By Girl Lover
Jennie grinned happily as she felt the wind blowing through her hair. Kala smiled down at her, enclosed by her arms as they rode through the countryside, taking Highway 183 to Abilene.
A minute later, Raven pulled up next to them and Bonnie, sitting in front of Raven, waved to Jennie, who waved back. Kala pointed toward the side of the road. Raven nodded and the women pulled over. Bonnie and Jennie excitedly jumped down and ran to the barbwire fence that bordered the highway.
“Let’s stretch our legs here,” Kala said to Raven. They climbed off their bikes, shaking out their arms as they smiled at the girls, captivated by the wildlife standing beside the fence.
“Omigod – it’s an actual cow!” Jennie squealed, making Kala chuckle.
Bonnie pulled up some tall shoots of grass, suggesting, “Let’s feed it!” which prompted Jennie to pull up some grass herself.
Watching the girls, Raven commented to Kala, “In her parents’ eyes, and in the eyes of the law, I kidnapped her.”
“Well, that’s not the worst thing you’ve ever done,” Kala told her. “And besides, kidnapping is against someone’s will. She wanted to come.”
“Nobody’s gonna be looking for Jennie,” Raven countered, “but I’m gonna have one of those ‘Amber Alerts’ out on me. The whole fucking country will be looking for us.”
“So why the hell’d you bring her? Especially with all that shit you gave me about not bringing Jennie.”
Raven didn’t answer right away, instead watching Bonnie holding a handful of grass through the fence for the cow. “Same reason you brought Jennie. She needs me… and I need her.”
“What’re we gonna do when we get there?” Kala asked.
“I don’t know,” Raven answered, shaking her head. “Just lay low. And keep the girls right beside us.”
“Bonnie, look! She’s eating my grass!” Jennie exclaimed as the cow chomped the grass in her hand. Bonnie pushed her own fistful of grass closer in the hopes the cow would eat hers too.
After a moment, Jennie asked, “So your parents just let you come with us?”
Bonnie’s face became gloomy. “I ran away.”
Jennie’s eyes grew big, “You did?!”
“My parents found out about Raven and grounded me. They took my phone away so I couldn’t talk to her and put bars on all the windows so I couldn’t get out or anything. It was awful. I missed her so much…”
Forgetting the grass, Jennie hugged her friend, “I’m sorry.”
“Girls, c’mon! We need to get going,” Kala called. Bonnie and Jennie ran over and climbed on again, and they drove off.
*****
Just outside of Abilene, Raven and Kala pulled into the parking lot of a seemingly deserted motel and parked at the end of a long row of about fifty sports bikes. As they turned off their machines, they saw several punk women eyeing them, with dozens more milling about nearby.
Bonnie and Jennie stared in fright at the throng of strange women. Unlike Raven and Kala, they looked mean.
“Girls,” Raven firmly instructed Bonnie and Jennie, “stay here.”
Bonnie and Jennie nodded. Warily getting off the bikes, they started detaching their bags, while Raven scanned the crowd.
As Kala set one of her bags on the ground, Raven told her, “Wait here. Keep the kids outta sight if you can. I’m gonna find Ash.”
With Kala staying behind to protect the little girls, Raven wandered into the scattered punks, her eyes surveying everyone around her.
“Raven!” Raven turned towards the voice. A gruff-looking woman with an Amazonian build grinned at her, “How ya been?”
“Good,” Raven replied. “You seen Ash?”
The woman pointed to another group and Raven walked over, nodding to whomever greeted her until she found a medium-height woman with the left side of her head shaved and sporting an intricate tattoo with the rest of her hair swept over the right side. Raven drew her away from the others, and said, “Hey Ash, I need to talk to you.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
Raven began walking towards the motel office, explaining, “Me and Kala have to sneak something into our room, and I need you to help cover us.”
“Must be too big to put inside a bag.”
“You could say that.”
They stepped into the lobby. After briefly studying the floor plan, Raven told the clerk, “I want room 130, over there in the corner.” Raven paid for the room, and they walked out.
