BLAKE

 

“So… Why do they call you Needle?”

Sullivan looked like all new patches did. Slightly wide-eyed. A little lost. Kind of like a deer in headlights. If I’d seen this guy walking down the street, I would have thought twice about crossing him. Said he spent some time in the Marines or some shit like that. He certainly looked the part with how big he was.

But he was still a new patch. And new patches would never throw me off my game.

I stared forward at him and ignored his question but the rest of the table joined in on the conversation.

“Why do you think they call him Needle?” Ghost said.

“I don’t know,” Sullivan replied.

“Take a guess.”

“Let me see…”

I didn’t glance over at Ghost. I knew he was just having his fun. He always had to be the smartest guy in the room, fucking bastard. I loved Ghost like a brother but there were times when I didn’t appreciate the smirk on his face.

“Needle…” Sullivan muttered to himself. “I’m guessing it has something to do with drugs. You’re in pretty good shape there, Blake. I say you’re Needle because you’re on steroids.”

“Listen, motherfucker,” I said. “Are you gonna play your cards or are you gonna keep trying to hit on me?”

“Oh!” Ghost sarcastically gasped.

The entire table laughed. Even Sullivan. I was the only one who wasn’t amused.

I rolled my eyes as Sullivan continued to shift his eyes between his cards and the chips in the middle of the table.

“It’s poker,” I said. “Do you know how to play poker?”

“Judging from all these chips I got, I’d say that I do,” he said.

“You don’t have all of them.”

“Not yet. I’m just trying to decide whether or not I should take them all from you now… or later.”

“Oh!” Ghost said again.

He was rooting for Sullivan. So was the rest of the table. We were all in the same club but I knew they didn’t like how I always beat their lousy asses when we were at the poker table.

“Are you in… or out?” I said.

Sullivan stared at me, narrowing his eyes, then shoved all of his chips into the center of the table.

“I’m all in,” he said.

The table suddenly fell silent. I took one last glance at my cards.

Straight. He can’t beat a straight.

“I call,” I said.

“Full house!”

Sullivan slammed his cards on the table.

I blinked my eyes, my mouth half-open as I saw the winning hand in front of me. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ghost looking at me with a growing smirk on his face.

“Oh… shit,” Ghost said, his chuckle slowly getting louder. “The new patch just knocked you out.”

I didn’t look at him. I didn’t look at any of the other members at the table either. I just rolled my eyes at the absurdity of losing my money to a guy who looked like he’d never seen a deck of cards before.

“I can’t believe this…” I muttered, shaking my head.

“We used to play cards in the barracks,” Sullivan said. “The boys taught me everything I needed to know—”

“Spare me your life story,” I sighed.

I got up from the table while the rest of them continued their game. I made my way over to the bar to get myself a drink.

The clubhouse wasn’t crowded tonight, so I had more than enough space to myself. While I tried to enjoy my beer, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“What’s wrong? Not playing with the boys tonight?”

I looked over and saw Garnet standing next to me.

Garnet was the president of the club. He’d been a Black Reaper longer than anybody in the building. Despite the mood I was in, I could never be angry with a guy like him. Black hair slicked back over his head. A goatee that never seemed to grow. He was always so cool and calm about everything. He was a few years older than me, so I guess that came with the territory.

“New patches,” I said. “New patches always get the best fucking luck. They sit down and take my fucking money—”

“You patched him in. You wanna kick him out?”

“Is that an option?”

“We can put it to a vote. I don’t think the rest of the boys will agree with you though. I don’t think someone has lost a patch over a poker game before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

Garnet and I shared a laugh. I took a sip of beer and immediately felt a bit of relief about losing so much money at the table.

“Got a meeting,” he said.

“Right now? In the middle of the night?”

“Important shit. In the chapel.”

“Shit…”

If Garnet was calling a meeting when the club was relaxing, that meant something was up. The rest of the club wasn’t too happy about interrupting the poker game but Garnet commanded enough respect to get everybody into the chapel.

The door locked and everybody gathered around to listen to the president at the head of the table.

“Listen up,” Garnet said. “Big news in town is that we’ve got some federal agents dropping by.”

“Dropping by?” I said. “Does that mean they’re leaving?”

“They’re leaving. As soon as they realize that there’s nothing for them to find, they’ll be gone.”

“That doesn’t sound like good news,” Sullivan said. “Do federal agents normally come to Ivory?”

“No,” I said. “If federal agents are in town, they’re either trying to get some donuts at Amy’s or they’ve got a sniff of something they don’t like.”

