Years ago I had been a member of a motorcycle club called The Rebels.   I still had my vest and every few years I would shake off the dust and wear it to a club reunion.   This year as I pulled up at the Sweet Water Creek Bar and Grill on my Harley I had Heather behind me.  

I noticed a number of other bikes out front but I didn’t recognize any of them.   That was not unusual as this was a common biker hangout.  

When we went inside I realized those bikes belonged to another club.   They were wearing vests that said ‘Turks’.

I didn’t expect any trouble and I nodded at a couple of them who turned to look at us as we entered.   

We took a couple of stools and ordered beers.   When the beer arrived she held her beer up and clinked with mine and said, “Here’s to us,” and we both took a drink.   Then she turned to me and kissed me on the mouth.   The blood began to rush to my head as it always did when she kissed me.  

“There is something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” she said, “I love you.”

I knew she was just saying that to tease me because I had not been able to verbally return the sentiment.

I wanted to tell her I loved her too, but I could not find my tongue.   I wanted to shout to the world how I felt about her, how joyous my heart was, how I was floating on air.  

“I…” was all I could get out.

She placed one hand on the side of my head and kissed me again.   I was certain that the look in my eyes must be telling her how I felt, but I just could not get the words out.

She got an amused look on her face.

“I know how you feel; you don’t have to say it.”

I ran my fingers through her hair and looked her in the eyes as I said, “Heather, you are everything to me.”

I could not say I love you, but I said what I could say.

We finished our beer and ordered another one.  

“Where are the bathrooms,” she asked.

“Out back in a separate building,” I responded, “I’ll show you.”

“I don’t need a chaperone to the ladies room, thank you,” and she pushed me down in my seat as she got up and headed for the door.

The beer came and I took a long pull.   I thought about how incredibly lucky I was to have such a beautiful, sexy and intelligent woman.   I figured the other guys in the bar had probably been looking at her and envying me.   I looked around and noticed that the other bikers were not there.

I heard a scream and was instantly struck by my worst fears.  

“Oh shit,” I thought, “they know they have me out numbered 5 to 1, I should never have let her got out there alone.   You fucking idiot.”

I bolted off my stool and ran for the door.   I heard the scream again and it sent an icy chill down my spine.   I ran as fast as I could, grabbed the door jam and spun myself to the right, hardly slowing down, and running towards the rear of the building.   I saw the small building that was the bathrooms, but I didn’t see anyone.

Then I heard a muffled sound and realized it was coming from behind the bathrooms.   I ran as fast as I could, my heart in my throat.   I came around the side of the shack and saw 4 or 5 guys surrounding Heather, ripping at her clothes as she kicked and clawed at them.

My rage was instant and almost uncontrollable.   I realized that I could not take them all, but I saw that the nearest one had a gun in his belt behind his back.   I rushed forward and pulled it free.   I fired in the air and pointed the gun at each of them in turn.

They all stood up and Heather quickly got to her feet and ran to me.

“I should just shoot all of you,” I said, “it would be easy, I could even shoot the last one right in the side of the head, then put the gun in his hand and make it look like a suicide.”

I cocked the pistol and all of them took off running.

“You made a big mistake buddy, nobody messes with the Turks and gets away with it,” one of them yelled at me as he ran the other way.

Heather clung to me, crying, and I hugged her back while continuing to point the gun at them.  

We slowly back away as they disappeared into the trees, then we turned and began to walk back towards the bar.

When we got back to the bar two Rebels were walking in the door.   When they saw me they smiled and turned to greet me, then saw the gun in my hand.   I handed the gun to one of them and took off my Rebels vest.

“Here,” I said to Heather, “put this on.”

Heather’s blouse was torn half off and she welcomed the vest.   She was shaking and I held her to me as I made the introductions.   Then I explained what had happened.   They wanted to go after the Turks right then, but I held them back.   We were out numbered and I didn’t know if any of them still had a gun.

