by Wilder, L.
“Have a safe trip home,” one of them answered.
“Will do.”
A few hours of daylight still remained, so I took my time riding home. The weather was starting to change, and autumn’s cool air was setting in. The leaves had just begun to change colors, with just the tips becoming a bright shade of yellow or red, and each time the wind blew, the acorns and pecans would fall from the trees. As much as I loved this time of year, I knew it wouldn’t be long before winter came creeping in. The temps would drop and the roads would become sketchy, making it difficult to ride my bike to work. The bitter weather was one of the reasons I’d held on to the old pickup truck—that, and it was the only thing I’d ever gotten from my grandfather in my entire life. I was lucky he’d passed it on to me. By the time he died, there wasn’t a dime left to his name, and it took all the money my brothers and I had saved to bury him. I was still thinking about the day we’d put him in the ground as I pulled up to my trailer. After I parked and started to get off my bike, I noticed Ms. Maybell was trying to take potted mums out of the trunk of her car.
Ms. Maybell had to be in her late seventies, but with her smooth dark skin and shiny dark-black hair, she looked much younger. The only thing that gave her age away was the fact that she moved very slowly, especially when lifting anything that weighed more than a couple of pounds. Worried she might hurt herself, I rushed over and pulled one of the pots out of her trunk. “Can I give you a hand with those?”
“Oh, honey. You don’t have to do that.”
A few weeks ago, I’d overheard Frances and Alice talking about Maybell and how she’d recently lost one of her great-grandkids. She’d taken the whole thing pretty hard. I couldn’t really blame her. Apparently, the kid had gotten caught up in some crossfire between rival gangs, and by the time they got him to the hospital, it was too late. It made me wish I could do more for her than simply put out a few flowers. I gave her a smile as I asked, “Where do you want this one?”
“Over on that front step would be nice, don’t you think?”
“Yes, ma’am. I sure do.” I placed it on the bottom step next to the railing, then went back to the trunk to grab another. “How about this one?”
“I think that one should go up on the porch by the door.”
“You got it.”
I had just made my way up the steps when I heard a car pull up in front of Maybell’s trailer. I turned to look and was surprised to see KeShawn getting out of his black Mercedes. He was shaking his head as he fussed at Maybell. “I told you I would help you put those out, Mimi.”
“I know, but Darcy came over and offered to help.”
He reached into the trunk and grabbed another one of the mums as he scolded, “You shouldn’t have her out here doing this sort of thing for you.”
“I don’t mind.” I placed the mum by the door then turned and started back down the steps. “I like helping. Besides, Maybell would do it for me if she could.”
His tone softened as he said, “I appreciate you looking after her like you do.”
“We look out for each other.” KeShawn was putting on a show for his grandmother. I knew who he really was—the leader of the Inner Disciples. He was a man who made a living off the weak, never caring who he hurt to get what he wanted. Men like him were a dime a dozen in the city, and I’d always done my best to steer clear of them. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to do that with KeShawn. He was always coming around, sometimes alone and sometimes with his crew, to see about Maybell. Normally, I’d just stay out of sight whenever he showed up, but I had no idea he’d stop by today. I smiled at Maybell as I lifted the last pot of mums out of her trunk. “How about this one?”
“I don’t know,” Maybell answered. “What do you think?”
“I think it would look great on the table by your swing. What do you think about that?”
“I think that will be just perfect, dear,” Maybell answered excitedly. “They all look so beautiful, don’t they, KeShawn?”
“Yeah. They look real nice, Mimi.”
I figured Maybell would like some time alone with her grandson, so I gave them both a quick wave and said, “I hope you two have a nice visit.”
When I started to step away, KeShawn called out to me. “Hey, you still painting bikes and shit?”
“Yeah.” I stopped and turned to face him. “Why?”
“I’ve got this sweet Suzuki GSX-R that needs some work. I was thinking you might look at it and give me a price on blacking it out.”
“Sure. I could do that. You can bring it by sometime or I can come out to your place and check it out,” I offered, praying that he wouldn’t take me up on it.
“It’s over on Broad Street.” He pulled a card out of his wallet with his number on it and brought it over to me. “Just come by when you get a chance. If I’m not around, tell the boys why you’re there.”
As I took the card from his hand, I nodded. “I’ll try to get there in the next week or so.”
“Sounds good.”
“I wanted to tell you…” I started but hesitated, fearing I might be crossing a line. Unfortunately, I’d already opened my mouth, and he was standing there waiting for me to finish. “I was really sorry to hear about your son.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” A pained expression crossed his face. “Nothing worse than losing a kid, especially one as awesome as Little T.”
“I’d seen him a couple of times when he came to visit Maybell. He seemed like he was a great kid.”
“He was, and it wasn’t right that he went out like he did.” He looked up at me with nothing but rage in his eyes as he growled, “That’s why I’m gonna make ’em pay…every last one of them.”
