“Hey,” Naomi said, perching on the chair beside me. “How are you?”
Her concerned expression looked so damn out of place it was almost comical. My friend was sympathetic—to a degree—but she was more about kicking ass and taking names than holding hands and making sure everyone crossed the finish line. But for me, she was trying.
“I’m good.” I took a swig from my bottle. “You?”
“I’m good. Hey, I wanna talk to you about something. You got a minute?”
“I think so. You know more about how this works than I do.”
“Right.” She looked around, zeroing in on her brother. “Yeah, Wasp is harassing Link, we’ve got time.” Turning back to me, she said, “The girls and I have been meaning to talk to you about this project we’re working on. We’re pooling our talents and resources to offer women of the community services like legal help, self-defense, filling out resumes, whatever they need. I know you’re still trying to get your feet under you, but we’d like you to be involved when you’re ready. That’s what we went and looked at that office space for.”
At the time, I hadn’t been interested enough to ask, but now I wanted more information. “Give me more deets. What are you calling this little venture?”
“That’s a very good question. The girls keep suggesting names, but none of them feel right, you know? Julia suggested First Lady’s Club, but Emily is technically the only first lady, and that name sounds uppity to me. We don’t want women in need thinking we’re some rich bitch swanky club. We need a name that’s more approachable.”
I nodded, swirling around the title in my mind, looking for something close to what they’d already come up with. When it finally hit me, I let out a laugh.
“What?” Naomi asked, eyeing me.
“Remember that first night we got drunk and sang karaoke together?”
“Of course. I hated you until that night. Then you removed the stick from your ass and let loose, showing me how fun and amazing you could be when you weren’t sucking up to instructors.”
“You better get that memory of yours checked out, because I’m pretty sure you have our roles reversed. You were the stick puppet.” To be honest, both of us had been strutting around like horses on a carousel. Hashing out our differences over beer and bad karaoke had taken us both down a notch.
“Yeah, that’s not how I remember it. Monie, you were basically a mean girl.”
I used to have a reputation for eviscerating anyone stupid enough to disagree with me. It was one of the things I regretted about that time in my life, but I wasn’t about to admit to anything. “We’ll agree to disagree—because you’re wrong—but that’s not the point. Remember the first song we sang together?”
“Yeah. That’s how you got your name.” I could almost see the wheels spinning in her head. As she finally caught my drift, her face lit up. “Ohmigod, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. It’s perfect.”
I had to agree. “Yeah. I think so, too.”
She hugged me. “I gotta tell the others. Thank you so much!”
As I watched her scurry off, Stocks leaned against me. “What was that all about?”
Feeling pretty good about myself, I took another swig. “You know, just solving world problems and shit.”
“Impressive.”
I shrugged. “I do what I can.”
Before he could reply, Link stepped into the circle beside the fire pit and called for everyone to sit down. After people took their chairs, he broke into another speech.
“For those of you who are new to the club, this is another Memorial Day tradition. Every year, we sit around this fire pit and remember those we’ve lost, either during their time in the service or afterward. Stepping out of tradition this year, I’d like to invite our two women vets—Naomi and Monica—to join us. Anybody have a problem with that?”
“Hell no,” Tank, one of the older bikers, said. “The lady vets have earned the right to honor their dead, and the old guard welcomes them.”
“Thank you, Uncle Tank,” Naomi said.
He gave her a stoic nod.
“Dad, you want to start us off?” Link asked.
Jake stood. Holding his beer in the air, he said, “For my brother by blood, Wade Lincoln, who was lost and never recovered. For my brothers in arms Tipton, Jenkins, Riggs, Gates, Chen, Rosales, DiPinto, Scheller, who each died in service to our great country. For Ayker, Jasso, Yakimo, Dawson, and Muck who passed after they came home. For Hall and Bennerson who ended their own lives, helping us old guys see the necessity for a club that could give veterans a home to come back to... gone but never forgotten.”
“Gone but never forgotten,” everyone repeated joining Jake as he took a swig.
