by L. Ann Marie
"What are we riding away from?" He asks.
I smile. "Fuckin boxes. Their everywhere, Devan was trying to feed Brenna an empty bottle from the boxes in their room. They're in the hall, the living room, the garage. My fuckin tools are all over the fuckin safe room. I couldn't get my bike out unless I have an hour to move the fuckin boxes from in front of it and tools from around it."
"So that's what Pres needed Prospects for. You figure it's about a four hour job?" He smiles.
I laugh. Fuckin Ben. He has my back. "Yeah I do."
"Let's give them three and we'll show up to help load them up."
"Sound like a pussy move to leave him all the work." I tell him.
He fuckin laughs. "He's getting a little weight on him. It will be good for him to get some exercise."
I laugh, I see him every fuckin day. He's ripped; he works out every fuckin day at the Club. "All right Brother if we have to make up lies, I lost my phone, the dog ate my homework and I didn't know I was speeding. Let's fuckin ride." We start them up and fuckin ride.
Ben
The last of the boxes are loaded. Patches and Tess go home. I have boxes we sorted against the back wall. I move them into the mud room and keep them against the wall. When I get the last box moved I look around the garage. The tool benches are empty and ready for his tools to be brought back out. I hear bikes coming and wait. One is Danny, I see Tiny with him.
Danny smiles as he pulls right in. "Fuckin Ben. Thank you. We thought we'd make it to load boxes. Where is everything?"
"We sorted it and re boxed the stuff for Kate to go through. It's in the mud room against the wall. Most of it was diapers, blankets and bottles. People are fuckin crazy. How many fuckin bottles do they think we need? She's breast feeding."
They laugh. "Thanks for dealing with this Ben. I tripped on a level and just lost it. I needed to clear my fuckin head."
"Always got your back Danny." I tell him with a chin lift.
Tiny laughs. "Love the fuckin Brotherhood." He slaps my back. "Well let's get the tools moved and be done with it."
Danny keys in numbers and puts his thumb on the pad. The wall swings. Oh fuck. "Sorry Brother." His fuckin room is a mess. Tiny pulls the first bike out and puts it in the small bay where it always sits. I get mine out. Danny starts pulling tools and putting them on the peg boards and in the drawers. Me and Tiny bring the tools out and he puts them away. We're done in half an hour.
Danny slaps our backs. "This feels fuckin better. Thanks."
"Looks better Brother. Now if you’re needed you can get out." Tiny tells him.
"Fuck, I never thought about it. Your bike was buried. Thank fuck you didn't need it." How the fuck did I let that happen. I should have paid attention.
"Steve has a bike for me at Security; I've been using it while the boxes were growing in here. Nothing like your own bike though. Thanks Brothers. I could use a drink." He walks over to the safe room keypad and closes the door.
I go to the fridge and pull three power aides. "It's good to be able to open the fuckin door again." I smile. "Patches and Tess helped today with the Prospects. Did you see Tess' ink?" They shake their heads no. "It's a fuckin work of art. You can't see the scars but they're not covered. She said Doc didn't want ink on them so Kellan and Amanda used the scar tissue as part of the flowers. It's fuckin beautiful. I've never seen anything like it. It took eighteen hours. Part of that was when she stole the kids for the weekend. She's unfuckinbelievable."
"I guess compared to the whip that put the scars there the needle was nothing to her." Tiny says. Danny looks at him. I nod.
"I need a shower." I throw chin and go up to the bedroom. It's good to make it without the boxes everywhere.
I hear Tiny's bike leave as I'm drying off.
Kate
Ben has the kids and Brenna while Danny takes me for a walk on the beach. I needed the break. I spent the day at the Center with Brenna. I had so much to get done since I'm off next week, we didn't plan on my baby girl being here already.
We see Max, Tess and Rich coming down the Beach. "Something's wrong. I'll take Tess if you talk to Rich." I tell Danny so they don't hear. I get a kiss from Rich and take Tess' hand.
