Chapter 29 – Christopher
“Where the fuck’s everybody?”
Val looked up from the sheet of paper Christopher had given him when he walked into his office a few minutes ago. “Like who?”
“Johnnie. Mortician. Kendall. Bailey. All missin’ motherfuckers.
I looked at the footage. Kendall left early Sunday mornin’.
Johnnie took off not long after. Mort and Bailey left that evenin’.
Bailey not talkin’ to me, so even if I texted her she ain’t respondin’.
Besides, she’s only Mort’s woman. Johnnie and Mort, though?
Kendall? The first two motherfuckers high-rankin’ club members and the other one the club’s lead attorney.
All three of those motherfuckers know about the formal signing between the clubs. ”
“Yeah, Prez, but you called the meeting at the last fucking minute.”
“Bash said he ridin’ out early Thursday and he asked us to get the shit done. Ain’t no fuckin’ reason to hold it up. All the shit agreed on.”
“I’m just saying when they left nothing was on the calendar this week. Brooks can handle the signing.”
“I ain’t lettin’ that faintin’ motherfucker around me. I ain’t in the mood. It’s gonna be Diesel. I’m just fuckin’ curious why those other three suddenly left.”
“Four with Bailey.” Val thought about it for a moment. “Maybe they all somewhere trying to work on their marriages, Outlaw. Even if Johnnie didn’t open his fucking mouth, if Mort was going on club business, he would let you know.”
“He usually keep me informed of anywhere he go,” Christopher grumbled. As Johnnie once had. He shoved that thought away. “What the fuck is wrong with these motherfuckers?”
Eyeing him, Val made his way to one of the chairs in front of Christopher’s desk and sat. “You and Meggie arguin’? You seem upset about something and I know it don’t have to do with four willingly gone motherfuckers.”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, Christopher scowled. As much as Megan’s performance in the early hours of yesterday would live in his fucking memory, being away from her tore him up. “I ain’t slept too much. Megan took Rebel back to LA.”
Val widened his eyes. “What you did?”
“What the fuck you mean? Why the fuck her leavin’ my fuckin’ fault. That lil pain-in-the-ass-motherfucker decided to go.”
“I’m glad she decided to leave the girls alone cuz whatever you do usually trickle down to us.”
“I ain’t did nothin’,” he snapped, refusing to admit to the birth control fiasco. “She just decided to fuckin’ leave.”
“And she’s going to keep leaving as long as Rule in LA, Outlaw.
Meggie love her children. That kid’s hundreds of miles away and she don’t even have parental authority no more.
The only reason she haven’t packed the fuck up and demanded you two find a place close to him is because of Jo and you. The club.”
“I sent Rule to the best place for him. Bailey suggested it because I sure the fuck didn’t know what to do.”
“Did she suggest you give the priest authority over Rule, too?”
“We ain’t talked about that,” Christopher admitted, guilty of another crime against Megan.
“Kendall kept her opinion mostly to herself and drafted the documents. Even if I revoke Wilcunt’s power of attorney and whatever else, Rule still’ll be in LA.
He sound like he thrivin’. What the fuck am I supposed to do? ”
“Leave shit as is, for starters. Rule needs consistency. The last thing Meggie want to do is upset him.”
“I know, but I miss my fuckin’ wife.”
“Your daughter coming home soon. I doubt Meggie’ll leave her baby behind and Jo been so sick, she won’t want to put her through the stress of traveling.”
Christopher perked up at Val’s reminder and smiled. “You right.”
“You know what I wonder sometimes, Prez?”
Christopher probably didn’t want to know, but he still responded, “What?”
“You know the canned biscuits?”
Christopher nodded.
“How the fuck they stuff those motherfuckers in that container and how they knew to put that line in them to help open it? You ever think about that?”
“Fuck no! And if your motherfuckin’ ass sit the fuck around and wonder about stupid shit, you got too much fuckin’ time on your goddamn hands.”
“I started thinking about all the other things they could put in there? Cooked bread, for example. Rolls of bacon. Miniature English muffins. Even raw French fries. They can start selling raw potato chips.”
“You mean fuckin’ potatoes?” Christopher demanded, throwing Val a putrid look. “Cuz, motherfucker, that’s raw fuckin’ potato chips.”
“I meant already sliced. You just press that little line, pop the can open—”
“And find rotten fuckin’ potatoes.”
“They won’t rot. They’ll be cold and in that can. If biscuits can survive, potatoes can, too.”
“I ain’t goin’ no fuckin’ further with this conversation, so shut the fuck up. Besides, I forgot to thank you for helping the boys get everything for to Ridge Moore for their big science presentation.”
