by Dex, Trace
I smiled back at him and nodded.
“Cheers,” he said as he tapped my bottle. Rainer chugged his entire beer and I tried but could only down a few sips. There definitely was an orange on the label but it didn’t taste like oranges at all.
My stomach started to rumble and without warning, I let out a loud burp. I covered my mouth, embarrassed as Rainer laughed. “Nice one,” he said.
My buzz started to come back and Rainer grabbed a handle of whiskey from the fridge, then held my hand as we walked through the crowd towards Lanvin, Rocket. Sid and the other guy were across the room. The hostile faces looking my direction didn’t really bother me much anymore.
“One second,” said Rainer as he walked toward Rocket and some girl.
I stood there awkwardly nodding at everyone who looked my way as I drank my beer. They must really hate me here.
Rainer whispered something to the girl who seemed to be looking at me the whole time as she chewed her gum, then she nodded and Rainer made his way back towards me.
“I’m going to leave you alone for a while, okay?”
“Huh—“
“That’s Julie,” he said pointing at the girl. “Go with her, I got some business to take care of
* * *
CHAPTER NINE
Rainer
The whiskey’s sweet but these bitter faces were killing my buzz. Did my brothers forget what this was all about?
After I sent Candace off with Julie, I walked up to Rocket and Lanvin who were scaring the shit out of one of the prospects. “Brother, Lanvy, where’s Sid?”
“He said he was heading outside for a smoke,” said Rocket. “And so will you if you fuck up one more time!” he yelled to the prospect.
“Yeah, Sid seemed pissed,” said Lanvin.
“Is he alone?” I said.
“No, he’s with his bo—“
“Bodyguard?” I said.
“Yes, bodyguard,” said Lanvin. “Who told you to look at me?” he yelled at the prospect. The prospect stood still while staring straight ahead. I could sense the fear in his eyes.
“So what’d this guy do?” I asked.
“He brought us warm drinks,” said Rocket.
“Yeah, and he’s going to drink this shit right now,” said Lanvin. “Then when he’s done, he’s going to get us what we actually wanted, right?”
“Yes sir!” said the prospect.
The prospect was skinny and young looking. He couldn’t have been any more than 19 years old. I could tell he was scared, but this is how we toughened them up. Our men can’t be weak if they want to ride with us.
“Don’t make them wait,” I said as I took a swig of whiskey. I watched in amusement as he downed the disgusting bottles of warm beer. He looked like he was going to vomit any second but he kept going. One down, one to go.
“That’s right, take it all in,” said Rocket. “There better not be anything left, either.”
After he finished his second beer, the green look on his face was hilarious. I used Rocket and Lanvin as a shield just in case he threw all the beer up. We all laughed as he stumbled towards the kitchen, it reminded me of when we were all younger.
“Alright you guys, don’t torture him too much. He seems like a good kid,” I said. “Head over to the jukebox when the prospect comes back with your drinks.”
I looked around for Sid to get a word with him. Where the fuck is he? That damn baby. He always whines when shit doesn’t go his way.
I walked through the crowd, one step closer to the music. The jukebox was playing rock n roll, as usual, and it looked like everyone was still having fun. I couldn’t help but think that the angry faces were only gone because Candace wasn’t around. I saw them all glaring at her, and they’re lucky I didn’t do something about it.
But that’s only cause she was with me at the time.
I know I just got into this VP position, but the amount of disrespect I’ve seen so far needs to stop. This is a family and anyone who comes in here should be treated as such. This bullshit stops now.
Rocket, Lanvin, and the prospect were headed my way the last time I looked up from my drink. I looked past the door and Sid was still nowhere in sight. Everyone else was busy partying. There were a few guys nearby snorting coke, and some girl was giving a nude lap dance to one of the men nearby, and there was a bare-fisted fight going on inside the ring set up at the corner of the room. Nothing out of the ordinary for me, but Candace must have gone through some culture shock walking into here.
With Sid nowhere to be found, I guess I’ll have to do this without him.
Once Rocket and Lanvin reached me, I took another swig of whiskey, lifted the cord behind the jukebox, and then pulled the mother-fucking plug out the socket.
As expected, once the music cut off, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards my direction. A bit of booing went on until they realized it was me who turned it off.
“Gather round,” I said, waving everyone closer as I paced back and fourth.
The crowd started to huddle without question. Huge muscular men, overweight older men with beards, sexy women with almost nothing on, scared prospects on edge hoping that none of the higher-ups would notice them. A huge mix of the people I considered family. I knew everyone with a vest on, and only a few of the prospects.
