Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Gemini
Right now, we’re the epitome of what bikers are thought of as being. We’re sitting around a card table going through applications for prospects, drinking beer. Cards are being played to keep us from getting uptight because this process is a pain in the ass.
“We can’t have a clubhouse full of prospects,” I state. “We need officers but we’re blind when it comes to knowing who to bring in and who to reject.”
“You’re going to need to bring in men to interview soon, Gemini,” Riptide announces. “Rio and I have obligations waiting for us at home. We can’t be here indefinitely.”
Hercules, who is working on the main room’s wiring, glances over at Midas and the two share a look. “What?” I ask, letting it be known that I was paying attention to their silent communication.
Midas clears his throat and waves Hercules over.
As soon as his ass hits the seat, he leans forward and nods his head at Midas.
“We have a few men in mind if you want any recommendations,” Midas admits.
“My nephews and some of Hercules’s crewmen prospected when Rocco was in charge but they didn’t show up to the patch-in party when his true colors came to light. ”
Rio, now interested in what’s being said, lays down his cards and leans forward. “They went through the entire prospecting stage and were close to patching in?”
“A hair’s breadth away,” Midas conveys. “Rocco had enemies and the night before they were due to receive their rocker, one of those people paid a visit and a lot of things came to light, which is what led me to start my own internal investigation.”
“It’s a damn good thing you did,” Riptide states.
“Tell me about these men,” I command, interrupting. “How many are we talking about?”
“Enough to fill the officer positions,” Midas concludes.
“Whereas that’s good to know, those positions won’t be filled until the men we bring aboard prove themselves,” I declare.
“Nine tenths of them have military backgrounds so they already understand the brotherhood and how it works,” Hercules informs me. “My men want that back, but won’t step foot on Kings’ property until they know for a fact it’s been reconstructed.”
“Which it has,” Mercury discloses.
“But for them, that’s only a rumor,” Hercules adds. “They have the skills and aptitude you need to rebuild the club, plus, they are regarded in town. They’re looked up to and if you can convince them to give you a chance, the townsfolk will follow their lead.”
“Call them up, see if they’re willing to come in and scope us out,” I suggest.
“Was waiting on word from you to do that,” Hercules admits, whipping his phone out of his flannel shirt pocket and dialing a number. He stands up and walks away so his conversation stays private. Probably because it’s going to take him a bit to convince them to give us a chance.
“That would lift a weight off your shoulders if these men pan out,” Riptide inserts.
“It’d keep the headaches at bay,” Rio tacks on.
“Not all of them,” Orion points out. “We still have a town full of skittish people when we walk through, store owners who close up shop when we try to go in, and no allies. We have our work cut out for us.”
“Not to mention, we’re strapped,” Pisces emphasizes. “We have start-up funds for the businesses but if we don’t have customers, we’re screwed.”
“I suspect when Orion opens up his shop, whether they trust us or not, they’ll come,” Midas advises. “Simply because the best shop around is three counties over. Folks can’t afford to take a whole day off to get their cars serviced.”
“No, they can’t,” I reply. “Sounds like that needs to be one of our first priorities, then.”
My head positively aches with all the numbers and information stuffed inside of it right now. Looking at Rio, I ask, “What do y’all think?”
He looks at his SAA, Gopher, who came with him and nods. “Tell him what y’all figured out.”
Gopher and one of their prospects, Mongrel, have been out and about in town without their cuts, getting the lay of the land.
“Well, there’s definitely some curiosity from the townspeople, since you guys have moved in.
Some people are leery, of course, because of the hell that Rocco and his cronies laid at their doorstep, but there are others who want to give y’all the benefit of the doubt. Mongrel, anything you wanna add?”
I suspect Mongrel must be close to patching into the West Texas chapter to have come along on the trip, and my suspicions are proved correct when Rio says, “Go ahead, Mongrel. You’ve proven yourself to us time and again with your observations. Tell Gemini what you noticed.”
“Like Gopher said, it’s a mixed bag around town.
They like Midas and don’t lump him in with the former members of the club, especially the men who enjoy their moonshine.
Some of the older people worry that they’ll be forced to pay protection money again, which we know won’t happen, but we couldn’t tell them that without giving away that we’re Kings.
I think it’ll take some time, and a few goodwill efforts like doing a run for some cause or something, before they begin to change their mind,” Mongrel says.
“I did see flyers around town asking for people to volunteer to be part of a search and rescue team since there are so many trails around and folks get lost all the time.”
“That would be something we could do,” Mercury interjects. “We’ve all got our SAR training from Texas and I can check to see what it would take to get certified in Montana as well. We’d already have a squad ready to go, what do you think, Gemini?”
“I mean, we’ve got the skills already, so it couldn’t hurt,” I admit. “Could also turn into a business venture for the club as well, on a broader scale, of course.”
