CHAPTER 18
Sharp
Having breakfast with Shar, I notice that Lira is here, and must have been for some time as everything is ready for the brothers getting up. I think I need to keep an eye on the hours that she’s putting in. I see her at every lunchtime and evening meal. I know she occasionally leaves a meal prepared so she can have an evening off, but she is certainly not getting the two days a week as we agreed.
“See something you like, Sharp?”
Shar throws at me when she sees me watching Lira.
“Nothing like that, Shar. When does Lira take her days off?”
“She was supposed to have one day in the week and every Saturday. Why do you ask?”
Shar stops eating her breakfast and studies me and then Lira.
“I don’t think Lira is having two days a month, never mind two days a week. She won’t be able to keep this pace up for long and then we’ll lose her. How about we find her an apprentice who can take some of the load off her?”
“Sharp… How many women, or even men, do you know that would want to work here with the whores that you have? They cause drama all the time and are bitches to everyone that tries to make a difference or improve the clubhouse. I’m surprised that Lira doesn’t just turn up in a morning and fill a dozen slow cookers and then get the hell outta Dodge. She’d be supplying lunch and dinner in one swoop and keeping out of the skanks’ way, to boot.”
She raises her eyebrows at me, and she has a point.
“The whores were supposed to take on kitchen duties and keep us fed, but we never made a thing of it because the food they prepared was utterly disgusting. I know pigs that eat better food than they served up.”
Thinking back, I seem to recall a time when there was good food coming out of the kitchen. “When we get back, I’m going to have a serious chat with the whores. I’m done with the drama and their lazy-ass ways. They can step up or fuck off.”
Seeing Shar looking at my groin, I frown.
“Just wondering where they grew from and so fast, too!”
“Seriously? I’ve always had the balls to do what needs to be done. Having you around has just shown a lot of us how we’ve let things slide. The first Ol’ Lady that shows up is certainly going to have her hands full.”
“You’d better make sure that she’s the First Lady then, Sharp, because if you don’t there’s sure as hell gonna be fireworks when you get yours and she’s already second fiddle.”
Shar’s grin has me realizing that she’s right. It would be a shit show for a brother’s Ol’ Lady to do all the work and then my Ol’ Lady walks in with it all done. Damn.
Just as we step away from the table, Bank walks in and it’s obvious he’s looking for me. “S’up, Bank?”
“I wanted to give you the lowdown on the tech and hardware store info that we have put together.”
“Okay. Come on, Shar. We’ll have to put off our club visit for an hour or so.”
Once we’re seated in my office, I look expectantly at Bank. Shar is much more in tune with this than I am as she takes the lead.
“Have you found suitable premises for this venture?”
She asks, getting straight in there.
“Oh, hell yeah. On Main Street, not too far from the salon, if either needs help. It will give us a darn good-sized hardware space and the tech area can be secure enough to deter would be light-fingered shoppers from helping themselves.”
Bank is certainly sounding more excited than when he gives the church its financial report.
“Always a good start. How about costs? The tech store will probably take off fast and pay for itself after a couple of months. Do you have the figures to support the hardware side for, say, the first six months of business?”
Shar pops out questions that I may never even have thought of so soon. Sitting back watching and listening to Shar, it’s a damn shame that she isn’t the one for me. She is certainly going to be the complete package for some lucky fucker out there.
“The initial inventory is going to be the killer for us, as with any new business. Do we stock the shelves fully? Or do we have a token shelf fill and keep down on the initial spend? Thoughts?”
Bank looks to Shar and I see her side eye me to get him to direct the decision my way.
“Let’s talk dollars nearer the time, Bank. I don’t want to open a hardware store that looks like it’s been ransacked after an apocalypse, but I don’t want to spend a million dollars on stuff that we might never sell, either. Let’s do some research into what we’re likely to want on the shelves from the get-go and then make the call.”
Shar’s smirk tells me I just scored a home run. We spend an hour throwing ideas and thoughts into the mix before I get bored and need to move my ass. “Right, that’s enough for now. We have places to go, people to see. Shar, let’s get our asses in gear.”
Bank disappears, after giving Shar a hug I notice, and I grin. Maybe there’s still hope, I think to myself.
“Not a chance, Sharp. Not a fucking chance in hell. I’m ready to move on and there isn’t a brother here that can stop me. When I’m ready to move, I’ll be in my SUV and gone.”
“Not if I speak to Axel, and he tells me to look after the club’s SUV.”
“You can wipe that smug look off your face for a start. The SUV is mine, not the MC’s. Axel and Mia gifted it to me. It’s in my name and has been for a while. Suck on that,”
she says, giving me the finger.
“The whole world is against me.”
Making our way out of the clubhouse, I follow her to the SUV and submit to her driving us to Dance Mecca. As we approach, I have to admit that it looks a different proposition altogether. It definitely has a much more upmarket look and feel about it now. It’s only a coat of paint and a new sign, but the difference is phenomenal.
Entering the club, I see a couple of guys at the bar and one or two dotted around tables near the stage. Still early, so it’s quiet and that should give us plenty of opportunity to speak to Stella. Shar heads to the back of the club and tells me we should look at the apartment first.
Walking into it, the first thing I notice is the feeling of space. Everything is bright and fresh, as it should, considering it’s only just been done. The kitchen and dining area look amazing. A chef like Lira would kill for something like this, I’m sure. The living area has dual aspect windows and although they don’t have a spectacular view, they flood the room with light. There are two double bedrooms and that puts paid to having brothers staying over in my books. We can’t use the place as a carrot for the manager and then expect them to have brothers sleeping in their spare room.