She tells me about Patches and her shirt today. Then about her vision of him with a whore. Freakin Patches. I hug her before Rich pulls her away toward their house.
"Rich found her asleep on the safe room floor today." Danny says. He's pissed.
"She told me about the vision and Patches yelling at her. She's afraid of what to wear." I tell him. I want to slap some sense into Patches.
"I need to talk to Ben. I want to fuckin hit him. She's come so fuckin far for him to have her hiding in a four by six room sleeping on the fuckin bare floor." He's walking fast up the path to our house.
I takeover with Brenna and the kids while they sort out Patches.
Danny comes up as I'm doing showers and baths. He takes over while I feed Brenna. When the kids are in bed we go downstairs and meet up with Ben who is pacing the living room.
"Did you get Patches straight?" I ask as I sit. Danny puts the monitors on the table in front of us.
"Yeah, Rob met him going into the Club. He didn't talk to anyone but Rob, then he took him home. He said Patches was going in to grovel." He doesn't look happy.
"What's on your mind Ben." Danny asks.
He runs his hand through his hair then looks at him. "He just became an Officer. I don't know Patches to yell at anyone. He yelled at her, she was hiding in the safe room, sleeping on the fuckin floor, afraid to pick her own clothes. Did I make a mistake? We can't have Officers treating women badly. What the fuck does that say about our Club?"
"I can't believe he yelled at her either. I've never seen him yell. I want to say something more was happening with him. I hate that I'm giving him an excuse though." I tell him.
He looks at Danny. "I asked the kids if they ever heard Patches yell at anyone. They haven't. I'm wondering what happened to get that reaction. I'm with Kate, there's more happening that we don't know. I still want to beat the fuck out of him."
Ben nods. "Rob said he's going back to the therapist. I need to watch what happens with him. I can't have my Officers abusing their women. I don't want to cause problems with either one of you but that's never going to be accepted in the Club."
He doesn't want to cause a problem with us. "I think you need to do what you feel is right. Your decision shouldn't be based on us. You didn't build the Club that way."
He nods and looks at Danny. "She's right. There's going to be times we don't agree, but you've built a Club that Brothers have pride in. You're the President; I don't know you to make decisions based on emotion. I don't have to agree with you for you to have my vote on something. If you remove Patches, I understand it's for the good of the Club. Our family will deal with the fall out the best we can. Patches is part of our family. Being wrong won't take that away but his actions come with consequences. I get that. The Brothers will get that. Patches will too."
He runs his hands back through his hair. I can't help smiling. "I'll wait and see what comes out of this. We threw her protection so Tess is our concern, this can't be about Patches."
Danny smiles, "Relax Ben. We understand where this may go. We're behind you no matter what."
"Thank Fuck." He says sitting down. I crack up.
Forty Six
Three Days
Kate
Walking into the Bakery I'm hit with the coffee smell. "Peg I need the biggest coffee you have. Since I'm at one a day it has to be a big one."
She laughs at me. "I'll bring it back to you. Jess and Rich are in her office."
"You are a Godsend." I tell her pushing through the doors to the kitchen. Mary is at a table frosting a mammoth cake. "Wow, it's changed back here, I like it."
Mary looks up with a smile. "Your man did a great job. I love my table. Look at this." She spins the cake slow. "He made me four different size tops for the lazy-susan. I ca
n decorate without the backache."
I can't believe the thought he puts into everything he does. "That's great Mary. He always amazes me with his thoughtfulness."
"Yep he's a keeper." She says with a smile. I just get to Jess' door when Peg runs in with my coffee. I kiss her cheek and walk in.
Rich is sitting in front of Jess' desk. "What's up my family?" Rich stands up and kisses my cheek. He takes Brenna's seat from me and sits back down. He is just like his dad.
Jess smiles and I know she's thinking the same thing. "Rich set up an account for Tess. It's called the house account, it's main purpose is for her to learn about money and buy the things that she needs. While she's good with numbers she has no experience with money. Can you set her up with those classes?"
