Chapter Six – CJ #2
“I’m going to be Pumpkin,” Ryder said and nodded to Ransom. “He’ll be Honey.”
“My road name will be Potato,” CJ said through gritted teeth.
Lifting a brow, Diesel barked a laugh.
CJ was already annoyed with that fuckhead and his attitude fucked him off more, but he ignored it to address Axel. “Mom gave me a nickname first and I love it. I don’t care how anyone feels.”
“Lies,” Axel accused. “You could never do her name right. You’d be too busy worrying about motherfuckers laughing at you and calling you a mama’s boy.”
“Potato hits harder than Sweet Pea, Pumpkin, or Honey,” CJ spat.
“In other words, you all will be a bunch of Thanksgiving motherfuckers,” Diesel said, snickering.
Everyone else laughed, though CJ found nothing amusing about that lame joke.
“You can be Turkey, D.,” Axel said happily, drawing even more laughter.
CJ scowled and folded his arms, unamused by those two. They always had to be in the fucking spotlight. “Turkey is even weaker than Sweet Pea.”
Silence fell around him, and everyone shifted uncomfortably, except Diesel and Axel. As usual, Diesel lifted his stupid brow to show his displeasure. Of course, Axel had to open his fucking mouth.
“Sweet Pea hits as hard as I want it to,” Axel told him. “If I’m not sweet or a pea, it don’t matter who gave it to me.”
“You don’t know about club life then,” CJ sniped. “You get a road name for several reasons, but never because your mother wants you to have it.”
“Mom don’t care, jackass. If she did, she’d want you to use Potato. You wasn’t even thinking about it until I said I’ll be Sweet Pea. And I don’t give a fuck how other motherfuckers get their road name. I know how I’m getting mine.”
Like Uncle Cash told Pop, CJ wasn’t winning against Axel, so he heaved in a breath to calm himself.
“You don’t need a road name,” he said, hoping the compliment soothed his little brother. “Axel is already a cool name.”
“Yeah, but it’s my real name. It belongs to me. And if I meet a beautiful girl that I want to marry, I want her to call me Axel like Mom calls Dad ‘Christopher’.”
“Diesel doesn’t have a road name,” Grant pointed out and nodded to the silent, angry man in question. “He’s fine with women calling him by his name.”
“Diesel don’t fucking count, Grant,” Axel said. “He don’t like girls, so he don’t care what they call him.”
“I wish you’d stop saying that about me, Ax. That isn’t true.”
Axel rolled his eyes. “I got a road name for you anyway,” he said, ignoring what Diesel said.
“Let me guess. Misogynist,” Diesel responding, draining his bottle of beer.
“What does that mean?” Axel asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” Diesel said irritably. “I want to hear your road name for me.”
“Eagle,” Axel said.
Rory lifted his brow. “Eagle?”
“Uh huh,” Axel said. “Diesel knows why.”
Ryder swung his gaze to Diesel. “Tell us.”
“Legal Eagle,” CJ said. It was a term Diesel had mentioned on several occasions. “Brooks told Diesel he hoped he was another legal eagle like Aunt Kendall.”
“And an eagle is a prey bird,” Axel said proudly. “They hunt, they’re smart, and they aren’t scared of nothing. Just like Diesel.”
Folding his arms, CJ remained silent. He didn’t want to break up Diesel and Axel’s bromance.
“I love that name, Ax,” Diesel said.
“But you can’t take it until me or CJ becomes Prez, ‘k?”
“You and CJ could be Prez,” Ransom said before Diesel responded.
“You’re right, Ran,” Axel agreed, sweeping them with a look of warning.
Only his ‘men’ and Diesel didn’t scowl at him.
“You really think you’ll win over me?” CJ asked, so fucking outraged he wanted to fucking scream Axel’s head off.
Axel thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, if I put my brain to it.”
“The club’s been so stable because of Uncle Christopher’s leadership,” Rory told him.
“Is Dad CJ, Rory?” Axel thrust his chin toward CJ. “We don’t know how the club’s going to be under him.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rory bit out. “We wouldn’t so easily turn our backs on CJ, Axel.”
“Thanks, Ro.” CJ lifted a brow at Axel. “Now what? You and Ransom are coming up with another plan to challenge me?”
Ryder’s disapproval irritated CJ even more. “What’s wrong with you, C?”
“Yeah, bro,” Ransom told him. “We weren’t talking about challenging you.”
“Axel was,” Devon said.
“Put some respect on my fucking name and not words in my mouth, Dev,” Axel told him.
“Or what, little cuck?” Ryan asked. “That’s my brother. You threaten him, then you threaten me, too.”
“Bitch, you don’t scare me and neither does your fucking brother,” Axel growled. “I will shove an exhaust pipe in the AC and let it go through your fucking house and smother both of you if you don’t leave me the fuck alone.”
Well. That was fucking creative.