“So, what the hell are you trying to sneak in?” Ash jokingly inquired.
Raven stopped and looked at the other woman. “You and I’ve known each other a long time,” her eyes swept over the crowd in the parking lot, “and you’re the only one I trust here. I need you to keep your mouth shut about this.”
Ash stopped smiling. “Sure, what is it?”
“Over by our bikes.” Raven continued walking that direction.
“Hey, Kala!” Ash greeted her, as she and Raven approached.
When Ash came closer, she saw the two young girls huddling behnd Kala. Her eyes widened. “Sooo, this is what you want to sneak in.” Turning to Raven, Ash said scornfully, “This ain’t no babysitting club. It’s a business. Why’d you bring kids?”
“Had to.”
“What’re you gonna do with ‘em tomorrow morning when we’re rolling?”
“Can’t we leave ‘em here?”
“No way. Right after the job, we’re heading to Weatherford, outside of Fort Worth.”
Raven frowned and looked at Kala, then at the girls who were staring back at her, wide-eyed. “Let’s get ‘em inside now before anyone else sees ‘em.”
They walked quickly into the room, keeping Bonnie and Jennie out of sight until they got inside. Raven locked the door, then asked, “So, what are our options?”
Ash narrowed her eyes at Raven, “If you bring ‘em, they’re gonna be in the way, and Jadis ain’t gonna like it.”
“I know. We’ll figure something out.”
“Well, you better, ‘cause tomorrow at nine we’re hittin’ Bank of America on South 27th. Now,” she looked at Bonnie and Jennie, “how’re you gonna keep the others off these two?”
“Well… that’s what I wanted to ask you,” said Raven. “If you could help us.”
“We need all the help we can get, Ash,” Kala interjected.
“I don’t know,” Ash sighed. “I’ll back you up, but… it’s just us three against all of them.” Shaking her head, she said, “There’s gonna be trouble.”
She went to the door, but before opening it, stopped and said, “Some of us are going to the If Club now. Ya wanna come?”
“Nah, we’ll just stay here with the girls.”
“Okay. Meeting’s tomorrow morning at eight.” She opened the door and left.
Raven sat down on the bed, looking solemnly across the room. Bonnie walked over to her, “Doesn’t she like us?”
“She likes you. It’s just that…” Raven looked up at Kala as the roar of motorcycles filled the air.
“She’s worried,” Kala said. “She’s afraid of those other women out there.”
“So am I,” said Jennie, shivering.
“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine. Here,” Raven handed Bonnie the TV remote. “Kala, I’m gonna see who all is here, and then find something for us to eat.”
Raven went out. While Kala unpacked one of her bags, the kids flipped through the channels, trying to find a cartoon.
An hour later, Raven returned with Chinese food. After she handed Jennie and Bonnie each a plate, she came over to Kala, speaking quietly so the girls wouldn’t hear.
“I found out what group we’re in tomorrow. It’s us, Jadis, Diamond, Maya, Lucia, Rayne, Zia, and Ash. After we hit the Bank of America in Abilene, we’re gonna head to Fort Worth and hit two banks there the next day before going south. Jadis told me Bank of America should be a big score because the payroll will be delivered right before we get there.”
“So, what about…?” Kala asked, nodding toward the kids.
Raven slowly shook her head. “I really don’t know. This is why I didn’t want to bring ‘em along.”
Kala looked at Jennie watching TV, laughing at cartoons, and sighed, “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
As Bonnie and Jennie were eating their noodles and watching SpongeBob, Bonnie happened to glance at the bedside clock. It said 3:37. Her eyes loomed huge. “Jennie, it’s after three o’clock!”
“So?”
“School got out at 2:45. My mom’ll be freakin’ out cuz I wasn’t there. She’s gonna think somebody kidnapped me!”
Jennie stared at Bonnie, “What’re you gonna do?”
