“Wasn’t he already prospecting with us?” Slipper asked, pounding on his chest again and releasing another rancid belch. “Who sponsored him again?”
Johnnie hung his head.
Christopher smiled viciously, not moved by Rory’s sniffle. Father and son, the cryingnest motherfuckers alive.
Mortician and Diesel whispered to each other, then Diesel nodded.
“I sponsored him,” he said. “You got a fucking problem with that, Slipper?”
The fetid motherfucker gulped. “Not at all, kid. We know you’re gonna beat the fuck out of him for the false pretenses. We don’t have to sanction you.”
Diesel bared his teeth at Slipper, while Mort patted Rory’s back.
“Thank you, Uncle Mort,” the kid said quietly.
“We family,” Mort responded.
“Yeah, Ro,” CJ said. “We aren’t the ones who forgot that.”
Chuckling, Mortician dragged on his cigarette. “I don’t fucking know who shadier. You or Meggie girl.”
CJ snickered. “Mom definitely.”
“Yeah, Aunt Meggie will cut you the fuck down without even cursing,” Ryan agreed with a surprising amount of admiration. “That takes talent.”
Before shit went off the fucking rails again, Christopher said, “Diesel, you the lucky motherfucker that get the responsibility of Easton.”
“Goddamn, Outlaw,” Digger said. “I thought you wanted that motherfucker to stay alive.”
“As long as he is trustworthy and follows my directions, he will,” Diesel said calmly.
“If he looks at your ma, carve his fucking eyeballs out,” Christopher instructed.
Diesel smiled, anticipation lighting his eyes. “Definitely. We can always have a welcome party. Aunt Meggie will say hi to him. He has to look at her to respond.”
“She’d count that as a fuckin’ setup,” Christopher decided after a moment of consideration, ignoring how fucking appalled CJ was. “She’d probably get madder than a motherfucker.”
“Yeah, and either we’d have to lock Axel in a fucking dungeon and feed him raw meat or fear for our fucking lives,” CJ griped. “The rabid little dog.”
Ignoring everyone’s laughter, Christopher looked at Diesel. “Just monitor the situation, boy.”
“As you wish, Outlaw,” Diesel said politely.
“Back to Gypsy. We agree on the armbands?”
“How about me and Windy coordinate a final rev for her?” Val suggested, referring to the Hounds’ RC.
“I’ll talk to Derby,” Christopher promised, liking the idea.
“I vote in favor of the armbands,” Johnnie said softly. “Maybe the women can wear magenta shirts or headbands?”
Christopher nodded. “I’ll tell Megan to let them know.”
“Can I take part, Uncle Christopher?” Rory asked.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, cuck?” Ryan snapped.
“Aunt Kendall would want to know why.”
