Outside was cooler, even in the dead of summer. She sat down in one of the worn, wooden chairs and leaned back as the group settled in under the string of tacky colored globe lights hanging from the tree. The place smelled of the distinctive scent of vegetation, of fried food and spices. Kerry considered it just about the most perfect neighborhood dive she'd ever seen. There was even a very worn dartboard nailed to the ficus, and for a quarter you could get three cracked darts to throw at it.

"Hey, honey!" Their regular waitress scooted over on spotting them, stopping in front of Kerry. "Usual?"

Kerry nodded, and stretched her legs out as the rest of the group made their orders. It had just turned dark, and there was just enough breeze to keep the night from being uncomfortable. The waitress had left a moment before the rumbling pop of a motorcycle engine interrupted the night, its roar growing louder as it came closer. "Ah...guess that's Tom."

"You guessed it," Rod agreed, hitching his knee up and slinging one long leg over the chair arm. He was tall and lanky, dark haired and relatively good-looking in an understated kind of way. "Big ol Harley, and damn he wants everyone to know about it."

Kerry snorted and shook her head.

The rider and bike arrived then, the noise precluding any further conversation until Tom turned the engine off and parked the big cycle, displaying it to various noises of appreciation. "Nice, huh?"

"Prettier than you are," Rod called out with a chortle. "Sure you can handle something that rad?"

"Kiss my ass, butthead," Tom replied with a grin. "If you're nice, I might let you touch it." He half turned and glanced back at Kerry. "Whatcha think, Kerry? Sweet, huh?" He indicated the bike, which was a monster in black and chrome with a custom painted gas tank covered in incongruous tropical fish.

"Very," Kerry agreed readily. "I like the soft tail. You didn't opt for a VRSC?"

Tom walked over and sat down next to her, clasping his hands together. "Oh...I think I'm in love with you. A girl who speaks my language." He grinned at her. "You have one?"

"Not quite." Kerry accepted her mug of ice-cold draft beer and sipped it. "We were going for one. Went into the show room, and the guy there told Dar she'd have to buy what he was willing to sell her." She licked her lips and sighed. "One 'kiss my ass' later, we headed over to the Honda dealership and the rest is history. I like my Shadow, though. It fits me."

The group laughed. Tom groaned, and slapped his head. "Kerry...Kerry...Kerry...how could you?" He moaned. "Why didn't you try a different dealership? I got mine in Daytona during bike week. It was like a religious experience."

Kerry took a lazy swallow of her amber colored beer and shrugged one shoulder. "We use it down by the cabin in the keys. If we kept a Harley in the shed, we'd spend half our time writing police reports on it. So, it worked out for us. Maybe my next one'll be a hog."

Tom waggled his eyebrows at her. "Wanna go for a ride after we eat?"

"Sure," Kerry agreed. "As long as you don't have chili again."

The gang laughed again, and Rod threw a corn chip at his buddy. "She gotcha."

"Damn it, I like chili!" Tom whined. "Okay, here, at least get a picture of me with a good looking girl on my bike. I gotta have something to show the guys." He gave Kerry a pleading look. "You mind?"

With a chuckle, Kerry set her beer down and got up, following Tom over to the slick machine and admiring its lines as she hopped up and gingerly settled herself on the back part of the seat. "Hm."

Tom got on in front of her, and did a muscle dude pose, flexing his bicep for Kerry's admiration. Obligingly, she leaned against him and pointed at the muscle, raising her eyebrows for the camera. "Psst," she whispered. "I think Dar's are sexier."

Tom gave her a look over his shoulder. He was blond and football player style buff, and had a crew cut that was almost fifties in its rigor. "Gee, thanks Ker," he muttered. "You really know how to make a guy feel great."

Kerry chuckled, and slid off the bike now that the flashes had stopped. She headed for the table, sidestepping the outstretched feet and reclaiming her chair with a sigh.

"Okay, okay." Tom finally joined them, after he carefully made sure his new bike wasn't going to fall over onto the sidewalk. "This round's on me, since I don't have to start paying on this thing for three months."

Whistles all round greeted his speech.

Kerry relaxed, looking forward to her cheeseburger with a sense of decadent pleasure. She felt sort of bad for Dar stuck in her hotel up in New York, but she was glad to get the chance to decompress after work.

