Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
RYAN
NOW
T he clubhouse was full of Vipers for a Monday afternoon. Usually it was pretty quiet here during the week due to some of the boys still working their usual jobs outside of the club, but some of the other Viper charters were visiting to discuss club business. They were due to arrive this evening but judging from the sound of the loud music and yelling coming from the lounge room, I supposed they got here earlier than expected.
I slid on my leather cut over my white shirt and walked out from my bedroom towards the noise and sure enough, the clubhouse was full of men wearing leather cuts. As Vice President of the Vipers, it was my responsibility to welcome them to Haven Cove so I made my way around the room to welcome all of the men that I had grown up around before grabbing a piece of pizza from the bar along with a bottle of beer. I knew Haz would be here somewhere, he was always around the chaos. I scanned the room looking for him and spotted him sitting on the brown sofa next to the pool table. He held up his beer when he noticed me looking for him.
Haz has been my best friend since the day he joined the Vipers seven years ago. We have gone through everything together and worked our way up in the club side by side. I couldn’t have survived this long without him.
Haz and I were chatting with a few other members when I noticed our prospect, Ty, and the Lake Ridge prospect looking at the small TV screen that showed our security camera footage. Ty, as our prospect, is responsible for keeping an eye on the screen to warn us if we have any unexpected visitors, especially the police. I watched him for a moment as a small group gathered around him as they watched the screen.
“Yo Ty, anything we need to know?” I yelled across the lounge and Ty stuck his thumb up at me.
“Nah VP, nothing serious. Just two hot chicks arguing,” he yelled back to me but didn’t take his eyes off the screen. It’s not an uncommon thing for there to be an argument in our car park but it doesn’t usually involve two girls.
“Can you go and check it out, man?” I asked Haz. He tapped the necks of our beer bottles together and made his way over to the screen. He pushed his way to the front of the group and watched for a moment. He stood on the bottom of a bar stool to make himself taller than everyone as he called out to me across the room.
“Ry, you’re going to want to see this.” He had a small smile on his face which made me nervous. Why would I care about two girls fighting? I stood from the couch and made my way over. As soon as I looked, I could make out my sister’s face as she argued with someone I couldn’t make out.
“Why do I need to see this?” I asked Haz. I stayed out of Bella’s business as much as possible. That girl just brought drama with her wherever she went.
“Just watch.” He turned my head back towards the screen. I rolled my eyes before looking again. The blonde on the screen stood a head shorter than Bella but didn’t look afraid of her. I looked closer because something about her looked familiar. When she turned towards the clubhouse and the camera got a clean view of her face, I realized why Haz called me over.
“That’s Lexi, right?” he asked as he pointed at the screen.
“No fucking way.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. She looked a little bit older but she still looked like the exact same Lexi I fell in love with, the same Lexi I let disappear five years ago.
“Who’s Lexi?” I heard Ty ask but I didn’t answer him. Instead, I pushed my way back through the group as everyone watched me storm out the clubhouse.
“Ty, tell Pres to meet us outside,” Haz yelled out. I knew from how loud his voice was that he was right behind me.
* * *
I could hear their arguing getting louder the closer I got. I listened to their conversation and I could hear by Lexi’s voice that she was upset. I wanted to yell at Bella to leave her alone or walk right up to her and pull her into a tight hug, but I was completely frozen as I saw her stand in front of me for the first time in five years. I felt Haz put his hand on my shoulder to let me know he was there with me.
“My dad died,” Lexi said to Bella, her voice breaking as she spoke. She turned around and instantly locked eyes with me. I could see the tears falling from her eyes.
She took her eyes off mine and ran over to her car that was parked on the opposite side of the car park. Bella was standing still in shock as she looked up at me, but my whole body was still frozen. My dad walked over to Lexi and I could see them talking next to her car. When he pulled her in for a hug, I wished I went over to her instead.
My dad walked back over to us and nodded his head in the direction of the clubhouse. He put his hand on my shoulder to lead me inside whilst everyone else followed behind.
“I am sure some of you are wondering about what just happened outside,” my dad addressed the large group of Vipers sitting around the clubhouse.
“When I started the Vipers, I had my best friend Scotty Davis with me by my side. You should all recognize that last name. You would have seen his bike at the end of the hallway as he was one of the original Vipers. He couldn’t ride anymore but he never stopped being a Viper.” A few of the men nodded their heads. They knew who Scotty was. He was an original member and anyone who had been in this club longer than five years knew both him and his children, Lexi and Jay.
“That girl outside was Alexis Davis, Scotty’s daughter. She has a long history with this club and she came here today to let us know Scotty has passed away. I will be going to pay my respects at his funeral and any of you are welcome to come also.”
“Has Lexi planned the whole funeral?” I asked. I knew that planning her dad’s funeral would be bringing up a lot of painful memories. I grew close to Scotty when I started dating Lexi but we have gotten even closer over the years. After everything that happened with Jay and Lexi, I didn’t want him to be alone so I started visiting him once a week to bring him some food and his favorite donuts, but I don’t think he ever told Lexi.
“Yeah son, she said it would be just a small and intimate funeral.”
“Scotty was a Viper and not just any Viper but an original. He deserves a proper Viper send off, the same way we say goodbye to all of our brothers,” I said.
“Ryan, this is up to Lexi, not us. If she wants to keep it small then that is her decision.” My dad looked at me, knowing I wouldn’t disagree with anything Lexi wanted.
“She will be keeping it small thinking he didn’t have a family at the end. Let me plan this. I will contact the funeral directors and pay for everything out of my own pocket. All I need is you boys ready to ride Wednesday morning.” I looked around the clubhouse and saw the boys nodding their heads that they would be there and ready to ride.
I knew I shouldn’t overstep on Lexi’s plan, this is her dads funeral after all. But I knew that girl better than I knew myself and I knew why she was going to keep it small. But this is my chance to show her how much support she has and if she is angry about it then it was the perfect excuse for her to come over here and yell at me. At least then she would finally be in the same room as me.
In such a small town, we only had one funeral company around us. I called them straight after our meeting, and after a lot of persuasion, and a hefty bribe, I managed to get him to agree to some changes in the funeral plans and to keep it a surprise from Lexi. The last step was to get all of the boys and my dad on board for their part and we would be able to give Scotty Davis a proper Viper farewell.