“Nah, Ax. We wouldn’t want to kill Aunt Zoann and Uncle Val,” Ryder told him, staring at Ryan with the eyes of a baby psycho. “I’ll just shoot an arrow through your fucking necks and then watch Ransom crack your fucking skulls if you fuck with Axel.”
“I can do it,” Axel said. “Ransom’s still a little upset about Nyx.”
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Ransom said. “But I can definitely bat a skull in to avenge you, Ax.”
“Okay. Cool. Thanks, Ran.”
“Are they serious, CJ?” Devon asked, pale as a fucking ghost.
“Quite,” CJ said, the truth. Those three were fucking brutal killers in the making. “However, Axel, how was Devon wrong? You sounded as if you intended to challenge me.”
“Are all you motherfuckers senile?” Axel asked. “The Dwellers got a lot of clubs. Why do I got to stay at this one when I can be Prez at another one?”
Fuck. Axel had a point. Why hadn’t any of them realized what he meant? Lately, CJ had been feeling a way about everything. If he could think a little clearer, maybe he would’ve given Axel the benefit of the doubt and realized what he meant.
“We got enough chapters for all of us to be president,” Axel grouched. “That would be the bestest way for CJ to get all the stuffs he wants done. We could always back him up.”
Ryan rocked on his heels, wariness on his face as he addressed Axel. “What if we don’t agree with him?”
“Then we’d fucking kill you,” Ryder told him without missing a beat.
Ransom thumped his shoulder. “If you didn’t agree with him, we’d keep it amongst ourselves and discuss it with him. Not fucking kill him. He’s our cousin. Family. That means Mom wouldn’t want him dead.”
“If Outlaw isn’t Prez, would Meggie’s No-Kill list still be in effect?” Bishop asked morosely.
Rory’s eyes widened. Ryan and Devon exchanged glances. Both of those fuckheads looked even sicker than when the Triplets were threatening them.
How fucking interesting. What else were they hiding? CJ had already forgiven those fuckheads for the other bullshit.
“I’d vote to keep it,” Rory said, interrupting CJ’s contemplation.
Ryder snorted. “Yeah, because you want to save Uncle Johnnie’s life no matter what.”
“I wouldn’t have a problem asking Mom if I could adopt it,” CJ interjected before the conversation took another left turn.
“Do it before I join, CJ,” Axel told him. “‘Cause I’d vote against it unless Uncle Johnnie’s name was struck from the list so we could kill him.”
“That’s my dad,” Rory argued. “I will always try to save him.”
CJ raised his hand to halt the conversation.
Uncle Johnnie was a sore subject. He understood why Axel, Ryder, and Ransom wanted that motherfucker dead, but this meeting wasn’t about that.
“Ryan brings up a valid point, Axel. Yours and Rory’s differing opinions are perfect examples.
Just because I’m installed as a president don’t mean you’ll agree with everything I suggest.”
“Then don’t let them be president,” Axel said.
“Does that apply to you, too?” Devon asked.
“You got beef with me or are you the new fucking Ryan?” Axel asked. “‘Cause, jackass, that’s not a necessary question. By the time I even quantified as a president, that vote would already be taken.”
Diesel cocked his head to the side and studied Axel. Probably because he’d said quantified instead of qualified.
“You’d have to be elected to the position, big head,” CJ said. “You’d have to campaign and convince them you’re best suited. You couldn’t just take it because you’re Dad’s son. Democracy doesn’t work that way.”
“Diesel got a lot of friends in the club,” Axel said. “He could be Prez if he wanted to.”
In his dreams.
“He’s a Caldwell son, too,” Axel went on. “As the oldest, he should be Prez before you.”
CJ snapped his gaze to Diesel’s, hating that motherfucker’s smirk.
“Don’t worry, little brother. We all know you’re the Caldwell boy anointed as Uncle Christopher’s successor,” he said, emotionless. He gave Axel a genuine smile. “I appreciate your faith in me, Ax.”
Axel didn’t know any better, although CJ kept that thought to himself and resumed the conversation.
“Think about when they threatened to vote Dad out, Axel. It was because they had the right to make that choice. None of us grew up in other chapters, so you can’t expect to go somewhere and usurp another man’s position. ”
“Stop being so funnel-visioned, C. We wouldn’t expect to be Prez overnight at another chapter. We’d go there and make friends. Move up through the ranks. Like Dad did,” Axel said. “Dad got to be everything. That’s how he knows so much stuffs.”
Getting to his feet, Diesel walked to the refrigerator and grabbed another beer. “Can I ask you something, Ax?”
“If I don’t like the question, I’m not answering,” Axel warned him.
Diesel shrugged, opened the bottle, then drank deeply from it. “Fair enough. When I say tunnel, what do you hear?”
“Funnel. Why?”
“Qualified,” Diesel pressed.
“Quantified.” Axel smiled and his eyes lit up. “Is this a word game?”
“Just curious, Ax.” Diesel returned to his seat on the sofa and patted the spot next to him. Smiling, Axel crawled over, jumped to his feet and plopped next to him. “Suppose I told you it should be tunnel vision with a ‘t’? Like tiger.”