Chapter 9
Storms make trees take deeper roots.
-Dolly Parton
Church...
Slamming the gavel down, Ares go over the plan we mapped out one last time. The room is damn near full with everyone, either back in town or still here from the club lockdown that was implemented two weeks ago.
Now we know a little more about the Iron Fists and what we have to do. We’ve discovered that they originate out of Cali. They have a smaller Texas chapter to the west between Odessa and El Paso, which we already knew about. The Texas chapter has about twenty members, each of them either rapists or women beaters, making us want to skin them even more.
I agree with Ares; I can’t believe it either that we haven’t run into them on any of our runs down I-10. Stupid fuckers are in our territory now, bad move on their part.
The motel they’re staying at wasn’t hard to find. Ares made a few phone calls around Austin to other surrounding clubs to confirm they’d seen an Iron Fist recently. Once we had a few spots to search, we found their bikes in no time.
Ares had a plan drawn up ASAP it seemed on what he wanted done, so he had me come along to assist. My ribs are still fucked, but I definitely wasn’t lettin’ my brothers handle the shit on their own, I want this Ghost fucker myself.
Yesterday we took their bikes and dropped them off at Rudy’s old chop shop to have them scraped up; pretty fuckin’ entertaining. I wish I’d seen their faces when they discovered their bikes were gone. It was the least we could do after the damage they caused at our clubhouse.
Ares smacks the table, drawing our attention to him, as he’s been fully patched to Vice President while I was out. The brothers called during one of my drunken nights and I gave them my vote via phone. Ares more than deserves the patch—the brother loves this club probably more than any of us, wouldn’t surprise me any if he even loved it more than the Prez.
“Brothers, everything went down without a hitch last night, taking the bikes. So far there’s been no blowback. I’m assumin’ either the dumb fucks haven’t stolen any cages yet, or they’re plottin’ something. We need to strike soon, before they’ve a chance to get too creative.”
Daddy.
Her voice starts in again and I tap away silently on the large table in front of me, anxious. This can’t happen right now, I gotta be payin’ attention and not talking to you, baby.
Our road captain, Smiles, leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I think it’s best if the Nomads handle this.”
2 Piece gawks, pissed, and the Nomads, still in town, sit up straighter, their interest peaked. “No fuckin’ way. They attacked mine and Cain’s Ol’ Lady’s; we get to collect on that debt, brother.”
He leaves out the part about Sadie; surely she deserves some fuckin’ justice. It’s always just about their women though. It’s like after the Cali trip, he’s forgotten that it was a Fist who hit his sister, or maybe it’s just bothering me more than the others because I want to show the fuck how it feels to be hit.
“2 Piece,” Nightmare, the scary looking Nomad with long dark hair growls, “Smiles is right. If this blows back on the town some way, it’s better if we’re responsible for it, versus your club that resides here.”
Ares grumbles, interrupting everyone. “Look, I have to think of what’s best for not only the club, but also the towns around us. If anything comes back afterwards, then the Iron Fists will go after the Nomads, taking the Fists away from the main compound and keeping the city safe along with our families. Think of what Prez would want, if he were calling the shots right now.”
I pop my knuckles, drawing everyone’s attention. “I want in.”
Cain scoffs, “You’re no Nomad, brother.”
“Maybe I oughta be? Sick an’ tired of fuckin’ pussies,” I grumble, wanting to smash the prick in the face for talking to me like that in front of everyone. He may be the Enforcer now, but I’ve been a part of this club a hell of a lot longer than him.
2 Piece’s fist slams down onto the table with a boom, causing it to shake, mad dogging the shit out of me. “Shut the fuck up, Twist, for fuck’s sake. You ready to dip out so soon, after getting all cozy an’ shit with my baby sister, motherfucker?” he glowers and I roll my eyes, huffing. He has no fuckin’ clue what I’ve done to his sister, how I’m no good for her. After attempting to keep me off her, now all a sudden he’s pissed ‘cause I’m doin’ just that.
“Mind your own business, 2 Piece,” I smirk, angry and ready for him to come at me.
I’m fuckin’ tired of sitting back and letting everyone decide what’s best all the goddamn time without my input. I should be able to go and handle this shit. I’m the one without an ol’ lady, and without shit to lose. I’m the one person here ready to fuckin’ die if needed. The rest of them besides the Nomads all have something they’re moving toward, whether it be a woman, a kid, or a better life.
