Rumbling Thunder, Page 4

  “Sure, Maddog,” said the tall blonde as she walked up to Rainy who had just gotten off of the motorcycle. Rainy’s legs felt wobbly. She had to move around to get the blood to flow back into her feet. The woman motioned for Rainy to follow her. And it wasn’t until that moment that Rainy knew she was in deep trouble. As she walked towards the restrooms, the other two women fell in step behind her.

  In the stall, she listened to the women talk among themselves. “Of all the bikers, she picks Maddog to take a ride with. What a stupid bitch!”

  “Yeah well, how would she know? I mean look at her, she’s just a kid.”

  “Who just stepped into a big pile of shit,” said the third woman.

  “Liz, you have such a way with words.”

  “Why thank you, Tinker.”

  Knocking loudly on the stall door, Barb yelled, “Come on bitch, we have a long trip ahead of us. And you’re slowing us down.”

  The lock on the door popped and Rainy opened the door, giving Barb a venomous glare. Rainy said sarcastically, “Well, feel free to leave without me.”

  Barb grabbed hold of Rainy’s shirt, pulling her out of the stall and slapping her across the face so hard, Rainy fell backwards, landing on the floor. “You better learn to keep your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you. Now get up.” Rainy looked up at her and wiped the blood off of her mouth. “I just did you a favor, bitch. The name of that biker out there is Maddog. And there’s a good reason he’s named that because he will kill you as well as look at you. And there are only two who are more badass than he is. And that’s Tinman, the president of our club, and Decker. He’s Tinman’s right-hand man. You want to keep breathing, you keep your smart mouth shut and your eyes open. And if you get into trouble, don’t ask us to help. We can’t help you!” Barb then reached down, grabbing Rainy by her right arm, helping her up. Then she pulled at the door and gave Rainy a hard shove out into the parking lot.

  Rainy stumbled and almost fell, but someone caught her. He pushed her back on her feet and held her in place while she regained her balance. Rainy looked at the man. He was about forty and not a bad looking man. He took her face in his hands and studied it. “Who hit her?” When no one said anything, he yelled, “Someone better start talking.” Still, no one said anything. Maddog came out of the restroom. “You hit her?”

  “No, Tinman, she’s not my bitch. I was just giving her a ride.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you morons not to beat up the merchandise until I see it first? You guys know the rules of our club, and only if I can’t sell them that the initiation still happens.”

  Maddog grinned at him. “Yes sir, Tinman. Initiation if you can’t sell them.”

  “Stop grinning, not here. When we get to Gulfport.”

  “Sure thing,” Maddog agreed and cranked up his motorcycle, revving it up. Then he pulled up in front of Rainy and said, “Get on.”

  It was an order, she knew and wondered if they would kill her if she ran. And she already knew the answer. She figured she had to be smart about this. She would wait until they got where they were going. And then she would bolt at the first opportunity she got.

  As they pulled out into the highway, her skin started to burn as the sun came out from behind the clouds. She had no protection from the sun or the wind. And she felt raw and sore from riding on the back of a motorcycle. She had to look like the odd man out, dressed in jean shorts and a yellow tank top with red sneakers. Her hair was wind-blown, and thank goodness she wore it short. She was a natural blonde, but she dyed her hair jet black just to make her father angry. But angry or not, she would give anything to see him right now, to be back at the studio working on the dance. Not on the back of a motorcycle with a man who might kill her, just to do it. She knew that all bike clubs weren’t bad. But just the name of the club, The Screaming Bandits, sounded as if they couldn’t be trusted. And trust them she did not. She had a feeling things were about to get even worse then they were. God help me get away from them, she prayed.

