Tess woke up early Saturday morning to alarm bells going off. It was 4 am, the morning of a twenty-four hour ride that would take the club all around New York State. She was excited about the ride, but also nervous, knowing that it would mean a full night of riding without any sleep. The last time she had done an all-nighter was when she was in high school, so she knew that this was going to be interesting, to say the least!
The group met at the parking lot and got on their bikes, lining up in the proper order. Tess was so close to being patched, having completed most of her prospect tasks in the last month, but she was still missing just one more task. She couldn’t wait to start rides with the other members though instead of near the back, though by the end of the rides it didn’t matter much as they all rode different speeds.
“Thank you all for getting up so early this morning,” Stenton began as he looked out around the group. Everyone was yawning and drinking coffee, trying to wake up. “I know that we’ve been planning this for a long time, and I’d like to give a huge thanks to my wife and our road captain, Road Runner, for organizing this event. By the time we get back here tomorrow we’ll have visited over 20 cities in 24 hours. We’ll stop for three meals along the way, as well as a stop in the middle of the night for a midnight boost. No sleeping... just riding with our family.”
There were comments about how much fun that was going to be, and Stenton continued. “This ride is in commemoration of Lucas Morelli… our beloved sergeant at arms that we lost last year. I know he’s probably up there watching down on us and on the edge of his seat to see us all having a blast together in his honor.”
Cheers rang up around the group, and Tess joined in, though she didn’t know the person who they were honoring. She thought it was really great though that they would take this time to remember someone from their family. It showed her that they really did take family seriously and that when one person hurt, the whole group did. It was something she wasn’t used to.
“I want to also draw your attention to someone else this morning before we start. “Tess, could you step forward please?”
Tess blinked, not expecting to be called out, and moved forward towards him. “Yes sir?” She asked somewhat nervously.
“You are five rides away from your twenty-ride patch, which is required for your prospect task, am I right?” He asked, looking at her seriously.
“Yes sir,” she nodded in response. It was the last task she needed to complete before being patched.
“By the time we hit 9 am, we’ll have a new sister. I don’t really want to wait until then to patch her in, because I know that she will be with us every step of the ride, as she has been so faithful since she arrived on our doorsteps three months ago. So if there are no objections… I say we put this to a vote right now. All those in favor of Tess being patched in as a full member of Paradise MC?”
Everyone raised their hands and cheered for her. Not a single person objected and Stanton exclaimed, “I give you our new sister, Tess Crenshaw!”
The group cheered again and Stanton handed her a member patch. “Welcome to the family, sister.” He shook her hand and she put the patch in her pocket to sew on later. “Go on and join your brothers and sisters in the middle of the line, and let’s get this ride started!”
Tess was beaming as she went back to her bike and rode up next to Nitro, who was grinning from ear to ear. He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it tightly. “Good job, sis,” he said with a wink, though he covered his headset so others couldn’t hear it.
“That sounds so wrong,” she chuckled and looked at him with an amused smile. “But thank you.”
They rode off and hit the streets then, talking in their headsets as they went. It was a lot of fun and they saw most of New York during the whole ride. By the end of the ride, people were getting punchy and sarcastic and the jokes were becoming more and more hilarious. The group without sleep was so much fun that they couldn’t help but constantly laugh. It was such a good energy and Tess had the time of her life just being herself and joking with them, as she’d done since she’d first arrived. She felt so happy with her decision to come to the MC and knew that there was no place she’d rather be.
The group met at the parking lot and got on their bikes, lining up in the proper order. Tess was so close to being patched, having completed most of her prospect tasks in the last month, but she was still missing just one more task. She couldn’t wait to start rides with the other members though instead of near the back, though by the end of the rides it didn’t matter much as they all rode different speeds.
“Thank you all for getting up so early this morning,” Stenton began as he looked out around the group. Everyone was yawning and drinking coffee, trying to wake up. “I know that we’ve been planning this for a long time, and I’d like to give a huge thanks to my wife and our road captain, Road Runner, for organizing this event. By the time we get back here tomorrow we’ll have visited over 20 cities in 24 hours. We’ll stop for three meals along the way, as well as a stop in the middle of the night for a midnight boost. No sleeping... just riding with our family.”
There were comments about how much fun that was going to be, and Stenton continued. “This ride is in commemoration of Lucas Morelli… our beloved sergeant at arms that we lost last year. I know he’s probably up there watching down on us and on the edge of his seat to see us all having a blast together in his honor.”
Cheers rang up around the group, and Tess joined in, though she didn’t know the person who they were honoring. She thought it was really great though that they would take this time to remember someone from their family. It showed her that they really did take family seriously and that when one person hurt, the whole group did. It was something she wasn’t used to.
“I want to also draw your attention to someone else this morning before we start. “Tess, could you step forward please?”
Tess blinked, not expecting to be called out, and moved forward towards him. “Yes sir?” She asked somewhat nervously.
“You are five rides away from your twenty-ride patch, which is required for your prospect task, am I right?” He asked, looking at her seriously.
“Yes sir,” she nodded in response. It was the last task she needed to complete before being patched.
“By the time we hit 9 am, we’ll have a new sister. I don’t really want to wait until then to patch her in, because I know that she will be with us every step of the ride, as she has been so faithful since she arrived on our doorsteps three months ago. So if there are no objections… I say we put this to a vote right now. All those in favor of Tess being patched in as a full member of Paradise MC?”
Everyone raised their hands and cheered for her. Not a single person objected and Stanton exclaimed, “I give you our new sister, Tess Crenshaw!”
The group cheered again and Stanton handed her a member patch. “Welcome to the family, sister.” He shook her hand and she put the patch in her pocket to sew on later. “Go on and join your brothers and sisters in the middle of the line, and let’s get this ride started!”
Tess was beaming as she went back to her bike and rode up next to Nitro, who was grinning from ear to ear. He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it tightly. “Good job, sis,” he said with a wink, though he covered his headset so others couldn’t hear it.
“That sounds so wrong,” she chuckled and looked at him with an amused smile. “But thank you.”
They rode off and hit the streets then, talking in their headsets as they went. It was a lot of fun and they saw most of New York during the whole ride. By the end of the ride, people were getting punchy and sarcastic and the jokes were becoming more and more hilarious. The group without sleep was so much fun that they couldn’t help but constantly laugh. It was such a good energy and Tess had the time of her life just being herself and joking with them, as she’d done since she’d first arrived. She felt so happy with her decision to come to the MC and knew that there was no place she’d rather be.