Chapter 28
-:- CHAOS -:-
Axel has called church for this evening. It's a special meeting rather than the weekly Sunday one. With everything that has been happening, I’m not really surprised, but I’m hoping it isn’t going to take hours.
Sitting next to Meat on one side and Target on the other, I relax back in my seat and wait. When Axel, Buzz, and Drag enter church they quickly take their seats, and Axel starts the meeting.
“Forest isn’t present this evening as he has something at the Sheriff’s Office he cannot miss.
But, and yes I pause, he had news from his FBI friends.
The ring of launderers has been rounded up and we are talking about two hundred.
” Axel pauses when brothers gasp and throw comments about how many were involved in this shit.
“Quiet!” Axel then continues, “Forest’s contacts kept our name out of it, so we’ll have no investigation of the club.
The good news is we have closure for Bethy and Art.
Art was pulled into the mess by Tizwald, and from what Forest has found, Art did everything to not be entangled with it all. ”
“Can we call this shit closed now, Pres?” Beer asks.
“Yeah, I think so. We will get the Memorial Garden finished and lay Bethy and Art to rest. Then we can regard it as finished and allow Victoria to heal.” Axel, as always takes it to conclusion. “Do you have anything to add, Hammer?”
“I have shown Victoria the headstone I ordered, and she okayed it, so it is underway. The area chosen is being fenced, and Tilly said she’ll plant a border around the fence so it looks welcoming if anyone visits.
She wants to know if we’ll have a bench in the garden.
” Hammer looks around the room and waits for comments.
I quickly speak, “I think that’s a great idea.
The garden is at the top of the compound, near enough anyway.
It’s a fairly long walk, and if you are spending time up there, then it’s a nice thing to have available.
Sitting for a while may give a moment of peace to anyone visiting.
I’m sure Victoria would use a bench when she visits Bethy. ”
“I agree. We all know Victoria will visit Bethy and Art. Even if the bench is only used by her, then I’d be happy to personally buy a bench,” BS says, and I give him a look that tells him no way will he be paying for the bench my wife will sit on.
“No need for that look, Chaos, it’s only a suggestion.
” BS chuckles showing he was pulling my wires just for the fun of it.
“Okay, Chaos, buy a fuckin’ bench and take it to the garden once it’s done.
Hammer, just do what’s needed and let me know when it’s finished.
For the flowers that Tilly plants, get an invoice and give it to TwoCents.
The club will cover the cost for those as an inclusion of the cost to create the Memorial Garden.
” Axel has obviously finished with this topic on the meeting agenda.
“The wedding is planned and ready. All we need is Chaos to get the rings, and Victoria to get her dress. The rest we have under control,” Specs states. He knows, as we all do its time to move on.
“Get the rings Chaos before you end up in front of me to say your vows and not have one to put on her finger. If you do that, I’ll beat the fuckin’ shit out of you. Got me?”
“Yeah, got you, Pres.” Everyone chuckles at the situation, and I have to get my shit together and get the rings. “Are you coming with me, BS?” I ask. Knowing he’s the most sensible of us.
Smirking when he takes the tiny pencil from behind his ear and writes on the mini notepad from his pocket. “Yeah, noted,” he replies, and doesn’t crack a smile, although everyone is smirking at him.
“I gave Victoria her kutte. She knows to wear it whenever outside of the house. I told her what it means to wear it,” I’m speaking to Axel and not the brotherhood at this point. He gives me a nod of understanding, and we move on.
“Anything else?” Axel asks the room.
Lucas grabs everyone’s attention. “We found who was messing with the yard. It was someone we knew a long time ago, but he’ll not mess with us anymore. He’s spending a few weeks in hospital from what I understand.”
Axel not missing a trick, looks over all four brothers who work the wood supply yard, and we all see the cuts on their hands. Axel, being Axel, smirks, “Okay, we’ll not speak of this again. Dismissed and be ready for the wedding everyone.”
****
This morning I’m standing in the jewelry shop and looking at rings. Now let me tell you I’ve no idea what I’m looking at. White gold, yellow gold, this, that, and the other… I look over at BS and can see him doing his best to hold back laughter.
“You’re supposed to be helping, asshole. Not gloating.”
BS stops smiling and looks at me. “We are military men and bikers to the core, Chaos. What in this row of rings catches your eye?”
My eyes run over the rings, but at the bottom of the display is a pair of black, silver, and gold hammered wedding rings. I only know that because of the note sitting in front of them.
Opening the case and taking out the rings, the man, who, according to his name tag, is ‘Simon,’ describes the rings.
“They are rustic wedding rings, unusual but stunningly beautiful. The rings are, as you can see from the colors, black, silver, and yellow gold. Hammered outer edge, but the texture is brushed inside, so smooth against the finger. The rings will, as they wear, return to silver. We can oxidize to get back to the dark color it is now. The smaller ring is 6, and the larger is 11. We don’t keep many in stock.
In fact, this is only one of two sets we have, and we won’t get more.
If you are interested, let me know your sizes and I’ll check if we have them. ”
BS nudges me and points to the same hammered ring, with the same rugged look, but not black. These are silver and gold, and although I love the black, I think Victoria will go for the prettier version. I don’t give a shit what I wear, but the black would feel more comfortable for me.
BS can see the dilemma, and he understands.
Then he surprises me. “Chaos, do you think Victoria is a girly - girl? Or do you think she has fire, sass, and has fit into the club with ease? If you can honestly say that she’s fit in with everyone then you don’t need to worry about her wearing a black wedding ring. She’s a biker's wife, or gonna be.”
I hand Simon the note with Victoria’s ring size and tell him mine. He goes into the back of the shop, taking the rings with him. I grin as he’d locked the glass display cabinet before leaving because if we wanted to steal something we’d just break the damn thing.