Blame it on the military for instilling the God-like thinking that I can handle dangerous shit more than the others. I didn’t get blown up in Iraq, I didn’t die wrapping my car around a tree or flipping my bike, obviously I should be the one to go and take on these motherfucking Fists as well.
Ares sighs, waving his hand. “All right, let’s get back to the issue at hand. Twist, we have to hold a vote if you’re serious about goin’ Nomad, and then you gotta call in for a transfer for which group of Nomads you wanna roll with. If it’s the men already here that stay down south, then you need to talk to them while they’re here. Take a few days to sleep and drink on it.”
Sitting back, I nod, already aware of what’s required. I’m fairly certain the Scot would call a vote for me with the Nomads.
“Ex, Night, you boys are familiar with the pig farm we use. You remember how we took the Twisted Snakes MC out there?” They both nod. “Same deal then, take them there alive if possible, chop them each up and feed them to the pigs for their daily feeding. We don’t need any of them out floating around. See if you can get any kind of information out of them prior too.”
Exterminator raps his knuckles on the old wooden armrest on his chair. “Anything specific we supposed to be finding out?”
“No. In fact, anything you find out will be a bonus. Just finish these fuckin’ Fists; I’m ready to move onto other business.”
Smiles peeps in, “Guns.”
“Yes, brother, we’re due for another run. We need to make some bank. Cain, have you spoken to the Russian about our next order?”
“Yeah, bro, he’s ready; he has a new shipment of some specialty guns. It’s supposed to be some Call of Duty type shit. I briefed 2 Piece on it already.”
“2 Piece, what’s the plan?”
“I spoke to Tate, told him to hold on to it all, that we had us a little shit storm goin’ on right now, but that someone would be heading to Tennessee soon for pick up.”
“Good. I still don’t want anyone alone, especially the females. Not even to walk outside or take a piss. They are more vulnerable right now especially with shit ‘bout to pop off. I don’t want anyone having a chance to kidnap them or any other fucked up thing.” The brother’s growl and grumble angrily at the prospect of something happening to the women.
Ares takes a drink of his soda and continues on, “Prez’s buddy from the fencing company came by. The gates have been updated along with the new razor wire along the tops. Ol’ boy put an electric wire running through it, so we can have it on anytime we want; also if anyone cuts the fence, we will know that the connection is lost. We added in a few more cameras and Exterminator has been monitoring the feeds. That should put an end to motherfuckers breaching our compound walls. If it happens after this, I’mma build a goddamn moat around this bitch. Anything else?”
I zone out at the rest of his spiel, thinking about seriously joining up with the Nomads. I doubt any of my brothers here would give a shit if I did.
“All right, we good?” Ares asks and I nod, along with the other brothers. With that, he slams the gavel down, officially calling an end to church.
We all shuffle out of the room, Ares asking the Nomads to stick behind for a minute. I’m about halfway through the bar when I see Sadie heading my way. I don’t plan to stick around and talk about shit though, so I haul ass outside, starting my bike up before she has a chance to speak. Without looking at her, I leave the compound. My heart breaks a little, knowing she’s standing on the steps wanting to speak with me, but I just can’t do it right now. I need space, I need time to clear my head and think. Her being around me confuses the shit out of me; she makes me feel things I never thought I would ever feel again.
She looked tired just now. Fuck. I’m such a goddamn bastard, and my mother would agree.
Sadie
I watch as Twist takes off on what I’m assuming is his new motorcycle. It’s not the old blue one Cain was letting him use. This one’s black with a little red, has ape hangers and a small bitch seat on the back.
I wonder if he’s had anyone ride back there already.
He looks so sexy riding it; too bad he’s being such a dick and ignoring me. I wish I knew what I’d done to get him to treat me this way. Last week everything seemed to be perfect until he freaked out and left, but what happened wasn’t even my fault. Before that night, he was smiling and laughing. I was over the moon, thinking I’d found someone who didn’t mind that my brother’s in a not-so-nice motorcycle club and that I’m pregnant. Really I was just stupid, I guess.
