Chapter 15
The Young Ones
Marlow sat beside Non, trying to figure out what was going on with the young man. The teen was skinny with long smooth black hair that hung down to his collar. He had earrings running up one ear and a shiny stainless steel nose ring. His clothing was black and he’d painted his nails black as well. Marlow wasn’t sure what to make of him.
“So, what made you boys think of starting you own club?”
Without looking up from his computer, he mumbled. “Wasn’t there in the beginning. Don’t know.”
“What exactly do you do?”
“Find things. Organize stuff. I do what I’m told.”
“Aren’t you a wealth of information?”
“Like to be left alone.”
“Well, I got questions…”
“I’ll answer them. Leave Non alone. He’s not doing well right now.”
Marlow jerked his chin towards the door and Bull Dog followed him out. The boy’s slight form, though smaller in stature, seemed more resilient and robust than Non’s who was several years older.
Marlow followed the youngster out to the garage. Bull Dog leaned against a wall, looking over the motorcycles. “You keep pushing him and he’ll pop. Usually takes three of us to hold him down when that happens.”
“They make medications for those kinds of problems.”
“Why should he take meds just so people can fuck with him?”
“You got a foul mouth for a little kid.”
“It’s easier to just ease up on him and give him time. For some reason he doesn’t just go from one activity to anther like the rest of us. I don’t know to explain it but he has to have in between time. Jaden did a big bunch of research and told us all to stop expecting him to run on our schedule. We’re supposed to warn him two or three times before we do something new. Don’t know how or why but it works like a charm.”
“Except when a bunch of bikers come to his clubhouse and snatch him up?”
“Hammer, freaked him out. I think he was too afraid to say no.”
“Has he ever hurt anyone?”
“No. Sometimes we call his brother if things get bad.”
“He a freak too?”
“Yep. We don’t use the word freak. Some people call them goths. We don’t call them anything but their name. They seem to like that better.”
“You boys got yourself into some real shit.”
“Yea, well when we first started talking about having our own club it was just for funsies. We were like eight or something. After talking about it for a couple of years and fantasizing about how it would be, we realized it was practically done.”
“So what? Last year you two just wrote it all up?”
“Me, Hawk and Copperhead. He wanted a family and we gave him one.”
“Where’d he come from?”
“Right down the street. His father died in Afghanistan. His mom took some pills few months later. He’s been living under a bridge. Life’s been hard on him. People have done things to him. Things he doesn’t like to talk about, so don’t make him talk about that stuff. It makes him real sad.”
“Cuts on himself when he’s sad, does he.”
“Twinkie made him promise he won’t anymore. Now he just picks at scabs and cleans his nails.”
“Jesus, this chick has the whole lot of you whipped.”
“Hawk says we’re liked the lost boys. None of us have any mothers, except me and she works every single day of the week to keep things going since dad passed. Twinkie’s our Wendy.”
“Shit, that’s kind of cute.”
“Whatever. We done here?”
“Ya, for now. Why don’t you call Non’s brother and see if he wants to crash here for a few weeks. It’s better than the shelter and I’ll clear them out a room.”
“He’d probably like that. Sometimes the other people at the shelter cause trouble and steal their stuff. You makin’ room for Copperhead?”
“Yep. I moved a couple of whores out to give them each their own room. Trust me, it ain’t no hardship. Those women like to hang out together anyway.”
The boy stared at him. “You mean rooms with doors that lock and real beds.”
Marlow nodded.
“Good, cause they ain’t had that in a nice long while.”
“Don’t worry, Dog. We take care of our own around here.”