14 Grip
Grip
Sitting at the table, my leg bounced, and I was about ready to crawl out of my skin.
An emergency Church meeting was never a good thing.
I mean, fuck, I knew it was coming since we weren’t but a few hours past getting back after our shipment had been jacked, but the fact that we were here meant we were on edge and had to be alert.
“Those Crown snakes need to fuckin’ pay,” Kneecap growled.
He was about ready to jump up and go runnin’ in the direction of those fuckers. Not that I could blame him. I would be right behind him if he did.
“I’ve stopped all runs until we get this shit settled,” Ice said, giving a pointed look to Kneecap. “Road Warriors ain’t happy this happened. We’ve gone too many years with nothing going wrong, and they are challenging us as to why this happened now.”
The Road Warriors were the MC to the north who we sold to.
We grew, they distributed. It worked well for us since we didn’t want to get into the mess of doin’ street deals.
While weed was legal in Arizona, it was put under strict laws and heavy fines.
Fuck that. We weren’t gonna pay no taxes on that shit.
We wanted to grow, we grew. Fuck the law.
It also helped that the Road Warriors lived right on the border of Utah, where it was only legal for medical use.
We’d had a good relationship for years, and I was pissed it was now shaky because we’d let this fuckin’ shit happen.
“Ain’t our fuckin’ fault,” Bones said, his normally light brown eyes were near black.
“We should have been watching them more carefully with all the shit going on over there,” Ice said, and the look on his face said this big mishap was on him.
“Where the fuck is Jack? What happened to him? Is he laid up in a ditch somewhere and Drain Pipe just happened to take advantage of that, or did that sneaky snake fucker do something to him?”
“Is this really what we need to be focusin’ on?
” I asked. I wasn’t surprised at the instant glare I received from Prez.
“I just mean, doesn’t matter where Jack is, he doesn’t have control over his own club.
Clearly, Drain Pipe is runnin’ the show.
We’ve rubbed each other the wrong way for years, but now it’s a damn problem.
They fucked with us. Jack or no Jack, that club has gone too fuckin’ far. ”
The last thing I would have done was show disrespect to Prez, especially at his table, but I had to say somethin’.
By the way the agreeing murmurs floated around the room, it was clear that I wasn’t the only one thinkin’ it.
“We ain’t gonna let this go,” Prez assured the table. “We also ain’t gonna go in there half-cocked, running around like a buncha chickens with their heads cut off. Bein’ stupid gets you dead, and I know I’ve said this enough it should be tattooed on the inside of those thick fuckin’ skulls.”
“Then what?” Torch, the Secretary, asked.
“How them guns lookin’?” Ice asked Whiplash. As Sergeant at Arms, he should know right off the top of his head what we had on stock and what we could get our hands on real quick if we needed to.
“Enough to go to war and still be prepared for what comes after. Sittin’ pretty, and I got someone I can call should we need to.”
“Good,” Prez said, looking pleased. Well, as pleased as his icy ass could look.
“I say we take a day or two. Let them think we’re rollin’ over.
Let them get comfortable with it, let their guard down a little.
While we’re doing that, we’re also gonna be trying to track down Jack.
Need to know what happened to him. We need to be armed so we can come at them from every angle. ”
“What does it matter about Jack?” Teller asked. The normally reserved Treasurer was lookin’ like he was ready to say fuck the bullshit and go to war.
“I’m all for putting down people if we got to.
And I’m feeling the rage. They fucked with my club, so if anything, we need to blow a bigger hole in the side of their boat.
Need to let them know they can’t fuck with us and get away with it.
Hell, if I could guarantee I’d see every single one of you sitting at this table tomorrow, my ass would already be on my bike with extra clips in my pockets.
” Ice eyed the table with a look that made my insides shrink up.
“But I can’t. And I won’t go tossin’ you in harm’s way just because I’m pissed. ”
Fuck. He was right. Just because I knew that didn’t mean I was happy about it.
“No one does anything, you hear me?” Ice eyed the table again.
A bunch of grumbles rose up as everyone unhappily agreed.
“Whiplash and Vike, I’m sending you out tonight to watch those bastards,” Ice said.
