AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That wasn’t a very good explanation, was it?” Nikki said, laughing a little at herself. “I told you, it’s a long story.”
“Apparently so.”
“I think Kate said he’s… bipolar, maybe? Schizophrenic? Maybe both,” Nikki said, scratching at her head. “I can’t remember. He’s a lot to take but he means well.”
“He lives here now?”
“Upstairs. He doesn’t have anyone else. So the MC took him in, let him stay here.”
“That’s… that’s really good of them,” Piper said, glancing involuntarily at the cabinet behind the bar.
“Right?” Nikki said. “He’s good to have around, too. He knows how to do a lot of stuff. Devil always has him making stupid little gadgets so he can pretend like he’s James Bond. Don’t tell Devil I said that.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Piper said. “What was that part about a stripper?”
“Devil,” Nikki said, rolling her eyes. “You know how he is. Anyway, he and Pony took Benny to a strip club and introduced him to one of the dancers. And believe it or not, she actually started a whole thing with him.”
“Oh, wait. That’s why what’s her name… Eva… used to come here?”
Eva Awesome, was her stage name, but Piper thought she remembered that her real name was Megan. All blonde, all bombshell, giant implants and tattoos and mountains of confidence that came from everyone in the room staring at her on a regular basis.
She’d first come into the bar a little while back, putting on an impromptu strip tease on the bar. After the subsequent near-riot calmed down, Eva had introduced herself to Piper and insisted on chatting with her for the better part of an hour, all while still stark naked.
After that, Eva would pop in from time to time, always exchanging just a little small talk with Piper before disappearing upstairs.
“You know her?” Nikki said. “Eva?”
“I don’tknowher, know her,” Piper said. “She used to text me to let me know she was coming, so I could let her in if Iwas the only one in the clubhouse. I always assumed she was hooking up with Jocko.”
“No, no.Benny.”
“Really?” Piper said, thinking that over. “Hunh.”
“Yeah, we were all a little surprised by that one.”
“She hasn’t stopped by in a while. Eva.”
“I think she left,” Nikki said. “Like, the country, or something. Canada, maybe? I don’t know. Doing a tour of different strip clubs.”
“That would explain it.”
“Benny is not taking it well. I don’t think he ever had a girlfriend before.”
“Ouch.”
“Anyway, I stopped by to make sure he was eating,” Nikki said. “I mean, eating right. He’ll live on nothing but potato chips if you don’t watch him. And I think Devil and Pony are coming soon to take him to one of his doctor’s appointments.”
Piper paused, had to fight herself to keep from glancing at the cabinet behind the bar again. The ball of self-hatred she already had from planting the heroin was growing larger by the second.
“You guys really look after him, hunh?” she finally said.
“We have to,” Nikki said with a shrug. “He’s our family now. You have to look out for your people, you know? If you don’t take care of your people, what good are you?”
The words felt like a fist rammed into Piper’s stomach, where the growing ball of self-hatred kept getting bigger and bigger.
“It’s not what you would expect, with outlaw bikers, is it?” Nikki said.
“No,” Piper said, her voice a little hollow. “No, it is not.”
