"Ok, I get it. But I'm gonna tell you this: I'm not giving up. There will come a day when you're ready to tell me and when you do, I'll be right here waiting for you."
"Still my friend?" I ask hesitantly.
"Of course. I'm a big enough man that I can get past it when a beautiful woman rejects me. I won't hold it against you."
I give him a hug and say, "You know, you really are one of the good ones."
"Damn straight I am, and it will do you well to always remember that."
"I'm sure you will make sure that I never forget it," I say and he laughs.
The rest of the members start trickling in and I realize I really need to go check on the roast that I put in the oven. I get up and proceed to the kitchen. The roast is progressing nicely, so I return to the common area.
"Hey Honey, when's dinner gonna be ready?" Rebel calls out. "I'm starving."
"Soon, Rebel. Just finishing some things up."
"It smells fucking amazing," he replies.
"Thank you."
We've finished dinner, but Ice never came back to the clubhouse. The boys are in the lounge area watching the football game and I'm at the bar, keeping their beers coming. Hawk sits up at the bar with me; I think he's staying to keep me company.
"You know, you don't have to babysit me," I say. I feel bad because I think that he's here instead of hanging with the guys because of me. "You can go watch the game with the guys."
"I can see the game just fine from here. I normally don't hang with the guys anyway."
"Yeah, I've noticed that." I pause and then casually ask, "So is Ice ok?"
"Of course he is, why do you ask?"
"Well, he never came back after he left this morning and I was worried."
"Oh, no need to worry, he just went home."
"Home? I thought this was his home." I'm completely surprised at this. I never thought he had a home other than this clubhouse.
"It is, most of the time. But he also has a house on Edinboro Lake. His kid sister is in college and when she's home on the weekends, he spends time with her."
"Oh, I didn't realize he had family."
"Just Ari, that's his sister. He's raised her since she was twelve. Tragic story, really. Several years ago on New Year's Eve, his parents went out and were hit by a drunk driver, killing them both. They not only lost their parents, but due to some bad investing by his dad, they lost all their money too. Ice was twenty-four when it all went down."
"Oh, that is tragic.”
"Yeah, but once he got hooked up with the MC, things started turning around for him. And the old ladies around here helped him a lot with Ari."
"This really is a family, isn't it?"
"Oh, darl’n, you haven't seen anything yet. But yes, we are definitely one big family." He pauses and then adds, "A lot of the members who have old ladies don't hang around the clubhouse unless we are going on a run or Ice calls church. But about once a month, we do some type of family event where we all hang out, including kids. It's chaos, but so worth it."
"Will I have to cook for this?" I ask, a bit terrified. He's making it sound like I’ll have to cook for hundreds of people, and I'm sort of freaking out right now.
"Oh Honey, no. Ice has it catered. It's much easier and everyone gets to just kick back and relax instead of work. You'll see, we've got one coming up next Saturday."
"Well, that's a relief."
"Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And you'll get to meet everyone."
"I’m looking forward to it."
The night continues on without event and by the time I get back to my room, after cleaning all day and cooking, I'm beat. After I take off my makeup and wash my face, I get ready for bed. When I lie down my body goes limp. I think about what Hawk told me about Ice; I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it would have been for him to care for a little sister while working his way up in the club. Hopefully, I will get to meet Ari and we'll be friends.
Hawk mentioned that the guys' old ladies would be at the party next week. I'm glad—I've really enjoyed hanging with the boys, but some female companionship sounds really good.
Eventually, my thoughts begin to wane and I fall fast asleep.
