Oh – I didn’t exactly spell that one out, did I?

Yeah. Benjy was the one who killed Venus. Good ol’ simpleminded Benjy.

He don’t look like a retard, but he’s definitely a few fries short of a happy meal. Mother probably dropped him on his head when he was a baby. Maybe a couple of times.

Anyway, Benjy’s also the one who told me – inadvertently – that Venus was ratting us out to the DEA.

Actually, to be accurate, he revealed the possibility that Venus was going to rat us out to the DEA. I never had any real proof. Just a conversation that Benjy overheard.

That was enough for me. I don’t take chances with shit like that.

Benjy was what you might call a provisional member at that point. Had been for two years, though we hadn’t patched him in yet.

Half the club hated we were even considering letting in a retard, which is why the decision took so long. But Benjy had a lot of supporters, too. Jack was one of them.

I didn’t really give a shit either way. Under Jack’s leadership, the MC was already in the shitter as far as I was concerned. And dumb fucks can be useful from time to time, so why not let him in?

But there was a contingent that was fucking livid. Eyeball put it best: “I joined a motorcycle gang, not the Special fuckin’ Olympics.”

That comment was just one of the many reasons Jack hated Eyeball.

Me, I thought it was pretty fuckin’ hilarious.

Anyway, Benjy hung around the Seven Veils a lot. He was too slow on the draw to get any pussy, so he enjoyed staring at it instead. Hadn’t figured out how to download porn on the internet, I guess.

Anyway, he became the club mascot. The strippers were nice to him – at least to his face. They never took him seriously, though. He thought he had a shot with them, which was pretty fuckin’ hilarious. Apparently nobody ever told him cheerleaders don’t date kids who ride the short bus.

One stripper in particular was especially decent to him. Never took advantage of him, never pumped him for dollars when she was onstage, never made jokes at his expense, never talked shit behind his back. Venus – Fiona’s cousin. I gotta admit, she was good to him. Looked out for him.

She shouldn’t have done that. He started following her around everywhere like a puppy dog.

Christ, it got to be embarrassing. I pulled her aside one night and was like, Look, just put him out of his fuckin’ misery. Stop leadin’ him on.

I’m not leading him on, Lou. I’m treating him like a human being.

Yeah, well, HE wants to treat you like a Tijuana whore.

She gave me a cold stare. Not every guy in the world wants to fuck every woman they meet.

Yeah, they got a name for guys like that: fags.

She got pissed. Don’t use that word around me.

I ignored her. He wants to fuck you, and you’re not going to fuck him, so what the hell are you doing?

I’ll always remember what she said next:

I’d fuck HIM before I’d fuck YOU, Lou. Any day.

Goddamn bitch.

Although I have to give it to her, she wasn’t a skank. She was a cokehead, yeah, but I never once saw her give up tail for cash. In fact, she was the only stripper at the Veils I never banged or got a blowjob from. When I told her she had to put out if she wanted to get hired, she shot back, I thought you were a businessman, Lou. What do you want more, head or money?

I said, Both, bitch.

And she said, Well, you’re only getting one from me, BITCH, ‘cause the other one’s not on the menu.

I laughed. Gave her a pass. She was smart – and a smartass. It was refreshing at the time.

The smartass routine got old real fast, though.

But hell, she was hot, she had a great rack, and she brought in more money than any other three girls combined. I could deal with a little sass as long as she delivered the cash.

Anyway, Benjy kept following her around like a puppy dog. She didn’t do anything to dissuade him. Always called him ‘sweetie’ and patted his cheek.

The guys in the MC heckled him and told him he was an idiot. When that didn’t get through, they started asking him when he was going to bang her. He’d get real mad and put up his dukes and try to fight Eyeball. Imagine that, sticking up for the honor of a stripper.

Jack saw what was going on and put an end to it. No more fucking with Benjy, you got it? Leave him alone, or I’ll kick your ass. That’s an order.

Eyeball tested those orders one night when Jack wasn’t around. He poured a drink on Benjy’s crotch, then told all the strippers that he’d pissed himself. Benjy about cried, he was so embarrassed and angry. Then Eyeball made it worse by pulling the kid’s pants down around his ankles and making fun of his pinky-sized dick.

Venus saw it all happen while she was dancing. She got down off the stage, screamed at Eyeball, and threw a shot glass at him. Eyeball bitch-slapped her and sent her to the floor, which damn near started a riot. I had to kick him out of the club just to keep the peace.

Before I sent him packing, I told him, Her face earns me money, man. You fuck with her face, you fuck with my wallet. Don’t ever do that again.

I let him off with a warning, but Jack wasn’t so lenient. The next day Pollari walked into the tattoo shop where Eyeball worked and just fuckin’ destroyed him. Beat his ass to a pulp in front of the customers and his coworkers, then walked out without a word.

Eyeball didn’t show his face for a week, and nobody in the club ever talked about it except in hushed whispers.

Eyeball never said shit to Benjy again. But he sure as hell hated Jack Pollari… which made him useful to me.

You know who noticed that little act of vigilante justice, though? Venus. She started coming on to Jack hard.

Now, virtually every woman who’s ever met Jack comes on to him. The sonuvabitch is pretty, I’ll give him that. I’d bet good money my cock is bigger than his, but the bitches do like their pretty boys.

And Jack took advantage of it. Back in the day, he banged pretty much any hot chick who crossed his path. Once he married Sloane, though, he was faithful – and so was she, or at least she swore she was. But after they got divorced, he didn’t go back to his womanizing ways. He was a lot more particular who he stuck his dick in, and Venus was one of the many he turned away.

I think it was because he knew she was trouble. She was already a cokehead when I hired her. Jack took her aside on more than one occasion and tried to get her into rehab. She’d melt over the white knight shtick and fall for him even harder, even though she never could seal the deal. It was like watching two horny Mormon teenagers staying virgins for Jesus: a shit-ton of beating around the bush, but nothing went in the bush, if you catch my drift.

Anyway, Jack kept trying to save Venus. Benjy kept following her around. Venus kept hitting on Jack and being nice to Benjy – and all it ever got her was a bullet in the back of the head.

This is how it went down.