“Yeah,” another man said. “She’s just so pretty.”
“I don’t care! You are acting like heathens!”
The woman ignored them as she walked down the steps to greet me. “My name is Roxy. You’re Ari, right?”
Nodding, I didn’t really know what to say to the woman. She was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Wearing a tight red top that barely contained her breast or her stomach, for that matter. Her jeans were so low on her hips, I feared if she bent over, they would slip past and expose her behind. But what really caught my attention was her bubble gum-colored hair. It was so pretty!
“Come on, girl, I’ll introduce you to the other ladies, and then we can get to know each other. We’re gear-in’ up for a barbeque tonight to welcome you and Ghost. But seeing as this will be your first barbeque, I offered to help you.”
“Thank you.”
Roxy laughed. “Damn, Ghost was right. You are sweet and shy! Don’t you worry, tonight, will definitely take care of that. We don’t stand on ceremony here. So, come on, girl. Let’s get this party started.” I didn’t know what she meant by tonight would take care of that, but I was willing to find out.
Over the next couple of hours, I met three more women who were equally pretty, vibrant, and very outspoken. Miranda, or Mandi as she preferred, was the sister to a man named Ravage, who was Moonshine’s V.P., and according to Mandi, he lived up to his name. Then there was Stella, she belonged to Digger, and though she said she was happy, it didn’t seem that way when Digger walked into the kitchen, and she cursed him to hell. Finally, I met Julie, the youngest of the group. She belonged to Slaughter and apparently, like me, was new to this biker life. She had only been Slaughter’s ol’Lady for six months now, though a bit skittish, she seemed to be adjusting fine to me.
After preparing several dishes and lots of desserts, Roxy announced, “All right, ladies, the boys have got the pig in the ground, and the fires are burning. We’ve got about three hours before everyone else shows up. Time to get ready!”
Stella and Mandi whistled as they followed Roxy out of the kitchen. I looked at Julie and asked, “Do we follow?”
“Unless you want to wear what you have on. You look great, in my opinion, but maybe we should liven ya up a bit. You know, hair, make-up and such.”
“I’ve never done any of that,” I whispered, looking away. And just like that, I felt inferior again. I was on equal footing when it came to baking and cooking because I knew what to do, but I was oblivious when it came to the other stuff, and it showed.
“Never,” Julie gasped. “Like you’ve never dyed your hair, wore lipstick, painted your nails?”
“No. Growing up, I was never allowed.”
“Where the hell did you grow up?”
“Oregon.”
“Figures,” Julie said, grabbing my hand dragging me out of the kitchen and up a set of stairs. “God bless those huggin’ tree liberals. Seriously, they aren’t going to know what to do when the zombies attack, but I’ll tell ya one thing, they ain’t comin’ to my place, that’s for sure!”
Following, I just listened as Julie talked, not understanding a single word she was saying, but when she pushed me into a large room where Stella, Mandi, and Roxy were, Julie clearly said, “Ladies, we have an emergency. Make-over 911…STAT!”
The ladies smiled broadly as Julie shut and locked the door.
Over the next couple of hours, I listened and watched as all four ladies washed, buffed, fluffed, painted, dyed, and painted every inch of my body. I had never received so much attention before in my life, and I loved every minute of it. I asked a lot of questions, which they answered happily. Yet, when Mandi asked me what my favorite color was, I didn’t know what to say. I never thought about it before. Yet, seeing Roxy’s hair, I smiled and pointed to her pink tips. “I like that color.”
“Passion Pink it is!” Mandi said, grabbing a bottle of some liquid.
“Don’t you think we ought to bleach it first?” Stella asked.
“Hell no,” Mandi gasped. “Look at her hair. It’s virgin—all-natural. I would kill for hair like that. Besides, her hair is damn near white anyway. I say we just give it a splash of color, then have Roxy curl and set it. Besides, we still need to do her make-up and find her something to wear that will go with her complexion. Baby girl seriously needs to hit up the tanning beds while she is here.”
“Not everyone wants skin like leather, Mandi,” Roxy commented.
“Hey, my skin is smooth as silk.”
“Whatever, leave Ari alone. Just do her hair and make-up and keep it light. I don’t want to overwhelm the girl. Besides, I have something that will look perfect on her.” Roxy replied, walking over to a large walk-in closet.”
I said nothing as Roxy exited the large closet with a short denim skirt and a shiny leather pink top with ribbons that laced up the front. I’d never seen anything so small in my life. It looked more like a child’s outfit. “I bought this three years ago when I planned on doing that watermelon diet. You know the one where I just eat watermelon for days. Well, I loved the watermelon, but so did my body. It loved the sugar more. Anyway, I think this will look lovely on you.”
“Roxy,” I whispered as tears started to pool in my eyes. “I can’t take that. You’ve never worn it. It isn’t right.”
“Oh, pish,” Roxy waved me off. “I ain’t never gonna get my butt and boobs into this outfit. I may have bought it on a whim, but I think it was meant to be yours. So, take it as a gift from me.”
I didn’t know what to say. All the ladies were so kind to me. Helping me with everything. They didn’t laugh or make fun of me when I asked questions. They accepted me as I was, ignorance in all. I’d never felt so loved, so cared for before, and I was genuinely humbled.