Chapter 13
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
BamBam
I’m in town today doing the collections for the laundromat the club runs, Sudz and Soak, when an idea pops into my head. It’s something I’ll need to bring to the table, but hopefully, it’ll work plus it’ll give Livy a job and a place to live once she’s able to leave Hope House.
We need an employee who is able to take in laundry, then get it washed, dried, and folded.
Right now, we don’t offer that service, which would probably pay for someone’s salary itself, plus there’s a fully furnished apartment overhead.
A decent salary, plus room and board, would definitely help her get back on her feet.
“How’s it going, Buddy?” I ask the employee who watches the place when it’s open.
“Not too bad, BamBam,” he replies. “Had someone else ask if we were ever going to expand the laundering services here. Hell, we have some people who want their comforters done since their machines at home can’t handle the big bulk loads.”
“I’ll bring it up to Rio,” I reply. “Gonna collect the money then get outta your hair.”
He’s not a bad guy, has lived here his whole life in fact, which means he has his pulse on the community. He hands me the heavy canvas bag we use since most of the machines take either coins or bills. “Need any help?”
“Naw, I got this, I can see you’re busy cleaning.”
We only have a few employees who currently work at this club business, and Buddy takes a lot of pride in ensuring the place stays spic and span.
I know I appreciate it tremendously because the prospects have enough to do at the clubhouse and ranch.
However, if he didn’t, we’d send them in to take care of things. It’s what we do.
“Buddy, have you seen anyone new around town?” I ask as I move down the first row of machines.
I know from experience that by the time I’m done, the bag’s going to be heavy as hell, which is one reason I begrudgingly drove one of the ranch’s trucks into town.
It’s so nice out, I’d have preferred my bike, but there’s no way it would all fit.
Plus, the truck has a hidden compartment that I’ll put the bag in just in case anyone decides that today will be the day they’re going to fuck with the Kings.
“Can’t say as I have, BamBam,” he responds. “But you know if I do, y’all will be my first phone call. This is y’all’s town, after all.”
I barely hide my smirk. One of the reasons Buddy is kind of on the outside of society is he suffered some kind of damage when he was born.
He’s likely slower than what a lot of employers would prefer, but for our needs, he’s perfect.
He’s loyal, does a fantastic job, and takes pride in the fact that he has an ‘important job’ helping others keep their stuff clean.
Personally, I just like the kid. He’s twenty now, if memory serves, and one of his uncles, who was his mom’s brother, was part of the club before he died.
It’s one reason Paps decided to hire him when he was barely old enough to work; as he drilled into all of us at a young age, we take care of those in the Kings family, even if the member ends up passing away.
Since Nexus helped his sister, the club stepped in and took over when he died.
Buddy’s one of ours and when his mom passes away, which hopefully won’t happen for many, many years, we’ll move him onto ranch property and put him in a tiny home or something. Rio’s already mentioned it in the past, and I’m sure there are jobs there that he’ll be able to do as well.
“How’s inventory looking, Buddy?” I question. “Do I need to have Pokey put in an order?”
“Hold on, I looked at that this morning when I opened up!” he exclaims, rushing over to the counter where the cash register resides.
We only have that because sometimes, people need to buy laundry soap, softener, or stain remover.
There are machines that have tiny boxes, but the club as a whole decided to offer larger sizes of several brands of products.
Customers can buy them from us, we label them with their name and then when they come in to wash, it’s one less thing they have to remember from home.
Buddy keeps up with how much they have left so they don’t run out, and we willingly stock what people prefer.
We also have a change machine, a vending machine and a soda machine, which we take care of and fill.
Well, Buddy does, anyhow. He comes back over with a sheet of paper, and I take it before saying, “I’ll get Pokey to order this and have it shipped here.
Glad to see you also put the junk food and sodas on the list too. Makes it easier.”
He grins at me then goes back to the counter and reaches below it, coming out with a bag that I know has the money from the vending machines. “I knew you were coming today so I got the money out, BamBam. I didn’t do the change machine though.”
“Appreciate it, Buddy,” I tell him, taking the bag and placing it inside the one I’m still filling.
