CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER TWO
Spider
Church the next day
The atmosphere in their chapel was tense. Sitting next to Dizzy at the table Spider watched as the brothers silently filed in. The usual laughing and joking was markedly absent. After doing a surprise pat down and finding a concealed gun on one of the brothers they had kicked everyone out and started over. Blaze and Sly were standing on either side of the chapel doors running a wand over every single brother, officers and lieutenants included, before letting them in. Sly had the two new prospects patting everyone down before they got to him. And how fucked up was it that they had found hidden burners on three brothers. He was pissed when three more brothers were found with concealed weapons. The punishment for bringing a concealed weapon or a phone into their chapel was harsh.
He wasn’t worried about dishing out punishments.
What worried him were their intentions. Why were they bringing weapons and phones into their chapel? Were they planning to take the club over by force? And if they were, how many of the bastards were involved in the plot?
He met Kid’s eyes and without saying a word communicated his worry. They were definitely inheriting a rotten and fucked up chapter.
It was obvious there were brothers who thought their votes ran the club and not the President and his officers. He wondered if Hawk was aware of the shit going down at the chapter.
If he didn’t he would soon enough.
Kid would be calling him with an update the moment they got this done.
When Blaze closed and locked the doors Orca picked up the gavel from where it was lying on a piece of rough wood.
It was an ordinary wooden one and it didn’t look that old either. What the hell had happened to the shit the Mother Chapter gifts to a chapter when they started up?
There should have been a steel block on the table with a shiny silver hammer. A block and hammer gifted to the chapter when they sat down at their table for the first time. It would have been given to the club by French Walker, Hawk’s grandfather. The date would have been engraved on them as well.
As he looked around he realised there was a lot of shit that should have been in their chapel that wasn’t. He hadn’t really taken note before, but now that he has he would look into it.
He would be asking questions and expecting answers from both Orca and Hook.
The Iron Dogz MC was his family’s legacy and he would not let this shit fuck with it.
Orca smacked the gavel down with a dull sounding thwack. So different from the ringing sound he was used to in Hawk’s chapel.
And how the fuck had he been here this long and not noticed?
Then it came to him. He had been snowed under by the shit he had found in the club’s books. So snowed under he hadn’t noticed until now.
He would be talking to Hawk, Bulldog and Ice about this bullshit.
Forcing his mind back to the present he listened and watched as Orca laid it out.
“It has come to my attention that some of our senior members seem to think they are untouchable. They seem to be under the impression that they can disrespect me and the bylaws of this club with impunity.”
He looked around the room before pinning his eyes on the five brothers glaring at him.
“I know that by now you all know what went down over the weekend and last night. As laid down by our bylaws I’m going to give the offenders a chance to speak before I make my ruling. There will be no voting and I’ll not listen to appeals either. Once I give my ruling that will be it. Done.”
Pointing at Omo, the fucker who was obviously the ringleader, he sat back and crossed his arms.
Waiting.
They didn’t have to wait long.
The fucker stood and preened self-importantly, as if he was someone important and not just a fat assed old fucker with a senior member patch.
Listening to his bullshit Spider’s temper slowly but surely started to rise.
“Ever since Kid and those other two arrived at our chapter things have not been the same. They are trying to change us into a pussy-whipped chapter like the one Hawk runs in Joburg. He’s weak, ruled by his slutty bitch and he’s taking down the club his grandfather had built with his blood and sweat. Bitches are there to be fucked, not get involved in club business. If they try they should be shut down, hard. It’s time for us to take back our club. This chapter will be the first to let Hawk Walker know that his time as National President is over. I challenge Orca for his position as President of this chapter and once I’ve dealt with him and the Walkers I’ll be taking over as National President of the Iron Dogz MC.”
He had his thumbs hooked in his belt that sagged under his heavy overhanging belly, his fat chest pushed out like an old worn out rooster. With a last glance around the table he sat back down and crossed his arms on top of his fat belly.
It wasn’t Orca who answered him.
It was Dizzy, pointing at a big frame bolted to the wall.