Bonnie thought for a while, then said, “Nothing. They didn’t care about me when they found out about Raven. They didn’t care at all. Saying she was sick and bad and that she was trying to hurt me and stuff. They actually called the police!” Bonnie frowned, “No… I’m not gonna call them or anything. They didn’t love me.”
The hours passed by. Eventually, Bonnie and Jennie grew tired of watching TV, so Jennie played with her Barbie motorcycle while Bonnie tried braiding Raven’s hair. After she finished that, she leaned back against Raven with the woman’s arms wrapped around her, and read Meg and the Ghost of Hidden Springs. Having been separated from one another for the last three days, they relished every minute of being together again.
Kala took Jennie’s soft cast off and helped Jennie move her arm. “Does it hurt?” she asked.
“No.”
“Can you lift your backpack with it?”
Jennie tentatively picked it up.
“Good. Now try lifting it ten times, okay? You need to exercise your arm since you haven’t moved it much in so long.”
While Jennie did her exercises, Bonnie was being distracted by Raven’s hands… slowly roaming about over her body… along her arms and legs, across her chest, then down inside her pants…
“Raven!” Bonnie cried out.
Jennie looked over. “What’s she doing?”
“Trying to stick her finger in my missy,” said Bonnie.
“EEWWW!” Jennie exclaimed, wrinkling her nose, which caused Kala to laugh.
“Well, I missed you,” Raven said, as she kissed the top of Bonnie’s head.
The nine-year-old leaned back and looked up at Raven. “I know, I missed you too.”
Raven bent down and lightly kissed the child’s mouth. Bonnie reached her arms up around Raven’s head as they pressed their lips together.
“Jennie?”
The other girl jerked slightly, awakened from her trance-like staring at Bonnie and Raven, and turned to Kala.
“How many have you done?”
Jennie thought about it. “Um, I think five.”
“Okay, do five more,” Kala encouraged.
As Jennie continued lifting the backpack, Bonnie snuggled up against Raven and resumed reading her book.
Later that evening, Kala announced, “Jennie, it’s after ten o’clock. You need to take a bath and go to bed.”
Jennie looked from the TV show she was watching with Bonnie, and said, “Bonnie’s not taking a bath.”
“Bonnie’s not my responsibility,” Kala told her. “But we’re getting up at seven-thirty tomorrow morning, so you need to get to bed early.”
“Awww…” Jennie groaned as she got off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Kala went with her and helped her undress while the hot water was running, then took off her own clothes. Once the tub was full, Jennie stepped inside it and sat down, followed by Kala, sitting behind her.
As Jennie soaped up her front, Kala washed the girl’s back. After her back was done, Kala rubbed her fingers along Jennie’s soapy belly. Jennie giggled and squirmed, “That tickles!”
Kala drew Jennie back against her, tenderly kissing her head. The water felt so warm and relaxing, she didn’t want to get out just yet. She grazed her fingers up and down along Jennie’s chest and belly.
“Kala?”
“Hmmm…?”
“Can we do that thing again?”
“What thing?” Kala murmured lazily.
“You know… where I’m a baby… and, um, you’re feeding me.”
Kala’s eyes opened in surprise, peering at Jennie, who was looking up at her in return. The woman grinned at her, “You want to? Now? Here?”
Jennie felt her face getting red as she smiled nervously, “Well, I don’t want them to see me,” meaning Raven and Bonnie.
Chuckling, Kala nodded, “Okay, uh, swing your legs around so you’re sitting sideways across my lap.”
Jennie spun a quarter turn, lifting her legs over the wall of the tub. Kala cradled the child’s head, guiding her mouth towards her breast. Jennie opened her mouth and latched onto the nipple, sucking on it like a straw as Kala stroked her cheek lovingly.
Kala still didn’t understand why this appealed to her as much as it did, and not just in a sexual way either. It was unlike her to enjoy being so… motherly. But for some reason, she liked it, a lot. Jennie had changed her in so many ways, and this was simply one of them.
