MICHAEL DENNIS MOONEY -- new writings

by tom nowak



wendy ever radiant
smiling and basking in the sun
dark glasses contrasting
with the golden blonde hair
climbed on the back of the bike
we were headed for black lake
our state run, a trip
for a large group of bikers, chicks and friends
meeting at a central spot
this was a large one for
the wolf pack m/c
i was near the front of the pack
a group of bikes riding together

wendy was enjoying the ride
i could feel her close to me
like a shirt flapping in the breeze
her legs and hands squeezed me
and she held a lit joint to my mouth

at 80 mph it was hard to smoke
but it can be done
wendy had made a science out of
being able to smoke while we rode
i took a nice long toke
it filled me with spacey thoughts
nice and relaxing

a moment later a swizzle stick straw
filled with crank found its way
with wendy's help into my nose
and then a second one into the other side
i was high and happy
the speed and the weed combined for a perfect match
floating along the highway a mere six inches or less
from the surface was always a rush

when the pack of thirty bikes we were with roared by
everyone looked
kids looked and cheered
women looked and smiled because they secretly
wanted the freeedom we had
and the men all looked and wished they were us
the pack was following a long and winding road
up the mountain
we were like a single organism
flowing around each curve
the road captain and uncle vinny
were in the lead
the sun was starting to go down
and we approached the campgrounds

armed guards lifted the barricade
prospects were hustling about
going for whatever we asked
this was their turn to shine
they were our grateful servants and we loved them
we took care of our prospects
they would do anything and sometimes
they went far beyond the high standards we set
no one could mess with our prospects
if anyone did, the wrath of the club
fell like a hammer on them

i camped near uncle vinny and his wife mary lou
mary lou would take wendy off for a moment
and come back all wired, the girls like to do that
i was unstrapping my gear when a prospect came up and started helping
i smiled at him and he smiled back
well ken i said, how you doing?
great, pete, i am doing great
i asked if our gear had arrived on the run truck
yes it did he said, and he pointed to a pile near the tent

i smiled again, i pulled him close and gave him a container of crank
he took a couple good blasts
wheeee hah fire
we both laughed
a prospect would be up for the entire weekend
no sleeping just running
wendy came over and handed me a joint
i pulled on it and handed it to ken
he gratefully toked on it

i told him to come see me later and i would let him
get some sleep if he needed it
he thanked me and hurried off
uncle vinny laughed at me
you're going to spoil those boys
well i said i feel like a mother hen sometimes

he laughed again and wandered off
our state run had about a thousand
bikes and three or four thousand people
gathered
we would party all night and then the next day wander about
talking with old friends and making new ones
we would talk business and make plans for any future
business we were considering

wendy and i walked towards the tents that had memorabilia for sale
we were on the lookout for any tatooists
we both wanted to ink up
we stopped and she bought a scarf that had our logo on it
i bought a couple stickers for the machine
mess with the best, die like the rest
and support your local wolf pack or else
we finally came upon a tattoo guy
wendy and i looked at the guy's work
it was nice
we picked several out
i picked out a club war tattoo
snarling wolves rampant
wendy picked out a butterfly
we sat down and the tattoo guy put them on for us
an hour later we were all done and walking again
music was blaring from somewhere
willie and waylon singing
good-hearted woman over and over
i was getting tired and told wendy
we walked back to the tent to crash
after we smoked some more and made love
ahhh the joys of a weekend run