The Boy Next Door.

43. Old Lady

By 14h00, most of the stalls have sold all their stuff, and it's only the food stalls that are still going. You would think that by now people are sick of riding bikes and playing games, but to my surprise the lines don't get any shorter. By 16h00 everybody's desire to eat, play and ride had been satisfied and we can at last start to pack up. Since the members of the club had been packing up as the stalls ran empty, the cleaning up only took about an hour. The fact that everybody knows exactly what to do and everybody, including the women, pitch in also helps to clear the veld in record time.

The guys had been riding non-stop since we started. At an average of fifteen trips per hour, they brought in over R6000. At the end of the day, the club made over R50,000 for Ohlsons, which they will hand over to the principal of the school on Monday morning.

The club is having a braai this evening to celebrate their success and even though everybody is tired, there's no way they aren't attending the party. I can now see what Joslyn meant when she talked about the lifestyle of bikers. They are a family, and they stick together, no matter what.

The party starts at 19h00 and we all head home to have a shower and get some clean clothes. Since Jared is picking me up at 19h00, that leaves me with an hour to get a much needed power nap in. I stick to my Goth wardrobe and get dressed in black tights, with a black tank top. My makeup, I keep light, and when Jared knocks on the front door at 18h45, I'm ready to go.

Grabbing my leather jacket, I run downstairs only to be beaten by my mum, who already opened the door for him. When he sees me, his eyes dilate slightly, letting me know he likes what he's seeing. He's dressed in black, this time with a black Sisters of Mercy T-shirt, his cut again worn over his leather jacket. He's taken his nose ring out and replaced it with a lip ring on the left side of his mouth. He's already so sexy, but the lip ring just does it for me.

Jared somehow bewitched my conservative mum because when I get downstairs, she's gushing about how good it looks on him. My dad also comes out to say hi, and they talk a little about the rugby game between the Stormers and Sharks. Even though Jared didn't see the game, he indulged my dad's need to vent about the poor performance of his team. Why my dad still watches rugby, I just don't know.

At five to seven, Jared indicates it's time to go, and once we say our goodbyes, we're off. We're sleeping at Neil's place again, which to my surprise my parents had no objection to. Part of a Prospect's job is to clean up after functions they have at the clubhouse, and we are all going to the clubhouse tomorrow to help with the clean-up.

By the time we get to the club, there's already half a dozen bikes parked outside the clubhouse. I'm a little nervous because I haven't really had a chance to get to know the members. I have met and spent some time with all the women, but the men I've only met in passing. Already, there are fires going in five drum braais, with people standing or sitting at the picnic tables arranged around the fires. All the men are again wearing their cuts. Some of the women are also wearing a cut like the one Jared is wearing, but with the words Old Lady on.

Jared introduces me to everybody as we walk past them, taking time to talk a bit with everyone, and when we eventually get to the braais, he introduces me to Gary.

Gary is a big man in his late thirties, early forties with a bold head, and a long thin scar running down the length of his left cheek. Apparently, he was in a very serious bike accident five years ago, and the scar is a permanent reminder of how he nearly died. A drunk driver skipped a red robot and hit him. That's one of the reasons he's so anal about guys riding when under the influence.

"Ahh, the girl who tamed our boy." he says, and instead of shaking my hand, he comes forward and envelopes me in his huge arms.

"So, did you enjoy today?" he asks once I can breathe again.