18
Sleep was fleeting, and when the Vallum kicked in, I stopped caring about both the pain and my situation, so I managed a light doze. I got maybe four hours. The problem with pain is it fucks up my grasp of time. The guards eventually got me up and gave me my pills. I declined another Vallum, even though I already had the aches. I wanted to be sober for what was going on.
I waited for my turn in the arraignment line, for a chance to see the judge and to find out what exactly I was being charged with and what my bail would be. I realized I’d probably end up stuck here and the realization made my stomach turn.
I could’ve called my parents, they lived a few hours away and probably would have booked it here to make my bail and see to it that I got a decent defense lawyer. But that would come at a consequence. My mother had been dying for me to come back home, wanting to take care of me like I’m an invalid. I’ve had my freedom since I went to bootcamp… though I use the word free loosely because really I just took it from my parents and sold it to the government. I didn’t really become free until after I was discharged.
But here I was in cuffs with ankle bracelets to match. A guard stood next to me to make sure I wouldn’t do anything stupid or to keep me upright, I couldn’t tell.
“I’ve never been arrested before,” I said to him. “How long does this shit usually take?”
“Judge is usually quick, they try to process people as quick as they can so those that can afford to make bail, do. Do you have an attorney?” He eyed me curiously, seeing my patched cut and combat boots.
“I spent about nine years in the Army,” I said with a shrug. “Fuck no, I don’t have money.”
He snorted then tried to choke back his amusement.
“Don’t do illegal stuff. Plus, cut the cussing. Judge Fredericks is not a fan of it and will probably add to your bail because of it. He considers it a sign of bad character.”
“Fantastic,” I sighed. “Telling me not to cuss is like tell me to stop breathing.” I got another laugh from him and, had the situation been different, he was probably likable. “You gotta motorcycle?”
“My wife would kill me,” he paused and eyed my cut. “Your club push drugs?”
I knew what he was fishing for and I shrugged my shoulders, “The club I’m in caters to vets and retirees. People that ride in the Veteran’s parades and shit like that. We don’t deal with drugs, you should see the bag I gotta carry around full of prescribed drugs; almost as big as a woman’s purse.” I shrugged, the chains that connected my wrists to my ankles shaking, “The Boneyard Brotherhood is kind of like a support group with motorcycles.”
He nodded, and we shifted as the line moved along. He offered me decent banter that seemed to make the wait move along at a quicker pace. I was good as long as I didn’t have to dwell on what happened after this. Because nothing good ever came from being arrested, even if you were innocent.
When I stood in front of the judge I listened to the charges with growing dread, I knew Jimmy and his friends were either in front of me or behind me in the line for this. I hadn’t bothered to look for any of them, I was more worried about myself than them.
“Felony manufacturing charges with the intent to sell,” one lawyer said simply, she was a blonde woman with hair that touched her shoulders and had a dark pantsuit on.
“How do you plea?” The judge asked without looking up at me.
“Not guilty,” was my answer, because of course, I was not guilty.
The judge looked up at me with a critical eye, “Says here you are a service man? A wounded veteran?”
“Yessir,” I met his gaze without any sort of hesitation. I knew I was innocent, “Served two tours in Iraq and the last one ended my career with the Army.”
“I would like to know the outcome of the trial that comes after this,” he taped the gavel. “Bail set for two thousand.”
I grimace and was moved along the line. My bail was set, but I was sure that I would probably be stuck, because I sure as shit didn’t have the money. I was taken back to the cell that I had spent the night in, and I expected to sit there until my trial date.
I tried to not think about what would happen from there. But it’s was near lunch, and I could only imagine that with her work, Madison’s had found out by now. I rubbed at my face as I tried to figure out her reaction to it. It was hard to guess. I wouldn’t know until I talked to her and the not knowing just tore me up. I spent the remainder of my day letting the worry eat me. At six a guard came to get me.
“Somebody made bail,” he said simply and walked me to collect my shit. The progress was slow going even though the only ‘weapon’ I had on me was a small pocket knife.
I walked out of the holding part of the jail. To my surprise I found Teddy and Wilson waiting on me, both dressed in suits and looking less dirty biker and more like prepared adults. I stood just outside the door that had released me from jail, just standing there staring at them.
“Who the fuck are you guys?” I chirped.
“Funny,” Wilson growled at me as he adjusted his suit coat, it looked a little tight on him and didn’t really make him look like a businessman. He looked like an adult that might have his shit together, might being the keyword. “C’mon let's get out of here so we can talk business.”
“I don’t want to ride bitch,” I complained, and I heard chuckles from behind me. I imagined that Jimmy probably didn’t have the same experience I did. I eyed them both as I followed them out of the jailhouse. “Where’s Jimmy?”
“Jimmy bailed himself out,” Teddy said without venom. “If he knows what’s good for him, and he’s smart, he’ll stay away from the bar for a while.”
They led me to a car, which surprised the shit out of me. It was a late model town car.
“Whose car is this?” I realized both of them were older, but I didn’t expect them to drive around grandpa cars.
“You call me old, you bastard,” Wilson snarled at me. “And I will bust your ass so hard you won’t know what hit you!”
