Redwood Nine: Season 02 Ch. 02

Starters were kicked and engines easily came to life, ready to partake on another journey, wherever their riders asked them to go. Throttles blurted out horsepower with every twist, a total contradiction to the quiet, peaceful life their friends led. One by one, the riders pulled out of the gate and began riding hard, Wally trailing close behind. The serenity slowly came back, as the sound of the bikes faded away between the hills.

With the guys gone and this, their new place to stay for however long, the girls followed Suzy and Azure's urging to join them and at first with great reluctance, they eventually gave in and agreed to try the naked freedom of the lifestyle. The girls went upstairs and undressed and came back down nervously and stood in front of Moon, Star and Phoenix. The guys hugged the nervous girls one by one, accepting them as a part of their commune.

"Where's Marietta?"

"I guess she's still upstairs. I'll go see what's taking her."

"Alright, Lorraine."

Lorraine started up the stairs and held her breasts, as they wobbled about wildly. She went into the bedroom and saw her sitting on the bed, just a hair away from crying.

"Sweetie, what is it? What's the matter?"

"I can not do this. I can not expose myself to everyone like you are doing."

"Awww, It's weird, I know. I'm still feeling kinda weird, but it'll pass. It's just different. No one is doing anything, like having sex or stuff. They're just waiting for you to come down, so they can welcome you and join in a circle of love."

Marietta looked at Lorraine with confusion, never meeting the hippies before, like the others and having an understanding of what their commune was all about.

"What is this, circle of love?"

Lorraine could see where Marietta's mind was going with that and laughed.

"It's not what you think, Marietta. We just sit in a circle and hold hands. Everyone concentrates on a feeling of love and shares it with everyone else. That's what Suzy told me, anyway. Her name here is Stardust, so if someone calls her that, that's why. Azure's name is Ann-Marie, or Annie, as we called her. I don't know what the names of the other girls were, you know, Golden, Spirit, or even the guys, for that matter."

Marietta seemed to be more accepting of the circle idea, although the full exposure of her body still held her back.

"It's the naked thing, isn't it?"

Marietta looked at Lorraine and nodded, then lowered her head and fidgeted with her hands in her lap. Lorraine put her hand on both of them and gently squeezed them.

"Honestly, Sweetie, it's a pretty nice feeling, once you get over knowing you are naked. I'm naked and sitting here with you and I don't feel weird about it. I know you're not going to try anything on me. Are you?"

Marietta looked at Lorraine with fright, assuring her she wouldn't touch her. Lorraine took one of Marietta's hands and placed it on her thigh and held it there. Marietta looked at it and went to move it away, but Lorraine held it there.

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything. I just want you to be able to sit with another woman and be naked and touch her, without feeling like it's sexual, or anything."

Lorraine slowly took her hand away and let Marietta's remain on its own. She left it there and let the idea of the touch seem okay to her.

"Not so bad, is it? Okay, maybe I should have shaved first, but it's not so weird to just touch me, is it?"

Marietta laughed about not shaving and gave Lorraine a small caress, bringing Lorraine's hand over hers and a smile coming to her.

"See, just two friends having fun together. Nothing scary going on down there either. Just a whole bunch of people, who do nothing more than love one another all day. Doesn't sound scary to me. I'm kinda interested to know what they do, actually. Suzy and Annie were telling me all about what they did so far and they're happier than pigs in shit, really. So, don't worry, Sweetie, honestly. You'll be okay and everything will be all right."

Marietta felt more at ease about everything, at least as far as being with Lorraine was concerned. Lorraine stood and took her hand and helped her up. She smiled and looked in her dark, brown eyes, seeing happiness in them. She gently pulled Marietta into a hug and after a slight pause, it was accepted and returned. Lorraine finished the hug and held Marietta by the arms, looking into her eyes again.

"Not so bad hugging a naked woman, now was it?"

Marietta blushed and looked down, smiling to herself. Lorraine lifted her chin up and looked at her.

"No, it wasn't so bad to hug a naked woman."

"Okay, now let's get you naked and get you comfortable doing it naked yourself."

