Seth (7 page)

The Good…

Sunday night finds me at The Golden Penny - a nice,
semi-upscale bar and eatery on the other end of town. The plan was for Molly to
meet me here for dinner and drinks. The problem is, she called in and cancelled
on account of a bad head cold so that leaves me by my lonesome at the bar
getting buzzed. In fact I’m so intent on getting my buzz on that I don’t hear
the much louder buzz of motorcycles approaching from Main Street. I know that
it’s a biker type or types that just walked in the door by the complete absence
of noise in the crowded joint. I’m really not interested in the whole biker
element so I don’t even bother to look up when an obvious biker takes a stool
near mine.

“Give her another of what she’s having.” A voice says to
the bartender. “She looks like she needs it.”

Now that’s enough to take offense on. I swivel around to
give Mr. Nosey an ear full when I get an eye full. Sitting on the stool next to
me is none other than Seth of the Soul Eaters MC. Why do I keep running into
the guy? Not that I’m complaining…not tonight at any rate. I had Mr. Right last
night and he pretty much died on the vine so I’m open to Mr. Wrong tonight.

I take the drink offered, take a long drink, wipe my
mouth and thank him.

“You’re very welcome.” He replies.

The way he talks is so strange. Looking at him in his
outlaw biker garb and you’d expect every other word out of his mouth to be fuck
or shit or something like that. Instead he sounds like he’s had a proper
upbringing. I wonder what went wrong.

“I’m not alone.” I say to him.

“You aren’t now.” He says to me. “What happened, your
date stand you up?”

“My best friend did.” I reply.

“Some friend.” He says to me.

“Don’t be judgmental.” I reply.

“Didn’t anyone teach you how to talk to bikers?” He asks.

“Sorry, everything I know I was taught in kindergarten.”
I reply using an old saying that he’s probably never heard of.

“Well if they taught you manners I’d love to buy you
dinner.” He says.

I down my drink. “Lead the way.”

I’m not sure what to expect from having dinner with an
outlaw biker but I’m pretty damn sure it won’t be boring.

“So what’ll it be?” He asks after we’ve had some time
looking at the menus.

“I’ll take the kids happy meal.” I reply with a smile.

He laughs. An outlaw biker actually laughs at my lame
attempt at humor. This is refreshing.

We manage to banter back and forth for the next fifteen
minutes until the waiter comes. I order a pasta dish with a name I can’t
pronounce and he orders a giant steak with baked potatoes. By the time we get
our food I’m ready to start gnawing on the table cloth. I am used to
conversation while eating but the way Seth attacks his steak I know
interrupting him would be akin to treason. I decide to follow his example and I
really enjoy my dish as well. By the time we’re done my belly’s full and my
head is spinning along pleasantly. I get finished before he does so I use the
time to study him. He appears to approach everything in life much like the
steak; with great intensity and focus. I would truly hate to get on his bad
side which is exactly why we shouldn’t go any further than this tonight. I
always end up on men’s bad sides sooner or later. But before he adds me to his
list of people he’d like to rub out I need some information about my brother.

“So about the other night...” I begin.

“What other night?”

“The one where you awarded my brother membership into
your club for killing someone; that night.”

“You really think that’s all you have to do to become a
Soul Eater?”

“That’s not enough?” I ask incredulously.

“That’s not even a requirement!”

“Then why’d you give him the vest after he killed the
guy?”

“Iron Skull was a loyal and honorable prospect for nearly
two years before the fight. He was awarded membership because of his years of
loyalty and it had nothing to do with the fight. We were set to patch him in
and decided to do it the night of the fight if he won as an extra reward
basically. But I refuse to feel bad about some guy who steps in the ring and
gets paid to pummel someone. He knew the risks and was happy to take the money
for the last twenty-six fights that he did win. He was a capable competitor and
it’s too bad he lost his life doing what he loved. But, you play in the kitchen
long enough and you’re bound to get burned.”

Time to turn the heat up on mister nice outlaw guy.

“You seem to have a bit of empathy for the guy and I
don’t get it.”

“What don’t you get?”

“You’re a gun runner and drug dealer which means you
don’t care one bit for the lives of the young men and women you destroy.”

“I’m not sure where you’re getting your information but
if that was the case do you really think your brother would have spent two
years of his life trying to become a member?”

“I have no idea. Obviously I don’t know my brother
anymore. The Caleb I grew up with would not have dreamed of getting involved
with anyone who was into drugs so something certainly has changed. How’d you do
it?”

“How’d I do what?”

“How did you get my brother to compromise all his beliefs
and principles and join an outlaw organization? What could you possibly have to
offer that his family doesn’t?”

“If we’re being honest here…I didn’t even know he had a
family.”