The chatter grew silent as everyone settled their eyes on me.
I paced around a bit, brushing my hair back with my hand as I stared every one of these badass motherfuckers in the eyes. I lifted my drink and downed the entire bottle of whiskey, then threw it against the wall behind me. The glass shattered all over the floor, startling a few of them, mostly the prospects and the women.
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “Listen up,” I said. “From the looks on all your faces, you probably already know what happened earlier.” I watched the crowd to see a lot of them nodding, and some shook their heads.
“And I know some of you aren’t happy with the way things went down.” Even more people began to shake their heads while looking at one another.
“But let me make one thing clear: What we have right here,” I said as I waved my hand across the crowd, “this here, is a brotherhood.” They nodded as I stared them all in the eyes one by one. “Now look at each other. Every single one of these people besides you. Who are they?”
“Family!” they yelled out.
I nodded silently. “And unlike those Wreck MC assholes, we as a family need to take care of one another.” They all began to nod.
“Now, I know you all probably heard about the war,” I said. They began to cheer and I calmed them down by lifting my hand. “This war we have at our hands didn’t start or end just because that bitch is dead. No. She signed her death certificate once she set that trap against our men. The trap that killed three of our brothers.” I slicked my hair back.
“The trap that killed our leader,” The room grew silent and they all nodded.
“The trap that killed my father.”
I pulled my smokes out of my pocket and began slapping the case against my palm as I paced back and fourth. “This war started the day he was killed. The day they were all killed. And just because that bitch is dead now, it doesn’t mean the war is over.” They all nodded. “Not by a long shot!” The room grew louder, deep voices cheering with drinks in their hands cutting through the thick smoky air.
I motioned my hands down to quiet them again. “Now let me make something else clear: When I walked in here, I saw the look on all your faces. The same look we give to anyone who fucks with us. The look that no one should be giving to family.” I paced around, still slapping the cigarette box in my hand. “It didn’t feel like home when I walked in here. No, not one bit. It felt like I was in a room full of enemies!” I yelled.
Some people in the crowd straightened their stance. “And I know a lot of you are wondering who that girl is, or why I brought her here. By the looks of it, you all know what she did. You all know she was the
one that pulled the trigger,” I said. I pulled out a cigarette as everyone nodded and placed it in my mouth. “That’s fine, I know you all have a lot of questions.”
I watched as everyone looked at each other. “Her name,” I paused, waiting for everyone to quiet down again. “Her name is Candace.”
I moved the unlit cigarette out of my mouth and paced back and fourth for a moment.
“I don’t know what fucking stories you’ve heard, but I want to make it clear that I gave her the gun,” I said. “I was the one that gave her the gun, the gun she used to shoot that backstabbing bitch right between the eyes.”
I slicked my hair back, “Candace may not look like one of us. She might not even act like any of us. But I’ll tell you this: she’s one tough motherfucker. And of all the names I’ve heard being thrown around about her, there’s one thing I know for sure: she damn sure isn’t our enemy.”
I could feel all the heads follow me as I walked slowly back and fourth. “Yeah,” I nodded to myself, “she’s an outsider, but so are we,” I said. “Candace took the gun I handed to her, stood right in front of that bitch, and shot her square in the face.” I noticed people in the crowd nodding. “I know a lot of you haven’t even pulled the trigger of your own gun, and I know more of you have yet to kill someone with it. But you know what? Candace has done it. And she didn’t ask me, or Sid, or Lanvin, or Rocket over here a damn thing when she did it.” I looked over at them, Rocket and Lanvin were looking back at me while nodding. “Candace just lifted the goddamn gun and shot the bitch, no questions asked.”
I stopped in the middle and looked out at all the eyes. “And to me, that shows dedication. That shows honor, loyalty, fearlessness, and all that other good shit that we all need in order to survive as a family. This is the shit a lot of you have yet to show, and the shit some of you seemed to forget. She’s proven herself and she deserves our respect.”
The crowd was nodding as I put the unlit cigarette between my lips. “Now, remind me: We respect everyone unless?” I said as I put my hand to my ear.
“They give us a reason not to!” they cheered.
“Good good. I’m glad you all remembered,” I combed my hair back. “So all that bullshit some of us have been giving her: that ends now.” I looked around to make sure everyone heard me. Mostly everyone was nodding.
