CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER SEVEN
Spider
First Visitation
It was Wednesday and the day of his first court ordered visit with his boy.
He was nervous as fuck.
Sitting on the side of his bed he stared down at his phone, at the photo of his little boy he had taken at the coffee shop.
It felt like it was so long ago but it wasn’t. A few weeks at most.
He jerked when the phone buzzed in his hands, then smiled when he saw his sister Gail’s name.
“Hey big sister, how are you and my nieces and nephew doing on this fine day?” He teased gently.
“We’re great, the kids and I want photos of your visit. We need them on the fridge and on the family wall.” Gail replied.
“Uncle Spidey, we’re making frames for your baby’s pictures to put on the wall!” Alice shouted.
“I’m making a blue one!” April shouted.
“Thank you my girlies. I promise I’ll take lots of photos and send them to your mum.” He grinned as he listened to his sister trying to calm her tribe down.
“When are you bringing our new cousin to see us?” Alice asked.
How the fuck was he supposed to answer that?
Thankfully Gail handled it for him.
“Girls, get back to making those frames. We need them done so when your uncle sends me the photos I can print them and put them up. Get to it, chop-chop.”
It sounded like a herd of elephants ran through her house.
“Okay, they’re back in the craft room. I just wanted to call to let you know I’m thinking of you today. And I wanted to tell you to relax, you’ll be great with your baby boy. Go out there and show him the wonderful man his daddy is. He’s going to love you, Griffin, I promise.” She said softly.
“Thank you, I needed to hear that. I’m so nervous, and I’m scared that I’m going to fuck it up.” He admitted.
His sister snorted and gave a soft laugh.
“You won’t. You’re amazing with my kids, with all the club kids actually. Go out there and just be yourself. You’ll feel it the moment you see him. And when you hold him for the first time? I want photos of that moment. Okay?”
He nodded then realised she couldn’t see him.
“Genna is going with me so you can be sure there are going to be a shit load of photos taken today. We’re meeting the nanny in a park close to the house. According to the lawyers it’s neutral ground for a first meet.”
“Gah! Neutral ground my ass.” Gail snorted. “They don’t want you in the house checking their shit. Pity, you could have placed a bug or two while you were in there.”
Spider shook his head and laughed.
“That’s illegal, Gail. You can’t bug people, the pigs frown on shit like that. Plus it’s not admissible in court.”
“Hah! As if I give a damn. Those people stole my nephew and I want him home where he belongs. With his daddy and his family.”
He had forgotten how protective his big sister was of her family.
“I know, we’re doing all we can to make it happen. But for now I’ll do the visits and build a relationship with my boy.”
It still felt surreal, the fact that he was the father of a little boy.
A boy that had been stolen from him.
“Listen, I have to get going. I’ll call you later. Thanks for reaching out and getting me off my ass.”
“I love you, Griff. You got this, brother.”
“Love you too, Gailey-Wailey.” He teased.
“Fuck off.” She growled, ending the call.
Spider laughed as he slipped his phone into the inside pocket of his kutte.
Yes. His kutte.
He was meeting his son as the man he was. A biker.
Genna was waiting for him in the common room. Dizzy and Vulture were sitting with her at the bar, all of them had mugs of coffee in front of them.
“Hey bro, want a coffee before we hit the road?” Vulture asked in that gravelly rough voice of his. He took a cricket ball to the throat as a kid and it damaged his voice box and vocal chords.
“You’re going with me?” He frowned.
“Ja.” Dizzy said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“They’re our escorts, brother. You need those people to know you’re not a push over. So this will be a show of strength.” Genna explained.
Giving the prospect on bar duty a chin lift he sat down next to his sister. A mug of steaming black coffee appeared in front of him and he nodded his thanks.
“I get it.” He said as he sipped his coffee.
And he did.
It was obvious the Rutherfords thought they held all the power. They most probably thought the outcome of the first court case could be overturned.
