Riding Blind

Chapter 4

The bar was busy. I felt like I didn't stop moving from the moment I clocked in. It was filled with men of different ages who dressed very similar to Jeff, and they all swarmed him. The information Joanie gave me earlier began to make sense. They were all intimidating, tattooed up, and quiet vulgar. The other customers obviously didn't seem to be bothered by it. I'm sure this was a norm for them. Also, they probably would never have the guts to tell them to quiet down.

Every now and then, I'd glance over. Jeff wasnt starring at me all night like he had been the past week. However, he would occasionally look over at me. Even though he seemed to be a little preoccupied with a blonde woman, who left nothing to the imagination, hanging all over him.

The night seemed to drag on, even though it was busy.  "I swear. You seem to be my golden ticket or somethin" Joanie said. I smiled at her statement. "I'm sure it's not me. Just coincidence." I answered back. She lightly hit me with the hand towel she had been holding over her shoulder. "Doubt it. When you're not here, people ask if you're coming back. And the DR's don't usually stick around this long when they come. So clearly, they're being told they have to." Her words stunned me for a moment. Why would they be staying around for me? I glanced over once again at their group. At that moment, Jeff's eyes locked with mine. As they did, I saw him lightly push the blonde bimbo away from his shoulder.  She gave him a dirty look and walked in the other direction towards a different member of their group. I wanted to laugh, but decided to look away and chuckle secretly to myself.

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"You sure you don't want a ride? I don't have a problem with it." Joanie offered as she closed and locked the back door. "No it's fine. I'll be ok." I said goodnight to her and headed towards the front of the bar to the sidewalk. 

Just as I started making my way towards the direction of my house, I was stopped by a deep voice. "Where do you think you're going?" I turned my head around to see Jeff perched against his bike, smoking a cigar. Arms folded. "I'm going home." I answered back.  He took another puff then threw it into the street away from him. "Thought I told you you shouldn't be walking these streets at night?" His question was more demanding than anything else. I rolled my eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Again, I don't exactly have wheels at the moment." My words sounded a lot snottier than I had anticipated. But I was tired and done with the day. "So my wheels aren't good enough for you anymore?" He asked, walking towards me.

My heart stopped a moment. I wasn't sure exactly what I was feeling. Fear? The man towered over me. His eyes, body structure, voice. Everything was intimating. I didn't think he would hurt me or anything. That wasn't the fear I had. It was something different entirely and I couldn't put my finger on it. It made me uneasy.  "I didn't say that. But I assumed you'd be preoccupied with a blond this late at night." I wanted that statement to stay in my head. Not come out of my mouth.

He walked even closer to me to the point I could feel his breath on my face. He huffed with a devilish smile. "Girls like that aren't the kind I deal with after hours." He said as his eyes burned into mine. Yup. This is without a doubt fear. I said to myself. "Come on. I'll take you home." He turned and began to walk towards his bike. Like a lost puppy, I followed. I was afraid of what telling him no would do.

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We pulled up to my driveway and I jumped off the bike fast, practically throwing the helmet at him.  I walked up to my door and began to unlock it. I could hear him walking up the stairs behind me. "You gonna invite me in?" He asked as I cracked the door open. I turned to look at him. "I don't know. Is this one of those things where if I invite you in once, you can come kill me in the middle of the night? Like a vampire or something?" I couldn't believe I was actually giving this grenade of a man an attitude.  He laughed and walked over to my door and pushed it open with his strong hand. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already." He said as he let himself into my living room.

I walked in behind him and closed the door.  He glanced around the room at the boxes I had yet to unpack. "Thought you moved here a month ago.  You plannin on not stayin long?" He asked as he opened a box that was on the coffee table. "I just haven't had a chance to really go through a lot. Not anything I don't need daily." I answered as I walked over to the couch and sat down. 

He continued looking through the box, and took out a framed photo that was on the top.  "You got a lot of friends where you came from?" He asked as he starred at the photo. I noticed he was holding the picture I took with my closest friend Trixie on her 21st birthday.  We were half gone by the time the picture was captured.  Full makeup, hair down and curly. My hair a darker red then. Hers black. We wore matching gold sequence dresses and heels that made us 3 feet taller. The memory almost put a tear in my eye.  "Not really. You don't exactly have 'friends' in Vegas." I started feeling a pain in my stomach. I clenched my fists to try and keep it in.

Jeff placed the photo back down and sat on the couch next to me.  He glared as if he was waiting for me to speak. "Why are you here?" I finally asked him.  He smiled and leaned himself back to where he was half laying down.  "Not sure how much Joanie has told you yet. But I'm assuming she finally did say something tonight by the way you're acting.  I'm here because this is my town. We don't get many outsiders moving in here. When we do, I like to know who they are, where they came from and why. Also to make sure they don't bring us any unnecessary trouble along with em."

A part of what he said made my heart drop. "So is this like some kind of an initiation thing you do? For new people? If I don't make the cut are you going to kick me out?" I said with a small laugh. His smile grew. "Not exactly. Just like to know what trouble we're getting ourselves into is all." His answer made me sigh. Joanie was wrong. This man didn't like me as she thought. He was interviewing me. Feeling me out.  I felt dumb for a second that I actually thought she could be right. But after seeing him with the blonde earlier, I should have realized.

"Life wasn't exactly easy in Vegas. I had to get out. To be honest I didn't even really know where I was going. Drove for days. Slept in my car.  Then one day I got a flat tire. Was trying to change it myself, when a really sweet old man stopped to help me. We talked for a bit, and he told me he had a house he was renting out here. So I took it as a sign." I didn't know why I was telling him all this. But I felt as if I didn't, he'd get angry. And I didn't want to see him angry.

He sat himself up and laid his arms on his knees. "Mr. Jim helped you out.  Doesn't surprise me. He's a bit of a perv to be honest." His words made me gasp. "Get the fuck out!" I laughed as I playfully pushed him.  "Seriously. If you were a man he wouldn't have gone through all the trouble. Don't get me wrong. He's a nice old man. Good man. He's harmless. But he has a thing for redheads." His words made me roll my eyes and shake my head. "Ok then, what's your excuse? Why are you fixing my car. For free. And giving me rides?" I asked.

It was silent for a moment. I thought maybe I said the wrong thing. "It's not for free. You're eventually going to help me out with something." He said as he leaned back once again.  At that moment I wanted to slap him. "Oh no. I am not some blonde bimbo who hangs on you and let's her use her as another notch on your belt. So if that's what you're thinking, I can find someone else to fix my car." I stood up from the couch and gave us some distance. I was appalled.

He stood up and walked closer to me. His eyes once again fixed on mine. He grabbed onto my jaw lightly and pulled me closer him. At that moment I was cold stiff. I didn't know what he was going to do next.

He stood there for what felt like hours. His eyes were blank. His lips inches away from mine. "That's not what I meant. And just for the record, you're not the notch kind of girl. You're the whole belt."