CHAPTER TWO
-:- MAV -:-
Grabbing a bottle of water, I head out to the smoker to help Meat, but take my phone from my jeans back pocket to give a heads-up to Nell as Axel asked of me.
Tapping out a message, as I don’t want to get involved with speaking to Nell if I can help it. She’s a little nerve-wracking if you ask me. She thinks nothing of feeding those damn gators, and I mean feeding anything at hand.
Mav: Pres is sending you a gift later
It only takes a couple of minutes for Nell to answer, and I knew that would be the case because she has her phone tucked in her bra on vibrate, so she misses nothing incoming.
Nell: Okay, anything specific?
Mav: Not that I know of. Just disposal
Nell: Oh, good. It’s been too quiet around here lately, and I’ve been sending Graham out to scrape up roadkill. He’s not been thrilled about it, but I told him it was that or his ass they were going to be eating. He went out with his bucket willingly then.
Mav: I bet he wasn’t happy. Wonder what he told people when they saw him doing it?
Nell: Well, he told one guy that he was being environmentally green and he was cleaning up the roads, so no vehicles slipped on the slime from the dead carcasses.
Chuckling to myself because I can visualize Graham making up shit to shock and terrorize people. I can imagine he was giving them gory details while doing it. My mind is showing me Graham standing with a dead animal, pulling out its innards to highlight someone or other.
Mav: Nice. Well, you take care Nell
Nell: Thanks Mav, you too
Tucking my phone back into my jeans pocket, I look at the smoker and see it’s spotless. How the hell he gets it clean like that, I’ve no idea.
“Don’t need you now,” I hear behind me, and turn to see Meat stepping up with a tray piled with meat, sausages and fish. Thankfully, the fish is on top of a parchment paper layer. I am not a fish fan and sure don’t want it next to any meat I’m going to eat. “Stop giving the fish that look. It’s going in the small smoker.”
What? A small smoker! I didn’t know he had two smokers. Now, the shock must show on my face because Meat points to the left where a much smaller smoker is standing at the ready. Giving Meat a huge grin and a thumbs up, I walk away and leave him to it.
Once I’m inside the kitchen, I give Mia a smile as she’s cuddling with Summer. The twins are going to be starting kindergarten, and I’m not sure how that’s going to go down. They are a pair of hellions and I feel sorry for the teachers. Trouble with the twins is that all the brothers are teaching them shit they are not supposed to know at their age, because let's face it, four-year-olds are not supposed to be able to go down zip wires screaming with laughter.
I think we all knew the twins were going to be trouble when they started saying, ‘Unc Me’ and started saying ‘Dadda’ and ‘Pris’ instead. Mia, of course, gave everyone hell, but it made no difference. At the end of the day, she adores Meat, and he adores her. Even Star has become a bestie, mind you she calls everyone bestie these days.
Before I can pour a coffee, I hear the back door open and Axel storms past telling me to get my arse to church. Now, I smirk to myself because he has no idea he just said arse, but the giggle from Mia lets me know she heard it, too.
Walking into church, I see Axel, of course, in his usual seat along with the officers, but also myself, Knuckles, Beer and Silver. Interesting, I’m thinking.
“Buzz, after church make sure that piece of shit is taken to Nell. She can do what the fuck she likes with him,” Axel is more than a little agitated so this has me thinking that punk in the shed is going to cause us trouble.
“Will do, Pres,” Buzz replies, and crosses his arms over his chest while leaning back in his seat.
“That fucker is running shit for an asshole named Mark Milanas. They are testing out the date rape drug they have mixed themselves. Now these fuckers are not chemists. They are little pricks that think they can come into our territory and sell shit like that. Date rape women as they take a fancy to them! I’m not having it, you hear me?” Slamming his fist on the table, making me jump, and that takes some doing.
Drag raps his knuckles on the table as he speaks. “I’ll put feelers out. Knuckles, you speak to the bouncers at Club Whisky, and Mav, you do the same at TJs, report to Beer and Silver. They are the managers, so they’ll tell you what to do if any incident happens. But if you see shit, you stop it and we’ll get the fuckers in the shed.”
“Good idea. Nell said the gators need food, so she’s okay with sending more assholes for disposal,” I add to the conversation. “Oh, she’s had Graham going out picking up roadkill for them.”
I don’t get to say more because everyone, even Axel, is laughing or smirking at that. We all know he’s as tough as his sister, but he’s far more amusing with his antics.
Axel gives his feral smile. “Well, brothers, let’s go hunting for some food for the gators. It’s been peaceful around here for quite some time, so let's stir up some shit. I’ll report to the rest of the brothers on Sunday. Maybe we’ll have more information by then?”