She let her eyes wander as the group chattered about Tom's new bike. The conversation ranged from the latest disaster film premier to the latest storm brewing in the tropic. "So what did you say you're doing tomorrow, Sal?"

"Canoeing." Sally looked quite satisfied. "We're going out to Uleta Park, up in North Dade. You can canoe around there for hours in those waterways. Then we're doing a barbeque at the park. Interested?"

"Mm...wish I could but I have to work tomorrow," Kerry mourned. "That sounds like a blast."

"Call in sick," Sally suggested.

"Can't," Kerry said. "Dar's out of town and I cover for her. But thanks for the invite. Maybe next time? I bet Dar'd like that too."

"You bet," Sally said. "We have a sort of adventurer's club around my complex. We do a lot of stuff like that, hikes in the Everglades, and sailing and all, you guys should hook up with us. There's an online calendar."

"Send it over," Kerry said immediately. "We're looking for something like that to get involved with, Sal. Thanks!"

Sally looked pleased. "You got it. You guys are fun. I think you'd get along with the rest of my crowd." She sat back. "Cool beans."

Kerry agreed. That would make Dar happy, and that made her happy. The night was looking up so far.

"Here's to my bike!" Tom said, raising his glass and extending it. "And to a bunch of good buddies!" He clinked his mug to theirs. "Just sorry Taz isn't here to see it."

Kerry tilted her mug toward him. "I'll drink to that sentiment. Me too."

Everyone laughed. The waitress returned and set their plates down, waving a finger at the beer steins and raising her eyebrows.

"You bet." Kerry handed hers over. "Let's get this party started."

"LET ME WALK you down to your car, Kerry." Rod hitched his jeans up and followed her away from the dive. "It's kinda late."

"Sure," Kerry amiably agreed, feeling a touch lightheaded.

They started down the sidewalk, and then cut over one street moving closer to the beach. There was a light stream of traffic on the roads, cars rolling along with stereos blaring and people in typically abbreviated clothing.

Kerry stifled a yawn with one hand and gazed casually into the storefronts as they passed. "Good grief. Do people actually buy that clothing?" She pointed at a shirt, which was mostly glitter and spandex.

"Beats me." Rod shook his head. "Especially since that's supposed to be a men's store." He peered at the sequined boots. "Wow."

"Wow," Kerry agreed. "I can't imagine a woman wearing those."

There was a cool breeze coming off the ocean, and Kerry gratefully turned her face into it, reaching back to ruffle her shortened hair and let the air get to her damp neck. It wasn't really that late, a little past nine, and privately she didn't want to rush back to their condo that was sadly lacking Dar's presence.

No offense to Chino, of course.

"Did you park in the public lot?" Rod asked.

"Yeah." Kerry nodded, her eyes drawn to a lurid neon sign. She slowed as they came even with the tattoo shop, looking at the art in the windows and the dimly seen figures inside. "That's some nice art."

"Hell yeah," Rod agreed, stopping to look. "You have any?"

"No." Kerry shook her head with some regret. "In my family, that wasn't something you did if you didn't want to be locked in the attic for twenty years."

"I thought you lived with Dar." Rod pressed his fingertips against the glass. "A good friend of mine works here. He's an artist."

"I do live with Dar." Kerry found her eyes drawn to the designs, some basic and explicit, others fantastic forays into strange art.

"She has a problem with tats? I didn't figure she did. She's pretty cool."

"No, not that family. My birth family." Kerry peered at one of the designs. "Is any of this your friend's work?"

"That stuff." Rod pointed at a phoenix erupting from a bed of flames, and a beautiful Chinese dragon. "That's his." He eyed Kerry. "You want one."

Kerry's lips twitched. "I've thought about it," she admitted.

Rod glanced at the door. "Let's go inside and talk to my friend. At least he can give you an idea of what it costs, and stuff like that. Maybe if you have a design in mind, he can draw it up and show you what it would look like."

It sounded pretty harmless. "Okay." Kerry followed him inside, aware immediately of several things.

One, it smelled clean inside. There was a distinct scent of cleanser in the air along with an almost jarring buzzing noise coming from one of the three dentist style chairs against one mirrored wall.

"Hey dude." The man behind the desk greeted Rod. "You're moving up in the world."

Rod blushed. "Ah...uh, no, uh...this is just a friend of mine. Her name's Kerry. She's in my kickboxing class."

"Uh huh." The man regarded Kerry. "Looking for some art, Kerry?"