Mayhem Chapter 11
It was hard to believe a week had passed since Astrid and I came back home.
During that week, a lot was accomplished, and more than one surprise was revealed.
First was how easily Astrid’s things mingled with mine, giving the house a homey feel.
We’d emptied all the boxes she wanted open and had the contents put away or in place by the end of last Saturday.
It allowed us to kick back and relax that night at the clubhouse.
While we were all together at the clubhouse on Sunday, we’d been told wonderful and exciting news.
It seemed that Haven and Tinker had been hiding something.
They let the rest of us in on the secret that day.
Tinker’s efforts to impregnate his wife since their wedding had been a success.
Haven was four months pregnant and due to give birth a few days before Christmas.
They’d waited, wanting to make sure she got through the first trimester.
The news had been met with loud cheers and even tears.
The tears came from Annie, the other women, and Gareth.
Annie spoiled the clubs’ children. Part of it was due to never having any of her own.
I had no doubt she’d spoil her and Gareth’s niece’s kids even more, as they should. We congratulated both of them.
However, they weren’t the only ones with news.
The next night, after church, while everyone was still in the clubhouse, Ink and Alisse announced that they were having baby number two.
When asked why they didn’t say something the night before, they admitted they didn’t want to steal the spotlight from Haven and Tinker.
It was a repeat of the previous night. Their baby wouldn’t be here until mid-February.
Throughout the week, Astrid continued to search for a job. She applied to a couple but hadn’t heard anything. I kept telling her that there was no rush other than for her sanity. I knew something would turn up.
I was sweating until yesterday afternoon. Astrid and some of the old ladies were coming to the auditions on Thursday. All of them loved the invitation. Cheyenne admitted they hadn’t asked because they thought we’d say no. Those not coming would stay home and watch the kids.
The item I wanted to have before then was Astrid’s property cut.
If she was coming to the strip club, I wanted it clear she was claimed and no one better mess with her.
I recalled what happened in the ladies’ room when Haven was there, and Rhea, a club hang-around who wanted Tinker, had tried to jump her in there along with a friend.
It was the first time I met Astrid when she came to Haven’s aid and kept the fight fair.
I lucked out, the cut came yesterday afternoon.
As was our custom, I presented the cut to her last night at the clubhouse.
I asked Reaper to call everyone there for a brief meeting.
When everyone was gathered, I stood up and presented it to her.
Her expression of awe when I slipped it on her and the way she kissed me had gotten me hard.
She exclaimed over it as we both were congratulated.
As I watched her laughing and chatting afterward, I felt pride reading Property of Mayhem on the back, along with our emblem and the Iron Punishers MC.
And as I’d told Cass, on the front, over her heart, was her nickname, Fury.
Today, she was doing something we both wanted to do. Astrid, wearing her cut, was riding on the back of my bike to Punisher’s Eden. She’d been wanting to ride my bike. The others who were going joined us on their bikes. I worked at Eden in the morning, then went home to pick her up.
As we idled at a traffic light, I turned my head and hollered back to her, “How is it? Doing okay?”
She let out a squeal of joy and squeezed my arm. “I love this!” she shouted back. My brothers and the ladies, who surrounded us, all grinned and cheered.
My woman’s cheer grew louder as we took off. There were vehicles all around us. I saw heads turning to watch us pass, not only those in cars but those on the sidewalks. It wasn’t new. Wherever we rode through, we got attention.
At the strip club, since it wasn’t open to the public yet, there were lots of parking spaces.
We pulled up right outside the main door.
There were a few cars here, belonging to staff and possibly applicants.
I held her hand to help her off and didn’t let go until I was sure she was steady on her feet. She didn’t stagger a bit.
“Damn, she’s steady as a rock. Everyone is a bit off on their first ride,” Romulus remarked.
“Then they aren’t used to being on a swaying ship, being in high seas, and then being catapulted off the deck of an aircraft carrier.
