Chapter Eighteen
“Hoodoo.” He wasn’t sure who he was talking to. Over the noise of the crowd it was nearly impossible to hear him. Hoodoo pressed the phone to his ear and held his hand over the other ear but even then it was a toss-up.
“Danny?”
“No, Andy!”
“The cage fight is about to start, are you two coming or not?”
“Hoodoo, she’s here!”
“Who’s where?” Hoodoo looked at Loki and shrugged. Mad-dog was still trying to not smile at Loki’s blackening eye, but it was a losing battle at best. Hoodoo and Mad-dog drove Val half mad with teasing, but they knew when to stop. With any luck, Loki was a little wiser now, too.
“Your girl!” Andy said. At least that’s what he thought he said. Andy was trying to whisper. With all the noise Hoodoo was desperately trying to block out on his end, it didn’t work out too well. The end result was muffled at best. “Her rig… outside of town, the Buffalo Chip… bike… Bandits…”
“Andy? ANDY?” Hoodoo looked at his phone. He had a good signal, four bars, but Andy wasn’t at the other end of the line anymore.
“What’s up?” Loki asked. Even Mad-dog looked more concerned than smug.
“I don’t know!” Hoodoo shouted over the crowd. “I’m not sure… Something about ‘my girl’ and ‘The Buffalo Chip.’ I couldn’t make it out.”
“Tracy?” Val piped up from where she was examining her knuckles. By all rights her hand should have been broken. She shook it off. “I thought she split?”
“Me too…” Hoodoo looked at his phone and then back at the venue. The crowds had been getting thick for the last half hour. If he left now, finding a place to watch the fight later would require binoculars at best.
On the other hand, Tracy needed him.
Mad-dog shook his head. “Dude, you have plenty of time, the fight doesn’t start for two hours yet, go check it out…”
Hoodoo paced in a small circle. “No. No, Tracy was right. We split up. Well, she did anyway, and that’s enough. This isn’t any of my business anymore, I don’ have a dog in this fight. If she’s gotta throw it all away on her cousin, then so be it.” He came to a halt, arms crossed in front of him. “My mind is made up.”
“But you’re the one that paid for the bike!” Val objected.
“Yeah…” Hoodoo said, “but if I give you a… a new pair of cruise pegs for your bike, I give them to you, I don’t tell you you can’ give them to Loki or trade em’ in for a rearview. They yours once they’re given. Hitmon, he don’ care about the money, he said I owe him nothin’, so… I got no say in what she does with the bike.”
“That’s shit, boss and you know it.”
“It is.” Hoodoo agreed. “But that’s the way the world is.” He shrugged. “I can’ just go bustin’ in like pulling a Girl Scout out of a burnin’ building. She has to handle herself.”
“Hoodoo.” Mad-dog said, grabbing the giant’s wrist. “Andy’s there. Danny must be, too. They’re deep in Bandit territory.”
Of course, that changed things completely. Hoodoo looked at his wingman. “Ok, that we should check.” He ignored the way the others exchanged glances behind him. He knew he’d been had. On the other hand, having a decent rationalization might come in handy. In case Tracy had a few things to say when he showed up.
Which of course she would.
Hoodoo grinned. Let her talk. He was a big boy. He could handle it.
He walked back to the trailer where Rocky was staying and knocked on his door. Rocky’s agent, never happy to see someone that might be a distraction to his client, very reluctantly let Hoodoo in. Especially after Rocky heard his voice and demanded that Hoodoo be allowed entrance.
“Hey, Rock,” Hoodoo said, standing on the top step. His head was already above the door jamb. Hoodoo preferred to stand outside, the trailer was painfully short and he felt like he needed to crouch just to get in it.
“Hey, Hoodoo, how’d you like to be in my corner?” Rocky said with a big gap-toothed grin. “I could use someone to watch my back and hey, maybe you can scare Krocker just by leering at him. I hear he’s a pipsqueak. Some little guy only six-feet-six or so.”
“I’m honored, Rock, but… I don’t know if I might not make it back on time. I gotta run and check something.”
“Yeah?” Rocky said, his head coming up real sharp. “What’s up? What’s more important than holding down a part of the stage while I kick someone’s ass?”
Hoodoo smiled and gave a sidelong glance at the manager. “I think I might have a problem…” He said carefully. “Like Hitmon had in New Orleans.”