Marietta became nervous again, her nudity now in question. Lorraine began undoing the buttons on Marietta's blouse and she let her remove it. Lorraine turned her around to face away from her and help make it easier, not to look at her while she undressed. She undid the clasps to her bra and let her decide when to take it off. When her hands went to the straps, Lorraine reached around and undid the button and zipper on her jeans. Marietta slowly let the cups fall away from her breasts and then pulled her pants over her ass and let them fall down her legs. She stepped out of them and stood again, looking at the wall in front of her, her hands unable to take the last vestige of modesty away.

Lorraine slid her fingers under the waistband and pulled them down for her, working them from front to back, until they were at her feet. Hesitantly, her feet stepped away from them and she was naked. She used her arms and hands to cover herself, still unable to deal with the exposure. Lorraine put her arms around her from behind and hugged her, letting her hands stay around her waist. Slowly, Marietta dropped her hands and turned around, leaving no room between them. Her arms went around Lorraine and held her tightly, laying her head against her shoulder. Lorraine held her close to herself, feeling the softness of their breasts pressed into one another, the soft curves of their bodies melding together.

"Doesn't feel so bad. I kind of like how you feel, hugging me. You're a really good hugger, you know that?"

Marietta pulled away and Lorraine could see a smile, happily playing on her face.

"Really? I'm a good hugger? You remind me a bit of my mama, when I hugged her. Your pechos feel like hers did and she is much like you in size."

"My pechos?"

"Si, you're uhm, these."

Marietta didn't know the word and just touched her own breasts at the sides.

"Oh, breasts. I gotcha. My breasts feel like your mother's did."

"Si, yes. She was very blessed like you, to have such large ones. I did not get such a blessing, I'm afraid."

"Oh Sweetie, your pechos are very pretty looking, at least what I see. They fill out a bra nicely and have some bounce to them, nothing wrong with that."

Marietta cupped her breasts and looked at them in her hands and looked at Lorraine's.

"Still, the men will look at you, before they will to me."

"Imagine how hard it must be to get a guy to look at you, when Mary, or Gloria are showing theirs off. First time I saw either of them naked, I was like, 'Holy shit, they're fucking huge!' I always thought I had big ones, until they showed up, but you know what, boob size doesn't mean anything here. No one cares, not that I've ever seen. As far as being the smallest, you are far from being that. Poppy barely has bumps, she's so flat-chested, but she doesn't care."

"But they are all so beautiful looking."

"And you're not? Come on, Marietta, you're as beautiful as any woman here and you know it. The only reason they look beautiful to you, is because they feel it inside about themselves and you're not. You have nothing to hide, you have gorgeous eyes and I really love your lips, especially when you smile. You have a great body from what I see and I can't think of one thing I'd be ashamed of, to show off."

Marietta felt her confidence gain, hearing how someone felt about her and shared things about themselves and others, in a way she could accept herself, as beautiful.

"Want to go meet everyone and enjoy some love?"

"Okay, I will do it."

Lorraine took her hand and they came down together, the group already in a circle and holding hands. They broke apart and stood once more, as they greeted Marietta. One by one, she went around and was hugged and kissed on the cheek, finally coming to the men. Her nervousness soared and they could sense it. Phoenix smiled warmly and held his arms widely to her, letting her move into him, when she was ready. Slowly, she moved forward, until her breasts touched his chest and pressed herself into him. Phoenix gently held her to him, letting her gain an acceptance of it.

"Welcome to our commune, Marietta. Here, you will be cared for and loved by all who reside in this house. I welcome you."

Marietta heard the soft, deep voice and felt a security in it, as she raised her face to him and accepted his kiss to both her cheeks. She was released and she went to Star and accepted his embrace a bit easier. Moon waited until it was his turn and took both her hands in his. She looked in his eyes as he spoke and saw the comfort of peace and a serenity of the love he held for her.

"Marietta, we have welcomed you into our flock and are ready to share the love we hold in our hearts with you. Are you ready to accept our love and give us your love in return?"

Marietta looked into his pale, blue eyes and could see why they called him Moon Child, as his eyes looked like two full moons. She looked around quickly at everyone else and happily nodded.

"Yes, I accept your gift of love and will share my love with all of you."