On top of that they’re all keeping me pretty clueless about what they’ve been up to. My brother told me that it’s club shit, so it’s not my concern, but it’s annoying. It kind of feels like everyone knows a big secret and they’re keeping it from me. The hushed whispers when I walk into a room are old. I never know if it’s because Twist’s gone and they’re wondering what I did, or if it’s about this ‘club shit’ Silas is adamant about.
I brought it up to Avery and she just said we couldn’t talk about it and if the brothers overheard us discussing it, that it would be an issue, to just drop it. I could tell she wanted to say something, but as soon as she saw London, she was locked up like Ft. Knox. I wish she would open up to me some; it would be nice to at least have a few friends here. London never speaks a word about club stuff or anything against any of their rules; how she accepts it all, is beyond me. As of right now, it’s really lonely without Twist.
I get it that the club’s their own family, but I don’t really feel like I’m a piece of that. Maybe I should put myself out there more, but then at the same time I’m supposed to be in here taking it easy. How can I get close to people if I only see them when I leave the room?
Twist’s long gone so I head back inside, stopping by the bar to treat myself to a Dr. Pepper. After being sad all week that Twist won’t come back or call me, I think I deserve at least one soda to make up for the tears I’ve shed these past few nights.
There’s a handsome guy behind the bar with a prospect cut on that says ‘Snake.’ That means he’s the Prez’s son. I’ve slowly been trying to learn their names and remember their faces. I’ve been picking up bits and pieces of information on them, trying to fit in around here a little better.
“Yes ma’am?” he asks as I place my hands on the bar top.
“Can I please have a Dr. Pepper?”
“Hmm, you know Twist has warned off anyone getting you caffeine?” he beams a friendly smile.
“No, I wasn’t aware, but you can see that Twist is nowhere to be found.”
He nods, his eyes going empathetic. “All right Shorty, I’ll get you a soda, but just one, okay?”
“Thank you,” I say under my breath and eventually get situated on a bar stool that feels way too small for my ass.
The guy with the giant purple Mohawk sits next to me right as Snake places my beverage in front of me. I remember his face and hair, but his name is on the tip of my tongue.
“Sup Say-Say?”
“Say-Dee,” I correct him and he chuckles.
“I could just call you Twist’s?” He grins and my lip wobbles a little. “Oh shit, I’m sorry.” His smile falls.
“Not your fault.” I shrug and Snake places a beer in front of purple Mohawk guy. “What’s your name?” I ask and he leans back, pointing to his name patch on his cut.
It reads ‘SPIN.’ Hmmm.
“I never would have guessed with the hair and all,” I gesture, and he smiles again.
“No worries.” He shrugs, “So you wanna talk about whatever’s got that lip of yours upset?”
“I was just trying to talk to Twist, but he left without speaking to me, I don’t know how to get his attention.”
“Ah, I see. Yeah, when the brother starts thinking a lot, he gets quiet. We’ve spent many hours of me tattooing him in silence. I think he already has a lot going on in his mind so he needs it to concentrate.”
“Has he had you tattoo on him this week?”
“No. You mean it’s been an entire week since he’s spoken to you?”
“A little longer.” I sip my sugary soda to keep from tearing up.
“Damn boo. He needs to get his head out of his ass already. Don’t give up on him though; I know he’s sprung for you.”
“Thanks, but I’m not holding my breath until he actually speaks to me.”
“Understandable.” He takes a strong pull from his longneck and my baby starts kicking. Probably from the shot of caffeine I just drank.
“It was nice talking to you, Spin, but I have to go lie back down.” I point to my belly and he flashes me a roguish grin with bright white teeth and I notice his eyes are different colors. Oh boy. He’s gorgeous.
“Take it easy, Say-deee.” He razzes and I can’t help but give him a small grin in return.
I get to Twist’s room, setting my drink down and my phone beeps with a new text. I turned it back on when Twist left, hoping he’d give in and call. I swipe over the screen to check the new message.
Unknown: 2 Days
Me: What?
Unknown: 2 Days
Me: Ugh. What the fuck ever. If this really is Ghost, leave me the hell alone!
He’s so stupid; he doesn’t even know where I’m at. I’m glad, too, because Silas would probably shoot Ghost if he saw him. I was going to tell Twist about the texts, but I’ll tell Silas instead and see what he thinks.