Chapter 15
Solomon
“Yo! Ghost!”
Luke nodded to me from the office.
“Meeting.”
This was the first time I was allowed in the hallowed meeting room. Sure, I’d been near the room and been privy to some pretty crazy shit—that was the only way to prove my loyalty—but I’d never been allowed in. Now I was.
“Coming.”
Luke shut the door behind me and seated himself at the table. Our table was African Blackwood and our emblem was carved in the middle and painted white. Gus, our faithful leader, sat at the head. To the right of him was Warren, our vice president, Luke, our secretary, and Evan, our treasurer. Beside Evan was his twin brother and our unofficial enforcer, Ethan. Then sat Jason, Ace, Dead Shot, and me.
“Go ahead, E,” Gus said, causing all eyes to turn to Ethan.
“I don’t want to alarm anybody or anything, but I got some news.”
A few of the members collectively groaned.
“Hey! Shut your mouth. You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
“Don’t get mad at them. You don’t exactly have a track record with good announcements,” Luke said, ever the meditator.
“Yeah. Okay, whatever. Anyways. I thought you guys should know, I finally got an old lady.”
“Wow. Didn’t see that one coming,” Warren said as Ace reached across the table to bump fists.
“Congrats, man,” Ace said, smiling.
“Wait for it,” Evan said, watching his brother’s neutral face as if he was waiting to be sure before he congratulated him.
“Why do you say that?” I asked naively.
“Because I know my brother and he wouldn’t announce that unless…well.”
The look on Ethan’s face said his brother knew him well.
“So you got a little more to say?” Gus asked, amused.
“A little,” Ethan said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I just thought I should warn you guys, just in case she wore her hair up around us.”
I’m sure my face looked as confused as the rest of us felt. I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.
“She used to be a Skull,” Ethan said with a shrug.
“What?”
“The hell?”
“Are you kidding me?”
So many things happened at once. So many people were talking. Some were standing in shock and others were trying to convince Ethan that he was out of his mind. Gus watched in silence as Ethan tried to talk over them and explain his position.
Ethan was something else. It seemed he had an affinity for trouble. In the last year I’d been pledging, I’d seen him get into a lot of shit. I’d also seen him kick ass. So at the very least, I knew he wasn’t a traitor.
Gus, finally tired with the yelling, spoke, and, as usual, everyone stopped to hear him. “Let’s all shut up for a minute and hear what our little troublemaker has to say for himself.”
“Thanks, Gus,” Ethan said, completely ignoring the fact that Gus had insulted him. “Now, as I was trying to say, this is all just a big misunderstanding. I’m not a traitor and neither is she. She’s good, guys. For real. I vetted her myself. She used to be down with the crew, but her father’s a rat bastard, so she got out. She went to college, got a few degrees, and now she’s a social worker up in Flagstaff.”
“Is that the nobody I saw in here last week?” Luke asked.
“Yeah,” he said as if relieved.
“Well the last time she was here, it seemed a lot like you were arguing.”
“We were, but that’s all settled now. I want to make her my old lady, and before you say anything,” he paused, holding his hand up in case someone tried to interrupt him, “it’s a small tattoo. She’s getting it covered.”
“So you just expect us to be okay with this?” Jason asked.
“Honestly? Yes. I didn’t have to tell you and it’s a small thing that’s almost always covered up. I didn’t see the damn thing myself until after weeks of us dating.”
“And you’re sure this isn’t some kind of set up?”
“Positive,” he said, nodding.
“All right then,” Gus said. “It’s settled. We’ll try to be accommodating to your new lady.”
“Thanks, man,” Ethan said, exhaling in relief.
“Anybody got any more questions before we bring this meeting to a close?” Gus asked, looking around the room.
“Yeah. Who’s the rat bastard father?” Dead Shot asked.
“What?” Ethan said with his blond eyebrows bunched together.
“You said her dad’s a rat bastard and she used to be a Skull. I’m surmising the two are probably connected.”
He laughed out loud. “Well. You certainly earned your name. Nothing gets past you, I see.”
He didn’t bother responding. Instead, he waited as Ethan took a deep breath.
“Her father’s Casper.”
Again, everyone talked simultaneously.
I laughed internally. The club was always full of surprises. My life was about to be perpetually exciting.
“I have one more announcement,” Gus said, quieting the room. “We finally have a date. Axle is coming home.”
Axle was a name I’d heard a few times. He seemed like this revered guy that everyone talked about, but he’d been in jail for the last six years. All for the club. Some shit had gone down and instead of letting one the brothers fall for it, he’d taken the bid. He’d never snitched and he’d made the protection the club got him in the cell work for him.
A lot of the brothers were excited for him to be coming home. Apparently, he was appropriately named—the central cog for the club that everyone rotated around. He had been missed and even though he wasn’t the current VP, he seemed to be everyone’s choice for second in line as president—Gus was getting up there in age and wouldn’t be president forever. I couldn’t wait to meet the guy.