Chapter 7
Jack
If Deacon is coming at me, then that means I had better be prepared. That means I need to rearm myself, and secure my house, possibly Summer’s house too.
I ask Teddy not too discretely if he knows where a guy with a record can buy a gun, and he points me in the direction of a pawn shop down town. Problem is, the guy who runs it only deals with Crows. Since I’m not a Crow, I have to go with someone who is. Lucky for me, Joyce was kind enough to volunteer. It’s good to see there’s no bad blood between us, after I knocked the shit out of his dumb friend Nut.
We head to the pawn shop and I pick out a gun that suits my needs. Afterward we ride back to the garage, but stop to pick up some food.
“Your boy must be coming at you pretty hard if you’re gearing up.” Joyce says between mouthfuls of burger. We’re eating outside a fast food joint, getting wary looks from the happy families inside.
“I’ve known Deacon for a long time. I know him better than anyone else. He’s a hot head. Acts without thinking. He’ll be coming for me, soon. You bet I’m gearing up.”
“It’s a shame. I’d heard good things about Jack Shadow and Notorious. I figured your men might be a little more loyal.”
“Once upon a time they were maybe.” I rip a chunk out of my burger. “There was a big war a few years ago, and Notorious were practically wiped out. The last surviving leader stepped down and asked me to take his spot. So I did what any good guy would do. I said yes. Problem is all the good guys are dead. I was left with a bunch of kids and opportunists.”
“Bad workman blames his tools maybe?” Joyce looks at me and laughs.
“Keep pushing kid,” I joke, “I’ll give you a broken nose to match your friend.”
“Don’t worry about me Jack. I’m not that stupid. Just saying, there’s got to be a reason for Deacon to flip on you all of a sudden.”
“Probably. He’s probably under pressure from the other gangs. I get the feeling someone got under his skin. Maybe a rival gang leader, a girl, possibly someone else within Notorious. Fact of the matter is I don’t really care. He’s coming down here to kill me, and he’s probably going to bring the whole gang.”
“Small outfit right. Less than five?”
“Six.” I correct him. “But yeah. Fair bit of muscle for one guy. I know Deacon though, I know how he’ll strike. He’s predictable.”
“Well we’ve got your back remember. You really think Deacon will come down here himself?”
“No doubt.” I light up a cigarette. “Deacon’s as proud as he his dumb. He won’t let someone else do his dirty work.”
“And what about you.” Joyce lights up too. “What are you going to do? Blast your whole family?”
“I haven’t figured that part out yet.” I say truthfully. “Deacon’s a dead man for sure. I haven’t made my mind up about the other guys. I guess we’ll see what happens when it comes down to it.”
“Shit.” Joyce laughs. “You’re one cool motherfucker Jack. Don’t think I’ve ever met someone as cold as you. I need to stop at my place on the way back if you don’t mind.”
“Sure thing.” We get back on our bikes and stop at Joyce’s house before riding back to the shop. Joyce can look up to me all he likes, but my icy exterior is nothing to be proud of. It’s just a side effect of years in the life. I’ve lived through enough club politics for a lifetime, I’ve seen it all before and I’ll see it again. Nothing fazes me, nothing surprises me. One follows two follows three. Girls, drugs, booze, guns. Fights, blood, oil. It never ends.
A couple more years in the life and Joyce will learn that soon enough.
There’s one thing about all this that’s new to me though, and that’s Summer.
That girl is a fucking breath of fresh air.
***
When I get home that night my eyes are on her house from the moment I pull onto our road. Seems like she’s not back from work yet.
I decide to kill a bit of time the best way I know how, and I lift some weights for the next hour or so until I see Summer step out of a taxi at the front of her house. As soon as I spot her I wave my hand from across the street and she waves back nervously before running into her house.
I laugh and shake my head, after the other night I thought we’d finally got past all this bullshit, seems like she’s either still afraid of me, or simply wants nothing to do with me.
I go into the house for a bit and cook some dinner up for myself. After I finish eating I go onto the porch and open up a fresh bottle and a new pack of smokes.
After another hour or so, it becomes pretty apparent that Summer is intent on hiding herself up in her house all night. So I decide to pay her a visit.
As I walk across the street to her house I wonder what it is about me exactly she dislikes so much. I think it’s fair to say that we got off on the wrong foot perhaps, but we’ve been getting on alright these past few nights. Least I thought we were anyway.
I bring my hand down on her door three times and then I stand there waiting for her to answer. Eternity rolls around and I lean on her porch watching cars go past and listening to crickets.
Finally the door opens and I turn around to see Summer standing there. From the moment I see her face I know I’ve got to kill someone.
“Who the fuck did this to you?” I move closer so I can get a better look. I cup her face in one hand while stroking my other hand around her bruised eye.
“Shit. I thought I might be able to cover it up.” She laughs awkwardly. “It’s nothing, I slipped on a tray in work.”
“Summer.” My voice is grave. “I’m not fucking kidding around here. Tell me who did this.”
“It’s nothing Jack let it go. It’s not like you’re my boyfriend or anything.” Her voice is calm but she has tears in her eyes.
“It isn’t about that Summer and you know it isn’t. You’re my friend and I look after my friends. Was this those frat guys?”
Her eyes flick down, telling me everything I need to know.
I laugh incredulous, I can’t believe the fucking nerve of those pricks. I turn from the door immediately and start making my way to my bike. If there’s one thing I hate most in this world, its guys who hit women. I’ll act my vengeance upon those motherfuckers, swift and hard.
“Jack leave it for tonight.” Her voice breaks across the street. I stop dead in my tracks and turn to face her. She’s got one arm wrapped around her body. She looks like the saddest girl in the world. I might be a punch happy prick, but even I know sometimes the best course of action is to wait. It’s clear to me that she doesn’t need a knight in shining armor right now. She just needs a shoulder to cry on.
“I’m sorry.” I walk back across the street to her house. I jump up the porch steps and pick up the bottle of whiskey that I set down earlier. “How about some Tennessee therapy?” I shake the bottle and a small smile comes to her lips.
“Actually I was hoping you’d help me with something else.” She says.
I nod my head without realizing. Oh yeah baby. This is how every good porno starts.
“You’re good with engines right? Could you maybe have a look at my air conditioner?”
The wind leaves my sails and I can’t help but laugh.
“Bit like apples and oranges, but sure, I’ll take a look.”
Turns out fixing air conditioning isn’t that much different from fixing bikes. After taking a look at the unit I quickly realize what the problem is, and head across the street to grab my tools. Fifteen minutes later the unit is up and running again.
“Damn. That feels nice.” The unit starts blowing cool air around the house again. “Sure wish that I had air con in my place.” It’s a good thing somethings taking the heat off, because just being around Summer is enough to get my dick hard now. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I suppose I could throw her up against a wall and fuck her brains out right here. I know that she’d like that, but fucking hell. There’s something about this girl. Maybe I actually like her, even if she is annoying as shit.
After that the night is pretty uneventful. Summer doesn’t drink or talk much and I decide to have an early night. I figure whatever happened with the frat guys has got her spooked. I’ll deal with those shit heads later.