“We already got enough trouble with the cops,” Garnet said. “Sutton and his boys would like nothing better than to bust one of these clubs. Frankly, I wouldn’t give a shit just as long as it ain’t us. But now that we’ve got federal agents in town, we can’t fuck around.”

“What does that mean?” I said.

“It means that shipments are going to be delayed,” Ghost said.

Ghost was the vice president of the club. He commanded the same kind of respect as Garnet. And right now, the two of them were looking around the table more serious than they’d ever been.

“That’s just fucking great,” I muttered.

“Sorry, boys,” Garnet said. “This isn’t some shit we can fuck around with. Moving weight is serious business. One of those agents sniffs some drugs on us and we won’t see daylight for the rest of our lives.

“I know this ain’t good news for you, Sullivan. It’s a good score and we make good money. But you’re just gonna have to wait a little bit longer before we move more weight.”

“It’s all right,” the new patch said. “I’ll keep paying my dues. I’m in this thing for the long haul.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Garnet looked around the table and eyeballed every member of the club.

“Let me be perfectly clear,” he said. “We’re not moving any drugs. Not until these agents leave Ivory. Once we’re in the clear, we’re back in business and shipments can proceed. Until then, I don’t wanna hear shit about you guys trying to push things on the side. All it takes is one of you to fuck up for a spotlight to end up on the entire club. This is serious. You got it?”

Garnet spoke with a tone so serious that nobody said a thing.

Damn.

Moving drugs was the best business we’d ever had. I made more money with the last few shipments than I’d made in years. Now there was no telling when we would be able to get back to it.

“Enjoy your night, fellas.”

Garnet snapped his fingers. Everybody got up from the table and left the chapel. I slowly made my way back to the bar to finish sipping my beer.

There were some other people in The Grindhouse tonight. Bikers from friendly clubs who were just looking for a place to drink. Women looking to spend time with a guy, hoping to be an old lady. Older folks from Ivory who just needed to get away. But even a wild atmosphere wouldn’t be enough to distract me from my thoughts.

“What’s wrong?”

I looked over and saw Garnet leaning up against the bar next to me.

“You all right, brother?” he asked. “You’re really not gonna play poker with the boys?”

“New patches always have beginner’s luck. It just comes with the territory. That’s the thing I hate about cards. If there weren’t any luck involved, I’d win every hand.”

Garnet gave me a hearty laugh then thumped his hand against my back.

“Give it time,” he said. “You’ll get your money back.”

“I know.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

I shook my head at him and shrugged.

“You’ve lost poker hands before. Now you look like someone shot your fucking dog or something.”

“I’m just thinking about what you just said. The Chinese pay us a lot.”

“We still got a deal with them. They’re not going anywhere.”

“It’s not just them. I mean… federal agents? Shit. I never thought I’d see the day when the government would care about this fucking town.”

“That just means Ivory is moving up in the world. You should be proud.”

“Oh, I’m fucking proud as shit. Don’t nobody move product like the Reapers.”

“Amen, brother.”

“Still… That money was fucking nice.”

“Since when did you care so much about money?”

“I was just thinking…”

I sipped my beer and swished it around in my mouth. I wasn’t looking at Garnet but I could feel his eyes on me.

“…It’d be nice,” I said.

“What would?”

“Just to have enough money and not have to worry about it. I don’t wanna be rich. I don’t need to be a fucking millionaire. There’s no way to spend that kind of money in Ivory. But to be able to relax and kick your feet up…”

“It’d be nice,” Garnet said. “I get it.”

“It doesn’t help that the new patch just took some of the money I had.”

“Look at it this way,” Garnet said as he patted me on the shoulder. “You’re doing something nice for Sullivan. Give him a little money and make him feel like one of the boys. He’s a brother now.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I sighed. “If I have to give my money to someone, it might as well be another patch.”

“That’s the spirit.”

I finished the rest of my beer and pushed the empty bottle across the counter.

“You got plans for tonight?” Garnet asked.

“Plans… You know what, I think you got the right idea. I’m just gonna lay low and wait for this shit to blow over. Feds in town. New patches taking my money.”

“Shit is just going terribly for you,” Garnet said with a laugh.

Garnet and I looked over at the card table. The club was laughing and talking to each other, having the time of their lives. For whatever reason, I wasn’t in the same mood as them.

“I think that’s what I’ll do,” I sighed. “Gonna head out for tonight.”

“All right,” Garnet said. “No meetings for the next few days.”

The night was still young but I decided to check in early. Hopefully, I would hear some good news when I woke up in the morning.