I kept my gaze out of the window, taking in all the 'sights' of the town as we drove through it. I've never been here, but, with a name like Pleasant—Tree—Ville, you'd expect it to be... well, Pleasant. It looked like your typical, normal, run—of—the—mill place to live. No different than any other. At least... that's how it looked to an outsider like me, but this town clearly had its secrets. As soon as you get within 100 miles of it in any direction, you start hearing the talk.
The locally—famous outlaw motorcycle club.
The Savage Scorpions.
They're the only reason I've even come here.. to California... to America even. I was born and raised in England, close to Birmingham, with my mother. Before now, I had never even left the UK, but after she passed away a few months ago, I found some old unmailed letters that she had written... for some for a guy named Ron Hale
There were some were for me too, Judging by what was in them, I'm guessing she wrote the ones for me after she decided to not to post the others to him.
The main point; He never knew about me. I was the product of their seedy affair. He was married, my mum was married. It ended badly when they were found out. He stayed with his wife but my mum's husband left her. When she found out she was pregnant with me, she left town.
She was born in England but moved to Pleasant—Tree—Ville when she was a teenager. Apparently, she fell in love with a bad boy and he whisked her away. After finding out she was expecting, she decided to come back. Her family was still here.
"Are you sure you wanna get dropped off here?" I looked up at the cab driver looking at me in the mirror.
"Yeah.. why?"
"It's not the... safest of places. The guys there... they are into some... less than legit stuff if you get my point?". I smiled without amusement.
"Good to know. Thanks for the heads up". I looked away again. "Are we close?" I asked, staring back out the window.
"Yeah, just a few more minutes". I didn't answer him after that. I grabbed my bag and pulled it across the seats. Rummaging around until I pulled out the first and only letter I had received from Ron.
At first, I wasn't sure if the address my mum had for him was even valid anymore. It wasn't a personal address, it was for some Garage out in California called Turners. After a quick google search, I found out it was still there and it was a safe bet this Ron guy was too...
... and he was.
About a week after I sent the letter, I received a reply, which I was more than surprised at. We started video chatting as it was quicker and more direct than posting letters, but what was weird was... when I saw his face... he looked like my dad. I could see him in me. I had his nose.
I found out he was still married to his wife. Some woman named Jemma. I don't know their personal business or what their relationship is, but, I had spoken to her very, very briefly on the video chat and, well, she seemed nice.
Scary and intimidating, but nice.
After communicating back and forth for a little while, and me explaining a bit about myself. He wanted to meet me. He even brought me my plane ticket as I could never have afforded it myself...
So, here I was.
I reread the letter and smiled at his kind, understanding words, but when we turned a corner, I looked up and saw the large sign, announcing our arrival. I shoved the letter back in my bag and for the first time since I got in the cab at the airport, nerves and butterflies started attacking my stomach.
"You'll have to walk from here, I don't go in there". I looked back at the driver and raised my eyebrow. Why was he so scared of whoever it was who worked here? Should I be scared too?
I didn't get that vibe from Ron when we spoke... But then again, I didn't know about 'The SS' then. That's what some people I had spoken too called them. I didn't understand any of it. I was only here to meet Ron and maybe Jemma, talk and go home again.
"Ok". I passed him the money, grabbed my bag and got out. I had barely even closed the door before he sped off and disappeared around another corner. "Fucking weird, man".
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked into the lot and headed up the drive. I could already see the rows of Motorbikes lined up. Ok, well, Motorcycle club means Motorcycles I suppose. As I got closer, I could hear voices, laughing and the butterflies in my stomach started getting worse. I had to stop for a minute and take a few deep breaths.
Why was I so nervous?! We had video chatted, it wasn't like I was just going in blind here. Getting a hold of myself, I took a few more deep breaths, thought "fuck it" and started walking again, quicking my pace, stopping myself from turning and running the other way.
The laughing and voices got louder, they were all males, probably the owner of the bikes, and then suddenly, I saw them all. At first, none of them saw me, so I got closer. As soon as one of them looked up and noticed me and pointed out my presence to the others, they all went silent.
"Hey.. sorry to bother you. I'm looking for Ron Hale... is he here?" The guys all shared a look, but none answered. "He's um... Sort of expecting me".
"Ron is in the office with his old lady, If you're one of his 'special friends' I suggest you turn and walk away before she sees you". One of them, a young—ish guy with blonde hair was the first and only one to speak.
"No, no, Nothing like that. Can I go and see him or...?" Again, no answer. Ok, this is weird. "Ok, well... Is that the office?" I pointed at the small building next to the garages. Again, silence. Fine.
I started walking but a few of the guys followed me and blocked my way.
"You really aren't listening, darlin'. Turn around and go home".
"My home is thousands of miles away. I'm going to speak to Ron Hale". I told them, standing up for myself, but when I went to step around them, I heard a clicking noise and looked down. While it wasn't pointed at me, One of them, an older guy with curly hair and a goatee, had a gun in his hand.
Shit.
These guys WERE dangerous.
"Look, I don't want any trouble, You can go and get him if you don't believe me". They obviously weren't going to take my word for it, so I did the only thing I could think of... I screamed. "RON?!!".
As soon as I did, a hand clamped down hard around my mouth and I was being pushed, shoved and pulled back in the direction I came.
"What is going on out here?" I heard someone say. "Jesus Christ!". I looked up and saw both Ron and Jemma running towards me. They pushed their way into the group of men and pulled them away from me. "What the hell do you think you all are doing?!"
When Ron started shouting, the guys seemed to back off and Jemma pulled me to her and asked if I was ok.
"She wouldn't say who she was, just that she was looking for you". The short, fat old one spoke for the first time.
"That's because it's none of your goddamn business who she is, but since it's such a curiosity to you all, she's my daughter. Any of you lay a hand on her again, I'll kill". I noticed the shocked look on their faces and both Jemma and Ron led me back to the office.
Well, that was a welcome and a half. I guess I was a big secret to everything.