“Omo, I’m not sure how you missed it because it’s clearly laid out in our bylaws right up there. The challenge was removed from all bylaws by Bounty Walker when he took over as National President. It was again ratified when Hawk Walker stepped up. That means you’re shit out of luck trying to reinstate a law that has been invalid for more than thirty years.”
The fucker jumped back up and started blustering but Blaze slammed his fist on the table twice, shutting him up. The bastard flinched and quickly sat back down. Fucking weak-assed coward.
Orca sat forward, resting both forearms on the table. A table that was heavily stained by drinks and scarred by rings and whatever else had scraped over it through the years.
“You have the balls to stand here, in my chapel, and issue a challenge to me, you stupid fuck. You think I don’t know it’s you and those assholes with you who are causing shit for the club? I absolutely fucking do. I know exactly what you fucknuts have been doing. You’ve made a lot of fucked up promises to get support for your bid to remove me. Like not having to work at our businesses if they don’t want to, fewer runs and more money in their pay packets under your rule because you’ll get back into the drug and whore trade. You promised wild parties with sluts, booze and drugs. The most sickening of your promises is that there will be access to young girls. You promised them school girls, you sick motherfucker.” He snarled at Omo.
“I’m not sure where you think the money is going to come from to fund all the bullshit you promised because we don’t have that kind of money available. If we don’t work we don’t earn. The reason you fuckers don’t have money is because you haven’t been working, not for several months now. None of you have paid your dues for months, there’s always a fucking excuse. You’re a drain on the rest of the club.
There’s one thing that all of you forgot. I’m not the only one you’ll have to remove. You want this chair you have to take out all the officers and the lieutenants. And that won’t be as fucking easy as you’ve led everyone to believe. You’re brave when you think you’ve got the majority of the brothers in your back pocket but at heart you are a fucking coward.” He snorted derisively.
“You think I’m an old man past his prime, but motherfucker, I will fucking wipe the floor with your fat ass. While you’ve been drinking, drugging and whoring I’ve been living clean, working out and running this fucking chapter while my VP is fighting to survive. None of you fuckers lifted a hand or even offered to help out.” He shook his head and took a breath before he continued.
“All of what I just laid out is bad, but here’s the thing that’s fucking with my head. It’s you, promising the men little girls as club whores. Grown men wanting little girls? That’s fucking sickening and it’s sexual abuse. Our Enforcer and SAA will be checking in with your extended families. If they find that the girls in your families or their friends have been hurt, or that you allowed others to hurt them, I will personally take a wood saw to your hands and cut them off. The stumps will be cauterised and you will be hanging around in the dungeon until such time as Hawk Walker arrives to pass final judgement.”
There were shocked gasps and angry mutters coming from the brothers who had not been approached by the traitorous bastards.
Shoving his chair away violently Orca stood, leant forward and slammed his big fists into the top of the table. He hit it so hard the table trembled and his heavy rings sunk into the wood.
But he didn’t stop there.
Dragging his fists towards him he gouged deep grooves into the wood. He only stopped when he reached the edge of the table. Lifting his fists he glared down at them, at the bits of wood and blood clinging to his rings. His arms shot out, shaking his fists he sent bits of wood and blood flying across the table.
“This here is me drawing a line that none of you motherfuckers better dare cross. I am the fucking President of this Chapter and until I die or step down I will continue to be the fucking President. No fat-assed traitor is going to sit in my chapel and disrespect me and the patch I wear on my back, not ever, you motherfucker.”
Spider threw a quick look at Kid and only because they grew up together did he see the rage under his VP’s impassive looking face.
Nothing was going the way they had planned. Orca was putting himself front and centre, taking on the bullshit the club was drowning in. That wasn’t good.
Their president wasn’t done, not even close.
“I will now give you my ruling. And be aware there will be no appeals to my good fucking nature because it’s used up. This bullshit is done. There are four parts to the punishment so listen closely.
Part one. Omo, Grit, Fly, Spaza and Butti are each fined five thousand rand, payable to our Treasurer by the end of business today. No excuses.
Part two. All five are losing their senior status. Cut the flashes from your kuttes right the fuck now and put them on the table. You will no longer be eligible for the senior pay or promotion.