Twenty minutes later we straddle our hogs and with the rings safely tucked away we start them up. “Wanna come with me to look at trikes?” I ask.
“Why not?” BS pulls out and I follow. He knows where we can buy trikes as well as I do, so I’m happy to let him lead the way.
I’m more than happy with my purchase. It’s a Harley-Davidson Tri Glide, not new but in good condition. Maverick, who supplies most of our hogs, is sending the trike to Hot Hogs for me. I’ll give Rock my ideas and leave it to him to get it done.
“Are you done now, Chaos?” BS asks as he once more straddles his hog.
“Yeah. I still have an SUV to get, but it’s for Vicky, so she may want to pick that herself. The trike is a surprise for after the wedding.” I grin, knowing she’s going to love it.
“I’ll get Kya to get all the riding gear for you if you want that to be a surprise too?” BS offers.
“Yeah, great. She’ll need to get Corey’s too ‘cause Vicky is taking Corey, so he’ll need his.”
BS nods and again smiles. “And you were worried about black wedding rings!” Throwing his head back laughing, I grin too, ‘cause I can see his point.
****
Back at the clubhouse both BS and I are sitting in the kitchen with a mug of coffee and a plate of leftover breakfast casserole. But we are hardly eating as the Meat and Bitty show seems to be on at this time.
“Meat, I took time making up that meal plan. It’s a good one. I did all my research into calories and all the diabetic stuff,” Bitty stands with her hands on her hips as she snaps at Meat.
Grunting, Meat replies. “No one has diabetes, Bitty.”
“But they may get it, and you know we have to look after them all properly,” Bitty leans into Meat and he looks down his nose at her, which has BS snort laugh.
Amelia steps closer as she speaks, “Give it a rest, Bitty. We all know what we need to cook. If anyone has a problem, health-wise, then Stitch will tell us what to feed that person.”
Bitty whines, “But Amelia I’ve spent a lot of time putting that meal plan together. I didn’t just throw it together with no effort.”
“I know, but we don’t need to change the way we cook. Everyone is healthy and loves what we do.” Amelia is obviously doing her best to calm Bitty down.
“You know what? You can do it yourself,” Bitty turns and storms out of the kitchen, leaving Amelia with a shocked look on her face. None of us have ever seen Bitty upset like this before.
Meat grunts, rips the plan into pieces. He picks up a tray of ribs, then walks outside. I look at BS and he grunts, “He’s gone to the smoker.”
“Do you think Bitty is okay?” I ask because she was holding back tears. You could tell this had really upset her.
BS nods. “She’ll be fine when she has a little time to calm down. She’s impulsive, and that’s what gets her into trouble. I will speak to Stitch, and he can check she is okay.”
Finishing our meal quickly, we clear away our dishes. BS heads to visit Stitch and I head to speak to Specs.
Tapping my knuckles on the door I open it when he shouts, “Come in.” Stepping inside, I quickly take a seat in what is Victoria’s chair.
“I have the rings. Is everything else ready for the wedding?”
“Yeah, everything is in place. You just have to be here with Corey, bring the rings, and have your vows ready.”
Nodding, I stand, then remember to ask, “What about this thing for Corey?”
“I have his outfit ready, so don’t worry about that. You need to be sure you have everything ready for yourself. Don’t turn up looking like you just got out of bed,” Specs warns, and I give him a filthy look before grudgingly saying, “Thanks,” as I exit the room.
I stop and speak with Buzz who steps out of Axel’s office. “Are you okay, Buzz?”
“Yeah. Are you ready for the big day?” Buzz walks beside me as we enter the common room.
“I am. I have everything ready. Well, Specs does. I’m not sure what he’s got for Corey to wear, but I’m sure it’ll be appropriate.” I am stupid for not asking for specifics about his clothing. After all, I am his dad now and should think to do that.
“What’s it like being a father?” Buzz surprises me by asking.
“Great. Corey is a clever little fucker. Now that he is confident he’s staying with me and Victoria, he’s gotten cheeky. But he’s such a good kid. I don’t know why his parents were such assholes to him, but if I ever wanted to bury someone alive, it would be those two.”
“Nell would let you do that on her compound,” Buzz laughs.
“She doesn’t need to bury bodies, does she?” I smirk. “Do you reckon Vitali will ever catch her?”
“Maybe, but who knows? I don’t know if Nell is saying no because she’s ornery and likes to mess with him, or she just doesn’t want to get with him, but she’s had a date night or two with him.
Trouble being she leaves the date during the evening, leaving him sitting alone.
I reckon he’s enjoying the chase, but he’ll never win while he has his people throwing women at him. ”
“Nope. Nell isn’t going to go along with that at all. Who can blame her? I’d not like it if I were in her shoes. She’s got her head on her shoulders, and she has Graham, Tank, and Richie watching her back. She’ll be fine, but she knows we’ll all be there for her if it’s needed.”
Buzz nods, “Yeah, she knows that. Come on, let’s have a drink.”
I walk before Buzz into the kitchen, but I don’t clear the door before something lands on my head.
Runs down my neck, face, and shoulders. Wiping the shit out of my eyes, I look at my hands.
Cake batter. Fuckin’ cake batter. Glancing into the kitchen, Amelia and Sybil are holding hands over their mouths, eyes like owls, and it is obvious they did not know this was going to happen.
Then the light in my mind flicked on, “WINGS!” I bellow, “THIS MEANS WAR!”
Buzz, however, is behind me hands on his knees, head down and guffawing so hard he’s making large gasping noises. “Sorry, Chaos…” he gasps again, but when he looks up at me, he laughs once more.
Fuckers! They are all fucking fuckers! But inside I’m laughing with them. This is funny shit.