  ***

  Decker came from the back of the pack to get up next to Tinman. He always rode beside the president to protect him. He was appointed his bodyguard and had been for over a year now. And he had been in this club for three years. Starting as a prospect, but was voted in less than a year later. So there were a lot of the older bikers who didn’t care for the fact that Tinman trusted him over them. The fact that they hated him didn’t bother him in the least because he hated them just as much, maybe even more. How he became Tinman’s bodyguard was because of a brawl the bikers got into. It started because of a woman named Apple who was coming on to him, and her Oldman Toons didn’t like it. So he shoved Decker. Decker pushed him back, and the fight broke out. Because he was the newest member of the club, all the other bikers jumped on him. But in the end, Decker was the only one still standing. And not only did Tinman give him the job of bodyguard, but Decker is second in command even though there is no VP in the club yet. If that didn’t rile the bikers up, nothing would. He’s had a few more altercations with his fellow bikers afterwards, but nothing major. All of them wanted to prove themselves to Tinman. And here he was, and he didn’t give a hoot what Tinman thought of him.

  As he was riding in the outside lane, he noticed that Star was riding in the sidecar of Tattoo’s bike. And not with her old man Maddog. At first, he didn’t think too much about it, not until he caught up with Maddog. There was another young woman riding on the back of his Harley- Davidson. Where did she come from? He’d never seen her before today. And he already knew Maddog more than likely took the young woman against her will. And if that was the case, it wasn’t a good thing. He would have to talk to Tinman about the girl. As he came up beside them, he knew the girl was no biker chick. Unlike Star, who was slim and had bright red hair, this young woman had black hair and she was larger than Star. Her skin was so burned, it looked purple. Larger than Star, but she wasn’t that big. She was looking down. More than likely trying to keep the wind out of her eyes.

  Decker continued towards the front of the pack to be next to Tinman. Along the way, he pulled up next to Handlebars and Liz. Handlebars raised his hand and using his thumb, pointed behind him. Decker acknowledged with a nod the fact that Maddog had a new woman. He wondered how Star felt about her man having a new woman. But why would he care? And the fact was, he didn’t.

  Their next stop would be a biker bar in North Carolina called The Pit, not far from the border of South Carolina. There, they would grab a bite to eat and get some sleep. They still had a long way to go to get to Gulfport Mississippi. That’s where they would unload the guns. They would stop in New Orleans and pick up the Semi truck full of drugs. After the pick up, they would head for Florida. That’s where they would spend the night. Afterwards, they would head back to Atlanta to the clubhouse after the drug deal was sealed. That was home base. He never figured he would end up in Georgia. But this had been his home for the past three years now.

  An hour later, they pulled into the parking lot of The Pit. After dismounting his bike, Decker went to talk to Tinman. “We should pull into Gulfport about five in the morning,” said Decker.

  “Maybe we should camp out tonight. I can deal better with a clear head.”

  “Okay, the same place as before?”

  “Yeah, it’s just a campground near the river. No one should bother with us there,” Tinman reasoned.

  It took a while for all the bikers to catch up and pull into the parking lot. Decker turned towards Handlebars and nodded. Decker knew that Handlebars knew exactly what he needed him to do. Keep a lookout and keep him informed as to what was going on.

  As soon as Tattoo pulled into the lot, Star pulled herself out of his sidecar. She stood and waited for Maddog to show up. It wasn’t long before he pulled into the lot with the girl still on the back of his bike. Star walked over to Maddog. “You like that bitch more than me?”

  Maddog laughed. “No, she’s just a piece of ass. You’re my old lady.” He gr
abbed her ass, and Star giggled. Even if Maddog wanted the girl he couldn’t have her unless Tinman said it was alright.

  Taking a cable tie from his saddlebags, Maddog grabbed hold of Rainy’s wrist before she could get off the bike. He jerked her off the seat and tied her right hand to the folks of the front wheel of his motorcycle. “You pull this bike over, and I’ll kill you dead!” he stated.

  ***

  Rainy tried to stand up so she could move about. But the way he tied her, she had to sit down on the gravel parking lot. That’s when she saw the back of the leather vest that Maddogs girlfriend was wearing. It read Screaming Bandits, Est. 1979 property of Maddog. Oh brother! Rainy was thinking. What is that all about? Even if she knew she was naive about bike clubs, she didn’t think you could own another person.

  She tried to get conformable, but gravel was hard to sit on. Wind beaten, tired and hungry, she wanted nothing more than to return to her father’s house. Even as much as she had hated being there this summer, right now, she couldn’t think of a better place to be. And she had a bad feeling things were just about to get worse.

