Page 3 of Sleeper

“Honey, it’s only temptation until you give in, and then it’s a whole different evil.”

“Mrs. Slayton, you know I’ll put my money where my mouth is,” I joked half-heartedly.

“Oh, you and me both. But no, seriously.” She paused. “Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones, where’s your gown? You know nobody wants to see your wrinkly old tallywacker swinging around like it’s a Louisville Slugger up in here…” Her voice was muffled, but the bits I heard had me rolling.

A male voice mumbled something in response.

“What? No this isnotthe major leagues, it’s a hos…Don’t you be shaking that thing at me. Put the urinal down. You’ve got to be kidding me. Look, I gotta go before he delivers somebody up to Kingdom Come before they’re ready. I’m going to write you down as off.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Slayton,” I barely said in between gasping for air and the laughter I couldn’t stop. “Oh and Mrs. Slayton?”

“Yes, honey? What is it? I have to go. He’s trying to knock Suzie’s highlighter out of her hand, and he isn’t using his fingertips if you get my drift.”

“Swing battah, battah, swing,” I all but sang to her.

“Go do something good. Go pray. Be good.” She hung up on me. Her telling me to be good was like telling a hound not to dig. She knew damned well what I would be doing or at least had a pretty good idea. I usually spared her the gory details, but let her know if she ever needed someone for anything all she had to do was make the call and I’d be there.

2

SLEEPER

“Jingles man, it’s been a minute. How the hell have you been?” I asked, giving him a once over while my fingers wrapped around the brown beer bottle. I pressed the opening to my mouth and took a swig as I waited for him to answer.

“I’ve been good. How are they treating you here in Cleveland?” His eyes roamed the common area of our clubhouse and then came back to me. “Doesn’t look like much has changed, but knowing club life, it’s a whole different world than the one I saw the last time I was up here.”

“Good, man. Things have been good. You know, I can’t complain too much,” I admitted with a shake of my head, opening a beer for him and handed it to him just as he sat on the stool beside the one my ass currently occupied. “What brings you to Cleveland? Everything good?”

“I was just passing through. Thought I’d stop in and see how y’all were nowadays. Where’s the old man?” He looked around the almost empty clubhouse again. He was here for Ghoul, but he hadn’t said as much.

“Oh man, he’s off with Ginger, chasing some new information about her past.”

“Did she ever find out anything solid?”

“Nah,” I confessed, hating the situation Ghoul’s old lady was stuck in and had been for some time now.

“What about Wiley? What’s he up to?” Jingles’ hand popped in and out of his pocket and pulled out a handful of change, dropping it onto the bar.

“Your money is no good here.”

“Good thing. My ride is just about running on hopes and dreams as it is.” His fingers rubbed the back of his neck.

“You’re part of the Bastards. You ain’t paying for shit.” I smiled, trying to make him feel a bit better about whatever was going on with him. “But it was a good gesture to go ahead and try to pay.” I gave him a nod of appreciation. When you were in a jam, the club had your back, that was as long as you had theirs in return.

“Wiley?”

“Oh, shit. Yeah. Sorry. Fucker is supposed to be here later, but who knows what time that will be.”

“Hmph. That sounds like him, always looking out for everyone around him, making sure they’re on point, but forgetting to take time for himself,” he advised, staring at the liquor showcase behind our bar.

He’d been riding in the club for around two years now and although it probably wasn’t apparent to the outside world how he had changed, I noticed. The first time I met him, he was still an eager beaver with a smile plastered across his face, wanting to ride with the club. Now there were tiny lines at the corners of his eyes that told the tale that he would never speak. Kid had seen some shit, but the rest of us had too, so even if he shared his experiences with me, there probably wasn’t a ton that would shock me.

“Say, while you’re here, man, we could use the extra hands. Ya know, if you have the time.”

“Yeah, I’m here as long as you need me, brother.”

“Thanks, I have some business we could use your help with,” I lied straight through my teeth as I made it up as I went along, hoping he would stay until he got back on his feet. There really wasn’t much going on with us, but that could change and often did within the blink of an eye.

“I’m down. You know I got your back, brother.”

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