Moon hugged her and Marietta felt the joys of love and peace bond with her inside, despite his nakedness and the presence of his manhood pressed against her. She went and sat in the middle of the circle and faced Lorraine, smiling at her, in her acceptance. Moon led the group into a common focus of love on Marietta, letting her soul be bathed in its light.

JT turned down Euclid Avenue and twisted the throttle wide open, shifting through the gears as fast as he could. The others did the same and kept up to him, as they passed the motel and roared on towards the clubhouse. The brown Studebaker Arrow parked at the office, was missed by them, it's colouring blending in so well with the backdrop of the mahogany stained motel. The driver heard them and watched them go past, then started his car and followed them.

The guys pulled to the gate and JT let them in. He was just closing it again, when he heard the horn blowing. He opened the gate and went to the car that pulled up. He looked at the businessman wearing a fedora and black framed glasses, as he rolled the window down.

"Sorry, we're closed. Not sure when we'll be back open. You can try Smitty's garage, they're open."

"I'm not looking for any servicing to be done. My name is Arthur Lowen. I'm going to assume you might be John T. Teller."

Lowen held his hand out to him to shake it and JT was wondering who he was, as he took it.

"Yeah, that's me. What's this about?"

Arthur picked up a paper off his seat and looked at it.

"I know this probably isn't a good time for you right now, but I'll need you and a, Piermont Winston, as well as Clarence, Clay I believe, Morrow, to come to my office as soon as you can. I'm an attorney and Jake was in my office a couple of weeks back and made some amendments to his will. You and the others are mentioned and there is quite a bit to go over, regarding this business and transfer of ownership to you and Clay. Please call my office and let my secretary know when you can come in, just please, do it sooner, than later. Teller, Teller, why does that name ring a bell with me, for something else?"

Lowen sat pondering for a minute, thinking of what it was and then remembered. What it was, had him get out of his car and show the respect it deserved.

"I remember now. I read about your mother passing away, is that right?"

"Yes, she did. Two days ago."

"I knew your mother, oh, a long time ago, when we were kids, but I remember her always being such a nice person. Always smiling and saying hello to people. She was good in school too, always had good grades, beat me in math, most times."

"I never really knew that about her. She never talked much about when she was a kid. I can't remember much more than my dad dying and she just went downhill from there. After she moved in with Aunt Nancy, I couldn't take it anymore, the both of them going on about it day after day. Once I got my own place, I didn't see her very often."

Arthur saw the change in JT, the moment he mentioned his lack of visiting time with his mom. He shook his hand in condolence, his face showing sympathy to him.

"John, I'm real sorry about your mom, like I said, a really nice lady. Make sure you call me as soon as you can and set up an appointment. Make sure the others are there as well, okay?"

"Okay, Mr. Lowen. Thanks for telling me about my mom, I like knowing stuff about her, I didn't know before. Seems I'm learning more about the people I care about, after they're dead, instead of alive."

"It happens that way, sometimes. I try to be with my little girl Ally, as much as I can. I don't want to see her grow up and not know who I am, like some of the other fathers. I want her to know I'll always be there for her, because she's my little girl and always will be."

"You sound like a great dad, Mr. Lowen."

"Call me Art."

"Okay. Call me JT. That's what my dad always called me, so I stick with it."

"Nice. Good to remember him that way."

"Yeah, looks like that's what my life is becoming, a whole lot of remembering."

Arthur could see that talking about his mom and Jake, would only further exacerbate his condition and sadden him even more. He placed a hand on his arm and smiled, then got back in his car.

"See you soon, JT."

"Yes, you too, Art."

Arthur backed out of the entrance and waved out the window, as he drove away. JT closed the gate and locked it, then turned to see all the guys standing at the entrance to the clubhouse waiting for him. He started his bike and rode down, stopping in front of them and parking it.

"Piney, Clay, we have an appointment to make for next week. That guy was Arthur Lowen, he's an attorney that Jake went to see a couple weeks back. Something to do with his will and us three are involved somehow."

Piney and Clay looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, no idea of why they would be called in to see a lawyer. JT opened the clubhouse and they went in, taking seats and getting down to business, by opening beers and rolling joints. JT took his usual chair and opened his beer, taking several good swallows of it.