Part three. You are all off runs effective immediately and it won’t be reinstated. Your earnings will be those of a patched member not working at the club.
Part four. Anyone disrespecting me from this day forward will be fined 15k for a first offence. It will increase by 5k if there’s a second offence or more. Plus you will face Blaze and Sly in the ring no matter how old you are. If you survive them you will be punched down to a junior patch.”
Stunned silence hung heavy in the air.
No one dared say a word or even move. The new patches were frozen in their seats against the wall, staring at Orca with wide shocked eyes. The affable president who ruled with a hard but easy hand was gone.
A bloody fisted tyrant stood in his place.
“I’m giving all of you this one opportunity to get out without dire consequences. Lay your kutte on the table and Blaze will let you walk. There are only two things standing between you and your freedom. All club property stays here and your ink has to be blacked out by Kellen at Mainline Ink before Monday morning. You have four days to get it done. Decide now. Are you going or are you staying? Know if you stay this will no longer be a fucking easy ride. You will work, you will earn for the club and you will once again pledge your loyalty to the club and your patch.”
There was deathly silence and then Omo jumped up, jerking his kutte off and throwing it on the floor. Spider wasn’t the only one shocked by his actions. It was the biggest fuck you he could have given the club.
“I’m done. I’m not paying and I’m taking my shit with me when I leave. You and your weak-ass club are going to be sorry you disrespected me today. I will show you. I have support you can’t even dream about.” He spat on his kutte then looked around the room. “Come on, brothers, show him you’re with me. Show him we’re not part of his little club anymore.”
His group of ass crawlers jumped up and did the same, threw their kuttes on the floor. Two of the junior patches who had been hanging around them stood and did the same. But no one else moved.
Angry rumbles and threats filled the room like a hive of buzzing bees.
“Is that it? You pussies were all for me doing this and now you’re backing down? Why are you afraid of this old man? He’s nothing, he can’t stop us if we stand together.”
Not a single man moved.
Omo spluttered with rage. “Bunch of fucking losers, I don’t need losers in my new club.”
Orca let him carry on, not saying a word until the fucker finally ran out of steam.
“Blacky, Vulture, Wrath, Smiles, Jacket, Trigger and Colt. Escort our visitors down to the dungeon. We will no longer wait on Kellen. Our brother Blacky will take care of blacking out their tats, the hard way. He does so like using that special little blow torch of his.”
Vulture led the way and soon the seven were gone, their voices fading when Sly closed the chapel door.
Their kuttes lying on the hardwood floor was the only indication that they had been in the room.
Dizzy stood and carefully picked up each one and laid them on the table. He nodded at their prez before sitting down.
Orca dragged his chair back to the table and sat down. Silently looking around the room he sighed, his bloody hands clenched around the arms of his chair.
“What happened minutes ago was the biggest insult a patched member can deliver to his club and his president. I now have to call our National President and let him know that I have a loyalty problem at my chapter. When it happened to the Road Warriors and they kicked Freeze and his men out of the club we felt superior to them, saying it will never happen to us. And now look, we’re in the same fucking boat. The blatant treachery and disrespect is something I have never seen or had to face in all my years with the club. I started prospecting at the age of seventeen, rose through the ranks and was voted in as President at the age of forty five. I’m sixty five and have been at the helm of this chapter for twenty years. All in all I’ve given forty seven years of my life, through good times and bad, to my club. Now, as I come close to the end of my time in this chair, I have to deal with traitors in our chapter, some of them hiding in plain sight.”
There were splutters of disagreement and their prez held his hand up, silence was instant.
“Don’t fuck with me. You know and I know that some of you who are sitting here trying to look innocent supported Omo’s bid to take over the club by force. Something that goes against everything we as a brotherhood stand for. You know who you are, and you know the pretenders who were in the group with you. You have until nine tomorrow morning to come forward. I urge you to come clean before Sly extracts your names from our guests down below.”
His glare took in every single man in the room. “If you don’t…”
He didn’t have to say more, the threat was right there in his blazing eyes.
