16
El Jefe
Four more hours, then we’d be back in San Diablo. My crew and I were fucking exhausted. We stopped in Tacoma, Washington to catch a few hours of sleep.
Yes, I could have driven straight through on no sleep because my woman’s life and my club were in danger.
I had a fire inside me fueling my determination. No way would I sleep knowing Miguel was coming for me, or so I assumed. Either way, he was searching for Silvia and wouldn’t stop until he had her in his possession.
But my crew didn’t have the same drive as me. It was fine, sort of. The club meant everything to them. Silvia hadn’t grown on them as she had with me. They were cautious because of Miguel, and I understood.
As president, I made the final call. Silvia couldn’t come before my crew, who’d been on the road with few stops on the run. I needed to trust my girl would be safe with Quino and the others until I got home.
Our last stop arrived. Finally, I could take a leak and call my girl. I had no doubt she would be furious that I hadn’t called. I didn’t have a good excuse, other than, we’d gotten on the road before she was awake.
After relieving myself, I dialed. It would be a short call so we could get back on the road. I just needed to hear her voice.
“Andy!” she answered, happy to hear from me.
“Hi, Chiquita. How are you?”
“Better now that I’m hearing your voice. What took you so long to call? I’ve been worried about you.”
“Sorry, baby. We got an early start. Should get home in around four hours.”
“Really? That’s terrific. I gotta tell you, it’s been stressful here. What is going on with everybody?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mama Virgie has been in the kitchen all day cooking enough food to feed hundreds of people.”
“She does that sometimes.” Like when we were going on lockdown.
“Okay. Then the girls are gathering piles of blankets and toiletry bags.”
“I don’t see the problem.”
“Of course you don’t. Everyone is busy and nobody will tell me why. They won’t even let me help. I don’t know why I’m even here. I’m hated around here.” Her feelings were hurt, and rightly so. I wished I could be there to keep the peace, but she would have to hold on a little longer.
“You’re there because I need you.”
“That’s sweet but it’s not enough.”
“It better be enough, baby. I’d lose my mind without you. Don’t worry about what everyone is doing. You just take care of yourself until I get there.”
Another call was coming in. I pulled my phone away from my ear to see who it was, then I flagged Slay down. “Mija, hold on for a second.”
“Okay.”
“What’s up?” Slay asked.
“Quino just tried calling me but I’m on the phone with Silvia. Find out what he wanted.”
“Yeah.” He stalked back to his hog and took out his phone.
“I’m back,” I told Silvia.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, all good. How’d your tattoos turn out? Did you cry?” I’d gotten Dom to work on the sleeve Silvia wanted. It was a big job, but she only wanted black ink, so I was curious how much had gotten done.
“I love it, and I didn’t cry.”
“Didn’t cry that much, am I right?”
She laughed. “Yeah, I cried a little. Some spots were more sensitive, but overall, it wasn’t bad.” She sounded pleased with the experience, and that made me happy. Dom was an excellent tattoo artist. I knew he’d be good with her.
“Can’t wait to see it.” I caught movement on my left. Slay was coming back over with his phone pointing toward me.
“You’ll see it soon. Four hours, right?”
“Yeah. Four hours.” I jerked my chin at Slay.
He presented his phone. I read the news article about a man found stabbed to death in a bathroom at a local park.
“It’s Javi,” he said in a low voice.
“Son of a bitch!”
“What’s wrong, Andy? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, damn bird almost shit on me.”
“Phew, I thought it was serious.” She giggled.
“It is serious. Bird shit on my leather cut is very serious.”
“Well, I’m glad you escaped the bird poo.” She snorted, and the sound of her amusement soothed my soul.
“I was lucky. But, I need to go so I can get back to you. Better be ready for lots of kisses.”
“Believe me when I say, I thirst for your lips.”
“Same, girl. Same. Be safe, okay?”
“You, too.”
“And listen to Quino. No matter what he says, you follow his orders.”
“Yes, Andy. See you soon.” She ended the call, and I instantly called Q to find out what the fuck was going on in San Diablo.
“Hey, boss.”
“What happened? I thought you had guys watching Miguel and some searching for Javi.”
“I did, but we’re shorthanded with you all gone, so I called them back to the club.”
“Goddammit, he was just a kid. A stupid, greedy kid, but still, he didn’t deserve to die.”
“You know what this means, right? That Miguel knows she’s here,” Quino told me what I already knew.
“Yeah, and now he’s gathering an army to take her back. I guess that’s why everyone is in prep mode. Do we tell her what’s going on?” No wonder Silvia was upset. Everyone was busy preparing for war, and she knew nothing about it.
“I don’t know. She’s convinced nobody likes her,” Quino said.
I swirled my hand in the air, letting my crew know we were getting back on the road.
“Do you like her? You’ve always been good at smelling the bad apples. What do you think of her?” I trusted Q’s opinion, but that didn’t mean I’d end things with Silvia because he didn’t like her.
“If she makes you happy, that’s all that matters.”
“Don’t play that with me. Do you like her? Yes or no.” I connected the call to my Bluetooth so I could be hand-free. We needed to get home asap.
“She’s a good girl. Offers to help. Seems to care about people, even Yoli. She’s just a little young, don’t you think?” Quino just had to bring up our age difference.
“Fifteen years younger, but she’s mature and not silly like some of the club girls.”
“Yeah, I see that. You do what you feel is right for yourself. We’ll accept her if you choose her.”
“I appreciate that. Protect her for me.”
“Of course, boss. Drive safe.”
I ended the call, and I sped ahead.
My ETA (estimated time of arrival): not fucking soon enough.