  Hearing a noise, she looked through the spokes to see an older biker messing with something on his motorcycle. He was tall and had long hair that was in a braid that hung down his back. He looked to be in his late fifties. He wore a handlebar mustache. He was talking to someone, only no one seemed to be there.

  Rainy continued to watch this biker, and she wondered if maybe he was left outside just to make sure she didn’t get free. Just at that moment, something wet and cold touched her arm and she screamed. It was a small dog, she realized, but before she got a good look at the small dog, he ran off. Then she heard the biker calling the dog. She turned back to watch. The little dog, who didn’t quite look right, wouldn’t go near the biker. And Rainy could tell the tiny dog was scared of the guy. When the man moved towards him, the small dog cowered down. The biker picked the dog up and was scolding him for something. Who knows, maybe the dog peed on the tire of his motorcycle. Then the biker set the dog down and stomped his foot, and the little dog scurried away. Coming to a stop in the middle of the parking lot, Rainy turned her body so she could watch the dog. He still had his tail between his legs and acted as if he wanted to go back towards the biker. But he stood his ground as if he was waiting to be called. Rainy was trying to decide what kind of dog he was. He looked like a Yorkie, only he was missing most of his fur. It looked as if he had been badly burned. Rainy wanted to cry just thinking about the dog getting hurt that way.

  A tall, slim woman she recognized from the restroom walked out of the bar and handed the biker a bag with what Rainy figured was food. They talked for a minute and then the biker walked over to a motorcycle and straddled the seat. Opening the bag, he pulled out a hamburger and began to eat. Rainy could smell the food and her mouth started to water. The woman then walked towards her. Pulling out a knife from the pocket of her jeans, she cut Rainy free. Her salt and pepper hair was pulled back with a leather braid. She wore no shirt, just a leather vest. Rainy wanted to see the back of her vest to see who she belonged to. She looked to be in her fifties, but still very pretty, with a body like a twenty-year-old. Rainy noticed that she was taller than her own five foot four inches. Maybe five foot eight. And she had no doubt she was a badass just by the way she carried herself.

  She led her to the restrooms that were outside, then opened the door for Rainy to enter. And as soon as she did, the woman shut the door behind her and waited outside. Rainy took her time in the restroom. And why not? She wasn’t in a hurry to get tied up again. Finally, she decided to open the door. But when she did, no one was waiting for her. Rainy slowly stepped out of the restroom and looked around. Even the biker was gone. She looked around, looking for the fastest exit out of there. However, there was nowhere to hide. Nothing but fields around the bar. Not one tree anywhere. Then she spied an old pickup truck about fifty feet to the south. Maybe she could hide in the bed of the truck. Even if she knew they would find her, she had to try. She started to move towards the old Ford pickup.

  “Hey— where do you think you’re going?” the old biker yelled. Rainy froze in place. “Get back over there and wait for Liz!” he demanded. Rainy thought about running. But he had a motorcycle. She turned and went back to stand in front of the outside restroom, not wanting to get beat up. Her lip still hurt from earlier when the biker chick slapped her. Back at the restroom, she stood, leaning against the building in the shade. Rainy wasn’t sure how hot it was, but she felt like it had to be in the hundreds. Liz came walking out of the bar with a bag and a bottle of water. She thought she was going to join the biker and eat. But she kept on walking towards her. When Liz got to the bike that Rainy had been tied to, she motioned for Rainy to come to her. When Rainy was in front of her, she sat the bag and bottle of water on the seat of the motorcycle. But never said a word to her.

  “Wow, it must be time to feed the prisoner,” said Rainy with an attitude.

  “I’m only going to tell you this one time. Keep your mouth shut,” Liz stressed.

  “Why should I? Like, what do you care?”

  Liz looked right at her. “I’m not in the mood to dig a grave today. And if you think what Barb said to you was a joke, it wasn’t. Killing someone means nothing to them. They’ll dump your body in a ditch somewhere and keep on going.”

  “Well, I guess you won’t have to dig a grave then will you?”

