Chapter 2

Calvin, Beth’s man, told Camy he was grateful for what she had done. Ned said he would never worry about leaving Kate alone again if Camy was going to be around. Phil Burke said he was going to never get Camy pissed at him; she was bad trouble. Everyone laughed, but they knew now that Camy was tough when she had to be.

Bill walked with Camy down to the beach. Bill asked Camy if she had ever had martial arts training. Camy said she had been in one foster home where the parents ran a martial arts school in the basement. She had learned a lot and could even kill with her hands if need be.

Bill told her he was very proud of her; she had prevented an incident that would have ruined the trip for them. Camy said that she was glad she had pleased him; she said she wanted everything she did to please him.

After that, everyone treated Camy differently. In their minds, they knew she was only sixteen, but they knew she was more adult than any of the other women.

Saturday afternoon, the local bike club began getting ready for the evening. A rusty Jeep pulled a trailer-mounted stainless steel cooker in close to the first shed. Three bikers got out of the Jeep and walked over and introduced themselves to the winners’ bike club. They said that the three of them always did the Bar-B-Q. One of them said the meat was started last night and was done. They were just keeping it warm now. One of those guys asked which lovely lady had put out some bum’s lights that morning with her boot. Pam pointed to Camy and said, “Ain’t she pretty as well as tough?” The cooks said she was beautiful and did not look tough at all. Two guys in a new pickup drove up and parked. They got out, and one hollered, “Hey Burt, you got room on that silver beauty for some conch?”

Porter Green rode up on his motor and greeted everyone. He had a pretty woman about his age on the saddle behind him. Porter introduced her as Inez Peel. Inez said she owned the biggest bar and nightclub in town. She gave all seven guys a card with “My Guest” written on the back of it. Inez said they were welcome without the usual ten-dollar per head cover charge with her cards. The four-piece band arrived. They set up in the middle shed. Four couples arrived. They had potato salad and a large pot of baked beans. One shouted, “Burt, we have a hundred plates going to the Navy this time.” All pork with conch on a separate plate. Burt said theirs was already carved and asked who could fix the plates. Bill said, “I can help.” All of the guys volunteered. Bill told the ladies to fix their pretty faces and hair. A party was about to start. He suggested they wear dresses. Bill told them to come to the first shed when they were ready.

The Winners Bike Club pitched in and did the hundred plates for the swabbies while the Key West Club did their thing. Burt said, “Count on at least a hundred more take-out plates for town folks, guys.” The Winners biker girls came in, and every Key West guy was struck by their beauty. Camy pushed between Bill and the work table and told him it was her turn now. Bill wiped his greasy hands dry and slapped her on her ass. Camy said, “I’m busy and don’t have time for romance right now.” Every person that heard that roared with laughter. When it got quiet, Bill said, “I will take a rain check for later then.” Again, there was laughter. More Key West bikers showed up and took over their tasks. Bill said, “Eat now, people, if you have not stuffed as you worked.” Bill pointed out where the beer keg was located and said, “There is wine for the ladies.”

At eight, the band began to play, and most of the party moved to that shed.

Everyone danced until twelve, and the band went home. The Key West people all made a point of saying good night to the Winners as they left. The beer keg was empty, and the leftover food was put up. By one am. every one was gone but the Winners. They were all tired and ready for bed. Camy took off her pretty dress Bill had bought her and put it on a hanger. She hung it on a nail in the wall of the bathhouse. Bill was nude and waiting for her when she got back. He unzipped the net opening, and they dived through before the insects found it. Bill asked Camy if he could collect on his rain check for romance tomorrow night. Camy said, “You got it, super stud.” Someone groaned from a nearby tent, “Thank God folks, Bill and Camy are too tired to keep us awake tonight; we can sleep!”

Sunday morning, they stayed in bed late. Camy got up and made coffee at daybreak. She did her thing in the toilet and had a shower by the time the coffee was made. Camy took two cups to their tent, and she and Bill sipped on them and talked. Bill said, “Camy, we only have five more days here before we have to leave to go home.” “We plan to leave Friday morning and get to our homes Sunday.” Bill asked Camy what she wanted to do. He asked where she wanted to go.

Camy said, “With you.”

Bill asked if she wanted to go to Nashville and stay with him. Camy said, “With all my heart, Bill.” Bill said, “Let’s try living together then.”

Camy cried.

The next five days flew by. Thursday evening, while having dinner, Bill asked if everyone could take a week off in two months. Everyone could. Bill said, “Fine, I want to rent a small prop jet to take us to Las Vegas and back.” Bill said, “Phil, we could pick you and Mary up at Memphis. Calvin, you and Beth could be at the Memphis airport as well. Bryant, you and Anita could drive from Anniston to Birmingham and meet Ned, Kate, Paul, and Jane there. Jake, that leaves you and Pam. There is not much difference in miles to either Birmingham or Nashville from Decatur.” Bill said, “Camy and I will leave on the plane, fly to Birmingham, load passengers, then on to Memphis to load. We will plan to get to Vegas that night.” Bill told them he would make reservations at a casino hotel for seven days. Bill said he and Phil were going to split the expenses again. Everyone was looking forward to their next trip together.

