Chaos Chapter 3 #3
After calling the meeting to order, we talked about what the drug tests showed, and then what Bianca told us about why she was at the Taproom and how she got involved.
There were some faint exclamations about that.
Then Wrath and Storm launched into telling the brothers what she said about our club and how she reasoned we had a hand in getting rid of lowlifes in our immediate vicinity.
And that was the fate she wanted to befall those responsible for drugging and raping the women. The reaction to that was louder.
Muttered curses, astonished-then-concerned glances, and whistles filled the air. By the time Wrath held up his hand to break the noise, I was ready to yell. I was anxious to find out what was said on the drive to her place.
“Okay, enough. Mishap, tell us what your cousin had to say on the way home. Did she ask you about the club? Or try to persuade you that she knew what she said was true?” Pres asked.
“She didn’t say anything. As soon as we pulled out of the compound, she told me she had a headache and was tired. She asked that I let her sleep. The whole way there, she kept her eyes closed and pretended to nap. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she kept up the pretense.”
“What about when you got to her place?” Chains, our secretary, asked.
“She got out and told me not to worry about walking her to the door. I told her bullshit, did it, and insisted I be allowed inside to check that no one was in there or that her place hadn’t been messed with.
It was all fine. I asked to stay to clear the air about the conversation, but she shrugged me off and said there was nothing to clear up.
She had obviously gotten carried away and had been wrong.
I asked her to promise me not to go near any of the bars.
To leave the police work to the cops. She readily agreed and then showed me to the door. ”
“Do you believe her?” I asked.
“Not one bit. I know my cousin. She lied to me and shut me out. I shouldn’t have called her crazy. I knew as soon as I did that, I triggered her. Fuck!” His fist slammed down on the table.
“You think she’ll go back to the bar?” Rage asked.
“Yes, but whether it’ll be to the Tipsy Taproom, I don’t know. She said there were other bars. I asked her the names when I dropped her off. She said she’d have to think about it. That she couldn’t seem to remember.”
“Damn it. Alright, so what do you want us to do? She suspects we have a hand in keeping things clean around here. Good thing the cops aren’t as smart as she is. Will she tell anyone her suspicions?” Nomad, our road captain, asked.
“No, she won’t. No matter how mad she might be at me, she’ll never put me in danger of arrest. The only way she’d turn my ass in was if I was a cold-blooded murderer killing for fun.
Or I was a rapist or something along the lines of the ones we take out.
But I’m sure she won’t stay out of it. She’ll keep going until she finds a way to help those women and ensure those responsible pay,” Mishap assured the room.
“Then I think we need to find a way to monitor where she goes. If she is seen going near any bars, we have to know and intercede. Suggestions?” Wrath asked.
After some debate, it came down to getting Shadow and our other computer wizard, Crusher, into her home to plant trackers and cameras.
It wasn’t anything we felt good about doing, but if it kept Bianca safe and our club free, we’d do it.
Mishap wasn’t happy about it, but he agreed.
The remainder of the meeting was us going over ways to accomplish it.
By the time church ended, I wasn’t the only one who was ready for a drink.
Out in the common room, it was early, so there were only us and the prospects.
Well, until Jalisa, Betty, and Shadow’s old lady, Cambria, entered the room.
They sat at a table, giving us room. Their old men went over to join them.
A despondent-looking Mishap joined Forge, Eagle, and me.
“Come on, drink up. It’s not that bad,” Eagle told him, though I wasn’t sure if I believed it.
“Oh, yes, it is. I shouldn’t have said what I did. It slipped out. I was so worried about not exposing the club’s secret side hustle that I said the first words that came to mind.”
“Why would calling her crazy do it? People say that all the time,” Forge asked.
Mishap took a long drink of his beer and took his time swallowing before he answered.
“It’s what her ex-husband used to say to her.
He gaslit her with it for months. It got to be so bad that she started to believe she was crazy.
When she discovered she had been right all along, the damage was still there.
It was what made him her ex. I’d like to beat that fucker into the ground for what he did to her.
He left her doubting herself. She tells me he’s not worth jail time, but I think he is. ”
“Doubting herself how? Or is that too personal?” Eagle asked.
“All I’m gonna say is her worth as a person, a woman, and a wife was scarred. Then, it took months to finalize the divorce. He put obstacles in the way of dividing assets, even though he initiated the split. I was thrilled when it was over, and she moved here. I wanted it for ages.”
At the mention of an ex-husband, I sat up straighter. Hearing the loathing in his tone, I had no doubt I’d want to put hands on her ex, too. More questions burned inside me. The biggest being: what had he gaslit her about? However, instead of prodding him, I drank my beer and stayed quiet.
The others steered the conversation away from talk of Bianca’s marriage, though I wanted it to stay there.
Mishap told stories about how he and his cousin had been so close and had been there for each other no matter what.
Eventually, the conversation turned to other topics, and I stayed, but my mind wandered.
I knew that whatever was happening with those poor women and Bianca’s attempts to help them, my club wasn’t out of it.
I looked forward to my next contact with Bianca.