“Everyone has a family Seth.”

“If that were the case we wouldn’t be the largest and
most powerful club in the state of California. Men come to us for family. We
take care of our own. We give them what they weren’t getting from their
families. We give them honor, loyalty, a sense of belonging, a place to go to
when everyone else is against you. We give them a sense of purpose so they’re
no longer spinning their wheels trying to find a reason for existence in the
world. You can’t put a price on those things Kim. Once you’re a brother you
suddenly have a host of brothers who would line up to die for you if needed. If
these men were getting that from their families they wouldn’t be flocking to us
for it.”

I open my mouth to say something but I am speechless. I
rack my brain trying to disprove what he’s saying but I can’t. As he continues
to talk it forces me to think of my own family’s shortcomings. My father spent
eight years in prison so he was gone from the time I was eight and didn’t come
back until I was sixteen. My brother was three years younger than me and our
father’s absence affected him the most I think. When our mother ran off with a
cop I think my brother had no choice but to go with mom because he was so young
when dad went away he felt like he really didn’t know him anymore when he got
back. Dad had changed too. Before prison he was this lighthearted carefree
spirit but prison changed all that. The man who came back to us was quick
tempered, always on edge, and just couldn’t really be there for us anymore. The
father I knew until he died fairly young was so steeped in anger and resentment
that there was little room for anything else. It didn’t help that his wife, my
mother, left him for a cop and in his eyes stole my brother from him. They used
to be very close and when Caleb left to go with my mom I don’t think he ever
got over that. I can feel my own coals of anger being stirred with memories of
the past and I really need to chase down my brother and…and I don’t know what.
We need to talk. Maybe he doesn’t even know that his father loved him. Knowing
my mother, I’m sure she probably filled his head with all kinds of lies about
my father. Those lies of course were backed up by his new perfect police
step-dad Aaron. Part of me thinks I let my brother go too easily. Maybe I
should have joined with my dad and tried to convince Caleb to stay with me and
dad, but I could also tell that he was afraid of dad too. Bottom line is, my
dad got screwed by the Watsonville police department and the new DA who wanted
to make an example out of him. She took a hard line against those who assaulted
police officers; such a hard line that even though my dad didn’t even come
close to hurting the officer and really didn’t even try, she still threw the
book at him so to speak.

I decide to share all this with Seth. I really don’t know
why I do, but I just open my mouth and it comes spilling out. I really need to
think twice before I start drinking. It always ends up with me sticking my
proverbial foot in my mouth.

“So I guess it’s safe to say you hate the cops then…”
Seth surmises.

“Well here’s the weird thing. I actually have been dating
one for like five months and it’s gotten sorta serious.”

Talk about putting my foot in my mouth! That last bit of
information I probably should have kept to myself. His face suddenly darkens
and I can see anger flash in his eyes for just an instant then it passes and is
replaced by his normal poker face.

“I don’t get it.” He finally says. “Your dad got hard
time for bogus reasons, the cops and the DA fucked him
and
your mother
ran off with one and you still date one? Are you like a saint? Or just dumb?”

I try not to take offense. “We’ll see who the dumb one is
when you’re sitting in prison for drug dealing.”

“We don’t deal drugs. We just offer a safe reliable
transportation service; nothing more.”

“Safe and reliable? How the hell do you manage that?”

He frowns for a second and I think I have crossed the
line again, then he smiles and replies.

“Yeah…I think that’s more of a second date topic, don’t
you think?”

“Second date?”

“As in this is our first date so logic dictates that the
next time will be our second date.”

“Who the hell said this was even a date?” I ask, putting
a little fire in my voice.

I can’t be dating a cop and dating an outlaw drug dealer
and gun runner. That’d be like throwing gasoline on a fire; the two don’t mix.

“It sure looks like a date Kim. We’ve got all the
elements of a first date; good food, good wine, and good getting to know you
stories. What part of that isn’t a date?”

“You think this is a date; fine!”

I pull two twenties and a ten out of my purse and drop it
into my unfinished plate of food.

“There, that should cover my half and part of the tip as
well. See you around.”

I spin on my heels and walk away in a huff. How the hell
could he have been so bold as to call our meeting a date? I don’t know what I
was thinking but I do know one thing for sure; that’s the last time I’ll ever
be caught in the same room as him!

I’m still seething when I finally pull into my driveway.
I turn the car off and extinguish my lights and am just getting out when I see
his bike right behind me blocking my exit.

“Dammit! That egotistical mother fucker!” I rage as I
stomp over to where he is sitting on his bike.

He has yet to take off his helmet so I just grab it and
do the job for him. I rip it off his head and lift it over mine to throw it to
the cement when I get the shock of my life. Sitting on the bike is none other
than my brother Caleb!