As Jennie nursed, Kala’s hand drifted down between the girl’s legs, her finger slowly rubbing in a circle, then down into her puffy slit. Jennie opened her legs, spreading them wide, and Kala’s finger carefully burrowed inside, as far as Jennie’s hymen would allow.
Gently sliding her finger in and out, back and forth, Kala could see the effect this was having on Jennie, who’d begun wiggling around in the tub, accidentally biting her nipple from time to time as she sucked. The little girl was breathing hard and whimpering too, quietly at first, but soon louder and louder until her eyes squeezed shut and she let out a long, drawn-out moan. Then she fell against Kala’s chest, out of breath. As Jennie rested, Kala stroked her cheek as she too closed her eyes and relaxed.
*****
KNOCK – KNOCK
Kala awoke, looking at the bathroom door.
“Hey Kala!” came Raven’s voice. “Hurry up! You’ve been in there an hour!”
“You’re shitting me!”
“No! Get your ass out!”
Kala looked at Jennie, who was asleep on her chest, a tendril of drool hanging from her mouth. “Jennie…?” She patted her cheek. “Jennie, wake up.”
The child mumbled something Kala couldn’t catch. Kala carefully picked her up and stepped out of the tub, setting her down.
Upon feeling the cold floor on her bare wet feet, Jennie’s eyes flew open and she squealed, “EEEE…” making Kala laugh. She grabbed a towel and dried both of them off as Jennie’s eyelids started to droop again. After wrapping the soft cast around Jennie’s forearm, Kala took the sleeping girl in her arms and carried her out to the bed.
“What were ya’ll doing in there for so long?” Raven asked.
Ignoring the question, Kala laid Jennie on the bed, then got in beside her, pulling the blanket over them as Raven and Bonnie went into the bathroom together. With her arm across Jennie’s chest, Kala snuggled up to her.
Kala could hear the water running, filling the tub, then it was quiet for a while. She was about to fall asleep when Raven’s voice sounded from the bathroom, “Stick it in deeper.” Kala opened her eyes and turned her head toward the bathroom.
There was silence for a minute or so, then Bonnie’s muffled voice, saying something Kala couldn’t catch, followed by Raven, urging, “Do it on me.” Bonnie said something else, then Raven stated, “It’ll wash off. Go ahead and pee on me.”
Kala rolled her eyes, muttering quietly, “Sick fucks.”
Half an hour later, the woman and the little girl came out of the bathroom and jumped into bed, pulling the blanket over themselves. With their legs intertwined, Bonnie nestled her head against Raven’s chest as Raven held her.
*****
BEEEP…BEEEP…BEEEP…
Raven reached over and turned off the alarm. Bonnie was still asleep. Raven had already been wide awake for an hour, partly from the serene bliss of waking up with Bonnie, and partly from the dread of what was going to happen when the others found out about the girls.
Turning back over on her side, Raven watched Bonnie sleep and marveled at how beautiful she looked. Then she said, “Kala, you awake?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t want to get out of bed just yet. Jennie’s still asleep.”
“I know. So’s Bonnie.”
They lay there for a few more minutes until finally they had to get up. After quickly getting dressed, Raven heated up some leftover Chinese food in the microwave for their breakfast, while Kala went over to her luggage bag and pulled out her Glocks with their holsters.
Kala turned to Raven, “What are we going to tell them?”
“Who? The girls, or the Burning Angels?”
“Both.”
Raven, with a mouthful of rice and orange chicken, chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed. “I’ve been thinking about that for the last hour, and I still don’t know. It’s why I’ve been wondering what it would be like to leave for good.”
“You know we can’t ever do that.”
Raven sighed, “Might as well get the girls going.”
She went over to Bonnie and pulled her to a sitting position, “Bonnie, time to get up now.”
Bonnie yawned, rubbing her eyes. As she slowly opened them, they suddenly flew open wide, “Raven, what’re you doing in my room?!” then, as she looked around, “Oh yeah! I’m not at home anymore.”
Raven went to Jennie and sat her up too, “Jennie, wake up.” She divided up the last of the reheated food into bowls which she handed them, “Here’s breakfast.”
