DECLAN

 

It was hard to imagine guys like Nate still existed in Ivory. Maybe I was just hanging around people who were too fucking old. He was a red-haired, green-eyed kid who looked like he’d just finished high school. Actually, I think that was the case with him. The guy was so young I could call him ‘kid’ without it being an insult.

It didn’t matter that he looked like his mother had just given birth to him though. He was enough of a man for me to respect him. It didn’t matter how big his muscles were or what kind of record he had. I had to test him to see if he was really worthy of wearing the patch.

“Drink up, prospect.”

I slammed my mug of beer to his then chugged mine down. I dropped my empty glass and watched as he gingerly took a sip from his. I eyeballed him just when it looked like he was about to stop and he finished the rest of it with a big gulp.

“There you go,” I said as I patted him on the back. “Nothing like a beer to get your night started. How old are you, anyway?”

“Twenty-one,” Nate replied.

“Plenty old enough.”

“Thanks… Uh…”

“Just call me Garnet.”

“Thanks, Garnet.”

He smiled at me, his eyes wide like he was grateful for my approval.

I guess that shit came with the territory when you were the president of an MC. Considering Nate was only a prospect, I couldn’t blame the guy for watching his mouth around me. But there was a fine line between kissing someone’s ass and showing respect.

I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Listen, kid. You don’t need to suck my dick. I’ve got an old lady for that. I’m almost a decade older than you but if you wanna make it with me, you gotta treat me like an equal. Treat every man who wears that patch like an equal. That’s how it works around here. You get patched-in full, you’re a brother.”

I moved my hand down and dug my index finger into the patch on his chest. It didn’t matter that Nate was just a prospect. The Black Reapers patch was the envy of every man in Ivory. When they saw the skull, they knew that was some shit they had to respect.

“I just wanna thank you,” Nate said. “It really is an honor to be wearing the patch.”

“You’re not wearing the patch yet. But if you keep your nose clean and walk a straight line, you’ll get there.”

“Thanks for the opportunity.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank Ghost for vouching for you. He’s a brother. I trust the man with my life. If he thinks you’re capable, then I do.”

Ghost was the VP of the club. The guy was a sage. I trusted his judgment more than I trusted my own.

“Where is that motherfucker anyway?”

I looked around the bar and searched the crowd.

Finn’s was as fucking wild as it always was. It was kind of annoying but you got used to it. The smoke that made shit hard to see. The stink of perfume from whores trying to become old ladies. The old leather that hadn’t been washed in weeks from some of the filthier clubs.

That’s not even mentioning the patrons themselves. Every asshole in the place looked like he had a bone to pick. Alcohol and assholes who had their own kutte were always entitled. Shit, I understood that better than everybody. Of course, I was a fucking Reaper, so that shit was more forgivable.

The conversation was loud, so I wouldn’t be able to hear anybody I was looking for. It was easy to get lost in a crowd like this.

“Do you want me to go look for him?” Nate asked. “I think the rest of the club might be in the back. There’s some poker game going on with the other club members—”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I need to talk to you, anyway.”

“Sure. What’s this all about?”

Finn’s was the last place to have a good one-on-one conversation with anybody. But if Nate couldn’t handle a place like this on a Friday night, then he wouldn’t cut it as a Reaper.

“Listen, prospect. I just wanna make something clear to you. If you’re in, you’re all the way in. A hundred percent. No sticking your toe in the water to test it. You gotta jump right in.

“You wanna get patched in, you gotta listen to everything I tell you to do. Your loyalty is to the club. You know why that is?”

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“Because if you’ve got the club’s back, then we’ve got yours. Everybody else has got everybody’s back. It’s better than looking out for yourself. I can’t imagine where I’d be without my brothers. We all look out for each other.”

“I get it,” he said with a nod. “You don’t have to worry—”

“I know what you’re thinking. You think this is all about getting into fights with people who disrespect us. You think this is about not squealing to the pigs. That shit goes without saying. You gotta be there for the club when they really need you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You got a lady in your life, Nate?”

He shook his head. He was listening so intently to me that I was amazed he was able to keep his focus with all of the bullshit going on around us.

“Good,” I said. “But if you ever do find a lady, the club will have your back.”

“I… I still don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“A lot of women will try to take advantage of you. Some whores in town just wanna say they slept with a club member. The patch is just a trophy on the wall to them. I’m not telling you not to hook-up with these sluts. But the club’ll be there in case you lose your mind.”

The understanding slowly dawned on his face. He nodded softly, his eyes shifted toward the ceiling like he was searching for his own thoughts.

“I think I get it,” he said.

“Women. Drugs. Money. Ivory’s a small town but there’s a lot of shit here that can fuck you up. Treat the patch well, and it’ll do the same in return. It’ll always look out for you. We’ll look out for you.”

“Yeah… Thanks, Garnet.”

“Now… Let’s stop talking about that shit and have ourselves a good time. We don’t come out here for you to listen to me lecture you about wearing the patch.”

We both leaned up against the bar together. I ordered another round of beers. Nate kept up with me, pounding each one down faster than the last.

It was already late in the evening but everybody in the bar was only just getting their night started. The conversations were getting louder. The women were looking sluttier. The assholes around me started getting drunker.

None of that shit mattered to me though. Tonight was just a time for me and the rest of the club to enjoy ourselves. There wasn’t shit to do in Ivory. Folks like us had to get by with what we had.

I wasn’t keeping track of time.

Nate seemed to be getting the worst of it. His cheeks were bright red even underneath the foggy lights of the bar. His hair somehow got disheveled. The kid was bleary-eyed as he struggled to pick up his next beer.

