by Jayna King
We simply shook our heads, and she walked off to pour another beer for the smoker with emphysema.
Krystal pried her eyes from the french fries long enough to look me in the eyes. "Luke, do you realize that if you discover something terrible, it will be about one of your new brothers? That it could be your father?"
I sighed and picked up the burger in front of me. "I do. I'm not happy about it, but I do. I would rather know the truth, regardless of who it implicates. I have to know, Krystal."
"I just want you to think it through," she said. "And let's eat. We can deal with this bullshit after we're finished."
"Amen."
The burgers were heaven. We paid our tab and got back on the road headed home. I didn't want to miss my party.
Chapter 11 -- Krystal
"Baby, I love you," Luke hollered from across the garage.
"You're saying that because you're drunk," I yelled back with a grin.
We'd been at the Halls' for hours, and the party had been fantastic. We'd spent most of the evening outside, but a passing thunderstorm had driven us inside the garage, door opened up to the pouring rain in an effort to vent the heavy cigarette and marijuana smoke. While I was having fun, Luke was having the time of his life. Since I was the designated driver, I was taking it easy on the drinks, but Luke was making up for lost time. He'd done more shots than I could count, and judging by the effects, the weed that Sable had given him was pretty strong as well. I was happy to see him enjoying himself.
"That boy's gonna have a headache in the morning," Sable said, coming up to stand beside me.
She'd had her hands full, coordinating the food and drinks, so I hadn't sought her out, but since all there was left for folks to do was drink, she seemed a little more relaxed.
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," I agreed. "With everything he's been through, I'm not gonna give him too much shit for getting drunk and stupid for one night."
"Smart woman," Sable said, both of us watching her son pour another shot of whiskey for himself and his father.
I turned to Sable. "Thanks for the party. Luke is obviously having a great time, and I know he really appreciates it."
"We were happy to do it. Joker's just like a little boy on Christmas morning now that Luke's out, and I'm looking forward to working with Luke on getting this dispensary open." She looked around to make sure that we couldn't be overheard. "Have you thought about what I said the other night?"
"Of course I have. I haven't really been able to think about anything else."
"And?"
"I know that you think it's best to keep Luke focused on the future, to let all of the dark history just fade away, but I'm not sure Luke's going to be able to do that."
Sable's gaze held mine and wouldn't let go. "That's your job, Krystal. You're the one who's going to have to shape the way he thinks. When I told you that you can either save him or let him follow a destructive path, I wasn't exaggerating. I let Joker do his thing — thinking that if I held on too tightly, I'd lose him forever. I see now that I was wrong. It's because I let him follow his instincts that he's had these dark periods in his past."
"I don't think Luke wants to participate in the bad shit. I think he just wants to know about it — to decide if he can live with the things his brothers have done."
"That's how it starts, girl. No one does a line of coke, thinking that they're going to become an addict and lose everything that they value. They think of it as experimenting — just seeing what's out there. The next thing they know, their wife's gone, their kids hate 'em, and they've put all their money up their noses. You have to keep Luke from becoming acquainted with the darker side of the Savage Sons. You and I are his only hope."
I didn't want to piss off my new ally, but I had to be honest with her. "I hear you and I understand you, but it may be out of my hands. All I can tell you for sure is that I will fight to keep Luke healthy, alive, and free. Some of this is up to him, though, you know. He's a grown man, and he'll have to make his own decisions."
Sable shook her head. "I hope you don't regret not pushing him harder. If someone had pushed Moses, he might still be alive."
"I appreciate your insight and your experience, Sable. I really do. But I think that sometimes we have to let people stand on their own two feet. Luke is a good man, and he'll come out of this all right. Who knows, maybe he'll even do some good."
"I don't share your optimism," Sable said, pulling a joint out of her pocket. "But I hope you're right."
She walked away, and I headed over to check on Luke. I smiled as I watched him, standing in the center of a group of men — Joker, Zeno, Nate, and Sally — having the time of his life. As I got closer I could hear the story he was telling.
"So there I was, about to kill this guy, when I felt two guys grab my arms and pull me off him. They managed to talk me into backing off so the guards wouldn't have to ask any questions and find someone to punish. Actually, he said he was a friend of yours, Joker. Told me I could call him Zeta."
Joker roared with laughter, though I didn't see what was so funny about a story in which Luke had nearly been raped or killed, and had, in fact, ended up nearly beating a man to death.
"Good old Zeta! I hadn't heard that he'd talked to you, but I had gotten word to him that I'd appreciate it if he'd keep an eye out for you. Couldn't let my son get pushed around on the inside, you know."
Luke didn't look very happy. "What the fuck?" he said, "I wasn't getting pushed around. I was taking care of myself just fine."
"I didn't mean it that way, son," Joker said, clearly trying to smooth things over. "It's just that I knew some people who could help you out if you got in a jam, that's all."
"So who's this Zeta?" Luke asked, as some of the guys drifted away to get another drink. "I never talked to him again."
I edged closer, hoping to overhear the entire conversation. I was afraid that if I walked up and joined in, the subject would shift, and I didn't want that to happen.