Rocky looked at the manager and back at Hoodoo, “I got an exhibition in a couple hours,” he pointed out, although his tone was thoughtful. Not saying yes exactly, but at least not saying no.
“Hey, wait a minute…” The manager looked between the two of them, and scrambling to his feet, sending his chair backwards against the side of the trailer with a hard bang. His eyes were wide. Panicked. “Yeah, you do. There’s a lot of money in this exhibition, too.”
“Just be a min,” Hoodoo smiled at the manager, trying to be reassuring. Somewhat. Maybe the grin was overkill. The guy actually turned pale and he managed cage fighters.
“Alright,” Rocky stood, decision made. “I got your back.”
“Wait, WHAT?” The manager spluttered and coughed, turning his attention to the one person he thought he could still control. “You can’t run off! You can’t just…” but Rocky was already following Hoodoo through the grass and to the parking areas.
“You all have an extra helmet?” Rocky asked. As one, each of the Gilas turned slowly. Rocky was grinning from ear to ear, “just kidding!” He held up his hands in surrender. “I do need to bum a ride, though.”
“No one rides behind me,” Hoodoo said real quiet-like, “but Tracy.”
The others exchanged glances. No one said anything.
“My rear seat is… uh… busted.” Mad-dog said after a moment. “It’s starting to bust loose, I need to fix that….”
“I can…” Loki offered, but Mad-dog’s finger made him exhale forcibly when he jammed it into Loki’s rib. “I mean, it’s no good. Sorry, man.”
“Val,” Hoodoo was already on his bike. “You mind giving my friend a ride? We could use his help.”
Val blinked and looked between them. “Ah… yeah… sure… if that’s ok with you…” she stuttered, looking at Rocky.
“It’s an honor.” Rocky’s grin seemed to actually grow as he spoke to her. She fired up her bike and Rocky perched his considerable bulk behind her. It made for an interesting picture. When Val sat, there was very little room, Rocky was a thick-chested man. He gripped her hips and Hoodoo saw the sudden widening of her eyes.
Hell, this was worth the trip just to see that.
The drive to The Buffalo Chip was all part of the stream of bikes that ran up and down the city streets, but in the dirt behind the building, Hoodoo could see Tracy’s rental RV. The back end was open. The end where one might park a motorcycle.
Hoodoo cruised to a nearby park and held up a hand. The rest of The Gilas stopped and waited as he drove on.
There was Tracy, under a tree at a picnic table. Joey was with her, as were nearly a dozen Bandits. The Crocker was in the middle of the grass beside them all like a fantastical creature frozen in its tracks.
Hoodoo pulled up, Joey stood, as well the rest of the Bandits. Not one of them had a friendly face. There was one other person there, a heavily built man, young, thick black hair who moved like a brawler. Hoodoo recognized him from the fliers. Krocker. Rocky’s opponent.
“Damn it, Hoodoo!” Tracy swore as he walked up to her. “How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from me?”
Hoodoo, spread his hands and finger to show he was unarmed and not trying to start a fight. “Just here to see if you’re ok.” He looked at the table. A pen and an official looking form… yeah, sure enough that was a title there on the table. He had a pretty clear idea which bike it was for.
“Hoodoo,” Tracy said coldly. “I asked you nicely, I told you flat out. I am not going to coddle you and pretend everything is all flowers and candy like your Momma Leonna! Now go away! Let me do this in peace!”
Hoodoo blinked. She never met Momma Leonna, but if I ever gave anyone that impression about her, I was hallucinating. Hell, no one got drunk enough to have pleasant thoughts about Momma Leonna. “I understand,” he said after a minute, looking from her to the brutes surrounding her.
“Do you?” Tracy said, “really? This is the just the tip of the iceberg with us, isn’t it? There’s more, there’s always more all around us, but YOU CAN’T LET IT GO! Please, Hoodoo, just go. You’ll never see me again!”
Shit. Well that was just lovely.
“Fine.” Hoodoo said and walked back to his bike. It was the hardest ten feet he’d ever walked in his life. Every fiber of his being was screaming to go back there. He gritted his teeth, and marked each man he passed, remembering them.
When he rejoined the others he pulled them into a circle far enough away to hopefully not be too noticeable. For the first time since they’d gotten there, Hoodoo was thankful for the press of crowds all around them.
“Tracy’s in big trouble,” he told them, resisting the urge to look back the way he’d come. “Big trouble.”