Slamming the gavel down the handle broke as the piece of wood cracked in half. He stared at it for maybe a second then picked up the broken pieces and slung it across the room at the wall. It hit and fell to the floor, shattering further on impact.
“Now get the fuck out of my chapel.” He snarled viciously.
Sly unlocked the door and the brothers rushed out.
Not everyone did.
Kid, Spider and the rest of the officers stayed in their seats. Sly joined them after locking the door after the last brother scurried out.
Shit had hit the fan and they now had to find a way to clean it up without too much bloodshed. There would definitely be bloodshed and they had to try and keep their losses to a minimum. And away from the notice of the other clubs in Cape Town. They could not be seen as weak because that would be a fucking disaster.
“I thought we had a plan, Prez.” Kid said very mildly.
Orca put the palms of his hands to his eyes and groaned.
“I know, VP, I know. I fucking lost my shit.” He answered as mildly.
“That you did, Prez.” Blaze said. “Don’t think any of us here blame you for not keeping your cool. I wanted to take my skinning knife and slice their tats off a little piece at a time.”
Orca grinned. “Who knows, Blaze, you might still get an opportunity to play. Let’s see what Blacky gets out of the traitors. Maybe one of the fuckers gives us a list of names. I have a feeling we’ll have one before nine tomorrow morning.”
“Prez.” Kid’s tone of voice had to them all bracing. “You have to take the rest of the officers into your confidence. We’re dealing with a situation you and the chapter have never faced before. Unfortunately Spider, Dizzy and I have experience with this type of treachery. I trust every brother sitting at this table and the same with our lieutenants. If we don’t have a list by nine tomorrow I want to call in the Crow to get the answers we need.”
Orca frowned heavily. “Are you sure it’s necessary, Kid? If we need an interrogator, which I believe we won’t, we can always approach Dom. He will help, plus he’s close, we won’t have to wait.”
Spider jumped in before Kid could answer.
“VP, I have to agree with Prez. Let’s see if the weak-assed bastards deliver themselves to us by nine tomorrow. If they don’t then we bring in Dom. He’s a part of our new venture and will want to know we got all the traitors before they cause problems. We don’t want too many people knowing about our troubles.”
“I agree with Spider. Let’s wait and see if we get what we need from the traitors. If we don’t then I’m sure Dom will be more than happy to help us get what we need.” Dizzy added his opinion.
Orca ran a finger through the deep grooves cut into the table in front of him.
“Let’s see what Blacky and tomorrow brings us, then we decide on further action. Kid is right, there are things you need to know.” He looked at every single man at the table, meeting their puzzled eyes.
“When Hook first became ill we sat down to plan a way forward for the club if the worst happened. We drew up a short list of possible candidates then selected our top choice. Luckily for us a month or so later Kid came to meet his blood family, and we took the opportunity to talk to him. We laid out our concerns for our chapter and asked him to step up as VP while Hook battles his cancer. But that wasn’t all we talked about. I informed him of our plans for the future, my own and that of the club.”
He drew in a deep breath, looked back down at the grooves on the table then up again as he slowly let the breath out.
“I will be stepping down as President of the Cape Town Chapter in the next four to six weeks. Maybe even earlier, depending on what happens tomorrow. I’ve had meetings with Hawk and the other chapter presidents and the vote was unanimous. Kid Knight will be the next president of the Iron Dogz MC, Cape Town. He has been informed of the vote and has selected his VP and SAA. I know he’s already spoken to both of the men and they have accepted the positions. Spider Walker will step up as VP and Blaze Greeff will stay on as SAA. Kid has assured me he has no plans to change the line-up of officers except for filling the open positions.”
Stunned silence met his statement.
No one said a word.
Kid cleared his throat and all eyes swung to him. His voice when he spoke was deep and rough but calm and forceful at the same time. The voice of the future president of the club.