"She starts them next week. She's following a series of classes that Sally helped me map out for her. She's buying things though. We have her spending money each week." I look from one to the other. They're smiling.
"Te Jess pulled her account up. She's spending about fifteen dollars a week. Here at the Bakery and at the Sub Shop. She never goes over that."
"Dear Lord that girl is too cute. What do you need from me?" This isn't about Tess' spending money.
Jess smiles. "Since she's been here she's never shopped for clothes."
Rich puts his hand up. "She's never shopped for clothes period. Her mother brought her clothes from the donations they got or shopped for her. She has a pair of jeans with a hole in them and something about a pair of shorts. She didn't know to call and ask to go shopping. I don't think she knows anything about shopping but what we did for Christmas."
I smile, "we can fix that."
Jess nods with a matching smile. "Rich started her off with ten thousand. He told her it's from clothes to curtains. Unless she's buying furniture I think she's good for a while. Because she's been so frugal with her money, I'm positive that she won't go crazy and spend it all at once. We need to watch that but help her find a balance that works for her income."
"Te Jess I don't want her ever asking for money. I'll make sure the account always has money in it. She doesn't make enough to buy shit for the house and she shouldn't have to ask to buy pans and shit." He's so passionate he makes me smile.
"I only mean she should have guiding boundaries. She would buy the homeless guy behind Dunkin a house if the money was there for that." Jess tells him with a smile.
I crack up. "She would."
He smiles nodding. Jess continues. "We need a day of shopping to get her into clothes that she picks out. After what happened with Patches, Rich realized she's never complained or picked out her own things. Even her panties were picked by someone else." She is clearly disgusted by this.
"Holy Crap! What are you doing Saturday?" This needs to be fixed.
"I'm shopping with you and Tess." She laughs.
Rich cracks up. "I knew the panties would get to you." He hands me Brenna and kisses my cheek. Walking around the desk he kisses Jess and tells us he's got to get to work because Steve wouldn't understand him chatting about women's panties.
We laugh as he leaves. "They probably talk more about our panties than we do." She says.
She's right. "How was Tess when Patches picked her up?"
She thinks for a minute. "She's her same happy self. I see a strain with Rich but he's waiting to see how therapy goes. Tess said something about Patches dealing with pushing them away. I didn't question it but I think he might have been sabotaging the relationship in order not to get hurt."
"I was thinking along those lines too. It's so out of character for him. I hope therapy helps. I'm going to call Nancy and have her put some stuff aside for Tess. Based on what she wears I'd say she's got your style. We'll see on Saturday."
"Bring Ally, she's not too young to learn about money management." She cracks me up.
I put Brenna in her seat and give Jess a hug. "I love you my sister/friend. I'll bring Ally."
Instead of calling Nancy I walk over to her store. She's happy to help and puts in an order for Tess. She agrees with Jess' style but says Tess likes different colors. I go along with that because she knows this shit better than I do. Whatever Tess doesn't like she can sell on the floor.
I check in at the Women's Center spending an hour clearing thing up then head home. It's been a nice outing for me and my girl.
Forty Seven
One and a Half Weeks
Ben
Tess corners me and says she needs help getting the Little Brothers and Sister up to the Club with the food. If they needed transportation Petey or Patches would have arranged for it. Since they didn't, I'm thinking she's surprising Patches. It works out perfect because Rich became an Officer today and he needs to be at the Club to show a presence with the other Chapters.
I help her gather the kids up and hear her talking to Rich. He's getting the rest and going to the Bakery for desserts. The rain in Laconia is pushing Brothers our way early. They weren't due for a couple of days.
At the Club, Rich pulls in on the side of me and we unload. Once everyone is in I look around, find Patches and ask if Rich told him his news knowing damn well that he didn't.
I watch Patches face light up. He spins Rich around telling him how happy he is. I'm relieved to see he means it.
My Officers come in and everyone slaps Rich's back. They know he's earned it and it wasn't an easy battle for him. Bob, Digs, Driscoll and Bull come in. They're here at my request. Since all my Officers are here I look for Tiny. He whistles and I find him laughing. He was watching me.