"First thing you need to know is that Zeta is the original badass. That fucker will kill you as soon as shake your hand — if he don't know you, that is. We go way back, me and Zeta. I did him a couple of favors a few years back, and he owes me."
"What was he in jail for?"
"No idea. Must've been some petty bullshit since he was in a short-time joint."
"Well, when he gets out, I'd like to meet him and thank him again for keeping me from completely losing control. If he hadn't stepped in, I could have made things a lot worse for myself."
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Luke," Joker said, shaking his head. "Zeta and his boys are bad fuckin' news. We used to do a lot of business with them, but I never felt easy about it. They know too many people who disappear, never to be seen again."
"What kind of business did you do with them?" Luke asked.
Joker was about to answer when Sable interrupted, asking for Joker's help with replenishing the bar. I was certain that her arrival at that point in the conversation was no accident.
I was pulled from my speculation by Luke, who'd come up behind me and wrapped his arms around me from behind.
He put his chin on my shoulder and whispered into my ear. "I hope you're not too sore from riding today. I have plans for you when we get home."
I smiled at the thought of what Luke's plans likely entailed. "I am sore, but I'll manage. Just for you, of course." I turned around to face him. "It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."
He kissed me hard. "Let's get out of here," he said, speech slightly slurred from the alcohol.
"You sure?" I asked, a little surprised that he wanted to leave so early.
"Yeah. I gotta go talk to Sable and Joker tomorrow about business stuff, but right now, all I want is to get you alone and naked."
I wrapped my arms around his neck. "You have such a way with words, Luke Callaway," I said before I kissed him again.
Catcalls and whistles separated the two of us, and Luke and I said our goodbyes
to the guys in the garage before heading inside to find our hosts.
Luke held his hand out to Joker, who predictably bypassed the handshake in favor of a big hug.
"See you tomorrow, son. I think you'll like the work we've done in the shop so far."
"Can't wait to see it. And we'll talk tomorrow about how we're going to get our hands on enough merchandise to open for Halloween." Luke hugged Sable. "And I hear you're quite the farmer."
"Yeah," she agreed with a smile. "The stuff I showed you in the basement here isn't even half of it. If the stuff ends up being as good as I think it will, we're gonna be filthy rich in no time."
"I like the sound of that," I said, taking Luke's hand to lead him to the car. "Thanks again for the party. It was great."
"Remember what I told you," Sable said as we walked out the front door, toward my car.
I nodded to her and returned my attention to helping Luke walk a relatively straight line. I expected him to ask about what Sable and I had discussed, but I realized — when he cupped my ass with his hands — that his mind was somewhere else altogether.
Chapter 12 -- Luke
Sunday, August 18, 2013
I fucking loved the meeting room that the Savage Sons used for church. Even though Sable was our master grower and the license for the shop was in Krystal and Sable's name, there was something I loved about sitting down with my brothers to determine the course of the business. Joker had opened the meeting by welcoming me back, and I'd had to hear all the crazy stories about the rally in Sturgis that I'd missed while I was in jail.
"And that's when Nate realized what we'd known all along," Zeno said, having built up the suspense in his story about one of the parties at the rally. "I thought he was gonna drop dead of either shock or embarrassment when he realized that the ‘chick’ whose ass he'd been checking out all night wasn't a chick at all."
"Motherfucker, you're never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Nate asked, shaking his head at the retelling of his public humiliation. "You have to admit, though, from behind that did not look like a dude, right?"
"Whatever, man. You were the one checking out another guy," Zeno laughed. "Next year, Luke, you gotta be there."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," I answered. "Sounds like I missed a great time."
"All right, guys," Joker said. "Let's get down to business."
The room settled down as we prepared to deal with the business matters before us.
"J.C. has transferred up to Fort Collins, and I let him go free and clear. No objections?"
Zeno and Sally looked at me to see if I was going to object to Bug's closest ally having moved to a different chapter of the MC.
"None from me. I think he was a pussy for having let Bug treat Krystal the way he did, but I don't have a specific problem to resolve. I say, let him go."
"Agreed, then," Joker announced. "Sally, you want to let us know what rides you have on the calendar?"
Since everyone but me had just gotten back from a long trip to Sturgis, we didn't have any other big rides scheduled for the rest of the month. Sally said he was planning something for late September, and he asked for input about whether we'd ride to Las Vegas or someplace closer.
"I have a buddy who has a place in Lake City that we could probably use for pretty cheap," Nate suggested.
Joker lit a cigarette. "What kinda place?"
"I haven't been there, but it's a campground with a bunch of little cabins. They ain't fancy, but they have electric and indoor plumbing," Nate answered.
Joker shook his head. "We don't want a bunch of pissed off families complaining about the noise and carrying on. If we're gonna spend a few days someplace, I want to see half-naked chicks, and I want to drink and fuck wherever I please."
I could feel my eyes widen involuntarily. "So I guess that means that Sable won't be coming?" I said, forcing myself to laugh and hoping the guys didn't think I was a pussy.
Joker looked pissed, but it was Sally who spoke. "Son, a brother's relationship with his old lady is his business, no one else's. You can bring Krystal with you if you want, but we don't get in the middle of each other's business. Understood?"
