Chapter 11 #2
“Could be treasure down her pants. Maybe even a pink pearl.” Wheels squinted one eye and yelled, “Aye, matey! Gimme some of that ol’ peg leg!”
“That kinda peggin’ will get you splinters,” Rage said.
Zeke smirked. “Sounds like you know from experience, brother.”
Zane slapped his hand on the table. “This fuckin’ conversation’s goin’ sideways. Can we get the fuck back on track?”
Funny how his brother wasn’t so “chill” all of a sudden.
“Well, the finances ain’t the only shit we gotta think about,” Cruz told them. “Just so you know, we’re gonna need to provide a detailed description of business organization and activities.”
“Easy. Sellin’ weed, smokin’ weed, pocketin’ the scratch we get for weed. A little for the state, a little for us.”
Cruz continued like Zeke hadn’t said a fucking thing.
“Need to also prove that we have the ability to ‘maintain effective security and control to prevent diversion, abuse or other illegal conduct,’” he directly quoted off some document sitting in front of him.
“Need evidence of municipality zonin’ requirements compliance.
And to provide a diversity plan,” he finished reading.
Zeke jerked his chin at Zane. “Get Lily on all that shit. She can handle it and make it sound professional. As for the diversity shit, hopefully the women count toward that requirement. Also might help that Lyric’s part Lakota. So is Nix, so he might be the perfect manager for the dispensary, too.”
“That’s a damn good idea.” Cruz slid the paper over to Zane.
Zeke tapped his temple with his finger. “Got ‘em sometimes.”
“Few and fuckin’ far between,” Rage grumbled under his breath. Louder, he asked, “We done here?”
Zeke’s eyebrows shot up. “Got somethin’ more important to do? It’s fuckin’ over when I fuckin’ say it’s over.” He pointed to the gavel nearby. “Who fuckin’ controls that?”
With a scowl, Rage crossed his arms over his chest. “The strip club don’t manage itself.”
“Been standin’ for over thirty fuckin’ years,” Zeke reminded him. “Thirty more minutes ain’t gonna make a goddamn difference.” He turned toward his younger brother. “What about growin’ it? You look into that?”
Zane nodded. “Yeah, but loads more bullshit to wade through and deal with. Best to start with the dispensary and see how that goes first. ‘Specially since there ain’t one in Shadow Valley.”
Even better. They could corner the market in their area. And once they were established, prevent anyone else from opening another one.
Wheels spoke up at the other end of the table. “Should put it next to the bakery. Can profit off people gettin’ the munchies.”
“That’s a damn good idea, but the space next door would need to be available,” Zane said.
“Wouldn’t be too difficult to make that bike shop move. Just a little arm twistin’,” Zeke said.
“Business is pretty fuckin’ slow there. The right offer could make him move,” Wheels suggested.
“A little arm twistin’ is free,” Rage put out there.
“And since we’d need to have security in place for the dispensary, they could also keep an eye on the bakery,” Wheels added.
“Likin’ this idea more and fuckin’ more.” Zeke stared at the carved logo in the center of the table. This kind of shit was the future of the club.
“You ain’t the only fuckin’ one.” Wheels pretended to smoke a joint.
“You think the OGs will go for it if we brought it to the membership for a vote?” Zane asked.
Of course he’d ask that. He wouldn’t want to upset Mommy and Daddy. Even though he was about to turn fucking thirty.
“Fuck yeah. It’s profitable. It’s legal. And they all smoke fuckin’ weed. They mighta lied to us when we were kids and say they didn’t, but we know they fuckin’ did and still do.”
“Gotta have a medical card to buy it,” Cruz reminded him.
Zeke shrugged. “Ain’t hard to get one. Hell, too bad nobody’s a doctor among us. We could really fuckin’ clean up. Sell them their prescription, sell them the meds, then feed their hungry asses.” He had another thought. “Can we get away with sellin’ cupcakes at the dispensary?”
Wheels grinned. “How ‘bout pot brownies at the bakery?”
“How ‘bout havin’ them make pot brownies for us?” Zeke loved a good brownie.
“All right. We’re gettin’ off track again. We wanna vote on this?” Zane asked.
Zeke heard some fuck yeahs.
“As long as we can swing all the scratch,” Cruz answered. “The tight regulations are gonna suck, though.”
Zeke assured them, “Amount of scratch we can rake in will make that pain worth it.”
“I vote for puttin’ it next to the bakery,” Wheels said.
Cruz shook his head. “Did you fuckers miss the part about zoning? This kinda business is gonna need to be in an approved spot. ‘Specially since a lot of tight asses in this town won’t want it near them.”
Neither would schools. “Fuck, that mean’s the bike shop’s out. No way they’re gonna let it go in the center of town.” Of course that fucking sucked since Sophie’s Sweet Treats sat on prime real estate with lots of foot and vehicle traffic.
“It’s medical pot. Ain’t a crack house,” Rage grumbled.
Wheels mentioned, “Still got clueless people out there thinkin’ pot’s a gateway drug.”
Chaos snorted. “For what? Peace and fuckin’ happiness? Goddamn pain relief? Shit’s less dangerous than booze.”
Wheels chuckled. “Yeah, just look at our prez. After he smokes, he’s lookin’ for munchies and pussy to fall into. After booze, he’s out there lookin’ for a goddamn fight.”
“Ain’t gonna argue that,” Zeke muttered.
“Wonder if we can put it near Heaven’s Angels?” Rage asked. “That area might be zoned for that shit.”
“Good idea. Gonna get Lily to check,” Zane said. “But she’s gonna get cranky since we’re makin’ her law firm do all this legwork.”
“They benefit,” Chaos reminded him. “Not only that, but they work their asses off defendin’ Trouble. He’s their best client.”
Wheels huffed, “More like worst client ‘cause he don’t pay shit.”
Now Zeke was getting annoyed. “Lily didn’t pay fuck all for her goddamn office. She and Ri also didn’t get stuck with some crazy motherfuckin’ school loans. The club covers the business expenses. Those women got nothin’ to bitch about.”
“Women always got somethin’ to bitch about. That’s why they’re called bitches,” Rage grumbled. “Ask me how the fuck I know.”
Their sergeant at arms dealt with a lot of catty-as-fuck women at Heaven’s Angels. He had to get in the middle of quite a few fights that consisted of claws, teeth, and hair pulling.
Normally, that would sound like a good night for Zeke, but in that context, it was a pain in the ass when the strippers were beefing over stupid shit. Add in the fact that their stripper heels could be deadly and he was a hard pass.
“Lily’s gotta do what we tell her to do.” Zeke grabbed the gavel and slammed it on the table. “Okay, let’s fuckin’ vote. If we all agree, then we can take it to the rest of our brothers.”
He wasn’t fucking surprised when everyone yelled out, “Aye.”
He sat back and smiled.