Chapter 1 #2
We stand in comfortable silence, which we often tend to do.
There’s a shit ton of history between us, most of it our own, but some of it shared.
Children in the Keep played together until the boys were old enough to help the men with the manual labor, and the girls took on cooking and laundry.
I’ve known Loyal Blessing since the day she was born, me being only a few months older.
We grew up together and yet, I know nothing about this woman.
Much like she knows nothing of me as the man I am today. But I don’t mind. We have time.
Clearing my throat draws Loyal’s bright blue eyes in my direction, “Dex, the President of our Chapter, has asked you to join us for Church.”
Her perfectly arched brows fly up at this and I raise my hands to placate her, “Not like that. Shit, not like that.” I huff out a laugh, fuck, I almost sent the woman into orbit with that one.
“In a motorcycle club, Church is where we go to discuss things that will affect how we run, and the people we look after.”
“Like the Council?” she asks, suspicion clear on her features.
I get it. I get where she’s coming from.
She’s spent her whole life behind these walls.
I had the good luck to be kicked out, even though it didn’t seem like it at the time.
Shit, even what Blanche went through seems tame compared to what shit went down when our youngest sister Lovely was living here.
It seems after Mercy Landry’s eldest children left Eden’s Keep, it all went to fucking hell in a hand basket.
Loyal is probably thinking the same shit is gonna happen again.
I move to reach out to her, exhaling in relief when she doesn’t flinch. Placing my hands gently on her shoulders, I feel the tension vibrating underneath before it slowly leaches from her body.
“Listen, Loyal, the DRMC, we aren’t like those fucking monsters. We want to help people, not harm them. We have resources to help more than you and I could have ever imagined. You know me, you know my brothers. If you could just, please, trust me?”
She takes a deep breath, my hands rising and falling with her shoulders.
Her steely gaze meets mine before she nods her head jerkily.
“I will trust you, this time. But if it turns into something too familiar, too much like our past, I won’t hesitate to kill you to protect the others.
” Her eyes dart to the play area and the guests we have staying here.
“Thank you, Loyal.”
Loyal
I try to act unaffected when Victory, no, Vex, when Vex removes his hands from my shoulders and moves to walk beside me.
I’ve been working hard to not flinch when in the company of men, and I feel like I’ve come a long way, but that one touch, that one innocent touch from Vex makes my insides bubble and fizz in a way they never have before.
All my life, from my earliest memory, hands have hurt.
They have pinched, slapped, hit. They’ve squeezed and pushed, forced on me and inside me.
Then there were the kicks and bites, the implements used to discipline and torture.
Always hurting, never soothing, and yet one touch from Vex has me craving something I have never once thought I needed or deserved. Comfort. Kindness.
The thoughts rattling around in my brain distract me from the thought that I am following Vex into a room full of men.
Into a place where the council used to decide what happened to us.
A place now referred to as Church by gruff, rough, tattooed men.
Sometimes I can’t believe this is my life.
This is my lot. But then I remember that I’m not useless and dumb and ugly like I’ve been told over and over by men much more useless and dumb and ugly. I help people.
Vex pushes the doors open and I follow him through, steps heavy.
I’ve been here once before. I steady my breathing reminding myself that I’m with Vex, not Elder Goodson.
I never once called him husband. A husband is a man who cares for his wife, the type of man who worships her, who chooses to lift her up above all else.
Not a man who treats his dog better than the woman he professed to love and honor.
I shudder involuntarily, pushing the first and only time I visited this place out of my mind.
There is no space for those thoughts. Not when Vex indicates an empty seat for me to sit in.
Following his instructions I try not to stare too wide eyed around the table.
The DRMC men are all huge. I’m not a small woman, at 5’5, but I know I’m not big either.
Vex is around 6’ tall, the other men around the same.
Some hulking, some leaner like swimmers.
All of them look at me with kind faces, something that startles me, unsettling me to my core.
Men who sit here, in these seats are meant to look at me with disgust, not like I’m a peer.
