WE HAD USED MY phone to Facetime Stephanie, and Remi was going fucking nuts after talking to her momma. My little princess loved her momma; that was an absolute certainty. I smiled as I shook my head and looked in the rearview mirror at my chattering princess. Every time I brought her back to her grandparents, I hated to let her go, but I needed to head into the clubhouse to check in and take care of a few things. I also needed to make sure there was enough sober motherfuckers to help me with my fence like they said they would.
I dropped Remi off with Stephanie’s mom and she talked to me for a little bit about how happy she was that I was able to spend time with Remi. I thought she was hinting a little about finding out what my intentions were with Stephanie, but I played stupid like I didn’t catch on and she let it lie. I wasn’t sure where things were sitting myself. I also thought it was ironic, considering how skeptical her mom was the first time she met me. She had taken one look at my scruffy two-day beard, tats, chain on my wallet, scuffed motorcycle boots, and I could see she had reservations. She was a little hesitant to let me take Remi that first day, but her husband seemed to approve of me, and I thought he must have talked to her because my reception upon bringing Remi back to them was considerably warmer. Since then, she was my staunchest supporter and was constantly dropping hints about Stephanie and me.
I pulled my truck into the clubhouse parking lot after picking up all my supplies at the lumberyard the club owned. Benefit to that was I got all my supplies at cost, so it didn’t dent my budget too bad. I got out, swinging the door shut, and had to wait a minute for my eyes to adjust after heading into the dim interior from the bright sun outside. The sight that greeted me left me wondering how much help I would have today. There were passed-out bodies in the booth benches, on the couches, and some on the floor. Some had half-naked bitches sprawled across them to top it all off. Jesus H. Christ, they must have had one hellova party here last night. I kicked a few boots of those who had said they were going to help today to get their attention and get them moving, if they were still going to help, that was. The fucks.
I threw on a pot of coffee since I was sure they were gonna need it and headed back to see if Hacker or Hollywood were up since they were absent from the piles out in the main clubhouse.
I knocked on Hollywood’s door a few times before he shuffled to the door, opening it as he yawned and scratched his chest absently. I saw a red mop of hair fanned across his pillows and a slender arm hanging off the bed behind him. Fucking Hollywood. He was a Lothario with women, and he sure had a thing for redheads.
“Hey, you fuck. You sober? You still on board for helping me with the fence today? Looks like there was one hell of a party last night, and I’m guessing I’ll probably lose half of my fencing crew to hangovers.” I laughed. I couldn’t be mad, ’cause Fridays were our regular night to party. The party girls would line up in hopes to make it in and hook up with a “big bad biker” for the night. Why it was a bragging right to these bitches, I didn’t know, but if they made the cut and were admitted, they were hot, willing, and fresh, which made them a nice change from the regular club whores for the guys.
“Yeah, man, I’m there. You know I have your back, bro. I just need to shower and get dressed then kick this crazy bitch out of here. Shit, you know I love women and women love me, but I think this one might be a little fucked in the head.” He gestured a thumb over his shoulder at the chick in the bed. “She started crying and talking about how alone she was and how she didn’t know what she was going to do since her boyfriend dumped her, blah blah, blah. I didn’t even stick my dick in her. I just held her fruity ass and let her sleep off her drunk. I think I’m getting soft or losing my touch. Fucking A.” He shook his head in resignation and disgust, and I tried not to laugh at him because I could see he was really beside himself with the situation. I could imagine that was quite a change for his horny ass.
“We can drop her off somewhere or call her a cab, bro. Just let me know. I’m gonna go shake Hacker’s fucking ass outta bed.” He nodded and shut his door as I wandered down the hall toward Hacker’s door.
I knocked once and almost fell over when the door flew open right away.
“Hey, bro! What’s up? You ready to start this fence shit?” He was already dressed and all wide eyed and bushy tailed. Shit, usually I could barely drag him out of bed in the fucking mornings.
“Yeah, man, that’s why I was knocking. Damn, you’re up early.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been working on checking into that asshole that was fucking with Steph. I had a guy that was supposed to call me back this morning, but he hasn’t called. I’ll have my phone on me, so it’s no big fucking deal, I guess. Look at it as a perk. You didn’t have to pound on my fucking door again.” He busted out laughing.
“Speaking of, what have you found out about the guy so far?”
“Not much. No record. Not even a fucking parking ticket. He did have a bleep that showed up as a sealed case when he was a teen, which is what I’m waiting to hear about. He has three older sisters, a bunch of nieces and nephews. Went to community college for a general studies degree and got a supervisory position at the construction company he worked at through college. Been there since. He transferred with them to Des Moines from the Quad Cities when they expanded. I was a little surprised he would want to leave his family, but hey, maybe they drove him batshit crazy, ya know? Anyway, I have a few favors I called in for some street info too. He leaving her alone?” Hacker could find out if you farted in church last year, so I felt pretty comfortable with the info he dug up.
“Okay, cool, man. No, she said she hasn’t heard a word from the dipshit. Let me know what you find out. I’m going to see if these other drunk fuckers are up and moving. You coming?”
“Yeah, let me grab my shades and I’ll be out.” He turned to go rummaging around through the papers and crap that littered his desk. I headed out to the main room again.
Most of the guys were up and drinking coffee with another pot brewing when I got out there. Vinny was drinking Jack. That was one tough and crazy bastard. He was our VP and was originally from New Jersey. We got along okay, but I wasn’t sure if he was all there or not. I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear he had some mafia in his blood, but he didn’t talk about his past, and we didn’t ask.
The prospects, Soap, DJ, and Joker, were straightening out the chairs and cleaning up. Soap looked a little green around the fucking gills, and I had to wonder how much that little shit drank last night. They weren’t supposed to drink, but on Friday nights for the last few hours, the guys would look the other way. Joker was laughing and joking, as usual, and giving him and DJ shit for drinking too much of the moonshine his momma sent. Ah, that explained that shit.
“If y’all fuckers are sober enough, we can head out in twenty. With all of us working on this, I know it won’t take long, and I appreciate y’all helping me out. I don’t want to take a chance with my little girl getting in the road, so y’all are saving my ass. Thanks again.” Everyone nodded, and a few of the guys smiled at the mention of my little girl. They were all shocked as shit when I told them I was a father. Shit, so was I for that matter. But they had all welcomed her into the fold. It was still a little mind numbing at times to think I was a dad. I had someone depending on me. Relying on me. And I wasn’t alone.
I just prayed I would be a better dad than mine was, and I made a promise to never run out on my kid like he did.