You want a rush, do that, and then try to hit a tiny spot to hook to a line you can’t see so that you can land.
It’ll make a real man or woman out of you,” Astrid told him.
“Brother, while I still say she should’ve gone in age order, you have a helluva woman, you lucky fucker,” Crusher said, squeezing my shoulder and winking. Astrid heard him. She shook her head and gave him a mournful look.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Crusher. I was trying not to because I hate the idea of hurting you, but you give me no choice.
You and Hail gave Mayhem a hard time about my not choosing you.
The truth is, I chose Mayhem because he’s manly and alpha enough to handle me.
You two would never be able to do it. I’m not saying you should dress in pink or anything like that, though maybe wearing a dress once in a while is in order. ”
The look of astonishment on those two’s faces had the rest of us rolling and bending over as they sputtered, but nothing came out.
Astrid blew them kisses and then informed them that she knew a great place where dresses were on sale, and she’d send them the link.
Her teasing prompted the other women to offer more of their input on which dresses and colors would suit them best. Hail and Crusher finally put up their hands and surrendered.
“We give up. No more talk about you making a mistake. But that doesn’t mean we won’t get you back for this.
Our goddamn phones are going nuts with links to dress shops,” Crusher growled.
We heard the ping of message after message hitting their cell phones.
The old ladies were busy tapping away on theirs.
“Better be prepared, Astrid. Payback is coming,” Hail warned.
“Bring it on, girls. I can handle you,” she answered, then she blew them a kiss.
“Come with me, Troublemaker,” I teased as I hooked my arm around her neck, drew her to me, and headed toward the door. The others fell in behind us. We entered the club’s central area. Usually, a bouncer would be at the door, but since we weren’t open, it was empty.
I never got over how different it looked by day in here. Many strip clubs I’d been in were dingy, cheap, and smelled of liquor and worse. Ours was nothing like those. For one thing, it wasn’t dingy, and the furnishings and decor weren’t cheap. The smell was pleasant and slightly citrusy.
Staff were at the bar restocking and preparing for the evening ahead. A cleaner was wiping off the tables one last time. We went to tables in front of the stage. The applicants would all come in, one at a time, and present a five-minute dance. Their résumés were printed out and in my cut.
Taking our seats, we sat down, and I took the résumés out and set them on the table. As we were chatting, Astrid removed a stack of papers from her cut. Alissa, who was here with Ink, brought a handful of pens out of hers. She passed them out.
“What are these for?” I asked.
“Well, you see, when we talked about the things you look for when you guys evaluate a dancer, I took note. Then, I conducted some online research and discovered other factors I believe are crucial to consider when hiring new dancers. Then I spoke to the other ladies to get their input. I took everything and put it in a list, leaving spaces for you to rate how well they did at each on a one-to-five scale, with five being the highest rating. This way, you can more accurately demonstrate that you used an official method to make a decision. If any of them happen to come back and say it wasn’t fair, you can show the scoring of all the people judging.
It will help to show a clear winner if people are neck and neck,” my old lady explained.
I stared at her for a minute before I said anything. She was apprehensively watching me.
“Why the hell didn’t we think of this?” I muttered to my fellow Punishers.
“Fuck if I know. Check this out. The list is comprehensive. I can’t think of anything missing,” Spawn stated. He was avidly reading the form along with Kimera.
He prompted the rest of us to read through it. When we were done, I kissed my old lady. When we parted, I smiled. “You’re a goddamn genius. We need to do this for all the positions here and at some of our other businesses. Reaper, what do you think?”
“I think it’s a great idea.”
We sat there chatting about the idea while jotting down a few additions to the main form and coming up with others for a bartender one.
There were murmurs as women entered the place.
Riot was at the door, greeting them and showing them where they were to go and wait to be called.
They would be back in the room, where the dancers prepared for the stage.
One of the current dancers, Dusty, was on deck today to ensure they behaved.
We’d learned long ago that catfights could and would break out if too many catty females competing against each other were left alone.