Boz
I WALK into the common room, stopping every few feet to talk to my brothers. By the time I make it to the back of the room, twenty minutes have passed. Looking around, I find the two people I want to talk to in opposite corners.
“You two,” I say, pointing toward the new club whore and Lisa, the woman that has been here the longest. “Come to my office.”
They look at each other in confusion but follow without giving me any lip. As soon as we get inside my office, I slam the door and take a seat at my desk. I motion for them to take a seat and wait as they sit down, then shoot a glare at the new chick.
“I heard you had some words with Trix,” I say, making sure she can see the anger in my eyes.
The bitch shakes her head and lies. “I’m not sure what she told you, but I haven’t said much more than hello to her.”
I shake my head at her stupidity. “Trix didn’t say shit to me. That’s not her style, but half the fucking club couldn’t wait to tell me about it.”
Lisa shakes her head, too, and says, “Don’t ever lie to a member, girl.”
Lisa has been working the club for more years than I can remember. She has to be getting close to fifty, but she doesn’t look a day over forty. Her body is rock solid, and she has a smile that can light up the room. A few of the brothers have asked her to wear their colors, but she’s always refused. The only person she is interested in is Round, and he says that he would never take another old lady after his died. He’s been true to his words, but that doesn’t stop him from taking her home with him every night. She still calls herself a club whore, but she doesn’t spend much time on her back anymore, unless it’s in Round’s bed. Instead, she handles the rest of the bitches.
I lift my chin to her and smile. “That right there is why I wanted you in here. It’s time you were put on the payroll.”
“What are you talking about?” she asks, scooting to the edge of her seat.
“You’ve been taking control of the club whores for a while now, and that’s a job you should be getting paid for,” I tell her honestly.
“I don’t do much,” she says with a shake of her head. “Just help out where it’s needed.”
“Whenever there is a problem, the girls come to you. If you can’t handle it, you come to me. You even deal with sending the girls to the other clubs when it comes up, something I hate doing. Plus, you started getting the bitches tested and made birth control mandatory for each one of them. If that’s not a leader, I don’t know what the fuck is?”
She shrugs, her foot tapping against the floor. “What do you have in mind?”
Running a hand through my hair, I lay it out to her. “You know the club is still trying to get in the black, so I can’t offer you a lot. I’m thinking eight-hundred a week, and the protection of being an employee of the club.”
“That would be wonderful,” she says with a smile.
“We’ll work out all the particulars later. First we have to deal with this bitch. Your first job will be deciding what to do with her,” I tell her, nodding my head at the new girl.
Lisa looks to her and shakes her head. “I hate to say it, honey, but I don’t think you’re a good fit for the club.”
The new girl jumps up and looks at me. “You can’t let this old bitch just toss me out!”
Lisa is out of her seat in an instant, and the bitch’s hair is in her fist a second later. I just sit back and watch the fireworks. Lisa throws a few quick jabs at the other woman’s face then pulls her across the room. Pulling the door open, she shouts for Round.
He’s there a minute later, taking the new girl from Lisa’s arms. “What did the bitch do?”
She doesn’t answer him. Instead, she asks, “Will you take her to get her shit then escort her off club property?”
His eyes come to me, and I lift my chin at him, letting him know I’m in agreement. He then leans down and brushes his lips over hers. “I can do that, sweets.”
As soon as he’s gone, Lisa looks back at me and asks, “Is there anything else you need?”
“Nope, I think you’ve taken care of everything,” I say, shooting her a wink.
She smiles then walks out of the room. She’s barely out the door when my Mom walks in wearing a frown. “I think you need to let Trix and her friend go.”
Mom is like a fucking pit bull. She chews and chews until she gets what she wants. Not that I don’t love her. I would lay my life on the line for her anyway, but she has to know it’s my job to deal with club shit. She needs to learn to back the fuck up.
“That’s not gonna happen, Momma,” I tell her, standing up and walking over to the fridge.
“But, son, it’s not right. Neither one of them two has anything to do with club business, so they shouldn’t be stuck in the middle of all this,” she says, still frowning at me.
After grabbing us both a beer, I take one to her and place a kiss on her cheek. “They’ll go home when this shit is over.”
Opening her beer, she takes a seat and looks up at me. “Are you sure you’ll be able to let Trix go, if you keep her that long?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask, plopping down on my desk and crossing my feet at the ankle.
“I’m not blind. I see y’all together in the club. Tate, I haven’t seen you smile that much since you were just a kid,” she says, leaning back in her chair. “You and Trix make the perfect pair, and she would make one hell of an old lady.”
“Then why in the fuck would you want me to let her go?” I ask, not allowing myself to think about how true her words are.
She takes a draw off her beer before finally answering me. “I don’t see how anything lasting can come from how this started. What are you two gonna do, tell your kids that you got together after kidnapping her?”
“Mom, I’m not sure you should be thinking about grandbabies just yet,” I say with a chuckle, then take a drink of my beer.
She stands up and walks to me. Putting her drink on my desk, she cups my cheeks and says, “I want you to listen to me for a minute, Tate. Forget you’re club President for just a bit and remember you were my son first.”
I nod at her and she goes on. “Trix could be the woman that changes everything for you. She could make you a happy man, so please don’t screw it up before it even has a chance to get started. I want to see my baby living the good life.” With those words, she turns around and leaves my office, without even saying good bye.
I sit there for a few minutes, replaying everything she said. I’m not sure this shit with Trix is gonna lead to anything, but it could. If Mom’s right and Trix is my future, I don’t want to fuck this up, but I ain’t letting her go. Instead, I’ll just make sure that by the time this ends, she’ll not want to leave.