“We’ve already got an established squad,” Orion reminds us. “We have a reputation for finding people who get themselves lost. If we put in our own application and they look us up, it could help gain us the reputation we need to gain trust.”
“Even the government has hired us to go into places that most men wouldn’t,” Pisces tacks on. “I’m sure once the word gets out about that, we’ll be looked at differently.”
“I’m onboard. Why don’t we go to the town’s website and fill out the forms,” I suggest, looking at Pisces who’s our go-to for things such as this.
“One day, someone else needs to help pick up y’all’s slack. What’s your opposition to sitting behind a laptop and checking off a few boxes,” Pisces complains. “I’m the road captain, not the tech man nor am I the secretary.”
“But you’re so good at it,” Orion teases. “Why change something when it’s not broken?”
“That brings up a good point,” I say, interrupting what’s bound to become a sling fest of bad jokes and worse puns between the two. “We need someone who is more than proficient when it comes to technology and shit.”
LoneStar clears his throat, gathering our attention. When all heads swivel his way, he tells us. “I got a guy that’s interested in club life, but he has no experience with the brotherhood. He’d have to come in as a prospect, but I don’t think it’d take long for him to earn his stripes.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense, LoneStar,” Riptide grumbles. “You know I can’t stand that shit.”
“I know, but I need to know if that’s something the guys are opposed to or not,” LoneStar explains, waving his hand in our general direction.
“His screen name is nearly kismet with y’all’s,” LoneStar teases. “He goes by Orbit. Because he can hide with the stars, or so they say.”
“How do you know this guy, LoneStar?” I inquire.
“Grew up with him. He was our neighborhood hacker. He got into the school’s system and switched our grades so we could either play ball or keep ourselves out of hot water with our folks. He never, not once, got caught. He’s that damn good.”
Pisces leans forward, his interest piqued. “Would he be willing to relocate? Better yet, would he take over the duties of all the damn computer work so I can concentrate on other things?”
“Yes and good luck keeping him off the computer,” LoneStar snickers. “My advice if y’all bring him onboard, is to give him a dedicated room because his set up is sick.”
Orion, who’s been staring at Gopher finally asks, “How the fuck did you get your road name?” His question has Rio and Riptide snickering.
I roll my eyes because leave it up to the jokester of the group to guide us to another topic instead of staying with the one we’re on.
But I am curious about it myself, so I keep my trap shut.
“Because he can always find the holes,” Rio finally barks out through his laughter. “When he first started prospecting, all the girls flocked to him because of his pretty boy looks, and it wasn’t long before he was getting more pussy than he knew what to do with.”
Gopher’s cheeks turn red but he merely shrugs. “What can I say? I’m a chick magnet.”
That has all of us laughing, because it almost sounds like something my dumbass cousin would say, and judging by the look on Orion’s face, he’s done so a time or two. Stupid fuck.
“Alright, so, the guys are willing to come by and talk to y’all,” Hercules advises as he comes back to the table. “No guarantees, of course, but I made it clear that the old ways were dead and gone and there was a new hierarchy in town.”
“My nephews are willing to come in as well,” Midas adds, looking down at his phone. When I raise my brow at him, he says, “I texted them in our group chat instead of calling them since they hate answering the phone.”
I understand that one; since texting became so common, my thoughts are why answer a call since anyone who knows me knows I’d prefer to respond to a text or email than speak to a person.
Especially since so many calls these days are those damn robo calls.
Yep, give me a good text thread and I’m A-okay.
“Uno, fuckers!” Orion screeches.
“You dumbass, we’re playing Texas Hold’em,” Pisces jeers. “No wonder you always lose.” I hang my head because that’s an entirely different deck of cards.
“Whatever, you miserable prick,” Orion grumbles. “I’ve got one card left, so Uno!” I look heavenward because he’s going to give me a stroke before I hit forty.
“I see your crew is as unhinged as mine,” Riptide states.
“You have absolutely no idea how true that statement is,” I retort.
“It’s like a herd of cats,” Rip adds. “Toss in someone like Icer and it goes thermonuclear. Oh, and let’s not forget his buddy, Shade. I swear to God how I’ve not had a heart attack yet is anybody’s guess, because the two of them keep my blood pressure elevated.”
“You’ve got that right,” Rio says. “He’s unhinged on a good day, but now that he’s got an old lady, he seems a bit… calmer.”
LoneStar and Riptide both start laughing while shaking their heads. “Yeah, that’d be a big fat fucking no, Rio. He’s still obsessive with the kids, but with Letty, he has taken it up a notch,” LoneStar wheezes out.
“Try ten notches and you’re close,” Rip corrects through his own wheezing.
I need to meet these new brothers, because I thought my cousins and I were forces to be reckoned with, but it sounds like our new brotherhood has a few more loose cannons. Good times, I’m sure.