“Chinese again?!” Bonnie protested.
“Yes, again,” Raven answered gruffly, then finished pulling on her leathers.
While the kids ate, Raven and Kala strapped on their holsters and sheathed their pistols. Jennie and Bonnie watched closely, concerned looks on their faces. “Raven…” Bonnie began.
“I’ll explain it to you later. Right now, you and Jennie wait here while we go outside and talk with the women out there. Here, watch TV.” She tossed the remote on the bed.
As Raven unlocked the door, Kala turned to the girls, “Stay inside! Do NOT open the door or look out the window, okay!”
Bonnie and Jennie nodded solemnly, then Raven and Kala left the room.
Outside, everyone in the parking lot was divided into five groups, nine to ten per cluster. Kala and Raven headed toward a group on the far side… with Bonnie and Jennie peeking out through the window curtains at them.
Raven and Kala disappeared into a group, and Jennie asked, “Where’d they go?”
“They’re behind some people,” said Bonnie. “I can still see Kala, but not Raven.”
“What are they doing?”
“I don’t know, but they have guns.”
“Are they going to shoot somebody?”
“I can’t seem them now!” Bonnie exclaimed worriedly. As the girls watched, several of the punk women got on their bikes and rode off.
Jennie was becoming agitated. More women were starting up and riding away. “They’re not going to leave us, are they?!”
She headed for the door as Bonnie told her, “They told us to stay here!”
“But what if they forget us and leave?!”
Bonnie didn’t have an answer for that, and as she kept seeing more and more people leave, she was having doubts too. Jennie opened the door partway, peeking her head out, then watching the bikers ride off, she stepped out. Bonnie followed, looking all around for Raven and Kala.
Suddenly Jennie pointed, “There’s Raven!” She ran toward her, calling, “Raven!” but as she reached her and the woman turned around, both girls saw that it wasn’t her.
Farther away in the parking lot, Kala and Raven were looking at a diagram laid out on the gas tank of a bike, with seven other women standing in a circle around it. The leader of the gang, a hard-looking older woman with a short grey mohawk, was outlining the plan to the others. “Okay, the usual. We hit it hard and fast. Maya?” — a surly Latina woman across from her nodded — “You cover the door. Lucia, Zia, Ash?” — each of them nodded — “Crowd control. Me and Kala will go in the vault while Raven and Diamond empty the registers.” She pointed to the diagram, “When we leave, me, Diamond, Maya and Lucia will go west and turn south on Buffalo Gap Road. The rest of you go east on South 27th. We’ll turn left on 322 and then get onto I-20 to Weatherford. Okay, you know what to do…”
“JADIS!” a loud voice interrupted her. She turned in the direction of the voice as a tall, muscular woman walked towards them, roughly pulling Bonnie and Jennie along.
“What the fuck is this?!” Jadis exclaimed.
“Caught these two snooping around. Asking for Raven and Kala,” the woman growled.
Jadis turned to look at Raven and Kala, “You know these kids?”
Kala and Raven’s eyes widened in alarm as they saw the children, who were clearly terrified. Raven’s mouth suddenly become dry, “Yeah. We, uh… brought them.”
“Why?” Jadis’ query sounded ominous and threatening.
Kala stated, “We had to. We didn’t know what to do with them.”
“Leave ‘em wherever the fuck you got ‘em!” Jadis yelled. “How you gonna do your job if you’re dragging a fucking kid around?!”
Raven narrowed her eyes at Jadis, “They won’t get in the way!”
Glaring at Bonnie and Jennie, who were on the verge of tears, Jadis snarled, “Kids always get in the way!”
Raven snarled back, “They won’t!”
“They better not!” Jadis exclaimed, before angrily pulling a cloth face mask with an image of a skull on it over her face, getting on her bike and roaring off.
The others in the group also pulled cloth skull masks over their faces, mounted their bikes while glaring at the girls, then took off out of the parking lot in a swirl of dust and exhaust.
Bonnie, in a trembling quiver, said to Raven, “What’s going on?”
