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Venus smells good. Better than most of the whores who come around the club. She’s a woman who knows how to take care of herself, smooth skin, deeply tanned and soft. She has a gentle, practiced femininity that’s enthralled him since back when she walked through the door in black leather.
“He’ll be okay, you know?” Tig says as they watch Joey’s bus drive towards Seattle.
“He’s a good kid. His mother, she raised him right.” Venus pulls her face away from his cheek and steps back, but lets his hand linger on her shoulder for a moment before she puts distance between them. She adjusts her blouse, tosses her hair back, fluffing it with her hand. “Feels like I gang-banged an entire marching band. I could use a drink.”
Tig’s just watching her, awed. Wants to go where she goes. “Just down the block, Richard’s Bar, has good Scotch.”
Venus turns her head towards the bars and smoke shops near the bus station. When she nods, he touches the small of her back, feels the muscles under the softness of her blouse. It’s a beautiful night, quiet and still, and it’s just what he needs after the chaos of the day. He listens to her heels clack on the sidewalk, a steady stride. She’s been through a lot, but walks like a dame.
He opens the door and she passes through with a brilliantly white smile and he wonders how many hours she’s spent in front of the mirror practicing, perfecting. How old she was when it began. If her teeth are really hers.
The bar is nearly dark, with couples crowded together at small booths and along the bar. It’s a popular place with the ladies who want a drink before taking their johns to one of the by-the-hour motels around the corner. From the speakers above the bar, Abbey Lincoln’s voice croons about happiness and Tig feels right at home.
He pulls out a chair at a small table and Venus slides into it, crossing her long legs and smoothing her skirt. “You’re a gentleman, I see, Tig.” She says his name hesitantly and he’s surprised that she remembers it.
“A lady deserves to be treated right.” The wooden legs of his chair scrape as he sits and pulls himself closer. She seems to bring out a side of him only Gemma ever gets to see, and since she’s been with Nero, it’s been hidden away.
The waitress, a slim brunette, leans over them. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have a cosmopolitan, darlin’,” Venus replies, fluttering a hand across her cleavage. “A strong one.”
“Glen Fiddich, neat,” he says, keeping his eyes on Venus. He doesn’t want to miss a moment.
The waitress retreats and Venus turns to him. “So, what’s your story, Mr. Tig?” Venus asks, meeting his eyes for the first time since Joey went off on the bus.
“Tig. Just Tig.” He smiles and runs his fingers over his moustache. “Just a guy with a bike. Been that way for a long time.”
“I think there’s very much more than that…Tig. Is that your real name? Tig? Your mama named you that?” Venus cocks a brow and Tig grins.
“Nah, Alex. Properly, Alex Trager, but only the cops and the California Department of Corrections calls me that.”
“And your mama? She’s not around?”
“Nah. Not much family left.” Tig drops his eyes, sees the flames he can’t forget. He swallows and twists his fingers together. The metal of his rings digs into his skin.
“Guess we’re about the same then, you and me.” Venus has her eyes on him when Tig looks up again. They’re soft, the warmest brown, and he feels like they can see right through him.
The waitress comes and goes and he barely notices. “Some,” he agrees and drops his gaze. The whiskey is cool and he takes a long drink.
After a silence, Tig speaks, “What she said back there, your mom, about you. That was all bullshit, you know…” He watches her reaction, the tight lips, the drink wavering in her fingers.
“Truer than you think. That boy’s better off without me.” She takes a delicate sip and sets the glass gently back onto the napkin. He admires her control.
“She got it wrong. Did things to you that weren’t right. Being fucked up…that’s her doing. Not yours. Not this…” Tig gestures to her face and breasts, the womanly parts of her that he adores.
Her face changes at his comment. “You’re fascinated. Like the rest of them. Want to know if they’re real. Touch them to make sure.” Her tone is sharp and Tig frowns.
“Yeah. You’re right. I am fascinated. I love titties. But you are beautiful everywhere. Inside and out. It’s clear as day.” Tig leans towards her, brushes his fingers against hers. They’re cold from her drink.
Venus lets go the serious tone and flashes him a smile, not quite real, but she leaves her hand where it is. “You’re a charmer, Tig. Your mama teach you that?”
“I respected her. Had a tough life. Shit beat outta her by my dad till she couldn’t walk. She was strong, though. So are you.”
“What happened to her?” Venus’ voice is soft, eyes seeing into him again.
Tig takes another drink. It’s been a long time since he’s talked about his mom. “One night. I was fifteen, in trouble, smoking weed, getting drunk, giving a fuck about nothing, and I came home to him standing over her with a baseball bat. I’d been gone a couple of days, but I could see that things had gotten worse. I surprised him by walking in and he raised the bat at me. All I could see her face, eye all swollen shut, blood. Her arm was twisted all up under her like it shouldn’t have been. She was looking at me, giving me those eyes. The ones that always pleaded with me to stay out of it.” Tig pauses, seeing the vision roll out like he was there.
“But you didn’t,” Venus says.
“Nah. Guess I couldn’t take it anymore. I was bigger than he was. Not by much, but he still had the strength of a man. I was a skinny kid, but I had fire in my veins back then. Rage I didn’t even know I had and it came out that night. We fought, rolled around with my mother screaming, hoarse and desperate, you know. Begging me to stop. Begging me to stop hitting that motherfucker who beat her. Raped me.” Tig takes a sharp breath. “But I couldn’t stop. Didn’t even look human when I was done.” Tig feels tears on his face. His mother’s voice ringing in his ears.
“You did good. You did.” Venus takes his fingers and squeezes. He can’t look at her.
“I ran. I fucking ran, I was so scared, man. I called the ambulance from a pay phone. Blood all over me. My dad's blood. I left her there.” Tig feels the ache of grief choking him.
“It’s okay, baby.” Venus is stroking his wrist. “It’s okay.”
“It burned. It all burned. I don’t know how she did it, but my mother…” Tig can’t say the words. He knows what she did. Can’t stand the thought of fire. His mother. And Dawn. The taste of burnt ash clings to the inside of his mouth and nose and he feels sick. No more fire.
With a shaking hand, he drinks the rest of the Scotch, wishing it were the bottle instead.
“Baby, baby, baby,” Venus croons. She’s so close now, her forehead touching his, her palm on his face until he looks at her. “You’re all right now. It’s all set right. No need to cry, baby.” Her thumb sweeps across his cheek, her lips press against his.
He opens his mouth to her, hungry for comfort, for distraction, for a piece of her strength. She tastes sweet and bright, and the ash dissolves. Her smell fills his nose, her skin under his fingers, soft and smooth, and he loses himself in discovery.
Venus strokes his hair as she kisses him, then pulls away, letting her fingers drift to the stubble on his jaw. “You’re a brave man, Tig. You had the balls to do what I couldn’t do earlier.”
“No, baby, no. Don't say that. I knew it. That’s why I stopped you.” Tig touches her face, kisses her again. “I know what it feels like. It never stops. Revenge doesn’t kill the pain. Makes it worse. No, baby.”
Venus gives him a lingering, slow kiss, and then wiggles back into her chair. She straightens herself, jutting out her breasts and wiping her eyes with the edge of her nail. After a breath, she flashes that bright smile at him and Tig blinks.
“I’m nearly dizzy with the events of this long day, darlin' Tig.” She fans herself dramatically and finishes her cosmo. “I do think we need to leave this here place and find us some privacy.”
Tig watches her, nodding automatically, fascinated by the quick change in mood. He stands up and extends his hand to her.
“Anywhere you say, Ms. Venus. I’ll follow you anywhere.”