We ride out and for a brief moment I am taken back to a time in my life when I would ride out of the club with him at my side and no old lady, no kids, no responsibilities but the patch.
I didn’t fear a fight. I didn’t fear death. I didn’t fear anything. It was a freedom that changed over the years. I’ve had to bury brothers, stand by and attend funerals of brothers’ loved ones, but I vowed a long time ago I’d never attend my wife’s or boys’ funerals. There isn’t a time on this earth I’d be alive to see that. I’ll go out of this world first and by God, if he does exist, I’ll be waiting for them all on the other side.
“Cas, you see that?” Sparky hollers over our engines.
Squinting my eyes, dark figures line the road up ahead. “Could be Jay and the twins?”
“Nah, I count six,” I holler.
We slow until we come to a complete stop and only the early morning birds chirping can be heard.
“If we turn around, they’ll follow, we only left a prospect at the club.”
Glancing at my brother, we both know what is about to go down.
“The way I see it, we have two choices. One, we go out in a blaze of useless fuckin’ glory and try and take them out. Or two…” I trail off.
“Never thought I’d see this day ever fuckin’ happenin’.”
“Nor did I, but what else can we do?”
Four single headlights and a set of double headlights turn on and my heart pounds with adrenaline.
“It ain’t sittin’ right, Cas. I say option one and if it backfires, we’ll take option two.”
Taking out my phone, I call Alannah.
“Don’t tell me you’ve got bike trouble already?”
Having no time to answer her lightness, I say, “Babe, round everyone up and lock yourself in the bar. Tell the prospect to lock and load.”
“What’s going on?”
“You know I love ya, don’t ya.”
“Cas, talk to me. What the fuck is happening?”
“You’re the very fuckin’ best of me. Always have been. Without you, I would have had an empty life, it wouldn’t have meant anything.”
“Cas,” she cries.
Engines rumble to life off in the distance. “I gotta go now, darlin’. Never forget our life together.”
I hang up and put my phone away in the saddle bag as I take out one of the extra shooters.
Sparky has a gun in each hand and for the first time in years, a manic grin on his face.
“If this doesn’t go down the way we want, I’m fuckin’ honored to have called you my brother all these years.”
I nod. “Yeah. We always said we’d get ourselves killed.”
“Thought it’d be years ago but today is as good as it’ll get.”
I bounce on my toes, trying to get a lungful of air. The fuckers creep toward us.
“Say when,” he murmurs.
Alannah.