My lips pressed into a thin line because I wanted to be the one going with Vike.
Not because I didn’t think he would be okay without me, but because I wanted to be there to watch his back.
I mean, he didn’t really need me.. Surprisingly, Vike could get around like a damn shadow despite his size.
Never figured out how he did that shit. Loud when he wanted to be and quiet when he needed to be.
That was the way he’d always been since the day I met him.
“We’ll figure more out tomorrow once we have information.
” Ice turned his attention to our computer nerd before he started speaking again.
“Virus, want you diggin’ up any and all kinds of property the club or Drain Pipe might own.
We’re gonna check those out, make sure there ain’t no dead bodies hanging around. ”
Virus nodded and made a quick note on his tablet.
“Hey, so, question?” Target piped up.
“You know when you ask that, you’re already asking a question, right?” Whiplash shot back with.
“Yeah, but that one don’t count. It’s like bein’ polite or somethin’.”
“Your club slut momma teach you that?” Torch asked with a smirk.
The table chuckled. It was funny because, while Torch and Target didn’t share the same club whore mom, they did share the same dad and his preference for knockin’ up the club girls.
And though their moms weren’t the same person, they were basically cardboard cutouts of each other.
“No, my grandma did. Thank you very much,” Target snapped, making Torch roll his eyes. “Anyway.”
“Go ahead, Target,” Ice said, doing his best to wrangle the table in.
“What are we gonna do when we prove Drain Pipe is behind this?” Target asked.
“Kill him,” Kneecap answered with a hint of duh, you fuckin’ moron in his tone.
“But not before we break every bone in his body,” Bones added.
“Can we string him up by his toes?” Target asked, damn near about to bounce off the edge of his seat with excitement.
Sometimes, it really was easy to tell he was the youngest one at the table. Still so eager to find new ways to torture people. The rest of us had already done our experimenting, and we knew the things that both satisfied the hunger inside of us and got the job done efficiently.
“How would that hold?” Two Lanes asked, looking a little perplexed. The Road Cap’s gaze shifted to Slice, the club doc, as if hoping he could answer. “Wouldn’t the weight just like pull the toe out of the socket—”
Whiplash made a retching noise.
“Really? That’s what gets you?” Slice sounded thrown by Whiplash’s reaction. “I’ve seen you grind someone up into human burger meat and feed it to your vultures.”
Whiplash had two pet vultures. Randy and Kandy, with a K.
They weren’t really pets in the sense that he kept them in cages and fed them regularly.
Somehow, he’d found them not long after they’d hatched and the damn things imprinted on him.
They came around his property often enough, you’d think he was their mama.
And he did feed them sometimes, usually when we had evidence to get rid of. Guessed they kinda came in handy.
“I don’t like it when the bones—” Another retching noise from Whiplash’s corner accompanied by a heaving motion of his body. “Pop out of the socket.”
“Don’t you fuckin’ throw up on my table,” Ice said sternly.
“I can’t—” Whiplash said as he pushed away from the table, his head shaking frantically. “Quick, talk about something else!”
“Titties,” Target said with a wide smile. “Big ol’ titties in a wet teeshirt contest.”
Torch sighed, Slice looked at him as if he couldn’t believe the kid had said that, and I tried not to chuckle.
Whiplash nodded, the color coming back to his face.
“We talkin’ like outside kiddie pool in summer or is there ice in there?” I asked, not being able to help myself. It was fun gettin’ under Prez’s skin sometimes.
“Hell yeah, there’s ice. Get them nips nice and pointy. No bra, but when she takes off her top, it’s stuck to her body, so you get that heavy titty drop when she rips it up.” Target looked smug with himself.
“Thanks, brother,” Whiplash said to Target.
“Can we get back to it, or are we just gonna be a table of pussies and let these fuckers jack our shit with no retaliation?!” Bones sounded pissed. Ice’s expression conveyed everything VP had said only silently, and somehow it came off more deadly.
Everyone put on their serious faces and focused back on Ice.
“If I got a reason to kill that little fucker, we’re gonna kill him,” Prez said, leaning one arm on the table and shooting every single one of us a pointed look.
“But I gotta have a reason. Because we don’t need other clubs out there thinking there ain’t no law to our kind.
