Chapter Six – CJ #3
“I guess that would be okay. Correcting me ‘cause I didn’t hear it right is different than telling me I’m wrong ‘cause I didn’t say it right.”
“Maybe you don’t say it right because you don’t always hear it right.”
Axel thought about that for a moment. “I would be hearing aid challenged?”
“You’d be deaf,” Ransom said. “Partially crippled.”
“Nuh uh! Those aren’t nice words, so I wouldn’t be that, no matter what you think, Ran. And if you called me that, I’d cut out your fucking tongue so I wouldn’t have to hear you talk ever again.”
“If you’re deaf, you couldn’t hear me anyway, twerp.”
“Keep it up,” Axel said darkly. “And I’ll stab you with bleach, then cut out your tongue.”
“You wouldn’t have to cut out his anything, Axel,” Diesel said calmly as if that little motherfucker hadn’t come up with yet another way to kill. “He’d be dead if you injected him with fucking bleach.”
“Didn’t he say stab him with bleach?” Devon asked.
“The bleach would be in the needle,” Axel confirmed. “And I love Ran. I don’t want to kill him. I’d just make him not be able to move while I cut out his tongue for saying mean things to me. I’d want him awake, though.”
“We’ll talk to Mom tomorrow, Ax,” CJ said.
“Nope. Don’t disturb that woman, C. I hear most stuffs. I probably just got to clean out the ear boogers.” Axel thought for a moment. “If I was hearing aid challenged, would that make Megan fall in love with me? I’d still be a rough rider.”
“Why would you want Aunt Meggie to fall in love with you?” Rory asked.
“Perv!” Axel cried. “You’re gross.”
“He means Megan Thee Stallion,” CJ said, chuckling.
“Uh huh.” He grinned at CJ. “Thanks for clearing that up, big bro.”
CJ smiled.
“Devon and me have something to add to the conversation,” Ryan said.
“The floor’s yours,” CJ said.
“Dev and I have talked about it. We don’t want to be Prez.
I wouldn’t mind being your RC, though. Devon would like a new position created.
The tail gunner. We’ll be a team. He’ll be my eyes and ears.
We’ll plan routes together and everything.
” Ryan flushed and lowered his gaze. His enthusiasm probably caught up to him and he decided to backtrack. “If we don’t join another club.”
CJ ignored Ryan’s bullshit. His cousin used it as a crutch when he felt uncomfortable. “I love that idea and I would be honored to have you two serve in those positions.”
“Uncle Christopher appointed Dad,” Devon said. “As long as he’s Prez, Dad will be RC. Will you keep that rule or will it be a different way? Like member selection?”
“I say you keep it as is,” Diesel suggested, like he had a say over what CJ did.
“And if you don’t, stack the membership in your favor,” Ryder said. “Even if we all stay in this club, you’d have to make sure you have more members than just your brothers and cousins, so the other members wouldn’t feel a way about it.”
“You’ll always have my vote, CJ,” Bishop said, inserting his opinion for the first time since he arrived.
“Thanks, dude.”
Grant raised his hand, flushing when the Triplets laughed.
“Floor’s yours, Grant,” CJ said, throwing his brothers a warning glare. Of course, they didn’t shut the fuck up.
“I’ll wait,” Grant said.
“Ax, respect another man’s right to speak,” Diesel said, shutting the little fuckhead up immediately.
“Silence, men,” he ordered Ryder and Ransom. They snapped their mouths shut.
Unfuckingbelievable.
“Thanks, Diesel,” Grant said. “I’ve been looking up methods to cook meth. Maybe cut out the middleman.”
“Narci has been trying to get Dad to give him a chance to do that,” CJ said. “We’d have to build a lab away from the houses and the clubhouse. If that motherfucker blows up, property damage would be minimized and hopefully confined to the lab.”
“Let’s get you prospecting as soon as possible,” Diesel said to Grant as if this was his meeting and Grant didn’t want to join for CJ. “The meth lab can be yours and Narci’s thing.”
Grant nodded. “I’d like that, along with a role as a club attorney of some sort.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” CJ promised, doing his best to hide his annoyance. “Anything else?”
