Ginger smiles from behind her mirrored glasses. "No one ever believes me. If I say Zombie killed Tiny Dick, you'd think I was fucking with you. Now you know I'm not."
"When did you know?" Joker asks.
Madden crosses his arms and glances at Ginger, who smiles again.
"Ricie wasn't the only one with a view of the festivities. I've had eyes on Zombie since my crew arrived in Little Memphis. Everyone knows he's an evil fucker and gets his power from Trigger."
"Zombie is on the loose now. When do we take him out?" I ask.
"To keep the death count low," Madden says, pulling off his hat and running a hand through his hair, "we need to take out the main guys all at once. We don't let them know they're fucked until we've got them bent over."
Joker fiddles with his cigarette, but doesn't light it. "Trigger claims he's coming for me after New Year. We should hit them sooner. If you have people you need out of town, get them gone before December 27. Anything later and we chance Trigger going early."
"So we hit him. Then what?" Lucky asks.
Ginger stands up and looks outside. "I figure there's ten solid guys in Trigger's camp. All loyal fuckers. Big Dick and his nephew Wino gotta go too. Oh, and his bitch wife too."
"Are we killing old ladies?" Lucky asks.
"No," Ginger says, looking back at us. "Just Big Dick's wife. She's a cunt, and I want her dead. The rest can keep breathing."
"What about your stepmom?" Ford asks Madden. "And your brother?"
"Ryder can't stay in Little Memphis. He won't be loyal, and he'll start trouble. He needs time to accept shit. His mom raised me, and I'm not killing her. If she pulls a gun on someone, shit happens, but I don't want her dead. I'd like to give her and Ryder a chance to get the hell out of town once Dad is dead. If they don't take that chance, I have no problem pulling the trigger myself."
"Why Big Dick's wife?" I ask, suspicious.
Ginger grins. "You're a curious little fella, aren't you?"
Suspecting she heard the other guys messing with me earlier, I roll my eyes and say nothing.
"Linda brings young women into the house as live-in maids. Soon, they're indentured servants, and she won't pay them. She beats them and pimps them out occasionally too. When they try to escape, they end up in the quarry. If they start trouble, quarry. If she thinks they're getting too close to Big Dick, quarry. Time for the bitch to end up there herself."
"As good a reason as I've ever heard."
Ginger shoves the gun into her jacket. "You boys are always fun, but get your shit in place, because I'm done killing lowlife nobodies. I'm ready to take out the big guys and change club management. All this waiting around is giving me hives."
Walking out of the room, Ginger disappears down the hall. We all focus on Madden, who waits for us to get to the point.
"Are you really going to kill your dad?" Ford asks when no one else does.
"When I was a kid, my mom took off for Mexico to see family. She never came back. As I got older, Dad told me she ditched me and started a new family. I believed him until I was fifteen and heard what happens to people the club doesn't want around. I knew then my mom wasn't in Mexico, but in the quarry. I've been waiting for years to put him there too."
"Why not just kill him when you found out?"
"I kill him. Then one of his guys kill me. I'm not a suicidal guy. When he had his heart attack, I figured he'd be dead soon. Instead, he makes his plans to kill Joker, and I see a chance to kill him and take what he worked for all these years. I also get to live and hand the club over to someone Dad resents for being a better manager. Dad is great at killing people, but he's got no eye for talent or brain for planning. Joker was good enough to use, but not to move up. Well, we're going to change that shit in a few weeks."
Madden's reason for wanting Trigger dead works for me. If someone killed Ford, I'd want revenge too. Spilling blood over a loved one makes me respect the pretty boy. Trust him, maybe not so much, but I no longer want to punch him in the face.
35
Bebe
Tit for Tat
Pax arrives home from his work errand in a weird mood. He forces me into a hug then kisses me hard. I shove him away before I lose the will to punish him for a bit longer. Pax is sorry, but he isn't sorry enough.
Leaving Tallulah to watch cartoons, Pax pulls me into the kitchen and explains his plans for us to leave town. I don't argue or ask questions. Darby once told me that she never had a problem with the ugly side of Joker's life because she never looked at it. Ignorance is bliss, she said, giving me a wink.
Now I embrace how Pax can't tell me what's happening in the club. He isn't in the position to explain why everything needs to remain a secret. Or why I can't even tell Darby. Just keep it between Ford, Shay, and us.
"We're family," he whispers. "Joker, Darby, and the rest are club family. It's different. You need to think about keeping Tallulah safe."
"I'll pack our things and hide the bags."
"Good."