Ryder and Ransom had spent most of Sunday night gathering all types of shit they needed for their big school project.
Usually Megan bought whatever shit their younger lil’ motherfuckers needed for school, but it must’ve slipped her mind.
He’d told Val not to worry about dropping Ryder and Ransom off.
Christopher had planned to do it since there was so much extra shit for the boys to lug in.
Val promised to help the boys get everything to wherever it needed to be.
Christopher trusted Val, so he’d relented, which gave him more time to miss Megan.
Clearing his throat, Val pursed his lips and then nodded. “I helped them get their shit into the PE Center.”
“I thought that shit was for science.” Christopher was almost certain they’d said it was for fucking science. Their science classes wasn’t in the fucking PE Center. “They had all types of science shit, Val.”
“They asked me to help them get it in the gym locker room, Outlaw.”
That didn’t sound right, but maybe he’d misunderstood. “I’m glad to hear it was all safe. They were really worried about those fuckin’ bees.”
“They were,” Val agreed.
“I got to remember to ask how the fuck they did.” Fuck if Megan knew he hadn’t followed up, she’d equate that to misplacing Gunner. But to keep himself busy while she was away, he’d started thinking about the club, his place in it, and Jana.
It was all but accepted that Johnnie was her old man.
However, something was niggling at Christopher’s brain.
Between wondering if he’d outgrown the club, the club—his family—had outgrown Hortensia, and rounding up as many motherfuckers as possible to do DNA tests before tomorrow night, he hadn’t thought about his children’s lessons.
“Meggie must’ve forgot to mention the science project before she left,” Val said.
“Probably. She was focused on Rebel.”
“You think the boys were telling the truth, Prez?”
“I had to listen to those motherfuckers talk about the bitch bee fuckin’ up the motherfucker bee for an hour. What the fuck else could they want with bees and ants?” Christopher cocked his head to the side. “What the fuck you ain’t tellin’ me?”
Val dropped his gaze. “Nothing, Prez. I…” His voice trailed off and he glanced away. “I was just wondering since Meggie didn’t mention it to you.”
“She do keep up with all that shit. Loggin’ on to the parental portal. Checkin’ dates for different things. Keepin’ up with their progress.”
“Yeah, Puff does the same, but if I don’t do it at least once a week, she hand me my fuckin’ ass.”
“I’m sure she do. Megan good with that shit. I’m not, so I don’t do it.”
“You know if you helped her with some of it, she’d have more time to spend with you?”
Val had a point, one that Christopher never considered. “I’ll see,” he grunted. His hatred of school began in childhood and hadn’t changed, even though he now had his GED. “By the way, thank you for doin’ your swab early.”
Christopher hadn’t known what the fuck to do with himself, so he’d had the motherfucker who would handle the DNA tests come to the club and swab several motherfuckers, himself included. It would take away some of the fucking pressure of Wednesday night.
“No problem, Prez. Puff did hers, too. I think Fee, Cash, and Stretch did theirs.”
“Yeah, Diesel and Jana was swabbed, too.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah, Ima get CJ to do it later.” Done talking about that, Christopher pointed to the paper Val seemed to have forgotten about, even though he still held it. “What you think? A big shipment of guns and drugs that we have to move all points east, north, south, and west. Big payout.”
“Bigger risk, though.”
Sighing, Christopher scratched his jaw. “I know, brother. It would be a huge operation that involved half the club, which is why I wish those two missing motherfuckers were here. I’d have to hit the road, too.”
“For me, it all depends,” Val said.
Christopher lifted a brow. “On what?”
“As soon as I know more, I’ll tell you,” he said mysteriously. “If I can’t do it, I’ll plan the route, but I think Torrin’s next in line to handle a big job.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, Prez. We both know Diesel would want to go. Meggie’ll have a fit if both you and Diesel on this, but there’s no way around giving it to Torrin. It’s on the roster. Diesel and Torrin have each other’s backs on runs.”
“We need to hurry up Diesel’s fuckin’ weddin’. I’ll tell him how much I want grandchildren. That’ll get him to stay.”
Val laughed. “Maybe if it was another chick. Diesel barely spent time with Jana at his party.”
That motherfucker spent too much time with her after the fucking party.
“What if you stay and Diesel go?”
“Val, we talkin’ millions of fuckin’ dollars. Pullin’ in other chapters. How the fuck can I ask motherfuckers to risk themselves if I ain’t willin’ to do it myfuckinself?”
“It’ll be a good payout for the brothers.”
And the individual chapters. The ones who participated would get a bigger cut, but it would still be financially beneficial to everyone.