Aaron's Motorcycle

By Remmy Meggs

Chapter 3

"Kristen, all these guys do is sell drugs, drink and party?"

She almost got pissed at me, "My father is a lineman at the aircraft factory, head of his shift, he makes a lot of money. Kelly's dad is a doctor. That is why his nickname is `Doc'. Her mom is an attorney and takes care of the club business on the side. The outlaw thing Davy is because they don't like to obey a lot of rules, and no one here takes crap off anyone, whether they are alone or in a group. You have to be tough to be a part of us."

"I didn't mean anything bad by it." I offered.

"I realize that, but I am trying to tell you. Those things do go on, but the closest you will get to it is maybe seeing a few fights. All the older ones have full time jobs. It's the younger ones that sell the stuff and set the parties up. They are like slaves and have their own rules. By being with Aaron, you will never see those things, but I guess I should tell you a few other things."

The music started again and we began dancing. Kelly came over and started dancing with us. She giggled, "Brandon won't leave the stage to dance with me. That is so pathetic, not even one song."

Kristen laughed and looked at me, "They think they are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Kelly frowned, "Well we are, I just haven't told him yet." They both laughed.

Well, even though he was going to be screwing girls all the time I still wanted him to be my friend. Sex was something I didn't think about. If I wanted that I had Ralph. Ralph was a tiny bit baby fat, but he was someone I could play with if I ever wanted to. I would never want anything like that.

The idea of being tough when you are definitely a priss bothered me. I knew I was different, always wearing the coolest clothes, making others jealous, and being a neat freak that did his homework. Not that I was brilliant or anything but I did get 90% at least on my homework and tests. It was nice to have friends like these. I would never be a part of them but at least everyone liked me. The best thing was they were not the `bad' guys everyone made them out to be.

The dance was over. The band said their goodbyes and started tearing down their equipment. We walked back to the blankets and Brandon was passing a hat. People were throwing money into it, including Aaron. "What is that for?" I asked.

"The band plays for free. We all chip in so they have spending money." He answered.

"But that looked like a lot of money!" I was flabbergasted.

"Maybe sometimes, tonight the four of them will probably split a couple of thousand dollars, but sometimes I have seen them walk away with maybe twenty-five dollars each if they are lucky." He explained.

"Why the difference?" I asked.

Flash grinned, "It depends on how many people are here, how much fun everyone is having, and it helps that no one comes around bothering us. That usually leads to a fight, which means people lose interest in the party." He looked at Aaron, "It's time to take the new kids to the bridge."

Scooter and others jumped up and started rounding all the new kids up. Some were smaller than me, some were older. More of them were girls than there were boys. Aaron nodded that I should go with them. I was hesitant and suddenly became afraid of what could happen to me. He smiled, "I will be at the bottom waiting for you."

The bottom of what? They led us up a levee on top of it were railroad tracks. The tracks were rarely used but I started thinking of another horror movie I saw parts of at Ralph's. Werewolves liked bridges and so did vampires. I listened to the prospects talking. They were just leading us, not talking to us. There was some unwritten rule they couldn't talk to us directly. Scooter whispered, "These kids are nuts, we have a year to get ready for this and their first time here they are going to jump."

We passed Brandon, he grinned wide, "I bet a couple of people you would wimp out Davy, be yourself and be a chicken so I can win."

I just looked at him. He knew I was so afraid I was about to wet in the sand. Actually I stopped and did just that. The group waited for me as we continued up the bank. It was almost dusk and as I looked down the beautiful water had turned almost black. Waves of white slapped against the rocks below. Another boy looked at me, "Are you as scared as I am?"

A girl answered him, "We would be nuts not to be afraid idiot."

Now it was almost dark. Scooter stopped everyone and looked at me, "Bulger got number one, so that makes you first. He kept everyone behind as I walked naked down the tracks with two other prospects. We stopped in the center of the viaduct. I leaned over and looked down. It was at least thirty feet to the bottom, maybe even twice that. You couldn't tell in the dark.

You couldn't tell how deep the water was either. Then it struck me that they were going to have me jump off the bridge. I turned around and started to walk back to the others. One prospect said to the other, "Well I guess we won't see him again."

I stopped dead. I turned and looked at them, "What do you mean you won't see me again?"

They wouldn't talk to me. My mind was spinning calculating the different things they could have meant. I swallowed hard and went back to the center of the bridge, this time there were several people in the water below. You couldn't tell who was who, but they were down there. Then I heard Aaron yell at me, "I won't let anything happen to you Davy, just take a deep breath and let go."