Pam Taylor asked if Bill’s taking Camy on their next trip meant that he was taking her home with him. Bill asked Pam if she had ever been told that she had nose trouble. Pam grinned and said, “Lots of times, super stud.” “Are you?” she asked.

Bill said Camy was his woman, and he was her man now.

The Winners Bike Club was pleased. They had all fallen in love with Camy during that near two weeks together.

After that first night of sex with Bill, Camy had found her birth control pills in her pack and started taking them again each morning. She would have enough to last until the middle of the first week in Nashville. Friday evening at a campsite south of Atlanta, Camy and Mary Duke were sipping wine at a picnic table next to where the men were setting up the tents.

Camy asked Mary why the name Winners Bike Club.

Mary said she thought Camy had known. Mary said that her man, Phil Burke, and Bill had bought one lotto ticket as they drove through New Jersey. They had each chosen numbers, split the small cost of the ticket, and entered both their names. They were at a big truck stop having a quick lunch. They had delivered and set up a computer for their boss’s daughter at Elisabeth, New Jersey.

The next week after the drawing, they found that they had won forty-six million dollars. They quit their miserable jobs at the music recording studios in Nashville and flew to New Jersey. They had expected to get the forty-six million in one or two checks. That was not the way it worked, though. The state would pay them two million a year for twenty-five years, then the remainder would be paid in full.

A million a year was a lot of money. Mary said Phil Burke had gone home to Memphis and deposited his first million-dollar check in the bank. He wanted to make it grow. He bought a new car dealership that was number ten in sales in that area and now, four years later, was number one in that area.

Mary said that Phil was making more off the agency than New Jersey paid now.

Mary said Bill had gone home to Nashville and looked around for something to make his first million grow. For a little over half a million, the recording business he and Phil had worked for could be bought. Bill jumped on it.

Mary said that now, four years later, Bill’s income from the studio was greater than his annual lottery check.

Mary said, “Camy, do not let Bill’s money make a difference; it does not with Phil and me”. Mary told Camy that she owned a large towboat and barge service on the Mississippi River, and her income was near Phil’s each year.

Mary advised Camy to just be Bill’s lover, and he would love her back.

Camy said that would be easy to do.

Camy asked Mary how the club had been formed with nearly everyone from different places. Mary said all of the guys worked for either Phil or Bill. Mary said that Paul Taylor managed a car dealership for Phil in Birmingham. Calvin Tucker managed a dealership in Jackson, Mississippi.

Mary said Ned Baker managed Bill’s music operation for the State of Alabama in Birmingham. She said Kate Morris worked for Bill as well; she was booking country music performers from there.

Mary said Bryant Kelly managed a plastic product manufacturing plant for Bill in Anniston, Alabama. Anita Brown was the head of sales there.

Jake Allen managed a dog and cat food plant in Decatur, Alabama, for Bill Wainwright. Mary said Phil had a Harley dealership in Memphis, and he and Bill had bought the bikes and trailers at cost and given them to the guys.

That evening in Georgia was pleasant; everyone was tired, and bed was their only ambition. The next day, as they passed near Anniston, Alabama, Bryant Kelley and Anita Brown blew all of them kisses and took the off-ramp.

As I-20 merged with I-65, Bill, Camy, Jake, and Pam blew kisses at Calvin, Beth, Ned, and Kate and headed north. Later, Jake Allen and Pam Taylor took the offramp at Decatur. An hour and a half later, Bill got off at Columbia, Tennessee. There was a place he liked to eat at there. Bill asked Camy if she was hungry. Camy said she was starving. Bill recommended a bowl of navy beans with cornbread and real buttermilk to drink.

It was dark when they left. Camy was tired. She put her arms around Bill and lay her helmet-covered head on his back. She did not get to sleep before Bill took an offramp at Brentwood. Bill got them on Highway 31 and turned off that onto Granny White Pike. In a short time, he touched a button on a controller and caused a pair of iron gates to open. Bill rode them up to a five-door garage. Another button opened a wide roll-up door. Bill eased the motor and trailer inside and told a now-alert Camy they were home. Bill put the door down and got his duffel bag and Camy’s backpack out of the trailer and led the way into the house. He led Camy through a large kitchen, down a short hall, and into a huge bedroom. Bill said, “I think you are a tired lady and need a bath and a bed right away”. Camy smiled and nodded. Bill said he would start the water in the tub while she undressed. Camy had only her boots, socks, biker leathers, and a T-shirt to remove. She came into the bath nude while the tub was filling. Bill went to the bedroom to undress. When he was back, he kissed Camy. The tub was nearly filled. Bill poured in some sweet-smelling bath oil and told Camy to get in. Camy said the water was too hot. Bill told her it would feel good in a few minutes; it would relax those tense muscles. Bill got in and hit a button switch. Air bubbles rushed out of hundreds of tiny holes in the bottom and began massaging them. Bill touched another button, and water jets from dozens of openings were hitting them all over.