"Back to business. The dope run, where are we with that, Chico?"

"All ready to go. Talked to Manny and he says he can handle whatever we bring up. He's got the message to Luis in TJ and they're all set too. The fly by's are timed, so we don't have much of it to waste. We might have to do a cover up in the middle of it, like we did the last time, you know, so we'll cut branches and shit at the start, so we make sure."

"Sounds great, brother. Wally, you got your car ready to make the trip?"

"Yeah, Jake helped me with the spring helpers and gave it a once over the other day."

The mention of Jake caused a pause, but JT kept the focus in what they needed to do.

"Guys, we need to figure a way to check out Brock's place, without us all showing up and giving it all away. I can't see all our bikes riding around the place, not causing a few people to take notice. We can't really be seen, you know. We don't want to waste this guy, or even worse, not waste this guy and get fucked by the pigs for it."

It became a question no one had any ideas to even put forth, until Clay came up with something.

"Okay, check out what I'm thinking and see how it plays out."

JT gave Clay the floor to voice his thoughts and everyone paid close attention.

"What if I drive the truck down, instead of my bike? I mean, it gives us something to use that no one would suspect. We can drive up and down any street and just look like we're lost, or something."

"Fuck! Right on, Clay, I love it, man. I got it, you and I will go down in your truck, while Piney takes the lead on the run. We can go to Palm Springs and scope the place out, then hook up with the guys for the ride back. We got those binoculars now, so we can check things out and not be seen near the area. I just want to see where that Caddy is and what the asshole looks like. Once we know his face, he's a dead man."

JT's face said it all to them. This run was more than a money making venture. This was a mission of revenge and nothing more. The dope was just a means of being there and making some much needed money, but the focus was on Clive Brock and putting a face to the name. A name they wanted to see engraved into a headstone

Marietta opened her eyes after the circle of love ended and looked around at everyone. Her first thoughts were on the way she felt. Her smile grew wider and wider, the more she realized how she was feeling inside. There was a sense of peace her soul had cried out for and was now being enjoyed. The other feeling that had consumed her completely, one that made her feel better about herself than she ever had before, was love. There was no mistaking it, what it was she was feeling, for the faces on every person she looked at, showed her that love. Every pair of eyes was filled with it, the look on their faces spoke it. It gladdened her soul to the point she began laughing, lightly at first, then more openly and joyously in its meaning, the sensations tickling her spirit with happiness.

The ride out to Clay's former home and the land he knew of, was rode in purpose, keeping to the rules and making it there safely. The bikes were stopped and eyes took stock of the area, looking for any signs of people, or listening for their voices. When the area was presumed devoid of people, they took out the guns and clips and everyone learned how to load their gun properly. Once they were familiar with how they worked and how to aim and fire, Clay showed them some of his old targets he used to shoot at with his rifle.

Clay readied his pistol to fire and aimed it at a fence post fifty feet away. He squeezed off five quick rounds at it and every one was a hit, as splinters flew of the post after each shot. He looked at the other guys and smirked.

"Had a little practice already. Let's just say, if that fucker is that far away from me, he's dead. Each of you guys should be able to shoot that far and hit it."

JT went next and took his military stance for firing. He squeezed off five rounds and saw he hit it three out five times.

"Not bad. Haven't had one in my hand for a bit, but it'll come back to me."

"Not bad shooting. Haven't seen too many can hit it, let alone three times."

Piney took his turn and fired his five, hitting hit four out of five times. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, as he laughed.

"Shouldn't have breathed on that shot, oops."

Clay looked at him with admiration at his achievement.

"Nice shooting, Piney."

"Thanks, Clay. I didn't get as rusty as JT did. Like riding a bike, sort of."

"Yeah, exactly. Don't matter what I shoot, rifle, gun, all the same. I must have wasted a million rounds out here, shooting at shit."

Every guy took a turn and got a feel of how the gun felt going off, some for the first time. Once they emptied their clips, they reloaded them and readied them for firing again. Those that had a hard time hitting the post the first time, continued practising on it. Clay and the vets moved down a bit further and he showed them a target almost twice as far. The corner ahead sign was already damaged, from years of ballistic abuse by the locals, so a little more wouldn't really be noticed.