So prove to me that it was Serpent Crowns and show me that Drain Pipe led them into it, and I’ll give the execution order no problem. ”
Yeah, somehow the lawless even held some kind of law. Made sense. Didn’t want no post-apocalypse, rough riders shit going on. Even some kind of order was important among our kind.
“I’ll see what Whiplash and Viking come back with in the morning, and I’ll go from there. Don’t wanna drag this out, but I also don’t want to run in like a bunch of blindfolded dumbasses.”
The acknowledgments ranged from mumbled okays to strong ayes .
“That’s all for now,” Ice said, dismissing the table. I started to rise, but froze when he added, “Vike and Grip, stay.”
Bones also kept his seat.
The brothers weren’t very good at hiding their curiosity as they filed out.
“I haven’t had time to deal with… what’s her name’s shit yet,” Ice said, looking annoyed.
“I know we got a promise to keep, and I plan on keepin’ it, but I don’t even know what the hell she wants here.
As far as I can figure, she came here looking for a place to hide out for a bit, but I need to know if there’s more to it than that. ”
“Ivy,” I said, feeling the need for him to know her name. Wasn’t sure why, and it kinda bothered me that I’d blurted it out like that. The narrow-eyed look Prez shot me said he hadn’t missed it either.
I agreed with him as far as Ivy’s situation went.
I needed to know more, but I wasn’t sure how deep I should dig.
Should I have been askin’ her questions?
Tryin’ to figure out what the hell was goin’ on?
Maybe if I spent less time fuckin’ her or thinkin’ about fuckin’ her, then I might be useful.
What was I supposed to do? She had my damn head spinning.
“You ain’t come asking about what she said,” he pointed out coolly. It was almost like this situation amused him, but it was only for a fraction of a second.
I looked at Vike. It was clear he hadn’t asked Ice anything either. Shit. What the fuck were we doing? Did I want to know? Maybe, and maybe not. I wasn’t sure I could handle hearin’, and that in itself said something. But I was gonna ignore that for a little longer.
“What…” I cleared my throat and tried again. “What did she say?”
As Ice filled me in on her piece of shit dad and how he planned to marry her off to a fuckin’ lawman, of all things.
My blood was boiling, and I didn’t like that.
Vike was vibrating beside me as he tried to hold his shit in.
The fuck was even happening? When Ice said Ivy’s dad had hit her before, all I could think about was making that man dead.
“Has she asked for anything?” Ice asked.
“Not that I know of,” I replied to Prez before turning to look at Vike. He shook his head. I didn’t think they’d had any heart-to-hearts, but what the fuck did I know? Maybe he’d gotten something out of her while she was braiding his hair… while he was letting her touch him.
I tried not to go there, but it was like my mind had a hold on it somethin’ fierce.
She was startin’ to be the only thing I thought about.
Her. Her and Vike. Then just her again. No woman should ever have torn me up the way she had been, and I was starting to think she’d become a weakness, a goddamn liability.
“Alright, well, I can’t deal with it now. Tell her she’s at least got protection until we get more important shit sorted out.” Ice paused, studying me, then Vike with sharp eyes. “You think she’s trouble?”
I jerked back at his question.
Ivy? Sweet little virgin, Ivy? Well, not so much a virgin any longer at this point, but still. The one who treated Viking like he was something special and not a freak? The one who took what I had to give and didn’t ask for more?
“Nah,” I said casually as Vike inserted a strong and forceful, “No.”
Look who was showin’ their cards now.
I’d smile if Prez wasn’t lookin’ right at us, watching like he needed to figure out the future in order to be prepared for it.
“Fine. Get out of here. Keep an eye on her.” He looked mostly at me as he said this. “Vike, I’ll see you before you head out tonight. If Virus has anything on the properties, I’ll let you know.”
Vike nodded respectfully, letting Ice know he’d heard him.
I got up and left, Viking a few steps behind me.
I could feel Ice’s eyes on me the whole time.
I didn’t dare turn around and look at him, likely still sittin’ there at the head of the table, not moving until Vike and I had fully cleared out.
My skin crawled at what Prez and VP were gonna talk about, but I tried to ignore it.