Nikki wasn’t all that sad to move on from her group of friends. There simply wasn’t much they offered her anymore. She need to move on, down her own trail. At the time, that trail included bikers, cigarettes, alcohol, sex, cocaine (only socially) and a whole lot of attitude. In fact, Nikki was turning into a downright bully.
The fight had changed something in her forever. She enjoyed the aggression. Much like her smoking during the summer, Nikki reached a point where she no longer cared to hide her boyfriend’s choice in lifestyle. One Friday night that became crystal clear.
One cold January Friday Nikki made plans to go the movies with her mother. The latter could feel her daughter slipping away and they had not had a chance to spend time alone together recently.
That afternoon Nikki came home and relaxed on the couch for a few hours until dinner. Still wearing her Catholic school uniform, she devoured her dinner and went outside to smoke before getting dressed for the movies.
She slipped out of her skirt and knee socks and looked into her closet. They were just going to the movies and Nikki was exhausted from the week of school, so she decided to dress casually...for her anyway.
Nikki decided on a pair of skin-tight leather leggings, punctuated by her black knee-high leather boots with a five-inch stiletto heel. She also decided on a black tank top the came down just above her belly button, with the Kingsmen logo emblazoned across her voluptuous breasts. She put her brown hair -- left curly today -- which fell just below her shoulders, in a ponytail and then draped her crucifix necklace with a thick silver chain around her neck, adjusting it so it rested comfortably between her breasts, along with another shorter thick silver chain. Nikki checked her silver Cartier watch, took one last (approving) look at herself and grabbed her phone and lip gloss before heading into the kitchen.
She rushed into the kitchen and dumped her belongings into her black leather Coach purse and put on her leather blazer.
“Mom, I’ll drive,” Nikki said as she flipped her ponytail out of the collar of her leather blazer and adjusted it to fit right. “If I don’t smoke on the way to the theater I’ll never make it through the movie.”
What Nikki hadn’t noticed was that her mother was gawking at her since she came into the room. Was her 17-year-old daughter dressed head-to-toe in black leather and wearing a shirt -- if you could call it that -- with the logo of a motorcycle gang on it?
“Where in the world did you get that shirt?” Her mother demanded.
“From Mark,” Nikki responded casually.
“Is he in a gang?” She asked alarmingly. “You need to take that off right now and stop seeing that boy.”
“Oh mother, he’s in a club,” Nikki said with a roll of the eyes. “I’m proud of my man and I’m going to support him.”
Before her mother could say another word, Nikki took her purse and headed to the car. As soon as they got to the stop sign at the end of their dead end street, She cracked her window and lit a cigarette before turning onto the road with it still dangling from her lips. The entire ride to the theater consisted of her mother harping on her over her boyfriend, her future and her smoking, which only caused her to smoke more throughout the drive.
When they arrived at the theater, Nikki lit one last cigarette before exiting the car and smoked it all the way to the door. Annoyed, her mother went inside to get the tickets. Her extra cigarette made them enter the theater just as the previews were starting, and the only available seats were in the very first row. She had no interest in sitting in the first row and could tell her mother didn’t either, so Nikki saw an elderly couple in the middle row and said, “I’ll take care of it.”
Nikki approached the couple and squatted down and whispered to them, keeping a smile on her face her the entire time.
“You’re in our seats,” Nikki said.
“Pardon me?” The elderly man said, clearly shocked.
“You’re sitting in our seats,” Nikki said again, this time more sternly as the smile faded from her face.
“Well, we were here first,” The man stuttered at the teenager before them, clad in leather and threatening them.
“Well, we’re here now,” Nikki told him. “So, take that old hag next to you and get the fuck out of our seats before we have a problem.”’
The couple, naturally terrified slowly got up and moved to the front row. Nikki motioned to her mother and sat down in the seats.
“What did you say to them?” Her mother asked bewilderedly.
“I just asked them if they wouldn’t mind moving so we could sit here,” Nikki laughed wickedly.
Her mother didn’t believe her daughter’s account of the story and a strong sense of fear as she looked over at her daughter, smiling as she played with her necklace.
After the movie was over, Nikki needed her nicotine, so the two women used the restroom before heading to the car. As she dug in her purse for her cigarettes while walking through the lobby, a little boy raced in front of her with his mother chasing after, nearly causing her to trip.
“Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” Nikki barked at her.
“I’m sorry, he got away,” The woman stammered.
“Well, why don’t you take better care of your fucking kid?” Nikki shouted, stepping in front of the woman’s face, her heels causing her to stare down at her.
Nikki’s mother immediately grabbed her daughter by the arm and pulled her way, half in shock and half in embarrassment. She then apologized to the woman on her daughter’s behalf. “Don’t apologize to that bitch. She deserved it,” Nikki said to her mother, cigarette bouncing between her lips, as they pushed open the door.
“What has gotten into you?” Her mother said once they got into the car, practically in tears. “I don’t even know this girl anymore. I can’t deal with it.”
Nikki started the car, took the cigarette out from between her lips and blew a long stream of smoke directly into her mother’s face before cracking the window and pulling out of the parking lot.
“You better fucking deal with it!” Nikki barked. “I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m a woman now and I’m going to do what I want, when I want and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it. This is who I am, so you and every other motherfucker that has a problem with it better get over it.”
Her mother began to sob openly.
“Quit crying,” Nikki demanded. “Tears are for the weak. You should be proud that your daughter is turning into a strong woman that doesn’t take shit from anyone and knows how to get what she wants.”
Nikki’s parents tried to do whatever they could to rein her in the following morning. They grounded her, took her car keys and forbid her to see Mark, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She texted him and told him, so later that night he picked her up to go to a party. When her parents told her she couldn’t leave, she just laughed.
