Page 100 of Dirty

Crip, Pee Bee, Smokey, and I were in the shop, and things were getting heated quickly. Crip rubbed his beard for a minute, and then looked at Smokey.

“Hundred percent?” he asked.

Smoke took a drag off his deal, and then tilted his head back. After filling the shop with a cloud of sweet-smelling smoke, he locked eyes with Crip. “Yep.”

“You’re full of shit, Smoke,” Crip said flatly.

Smokey pushed his vape into his pocket and puffed his chest. “You calling me out, Crip?”

“Settle down, you big dumb prick. I’m saying in general,” Crip said with a laugh, even though his eyes looked worried. “Generally speaking, you’re full of shit. You believe what you want to believe, and when you get something in your head, there’s no changing your mind. So, if you think Lefty was the last one out, you’re going to say Lefty was the last one out, even if it was Speedbump or one of the other fellas.”

“And, I’m fucking tellin’ ya Left was last. I saw The Bump come out, and then I remember looking up, and seeing the two bikes who were leading us without kids on ‘em. I looked back, and Cholo was at the rear, but not the sweeper. Two bikes in back, and one had Little Frank on it, and the other was empty. Peeb asked about four times, are we ready? I remember thinkin’ whoever is dicking around in there must a been takin’ a shit, because it was takin’ all fuckin’ night.”

“I talked to Speedbump,” Crip said. “He said--”

“Wasting your fucking breath if you was talking to him,” Smokey said.

“Let me fucking finish, Smoke,” Crip hissed.

“Finish, but I don’t give a fuck what he said. Left was last.”

“As I was saying. Speedbump said he wasn’t last man out, and that when he left, the money was on the coffee table. He also said he got in the fridge to get a beer and there was more money in the fridge. Says he didn’t so much as pick up a dime. So, if that’s true, and I believe it is, it means last man out is our man.”

Smoke pulled out his vape, took a big hit, and blew the cloud at his feet. After taking another long pull, he held the smoke in his lungs, and then looked up. “And last man out was Left.”

Crip narrowed his eyes. “You’re sure?”

“You might be President of this MC, but it gives you no fuckin’ right to call me a liar, Nick. Keep calling me one, and we’ll find out which one of us is the bigger bad ass,” Smokey said. “That, my friend, is a promise.”

Crip didn’t bat an eye. “When we go to Lefty’s you’re coming.”

“Fine with me. I’ll call his ass out to his face.”

“You’ve been riding with this club for a year,” Crip said. “Lefty’s been here for as long as me. I’ve got a difficult time believing that--”

“Let me tell you something, Prez,” Smoke said in a snide tone. “There’s people you can count on, and people you can’t. Don’t matter how long they’ve been in your life. What matters is are they there for you when you need ‘em? I’ve been patched for sixteen months. Was I there when we rolled up to challenge the Savages?”

Crip nodded. “Yeah, Smokey, you were.”

“Did I volunteer when it came time to punish ‘em?”

“Sure did, Smoke.”

“Left there for both of those?”

Crip shrugged. “I’m sure he was.”

Smoke laughed. “And, I’m sure he wasn’t.”

I couldn’t remember, so I shrugged.

Crip looked at Pee Bee.

“Left wasn’t there. Either time,” Pee Bee said.

“Okay,” Crip said. “You made your point.”

“Hell, I ain’t close to done,” Smokey said. “There’s more.”