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Anita called while trying to keep up.

We rushed as fast as our legs would take us to The Imperial. It was the old drive-in where we often spent our time growing up. Cut off from the center of town and away from all of our houses except Anita's big home, it provided the perfect place to get away from parents. And what a place it was for us kids. The Imperial, opened before most of our moms and dads were even born, was completely deserted and in its crumbling memory we could run completely free. I always loved climbing up the wooden boards where the big screen previously stood. It must have been fifty foot high and the view from the top stretched all over town. Of course, today parents don't even let their kids play out. Let alone climb something as dangerous as that. It was a different world back then. One of adventure and sometimes a little danger.

Before we made it to the wire fence surrounding the derelict plot, I could see the group of kids standing around together ominously. One group of boys stood on guard facing a second who was doing their best to provoke the first. The second group of boys looked much older than the first.

“See?” Kenny, red faced and choking for air, exclaimed. “I told you. It's...
uhh
... It's Herschell. He's got Boyd's rat!”

Anita panted to my right. “Are you sure? I don't think so. My brother's got more sense than to be messing with kids our age.”

“I'm telling the truth! I swear it!”

I didn't doubt what he said for a second. Herschell, much bigger than his thirteen years would suggest, had a real reputation around where we lived for his 'pranks'. Though they weren't pranks at all. In fact they were regularly downright sadistic. His favorite game was to hide in the bushes along the path out of school and tripping up unsuspecting kids when they came running out. He had our junior high running terrified. Everyone counted down the days until he left for high school.

“Boyd!” I shouted from the fence after spotting him leading the first group of kids.

Kenny gripped my arm. “Don't get involved...
uhh
... Cassie. They're going to fight. It's not a place for a girl. Stay here with me.” Kenny was never the type to get involved in conflict, though I think his crush on me played the bigger part in trying to keep me back. He hated me talking to any boy that wasn't him.

“I've got to,” I told him before turning to Anita. “You've gotta come too. He's your damn brother.”

She rocked on her feet. “Maybe Kenny is---
Hey
!”

Before she managed to finish her sentence I gripped her arm and started running.

“Come back, come back!” Kenny shouted behind us when we tore down the path along the fence and ducked through the cut in the wire. “Don't be crazy!”

“Stop pulling so tight!” She cried out from behind me.

But I didn't listen. Dragging her arm half out of its socket, I charged forward to the rowdy scene going on ahead, kicking up dust clouds all the way. All I could think of is how badly Boyd got beat last time.

“...Give it back!” Boyd shouted as I closed in. “You'll hurt her!”

“Do you love your little rat? Is it your girlfriend?” Herschell said with the voice of his that was still half-entering puberty and breaking during every sentence. He stood, his pimply and crater-filled face grinning, with cupped hands held high above his head. “Huh-uhh! Laugh with me guys!”

His friends, if you would call them that, surrounded him. Having got the hint they all laughed out mockingly in unison.

“Give her back!” Boyd roared between clenched teeth. He might have been the younger of the two, though he resembled a lion right then. “One last warning.”

Shaun, a brown haired boy and one of Boyd's closest friends, stepped forward. “Really Herschell, give it back! It's a living animal! I know you're sick, but not that sick!”

The lowlife's grin became even bigger. “I don't understand why you doofuses care about this rat. It's a disgusting pest! I've hated seeing him playing with it all this time. Let me guess... all of you gay for it or something?” Herschell and his gang all burst into laughter again. There were five behind him. I didn't know any of them except by sight, though they were all in eighth grade and, while the two rival groups were evenly matched in numbers, much bigger than the boys in fifth grade Boyd led.

Up until now, I stood off from the center of where this was happening confused and silent without any idea what to do. But I realized I had to do something. Events were spiraling out of control fast, especially when Herschell started shaking his hands. I turned to Anita, “You've got to do something. He's your brother. Are you going to let him hurt it?”

She nodded and confidently stepped towards him with hands on her hips. “Herschell! What are you doing? You can't do that! I'm going to tell mom if you don't give it back right now.”

“Uhh... sis? What the hell are you doing here? Let me guess, Boyd's you write about in your stupid diary that you're in love with?”

Her bottom lip began instantly trembling. He clearly knew where to hurt her.

“...Yeah I read it, shit ass. Gonna try and stop me? Try it. I'll tell everyone here how you peed the bed until you were eight!” He cackled again with laughter, not giving a damn about the secret he revealed.

Tears filled Anita's eyes as she quickly tried to wipe the embarrassment away. She stammered, “How... How could you?”

Herschell snickered again, which was enough to set Anita off. Her face flooded with tears and she ran back across the dusty field as quickly as her legs could carry her. From that day until I lost contact with her, she kept a complex about what he revealed. Always convinced that people used that bed wetting story behind her back.

“Make you feel big?” Boyd, angrier than ever, paced slowly towards the bigger boy. “What a way to treat your sister bully.”

“You her boyfriend then, pissant? If you two get married don't expect me at the wedding.
Huh-huh-huh
!”

Shaun, flanking Boyd, tried to bring things to an end. “Haven't you done enough? How much further are you going to try and take this?”

Herschell furrowed his brow and thought. “No! I don't think I have. I still remember the beating I had to give your boyfriend there last year, and it still pisses me off.”

All of us gasped.

Herschell raised his big cupped hands above his head and the glimmer in his cruel eye told everyone what he had planned. He wanted to dash it on the floor. The situation left everyone uneasy and no one moved.

Except me. The worry about Boyd's rat being hurt moved me into action.

