“Where’re you going dressed so pretty?”
“School. You know that.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You smell good.”
He laughed. “I’ll take her to school. Jack may want something to eat after I leave,” he said to Addie as he handed her the controllers. “I took away video games for the next four days.”
“Don’t you think that’s too harsh?”
“Hell no. If I would’ve spoken to my mom like that, my dad would’ve grounded me for two weeks and had me on pots and pans duty for a month, so he got off pretty easy.”
“Well, I think a couple of days would’ve been enough. With a huge snowstorm in the forecast, it’s going to be a long weekend for him,” Addie said as she grabbed the basket from his hand.
“I’ll keep him busy. Besides, he doesn’t have to be in front of a screen all day. There’s plenty to do.”
“Maybe we can ask Banger to bring Ethan over for the weekend.”
Chas shook his head and then pressed his lips on hers. “Sort of fucks up the punishment if he gets a sleepover, precious,” he said against her mouth. Hope squirmed in his arm and he pulled away. “Is cereal good for her breakfast?”
“Yes. The Cream of Wheat’s on the stove. Just give her half a cup with a splash of milk and a little bit of banana in it. I’ll be down in a minute.”
After Hope ate a few bites of her hot cereal and drank some of her juice, she was ready to go to school. As he was putting on her jacket, his phone rang. Glancing down, he saw Banger’s name light up on the screen.
“Hold on, honey.” He placed the phone to his ear. “What’s up?” he asked.
“I’m just letting everyone know that we have an emergency church this morning at ten thirty.”
“I’ll be there. I just need to drop Hope off at preschool, and then I’ll come to the club and hang until church. Uh… has Ethan mentioned anything about Jack getting picked on at school?”
“No, but that don’t mean shit with kids. So your boy’s getting bullied?”
“I think so. I mean, the signs are there, especially making excuses not to go to school. I just wondered if Ethan said anything. Can you ask him?”
“I’ll talk to him and let you know. What’re you going to do about it?”
“Teach Jack to beat the shit out of the brat.”
Banger’s laugh rumbled through the phone. “Sounds like the best plan. They gotta learn now so they can hold their own later in life. I taught Ethan some stuff and it made him feel a whole lot more confident. It’s about time your boy learned to defend himself.”
“My thinking exactly, although I know Addie would fuckin’ freak out if she knew about it.”
“Women are like that. They don’t need to know everything that goes on. I’ll see you later at church.”
Chas slipped the phone into his pocket and shrugged on his leather jacket. “Come on, Hope, we gotta get going.” Hope walked behind him as he made his way to the garage.
“Who were you talking to?” Addie asked as she came into the kitchen.
“Banger. The club’s got an emergency church this morning.”
“Sounds serious. What do you think it’s about?”
He stopped and kissed her on the cheek. “Good one, but I’m not divulging shit.” Hope tilted her chin up when Addie bent down to kiss her goodbye. “I’ll see you later tonight.” He grasped Hope’s hand and went into the garage.
In less than thirty minutes, he walked into the clubhouse, greeting the brothers as he took a seat at one of the tables. After he’d dropped Hope off at school, he thought about Jack the whole time he drove to the club. Just the thought of someone hitting his kid made his blood boil. He’d spend the weekend teaching Jack to defend himself, and if that didn’t solve the problem, then he’d intervene.
There was no way in hell he was allowing this shit to continue. The faculty at the school seemed to be turning a blind eye to the problem, so he’d have to take matters into his own hands.
This shit stops now.
Chapter Two
Hawk
The din of angry voices ricocheted around the cramped room as Banger pounded the gavel on the wooden block. Hawk pushed off from the concrete wall and put two fingers in his mouth, letting out a high-pitched whistle. Slicing through the cacophony of shouts, several members of the Insurgents MC turned their attention to the front of the room and locked eyes with the vice president.
“Give me the damn gavel,” he said to Banger. He threw it across the room and Wheelie and Rock leapt up, glaring at Hawk as their nostrils flared and their muscles flexed.
“What the fuck?” Rock said as he pushed hard against the table, moving it forward a few inches.
“You got a problem?” Wheelie said as he started walking toward the front of the room.
Hawk crossed his arms. “Come get it, fuckers.”
Banger blocked Wheelie’s path. “Sit your ass back down.”
“You should’ve been respecting your prez instead of yapping away like a goddamn chick,” Hawk said.
Pointing at the vice president, Wheelie breathed heavily. “You better watch your back, brother, ’cause this shit isn’t over.”
“Any time, asshole. I’ve been wanting to kick your ass for a while.” Hawk glared at Wheelie as he retreated and headed to his seat.
“Don’t make things worse,” Banger whispered to Hawk. “We got shit we need to figure out.”
“I don’t like his fuckin’ attitude.” Hawk pursed his lips and leaned back against the wall, his gaze still focused on Wheelie.
Silence fell over the room as the members fixed their eyes on their president. Banger scrubbed his face with his fist, then cleared his throat. “I know you’re all pissed about the recent shit Reaper’s been pulling in our territory,” he said.
“Enraged is more like it,” Chas said. Axe and Throttle grumbled their agreement.
“Okay, pissed as fuck, then, but we gotta keep our heads level to figure out what’s really going on and what’s damn rumor.” Banger picked up his beer and took a long drink.
“Steel told me his sources are good. I knew the fuckin’ Deadly Demons weren’t going to honor the truce,” Hawk said.
“You can never trust a damn Demon,” Rock said. Soon the brothers were cussing and yelling about the Deadly Demons, and Banger just rocked back on his boots, shaking his head.
“Shut the fuck up!” Hawk’s voice filled the room. Once again, silence settled over the meeting room. “We have shit to discuss. I know they’re hooking up with some punk gang in Pueblo.” Looking down at a notebook on the table, he searched for the name. “What the hell’s the name of the asshole gang?”
“The 39th Street Gang,” Rock said as he stood up. “According to Diablo, they work out of Pueblo, but they’ve been making some noise with another punk gang in Silverado. Fallen Slayers have been dealing with them for the past several months. The Night Rebels helped the brothers get guns and shit from Liam a while back.”
“Aren’t Satan’s Pistons involved with the 39th Street Gang?” Axe asked.