I hadn’t been there in so long, I wondered if it would even have the same layout as before. I wondered how many of their members and officers I would recognize. I wondered if they would accept me.
I wondered if they would ambush me.
But just as we needed the Hovas for their access to guns, they needed us for the cash. And, I suspected, they needed us as a sort of front-line defense against the Fallen Saints. I didn’t know what their numbers or their capabilities were like, but I did know that way back in the day, I was the only club member with military experience. That sort of knowledge of combat tactics was not something that could be taken for granted, especially as the Fallen Saints had become more and more aggressive.
When I pulled up to their headquarters, the first thing I noticed was how there were no lights on. My headlight was the only thing that lit the way toward the brick, rundown building. I knew full well I had been monitored the second I’d pulled into Compton, but it was still a bit unnerving to see that there was absolutely no light at all.
I turned off my bike, removed my helmet, and looked straight ahead at the door. There were a couple of windows, but I couldn’t see shit. Had I gone to the wrong place? Were the Hovas actually now at a different location? Was this some sort of test?
I dismounted my bike, making sure in the process that I had easy access to my gun. I came forward to the door, took a breath, and knocked twice.
There was no answer. I sighed, grabbed the handle of the door, and started to push.
“You’re a man of your word, Axle!”
I whirled my gun around at Jerome, who stood with his hands in his pockets, a smirk on his face, and his right leg forward, almost like he was posing for a magazine cover. He looked far too relaxed for having a gun pointed at him, which led me to believe there were many more pointed at me in the dark.
“Man, point that thing down, is that really how you want to start things off between us?” he said. “Damn, I have you back for three seconds, and I’ve already got a gun pointed at my face.”
“I figured you’d know better than to sneak up on someone from the rear,” I said, though I did as he asked. “Didn’t you remember that from before?”
Jerome just shrugged.
“Not like you don’t know what you’re walking into.”
Actually, no, I don’t.
“So, what’s the deal?” I said. “Why send me to a place like this?”
“What, our HQ?”
Jerome said it so seriously, I wondered if I was being set up on some high-level joke that I wasn’t aware of yet.
“This abandoned building?” I said.
Jerome nodded.
“We don’t meet up anymore, at least not in a public place like this, not at night. We’ve gotten hit so many times by the Saints that it’s not safe for us to be together anymore. It’s fuckin’ bullshit if you ask me, which is why we asked Little Lane for help.”
“Lane. Not Little Lane.”
Jerome snickered.
“He ain’t even here, and you're defending him,” Jerome said, almost in admiration. “Shit, I guess you really are a Black Reaper through and through. Well, guess that just makes your presence here all the more valuable.”
“You gonna tell me what I’m doing here, or was this just a big setup to see where my loyalties lay?”
“Damn, you always were good for gettin’ right to it,” Jerome said. “Alright. Follow me. I’ll pull up my bike.”
“Where are we going?”
Jerome smiled.
“Considering I’m unarmed, you really think I’m going to take you into the fuckin’ Saints’ land right now?”
Just because you’re unarmed doesn’t mean you aren’t protected.
But fair enough, Jerome. Just don’t play games with me much longer.