“It will be my honour to take over from a man who has dedicated his life to the club. Orca is a man and a president who has left an indelible mark on this chapter with his outstanding leadership. Along with Bounty and Bulldog Walker he guided the club through the difficult years of transitioning from a bunch of lawless outlaws to what we are today. We’re not outlaws as such but we aren’t law abiding citizens either. We make our own laws and live by them. We decide how far we’re willing to step over the line and we accept the challenges and dangers that come with those decisions. We carry the Iron Dogz MC patch on our backs with pride, we strive to live our club motto every single day. We are, and will always be, brothers united by the patch on our kuttes. Every single one of us made the choice, the choice to join the club and become men of Heart, Honour and Honesty, united in Brotherhood. I made that choice when I became a prospect and then a patched member of the club. I once again make that choice as I accept the burden of stepping up as President of the Cape Town Chapter of the Iron Dogz MC. I will serve you and the club to the best of my ability.”
Spider slammed both hands down on the table, threw his head back and howled.
The other officers did the same, it carried on for a short while then slowly tapered off.
That’s when Spider noticed the two men at the head of the table. They weren’t howling or slapping the table.
Kid and Orca sat looking at each other, silently communicating.
Jury broke the silent communication, both men turning to look at him when he spoke.
“Well, that came as a bit of a shock. And it’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about later, Prez. But I suppose now is as good a time as any, seeing that you and our new Prez are here. I want to take a step back, spend time with my old lady and family and give the younger men a chance to lead the club forward. I’ve taught Van everything I know and he’s more than capable to take over our Tech Security business. I’ll still be available to consult with clients and I promise I won’t disappear.” He smiled and shrugged. “I’ll still be a part of the club, just not actively.”
Spider noticed the stunned expression on Jury’s son Sly’s face. It was obvious he hadn’t spoken to his sons about his decision to take a step back.
Orca grinned. “It looks like we’re going to have to get a bigger table out there for all the Elders, brothers.”
Laughter rang out until Orca tapped his rings on the table.
Silence fell.
“I have a piece of business I want to discuss with all of you.” He pulled on his ear with a frown, as if thinking before he continued.
“You all know we’ve not had a dedicated Medical Officer at the club for years now. We’ve made do with a couple of the brothers getting first aid training and Coal’s close to being a fully trained paramedic, but with us stepping back into dark business I feel it’s not enough. We need a Medical Officer.”
“How are we going to do that, Prez?” Blaze asked. “There isn’t a single brother who has the training and experience to step into the position. And believe me the other chapters won’t allow us to poach their MO. Coal is only starting out and will need a few more years before he’s ready.”
“I know, brother, believe me, I know. I have a suggestion but you’re going to have to shut up and listen to me before you object.” He laughed. “And fuck, I know you’re going to object, but let me lay it out before you do.”
If Blaze’s face could have become even more pissed off than it already was it did. He didn’t say a word, just crossed his arms over his chest and glared at their president.
“As most of you know my daughter Monica is a doctor up in Gauteng. She called us last night to let us know she got her Masters and is now a fully qualified Surgeon. She’s been offered several positions in Gauteng and two down here. A while back she broke off her engagement to that fucknut she was going to marry, and now she wants to come home. Apparently the bastard thought he could cheat on a biker’s daughter and she’d just forgive him. Not in this fucking lifetime. Like I said, a fucknut. But that’s not why I’m mentioning it.”
He tapped a finger on the table.
“She’s club family and a qualified doctor. It’s what we need, someone we can trust. We’ll have Coal for shit that’s not as life threatening and her for the shit he can’t handle on his own.”
Instant chaos.
Blaze’s voice was the loudest.
“Hell no, she’s not stepping into club shit.”
Orca held his hands up and silence fell.
“What is your objection to the suggestion, Blaze?”
The brother didn’t hesitate.
“She had her chance and she fucking blew it. Chose that fucknut over family and club. I barely escaped prison time because of her and that fucker. She’s not coming into my club and fucking it up again. We have Coal and I’ll reach out to…”
Kid interrupted him.
“Brother, hang on a minute, let me get the facts straight before we continue. What did they do to you?”
Blaze glared at Orca before turning to Kid.