Knowing that KeShawn was a member of a vicious gang in the city and wouldn’t make a threat like that unless he meant it, I suddenly became nervous. I had no idea how to respond to him, so I simply said, “I understand why you might feel that way, but it won’t bring him back.”
“No, but it’ll teach those motherfuckers a lesson. You don’t fuck around with me or mine without paying the price.”
It was starting to get dark, and I was feeling more uncomfortable by the second, so I nodded. “Well, I better get going. I hope you and Maybell have a nice visit.”
With that, I turned towards my trailer. As I started up the steps, I heard Maybell call out to me. “Thank you again for your help, sweet child.”
“Anytime!”
The second I stepped up on the porch, I noticed that the light outside my door was not only on and working, it was much brighter than it had been before. I also noticed that several of the loose boards on my porch had been replaced. When I turned to ask Maybell if she’d seen anyone working on my place, I found KeShawn staring at me. There was something about his expression that gave me the creeps, so I rushed inside and quickly closed the door behind me. Relieved to be away from the madness that was KeShawn, I went over to the fridge to get me something to eat. That’s when I spotted Caleb’s number written on the dry erase board. Curious if he had something to do with my newly repaired light, I took out my phone and sent him a text.
Me: Hey. It’s Darcy. Would you happen to know anything about my front porch or the backdoor light?
Caleb: Maybe.
Me: You don’t have time to come to work, but you make time to come over and fix my porch?
Caleb: Needed to be done.
Me: I could’ve done it myself.
Caleb: Maybe. But you didn’t.
Before I had a chance to type a response, he messaged again:
Caleb: Good night, Darcy.
Me: Good night.
Feeling frustrated, I decided to skip dinner altogether. I fed Scout and Lenny, then went to take a much needed shower. Once I was done, I put on a t-shirt and crashed on my bed. As I laid there staring up at the ceiling, my mind drifted to Caleb. I found myself wondering what kind of business would’ve kept him gone not for just a couple of hours, but for the entire day. I had a feeli
ng I might never find out. In fact, I had a feeling that when it came to Caleb and his brothers, there were going to be many things that I would be left in the dark about—and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
CHAPTER 7
Rider
“Like I said before, I told the guy to back the fuck off,” Gauge started, “and that Kenadee was an ol’ lady and under Fury’s protection, and if anyone fucked with her, there’d be hell to pay.”
“You gotta know that he went back and told KeShawn about your encounter,” Riggs added.
“No doubt.” Shadow leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “I’m sure he wasn’t happy about the news.”
“I don’t know, brother. I got the feeling the guy already knew.” Gauge cocked his head to the side. “He had no reaction whatsoever when I mentioned Fury’s name. Hell, he didn’t even blink, much less back away.”
“Fuck that shit,” T-Bone roared. “That motherfucker will blink when I put a goddamn bullet between his eyes.”
“You’re right about that.”
“If Lewis was smart, he’d back the fuck off and let this thing die.” Murphy shook his head as he continued, “But I’ve got a feeling he’s going to take it all the way.”
There was no missing the rage in Blaze’s voice when he declared, “I’ve got the same fucking feeling, and I’m telling you right fucking now, I’ll kill every last one of them before I let them get to Kenadee.”
“We’re not going to let anything happen to Kenadee,” Gus assured him. “If the Disciples don’t heed Gauge’s warning, then we’ll take action. I know it isn’t easy. I know you want to go in there and wipe these fuckers out, but right now, a threat in a moment of grief doesn’t justify killing off a hundred men and their families.”
“But one of his guys was at the hospital, and he was following Kenadee! That’s gotta mean something!”
Dealing with our local city street gangs was a pain in the ass. There was nothing organized about them. Hell, they were dispersed all over their fucking territory. More than half of them slept late and spent the rest of their day hanging around their neighborhood drinking, doping, and causing bullshit trouble. It was pathetic. Not a fucking one of them seemed to be working towards a common goal, and their respect for one another laid in the crimes they committed—the more violent, the more notoriety a member earned, meaning Lewis had to pull some pretty heavy shit to become the leader of the Inner Disciples. Every move his crew made had been driven by his obsession with his turf, his pride, or getting his revenge. There was no doubt that the need to avenge his son’s death was fueling Lewis, making him think he had what it took to take us on. Unfortunately for him, it would soon be an emotion that brought him to his end. Gus’s tone remained calm as he replied, “And Gauge set the kid straight. Now we wait and see what their next move is gonna be.”
Waiting was never easy, especially for a man like Blaze, but in all the years that he’d been our president, Gus had never once let his brothers down. Deep down, Blaze had to know that this time would be no different. With a heavy sigh, Blaze nodded and agreed. “Understood.”
“Riggs will continue to monitor the security systems at all their hangouts, but let’s step things up a bit.” Gus turned to Shadow. “I want you on KeShawn. See if you can figure out if this guy is up to something.”
“You got it,” Shadow replied.
“Riggs, I need eyes on KeShawn’s place at all times. Considering that neighborhood, it won’t be easy.”
