Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
SUGAR
As soon as Coochie and I came back upstairs, Whisker banged the torque wrench on the table.
He stood and raised the patch so everyone could see.
“This is Cooter’s patch. The woman he gave it to just brought it back to the clubhouse.
She wants to exchange it for the life of the woman who stabbed Sugar a few weeks ago and killed another man last night—her granddaughter. ”
“Those are two separate incidents,” Bush pointed out.
Thank you.
“One could argue that Birdie saved two lives when she earned that patch, not just one,” Coochie added.
“Will somebody please tell me what the fuck she did?” I blurted. I’d had it with the references. I wanted to fucking know.
Whisker nodded at Coochie. “You were there. Give us a short version.”
“Birdie saw two members of the Depraved Sinners in Liquid Anarchy without their colors. She let me know so I could tell Cooter. He told them to leave and one of them took a shot at Charli. Birdie jumped in front of her and took the bullet,” Coochie said and looked at Whisker.
“She was five months pregnant with you.”
“Why did she recognize them?” Whisker asked.
“She lived in Huaka at the time,” he said.
“She said they were newer members. They thought we wouldn’t recognize them.
And they were right. We didn’t. But thank fuck Birdie did.
Before you ask, I invited her to Kahakai for the weekend to celebrate her birthday.
She’d just gotten divorced and was having a tough time. ”
I glanced at Coochie. Did he think Whisker was overly suspicious of everything, too? Because it couldn’t be just me.
Whisker nodded, seemingly satisfied with Coochie’s answer. “Yeah, that’s the same story I got from Mom.”
Coochie’s eyebrows narrowed slightly. I wondered if he was thinking what I was. Was Whisker questioning Coochie’s loyalty by verifying the story with Charli?
“Before Cooter and Pocket were locked up, Cooter reminded me someone had his patch, and he told me to give her whatever she wanted if she brought it back,” he said.
“She wants to leave here with her granddaughter free and clear. I don’t like it, but I have to uphold the promise Cooter made.
Having said that, they’re not leaving until all loose ends are tied up and we’ve got a handle on potential blowback.
And we need to make sure Kalani knows how to keep her mouth shut. Birdie obviously does.”
I laughed. “She can keep her mouth shut. Just make her think she’s being maliciously compliant, and she’ll do it.”
“What?”
“I told her not to make a sound or I’d break her jaw. That bitch didn’t utter a sound until I specifically told her she could talk.”
Biscuit snorted. “Was that before or after she stabbed you?”
“Fuck right off, man.” I was never going to live that down.
“We’ll work out the details later. We’ve got other shit to deal with. For now, they’ll remain here as guests until the storm passes.”
“Guests?” I asked.
The bitch who stabbed me gets to be a clubhouse guest. Great.
“Will it make you feel better if we make them stay with the sirens?” Biscuit asked.
I knew he was busting my balls, but that had no effect on the way I felt. I did not want Kalani staying with the sirens, but I didn’t want to acknowledge why. So, I went with a different angle. “It doesn’t matter to me, but they’ll all be trained killers by morning if she stays with them.”
Coochie chuckled. “I can only imagine what would happen if Birdie stayed over there too.”
“I’m not concerned about Birdie, but I want Kalani to stay with Sugar until they leave,” Whisker said. “I can’t have her killing anybody else while she’s here.”
I tensed at his words. Kalani had a valid reason for each person she killed. “We don’t have to worry about anyone killing Kalani’s mother because that’s already happened. So, as long as we don’t have any uncles trying to take pictures of nieces or sell them into trafficking, I think we’re good.”
Whisker’s eyes shot to me. “You’re not an uncle, and she stabbed you.”
“Because I restrained her from behind and threatened her life without giving her a chance to explain,” I said. “Fuck. I would’ve done the same thing.”
Why in the hell am I defending her?
“She could’ve killed me, but she didn’t,” I continued. “And she hasn’t tried since we’ve had her.”
“You sound disappointed,” Biscuit laughed.
I shrugged. “I haven’t given her the opportunity, but she’s found plenty of ways to be a pain in the ass without inflicting bodily harm.”
“All right. That’s it for now,” Whisker said.
“I need to see what’s going on with the flood barrier.
Sugar, release Kalani and Birdie. Make sure they understand they are not to leave the clubhouse, but she stays with you until I say otherwise.
Have a prospect fill in for you if you’re needed elsewhere. ”
“Yes, Prez,” I grumbled, causing several of the brothers to laugh. Fuck. I didn’t want to put up with that wacky bitch and her antics for the next few days, but being part of the club meant sometimes I had to do shit I didn’t want to do.
Exhaling heavily, I got to my feet and looked at Coochie. “Shall we free the birds?”
“The birds?”
“Yeah, Birdie and Cuckoo.”
Coochie shook his head with a smile. “I wouldn’t let her hear you say that.”
I shrugged. “Why not? I like to keep things interesting.”
“They’ll keep things interesting enough without any help from you. If Kalani’s anything like Birdie,” he said and paused. “Eh. Why spoil it?”
“Nice try, old man,” I said as we walked down to the basement. “I’m still gonna call her Cuckoo.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
When I opened the door to the cell, Birdie and Kalani appeared to be in the middle of a serious discussion.
The room fell silent as they both looked at me.
After several beats of silence, Coochie stepped around me.
“You’ll be free to go after the storm passes.
Until then, you have to stay in the clubhouse.
Since neither of you are an old lady or related to a club member, you need to stay with a brother, for your own protection.
Kalani, you’re with Sugar, and Birdie’s with me. Any questions?”
Whisker didn’t say shit about Birdie having to stay with Coochie, but I let the old timer have his fun and kept my mouth shut.
Kalani raised her hand and waved it excitedly.
“What?” I asked.
She scrunched her nose at me and turned to Coochie. “I’m supposed to work tonight. Can I call and let them know I won’t make it?”
“Where do you work?” Coochie asked.
“At The Stinky Dog in Makani.”
“You work at a bar?” I asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“You don’t strike me as the type to do well in customer service,” I said.
“That’s because you’re an asshole.”
“Kalani,” Birdie scolded.
“What? He took the bitch route to do it, but he just called me rude.”
“I’m pretty sure The Stinky Dog is closed like everything else on the island, but we’ll get you up to see Beaver,” Coochie said.
“I don’t know what that means,” Kalani said.
“Come on. I’ll explain as we go.” I motioned for her to follow me. “Beaver has your phone.”
“Why?” she interrupted.
“If you’d have let me finish, you’d know why.
Because he handles all the IT shit. If you call from your phone, he needs to mask the call so it looks like you’re calling from Makani not Kahakai.
Unless you want to leave digital evidence placing you in Kahakai when you were indeed in Kahakai killing someone. ”
“Excuse me for asking questions instead of blindly following you. Until a few minutes ago, you were the man who kidnapped me.”
“And you’re still the bitch who stabbed me.”
“You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes! It was an honest mistake! I’ve explained this several times, and Birdie traded her magic patch. What else do you want from me?”
“A drop of respect,” I said.
“Oh, well you have to earn that,” she said, as if that explained everything. And I guess it did for her, because she dropped the topic instead of continuing to pester the hell out of me and everyone else in her vicinity.