“Thank you, Loyal, for joining us. I’m Dex, President of the Keep Chapter.
This is Sniper,” he points to the dark haired man on his left, who I remember from the day everything changed.
He tips his chin, his eyes not even bothering to hide his pain.
“He’s my vice prez, if you ever need anything and you can’t find me, Sniper is your man.
Chef is our Sergeant at Arms, he helps with security, that sort of thing, Omen is our Enforcer, similar to Chef but he helps with the more unsavory people we have to deal with.
” I nod and smile at Wisdom Landry, now known as Omen, “TumTum is Road Captain, and you know Saint from your childhood.” I smile at Christian Landry, who grins back, the less serious of the three brothers.
“Yo, what am I? Chopped liver?” A gruff, growling voice draws my attention to the end of the table where a grizzled looking older man sits.
The leather of his cut looks soft and worn over the years, much like his handsome face.
His eyes twinkle and he gives me a wink that has my lips automatically tipping up.
Prez lets out a sigh. “And that is Flack. Kinda like the granddaddy of this chapter.”
“Whoa, shit, watch your mouth, I ain’t no chapter granddaddy!” he growls, but I see the smirk he gives me.
“Flack, you are literally a granddad,” Chef points out and I’m surprised by his low, smooth voice.
Flack flips the bird at him. “I’m Jovie’s granddad, no one else’s. Especially not you shitheads.”
“Classy,” Dex, or Prez, as his vest says, looking bored before he settles his gaze on me.
I try not to squirm in my seat, locking down my expressions like I have time and time again.
“Loyal, we asked you here because we want an update on how the Keep is running. How many families do we have, their needs, how you find rescues, what you do with them once they come in? I want a better understanding of how we run. I want to know your suggestions on how we make this better, more efficient, running costs, all that sort of shit that us boneheads know nothing about.” He nods gently at me, obviously ignoring the surprise on my face.
For the first time in my life, someone is asking my opinion and thoughts on something.
Actually, no, that’s a lie. Vex asked me my opinion when he approached me about his plan to use the Keep as a sanctuary.
I was all in. The plan was solid and I have experience after my time funneling rescues to Blanche Landry.
The woman who unknowingly saved me the day she helped me get a young, pregnant woman away from her abusive husband.
She gave me a lifeline to the outside world.
A much needed contact who would update me on the new lives the women and men Justice and I had saved.
Clearing my throat I glance at Vex, who nods encouragingly before I make eye contact with the Prez.
“Um, in terms of families, it depends if you mean here at The Keep, or in the wider Keep community,” his brows furrow a little.
I glance at Vex who gives me a warm smile to keep going.
“In the Keep community, which runs our gardens, orchards and livestock we have six families. They were good people who opted to stay after the ah, clearout. Justice checks in with them regularly to make sure business is ticking over and that they feel safe and happy.” I take a deep breath and exhale.
“As for this side, the sanctuary side, we have two families and a young man at the moment. We have Nell and her daughter Greer, Roger and his daughter Izzy, and River. They came from a cult up in New England, and arrived around a month ago.” My hands twist a little.
“And how do you find them? The rescues?” Sniper asks softly.
I clear my throat, my breathing slowing a little now that I’m not so nervous.
My pulse is still racing, but not as it was.
“We hear about the rescues through our networks. They may have expressed that they wanted to leave or have actively sought our help. Once our networks have deemed them to be serious and ready to go we move into transportation logistics. We have people ready to go in with SUVs and trailers to pick up families and their belongings and they pass them onto the contacts we have dotted everywhere. Not as wide spread as we would like, though. At the moment everyone we use is an ex-member that was rescued by Blanche.”
Dex nods at the information, running a hand down his short dark beard. “How many contacts are we talkin’?”
“Well, at last count, we have around 100 people give or take. Some of the older children have now joined and are running nodes as well.”
“Nodes?” Flack asks, leaning forward, interest sparkling in his eyes.
“Each contact node consists of a driver, someone with first aid knowledge, a handler that is in contact with the next node in the chain and the person who will handle the safe house, so to speak. Some people hold multiple roles within the network.”