“You all right, kid?” I said with a laugh. “No shame in bowing out.”

“Hey,” he said, his words slurred. “I’m just fine, motherfucker.”

His eyes widened as soon as he realized what he said. If he was anybody else in the club, even one of my own patches, I would’ve popped him in the mouth. But not Nate.

I glared at him for a few seconds but stopped just before he pissed all of the beer he had down his jeans. I smirked and slapped him on the arm.

“Drink up, big man,” I said.

We toasted to another drink. I downed my beer fast just like the others. Just as Nate was about to put the glass to his lips, someone bumped him from behind. Most of the beer spilled out onto the floor.

“Hey!”

Nate turned around and looked up at the big man standing behind him.

This should be interesting…

The big man was some punk from some club I didn’t recognize. Bald-headed. Tatted-up. He was tall, too. But he was one of those motherfuckers who tried to disguise his fat as muscle.

“Watch what the hell you’re doing,” Nate said to him.

“Take it easy,” the bald man said with a laugh. “That was an accident.”

“You spilled my beer.”

The man looked down at Nate’s glass and shrugged.

“You still got some left.”

“You gonna get me another one to replace it?”

The big man looked like he didn’t care until this point. He cocked an eyebrow in obvious anger.

“Listen, dweeb. Give it up or I’ll teach you a lesson.”

“How about I teach you a lesson?” Nate responded.

Nice job, kid.

Nate didn’t back down even though that was probably in his best interests. I put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down.

“All right,” I said. “That’s good enough.”

“Listen to your daddy,” the bald punk said. “Fucking prospects… Don’t know their place.”

He turned his back to us. Nate looked up at me. All of that alcohol in him and he was still pissed. But I wasn’t about to let him get into a fight he couldn’t handle.

“Remember what I just said earlier,” I said. “We always have each other’s backs.”

I tapped the man on the shoulder. He turned around like he was angry to do it.

“What do you want?” the man shouted.

“Outside.”

One word and he started eyeballing me. He sized me up before scoffing.

“Outside,” he said with a nod.

He started walking outside with the rest of his crew. I turned to follow him and Nate grabbed my arm.

“Hey,” he said. “Wait. You want me to get the rest of the club? You can’t take on all of those guys by yourself.”

“The boys are playing poker.”

I winked at Nate and headed outside.

It was a cold night. The air was crisp. Shit was a relief from how crowded Finn’s was.

The bald, fat man took his shirt off to try and intimidate me. He did all the stereotypical tough guy shit. Cracking his knuckles. Rocking his head back and forth. Gritting his teeth. I’d seen it all before. Shit might as well have been calisthenics with what I was about to do to him.

“Kick this guy’s ass!”

“Teach him a lesson!”

There were four other guys with the man, rooting him on like some pathetic entourage. I took my vest off and handed it to Nate.

“This’ll just be a second,” I said to him.

I turned around to my opponent and held my hands out. He put his fists up and immediately charged at me.

It didn’t matter how aggressive he was. He was too fat and slow to lay a finger on me. His swings were violent. He screamed with every punch. I kept moving around, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous he looked.

The crowd around us started to grow. There were fights at Finn’s every night but something tonight had gotten everybody’s interest. Maybe it was because of how fat and sweaty my opponent was.

I could hear him huffing and puffing with every punch. His punches somehow got slower. He looked like he couldn’t even stand up straight even though I hadn’t touched him.

My turn.

I raised my fist up just as he moved toward me. I clocked him right on the jaw and rotated his head on his fat neck. He immediately stumbled back and fell down to a knee. I raised my hand up to finish the job.

“Fuck this!”

I put the guy to sleep just as his boys jumped on top of me.

“Garnet! Look out!”

They were all on top of me. Fists and boots were flying. Shit hurt but not enough to break my focus.

People always got overwhelmed in situations like this. They just went wild and stopped concentrating. That was the last thing you were supposed to do.

The problem with fighting in a group was that you got too confident. You felt like you could do whatever you want. A man alone was more dangerous than anything.

I popped up and connected with one of them across the jaw. I spun around and clocked another one in the face. Another one swung at me. He caught me on the cheek but not as hard as I gave him in return.

Three down, one to go.

The last man put his dukes up and sized me up. The fact that I’d downed the rest of his boys didn’t seem to bother him.

I held my hands out and gave him a chance.

“You really wanna do this?” I asked.

He responded by swinging at me. I moved out of the way and threw a punch hard into his stomach. He yelped like the asshole that he was as he collapsed to his knees. I looked down at him and didn’t bother trying to put him to sleep.

The crowd dispersed after they got their amusement. I moved back to the fat man and started searching through his pockets.

“What are you doing?” Nate said. “You’re not gonna rob him, are you?”

“It’s not robbing if it’s not his in the first place… Ah, here we go…”

I found the punk’s wallet and pulled a few bucks out. I handed them to Nate just as I heard the police sirens behind me.

“Freeze! Hands up!”

I followed their orders and smirked at Nate.

“Go get yourself another beer, kid.”

“What about you?”

“A night in jail isn’t gonna hurt me. Don’t worry. The rest of the club will keep you company for the rest of the night—”

Just as I finished, the cops grabbed my arms and twisted them behind my back. I sighed as they cuffed me and stuffed me into the backseat of their cruiser.

I looked out the window and watched as the punks I just dealt with were arrested the same as me. Nate himself had disappeared back into the bar.

“How you doing tonight, Officer?”

“Shut up,” the cop responded.

“Tough night, huh?”

I sighed a deep breath and chuckled softly to myself.

“Well, I guess that’s Ivory for you…”