“Please put it down. You don't have to hurt it.” I don't know why I did it, I'm not courageous by any stretch of the imagination, but I did. I tiptoed forward slowly, not wanting to set him off. Herschell was bad and I wouldn't have put anything past him.

“Now you're getting involved? My sister's friend? You know she hates you right?”

I didn't let his words phase me. I raised my palms up and spoke calmly, “You're better than this, Herschell. You don't want to hurt a living creature, do you?”

He paused before replying, “Yes! I hate Boyd and this rat!”

“It's not going to work. He's an animal. He ain't got no brains,” Boyd, now standing behind me, whispered while fighting back the urge of every muscle in his body to attack. Throughout all of this, his eyes locked aggressively with his enemies.

“I can hear you! Fuck you, Boyd!” The groups around the three of us drew breath stunned. Cursing like that wasn't exactly common at our age.

But I tried again. “Please Herschell. Please... What caused this? Isn't there anything we can do?”

“Yeah. Boyd can lean over, pucker up and kiss my fucking ass!”

Boyd snapped back instantly, “Fuck you, Herschell!”

Instantaneously, the eighth grader's cupped hands shot towards the floor and released. Straight away the groans of disgust roared from Boyd's group.

Then, I saw it. Boyd's poor rat. It lay curled up on the dusty dirt. Its little gray body twitching. Blood poured from its open mouth and broken ears. Disgusted, I couldn't look at it for more than an instant and turned away.

Boyd stared down at what was left of his pet unblinking. I stepped towards him, but, as quick as my movements were, his were quicker. Like a raging bull he charged towards Herschell. The fact his opponent was older and easily outweighed him by fifty pounds didn't matter. Connecting with a gigantic shove, he launched himself on the bigger boy. Herschell fell pleading. Though that didn't stop Boyd. He began pounding a horrified and pleading face. Each blow crashed down with an almighty thud in the way only skin on skin contact can.

Herschell's friends, and now you certainly wouldn't call them that, ran at the first sign of trouble. Each fled, chased by Shaun's hollering and seething gang, into the distance without caring one bit about the fate of their leader.

All the while, I remained fixed staring down at the back of Boyd's body while he punched.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
His arm lifted, strained and then shattered down quicker than a piston. Punch, punch, punch. I'll always remember the noise of his fist hitting Herschell's flesh.
Thud! Thud! Thud!

Shortly the other boys returned had the sense to pull Boyd off. They gripped him by the underarms and his body still clawed out like a wild beast. He fought, shook and kicked to get back at the kid who killed his rat, but his friends tried to restrain him. I had never seen him like that before or since, so uncontrolled with rage. The look of anger in his eyes wasn't of this world. I honestly believe that if they weren't there he would have killed him.

“Get off me! Get off me!” Boyd screamed, spit flying from his mouth, as they struggled to restrain him. “Let me up! I want him!”

“Calm down! He's had enough!” Shaun gripped his face in his hands and tried to calm him. “Stop! It's done. You've got him.”

“He's right!” Adam, a dark haired boy who ran with them, urged while pressing his whole weight down onto a fighting arm. “Stop or you'll murder him! You want that?”

Boyd growled as he struggled to get free. It was as though all humanity left him.

Three feet from me Herschell groaned. He rolled onto his side and spat out three bloody teeth into the dirt. Crimson seeped from his mouth all the way down his chin and neck. Without saying a word Herschell fled the scene. He stumbled away looking like he would fall with every step.

The image was absolutely gruesome. I cupped my hands over my mouth to stop myself from barfing. Seeing Boyd's rat splattered against the dirt terrified me, though this chilled me even more. Seeing someone, even someone you dislike, pouring with blood brought the violence of the world home. I couldn't help but picture myself dripping with blood.

Adam called me over, “Cassie! Think you can do anything?”

I ran and knelt next to Boyd. Taking his head in my hands I ran my fingers through his hair. “It's OK. He's run away. It's OK...”

He inhaled and exhaled deeply in my grasp. With each stroke of my affection the blind rage began leaving him. His struggling eased. His arms and legs fell limp in his friends arms. His friends let go and I clasped him tight. Free he gripped my knees and hugged me tight. Before I noticed he was crying, the dampness of his tears wet my leg.

“Why? Why did he have to hurt her?” Boyd asked, whispering deep into my chest.

I sat and stroked his blond hair. I didn't know what to say. Why do people do these things? Even as an adult I still don't know. As a child it's beyond your comprehension completely.

Then, as abruptly as his tears started, they stopped. Boyd stood, using my shoulder or support, and walked towards his rat. He held its limp body delicately in his palms and began walking from the group.

Shaun called out, “Hey! You OK? Where are you going?”

“I need to be alone...” Boyd, still angry, shouted back.

His friends stood around without a clue of what to do. I couldn't blame them. A lot had happened in the last few minutes to leave them shell shocked.

I spoke up, “I'll go...”

I followed Boyd's path. Followed him to the old drive-in theater screen. Up the ladder to the top of the old screen. Followed him to across to where he sat alone looking down at his deceased rat lying in his lap. His knuckles were ripped, bruised and bloody from the fight. But he seem to didn't care. Nothing mattered, except cradling his pet.

We sat up there talking all those years ago until the sunset and then the stars came out in the sky. When it got too late we carried his rat to his yard and gave it a burial no rat has ever seen. We both prayed, gave it a great service and then made a tombstone out of sticks.

Boyd loved his rat friend. He really did. Herschell shouldn't have done that. Boyd, at his young age, shouldn't have seen that.