Page 48 of Truck

“If you would speak with Cilla, she could tell Terrence how you feel. Or you could just speak to him, and I’m sure he’d move on if that is what you want him to do. As for us, we are going to move forward and get to know each other properly. I like you more than a little, Rory. I want us to be a couple, a genuine relationship, and if you are willing, I’d like to start that now?”

A plate on the counter slides, and both Truck and I look at it, and then at each other. “Get a life you lot. Move along, we are busy,” Truck snarls at nothing and nobody that we can see, anyway.

The plate moves again, and I whisper to Truck. “Who is it?”

“No idea,” Truck replies to me, then turns back to the counter. “Fuck off and talk to Cilla, or go play tricks on Pres.”

“Play tricks on Pres? What do you mean?” I ask with a lot of confusion.

“Tracker is fascinated with all this spooky shit. He keeps asking them to do things and then waits to see if they do. One has even managed a partial thing, um, not sure what they call it, but showed himself slightly.”

“You mean an apparition?”

“Yeah, that’s it. They are all messing with stuff on the other side. Pyro, who, as you can tell by his name, loved fire, we’ve seen him make small fireballs appear. Tank? I’m not sure. But Tank, yeah, he appeared. Cilla’s baby girl, Ayla, keeps saying “Ono,” which is Bono, and that pissed Finger off because he’s Ayla’s daddy and she’s not said that yet.” Truck chuckles, “Oh, and Tracker is doing his best to get Ayla to say Tracker before she says dada, dad, or daddy.”

“I told Cilla you are all batshit crazy, and I think I’m right.”

Chapter 25

TRUCK

Isuppose we all look, as Rory calls it, batshit crazy. It doesn’t stop the fact that we really see things move, hear noises where there should be none, and are told things by Cilla that she could never have known or foretold.

Grady is staying with Jill tomorrow night, and that’s the night I’m gonna make my move. I know I’ve only been on one date with Rory, but you know, come on…I’m a biker we don’t usually do dates.

I head to the tattoo studio this morning because I’ve an appointment to get my panther finished. It’s something I’ve wanted to have for a long time and never found an artist who could create what I wanted while keeping it lifelike. Jethro is fuckin’ amazing at animal tats and the portfolio I flicked through showed how good he is and how successful he’s going to be when his name gets out.

Four hours later and the tattoo is finished. “That is truly a work of art, Jethro. Once you are a full brother and people talk, you are going to have more clients than you can cope with. What do you say, Scribe?”

Scribe nods as he checks out the finished Panther. “I agree. Your artwork is first-class, Jethro, and people will pay a lot of cash to have you design what they want. I want a roaring lion on my shoulder, wrapping around back and front. I don’t care how big it is because with your skill I want you to design it and put it on my skin.”

“I can do that, Scribe. I’ll work on a design that fits in with your other work. Let me take some photographs of what you have in that area, and then I can see if what I have in mind will gel.” Jethro finishes wrapping me up and gives me a nod.

“I am more than happy with the result, Jethro.” I throw him cash, which he tries to give me back, but the stern look I give him shuts him up.

The next job of the day is taking Rory’s car and getting it filled with gas. I’m going to do it on the free scheme we have going on at the station for the first week. All we are doing is taking the vehicle plates as a log to show how much free gas we’ve given, and where that gas went. It’ll go down as promotional shit according to Coin and Rum. I have to get updated on all this stuff if I’m going to remain as manager of the place.

Once I’ve filled Rory’s car I head inside the station and give Collins a chin lift as I pass the counter. “Everything good, Collins?”

“Yeah, everything is smooth. I’m surprised how many people are using the place. We may need to replenish stock in the store area during the night shift because it’s so busy during the day we hardly get chance to leave the counter for more than a minute,” Collins chuckles. “Xero said he was sick of looking through glass and felt like a goldfish.”

“I’m going to be in the office for a few minutes, then I’ll take Rory’s car back. Once I’ve done that, I’ll be here for the rest of the day. I can cover the counter for a while if you need a break.”

“Okay, that’s cool. Xero is mowing and checking the front. I’ll clean the gas pumps and make sure everything is clean. It’ll do us good to use up some energy,” Collins smirks, and I know what he means. None of us enjoys sitting around doing nothing physical for long.

After leaving the car with Rory and getting back to the gas station, I take a turn behind the counter. It’s not exactly exciting work, but it is interesting to see how many people from town are using the gas station, and how many passing through are stopping.

I’m going to ask during church what everyone thinks about having a truck area for truck drivers to pull in and rest, overnight if needed. I’ve seen a lot during the week pull in, fill up and look like they need to have a pit stop.

We already have the shower building and Rum found the tokens that are for use on the shower area doors. It would bring in extra income, and we can employ someone to keep them hygienic. We would have to calculate what to charge per token to make a profit. Not a huge profit, but a profit, nonetheless.

I’m about ready to text Xero to do a handover at the counter when three guys walk in. I don’t make it obvious that I’m watching them, but they are giving me a nasty feeling. I quickly text Xero to get his ass in here because trouble is brewing, then put my phone down and get ready for whatever is going to happen next.

I can see Xero through the window heading to the main door when one of the guys takes out a gun and heads toward me. I stay calm because you know I’m behind bulletproof glass. Yeah, there are openings in the glass, but as long as I keep glass between us I’m safe enough.

I lean down and hit the button Keys had installed. That alerts Keys that we have a serious issue at the gas station. He’ll get brothers here, and here fast.

“Hand over the cash,” the idiot with the gun snarls. I shrug my shoulders and roll my eyes. My body language is stating, Fuck you.