I wanted to take Heather and leave, but I decided to wait until the rest of the Rebels arrived.   Once we had numbers I would not have to worry about a fight.

We all sat at a table and ordered a round of drafts.   I kept my arm around Heather and explained that we would leave as soon as the others arrived.  

After a few minutes I heard the sound of motorcycles, and soon after that 4 more Rebels walked in.   We pushed a couple of tables together and ordered more beer.

About that time the Turks returned to their corner of the bar and sat there watching us with venom in their eyes.   The numbers were 7 to 5 in our favor, but I didn’t want a fight.   If a few more of our guys showed up I felt the Turks would not want to mix it up.

Heather began to relax and it appeared that she was enjoying herself once more.   She told me she was ok and didn’t want to break up my reunion, so we ordered food.

We were having a good time, but I was careful not to drink too much.   After about an hour the Turks walked out and we heard the roar of their engines as they sped off down the road.

“Good riddance,” I said.

About an hour later the party broke up and we all filed out to our Harleys.   I soon learned that my bike would not start and quickly figured out that it had been sabotaged.   The spark plugs were missing.

“Great,” I said, “I don’t suppose any of you have spare plugs with you.”   Nobody did.

Greg had been one of my best friends back when we were riding together.   He offered to run into town and pick up some spark plugs for me.   It was in the opposite direction from where we had come and it was a pretty drive, so I suggested Heather ride with him.   She agreed and she and Greg headed north while the others went south.

Since I had nothing to do for a little while I headed back into the bar for another beer.

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About a mile down the road Greg and Heather passed a campground.   Heather happened to be looking in that direction and caught sight of some bikers through the trees.   She didn’t know if they were the same guys, but she yelled in Greg’s ear to pull over.   They were about half a mile from the entrance to the campground and around a bend when they stopped.   Heather told Greg what she saw and then they heard the sound of motorcycles starting up.

Heather immediately grabbed her phone and called me.

 

“The Turks are on their way back, we just heard them take off from a campground about a mile from you.   They’ll be there in minutes,” she said quickly.

“Tell Greg to call the others and get them back here pronto.   I’ve got to go,” I said and hung up the phone.

Greg was already on his cell when she got off the phone.

When he closed the phone Heather yelled “Come on, we have to get back there.”

“We can’t take them all on alone, and Jake would kill me if I took you back there,” he said.

“We can’t just wait here, if you won’t come I’ll go alone,” she said as she jumped on the Harley.

“Ok, hold on, we’ll go back but we have to play it safe.   Don’t be so worried about Jake, he’s not just going to sit there and wait for them to pull up and stomp him.”   Greg fired up the bike and Heather jumped on behind, shouting, “come on, let’s get moving.”

A couple of minutes later they pulled off the road and coasted quietly into the trees about a quarter of a mile from the Tavern.   Heather jumped off and began running through the trees.

“Hey Heather, come on, you’re going to get us both killed.   Damn it Heather wait up,” he shouted as quietly as he could.

Heather stopped briefly next to a tree searching the forest for a pathway.   Before Greg caught up she took off again, running through the brush.

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After I got off the phone I ran out and began pushing my bike around the back.   If they didn’t see the bike when they pulled up maybe they would think I was gone.   I kept pushing until I got behind the bathrooms and left the bike there.   I then returned to the back of the tavern and found a tool shed.   I went inside and began looking for something to use for a weapon.

After a minute I found 3 things that I might be able to use, duck tape, plastic ties and an axe handle.   I put the plastic ties in my pocket and ripped off a length of duck tape.  

At that point I heard the sound of motorcycles and knew they were back.   I stood there thinking, trying to figure out what to do.

The Turks pulled up in front of the tavern and stopped, puzzled.

“Maybe one of the other guys had some spare plugs,” one of them said.

Kiley, the leader of the group wasn’t sure.   He sat there looking around.

“Max,” he said, “take a look inside.”