BS stands to leave first, but turns to the rest of us as he speaks. “When I came to the club and the town, it was the best place I’d been in a hell of a long time. Kya and I love it here, and we won’t allow these fuckers to ruin it. I’ll get out and speak to all the staff at our businesses. They know me well now, as I see them at least once a month when I do my rounds. I’ll report back on Sunday.”
“Mav, before you wander away I want you to go into town and visit Liam at the Coffee House. Organize a morning for the Ol’ Ladies and kids. Tell him to close the place and do something nice for them all. The staff can have a morning of mixing with them and it’ll do them all good. Especially if we have to think about going into a lockdown situation. Tell him what’s going on and to keep his eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble.” Axel stands and I give him a head nod as I turn and leave church.
It was supposed to be my day off, but I have a feeling none of us will have that until this shit is put to bed.
“Mav, hang on.” Turning as Knuckles speaks to me, I lift an eyebrow at him. “Have you heard about Gaz?”
“Gaz?” I have to think about who he means for a minute. “You mean Gaz, who you last fought in the underground ring?”
“Yeah. I have inside intel that the fuckers are fixing his next fight. They are going to spike his water, and his opponent is going to kill him.” Knuckles has a fierce look on his face, so I know he’s not messing with me.
“So, we need to step in! Is that what you’re saying?”
“We both know Gaz has only been fighting underground because he was paying his sister's medical bills. Did you know she died three weeks ago? Now, of course, they think Gaz doesn’t need the purse and will walk away, so they think they need to get rid of him.” Knuckles' face is as hard as granite, and I know this has more than pissed him off a little.
“How about we bring this up in church on Sunday, and see how many brothers fancy going to an underground fight? Maybe get myself a fight, make sure my skills are at their best?” The slow smile that appears on my face shows Knuckles I’m up for it, and I’m damn going to make these fuckers pay. Every fighter goes in knowing they could die, but to be outright murdered is not going to happen on my watch.
“Yeah, could be an idea, brother. I’ll put feelers out, and maybe have a match myself. Who knows, we may take out their biggest fighters, then what they gonna do? Especially when Forest swoops in and scoops them all up, you know, when he has a tip-off.” Knuckles smirks.
Giving him a nod of agreement, I slap his back as I walk away, whistling under my breath, because I was bored as shit this morning. Now it seems we have drama afoot and I can’t wait!
Walking into the Coffee House forty-minutes later, I give Liam a nod to follow me and head into the kitchen. I walk through, past the server and into the kitchen area, and through to the stairs which lead to the apartment above.
Liam is right behind me, but remains quiet until we step into the apartment, which is his now that he’s managing the place. “What’s up, Mav?”
“Pres wants you to organize a morning for the women of the MC, and the kids, of course. You’ll need to close the place for a morning. He said to invite the staff to join in, not just be servers. Everyone is ready for a break, some chill-out time, and he thinks this is a nice way for everyone.” I’m really not sure what the fuck I’m saying but trying to do my best to make this sound exciting.
“Actually, that will be nice. I have two new servers so I can introduce them to the ladies, and make sure they show the right respect to them, too.” Rubbing his hands together as his face shows the thought he’s already putting into the idea.
Liam is a skilled manager of this place. He’s introduced different lunch specials instead of only serving paninis of every kind imaginable. But he’s also brought in more coffee selections and some unusual blends too, which he now grinds and sells in packets for people to use in their coffee machines, percolators or French press. It has increased the sales tremendously.
“Okay, I’ll leave it with you, but keep it under wraps. When you have it all organized let me know and I’ll get my end together, but make sure I have a few days to do that.”
Liam gives me a nod, and I leave him with a blank look on his face as he’s deep in thought. I descend the stairs, walk through the kitchen and out the back door before anyone can speak.
Walking around the building I head to my hog, which I’d left out front, and sigh when I see a woman I’ve hooked up with twice in the past. She was a half decent hook-up, but that’s all she was.
“Hi, Mav, you up for another date?”
“Was not a date. I don’t do dates. Now, move along. I’ve things to do.”
Another woman walks past the both of us, gives us a disgusted look before opening the Coffee House door and stepping inside. Now, if she’d asked me for a date, I may have considered it!
“Aw, Mav, come on, I’m ready for another session.”
“I’ve told you, Shelly, it’s not happening,” I snap as I grab my helmet from the seat of my hog.
“It’s Sharon,” she snaps back.
“Shelly, Susan, Sharon, I don’t care. You can move along and be sure I’m not interested.” Slamming my helmet on my head, I straddle my hog and fire her up. I don’t give the woman another thought as I head back to the clubhouse to have some well-earned lunch. What a day this has been, and it’s still early as yet. Maybe I’ll make my way over to TJs later, although I’m not working, and see what I can overhear.