He closed the distance like he was going to do just that. I raised my hands up like I was under arrest again and that seemed to placate him enough. We loaded up, and I waited until they were both settled before I let my anger get the best of me.
“So, which one of you assholes decided to set me up?”
“Neither of us,” Teddy said as he glanced over a shoulder at me. “It doesn’t benefit the club at all to set up one of its members.”
“Really? Because the night I go to follow Jimmy out to do his meth pick up, there’s a shit ton of cops that roll in,” I didn’t keep the sarcasm from my tone. “This is after you,” I gestured towards Wilson. “Arrange it so I can follow him. Tell me how that doesn’t sound fucked up?”
“I’ll give that to ya,” Wilson said lightly. “I set up a cheap car without a plate so in the event something went down it wouldn’t be traced back to the club more than it already would be, considering two members were caught in a meth lab.” He grumbled and looked to Teddy, “The kid is going to have to be out, and we will be shutting down all illegal activity for the next six months. Shit’ll be tight.” Teddy nodded, listening intently. “We’ll have to pool our funds to make sure this jackass doesn’t get pinned with something he wasn’t involved in.”
“Done,” Teddy answered without hesitation. “I’ll get on the phone with the attorneys in town and see if I can’t find one that’ll cut us a deal.”
I listened to them talk, leaning back against the seat and letting the weariness and lack of sleep catch up with me. My phone was clutched in my hand. I assumed the police must have turned it off after they searched through it for any sort of pertinent information for the case they were going to build against me. I was sure my terrible attempts at sexting were looked through with amusement.
I knew that the slim black device held nothing but bad news for me. Did Madi know? Her reaction was something I wasn’t sure I wanted to see. She didn’t strike me as the type to get violently angry, she seemed meek at most points, and while I didn’t want to take advantage of that, I was worried how she would take this. I knew she would probably feel betrayed after the way I talked up the club and swore there was nothing illegal that we did. I swallowed and decided the best route was to take it like a man. I ripped the fucking band-aid off and turned my phone on. After a slow bootup, I was notified that I had six text messages and a voice mail. I started with the text messages, figuring they would be the easiest to handle.
A simple one from Wilson was received at eleven pm, ‘Check in.’ He probably got worried when I didn’t show up back at the bar.
The rest were from Madi.
At ten-thirty pm, I got a sweet ‘Good night. I’ll miss waking up to you.’ with a little heart symbol. My chest started to hurt.
At seven thirty, she sent me a ‘Good morning,’ with a smiley face included.
It was just after nine am that I got the next one, ‘Getting kind of worried. Usually, you’re blowing up my phone. Are you okay?’ I was attached to this girl, I didn’t try to harass her, but I wanted her to know how much she was on my mind. I didn’t leave her hanging.
‘You were arrested? Please, tell me this is a joke,’ was the last one and from her, I could feel my heart sliding into my stomach.
The last text message that I read was from Jimmy, ‘I’m gonna fuck you up when I see you.’ I snorted and shook my head.
“Jimmy’s going to be after me now.”
“While I don’t doubt you could take the kid,” Wilson said without looking back at me. “I will make sure I put him in his place.”
“Let me do it,” Teddy started to argue. “I can handle Jimmy.”
“No,” I heard Wilson snap in response. “If you would have listened to Redding in the first place we wouldn’t be out the money it’s going to cost to get his ass out of the fire,” he growled in a low tone. “Instead of listening to his gut and taking his word with some consideration, you pitched a fit like a bitch. You should consider yourself lucky I’m not making you scrub toilets with your toothbrush.”
They went back and forth like that for a little while, I rolled my eyes. I tuned them out and decided to hazard the voice mail. I held my phone to my ear and waited for the final verdict.
“I thought you said that you didn’t do anything illegal, Sid,” her voice sounded choked. I closed my eyes and brought a hand to my forehead so that the other two men in the car wouldn’t see any of the emotions I was feeling. “How could this happen?” It was clear she was talking to herself. “I want my key back.” The message ended, she sounded broke, and I felt it.
I’m such an ass.
I dropped my phone in my lap and tried my best not to let the emotions choke me. My throat burned and I clenched my eyes closed, trying not to cry. I definitely didn’t want to cry in front of these bastards. I feel the car turn, and we’re parked in the lot that was in front of the bar. Teddy and Wilson got out, and I stayed in the back of the grandpa car, trying to pull my shit together.
Teddy lingered by the car, I noticed when I got out and tried to wipe my cheeks so that it didn’t look like I was wiping away tears. He gave me a look like he had an idea what I had been doing.
“Let it blow over, show her you’re innocent,” he said softly. “She’ll forgive you.”
I followed him across the street, and we started towards the bar door when I saw my bike. There was a bag on the seat, and I knew without a doubt that she had packed up all my things. I was going to be cut out because of this. It tore me up, and I didn’t bother going to the bar. I picked up the bag and shoved it into the closest saddlebag. I picked up my helmet and sat on my bike. I was tired, and now all I wanted to do is fall in my bed to dwell on the end of that one slice of heaven.
“You’re gonna go?” Teddy called out to me.
I gave him a nod, put my helmet on and kicked my bike to life. I needed to get out of there, I didn’t want to be emotional in front of anyone.