“I’ll make it happen.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.” Then he turned to Murphy and said, “Until Riggs gets those cameras going, I want you and Rider to go over to keep an eye on KeShawn’s. Make sure no one new is going in or coming out of there that we don’t know about.”
Murphy cocked his eyebrow as he asked, “You want them knowing we’re watching?”
“Absolutely.”
Murphy nodded. “Understood.”
“What about the run to Little Rock in the morning?” Riggs asked.
We had a pipeline with several fellow chapters of Satan’s Fury, where each of us contributed to a large shipment of weapons that would be distributed and sold for a prime price. As a whole, we’d made a great deal of money over the past year, but we still continued to complete our own separate runs from time to time, distributing small shipments of handguns or assault rifles. With all that had been going on at the garage and with Kenadee, I’d almost forgotten about the run to Arkansas. Thankfully, it had been planned for weeks. Everything was already crated and ready. It was just a matter of us getting it delivered.
“Murphy will still be in charge.” Gus glanced back over to Murphy once again as he ordered, “You and Rider go by KeShawn’s tonight, and then head over there again tomorrow when you get back from the run.”
“You got it.”
“Before you leave out, I’m gonna need you boys to look over everything and make sure we’re set for the morning. Check every single crate and all the artillery,” Gus demanded. “Just because this is one of our smaller runs doesn’t make it any less of a priority.”
We all nodded.
“I’m sending Clay along with you boys tomorrow. It’s time to see if he has what it takes to keep up.” Gus turned to me as he said, “Rider, watch him. Make sure he doesn’t fuck up.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do my best.”
As soon as church was dismissed, Murphy and I drove to the south of downtown, just past Orange Mound—a territory that was infamous for its plethora of gangs and violence. Knowing how dangerous it could be, most folks did their best to steer clear of this particular neighborhood, especially at night, but we weren’t worried. The brothers of Satan’s Fury had made a name for themselves, and even downtown with the thugs and thieves, we were protected by our cut. People knew who we were. They knew the kind of destruction we could bring if anyone stood in our way, the wrath that would ensue if they went after one of our own, so we rolled up into that place like we owned it. Murphy and I parked in the wide open space across the street from KeShawn’s house, leaving no doubt as to why we were there. There wasn’t much to the place, just an old white colonial with four or five bedrooms, sitting right in the middle of the hood. There were lawn chairs scattered around the yard and an old, rusted, fifty-five-gallon metal drum they used as a fire pit. We sat there for over two hours, just watching as some of their guys came and went, but nothing particularly unusual happened the entire time we were there. When it looked like they were closing things down for the night, we waited another hour to be sure, then headed home ourselves.
The following morning, we met up at the clubhouse with the others and started preparing for the run. Like all the times before, we’d hidden the crates in a secret compartment beneath the flooring of Gus’s old horse trailers. He’d had them altered years ago when they first started hauling weapons across state lines, and luckily, no one had ever been the wiser. I was watching as T-Bone double checked the compartments when I heard Murphy shout, “Let’s move it, boys. We’re wasting daylight!”
“One more minute,” T-Bone shouted in return. Moments later he came barreling out of the backend of the horse trailer. “I’m done. You can load the horses.”
I nodded, then led the horses, one by one, up the ramp and into the trailer. Once I had the door secured, I announced, “We’re all set.”
“Then, let’s roll!” Murphy shouted as he started towards his SUV. He, T-Bone, and Gauge loaded up in his SUV, while Gunner tagged along with Riggs and two of our prospects, Rip and Gash. I was just about to get in with Riggs when I noticed that Clay hadn’t moved. “Yo, Clay! Move your ass.”
Clearly lost in his thoughts, he looked up at me and mumbled, “Huh?”
“Move your ass, brother!”
“Oh, shit.” He cleared his throat and cocked his head. “Sorry, man. I’m coming!”
As soon as we were both inside, Riggs started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. We hadn’t been dri
ving long when I glanced over at Clay and was surprised to see that he still looked a little rattled. I didn’t necessarily blame him. I remembered my first run and how nervous I was. I wasn’t just worried that the brothers and I would get busted and end up in jail; I was afraid that I might fuck something up and end my chance of becoming a member of Satan’s Fury. Hoping to ease Clay’s mind, I gave him a quick nudge and said, “I know this is a lot to take in, but just try and keep a level head. Everything will be fine.”
“I’m not worried about this, brother. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know how important all this shit is and that we gotta be careful and all that. Hell, I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but something else has been bugging me.”
“Oh, really? What’s that?”
“I’ve been seeing this…Oh, hell, it don’t matter. I’ll tell ya about it later.” He looked me in the eye and said, “We need to be focused on the run right now.”
“You’re right. We do,” I agreed. “You know how this is supposed to play out, right?”
“Yeah.” Clay nodded. “We’ll be at the back of some gas station or something. We check our surroundings…make sure the coast is clear. Once we’re sure that nothing looks suspicious or whatever, then we start moving the crates from our trailer into the other truck.”