The fuckers were in for a surprise.
He had only just started the fight for his boy. They had better prepare because he was going to fight dirty as fuck. They did him dirty, he was going to do the same to them.
From the start of their investigation into them he had thought there was something off about the Rutherfords.
On paper they were the perfect couple. The husband was an astute and respected businessman while the wife devoted a lot of time serving on several charities for orphaned children. They were well known in the elite social circles they moved in.
He didn’t believe that shit.
No one was that squeaky clean, especially not a businessman like Rutherford. He and his family were in real estate and construction. He would bet his last cent they were going to find dark dealings as they dug deeper.
And once they had the information they needed then real fun would start.
Half an hour later he was on his haunches in front of the pushchair his boy was strapped into.
With his forearms resting on his thighs he looked into eyes the exact same colour as his own.
“Say hello to Daddy, Robbie.” The nanny prompted.
Spider’s gut clenched. No way would his son be called by that fucking name.
He smiled at his boy as he slowly shook his head from side to side.
“We don’t like that name, now do we, little man?” He asked, still smiling.
His smile became a grin as his boy shook his head from side to side, mimicking him. Looking over his shoulder at his watching sister and brothers he winked.
“I think we need to give my little man his road name early, don’t you?” He asked.
“Oh yes, that’s a great idea.” Genna crouched next to him and reached out to undo the straps holding his boy in the pushchair.
“Would you like to go on the swings, little man?” Spider asked as he carefully lifted his son.
For now until he found the perfect name for his son he would be calling him ‘little man’, because that’s what he was. He was his daddy’s little man.
He was being so careful, not making any sudden moves and keeping his smile friendly. Not that smiling at his boy was difficult. Not at all.
When he was finally holding him in his arms, against his chest it felt as if he held the world.
His world.
He stood there looking at his baby boy who in turn was studying his face.
A tiny hand came up and patted him on the cheek then little fingers snagged his short beard and pulled.
“No pulling of Daddy’s beard, little man. It hurts.” He said as he snapped playfully at his fingers.
His boy shrieked with joy, laughing as if it was the biggest joke.
Little man kept grabbing Spider’s beard and he kept pretending to bite his fingers.
And then his heart exploded with love.
“No, Daddy. No bite.” His baby boy shouted through shrieks of laughter.
That’s when it settled in his heart, the realisation that this little man was his. His to love and protect, he would do everything in his power to ensure nothing ever hurt him.
Including the slut who gave birth to him.
Taking his little man to the baby swings he strapped him in then gently pushed him. Watching as he kicked his legs and smiled so big.
The visit ended too fucking soon.
He would not see his little man until next week Wednesday and it felt like a fucking age.
Looking at the silently watching nanny he left his boy with Genna watching over him and approached her.
“Do you have a phone?”
She nodded and pulled an old battered phone from her pocket.
What the hell was she doing watching over his child with such ancient technology?
Next Wednesday he would bring her a new phone, a bonus was that it would be a phone they could track.
“I’m going to give you my number and I want you to call me every night with an update on how he’s doing. I won’t see him again until next Wednesday and I want to know he’s okay.” He explained quietly as he put his number in her phone. A phone without a fucking password to protect it.
“I can do that.” She murmured.
He quickly sent himself a text from her phone before handing it back to her.
“Sorry, I should have asked when we arrived. What is your name?” He asked as he pulled his phone from his pocket.
“It’s Josephine but everyone calls me Josie, Sir.”
Spider nodded as he programmed her in.
“Thanks, Josie, I’ve got your number now. You can call or text me about my little man whenever you want. Night or day, I don’t care what time it is, if you need me I’ll be there. Okay?”
Her eyes were huge as she nodded before putting her phone away.
“I understand, Sir.”
Spider shook his head.
“I’m no sir, Josie. My name is Spider, I’d like it if you used that instead of calling me sir.”
“But…but the Madam said I was to call you sir. If she finds out I’m not she won’t be happy.” Fear glistened in the girl’s eyes.