“What the fuck are you gonna do about?” Nikki demanded to know.
They stood there stunned and she laughed and walked right by them, sneering, “That’s what I thought.”
Nikki was no longer their beloved, helpful and cheerful daughter that had never cursed in front of them and hardly argued. She was a foul-mouthed, leather-wearing biker princess that loved to bully people around.
_____________________________________________________________________________
In the ensuing months, Nikki’s family did everything they could to stop her from spiraling out of control, but it was to no avail. There was no stopping her evolution. The lone saving grace in her parents’ eyes was the fact that she had committed to attend Princeton in the fall and they felt it would get her away from the people they believed to be dragging her down.
At the moment though, college was the furthest thing from her mind. Nikki was a full-blown bad girl, and boy was she bad.
She began staying out late, even during the weekdays, making runs with Mark to sell drugs or collect money from people. Unbeknownst to the club, Mark even gave Nikki a cut of what he was making. She wasn’t shy about where she wore her Kingsmen clothing, and on her 18th birthday in February, Nikki treated herself to a present. It was a large tattoo of a motorcycle riding into the sunset, along with the words “Take your own path” that covered the entire upper half of her back, spanning from shoulder blade to shoulder blade.
The tattoo naturally mortified her parents, but it was her birthday present from Mark that truly scared them. He presented his volatile girlfriend with a leather vest with the Kingsmen name emblazoned on the back, of course with no patch as that isn’t possible for a woman. Nikki was ecstatic.
“I can’t wait to go riding, babe!” She squealed as she gave him a big kiss.
This was the icing on the cake for her parents. Nikki had not only grown to a two-pack per day smoking habit in recent months, but she had come home drunk on numerous occasions and they had caught her with cocaine in her purse twice. That was on top of her increasingly provocative clothing and attitude.
It may not have truly set in until one unseasonably warm March Saturday. It was finally warm enough for Mark to take Nikki on her first motorcycle ride. She was beyond excited for this day. She put on a tight white Kingsmen tank top, tucked it into a pair of black boot-cut jeans that fit snugly around her buttocks and strung a thick black leather belt through the loops before putting on her knee-high leather boots with the five-inch heel. She then put the finishing touch on by tossing on her new leather vest and a folded black bandana that acted as a headband.
Her parents stood in shock as they saw their daughter light a cigarette as soon as she stepped outside, kiss her boyfriend and put on a helmet, cigarette dangling from her lips and silver chains around her neck, glistening in the sun. Nikki then hopped on the back of the chopper, cigarette still firmly in the center of her lips and ride off with her outlaw boyfriend.
Nikki was instantly hooked on riding on the back of a motorcycle. She loved every minute of it. She loved wearing the leather vest and feeling like nobody could touch her. Her parents continued to try to reach her, this time inviting her and Mark to dinner the next night.
As her parents arrived at the restaurant first, they awaited for the couple to arrive and after 10 minutes, they walked in. Nikki was wearing a black Harley Davidson tank top that exposed her midriff and a pair of tight leather pants that revealed a black thong when she sat down. Her parents looked up when they could hear her five-inch boots clicking on the floor and they saw their daughter wearing a Kingsmen leather vest and black bandana, with silver chains dangling from her neck, the remnants of a just-smoked cigarette still drifting from her nostrils.
They sat down and a frumpy waitress in her mid-40s approached shortly after to take their drink orders. Mark ordered a Pepsi, but Nikki decided to a be a little more bold.
“I’ll take a vodka on the rocks,” The 18-year-old high school senior stated so confidently that it left her parents speechless.
“I’ll just need to see your driver’s license,” The waitress responded.
Nikki pretended to look for it in her purse and then said with a smile, “I think I left my wallet at home. Surely you can understand.”
“I’m sorry, miss, but I can’t serve you alcohol without seeing it,” The waitress responded again.
Clearly annoyed, Nikki would not drop the issue. If there was something that she had learned in the past two and a half years it was how to get what she wanted, and she was good at it.
“Bitch, do you know who I am? Do you know who my man is?” Nikki scolded.
“Miss --,” The waitress started before Nikki cut her off. “Unless you want a problem, you’ll bring me my drink.”
“Yes, right away,” She said, wanting to avoid any further confrontation.
Her parents sat in shock as her daughter, obviously underage, sipped on her drink after threatening a waitress for doing her job. They tried to get through the rest of the dinner without mentioning it, and her parents were almost relieved when it was time to leave. For Nikki, though, the night was not quite finished.
Almost as soon as they exited the restaurant, Nikki lit a cigarette and saw there was only one car parked behind the restaurant. She knew it must belong to the waitress.
“Hey babe, I think I need to tip that bitch,” Nikki laughed to Mark through an exhale.
Her parents looked bewildered as they saw their daughter put her hand out to Mark. The boy handed his girlfriend a pocket knife and she strolled casually over to the car.
Nikki put her cigarette between the center of her lips, orange tip glowing in the darkness and jabbed the knife into the driver’s side front tire. She laughed as she repeated her actions in the three remaining tires before laughing wickedly back to Mark and handed back the knife.
“That’ll teach that whore not to disrespect me again,” Nikki laughed as she kissed Mark.
Her parents stood in shock as the young couple locked lips, pulling away as Mark put his arm around Nikki’s neck and she put her right hand in his back pocket, cigarette in her left hand as her Cartier watch slid down her wrist when she dropped her arm down.
“Please come home right away,” Her father called.
“I’ll come home when I’m ready, old man. We have some shit to take care of,” Nikki called back over her shoulder as the two walked towards Mark’s Harley, still laughing about her exploits.
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