My brain calculated that at my weight and speed of the fall I would crash into the water, my body would be broken and my head would hit the rocks below killing me. I backed away from the edge and the two guys behind me were talking, "I bet five bucks he won't jump."

"I'll bet five that he does and he will be dead before he hits the water." The other replied.

I was ready to shit myself. My stomach didn't have butterflies, it was in sheer terror. Aaron yelled up, "Trust me Davy I won't let anything happen to you."

Yea sure, this is your excitement. Having kids jump off, killing them, and telling the police we did it when you weren't watching. I looked again and Aaron was treading water below me. I started crying and wiped my eyes. I closed them tight and took a deep breath and jumped off the bridge. My heart was pumping for the last time. It was beating in total terror. My body rolled into a ball for automatic protection, but my brain knew it was all over. My heart skipped a beat. I would really be dead when I hit that water.

Then the most horrible thing in my life happened. I hit that water hard. I sank and sank and sank even further into the depths where the rock awaited to crush my bones and head. Then suddenly I stopped. I was surrounded by water, and I slowly opened my eyes to see Aaron facing me in the deep depths of hell. I reached out, wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. When our heads broke the surface I was uncontrollably crying, and there was no way I would let loose of Aaron. Several people were applauding. Brandon and the girls were on the bank cheering me.

With me still holding on tight Aaron climbed out of the water. Several people patted me on the back telling me how big and brave I was. I wasn't brave at all. I was shaking like a leaf and crying my eyes out, and it wasn't because of the warm water. I put my head into Aaron's neck and he kissed my cheek as I heard several people mumble awe.

A man in his thirties stood up and went into the water, "Clair's turn." He looked at me, "That is my daughter; you were playing with her earlier with the other kids."

Aaron held my head on his neck. "You have to be quiet, they can't know you are safe, do you understand?"

I nodded that I did, but I was not going to say anything or let loose of him. Aaron rocked me as I heard Clair's father say the exact same thing as Aaron said to me. I wasn't watching but a few minutes later I heard the roar of the splashdown. I raised my head to look. It seemed like forever before they came up, but she was holding onto him as tight as I was holding on to Aaron. Again the applause and good job and all the nice things people said to me.

Then a lady went into the water. She was almost in tears, "He could wait a couple of years. I have no idea why he has to do this now." She said quietly to everyone.

Timmy was ten, he was afraid of the dark, afraid of his own shadow and jumpy as all hell. I knew he would be more afraid than I was. His mother said the same thing to him as the other did. Then it became quiet. Then a blood curdling scream emanated from the falling boy. "Hell!" Brandon yelled, and jumped into the water.

The adults stood up as I heard the splash and the boy went silent. The mother started screaming, "I can't see him, help me!"

Brandon went under the water, deep under the water. He came up less than a minute later with the boy kicking and screaming. Brandon gave the boy to his mother. What Timmy did was let the air out of his lungs. He was so afraid that half way down he lost it. It could have cost his life. Even though the kids that were left could not hear anything being said down below, they most certainly heard the boy scream. At least fifty people came to the bank and wanted to make sure the boy was alright.

Brandon was a hero. Everyone told him so, and as soon as I could get my life back together I would tell him myself. For now I just shook and cried. I wasn't as bad as I was when I came out of the water. Two boys and three girls decided they were not going to jump. Their sponsors took them out of the area and drove them home. By the time the last kid jumped, they had returned, some in bad moods, some on the verge of tears, and others said maybe next year. They were talking about the kids not being old enough.

The ones with parents in the club had it a little easier, but they all had to jump before they were sixteen. The prospects were different. They had three years in the club, and they jumped without a sponsor, without help, or they were out. Kids like me were special; they had to jump the first party at the lake. There was no excuse. No turning back. If you didn't jump it would be the last time the club recognized you. Of course if you did jump, a whole new world, sometimes rough, opened up to you and suddenly you had a family of one thousand people that all knew your name. Of course none of us knew any of this before the jump, and it would take time for us to realize what actually happened. This was about trust.

I thought the jumping was over. Then we heard the last splash in the water. Scooter came out of the water smiling, "What a freaking rush that is!"

He was treated just like I was. I looked across the water and there were several fires going, that made a circle. All of us swam across and joined everyone else. Aaron and the other guys dried off and started dressing, he looked at me, "Time to get dressed bro."

I didn't want to get dressed, but I did. I dressed very slowly. The gang members started making their way into the circle of fire. There were hundreds of them; at least it looked like it. Aaron was up there with the rest of them. I saw that all the women and girls had left. There wasn't a sign of any prospect around. I didn't know why this was, but I knew I was seeing something most did not. Maybe most would not want to see it. They were all quiet and Flash looked at Aaron, "Your on Bulger."

