LOVED (21 page)

“What are you two telling secrets about?” I asked.

Erik had an odd smile on his face, and was shaking his head slowly. Daddy looked puzzled.

“It’s nothing important baby. Just man talk, no worries,” daddy said as he scooted back to his side of the couch.

Erik looked at me and smiled a funny smile.

I looked at daddy and back at Er
ik. I shook my head and smiled.

And I sat down in between the man that raised his little girl and the one that made me a feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.

ERIK.
“You’re serious?”

“Dead serious.
Kelli and I already talked about it,” I said.

“Holy shit, brother.
That’s a dream come true. Son-of-a-bitch. You have any idea what that means to me? Any at all?” The Bone said as he hugged me.

“I have an
idea
,” I said as I pulled myself away and patted him on the back.

“Shit, running the repair shop? Fuck, Doc, I’ll have that place making you two some serious money. And we won’
t be building hi-performance bikes and turning customers away when the motor blows up, either,” he said.

“They better not be blowing up, or Kelli will fire your ass,” I laughed.

“Don’t worry about that, Doc. I’ll make the two of you damned proud. Hell, this is all I ever needed, a good shop and some store front. God damn, this is exciting,” he said as he rubbed his hands together.

“Yeah, it’s kind of overwhelming, to be quite honest with you. I’ve never really had a job
. Shit this is all new to me,” I chuckled.

“Hell, the owner never does anything. Just goes on vacations, huh Doc?” The Bone laughed.

It was nice seeing Derek this excited. He was a damned good man with a tremendous amount of talent. To see him have the ability and the resources to make a shop his own would be nice. I crossed my arms knowing that he would not let Kelli or I down. If I had the ability to hire anyone to run the repair shop, Derek would be my first choice.

“Well, they’re all waiting for us to tell them what’s up, you ready?” he asked.

“I am if you are,” I said as I grabbed the handle to his office door.

We both stepped through the
office door and into the shop of waiting brethren.

“
Get yer ass chewed?” Teddy asked as I walked out into the shop.

“Yeah, he’s a mean son-of-a-bitch,” I laughed.

The Bone stepped out into the shop beside me and put his arm around my shoulder. He squeezed my upper arm in his massive hand and pulled me into his shoulder.

“Alright fellas.
Doc here has an announcement. I need you all to keep your fucking mouths shut and listen up. This is a biggie. This club will see the rewards of this for a long fucking time. Doc, the floor is yours,” he said as he let loose of my arm and slapped me on the back.

“Well, as you all know, Kelli’s dad is out of the hospital, doing really well, and he has sold the BMW dealership,” I took a breath.

Everyone began to clap.

“God damn it, fellas. That ain’t it. I told you to shut the fuck up,” The Bone screamed, barely able to contain his excitement.

All eyes were on me. I looked down at the floor and back up to the crowd. About twenty of the closest knit members were in attendance.

“Well hell. I don’t even know how to say this. To tell you the truth, I’m still having a hard time believing it,” I took another deep breath.

“Kelli’s father bought the Harley dealer. And he gave it to Kelli and I as a gift. We own the fucking Harley dealership, fellas. Kelli and I,” I shouted.

“Holy shit Doc. Now you can get that Glide
you been eye ballin’.” A-Train screamed.

“You fuckin’ serious, Doc?”
Teddy asked as he walked up beside me.

I nodded.

“Sum bitch, congratulations, Doc. Who’s gonna run her for ya?” he asked.

Everyone started walking toward The Bone and
I, talking and shouting as they approached. It appeared that I wasn’t the only one that was excited about the new ownership.

“Haven’t decided.
Bone’s gonna run the shop, I know that,” I said.

“Well, that’s a no brainer,” Teddy laughed as he slapped Bone on the back.

“When you gonna take it over?” Teddy asked.

“Probably here in a few weeks, maybe two,” I answered.

Several members came up and shook my hand and gave the congratulatory slap on the back. I felt like some form of celebrity at a fundraiser.

Teddy, Sha
ky, A-Train and Jake all gathered around the Bone and I, and everyone was attempting to talk at once. All of the commotion added to the excitement of everything. My excitement was something that I wasn’t or hadn’t yet become used to.

As
a child, I would get excited for Christmas to come. As it approached sometimes my excitement would be so overwhelming that I would make myself sick. When Christmas got within a week of arrival, I was never convinced I would make it that far, or that for some reason it would be cancelled or never actually happen.

As I got older, the excitement diminished. By the time I was ten, I was not excited about Christmas any longer; at least not as excited as I was as a toddler or young child. I became more concerned with today and far less concerned with
what tomorrow may bring. As I began to be concerned only with what today involved and offered, my life changed. Ten or eleven years old for me became a turning point in my life. My performance in school had become more important, and I began getting perfect grades.

I attributed my good grades to my focus on today, and I made a conscious effort to become focused on today, and never focus on tomorrow. I stopped looking at the future for anything that it may offer me. In retrospect, this may have
been the beginning of a life of not being able to be in a meaningful relationship.

I was no longer concerned with what tomorrow could or would bring, because tomorrow may never arrive. I lived in the today. I lived for what was in front of me, and not what may be in the future. I maintained this posture, or this belief
, throughout the remaining portion of my life. It was easy, it was accurate, and it proved to be less stressful.

Recently, and certainly after falling in love with Kelli, this changed. Every day seemed to bring more change, and more invitation to look at
or into the future. Tomorrow holds promise, hope, and excitement. Now, I often find myself looking at what tomorrow
may
bring. I think of what I may need to change in me or my manner of doing things that would make our future a better life for both of us. I found now that I had allowed myself to become excited again for what the future may hold.