“That’s fucking brilliant. Like the Underground Railroad network,” a lean, young blonde man says. Looking at his patch his name reads TumTum.
“That makes Blanche Harriet Tubman,” Flack says, eyes twinkling.
“Exactly,” I smile, more confident now I can see the excitement and dare I say it, respect in the men’s eyes.
“How do you protect the links in the chain? What if, say, the women and children were followed to their first safe house?” Sniper asks quietly, a frown on his sharp features.
“If the caller or handler thinks they have been compromised they will skip the first safe house and move closer to the next. Handover will happen at a business or property owned by other ex-Eden’s Keep members.
For example, if Kentucky has been compromised they may head on to Mississippi where handover will take place at a restaurant an ex-member owns.
The rescue will then travel via water to the Landry’s Gator Sanctuary before ending up here.
” I look around the table, watching the men work through the information I’ve given them.
I know it’s impressive. I thought so too when I first found out about what Blanche had created. Dex’s head slowly turns to look at the Landry brothers, all sitting in a line, Vex next to me, then Omen and Saint.
“Fuck. I just think of Blanche as Tav’s badass wife, and you lot as weird alligator bayou folk. You fuckers have created a sophisticated way for us to help more people than I think you even realize.” Flack nods, the other brothers grinning at the description of them.
“OK, well, that side of the business seems sound. What we need to do is come up with cashflow ideas. We have enough of a start up from the DRMC to invest in some businesses to get us up and running, but they need to be money makers. We wanna help people? We gotta fund this shit somehow.” Dex looks around the table, waiting on suggestions.
Ideas fizz in my bloodstream, the idea of more money meaning more resources to help more people. I’ve been helpless, lost hope, I don’t want that for others.
“Well, we have the sanctuary and boat tours which our cousins run from our old site. That’s still bringing in wages, and our gator rehab clinic out back is set to open here in two weeks,” Saint offers.
“We could always use a hand,” Omen agrees. “There’s also a store front not far from here, it used to do booming business selling bait and fishing shit, but the old man retired and moved deep into swamp country.” Dex nods at the information.
“I did a ride through the town earlier, they have a run down garage that’s been closed for a while. A fine lady at the diner told me the owner fell ill and now people have to go two towns over to get their cars seen to. Figured at least half of us have mechanic backgrounds,” Flack says.
Dex nods slowly, taking in the information.
“Sniper, I want you looking into these properties. Vex, I’ll take you with me to view them.
You know the area and the people.” He turns to look at me, sitting quietly watching how these men work.
There’s mutual respect. Everyone’s opinions are heard.
Everyone has a say. “Loyal, thank you for your feedback. I know you help look after the people in our care, if you need or want anything that you think will help, please let us know.”
I stare at Dex’s calm, kind face before my eyes dart around the table.
There is something I’ve been wanting that I think will help, but I’m not sure I can do it.
I hesitate, not sure if I’m brave enough to speak the words on my tongue.
I open my mouth and nothing comes out, perhaps it’s a dream that remains just that.
“Breathe, sweetheart, you can do this.” My eyes snap to Vex’s at the endearment, shocking me out of my thoughts.
“I want to become an EMT. We have people with basic first aid knowledge, but we don’t have enough health care workers in our system. Many of our rescues come in hurt and traumatized. I-I think I can help make a difference,” I blurt out, my eyes turning wide when I realize what I’ve demanded.
I sit stock still, frozen in place, too afraid to do anything other than breathe.
“That sounds like a fucking fantastic idea, Loyal. Let us know what you need, where you can do it, everything, and we’ll get you signed up. Semester must be starting soon, right?” Dex asks, looking around the table.
The men stare at each other, momentarily confused.
“How the fuck would we know? None of us got any kids,” Flack says, face screwed up.
“Yet,” Saint teases, ignoring the groans of the men around the table.
I ignore them all, too stunned to speak or think too hard about what just happened. All I know is for the first time in my life, I think I might matter.