Page 25 of Ink

She promised herself that she’d never go back to stripping in a sleazy bar ever again, but she was proven wrong a month and a half later when she took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. That lifestyle was all she knew, and she had to take care of her daughter. Her one night of having sex for money turned out to be the worst and best night of her life. She had Lydia now, andPhoenix wasn’t sure how she would have ever gotten through the last two years without her daughter. It never mattered to her that her daughter’s biological father was an asshole who paid her to have sex with him. When Phoenix looked at Lydia, all she saw was a fresh start. She had someone to love and who loved her back, and that meant the world to her. And that was also the reason why she was willing to eat crow and call her grandmother for help.

As soon as she heard her grandmother’s voice on the phone, she burst into tears. It had been almost four years since she had left home, shouting back over her shoulder to her grandma that she wasn’t ever going to be back. But her grandma seemed to forget every nasty thing that Phoenix had said to her, even promising to welcome both her and Lydia back into her life and home. She said that they’d always have a home with her. Did she deserve her grandmother’s forgiveness? No, but she was thankful for it. Lydia needed a stable home, and she knew that her grandmother would give them both that. Unlike her mother, she’d never be able to dump her baby girl on her grandmother’s front porch, but she planned on staying there until she could get a place of her own for herself and Lydia.

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed her grandmother. “Phoenix,” her grandmother answered. “I thought that you’d be here by now.”

“Hi Grandma,” she breathed, “I’m in Huntsville but I have a little problem.” She felt like saying, “Again,” but left that part off. She always seemed to have a little problem that she couldn’t figure out or seem to get through on her own lately. Hopefully, that would be something that Phoenix would be able to change in the future.

“What can I do to help?” her grandma asked. Phoenix couldn’t help her smile. That was something she always asked Phoenix when she was growing up. She’d come homecrying because she didn’t understand an assignment and her grandmother would ask how she could help. And if she didn’t have an answer for Phoenix, she’d find someone who did.

“I don’t know why you’d want to help me after all this time, Grandma. I was so nasty to you when I left,” she insisted.

“All of that is water under the bridge,” her grandmother assured. “Just tell me what it is that I can help you and Lydia with, and I’ll do my best.”

“Um, I’ve run out of gas, and I have no money to fill my truck with if I even knew where a gas station was,” she breathed. “God, this is embarrassing.”

“Not at all,” her grandmother insisted. “It’s happened to me more times than I’d care to admit. Tell me where you are, and I’ll send a tow truck to get you to a gas station. My neighbor owns a towing company, and I know that he’ll do me this favor. I’m constantly sending him over dinners and baked goods. I’ll make sure to send some cash so that you can fill your tank.” Phoenix felt about ready to cry at her grandmother’s kind gesture. It had been so long since anyone helped her. She found out that most people out in the world wanted to see her fail or would lie to her and leave her hanging to fend for herself. She had used up all her resources and hearing that her grandmother truly wanted to help her gave her hope that she’d be able to get back on her feet someday.

“I won’t be able to pay you back any time soon, Grandma,” Phoenix confessed.

“There is no need,” she insisted. “I’m just happy to see you again and to meet my great-granddaughter. I can’t wait to squeeze her, and you.” Phoenix giggled at the thought of her grandmother’s famous hugs. She’d tried to squeeze Phoenix so hard that she’d beg to let her up for air, even if she really didn’t mean it. Her grandma used to say, “I guess I’m stronger than I thought I was,” which would make them both laugh—since hergrandmother was only 4’11” and weighed about ninety pounds soaking wet.

Phoenix looked around the parking lot that she had drifted into, and the place looked like it was closed for the night. Of course, it was after midnight, but she thought for sure that a bar would stay open longer than that. “Hold on, I can’t see the sign to the bar from where I’ve parked. Give me just a second.” She got out of her truck, locked Lydia in the car, and ran around the corner to look at the sign on the bar. “Savage Hell,” she said to herself.

Phoenix ran back to the truck, unlocked it, and grabbed her phone from the driver’s seat. “The bar is called Savage Hell,” she told her grandmother.

“Oh, yes,” her grandma said, “I know exactly where you are. It’s a biker bar and it’s pretty famous around these parts.”

“Wait,” Phoenix almost shouted. “Have you been to this bar?” she asked.

“A time or two,” her grandmother admitted. “I know that you think that I’m old and have one foot in the grave, but I still like to have fun, Phoenix,” she said. “After all, I am only fifty-six, dear. And even I like a hot biker once in a while.”

“Eww,” Phoenix groaned into the phone, causing her grandmother to laugh. “I don’t want to hear about you and hot bikers, Grandma.”

“Don’t be such a prude, Phoenix,” her grandmother chastised. “I’ll send my neighbor over as soon as possible. Just sit tight,” she ordered, ending the call. Phoenix sat back and thought about her grandmother with some random biker and shook her head, trying to rid herself of that image. She didn’t want to hear about any hot men, period. She learned her lesson after getting pregnant with Lydia and if she never laid eyes on another man again, that would be just fine with her.

Riggs

Mrs. Aggie knocked on his door just past midnight and he knew that it couldn’t be good news. She was the sweetest woman, bringing him over dinners and baked goods. He wasn’t quite sure why she did it, but he appreciated the gesture since he could barely heat water.

He’d even seen her around his club, Savage Hell, a few times. She liked to hang out in there when the Royal Bastards were using the bar for the night. They shared the place with their sister club, The Royal Harlots, because their club’s Prez, Savage was just that kind of guy. Mrs. Aggie seemed to like the older bikers who were a part of the Bastards. It always made him blush a little every time she’d find him at the bar and kissed his cheek. She wasn’t that old, although she told him that she had a two-year-old great-granddaughter. He was guessing she was in her mid-fifties and the older bikers at the bar really seemed to like her. He’d even noticed a few mornings that a bike was parked in her driveway, although he never dared ask her what that was about. He didn’t want to know, honestly.

He pulled on a pair of gym shorts he had thrown on the floor, before crawling into bed after a very long day on the road, and ran down the stairs to answer the door. He didn’t want to make her wait too long on his front porch on this chilly night.

“Mrs. Aggie,” he breathed, “everything okay?”

“I wish you’d just call me Aggie, Riggs,” she insisted. “And I could use your help.”

“Then you should come in,” he said, holding the door wide for her. She peeked into his house as if she was trying to decide if she could trust him or not and then smiled up at him as she walked into his house.

“It’s nice in here,” she said, looking around his first floor. “I always had you figured as the bachelor type, but this place looks like it was decorated by a woman.” It had been. After he bought his own place, his sister insisted that he let her decorate the place before he could even move in. Gia painted the place and practically furnished the whole house. She insisted that it was her treat since she had sold her marketing company just five years after starting it. Gia was only thirty, but she was a millionaire a few times over and he was so proud of her, but Riggs hated it when she spent her money on him. He did pretty well for himself, owning his towing company, and he told Gia to keep her money for a rainy day. She would always giggle at him when he’d say that to her and roll her eyes, telling him that she had enough money for a worldwide flood.

“My sister, Gia, decorated this place for me. I’m afraid you are right—my tastes do lean on the side of bachelor pad, and she wouldn’t allow it.” Mrs. Aggie laughed, but he could tell that she was worried about something—probably what she needed his help with.

“So, what can I help you with?” he asked, cutting to the chase.

“Well, you remember when I told you that my granddaughter was moving back in with me for a bit, with her two-year-olddaughter?” she asked. He had never met her granddaughter, but Mrs. Aggie talked about her all the time.

“Sure,” he said, “I remember.”

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