Fucking hell.
“I tell you what. I don’t want you to get into trouble, so, only call me sir if the bitch is anywhere near. Okay?”
A quick nod was her answer.
He was even more certain now that shit in the Rutherford household wasn’t good.
The sooner he could get his little man out of there the better.
Saying goodbye to his boy and watching the nanny walk away with him killed.
All the way back to the clubhouse he had to force himself not to turn around and snatch his boy. At the clubhouse he walked his bike back into his place in the line of bikes, braced his legs then tapped Genna on the thigh, letting her know he had the weight of the bike and she could get off.
It must have been a fairly uncomfortable ride because he had put a lick-and-stick seat on the fender for her. It would have been a hard ride, but she was used to it, having done it before.
Both of his sisters had been on the back of his bike fairly often.
They were the only two women who has ever ridden with him.
And it would stay that way until the day he found his old lady.
Then and only then would he change the seat on his bike to accommodate two people. The moment he found that special woman the seat at his back would be hers and only hers.
Twice, since coming to Cape Town, he had let his dick convince him he had found her, and both times he had been wrong. So very wrong.
Thank fuck he had never put them on the back of his bike.
And now that he had a son he would be even more careful about claiming an old lady.
The woman who gained the title would have to love his little man as if he was her own. He didn’t know of many women who could do it.
Sky was one of those special women. She’d accepted Sin’s boy and claimed him as her own from the very first moment she saw him.
And she’d had more than enough reason not to.
Two days later he wanted to rip his hair out by the roots.
He had hoped his parents and Genna would be with him for the visit of the court appointed Social Worker but they had to go home. It meant he had to go through it on his own.
It had gone about as well as could be expected. She hadn’t seemed troubled with him being a biker living in a biker compound. In fact she had been very interested in his lifestyle.
They had a chat first and it worried him when she explained that the courts as a rule tried to place kids within a two parent household if possible. She was quick to say that it didn’t mean he wasn’t suitable or that single parents didn’t get custody of their children.
He had shown her the unit he would be moving into and she had been impressed by the family accommodations provided by the club. Then he took her on a tour of the enclosed playground for the kids, it was available to all club kids and visiting kids. She had liked the safety aspect of the area and he had introduced her to Noe and Star who just so happened to be hanging out with their kids.
Everything had gone as planned until he walked her to her cage at the end of the visit.
Then it all went tits up.
It was late afternoon and music was banging from inside the clubhouse. He knew what it meant. The brothers were blowing off steam after coming back from a long run.
“It sounds like a party. What’s happening in there?” She asked with a slight frown.
Before he could answer the front doors opened and an obviously drunk fucker came stumbling out.
His eyes caught on the woman standing beside Spider and the bastard ran his mouth.
“Heeeey brotherrrr, you brin’ us more pusssssy?” He slurred. “I wanna have her fi’st.”
Spider had no idea who the fucker was. All he knew was that he was going to take his fucking head off and feed his body to the sharks.
“Is this how you normally live?” She asked in obvious disgust.
Fuck. He had to get her out of the compound. Fast.
“No, definitely not. Please, get in your car so I know you’re safe while I sort this bullshit out.” Spider growled as he herded her closer to her cage. “I’m sorry you’re being subjected to bad behaviour by someone who isn’t even a part of my club. As you can see he’s not wearing a kutte. I’ve got no idea who the hell he is or how he got in here.”
He stood to the side as she slid into her cage, he closed the door decisively then stood back and waited for her to leave.
The moment the steel gates closed behind the tail lights of her car he turned to the fucker hanging on to one of the veranda uprights.
“No fairrr, brrro. I wannet to fuck herrrr. You fuckers allus kee’ da best slutsss fo’ yo’ selvessss.” He complained.
Spider didn’t answer him, just grabbed him by the back of his shirt and bodily slammed him through the doors and into the common room.