“I’m scared,” Jennie wailed, her face pale with fright. “I want to go back home.”
“We can’t!” Kala told her. “Why didn’t you stay inside?!”
“W-why can’t we go back home?” asked Bonnie.
Raven said to Kala, “We don’t have time for this. We need to go. We’ll explain it to them later.”
As Raven picked Bonnie up and setting her on her bike, the girl asked, “Where are we going?!”
“Never mind!” Raven answered curtly as she climbed on behind her. Kala set Jennie on her Honda and got on behind. The women started up their bikes, pulled cloth skull masks over their faces, and took off, riding quickly to catch up with the others.
As they drove along the highway, both Raven and Kala were bothered by how the girls had found out about them and what they did. They knew they would find out sooner or later, but hadn’t wanted to think about it.
A few minutes later, all nine members of the group pulled into the parking lot on Sayles Blvd, turned off their bikes, and dismounted. Drawing their pistols, the others headed toward the front door of the bank.
Bonnie asked worriedly, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing!” Raven said, a little too harshly. Kala told them sternly, “Stay here and don’t move!” Pulling out their guns, Kala and Raven ran inside the building.
The two kids looked at each other. Jennie said, in a frightened voice, “Bonnie, they have guns. What’re they doing?”
“I… I… don’t know,” Bonnie mumbled. Why did Raven and Kala have those guns? Why were they wearing masks? It looked like they were going to rob a bank! She tried to think of another possible explanation, but couldn’t. She felt sick, as if her world was crumbling around her.
Bonnie climbed down off the bike.
“Where are you going?” Jennie asked.
“To see.”
Jennie climbed down too, and together they slowly walked up to the window. Peering in, they saw that everyone was lying down flat with three of the gang women pointing guns at them. Bonnie could see the terrified face of a young mother clutching her baby on the floor. Behind the counter, Raven was busy stuffing money inside a backpack along with one of the other women.
Suddenly, one of the men jumped up and ran for the door. A sharp, loud crack sounded and he pitched forward, shot in the back by Lucia. He collapsed to the floor in full view of the terrified girls.
With a pool of blood spreading beside the body, Jennie pulled away, hyperventilating, “B-Bonnie… she… she shot him… he’s dead!”
Bonnie could only stare in horror at the man lying on the floor and the women pointing guns at the others. Then she turned back to Raven.
At the same moment, Raven looked up from the counter and discovered Bonnie looking in through the front window right at her. For several seconds, neither moved as they stared at one another…
Kala came out of the vault, pulling on her backpack. When she caught Raven’s eyes, she followed them to the window and her face fell as had Raven’s upon seeing the girls outside, watching them. Raven could only stand there, frozen, silent, feeling desolate.
“RAVEN!!” Diamond yelled, That woke Raven up, and she quickly finished stuffing money into her backpack while Kala and Jadis ran out to the parking lot.
As she mounted her bike, Kala called, “BONNIE! JENNIE! COME ON!” but the girls didn’t move. Seconds later, the rest of the gang came pouring out of the bank. In the distance, a police siren could be heard, coming closer.
Raven stopped in front of the kids, yelling, “BONNIE!” Neither one budged. They huddled together, staring up at Raven in fright. “MOVE!” she yelled at them, growing desperate as the approaching siren grew louder.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!” Jadis exploded, as the motorcycles began speeding away.
“JUST LEAVE ‘EM!” another woman shouted.
Seeing that they were too scared to move, Raven grabbed both girls, one under each arm, and carried them to the parking lot. She set Jennie down on Kala’s bike, then hustled Bonnie over to hers.
A police car swerved into view, screeching to a stop. An officer opened the passenger door, crouching behind it. As Kala and Jennie started off, he aimed a shotgun at them. Raven pulled out her pistol and shot him in the shoulder. Dropping the shotgun and clutching his arm, the man ducked back inside the car.
Swinging her leg over her bike behind Bonnie, Raven roared away.
Continue on to Chapter 9