  Liz shook her head in disbelief. “I won’t be able to help you. I want you to know that. You make them angry and they will hurt you. Now just think before you say anything.”

  “What are they going to do with me?”

  “Sell you.”

  Rainy’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?” she cried.

  Liz gave her a sympathetic look. “That’s what they did with the last girl one of them picked up.”

  “Who are they going to sell me to?”

  “A drug dealer or whoever will pay the most for you. That is after Maddog has had his fill of you. He is the one who picked you up, so he gets to play first.”

  “What do you mean— play?”

  “It won’t be long before you find out. Tell me something, you seem like a smart kid. Why would you get on the back of a motorcycle with a man you don’t know?”

  Rainy didn’t answer her. She was thinking about what she meant by play. And she wasn’t looking forward to finding out either.

  Reaching into the bag, Rainy pulled out the hamburger and began to eat. After she swallowed, she looked up at Liz and said, “Thanks.”

  Liz never said any more. She stood with her back to Rainy waiting for her to finish eating so she could tie her back to the motorcycle. Then Liz walked back into the bar. Rainy wondered if the other bikers had put her up to feeding her or if Liz did it on her own. She didn’t seem to be as hateful as the others and seemed to be looking out for her in some way. But why would she?

  Chapter 6

  Camp

  For the next hour, Rainy watched as the sun went down. It was welcome. She was so sunburned and knew she would be hurting the next day.

  It wasn’t long before the bikers filed out into the parking lot. Star walked hand in hand with Maddog to the motorcycle. “I’ll see you at camp, babe,” he said and leaned in to give her a kiss.

  “Sure, honey. I’ll get the tent ready for us.”

  “You do that, and go catch Tattoo before he heads off without you.”

  “Okay.” She beamed at him. She then turned and looked at Rainy. “What you looking at bitch?” Rainy looked away.

  Maddog took a knife from his pocket and cut her hand free from the folk of his bike, jerking her to her feet. Straddling the leather seat of his Harley, he slid forward onto the gas tank to give Rainy room to get on. Rainy hesitated, but the evil glare he gave her had her climbing onto the back of the seat. She didn’t want to get beat. She was already hurting from her sunburn. Maddog gunned the motorcycle, and Rainy instinctively grabbed on to his waist and held on
.

  For the next hour, she ducked her head behind Maddog to block the wind. After an hour on the highway, Rainy could feel the motorcycle slow down. She looked up over Maddogs shoulder and saw the other bikers ahead of them turning into a large field. She could see tents and a small building in the distance.

  When Maddog finally came to a stop, Rainy wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do. She stayed on the bike. Opening his saddlebags, he pulled out another cable tie. God, how many does he have? Not crazy about being tied to his bike again, she begged, “Please don’t tie me up. I won’t go anywhere.” But her words fell on deaf ears as he grabbed her right hand and tied her to the folk on the front of his Harley once again.

  Well at least there is no gravel this time, just dirt, Rainy thought as she did her best to get comfortable. But she wasn’t doing a good job of it. What she really wanted was a long hot bath and her own bed to sleep in.

  It wasn’t long before a large box truck pulled into the camp. The bikers seemed to gather around the driver as he exited the truck. She heard them call him Keys, and they all seemed to be happy to see the man. It didn’t take long before Rainy understood why they were happy to see him. He opened the back of the truck and the bikers climbed in. They came back out with sleeping bags and tents. After they all got what they needed, two of the bigger guys came out with a large cooler and opened the lid for the bikers to grab a beer.

  It wasn’t long before they had a large campfire going. Rainy couldn’t see them from where she was still tied to the bike. But she noticed two of the bikers standing off to the side. One she recognized as the biker she’d seen from her dad’s studio. The man she felt was the best looking guy in the world. No, she didn’t feel that way anymore. After all, she was their prisoner. The other biker was the older biker. She’d heard the others call him Handlebars. They seemed to be scanning the area. Then the little dog ran up to the younger biker and stood up on his hind legs and was begging. Handlebars stomped his foot, and the tiny dog ran off with his tail between his legs.