The firm grip I have on the gavel as I’m banging it down to start the meeting could split the wood.
“We need to decide if doing the protection run is still a go, or should we pass it off to the Wichita Chapter and deal with the Vipers once the Tucson Chapter and Nomads get here next week.”
I pause and leave the floor open for anyone to comment their thoughts.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I need the extra money the protection runs bring in,” Blade pipes up. I hear a lot of mumbles of ‘yeah’ through the table.
“No, I think we need to be here in case the Vipers bring another attack on us. Being away makes us vulnerable,” Brass, our road captain, stresses.
“The money is too good to pass up,” Ledger pipes in.
“I agree,” Hawk says.
“Not if we come back to a leveled clubhouse,” Riot argues.
After a few moments, I pick up the conversation.
“Okay, let’s put this to a vote and majority wins,” I declare. Sometimes our votes have to be unanimous to be pushed forward but not this time.
“My vote is to stay here,” I voice my vote then pass it to my right where Reaper, my Sergeant at Arms, is seated.
The vote goes around the table, and when it falls lastly on Havoc to vote, we’re split down the middle. His vote will determine our fate for this next week.
“I hear what each of you has voiced on both issues, and I can view it from both sides. My issue is that we’ve already committed to do this run and if we don’t stand behind our word then we’re no better than any other fucker out there. My vote is to go on the run.”
He’s right. We pride ourselves with staying true our commitments and never faltering. Even though this might put us in a bind, we need to stick with it. Our other brothers from a different chapter are counting on us.
With the vote in, I bang the gavel.
“Okay, we go as planned. I’ll call in a few more Nomads from the north to help out while we’re gone. We also need to decide if we want to patch in the three prospects who are up for their patch in a few weeks. I know we’re a little early, but after blowing up Vipers warehouse, I think we could use the extra bodies around here. The vote has to be unanimous or the prospect waits until a later date.”
The three prospects that we’ve named are Trick, Dallas, and Ink. All three have, in my eyes, proven to be what we are looking for in brothers and will serve as good men to our MC. One by one we go to each brother for a vote and when Havoc clocks his vote on the last prospect, I slam the gavel down.
“Okay, all three are to be patched in on Sunday. Is there anything else we need to discuss?” I open the table for discussion.
Twitch speaks up and we talk a little more about the dead prospect from this morning and if we should go on lockdown.
The problem with lockdown is that it can get very claustrophobic after a few days, but since we’re going on a run next week and can’t deal with the Vipers until we get back, I’m hesitating to call it. We vote no on the lockdown for now, but if anything else arises then we go to it immediately.
We all walk out of church after adjourning, and I grab my phone off the pool table itching to call Raegan. It goes to voicemail, just like I thought it would. Shit, this can’t be good. I’ve never done this whole relationship thing. I’m way out of my league for this. I watch Havoc and Riot walk over to the bar and have a seat when a thought pops in my head.
Just do it, you pussy!
“Hey, do you happen to know where Raegan is staying?” I ask as I sit down on the stool next to Havoc. The prospect behind the bar places three beers in front of us.
“Yeah, she’s staying with her mom and stepdad for now. Why?” Havoc answers after dragging a long pull from his bottle.
This is not the time or the right place for this conversation, so I lightly lie.
“She had some kind of business thing she wanted to talk about but left before we had the chance to speak. It sounded important.”
“I’ll give you the address, but you have to promise to hear me out before you make a judgement call,” he counters, and I watch him nod over to Riot.
“Maybe we should go to your office and not talk out here in the open,” Riot suggests, and it gets my hackles up. I’m not sure, but I have a feeling I’m not going to like what they’re about to tell me.
After we all have a seat in the office, I wait for Havoc or Riot to start.
“What I’m going to tell you is going to sound terrible, but I want you to hear us out before you do anything.”
