Slider takes one look at cheap perfume sucking face with JT and jumps up to join me. “I ain’t staying here with those two dry humping each other, wanna ride?”
I grin wide at him. “Think you can keep up, bro?” I say with a wink.
He punches my shoulder.
“Pfft, who do you think you are lately? Old man,” he counters back and I narrow my eyes, humor lacing them.
I’m not even twenty-eight yet, only three years older than him so I know he’s joking.
We spend the next hour with nothing but our bikes between our legs and the landscape whizzing by us. This is what the club should be about, not fucking club broads and getting so drunk you can’t even ride home every damn day.
Pulling back up to the clubhouse, I see the lot is starting to fill up for church and it’s a beautiful sight, Harley’s everywhere, all lined up, the chrome glinting as the sunlight hits it.
“Yo, Bear! Wait up!”
I watch my oldest friend walk toward me with that confident swagger he’s always had.
“Smokey, not seen you at the club in a while,” I say, clapping him on the back.
Samson ‘Smokey’ Waters is a hard-ass. He’s road captain for the club and got his nickname because he’s one of our best riders.
“I’ve been down in Denlo on club business. Pres said to keep it under wraps until I got back for church today, so let’s get our asses inside and get this over with.”
I blow out a nervous breath. Today’s going to be interesting.
We all file inside the room and take our seats, I see my pop and Pres having a heated discussion in the corner and I wonder what the hell that’s about. My pop, Trent ‘Snake’ Kingsley, is the current sergeant-at-arms and he’s doing a shit job at controlling this lot, no wonder half the members never come to the clubhouse anymore with all the drugs going about, this shit needs taken care of, and it needs doing now.
Pres starts the meeting and we vote in a road captain, which always ends up being Smokey since he’s the only one that puts his name forward. He’s my best friend, but he’s a shitty road captain, he never organizes any rides for fun anymore.
Secretary, treasurer and sergeant-at-arms are voted in, of course my pop gets the majority vote for SAA the same as every year. Vice president is the next to be voted in, I see Taz put his name forward and he sits looking smug as no one else says anything... until I stand up.
“I’m putting my name forward too.”
I sit back down and look over at Taz who has a scowl on his ugly mug. He glares at me and I give him a smug grin as I can hear everyone talking between themselves. I’ve always been happy to stay on the sidelines, until now. I’m gonna clean this club up before the mother chapter has us eighty-sixed, we’ve already had our fair share of warnings.
“Well fuckin’ hell, look who’s stepped up. Got some competition on your hands brother,” Pres says.
Daryl ‘Tank’ Michaels has been President of the Crows for four years now and he’s always had his brother, Merl, or Taz as he’s nicknamed, by his side as VP. No one has ever gone up against him and I’m relishing in the fact that he’s about to be put in his place.
“Votes for Taz,” he says, looking around the room.
Three brothers throw up their hands and Taz starts staring daggers at me, I can tell he’s trying not to lose his shit. He knows he’s lost the vote already.
“Votes for Bear,” Pres says.
I fucking hate that road name, there’s not even a great story behind it unlike most people’s. I have a hairy chest and a grizzly fucking attitude to go with it, hence the name ‘Bear’. My pop knew I hated it so he kept on saying it, and it stuck.
I shake my head forgetting about the road name and look around the room as practically everyone’s hands are in the air. A wicked grin spreads across my face as my eyes meet Taz’s and he flies out of this chair and throws a punch at the wall.
“You can’t fuckin’ take this from me. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s doin’!” He screams at everyone.
“He’s gonna do a hell of a better job than you, sit the fuck down, Taz, before you really hurt yourself,” Smokey says, giving me a wink as all the brothers erupt in laughter.
Pres nearly puts the gavel through the table as he bangs it down. “Shut the fuck up all of you! What’s done is done.” Taz glares at his brother. “But what can be done, can be undone.”
He looks at me with a sneer on his face and everyone around me starts protesting.
I couldn’t give a shit what his crackpot ass thinks of me, I stopped respecting him the moment he eighty-sixed his own daughter right after his first year of being Pres. I knew this would happen just because Taz is his brother.
Smokey speaks up for me again. “Pres, come on, man. Bear won that vote by fuckin’ miles.”