Cal
By the time Cal rolled up to his house, he was about ready to pass out, his whole body aching with exhaustion as he parked Antonia’s car in his driveway. He was so tired that it took him several seconds to notice the seven or so motorcycles that were parked in his driveway, right next to his garage. What the hell was going on?
“Stay in the car, Bobby,” Cal said as he undid his seatbelt and got out of the car. “Just stay put.”
Cal squared and his shoulders and straightened his back as he walked up his front sidewalk. His heart pounded when he noticed several dark figures crowded on his front stoop.
“Yo, Cal!” a familiar voice yelled as he approached his front porch.
“Did you go by the clubhouse?” another voice said as he scaled the front steps, breathing hard as he approached the group of people gathered around his front door.
Cal finally looked up to inspect the faces of the various men on the front porch. “Yeah, I’m locked out,” he said to Archie, who was sitting on the front step, his face warped with overt worry.
“It’s Marcus,” one of the senior members, Tony, said. He stepped up to wrap his arm around Cal’s shoulders. Cal felt stiff and uncomfortable, unsure of whether or not to trust the man hugging him, but he finally relaxed into his grasp, looking around to the other men crowded around him. “Marcus got all the young bucks fired up, and they took over. Ran us out.”
“It’s true,” Archie said. His eyes were full of sadness as he looked directly at Cal. “He came in with guns, right when all of us were playing cards in the main bar room. We didn’t have a chance.”
Cal didn’t know what to say. He stared blankly at each man as they took turns hugging him, pressing him close to their chests one by one by one. “Okay,” he murmured, feeling weirdly distant from all the people crowded around him.
“We’re ready to go, Cal,” Archie said. “Just say the fucking word, and we’re on it.”
“On what?” Cal asked. What were they talking about? They’d already lost the war. Marcus and the younger members had taken over the MC, without even calling for a vote. It was apparently that easy to turn all the older, more seasoned members away. What else was there to do? They couldn’t exactly go to the clubhouse and start a firefight, not without expecting to die themselves. What exactly could they even do?
“Taking the club back,” Tony said, his eyes wild and full of some fiery emotion that Cal couldn’t access at the moment. “We’re ready to fight for you.”
Cal felt empty, numb, full of dull, formless matter that couldn’t be transmuted into anything living. He felt like all his organs had been replaced with thick grey cloth. “For me?” he parroted blankly.
“Yeah!” Tony said enthusiastically. “We’re going to take the Bone Breakers back.”
Cal was silent for a long time, staring at his own front door, imagining what Antonia would look like if everything was normal and she was waiting for him right beyond that door, a disapproving look on her face like any other normal day. “What about Antonia?” he murmured, thinking out loud.
“Antonia?” Archie asked. “The girl you’ve got watching your kid?”
“Woman,” Cal said reflexively. “She’s a woman. Not a little girl.”
Archie nodded. “Yeah. Antonia. What’s up with her?”
“She’s in jail,” Cal said. “In there on some trumped up child abuse charge.”
The men turned and looked at each other for several seconds before they all turned back to look at him. “What do you need from us?” Archie asked.
“I don’t know,” Cal said honestly. “I need to get her a real lawyer so she can stand a chance in court, but since Marcus and the other guys have knocked me out of the club, I can’t really help her.”
“Simon? I can call him and get him here in thirty seconds,” Tony said. He dug his phone out of his pocket. “Just say the word.”
Cal was silent for a minute, looking towards the car where Bobby still waited for him. “Really?” he asked softly, a little afraid to speak louder than a whisper.
“Hell, yeah,” Tony said without hesitation. “We’re ready to go, boss. Just say the word.”
Cal didn’t know what “the word” was, but he felt his heart pick up its pace inside his chest, pounding for what felt like the first time in years. “Okay,” he whispered. He reached out to take Tony’s offered hand, shaking it firmly before letting his hand fall back to his side. “We’ve got to go to the jail as soon as possible.” Antonia was waiting for him, probably thinking that she’d given up on him forever. He couldn’t wait any longer.