She was in the shower, so Hap took his pack of cigarettes to the small kitchenette and lit one, letting the smoke out into the dimly lit, open-concept closet of a house he was in.
He didn't know this girl. Knew she went by Shelly, but that was it. She'd come with a friend to a SAMCRO party one night, looking for a little wild life. He intrigued her like a foreign species of insect intrigued people. He fucked her, it was good, he found out where she lived and when he felt like it he stopped by.
Shelly was his only booty call. With all the available snatch at the club he didn't need a rotation to visit; they came to him. But he found himself here when he was craving fresher air, clean sheets, and a girl that didn't already smell like cum.
She was also the only one he was allowing to sleep next to him, come to think of it. But since she made him breakfast in the morning too he could put up with a bit of cuddling in the meantime.
Actually, waking up with someone's hand on your arm or head on your chest was … nice.
He was using her, and she knew it. He knew it. He didn't stop coming over, though.
He crossed from the kitchen to the living room, staring out the giant picture window at the front yard as well as the yard and house across the street. She lived in a good neighbourhood, which made him wonder what the hell she did for a living and what the fuck she was doing letting the likes of him in her house. Then he reminded himself he didn't really give a shit.
This was a small house, though. One bedroom and a "nursery" sized room which she used for a home office. This living room housed a TV on a stand, a corner cabinet with knick knacks and shit on display, a couch, armchair and coffee table and it was cramped with just that. A half-wall by the entry split the room and made it seem smaller. The kitchen was a short stretch with cabinets on both sides, no windows, and barely enough room for a four-seater round table.
Chicks always crammed so much shit into their houses.
He had that thought in his head as he heard a pitiful but still loud yelp, issuing through the single-pane glass windows. He frowned, head cocked, and when the sound came again he got curious. He slouched down on the sofa and grabbed his boots, still sitting where they had been the night before, yanked them on and opened the front door, exhaling another plume of smoke.
The yelp was coming from his immediate left, close. Happy pulled the cigarette from his mouth and trotted down the three concrete steps to the yard, eyes on the neighbour's house. Immediately his stomach curled, causing his upper lip to do the same thing.
The neighbour, who Hap had never seem before, was dragging a dog by its collar to a stake in the front yard. Hap could see the chain and collar already attached to the stake, remembering the sound of that fucking dog barking until all hours the night before. Seeing the dog now he felt sick.
It was a pitbull, brown with red and white markings. And it was terrified. It had all four legs on lock-down, clearly not wanting to be tied up in the front yard. And it was no wonder; it was summer in California and before noon it was already nearing the 95-degree mark. There was no shade in that yard, and if this prick left the dog any water Happy would be surprised.
His hands tightened. This pissed him off.
The guy cursed at the dog, turned to it and gave a vicious kick to the dog's ribs which caused the animal to make that same terrible yelp.
Before he knew what he was doing he crossed Shelly's driveway and walked right on the guy's lawn. His footsteps on the hard-packed dirt got the asshole's attention, and when he straightened up Hap supposed he was meant to be intimidated.
The guy was big, no doubt about it. Probably about six-three, shoulders like a line backer. All lean-packed muscle, black and white tribal art running up both arms. His hair was black, to his elbows almost, skin dark and tanned like he worked outside. And the fucker was carrying Hap's weight in straight shredded muscle.
Happy didn't care. This guy wasn't tough.
"Kick that dog again," Hap growled as a dare, stopping a few feet from the guy and taking another pull on his cigarette.
"Fuck off," the guy snapped back. "And get the fuck out of my yard."
Hap shook his head. "Nah man. I'm with the ASPCA."
The guy laughed at that. "You're shitting me."
"Where's the shade and water for that dog? If you're tying it up out here today?"
Now the guy seemed to be debating if he was full of shit or not.
"110 degrees, asshole. I should leave you out here today."
The asshole's back straightened further, impossibly making him even taller. "What the fuck are you? A dog cop?"
Hap's cigarette hit the ground shortly before the mountain of a man in front of him did. One shot to the jaw, another to the gut, then a third right in the nose and he was on his knees, sputtering around the blood gushing from his considerable beak. "Fuck, you broke my fucking nose!"
Hap was ignoring him, instead approaching the pitbull who had scurried and was hiding under the pickup truck that had to belong to the guy now bleeding in the yard. He crouched on his heels, whistling. "Come on, baby," he mumbled, hand out towards the dog.
There was a long pause before the dog inched closer, nose twitching, eyes big and worried. Hap allowed a small smile. "There you go, buddy. Come on. Not gonna hurt you, gorgeous."
The dog's nose touched his hand, sniffing the back then his wrist. He moved slow, turning his hand over. The dog sniffed that next, then stayed still while Hap put his palm on the top of its head, scratching behind an ear.
"There, see?" he said. "Good dog. You wanna come with me?"
He stood, eyeing up the prick still kneeling on the dirt. The guy had stopped yowling but he was staring at Hap with a good heaping glare of hatred.
"You don't like dogs? Don't get a dog," Hap snapped. Then he looked down to the trembling sack of skin and bones at his foot, nose coming up to nudge his dangling hand.
He crossed the lawn again, right in front of the kneeling giant, then stopped at Shelly's driveway. The dog was still across the yard watching him.
"You can come with me," he called to the dog. "You wanna come with me?"
The dog's tail gave a half-hearted wag.
"Then come on," he said with a hand clap.
The dog came. She (he saw it was a girl then) gave the asshole a wide berth, but she came, trotting kinda funny and he was guessing she must be hurt.
"You taking my dog?" the guy shouted.
"Yep," Happy answered, going back up the steps to Shelly's and holding the door open. The dog trotted through and Hap let the storm door bang shut.
Hap could hear the hair dryer running in the bathroom. Shelly had no idea what had happened. It was Saturday so he knew she didn't work. He wrote a quick note explaining why he was taking her car and promising to get it right back to her. Then he and the pit passed into the attached garage. Happy had to help the dog into the backseat of the car (on which he'd laid out a towel; he wasn't a total heathen). She had yelped when he did it, and it made him grit his teeth.
He crouched next to the open car door, bringing his face level with the dog's. "Don't worry girl," he mumbled, rubbing her ears again and smiling when she gave a groaning sigh. "We'll get you all fixed up, okay?"
As an answer she licked his face.
"You're welcome," he returned, then shut the door.
Read the entire story on The Freak Circle Blog: 2014/03/20/happy-gets-his-girl-an-soa-fanfiction/