“Welcome Brothers and your families. My name is Ben James. I am usually called Pres. Our Officers are here tonight. If you have a problem that our Prospects can’t help you with, find one of these men. Some rules: Drugs are not allowed on the property. This is not negotiable; you will be escorted off the property. Women and kids are respected in our house. We do NOT tolerate disrespect to our women or the beating of any woman. What you do in your house is your business and not our concern. Fighting in house with your Brothers will get you escorted off the property. There is a ring, range, and empty field out back. Have at it in one of those areas. Because of the old ladies and kids in attendance you will have to refrain from brawling inside.” Brothers laugh. The women look relieved. “Dinner will be delivered by the Little Brothers and Sisters. Breakfast will be delivered from our Bakery at seven am. I am told sandwich makings will be available for lunch tomorrow. If you do not have a room assigned, you will be issued a cot. All I can say is, find a spot Brothers.” People laugh again. “For those registered for the meet, the hotel is relocating guests and your rooms will be available tomorrow at three.” A cheer goes up. “For the Officers going on the tour of the yard and Security, a Prospect will be here at eight tomorrow morning to guide you to our VP in the Security building. For the old ladies and kids, there is a beach down the road and playgrounds at the end of this road and by the Ice Cream Cone. A list of group activities is on the board at the Bakery. There are maps of the area in the hallway. Make yourself comfortable and enjoy your visit to our yard.”
I chat with our Chapter Officers and make sure they all have rooms. I see my Officers greeting and talking to random Brothers. They make me proud. Little Ben announces dinner and people make their way to the dining room. I talk with our New York Brothers making plans for training. Once the old ladies start gathering kids and the Little Brothers and Sisters leave I find my Officers. I pull Steve, Danny, Tiny, Geek, Doc and Rob. We have a drink to Rich and watch them leave. Danny gathers Digs, Bob, Driscoll and Bull bringing them to the meeting room. My Officers are sitting at the table. The Brothers sit on the other side.
“Where are Chet and Allan?” I ask Steve.
“Working.”
The Brothers are looking nervous. “Relax Brothers. We voted on new amendments for the new year. Because of rising membership numbers we need Officers to help manage the Club. You along with Chet and Allan have been selected as having Officer qualities with prove
n loyalty to the Club and Brotherhood. If you are not interested in the position I need to know now.” I watch and see it sink in. They relax then smile. No one says fuck, so I go on. “We have a new tier of Officers called Secondary. We have to add a total of six Officers by next year. I have two slots open now for full Officer positions. This is the same position that Doc, Danny, Geek, Rob, Rich and Patches hold. Secondary Officers will be proving themselves in the positions slated then moved up from there. Again, this would be by next year. Every Club Officer has an administrative job. Tiny is Prospects, Geek is Computer Security, Doc is medical, Danny is Buildings, Rob is mental health, Patches is Associates and Rich is Security. With our structure now Bob you’ll be in Security under Rich and Digs you’re in Computer Security under Geek. The administrative jobs are not fine-tuned yet but there is plenty of work with the way we are growing. You’ll have to be patient with us while we figure it out. Driscoll and Bull you’ll be on the second tier. Your job isn’t clear as of tonight. We’ll work on that after the meet. I need to know if what we are working toward works for you?”
They all nod saying yes. They’re all smiling. “Bob and Digs the HR office is closed until after the meet. The Monday after you are expected there to fill out paperwork. I will meet you there with your new Officer cuts. Driscoll and Bull you will be expected there on Tuesday and I’ll meet you there with the brand new Secondary cuts. One of the Officers will talk to Allan and Chet. I would rather you didn’t talk about this until we can talk with them. We will have a recognition meeting when we have all the Brothers slated to be Officers moved into position.” I look at my Officers. “Did I miss anything?”
Steve nods. “Fuckin paperwork never ends.” Everyone laughs.
“We’re working to ease that right now Brother.”