Name:  Deke Lorton<br/><br/>Location & Time:  Sam’s room/Friday, 20 December 0755<br/><br/>Tagging:  Sam.<br/><br/>Wearing:  His colors and a black long sleeved shirt, jeans and biker boots.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Deke listened to the bitter, confused girl sitting on the bed in front of him as she talked.  He could<i>feel</i>the hate emanating from her body and he knew his first impression of her had been right; there was something about this chick that was a lot like him.  So when she was done he just sat on the bed next to her, waited a minute and then started talking to her as gently as he could.<br/><br/>“I don’t know who told you life is<i>fair</i>, but you know that’s a load of horseshit, right?  But so fucking what.  So you’re the runt of the litter and your fucking family doesn’t give a shit about you; big deal.  You’re smart, and tough, and pretty hot too, which always helps when you’re a chick.  You’re gonna make it.”  Deke looked away and thought about his family for a sec, then pushed those memories back down into the deep hate filled hole he’d buried them in years ago.  “But yeah, it<i>does</i>help if you got people you can count on too.  My family fucked me over, so like an idiot I joined the fucking Army.  Then, when<i>they</i>got what they wanted out of me, they fucked me over too.”  Deke wished he could put those memories into the hole too sometimes, but it was already full.  “But now I got my Brothers, and the Club.”  Deke touched his colors as he said the last, as if they were the most important thing in the world to him now; which they were.  He thought long and hard, then went on.  “You’re going to make it through today Pumpkin, I can feel it.  And after that … Your audition’s going pretty good, so if you keep<i>that</i>up … There might be an invite to the Clubhouse waiting for you at the other end.”  Deke paused, then remembered Sam didn’t really know how things worked.  “<i>If</i>you want it.<i>But</i>…<i>only</i>if you keep being smart about what’s going on, and don’t start whining about how life ain’t<i>fair</i>.”<br/><br/>Deke had no idea if anything he’d just said had registered with the confused, young sexy chick sitting next to him.  And he also had no idea at all why he’d taken the time to say any of it; it was just something he wanted to do and like usual, he just did it.  But somehow he felt a little better, which made him feel weird.  So Deke stood, pulled Sam’s own handcuffs from his belt and turned to look at her.  As he extended his left hand to help her up, he continued to speak to her gently but firmly.  “Okay Pumpkin, time to get today’s show back on the road.  Stand up, turn around, and put your hands behind your back.”  Despite Deke’s tone of voice, what he said to her was clearly not a request …