“Hell, I know she looks like an ordinary girl, but she has bigger balls than a lot of us out here,” I said as they started laughing. “She did us a favor by killing that girl, and we all need to be thankful for her. We need to make her feel at home.” The crowd was cheering now.
“Now,” I said, calming them down. “This war: you bet your fucking ass it’s on. Hell, it was on before Candace ever pulled the trigger. So let’s not be assholes to the girl who did what any of you would have done, if you had the chance. She’s family now and I expect all of you to treat her that way.”
They all nodded and cheered. I pulled my cigarette out of my mouth and walked towards the prospect from earlier that happened to be holding a new bottle of beer. His eyes were glossy as he looked at me, he seemed so hyped that he didn’t even care when I took the beer out of his hands.
I lifted the glass in the air, “Do I make myself clear?”
Everyone who had a drink lifted their glass and cheered. “I said do I make myself clear?”
The room roared with the sound of over a hundred people cheering, multiple glasses slammed into one another and alcohol splashing all over.
“They fucked with the wrong club!” I said. “Let’s give them the fucking crisis they deserve!”
The crowd all stood up to cheer with each other.
“And to our fallen brothers,” I said as I lifted my glass, “Show them what hell’s really like when they meet you on the other side!”
The room exploded with celebration.
I took a small sip of beer and gave it back to the prospect. “Drink up,” I said with a wink.
I looked over at Rocket and Lanvin, then I pointed at the jukebox and grinned, “Plug that son of a bitch back in.”
***
Candace
“So you’re Rainer’s girl, eh?”
The walls shook from all the commotion outside. There was a radio inside the room that played loud music, but instead of rock music like they played outside, it was electronic. The bass made me feel like I was at some nightclub. I didn’t know who this girl was but she was beautiful. The confused smile on her face as she chewed her gum made her less intimidating than the people outside. She chewed hard and loud to the beat, and the shape of her eyes looked like she was always smiling. “I heard a lot about you.”
I stood near the door after it closed behind us. I wasn’t sure why Rainer wanted me to go with her or why she even brought me in here. She was about the same height as me with pretty eyes, blonde hair, and bright red lipstick. She had on a black leather biker jacket and some black high-waisted shorts, with a black top that had tears near the cleavage area. Her knee high leggings were also black with a few holes in them. She looked straight out of a punk music video, but with a bit more grace.
“I-I’m not really his girl,” I said, looking down at the floor. “At least I don’t think I am… I don’t think I’m his type.”
She was shuffling things around in a nearby cabinet and stopped what she was doing to look at me once she heard what I said. “Oh trust me,” she said. “You wouldn’t be in here if he didn’t care.”
“You think so?” I said. Rainer’s girl, I loved how it sounded.
“Hell yeah I do!” she said with a smile.
I took small steps closer to her to get a better look at what she was doing. “So…,” I took a deep breath. “I guess that means you aren’t going to kill me, right?” She stood up, walked slowly towards me and stopped an inch away from my face. Her snarl was really intimidating for someone that was the same size as me.
After staring into my eyes for a few seconds, her expression changed to a smile, “Of course not, hun!” she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a mirrored closet. She grabbed my shoulders and turned me away from the mirror so that I faced the door. “I’m just here to fix you up a bit.”
She squinted as she circled me, examining my body like I was on display. “Oh, by the way, I’m Juliet. Juliet Fines Claymore.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Claymore. I’m Candace. Candace Unival.”
“I know, silly!” she said as she moved towards the closet. Oh yeah, of course she knew. Everyone in here knew me, but only because they hated me. “And ew, Mrs. Claymore? I don’t look that old, do I?”
“Not at all!” I replied. “I just didn’t want to seem rude.”
She laughed again, “Thank god. I thought my wrinkles were starting to get worse. Just call my Juliet.”
“Alright, Juliet!” I wasn’t sure how old she was, but from the looks of her, she couldn’t have been any older than 23.
I bit my lip and played with my fingers, still not entirely sure why I was in this room with her. “What do you mean ‘fix you up’?” I said.
“Well,” she said pointing at all my clothes. “This. It’s not bad, but I think we can make it better.”
“Oh,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Sorry.”
“You apologize a lot, Candace, relax and come over here. Let me see what I’m working with.” I had on black boots, high waisted light denim shorts, a white button down, and a thin black hoodie stained with margarita and a bit of Mochi’s fur. My hair was in a ponytail and I had barely any makeup on because I didn’t expect I’d actually find anyone at the garage earlier since I didn’t have any luck searching the other ones. All I had on was just a bit of eyeliner.