Page 37 of Speed

“Hey, darlin’. What you up to?” I watched her look over the bikes before she answered. The girl knew what was important already and she didn’t know it.

“Aunt Carly picked me up from school today and took me to the park. We’re going to the bakery now so I can get a cupcake. They’re my favorite.” When she finished, I looked at the others, and they had smirks on their faces. The girl could talk.

“That so. Where’s your momma at?” The deputy stood there quietly, which didn’t go unnoticed, but I did catch her eye going from me to Crusher who was pulled up right beside me.

“Momma is cleaning ‘cause Papa is coming this weekend, and she won’t have any time to do it before he gets here. At least that’s what she says. When you gonna have a sleepover with Momma again, so we cans make pancakes again for breakfast.” The deputy barely contained her laughter, but she did have to turn away, the guys not so much as their loud laughter had people walking down the street turn and look at them.

“Soon, darlin’, soon.” It didn’t slow her down, but when she turned her attention to the guys, I got to laugh.

“Who are you? Are you Speed’s friends? You can comes with him and have a sleepover at my house too. I likes bikes. I want ones, but Momma said I had to gets older. Aunt Carly has a bike. I likes your bikes. When I gets older can I ride them? Benji said I can’t have a bike ‘cause only boys can. Aunt Carly said Benji was a little bastard, which is a bad word. You don’t say bad words, do you? I punched Benji in the nose ‘cause he said I couldn’t go to the school the day the daddies got to come, ‘cause I don’t have one.” I thought she was done but she was only catching her breath, and as she stepped closer while she talked, I lifted her and sat her in front of me on my bike. She looked back at me and smiled but never missed a beat. Her Aunt Carly was chuckling, and I was sure it had to do with the looks on my brothers’ faces, the one that read “What the fuck.”

“This is a pretty bike. I want one just like it. Why does your handle thingies stick up further than everyone else’s?” That was geared toward Flirt, but she didn’t need him to answer. “Will you teach me to ride? Then when I get big, I can ride with you all. Do yous have daddies? Speed’s daddy is gone, which is code for dead ‘cause I heard my momma say that people shouldn’t tell kids someone died. Why don’t they want to tell us? I watched an ant die when the boy at the park held a glass over it. Did you ever hold a glass over an ant and watch it die?” When she stopped to take a breath this time, Carly cut in.

“Short cake, I think you made their ears bleed enough. Let’s go see Bailey at the bakery.” I set Ally back on the ground, and she took Carly’s hand. “Gentlemen, I use that term loosely due to little ears, have a good one.”

“Bye, darlin’. Tell your momma I will see her later.”

“‘K, Speed.”

“Deputy,” Crusher spoke for the first time but then again no one got a chance to talk when Ally started.

“Mr. Davis. Come on, shortstop.” Ally giggled, and they turned and started to walk away.

“You got a smart mouth, I like that. You always a hardass?” I looked at him, he was really going to provoke the deputy. The “that’s a bad word” from Ally had us laughing at Crusher, but it didn’t faze him or the deputy.

“No, only to assholes who think women should fall at their feet because they deem it.” Ally smiled up at the deputy and once again we heard “that’s a bad word.” I figured one day at the clubhouse around the members, and we’d hear that a good thousand times.

“Know what I like more than seeing you walking toward me, Deputy?” She stopped at the door of the bakery and looked back at him.

“What?”

“Walking away, Deputy.” I couldn’t believe I heard my brother use that lame ass line and the “Jesus” that echoed from the others made me smile.

She laughed, shook her head, and Ally waved at us, then they walked into the bakery. I looked at Crusher, “Seriously, walking away, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“I was going to say watching her ass as she walked away, but I didn’t want to get ‘that’s a bad word’ told to me.”

“She’s beautiful, Speed.”

“Thanks, Jag.”

“I agree, brother, but damn she can talk. Her first time at the clubhouse, I am videoing that shit. She’s going to have every damn one of those men wrapped as soon as she starts talking.”

“That’s all true, Flirt.”

“Man, she’s got a bite to her too. She punched a kid, gotta love that.”

“Yeah, Devil, she does. Makes for quite the package.”

“I want to know who that Benji kid belongs to.”

“Me too, Coast.” I smiled, the Enforcer showing in him too.

“Going to build that bike, Speed?” Crusher grinned, and I grinned back, and we all burst out laughing.

“Well, let’s head back. Get some work done and I will buy the first round tonight at Soft Tails.” With that, we started our bikes and headed out.

Sami

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