“Fellas, I’m excited abo
ut this. I feel like I may just vomit,” I laughed as I put my hands on my thighs.

“
Aww shit, don’t puke, Doc,” Teddy laughed.

Everyone shared a laugh and stepped back a little bit.

“Well, it’ll be good for
all of us
. Give us all something to do and look forward to and such, huh?” Shakey said.

“I’m sure hoping so,
Shakey,” I said.

“Where’s the Rabbit?” I asked, looking around the shop for Bunny.

“He’s over there,” A-Train said, pointing to the office.

Bunny was leaning on the wall of the office watching us and smiling. A few others were
standing close to him talking.

“Alright fellas, let’s go to the bar and celebrate. I’m going to talk to Bunny about some home repairs, I’ll meet you out front,” I said as I stepped back out of the circle of men.

“Line ‘em up fellas, we’re headed to Peaks to celebrate!” Bone screamed.

Everyone began hollering and whistling and walking for the entrance of the shop. I walked toward Bunny, who was still leaning on the wall of the office.

“So Bun, is your back still bothering you?” I asked.

“Hip, it was my hip,” he responded.

“Hip, hell, I was thinking it was your back. So, is it better?” I asked.

“Yeah, all healed up. I’m good to go. I rode the sled today,” he said.

“Well, glad you’re better. That’s all that matters. That’s something else about Gene, huh? Getting the kidney and giving the dealership to Kelli and I?” I asked.

Bunny nodded slowly.

“Takes a pretty selfless person to do that. You know, to just walk into a hospital and say,
I’m going to donate a kidney to a man I don’t know
. And you know,
I’m willing to live the rest of my life the way he has lived his, in fear of only having only one kidney.
And then, living a life hoping nothing ever happens,” I said.

Bunny nodded, “What you mean, selfless, Doc?”

“You know, not concerned with his self. Doing something just the opposite of selfish,” I responded.

“Yeah, I suppose,” he said as he pushed himself off of the wall and began to step forward.

This was a perfect time for me to do it. I had to act fast and move faster. I wanted to surprise him as much as I could and try not to get in an argument about it, but I had to
know
.

As quickly as I could, as he stepped past me, I grasped the bottom of his shirt and yanked it up, focusing on his lower torso.

And there it was.

A fresh purple scar.

“What the fuck you doing, Doc?” he said as he yanked himself away from me, pulling his shirt from my grasp.

“Hold up, Bun. We need to talk,” I said.

Bunny looked worried.
Genuinely worried.

“How’d you know, Doc? I don’t want anyone knowing. Not Kelli, not him, not the fellas. It’s important to me,” he stuttered, his voice full of emotion.

He leaned back onto the office wall.

“Bun, it’ll stay here. Between you and I,” I promised as I extended my hand in his direction.

He shook my hand and tried unsuccessfully to smile.

“But, how’d you know?” he asked.

“Well. The hospital said it was an anonymous donor. When Gene was in recovery, he wanted to know who gave it to him. They doctor on the team responded that, to the best of Gene’s recollection, was the Pied Piper, Batman, Superman, or Santa Claus. Hell he couldn’t remember. The other day, we had Thanksgiving dinner. Kelli went to the bathroom, and he started talking to me about the dealership, holidays, and the future. I said the word
Easter
,” I paused, recalling the look on Gene’s face when I said it.

“When I did, he said,
Easter Bunny
. Hell, I thought he was going insane, blurting it out like that. Then, he said,
I just remembered who donated the kidney. The Easter Bunny. That’s what the doctor’s said.
I probably turned white as a ghost. He went on to telling his story and never gave it another thought. I thought about it, you needing to go out of town, and the bad hip when you returned. Hell, it all began to make sense,” I said.

He looked at the floor the entire time I spoke.

“You alright, Bun?” I asked.

He looked up and nodded slowly. His eyes were swollen. He wasn’t crying, but he was close.

“You fuckers comin’” Bone screamed into the shop door.

“Yeah, we’ll be there in a minute, give us a few,” I screamed over my shoulder.

“Bun?” I asked again.

“You remember my pop, Doc?” he asked.

I nodded, recalling the death of Bunny’s father. He was a Navy SEAL in Somalia in the early 1990’s. Many people claimed to be a SEAL, or wanted to be, but Bunny’s father was. And he died attempting to remove a savage from a position of authority in Somalia.

“He died in Somalia. 1993. He was Navy. It ain’t about the Navy, but that helped. It’s about having a father. You ain’t got one. Hell, you finally found the love of your life, and she ain’t got a mom. She’s only got a father. Between ya, you got one father.
Just one. And it seems as he’s accepted you, and accepted us. Hell, look at what he did for A-Train. And hell he never met him,” he paused and rubbed his eyes.

“I can’t change what happened to my pop. Don’t want to. Actually, I’m proud he was shot and killed. It makes me remember each day that he was fighting for a free country. I’m proud of him. My pop and people like my pop are the reason we get to get on our scoots and ride to the bar here in a minute. They fight to keep the rest of us free,” he looked back down at the floor and kicked the toe of his boot in the dirt.

“I knew my blood type the day of the meeting. But I’ll be damned if I want these fellas to know what I did - or anyone for that matter. I don’t want or need praise or bullshit like that. I just wanted to do for you and Kelli what I could, Doc. He was a Navy man, A-Train told me. I needed a few days to think, and to pray,” he rubbed his legs and took a breath.