Chapter 6: New Life

I’ll always chase your monsters away. – Knuckles to Taz after a nightmare

Two days after the attack, Brute packed up her room at the clubhouse and met Taz at a small rent house. It was on the other side of the county, but closer to her gym. The 1970s ranch style house was fully furnished and the other two rooms were rented by college students. 

The first few nights had been rough. Knuckles eventually came and stayed for a few weeks. Taz would wake up screaming, reliving her rape. 

And her parents murders.

She reluctantly started therapy and eventually went back to the gym. It was a few months before she could get back into the ring. But then she went back into fighting with a vengeance. And determination. 

She focused on her fighting, dropping out of school. The plan had been to help the club. Now, she feared the mother house. Since she was unable to make herself enter the club, she distanced herself completely.

Taz knew that the club walked away from the drugs and guns because of the massacre that killed her family. She loved the club and all the guys that had been a part of her childhood. The trauma was too much for her to handle. She needed space to breathe and time to heal. 

The nightmares slowly faded. Her life became normal again. Not the same. But it had a routine and a sense of normalcy to it.

She was pretty sure that Brute and Knuckles were paying some of her bills, but she never questioned it.  They had both told her that they felt guilty. Her anger at the club in the beginning slowly dissipated. As was her fear. 

She got herself a job as a waitress at a lesbian bar. She had the attitude and build to pull off the perfect dyke persona. Taz quickly became a favorite, not just with patrons, but also with the staff. The bouncers never worried about her. If she was having a problem, she simply looked for the head bouncer, Trevor. A few gestures between them and they would each know what was going on. A subtle nod and she would take care of the problem. 

Things were looking up with her fighting also. Prizes were more ego boost and bragging rights. But she moved up the ranks and even made it into a few of the semi pro fights. Prizes weren’t much better, but the bragging rights were. 

Everything was back on track. Brute, Knuckles and she would get together when they could. She knew that her cousin moved to another chapter for a job and they kept him busy. 

After a while, she missed the clubhouse. The noise, brothers, activities and even the old ladies and club whores. But the thought of going back inside the mother clubhouse, would send her into a panic attack. Maybe she would try again in another year or so. 

After her second summer there, the owner gathered the bar staff together and told them that the bar had been sold. Since the death of their daughter, they no longer had the same drive to stay there; but they also did not want to close the only safe place in several counties. It was sold to a local group and they would be taking over starting that night. 

Taz smirked when she saw the MC guys. She recognized some faces, but most she could not place a name to. For the most part, she ignored them and they only saw her as just another waitress. 

She was okay with that.