“Who?” Manny demanded.
“Calamity. That’s the only brother I can honestly say meets any criteria we could come up with,” I replied.
Stunned silence mixed with relief hit me, and I realised that some of them thought it might have been them. I’d not do that to them. They were too vital to this club. Which made it seem that Calamity wasn’t; he was, but he could spread his wings with this opportunity. Calamity would make a fuckin’ amazing president, but that wouldn’t happen here. Dante was my legacy, although he was a little fucker at the moment.
“The boy deserves a shot,” Axel agreed.
“Calamity’s one of us!” Gunner fired back.
“And he will always be. But are you telling me Calamity doesn’t deserve a chance at leading? That you don’t think he has greatness?” I retorted.
“Yes, but Calamity’s ours,” Gunner replied lamely. That made me laugh.
“Just because he’ll be opening another chapter, doesn’t mean that he’s not ours,” I said with a smirk.
“Seriously, does anyone have any doubts or concerns about Calamity being nominated to open another chapter?”
Everyone glanced at each other before shaking their heads.
“How do we inform the rest of the club?” Axel asked.
“And does Calamity get to pick his inner circle from existing brothers?” Rock added.
Good questions. “Anything like opening a new chapter falls to the inner circle as per our charter. Calamity can ask, but can’t force brothers to go with him. I’m hoping some do because we need space. But at least we won’t have to continue turning people away. Legacies will have a choice, too.”
“Okay. Are we gonna vote on this?” Axel boomed.
“No other questions?” I asked, surprised there wasn’t more.
“Nah. Deep down, we guessed the club couldn’t keep going the way it was,” Apache replied.
“Once we’ve voted, then what?”
“Then I inform Calamity and work out a plan with him and who he’d like. Then we call the brothers together and announce the news,” I answered Fish.
“What if somebody has an issue?” Rock said, playing devil’s advocate.
“Then I deal with that in private. But Calamity is more than ready to lead, and I’m not the only one who thinks so,” I stated. I made sure my voice conveyed my opinion as implacably as possible. “Unless someone here wants to be president—if so, speak up, and we’ll discuss it.”
Various versions of fuck-no flew at me, and I inwardly smiled. I knew my brothers. They liked the roles they were in. Nobody wanted extra responsibility. And leaving RC was something they’d never consider. Not after the blood we’d spilt to keep this city safe.
“Let’s vote,” I said, fairly confident which way it would go. It had to be unanimous, or it wouldn’t pass. I nodded at Texas to record the votes and looked to Ace for his answer.
Ace opened his mouth, and so it began.
???
“Come in,” I called in reply to a knock. I knew who it was; I’d been expecting him. It was nice that the kid knocked, unlike the older brothers, who barged in. The younger ones often showed more respect.
“Prez, you wanted me?” Calamity asked, entering. His limp was noticeable as he stepped into the office, and I motioned for him to sit. We’d nearly lost Calamity in the war. The world would be a darker place without him, so my heart warmed to see him in front of me now.
“Sit down, Calamity,” I ordered. Calamity needed to be sitting down because this news would knock him on his ass.
“What’s up?”
“Got a proposition for you. Calamity, I want you to go to Ortonville, Minnesota, and open a new chapter,” I said.
“Okay, not a problem. When and how long?” he asked. Damn this kid, he was one of the most genuine people I’d ever met. Calamity didn’t even guess what was coming.
