Page 16 of Hurricane's House

“I’m so glad that you did,” Tina said.

“Me too,” Chasity added. “What was the clubhouse like down in Alabama?” she asked. Tina worried that her niece was getting a bit too used to going into the club with her and Hurricane, but she always stuck to the rules, and having her with them took away some of the worry that she might run again.

“It’s a lot like the one up here in Yonkers, but it’s more of a bar/restaurant. I know that Hurricane is trying to get something like that started here, but the kitchen needs a bit of work. I’m sure that the guys will lend a hand, and someday, Hurricane’s place will be just as nice as Savage Hell.”

“Is that the name of the club down there?” Tina asked.

“Yep,” Wren said, “I mean, they are all a part of the Royal Bastards, but the bar in Alabama is named after the Prez down there—Savage.”

“He sounds scary,” Chasity admitted.

“He’s a giant teddy bear, but don’t tell him that I said that if you ever meet him,” Wren said. “He’s a nice guy. All the guys down there are—even my older brother, Blade,” she teased. “It’s a giant family, just like it is up here, but they have more patched-in members in Alabama. Hurricane is just getting everything started up here, but I’m sure that he’ll have the Yonkers’ clubhouse filled up in no time.”

Yonkers stuck his head in through the back kitchen door. “Hey, we’re about to light the grill. Do you want to bring out the meat?” he asked.

“Yep,” Tina agreed. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a tray of meat that she and Hurricane had worked on earlier. “I’m right behind you,” she told Yonkers.

“We’ll come too,” Wren said as she and Chasity headed for the back door. “I do love to watch men grill.” She slapped herhusband’s ass on her way past him, making Tina and Chasity giggle.

They all circled the grill as Tina handed Hurricane the meat and she almost wanted to laugh at how they were all standing there, waiting in anticipation of the lighting of the grill. It was the first time that they had used the gas grill, and she had to admit, it was pretty exciting. Hurricane looked like a kid on Christmas about to open the gift that he had asked Santa for.

“You ready?” he asked, looking around the circle at them all.

“Yep,” Chasity said. “You would think that you actually created fire and weren’t just using it to start a stupid grill.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that starting a new grill takes a certain level of skill,” Hurricane insisted. He turned the knobs to the grill and pushed the ignition button and nothing happened.

“Are you sure that you possess that skill?” Chasity asked under her breath.

“Keep it up kid and you won’t get a hamburger,” he said. Chasity shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest, giving Hurricane some space to do his thing. That was one thing about her niece that Tina respected—she knew when to tease Hurricane and when to back off.

He readjusted the propane tank, and Yonkers checked all the connections. “It looks like you put it together correctly,” Yonkers said.

“Yeah, let’s try it again,” Hurricane said. He turned the knobs on high this time and when he pushed the ignition button, it made a swooshing sound that had them all jumping back—everyone except Hurricane. He shouted something about his eyebrows burning, and Yonkers picked up the glass of water that sat by the grill and tossed it on Hurricane’s face. The whole thing happened so quickly that Tina wasn’t sure if she should laugh or be worried.

“Are you all right?” she asked him. Hurricane turned to face them, his face still dripping wet from the water that Yonkers had dumped on it, and she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Unfortunately, Chasity and Wren didn’t do the same, and poor Hurricane looked between them as though he wanted to be let in on the joke.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“You don’t have any eyebrows,” Chasity said, pointing to Hurricane’s face. “You singed them right off.”

“Shit,” Hurricane said. He pulled out his cell phone, checked himself in the photo app, and cursed again. Of course, Chasity and Wren both pulled out their phones and started snapping photos of Hurricane, not bothering to listen to the threats that he was making to break both of their damn phones.

“Do you think we should go to the hospital?” Tina asked, still trying not to laugh.

“And risk further embarrassment?” he asked. “No.”

“It doesn’t look that bad,” Yonkers said, not holding back his laughter.

“Yeah, you all can laugh all you want, but I think that the fucking grill is defective, and we don’t have dinner now.” The three of them immediately stopped laughing as Hurricane stood there, smirking at them all.

“We can order pizza,” Tina offered. “It’s not the end of the world. Yonkers is right—they will grow out.”

“Yeah, but in the meantime, I’m going to have to deal with a bunch of assholes down at the club razzing me. And fuck me, I’ve got an interview with a local news industry about global warming in two days. I don’t suppose that they’ll grow back by then, will they?”

“I’m afraid not,” Tina admitted, “but it’s hardly noticeable. I’m sure that your interview will be fine,” she lied. He looked her over and grabbed the plate of meat, heading back to the house.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

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