“I’ll get the change machine too.” While he doesn’t empty the washers and dryers, he does handle that task for the two vending machines since those items tend to go faster than the detergent does.
If something’s getting low, he’ll call and tell Pokey and then go to the huge warehouse store and buy what is needed and put the receipt in the bag with the money.
Pokey’s tried to get him to just take the cash out of what’s been spent, but he said he doesn’t feel right about doing that. So, he spends his money and Pokey reimburses him. It works for Buddy and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
“No problem at all, BamBam,” he replies before he returns to sweeping the back of the laundromat.
Once I’m finished collecting all the money, I walk over to one of the rolling laundry baskets and place the heavy as fuck bag inside.
Glancing around, I note once again that the place positively gleams. Hell, it even smells clean, which sounds funny, but having been on runs in different places, and having had to utilize a laundromat, I can attest to the fact that they’re not all the same.
“Keep an eye on this for me,” I state as I roll the basket behind the counter. “Gonna check out the upstairs apartment.”
“You got it, BamBam.”
“Yeah, this could work,” I muse as I walk through the apartment.
It’s got two bedrooms, a nice size kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom that is probably one every woman would love to have.
There’s a large soaking tub, as well as a shower stall, plus two sinks and a built-in vanity.
The furniture in the living room appears new-ish, and there’s a queen size bed in the larger of the two bedrooms. We have the items we got for Livy at the clubhouse for Theo, and it wouldn’t take any time to move it here and have it set up for her.
That is, if she accepts the position I’m wanting the Kings to offer her and is comfortable living above the laundromat.
Checking the kitchen, I see it has at least the basics so someone can cook and also eat.
I don’t know if she drinks coffee or not, but if she does, I’ll need to get her a coffee pot.
Everything is clean and ready; now I need to see if the club is okay with offering her a job once she’s allowed to leave the premises.
The best part about it is the fact that with her living upstairs, she won’t need a vehicle.
I’ll definitely offer to take her wherever she needs to go until she can afford to get one.
I know Pokey worked some magic to get a checking account started for her, but as he said, he didn’t want to reroute too much from Jasper’s parents so he didn’t rouse any suspicions.
Considering that they’ve got their fingers in a lot of pots, I definitely agree with him.
“Maybe that’s something she’ll let me get for her,” I murmur to myself. “If she puts up a fuss, I’ll tell her she can make the damn payments.”
Not that I’ll actually take her money. No, I’ll just put it in an account for Theo but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her as far as I’m concerned. It’s time for her to realize that with the Kings at her back, she’ll be able to do whatever she wants.
Satisfied with my inspection, I leave the apartment, close and lock the door then pocket the keys.
The only other thing I would add before I’d let her stay here by herself is a security system including cameras.
Plus, she needs fire extinguishers and a few of the fire blankets I’ve heard about.
There’s a working fire escape as well, and I make another note to myself to check that out to make sure she’s able to access it.
I head back downstairs and into the laundromat and can sense the vibe has changed. “Buddy?” I call out.
“I’m over here,” he replies. Moving to the back corner of the laundromat, I see three guys who are standing around Buddy with their arms crossed over their chests.
Now, I may not wear my cut when I’m in a cage, but I did slip it on when I got out before coming inside. It’s a part of who I am, and I feel naked without it, not that I have to justify anything to anyone else.
“What’s going on?” I bark out, glaring at the three men that I don’t know or recognize.
“This doesn’t concern you,” one of them says, barely glancing over his shoulder at me.
“Yeah, actually, it fucking does,” I snarl. “In case you didn’t notice when you walked in, this is a Kings of Anarchy business and I’m one of the members. So, you wanna tell me why you’re hassling one of my employees?”
I saw where the bucket that Buddy was previously using to mop has been tipped over, water all over the formerly clean floor.
Buddy also has a busted lip which pisses me off even more.
The guy wouldn’t hurt a fucking fly, yet these assholes put their hands on him?
Yeah, that’s not gonna work for me and if they don’t start talking, they’re gonna figure out how I got my road name.