“We don’t want to be Prez either,” Ransom said, pointing between himself and Ryder. “If Axel becomes Prez, we’ll be his Sergeant-at-Arms and enforcers.”
A fucking frightening prospect.
“Who will be who?” Diesel asked.
“The one who’s nicest to me will protect me.” Axel cut his eyes at Ransom. “I don’t want no motherfucker in charge of my life if he calls me names. Remember that.”
“Ever since you came back from LA, you’ve grown a pussy,” Ransom said. “Mom ruined you.”
Scowling, Axel jumped to his feet, barreled to Ransom and clocked him in his fucking face. For a little motherfucker, he packed a punch because Ransom toppled over.
Brushing his hands together as if he was clearing away dust, Axel stomped back to Diesel, folded his arms, and glowered.
“You want me to get ice for him, Ax?” Ryder asked with the calmness of a person who’d witnessed such fuckery before.
“Nope. Let his fucking face swell shut.”
“That’s not possible, bro,” Ryder said.
“I didn’t do it right?”
“He’s knocked the fuck out, Ax,” CJ sputtered. “You did it perfect.”
“Why won’t his face close up?”
“Because it’s fucking physically impossible,” CJ said.
“Should I stomp his head?”
“Nope,” Diesel said as calmly as Ryder.
As if Axel wasn’t a rabid little maniac, willing to murder Ransom.
“Do you want to kill him?” Rory asked carefully.
“He talked about Mom,” Axel said.
Ryder shook his head. “No, Ax. He talked about you.”
“He said Mom ruined me. He’s talking about her. If she hears, she might leave. Before that happens, I will kill any motherfucker who hurts her feelings. Case fucking closed.”
“Mom isn’t leaving again,” CJ said gently.
“Can I say your creed, CJ?” Axel asked, pointedly changing the subject.
CJ sighed. “Go ahead.”
“I fear no one. I respect only motherfuckers that respect me. I don’t got to explain nothing.
Motherfuckers got to trust how I feel. I will always respect my colors, my brothers, and my Harley.
If you’re in the club, you like the fucking road.
Don’t complain about long or short runs.
Don’t steal another brother’s woman.” Axel glared at Ryan and sniffed.
“I will always help my brothers. I will deal with antelopes immediately.”
“Interlopers,” Diesel corrected.
“You play a good fucking game, D.” Axel sighed dramatically. “You’ve finally found a fucking way to correct me without me breaking your fingers. I might not have heard the word right the first time and you won’t know it without telling me the right word, huh?”
Diesel nodded. “A true brother will always help. If you want me to have your back, I have to risk your ire so you’ll know what to say. So what did you hear?”
“Antelopes. I thought it was weird though ‘cause I know those motherfuckers are big ugly animals.”
“They are,” Diesel confirmed. “Now finish CJ’s creed.”
Fuck. He had more?
“Oh. Right.” Axel looked at CJ. “I will—”
“Fuck, Axel, how many do you have for me?” CJ interrupted. “You only had four for yourself.”
“You need more. You like rules. I don’t. Trust me, C. They’ll make you feel better.”
“How many do you have for CJ?” Diesel asked as Ransom groaned and sat up.
“Wait, D. Apologize to me, Ran.”
“I’m sorry, Ax,” Ransom said, sighing.
“Okay.” Axel nodded to Diesel. “I lay the law down like you told me, bigger bro.”
Diesel smiled. “I’m proud of you.”
Axel’s face lit up.
“Answer my question, Ax. How many rules do you have in CJ’s creed?” Diesel asked.
Mumbling unintelligible words, Axel’s counted on his fingers. “I was about to start on my eleventh. I got…ninety more with that one.”
“You think I need one hundred fucking rules?” CJ snarled.
“You like constructured things.”
Ryan, Devon, and Rory’s phones began beeping before anyone corrected Axel.
“We have to go,” Ryan announced. “Mom said it’s a school night, so we can’t stay any longer.”
It was just as well. He was tired of Axel’s shade, so he left the little motherfucker with his idol and walked his cousins to the door.