a nice woman to me the few times I've talked to her. You even got along with her yourself when you first joined Wayward Angels last winter."
"I was really looking for your support at the meeting, Marilyn. Anyway, forget it. I went to a couple of the Son Risers Motorcycle Club meetings. They're a fundamentalist Christian club. I think I'll find it more to my liking. Would you like to go to one of their meetings with me? The next one is this coming Saturday. They're supposed to have a guest speaker that's written a book about how his sister's being gay has torn their family apart."
"What have you got against gay people, Kim? There are a lot of wonderful gay people out there."
"It's wrong, that's all. Anyway, will you come?"
"I'll think about it, Kim. That's all I can commit to."
"I hope you do. It could change your thinking about the whole issue."
"Well, I've got to get my laundry done before I go back to work in the morning. Talk to you soon. Bye."
"Bye." Kim disconnected the call.
Oh, how she hoped Marilyn would go. She really needed an ally.
***
Saturday arrived and Marilyn Miller had agreed to attend the meeting of Son Risers MC, where Ryan Savage was going to be doing a presentation on his new book, My Gay Sister's Keeper , an autobiography mostly about his own life, the sin of being gay and his own disappointment with his lesbian sister, renowned Denver architect and designer, Kelsey Savage.
Kim was ecstatic that her best friend, Marilyn had decided to attend the club meeting and book signing with her. She rode her Honda Shadow up to Marilyn's log house on the outskirts of Denver. Marilyn, a small framed woman in her late forties, was VP of a huge cosmetics firm and could afford such luxuries.
Kim rode her bike up the winding gravel driveway to her home. An inexperienced rider would have more than likely dumped their bike on it. Arriving at the top, Marilyn greeted her in her garage. She was getting her BMW motorcycle ready by giving it a pre-ride inspection.
"I'm so glad you decided to come with me," Kim said, lifting the visor on her full-face Nolan helmet.
"Well, I am kind of curious about this new club you're interested in. Do you need a pit stop in the little girl's room before we take off?"
"No, I'm good. Thanks anyway."
"All right then. Let's get this show on the road," Marilyn said, buckling the strap on her own half-helmet. She swung her leg over the saddle and pressed the starter button. The engine on the K-1600 roared to life. She pulled in the clutch, making sure the machine was in first gear, then let the clutch out slowly, pulling it outside her garage doors before shutting them with her remote.
Kim often wondered how Marilyn managed that huge bike, but at just over five feet tall, the woman was a dynamo. Marilyn motioned for Kim to go ahead so she could show her where to go. The two women carefully navigated their motorcycles down the gravel drive, then pulled out onto the asphalt stretch leading to the main highway. Kim had opened up the venting zippers on her leather jacket and the wind felt good. Marilyn followed in staggered formation several feet behind her.
The club meeting place was close to downtown Denver in an industrial area. They pulled up to a garage that had a huge painted mural featuring a cross with sunbeams. Below that it read:
Son Risers Motorcycle Club
Denver, Colorado
"We Live For The Son"
They pulled up to an angled parking space and backed their bikes into it, making sure they were both in gear, so they wouldn't roll backwards and fall over. Locking them up, the pair walked toward the door of the club. There was a poster on the door featuring a photo of Ryan Savage holding his new book. They stepped inside.
Up against the far wall stood a podium with a speaker and microphone. Next to it was an eight foot table full of brochures and stacks of books for sale, along with a folding chair behind it. No doubt set up for Ryan Savage to sell and sign his