"Got it," I answered, hoping that I hadn't just fucked up by sticking my nose in where it didn't belong. I figured I'd talk to Joker after church and make sure I hadn't crossed a line.
Nate got us back on topic. "I don't think we'd have to worry about a thing. I'll talk to my buddy, and I bet he'll just let us have the run of the place — rent us the whole campground while we're there. If I promise to bring him some samples from Savage Bud, I'm sure he'll agree to anything."
"Fine," Joker said. "Sally, you'll firm up the date, and Nate, you'll check with your guy in Lake City." He crushed out his cigarette in the nearly overflowing ashtray that sat at his right hand. "Now down to business. Luke, Sable, and I talked yesterday, and we all agree that we have a problem with opening the shop on time. We aren't going to have enough merchandise."
Sally looked perplexed. "What about the stuff we brought back from Arizona?"
Joker laughed. "We put our top analysts on that one, and what it comes down to is that it ain't as potent as we thought it was."
"I'd wondered why they sold it to me so cheap," I said, feeling like I needed to explain why we had a shit ton of mediocre weed. "It's not bad, but it's not the kind of thing we can charge premium prices for, and it's not gonna give us the kind of reputation we want to establish."
Zeno, not typically very vocal in meetings, spoke up. "The idea is to sell killer weed and charge a ton of money, right?"
Joker nodded. "That's the plan. We can sell some of the shit we got from Arizona, but we're gonna have to let it go cheap. Sable's stuff is looking great, but it won't be ready in time for a Halloween opening."
"So, we need to decide if we're going to push back the opening, or if we're going to find another source of weed to get us started," I said, knowing exactly how I wanted the vote to go.
"Can't we buy from some of the other dispensaries in town? I thought Sable was friendly with a couple of them," Sally said.
"We thought that would be an option, but both of Sable's contacts seem to be having trouble maintaining enough inventory to stock their own stores."
Joker lit another cigarette. "Something doesn't sit right about that with me. I think they're scared of the competition, and they don't want us to open."
"Joker, these people are friends of hers, though," I disagreed. "When she and I went to visit them, they were just as helpful as they could be. It doesn't make sense that they would both change their minds independently of one another." Sable, Joker, and I had talked about the situation the day before, and we hadn't exactly come to an agreement about what was going on, but I was convinced that it wasn't a coincidence. "I think we may want to look around at some of the other shops. I betcha we find that someone's leaning on Bob and Ellomere — someone who has more to lose to us than they do."
"I know a guy who works at one of the dispensaries on the east side of town," Zeno said. "Want me to see if he knows which shops might be looking to edge out others?"
Joker nodded. "Let us know if there are any owners that have the reputation of not playing nice with the competition. If that's what's going on, we need to shut that shit down now. Let people know that you can't intimidate the Savage Sons."
Everyone around the table nodded in agreement.
"So where are we gonna get the bud we need to open?" Sally asked. "Or do we want to delay the opening?"
"You know a guy who grows in California, right, Luke?" Zeno asked.
"Yeah, I do, but I've talked to him. Apparently it's illegal for him to sell to a dispensary in another state."
"Who gives a shit?" Joker asked. "You talked to him this morning, right? Did you tell him that breaking a few stupid fuckin' rules doesn't trouble our conscience much?"
"Yeah," I answered, shaking my head. "He said it's not that easy, though. He wouldn't give a shit about it, except he
's got cops watching him day in, day out. Some of the local cops have a stick up their ass because they know that the 'medical' marijuana thing is bullshit. They would love to bust him — or us — if they catch us taking it across state lines."
"Well, shit," Nate said, looking around the table. "What are we gonna do?"
"What about Mexico?" I asked, hoping that I looked less anxious than I felt. I watched the reactions of the men in the room carefully. I saw Zeno and Joker look at one another, though they were careful to keep their expressions neutral.
"Not exactly a legal option — buying weed in Mexico and smuggling it across the border," Joker pointed out.
"But you know people there, right?" I asked.
"Yeah," Joker said slowly, drawing the word out. "But we ain't done any business there in over a year."
"But you know who to go to? Or you could find out, right?" I pressed him.
"I guess," he answered. "That brings in a lot of risks, though."
Sally seemed to agree with Joker's reservations. "I thought the whole idea of this dispensary was for us to have a legal way to make some money. Seems like smuggling drugs in from another country is kinda taking a step back."
Zeno was conspicuously silent, and Nate looked thoughtful. I didn't want to push too hard, but Krystal and I had decided that the best way to figure out what had happened to Moses in Mexico was for us to actually get down there ourselves, meet the people Joker and Moses had been dealing with, and see what we could learn. I sat quietly, hoping that at least one person in the room was seriously considering my suggestion.
Joker finally spoke. "I guess it couldn't do any harm to bring some shit in just this one time."
Sally nodded. "If we could get Zeta's guys in Mexico to handle the border crossing, that'll take a lot of the heat off of us."
"Probably cost us more," Joker warned.
"Yeah, but I'll take a hit on the weed margin if it means staying out of a Mexican prison," Zeno pointed out.