“We were just talking to him,” Asshole Two replies, not answering my question.
“Seems to me that talking typically doesn’t yield a busted lip. Wanna try again?” I hiss between clenched teeth as I quickly shoot off a text to Rio to find out if anyone else is in town.
“We just wanted to know if he knew of a woman with a baby who might’ve moved into town,” Asshole Three finally says.
My spine stiffens and I look closer at the three men. One of them bears a startling resemblance to Livy’s ex. “Why would you want to know that? And what makes you think someone in a laundromat would even know that fucking answer?”
“Because she’s got a kid and will probably need to wash clothes,” the one I now know is Jasper replies.
“Well, we’re not in the habit of giving out information to people we don’t know,” I retort. “So, it’d be a good idea for y’all to mosey along now.”
I’ve found that my accent and some of my colloquialisms tend to give the impression that I’m not all that smart. In this case, I’m doing it to glean whatever information I can so I can be sure that Livy’s still protected.
“Jas, man, there’s no way she made it all the way here,” Asshole Two says. “Not if what you told us is true, anyhow.”
“Yeah, this is a wasted trip,” Asshole One adds. “Sorry about roughing up your employee. No harm, no foul.”
“You see, that’s not gonna work for me,” Rio states, walking up to where the five of us are standing.
“You’re in Kings territory and I don’t know where you’re from, but trust me when I say, nobody fucks with the Kings.
By extension, that means the employees who work in our businesses.
Let’s take this outside, gentlemen. Buddy, Mongrel’s here and he’ll help you get this cleaned up. ”
“Thanks, President Rio,” Buddy says.
It takes me, Rio, Gopher, and Abyss, who apparently all came along with Rio, to get the three fuckers out back so we can interrogate them. I’m almost positive it’s related to Livy, and when Rio asks, “Who are you looking for?” I’m proven correct.
“His girlfriend’s gone missing. Her name’s Olivia Benson, and she’s his baby mama,” Asshole Two quickly states.
“Why would you think she ended up in our town?” Abyss questions. “I mean, hell, we don’t even know where y’all are from, but we’re not in the habit of giving strangers information.”
Jasper shrugs before he says, “Someone saw a truck pulled off the side of the road and said it came from the Triple R Ranch. Did a search and found out where y’all were located. But if you’re saying we’re wrong, then I guess we’ll just head back home.”
I need to take some time and talk to Mongrel, because I didn’t notice a soul around the area when I stopped and found Livy.
Granted, it’s hunting season so it’s possible someone was in the woods and saw us, but without a name, we might never know.
Hell, Mongrel could’ve been spotted buying all the baby stuff when we stopped at the store for all I know.
Regardless, I’ll see if I can figure it out; maybe get Pokey involved so he can check the cameras at the store in case someone was watching or even following Mongrel.
“Not before we take care of y’all hurting our employee. What y’all don’t know is his uncle was a brother in the club. Granted, he’s dead now, but he’s still one of ours and we don’t take kindly to what you did to him,” Abyss retorts.
Before the three men know what’s happening, Gopher, Abyss, and I have all three of them whimpering on the ground.
Hell, I even managed to snap Jasper’s arm…
oopsie! “Now, y’all need to get the fuck out of our town and don’t come back,” Rio decrees.
“Otherwise, we might not be as nice about it the next time we cross paths.”
While the others deal with these fuckwads, I head back inside to see Mongrel and Buddy have put the laundromat back to rights and everything in order, so I go behind the counter to get the laundry cart. “Mongrel, you need a ride back?” I ask as I move toward the door so I can get the truck loaded.
“No, BamBam. I was heading over to the tattoo shop when Rio motioned for me to follow them. I think Abyss got in some new inventory that he needs me to stock, so I’ll go there now and take care of it since we’re done here,” he says.
“That works. Buddy, you call if you have any more problems,” I call out. “Mongrel, be sure to come find me when you get back to the clubhouse, need to talk to you about something.” Mongrel gives me a chin lift before he heads out to take care of shit at the tattoo parlor.
“I will, BamBam. Thanks!” Buddy replies.