Riding Blind

Chapter 3

We stopped at the front of my house. I made my way off the bike and handed him the helmet he let me use. "Thanks again" I said to him. He took his helmet off and smiled at me. "You going to be able to get a ride into work tonight?" He asked. His question made me stop breathing for a moment. How did he know I worked tonight? Get it together Mina. It's a small town. And he's seen you at the bar. Of course he knows you work tonight. You seem to work every night. "It's fine. It's not that far of a walk from here." I answered back.

He suddenly stood up off his bike and faced me with his arms folded in front of him. "I know you're new here. So I'll let you in on a little bit of information. A girl like you should not be walking the streets of this town alone at night. Especially near Joanie's." His words made me sigh out loud. "Well seeing as you seem to know so much about me, more than I'm even aware of, then you would know it's not like I have anyone to call and ask for a ride." I spit out. I was beginning to get a bit annoyed. "You know me." He said bluntly. He glared down at me, waiting for words to exit my mouth. "I don't know you at all." I said with a small laugh. I wasn't lying. I had just moments before learned his name.

He released his arms from their fold to place his hands in his pockets. "Well that there's a shock. I'm surprised no one has told you about me yet. Especially Joanie." His words made me confused. Was he important around town or something? "Ummm no. Should she have?" I asked. He laughed loudly. "You'll learn sooner rather than later. Trust me. But in the meantime, I'll give you a lift tonight. I'm going there anyway." He said as he sat back down on his bike. I shook my head a little without him seeing. Yeah, you'll probably be there to just stare at me all night again. I said to myself. I watched as he drove away loudly down the street. Once he was gone, I could feel myself start to breath again.

*****************************************

We pulled up to Joanie's 10 minutes before my shift. Handing him back his helmet, I thanked him for the ride. "I'll see you in there" he said back to me as he made his way through the front door. I went around to the back to enter through the employee entrance.

Walking in, I noticed Joanie in the back. "Hey girly. Heard you had some car trouble today. Wasn't sure if you were gonna make it in." She said as she filled a bowl with lemons. I walked over to her and took over the task. "News travels fast around here I take it?" I laughed. She smiled at me and shook her head. "You're not in big city anymore babe. This is a small town. You take a shit. We know about it by supper time." She was obviously not lying.

Joanie had become the only friend I had around town. She was the owner of the bar, but also worked to the bone in it as well. When she interviewed me, I wasn't even sure she'd hire me at first:

"You sure you want to work here? You're a bit over qualified. Being a bartender in Vegas for 5 years. You need to know you won't get paid that kinda money here. You were probably making over a grand a night." She had said. I was worried that I wasn't going to get it. "I'm very sure. And I'm aware that things here are cheaper, so is the pay. But I don't have any other options. And this is really all I know how to do. And seeing as I'm new here, I need something. I promise, I'll do whatever you ask for however much. Just please give me a chance." I plead

She obviously gave me the shot. And she didn't regret it one bit.

"How did you get here tonight?" She asked. I cleared my throat a bit. "Some guy named Jeff gave me a ride in on his bike. He's the one who is apparently helping me out with fixing my car." I answered. I noticed Joanie stopped in her tracks. I glanced up to see a stone cold look on her face. "Jeff?.....wow. That's a first for him. He's never nice to anyone. Except his boys. And me of course, but he doesn't have a choice ever since Don and I got together, seeing as they're boys and all." Her answer confused me a bit. "Ummm.....should I be worried or something? Who is he?" I wasn't sure I even wanted that answer.

Joanie put the bowl on the counter and grabbed another to fill limes in. "I wouldn't really say you should worry so much. But, there are some things you need to know about this town. I probably should have told you sooner, but we've been so unusually busy ever since you got here, I just haven't had the chance." She stated. I stopped what I was doing and turned to her to give her my full attention. "What kind of stuff?" I asked. She too stopped her bowl filling and turned to me. "Look. We may here all seem like typical country nobodies to outsiders. But we have dangerous secrets too. This town is run by one group. The Devils Rage. DR's we call em. They're a pretty decent sized biker gang here in town. They're sorta our unofficial law enforcement. Only they won't bring you jail. Unless you call your grave a jail." Her words made me stop breathing. "Are they....dangerous?" I asked, my voice shaking a bit. She laughed at me. "Yes they are. Very. But only if you're on their bad side. So don't go there." She said. I wasn't sure if getting on the back of Jeff's bike was such a good idea anymore. "So what about this Jeff guy? He's apart of this gang? He's been in this bar all week, and has just been starring at me. Hasn't said a word to me until I ran into him at the corner store earlier today." I was starting to worry. My anxiety was almost through the roof.

Joanie picked up the bowl again and continued. "Jeff isn't just a member. He's their leader. Anyone has a problem in town, if they get Jeff on it, it gets solved. No one round here is stupid enough to mess with him. He would kill em with his bare hands. No lie." My heart dropped straight to the floor. I couldn't believe my luck. "So then why is he being nice to me? Why is starring at me all the time?" I panicked. She stepped closer to me and placed her hand on my shoulder to ease my worries. "It's ok hun. He's never nice to nobody. If he's being nice to you, then I'm gonna guess he likes you. And the starring. That could mean one of three things. Either you owe him money, you messed with one of his boys, or he wants you. But he doesn't usually stare at girls. They usually come to him and he just entertains them. So......him starring at you like that? I don't know. I'll ask Don. But yeah. I'm gonna say he likes you baby."

Her explanation eased my brain a bit. So he wasn't a creepy stalker. However, he was very dangerous according to Joanie. But I couldn't understand what he saw in me. He was sexy as hell. And a bad boy obviously. Clearly notorious around town. He could have any woman he wanted. So why me?