No one except those closest to the doors and the prospect behind the bar noticed them.
Until he whistled. High. Loud. Sharp.
The prospect lunged for the music system, turning it off.
“Who the fuck brought this piece of shit into my club?” He roared into the silence.
“Fuck.”
“What?”
“What’s happening?”
Whispers came from all sides.
“Speak up motherfuckers. I can’t hear if you’re fucking whispering.” He roared while looking around the room.
There were a couple of brothers sitting at the bar and three others were leaning against the pool tables on the far side of the room. On the couches several were being seen to by the whores but it was the fucking hangarounds cluttering the space that pissed him off. There were more of them than brothers in the room.
“Uhm, Spider, brother, we’re just letting off some steam after the run. Like usual, brother.” Wrath, who was sitting at the bar, explained.
“And did you bring in this piece of shit?” He asked as he shoved the drunk asshole further into the room.
Not his fault if the fucker was so drunk he couldn’t stand on his own two feet and landed on the floor in a heap.
“Ow!” Came from the heap on the floor before he closed his eyes and started snoring.
Jesus fucking wept.
“No, I didn’t. I think he came in with some of the whores but I’m not sure.” Wrath explained quietly. By the tone of his voice he knew he and every brother in the room was in deep shit.
“You motherfuckers might just have cost me…” Before he could say more and hand closed over his shoulder.
Whipping around he saw Kid and Blaze standing behind him. Both looked pissed as hell.
Pointing at two of the prospects standing frozen to the side Kid then pointed at the sack of shit on the floor.
“Get him out of here.” He ordered and the prospects jumped to comply.
Stepping around Spider he strode to the bar and banged a fist on it, making the glasses and bottles rattle.
“If you’re not wearing a kutte get your fucking asses out of my compound.” He roared as he turned to face the room.
The motherfuckers were like rats scurrying off a sinking ship.
And then there were only brothers in the common room. Even the live-in whores had scurried out.
“I would never deny a brother the chance to blow off steam after an intense run such as the one you’ve just returned from.” Kid said quietly, but his voice reached everyone in the room.
Growing up with his VP he knew that voice was deceiving. It hid the rage bubbling inside him.
“And as much as I would never deny a brother his pleasures, I am fucking enraged that all of you would deny a brother the chance to claim his blood.”
You could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet.
“By now every single one of you know what our brother Spider is facing. He’s in the fight of his life to win custody of his son. I know for a fact that a text had gone out from our prez to all brothers. He asked everyone to tone down their shit today because a fucking Social Worker was coming to the compound to check us out.” He glared around the room.
“IS THIS HOW YOU TONE YOUR FUCKING SHIT DOWN?!” He roared.
No one said one word or even moved a muscle. Kid in a rage was not someone you crossed.
“You bastards fucked with my brother, so, now I’m going to fuck with you. And I’m going to do it fucking properly so you feel it for fucking years.” He bit out between clenched teeth.
“As of today, this very fucking moment, bitches will no longer be welcome in the clubhouse during the week. That includes the live-in sluts. If I see one of them in here during the week they will be kicked to the curb and the brother they are with will be facing club consequences. You want to fuck them you go to them, they don’t come in here. Do you get me?”
There were nods and reluctant ‘yes VP’s’.
“Sluts and hangarounds will only be allowed through the gates on party nights and they are no longer welcome to stay over. You fuck a slut then you kick her, or him, out. No fucking sleep overs or sluts hanging around the common room or kitchen on the weekends. Once the party is done so are they.”
Now there were several mutters but no one had the balls to speak up.
Until Smiles raised a hand.
“Veep, I know you’re pissed and you’re right to be so. But isn’t it a bit harsh?”
Kid didn’t hesitate.
“What is harsh is that the Social Worker working on Spider’s case was accosted on club grounds by a fucking drunk hangaround. A hangaround I have never seen before, which begs the question. Why did his background check not come across my desk? Anyone here like to answer that question for me?”