Aaron started praying aloud. Everyone bowed their heads. I was in total disbelief. My family wasn't religious, but I never expected anything like this. The prayer wasn't long but it was a prayer to God. Then a guy called out Brandon. He stood in the middle of them all. Several talked about Brandon, what he had done with the club and for the club, how he was giving and caring and they ended with his heroism for the night. Brandon was too young to be a member of the club, but one guy came out to the center and hugged him, "We all voted on a name for you Brandon, and whether you like it or not you will be stuck with it the rest of your life." Brandon looked nervous and I could tell he looked at his father. "The club voted, counted and recounted. You will now be known as `Strings' to everyone." Then there was a lot of applause, back patting, hugging and tears of happiness from several big brawny guys.

Brandon was ushered out of the circle and brought over and sat with me. I just looked at the hero, knowing he must have gone through hell all his life just to get this far. He grinned, "I could kiss you right now, not because I am gay, just because I am happy, but if Bulger saw it I would be hanging from the bridge all night long."

"Why?"

He frowned, "Well it's not like you're his motorcycle momma or anything, but you belong to him, until your of age."

"Belong to him?"

"No one has told you anything I guess. You're his little brother now, you are everything important. Someone hurts you and they will wish they were dead. You trust him completely and that is a bond he will never break. You are silly Davy, don't you have any idea what this is all about bro?"

"Bro?"

"You are my brother now too, I could probably get away with kissing your cheek but you are so stupid tonight I don't think I want to." He giggled.

"Screw you." I said.

"You wish butt face."

I just looked at him and grinned. It suddenly dawned on me that I was actually a part of this now, a big family of close friends that would die for each other.

Two big guys pushed Scooter into the circle, quite roughly, almost knocking him over. He looked back of them, "The hell with you, you assholes."

He reached up and pulled of his blindfold. He looked around and saw everyone standing, looking at him, "What the hell is this about?" Scooter asked.

It was then I knew why no prospects were around. Nobody, but nobody could know what happened in the circle before it actually happened, unless you were a part of the family already, like Brandon, and now, even myself. Aaron spoke up, "There is no reason for the foul language Scooter. There are still kids around."

"Well they may as well get used to pretty boy!" Scooter shot back.

The gathering mumbled. Aaron walked out the center. He said nothing, and then gut punched Scooter, "You have never shown me respect, even though you did what I told you. I was being polite and asked you to watch your mouth and you come back with that." Aaron kneed the guy in the face, which threw Scooter backwards and he landed on his back.

Scooter wiped his bloody nose and got on his knees, then slowly stood up. "It will never happen again. I apologize Bulger."

Brandon whispered, "They cuss all the time, but they aren't supposed to do it when the kids are around. You just saw a little bit of how mean Bulger can get."

I swallowed hard. As Aaron turned back to get in his place I could see a devilish grin on his face, and I know I was not meant to see it. They had Scooter kneel down, his nose still bleeding he listened to them, one by one, start talking about him. They grabbed his denim jacket and pulled it off him. It took over an hour before they finished. Then Flash looked around, "Does anyone have anything bad to say about him?"

One guy came forward and started yelling, "He is a little faggot, he is skinny, he looks like a drug addict, he has had three years to get a bike and he is still riding a stupid 15 cc scooter. The thing that bugs me most is I caught him with my girl, I beat the hell out of him then, and I will do it again. I vote no, I want him blackballed."

Scooter stood up straight and yelled back, "Listen everyone, I am not a faggot, and all of you know I am not a drug addict, I don't use drugs at all, and that's the rule. I never touched his girl, he is lying. I have done everything, I work for minimum wage, I have to pay rent, I have to eat even if its beans and bread. I can show you my savings book." He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and held it up offering it to anyone that would look, "$800 in three years, I have gone without everything to be in this club."

My mouth dropped open. I could not believe what I was hearing. The man had to be at least thirty years old and he started crying. No one said anything. I looked at Brandon. I started to ask, and he put his finger to his mouth telling me to stay quiet. Then Brandon's father spoke. Flash shook his head, "Marvin Cummings, the vote has been cast. You are no longer welcome in the club, gather your things, say nothing to anyone and leave."

"He is lying, all of you he is lying." Then Scooter stopped. He pulled a gun out of his belt and pointed it at the accuser, "I would rather die than not be a member, and you are going to hell with me!"

I jumped and laid flat on the ground when the gun began firing.