“Monica and I were together since high school. I thought it was going somewhere. She met the fucknut at university, broke it off with me and overnight became someone none of us recognised. A stone cold, social climbing, judgemental bitch. I got shot doing shit for the club and even though I begged him not to, prez called her to help. She helped alright, she and her boyfriend called the pigs. He told them he overheard someone say I had been shot while breaking into the house of another gangster. Apparently I was there to kill the bastard. I ended up in hospital with pigs guarding my ass and charged with breaking and entering with the intent to do grievous bodily harm. And it was solely on the testimony of the rich fuck and her, and with no fucking evidence of me doing what I was accused of doing. When I was moved to the prison hospital shit went down that I don’t want to talk about, ever. Everything that happened inside that fucking place was their fault, they put me there with their lies. The club lawyers brought in evidence that I had been shot by unknown assailants while sitting on my bike at an intersection near the club. The only reason I got off was because Jury supplied them with grainy video footage of someone sitting on a bike and then getting shot. The lawyers had eye witnesses swearing it was me, that I was sitting on my bike minding my own business when a cage full of gangsters drove up and opened fire. Orca testified that he only called his daughter because the ambulance was somehow delayed and he feared for my life.”
Blaze shook his head as he scowled at Orca. “She can’t be trusted. She betrayed the club once, she will do it again.”
Orca sighed then shrugged.
“Blaze, brother, everything you say is the truth, but she was young, pissed at the club and so damned gullible. I’m not making excuses for her, what she did was so fucking wrong and it broke her relationship with me, Trigger and Tania. Even though Fatima was stunned by her daughter’s betrayal she tried to keep the peace. It didn’t work. I ordered Monica to leave Cape Town, then arranged for a transfer to the university in Pretoria and banned her from the city, the club and our family. Her mother, even though she was devastated by what her daughter had done, worked for years to get us to talk to each other again. Something that only happened recently.”
He paused, looked at Kid then around the table.
“When her mother told her that her Uncle Hook was ill she reached out to me with the names of oncology specialists for him to see. We talked, for the first time since her betrayal, we talked. She hasn’t been home in eight years, eight long damned years. I want to see my daughter sitting at my table having dinner with her family once again. I want to help her deal with the fall out of the shit she caused before she left. I want her to do penance for her betrayal by working for the club. And finally, I want her and Blaze to talk, to finally talk about the shit that went wrong between them.”
Blaze tried to interrupt but Orca banged his hand on the table.
“No. I am still your president and I’m telling you right now you and Monica are going to sort your shit. It’s gone on long enough. She was an irresponsible and gullible twenty year old. You need to listen to what she has to say and she needs to listen to what you have to say. I want to know there’s peace between the two of you when I step down. She’s going to need the club and the club is going to need her. Make peace with it, brother. Make peace with it and stop living in the past. The past is just that, the past, there is nothing we can do to change it. Except talk to those involved and finally move on.”
Spider watched Blaze but his expression was carved from stone, not showing any emotion.
“You know I admire and respect you, Prez. You’ve always been there for me and my family, and recently even more so, but I honestly don’t know if I can give you this. She destroyed my capacity to trust and for me to agree to bring her in I’d have to trust her, and I don’t. I doubt I ever will.”
Spider knew it was time to head the discussion off and bring it to a close.
“I get where Blaze is coming from and I know Kid and Dizzy get it as well. But here’s the difference in what happened to us and what happened to him. Our betrayer tried to kill us, she was never going to apologise for what she did.”
Spider turned to Blaze, meeting his eyes so he could see that he truly did understand.
“You were betrayed by someone you had feelings for and that fucking hurts, brother. Believe me I get it. But you have to admit, she’s trying to fix her fuck up by doing what she can for the club and her club family. You don’t have to make a decision right now, take your time and think about what you want. Think about how you want to deal with it and only then make your decision. You have time, there’s no rush.”
Blaze slowly nodded.
“Thank you, brother. I’ll do that.”
The meet ended shortly after as there was very little else to be said on the matter.
Leaving their chapel Spider followed Blaze to the bar and stood next to him, sipping on his beer and giving the brother his unspoken support. He was going to need it.
Relationships sucked and broken relationships sucked even more.
Especially when the woman who broke you comes back into your life unexpectedly.