A hand was slowly raised at the back of the room.
“It’s my fault, VP. The asshole isn’t a hangaround, he’s my brother and helped me move my shit into my dorm room this afternoon. I brought him in to have a beer and then shit got out of control when the brothers returned. I parked his drunk ass in his cage to sleep it off but he must have woken up and come back inside. I didn’t see him because I…” He stopped explaining because they all knew what he had been doing.
“Right, so, if a slut hadn’t had her mouth on your dick can we assume that the fucker wouldn’t have been outside running his mouth at the woman?”
The poor fucker nodded. “Yes, VP.”
Kid stood there, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at the brother.
“As our brother said. If a slut hadn’t been on his dick he would have controlled his blood. We all like the freedom the club brings us. The freedom to live our lives the way we want to. To ride and fuck and fight whenever we want. What it doesn’t give us is the freedom to fuck over a brother. We can only hope and pray that the lady accepts our apology, because motherfuckers, we, as a club, are going to apologise. And our brother Rims over there is going to hand deliver it to the lady with his personal apology. Am I understood?”
“YES VP!” Was shouted without hesitation.
Rims looked like a man who had just survived the apocalypse. He didn’t.
Spider knew the poor fucker was now a marked man and that their VP’s eyes would be on him until he was satisfied he could be trusted. It was a hard place to be but it was possible to make his way out of it. All he had to do was prove his dedication to his brothers and his club. It sounded easy but it wasn’t going to be. The poor bastard was going to find that all the shitty jobs would be coming his way for the foreseeable future.
He was so done with this day. The time he had spent with the Social Worker before shit hit the fan had been good. But he wasn’t so sure about it now.
Taking the beer Blaze handed him he nodded his thanks and sipped while leaning on the bar. He felt like one of those slowly deflating balloons, soft and wrinkled and fucked.
“Boss?” A voice filled with trepidation came from beside him.
Slowly turning his head he looked at Rims. “Ja?”
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I fucked up today but I swear it will never happen again. I’ll take our apology to the lady and explain what happened. My brother is a fuck up but he is my blood and I thought I’d give him a chance, you know? A chance to help me and not be a fucking drunk for a few hours.” He explained in a rush.
Spider fully turned towards him, he was suddenly curious about the two brothers.
“What’s his damage?”
Rims sighed and shook his head. “He was the best big brother when we were growing up. Excelled at school, worked hard at his job and was going places. We were close and then he met Christa, the biggest bitch ever. She hated not having all his attention and he loved her, so he did everything she asked. Distancing himself from the family and focusing on her. The problem came with her need for more and more money. He worked himself half to death working two jobs trying to give her what she wanted. He came home one day and found Christa in bed with an older dude. Jamie threw him out the door, naked, then chucked his clothes after him. The slut laughed at him. Told him her new man was going to give her everything she needed. Told him the old guy was rich and came from an influential Cape Town family. She was marrying the old fart and was going to be somebody. Last I heard she married old man Rutherford and had his kid.”
Spider jerked upright.
“WHAT?” His shout made Rims jerk away from him and Kid and Blaze quickly came over to check on them.
Spider held up his hand. “I need their names, Rims. Give them to me.”
The brother looked confused. “My brother’s ex? You want to know her name?”
He nodded.
“It used to be Christa Davis but she changed her name when she married the rich guy. She’s now Kristen, with a fucking K, Rutherford.”
Spider couldn’t believe his ears. No wonder the bitch had been able to slip unnoticed into a Friday night party. She had most probably heard shit from Rims and his brother about open club parties.
“Fucking hell, brother, is she who I think she is?” Kid asked.
“Ja, and now we have a name to give to Fish and the others.” He said quietly.
Maybe the shit with the Social Worker wasn’t entirely a cluster fuck.
Maybe some good would come from it.
So far they had run up against a blank wall with the Rutherfords.
It would now change.
They had a name and that name would give them a place to start.