“Did you meet them through the Grim Reapers?” I ask.
She laughs. “You have it all wrong. I was a Grim Reaper, and I brought them in. Not the reverse.”
“Really? I don’t know much about the Grim Reapers.”
“Well, it’s like a family. We care about one another, and we’ll go to war for you.”
I flinch.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, her eyes narrowing.
“Nothing,” I say quickly, shaking my head.
“You’re a terrible liar,” she says. “I’ve known you all of two minutes, and I know you’re lying.”
“Yes, well… Let’s just say that my father is actually in a motorcycle club. He’s actually the leader, and it’s… rough. Really rough.”
“There can be wars between clubs over turf, but it’s just an expression most of the time.”
I nod, dropping my gaze to the table. It’s not an expression with my father. He means real war.
“Look, if you need protection, why not consider joining the Grim Reapers?”
“I don’t have a bike. Don’t you have to have a motorcycle to join the club?”
“Yes,” she admits. “I have an old bike I’m trying to piece together for fun. It won’t take me too much longer to get it in working order. I could sell it to you.”
“Aw, thanks, Allie, but I don’t have the money.”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“I can’t accept that!” I protest. “Thank you, but you deserve to be paid—”
“I’ll give it to you, and you can use it to drive to a job and pay me back for it. I don’t care how long it takes you to pay me back. As long as you throw me, like twenty a month at least, we’ll be square.”
Tears burn my eyes. I can afford that, can’t I? But only if I get a job. I had a mechanic look over my car, and I can’t afford to fix it. Even if I had the money, I’m not sure that I would bother to have it fixed. Somehow, it went and totaled itself just by sitting there. The engine’s shot, and something else is gonna go in no time.
You see, when I went to my mom about getting me a car instead of the motorcycle my father wanted for me, my father wasn’t happy. Whereas he was willing to spend a lot on a bike for me, he refused to spend a lot on a car for me. I always knew it was only a matter of time before the car would shit the bed. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for me, but that’s how these things go, isn’t it?
But for Allie to be nothing at all like I feared… for her to be so generous… I don’t know if I can handle it.
Especially since she’s in a motorcycle club, and if my father finds out about her helping me…
I want to make more friends. Believe me. Who wouldn't? But the thought of my father doing anything to hurt Allie makes me want to never see her again.
But I don’t. For better or worse, we’re friends, and I’ll do anything and everything for my friends.
“I’m going to fill out an application for a job tonight,” I say, “but I don’t know if I’ll get it, and it’s just a waitressing position.”
"Well, if you get it, great. If not, or even if you do, you could always work at the club."
“The club?”
“The Grim Reapers have a club. The first floor is basically a bar. The second floor is the club, and the top floor is for motorcycle club shit.”
“I’m not twenty-one.”
“Eh, that won’t matter. We protect our own, and we aren’t going to rat you out to the cops. No one needs to know.”