Max put his kickstand down and turned off the bike and went inside.   A moment later he came back, shaking his head.

Kiley was still suspicious.   He looked at the ground where the sabotaged bike had been and saw tracks leading around the back.  

He nodded to the others and they all turned off their engines.   They rummaged in their bags and come up with pieces of chain and began walking around the tavern.

Kiley stopped them when he saw that the tracks led behind the bathrooms.   He pointed at two of them and motioned for them to go around the right side.  

“Max, check that tool shed, and you come with me, he said to the fourth guy.

They split up; two going toward each side of the building while Max walked over and opened the door to the tool shed.   It was dark inside compared to the bright light outside and he stepped into the gloom.

I clubbed him with the axe handle and held him so he didn’t crash to the floor and make a lot of noise.   I got him down and put the duck tape over his mouth, then put a plastic tie around each wrist, running the second one through the first to tie his hands together behind his back.

The 4 Turks arrived behind the bathroom building and found the bike.   They then turned and retraced their steps around the building.

“Max,” shouted Kiley.

“Max,” he shouted again, this time louder.

The door had swung shut and I opened it a crack and looked outside.   I saw two guys coming around the building and expected the other two were close by.   I had no chance in the shed, so I stepped out with the axe handle and faced them.

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As Heather was rushing through the trees she tripped over a small branch.   She got up and looked down and decided to take it with her.   She took off running again with the branch in one hand, Greg close behind her.   Now Greg was thinking the same thing and began watching the ground for something to use as a club.

Heather could see the tavern through the trees and slowed down to make less noise.   She saw the bikes out front but did not see Jake’s bike or any of the men.   She stopped and Greg came up to her.

“They are either in the bar or out back,” she said.   “If they are inside there may not be a problem, but if they are out back…” without finishing the statement she began to hurry toward the side of the tavern.   There was a stack of wood beside the tavern and Greg was able to pick up a 2x4 a few feet long.

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I moved away from the shack to give myself room to swing the axe handle.   The four of them began to spread out and surround me, swinging their chains and smiling and taunting me.   I turned constantly in an effort to keep anyone from surprising me from behind.

Heather heard voices and knew she was close.   She came around the corner moving quickly and swung the tree branch with all her might.   One of the Turks went down, and the one closest to him turned to see Heather holding the tree branch.   Before he could make a move Greg clubbed him with the 2x4.   He bent over half way and Greg hit him again across the back of the neck.

When I heard the sound behind me I turned to see Heather and Greg, and the other two Turks quickly rushed me, swinging their chains.   I swung back around; holding the axe handle up with both hands and ducked.   One of the chains grazed my head and the other wrapped around the axe handle.

The handle was ripped from my hands and I quickly backed up.   I took the tree branch from Heather and swung it quickly to clear some space around me.   Greg and I faced the two Turks and we began to circle each other

At that point we all heard the sound of motorcycles coming fast.   Seconds later the Rebels came around the building from both sides.   The two standing Turks had only one direction to go and both began running into the trees behind the tavern, two Rebels on Harleys close behind.

One of the Rebels said something about collecting some spark plugs and the rest rode back around to the front of the tavern.

I grabbed Heather and held her tight.   I looked at Greg and said, “You two saved me.   I would have been dead meat if you hadn’t of showed up when you did.”

“You can thank Heather,” said Greg, “there was no stopping her; I was barely able to keep up.”

I looked her in the eyes and kissed her lips.

“Just say I love you”, she said.

“Just say I love you?” I asked.

“You want me to say I love you?”

“Heather, my love for you is deeper than space, and equally infinite.

“I love you Heather, more than I love the sound of the Mocking bird early in the morning.   I love you more than I love the sound of the Barn Owl at night.   I love you more than I love the sound and sight of thunder and lightning.   I love you more than laying on a mountain top looking at the brilliant stars in the clear sky.”

“There is nothing that I love more than you Heather.   I love you.”