Page 56 of Seasons of Love
"How can you do that? You weren't there?"
"No, but I know you, Slade."
I put my hand on his face, feeling his warm skin. How could I tell him he didn't know me at all?
"Remember when I told you that I left my parents' place to keep them safe?"
"Yes."
"I'd been a member of the club for a year when the president died in an accident. He was succeeded by the vice president. For some reason, that guy didn't like me. I overheard someone say once that the reason I'd been voted in was because the president thought my skills with the bikes would be handy in the club. The vice president disagreed."
"So, when he became president, things got hard for you?"
"Yeah, weird stuff started happening around me. Dead animals were dropped on my foster parents' doorstep. I'd wake up with shit smeared all over my bedroom window. But the worst was when those things happened even when I wasn't at home. I figured it would stop if I moved."
"Did it?"
"Yeah. I rented out a room in a house with some students because it was cheap. Same stuff kept happening, so I had to move again."
"Did you tell anyone about it?"
"I didn't know who to tell. The police wouldn't do anything, and the new president of the club hated my guts for no apparent reason. He did let me stay at the clubhouse until I found a new place."
Aiden scrunched up his eyes. "I'm not gonna like this, am I? I know you're here and you're okay, but I don't like where the story is going."
"I was attacked on my first night. A group of men beat the crap out of me and left me there with broken ribs, a bleeding eye, and lots of bruises. The guys started an investigation, thinking it was a rival club that had come in looking for revenge on some stuff our club did."
"Was it?"
"I thought it was at the time. Weeks later, I was asleep when I heard noise in the house. I'd gotten a gun after the beating because I was too scared of being on my own. When the door to my room opened, I pretended to be asleep. The first thing I saw was a gun pointing at me. Everything happened too fast. I shot my gun and the attacker fell on the floor. It was like everything was silent, then there was this loud noise, and then silence again. I was so terrified of even turning the lights on, I ran out of the room and called my old neighbor. He called an ambulance and told me to get out of the house."
22
AIDEN
The story out of Slade's lips was the stuff of movies and books, not real life.
"Who was your attacker?" I asked.
"The son of the new president. I shot him in the neck. He's paralyzed for the rest of his life… Aiden, I didn't even aim. I just shot."
Slade's voice had been steady, up to the moment when he finally broke down.
"I have so many regrets," he said as his eyes filled with tears.
"You acted in self-defense. If you hadn't shot, you would be the one who was dead. So how did Ted get to save your life?"
"My neighbor gave me the signal to run because the president was out for revenge. He said I'd killed his son and needed to pay with my life."
"But he didn't die."
"No, but for a biker, being unable to ride is as good as being dead. So many times I wished I'd aimed at a leg or an arm, or that instead of a gun I’d had a baseball bat or something. I don't know. Anything but that fucking gun."
He shook his head. I wanted so much to take that pain away, but I had a feeling that Slade needed to finish the story.
"What happened next?"
"I ran, but every time I got a job and a new place to stay, I'd find myself being followed, getting threats in the mail. They were tracking my social security number."