“This place is amazing, Shar. Money well spent, if you ask me.”
“I think so too. We looked at increasing the number of bedrooms, but I didn’t see it working as anything more than a two-bedroom apartment.”
“You made the right call, Shar. I don’t see it being a sleepover for the brothers, either. If the manager is taking a salary cut and this is the incentive, then it needs to be their apartment, not a halfway house.”
I look her way to see her response.
“I totally agree. The original idea only works if you rent the apartment out to a brother at a discount for the right to use the spare room as a dormitory. I can’t say I’d want a different brother crashing here every night.”
“Okay. Let’s go see how your Stella can sell herself to me.”
Heading back downstairs to the club, we hear some raised voices as we reach the back of the stage area.
“I’m taking my turn on the fucking pole. All the others are getting good money from working it and I wany my share, too.”
I see Electra in the face of someone that I have to assume is Stella.
“You are not going on the pole, Electra. Not now, not today, not tomorrow. Not ever. You’ll hurt yourself and probably the customer that you land on. It’s just not for you. Jazmine has been working her ass off to learn the pole and she is getting better, gradually, but she has a long way to go. You didn’t want to spend the extra time you were offered, so that was your call. You are here to be a stripper. That’s all. If that’s not enough, don’t let the door hit your lazy ass on the way out. I’m done having this same conversation, day in, day out.”
Electra looks at Stella and we can all see the thoughts running through that tiny mind. Can she take Stella?
Stella helps her decide. “You can’t. Let me make it easy for you. You can’t take me. Not on your best day and me on my worst. I’d tear you apart without thinking about it or breaking into a sweat. Get your stuff together. You’re done here. I am not looking over my shoulder every day. If you’re not out of here in five minutes, I’ll put you out on your bony ass. The clock is ticking, Electra.”
Electra spins round and, seeing me standing there, arms folded, she throws her head back and marches off to the changing area. Seeing myself and Shar, Stella nods and tells us she’ll be free in four and a half minutes, then follows Electra.
True to her word, Stella finds us at the bar and asks if we want a coffee. I accept, and Shar asks for a lemon and lime soda. Once we have our drinks, we take a table in the corner of the room and I look Stella over. This time taking in more detail about her looks, frame and dress sense.
“I liked the way you handled that situation back there. She didn’t faze you in the least, and you never even raised your voice while she was screeching at you. Nicely done, but who gave you the power to get rid of her?”
“Thank you. It’s not my first rodeo and I doubt it will be my last. Some people are not made to pole dance, and she wasn’t even a good stripper. She was too focused on the big money and not enough on how to get to the big bucks. She couldn’t tease the hot water from a tap. Shar told me if I had to remove one of the strippers, I had the right.”
Stella raises her soda in a toast and I have to say it makes me laugh.
“Give me your story and then we can get down to business,”
I say and sit back to hear if Shar’s suspicions come to anything.
“I’ve been a manager of some sort since I was seventeen. I started in a gas station and the boss caught the current manager with his hand in the till. He asked me to watch over the place while he got someone in, but two months later, I’d made the place my own and he gave me the job. Between us we made the place earn its keep, and the sales were on the up and up. The owner died and his son moved back to take over. I was out of there by the end of his first week when he thought I was a bonus for him. He’s probably still talking high pitched. I worked bar for a time in a couple of dives before I got in at a reputable bar in my hometown. I worked my way up from bartender to bar manager to business manager. I got head-hunted from there and, after making a success of another two bars, moved again. Once I was in the corporate sphere of things, I lost the passion. For me, it was always about the people and the job. When it became all about the money, I lost interest. I moved out of the corner office, so to speak, and back to the shop floor. Here I am.”
“Husband? Boyfriend? Kids?”
Shar asks, and I’m glad I didn’t have to ask it.
“Never had the time or the inclination. I’m not a virgin, but I haven’t found the right man yet.”
Stella blushes a little at her own admission.
“Got anything following you around?”
“If you mean trouble, exes or any such, nope. I do have high hopes for my future, but my past is clear. I wanted a fresh start and I always get what I want, one way or another.”
“The job’s yours. We’ll discuss salary, responsibilities and shit another time. The apartment upstairs comes with the job and the salary will reflect that. I get a spare key to the apartment as a security thing. Look forward to seeing what you make of the place. Come on, Shar. Let’s be on our way.”
The trip back to the clubhouse in the SUV is surprisingly quiet and I only catch the odd look from Shar.
As soon as we walk into the clubhouse, all hell is let loose. A woman's scream erupts from the kitchen, and then there’s the crashing of dishes or something. One voice rises above all the noise, and it drips venom. Recognizing the voice as Wendy’s, I dash through the door and am just in time to see Lira facing up to Wendy.
“Shut your filthy mouth, you whore. I’m done with your shit. One more step and I’ll stick your head up your ass. The President gave me full reign over the kitchen, food and menus. What I do is between me and the President. If you don’t like it, take it up with him.”
“He lords it over the brothers. What happens with the women is my business.”
Before Wendy spits another word, I have her by the back of the neck and drag her not only from the kitchen, but out of the clubhouse and to the gate.
As I approach, the prospect opens it and as soon as I am close enough, I throw Wendy to the sidewalk.
“Set foot inside the compound or any of the club businesses and you’re dead.”
Walking back into the clubhouse, I head for the kitchen. Lira is tidying up and just gives me a smile as though this was an everyday occurrence.
After making sure Lira is good, I head to my office, where I sit relaxing behind my desk with my eyes closed. Each day seems to have its own drama, but thankfully, this hasn’t been a bad day.