Chapter Eight

 

 

 

Torq

I could tell she was afraid when I spotted her in the crowd of drunken men, trying to hold her own. I stood aside, still close enough to help if needed, and let her try to get out of the situation herself. She looked like the type who was independent, wanting to do everything on her own. And I hoped she would, but was ready if she couldn’t.

When I told Leroy I wanted a private session with the woman I now know as Angel, he told me he’d have to ask if she’d be willing. I, of course, knew how we did things around here; it’s always up to the woman. So I waited by the back door for him to come out and tell me what her answer was.

It didn’t take long. He told me to take a seat by the bar and that she’d be out shortly. I just didn’t know what that meant. Usually, when I requested a woman, she’d tell me to wait in a room. Sometimes, she’d dance for me out here in the bar. I didn’t care either way, because if I was taking them to bed, it wouldn’t happen here. I respected my club and this business too much to do that. Plus, when I wanted to fuck, it wasn’t just a quickie or even a one-time go around. It was an all-night affair, one that would leave me hopefully spent and the woman completely satisfied.

I waited for a few minutes, but I needed another cigarette. I’d started to get a bad feeling about something and needed the smoke break, but when I got back inside, she was already out of the dressing room, looking for me. But what she found was trouble.

It reminded me of another girl not too long ago that had gotten herself into the same type of trouble. Though hers was a worse situation than Angel’s, and she could have easily prevented it by not being stupid and wandering into a part of town a girl like her had no right being in. I still get pissed when I think about what could have happened to her if I hadn’t shown up.

Okay, that’s not the only thing that pisses me off about that night. I felt kind of cheated when I found out she was the daughter of the local preacher. Sure, when I first laid eyes on her, I knew she was a good girl, too innocent for me, but I would’ve never guessed how good she was.

When I see more men starting to surround Angel, I decide that now is probably a good time to intervene. There are just too many of them, and they’ve had way too much to drink to be let down. I hate men like that, ones who can’t take no for an answer.

Pushing one of them out of my way, I make my way into the small crowd. First, I lock eyes with Angel, wanting to see that she’s okay, but she averts her gaze almost immediately. I’m not sure what that’s about. She probably thinks I’m just another asshole trying to hassle her. I look at the man who’s currently holding onto her arm like she’s his possession.

I make my stand against them and they scurry off like roaches.

“Now, where were we?” I take a small step forward. I don’t want to scare her so I let her keep her personal space until she invites me in. “Oh yeah, we were just gettin’ ready to discuss my request for some private time with you tonight.”

I don’t linger on the events that just took place, not because I’ve already forgotten, but because I want her to forget. I don’t want to see that look of fear I saw moments ago.

Speaking of not wanting to see fear in her beautiful eyes, that are surprisingly very green, I see that I succeeded. But now, instead of fear, there’s bitterness and anger. Maybe even a little hate.

I have no idea what it is that I did to put it there, but it upsets me. That wasn’t the reaction I wanted or expected. Is she mad because I stepped in when she wanted to handle it? Was she acting? Did I chase off her money for the night?

No, that can’t be it. The fear in her eyes was real.

Either way, I won’t take back what I did. It was the right thing to do in the situation. Besides, if it’s money she’s worried about, I can make sure she’s compensated for her time with me, regardless if I get my rocks off at the end or not.

I’ve always believed in tipping good and paying these girls more than they usually get from the men that frequent this place. Not because I’m rich or anything, though I do have more money than I need, but it’s because these girls work hard, and some people don’t see that in what they do. They just see a stripper or a whore. They see a poor single mother who’s trying to make ends meet for her child. Or they see a junkie who’s trying to make enough money to get her next fix. But that’s not the case with these girls. None of them, as a matter of fact.

Yeah, a few of them may be working here to help pay for college, but they all love what they do here. Half the time, the girls who are going to college continue working here, even after they get their degree. They work less hours, of course, which is fine by us. We like to see them succeed in anything they do. And they always know we’ll be here for them, even if they don’t work here any longer.

She shakes her head, like she doesn’t like the thoughts inside it, before turning to walk away from me. “The answer is no.”

Having no idea what just happened, I move quickly to catch up to her. “Wait,” I say, putting myself directly in front of her so she can’t get away, but I don’t touch her. “What do you mean? I’m not like those guys who were harassing you. I was the one who requested your time in the first place.” I try to calm her fears, or whatever it is she thinks I’m doing, but it’s not working. I can tell by the look on her face.

“And the answer is still no.” She steps around me to continue walking away from me.

Again, I turn to catch up and put myself in front of her. “Look, I don’t know what you think it is I’m asking for, but I can assure you, I’m not assuming anything. Honestly, I just want your company for a few minutes.” I don’t know what else I can say to her without begging. I’m at a complete loss and have no idea what her problem is, or what it is I did to cause this type of reaction from her.

She thinks for a second, then looks at me with a blank expression. “Do you know who I am?” she asks. The question throws me for a minute. I don’t know why she’s asking, but I’ll answer.

“You’re Angel.”

There’s disappointment in her eyes, but it fades quickly to relief. Then, all expression is wiped clean from her face again.

“Okay, let me lay this out for you so you’ll understand me, Torq.” She looks down at my cut, reading my name off with distaste. “I don’t have to do private shows. The owner leaves it up to us whether we want to do one or not. So I don’t really care what you’re looking for or who you are. The answer is no. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some place to be.”

This time, when she walks off, I don’t follow her or try to change her mind. I’m miffed at what just happened, and maybe a little disappointed. I know better than anyone that the girls don’t have to do private dances. Yeah, Bear likes it when the girls do because it keeps business rolling and people coming back, but if push came to shove, and the girls absolutely didn’t want to do them, he wouldn’t make them.

My night has gone to shit, with news of T-Bone and now her. But, there is still one thing I can control, and I guess that’s all I really need right now.

Turning back toward the bar, I order up a few bottles of beer, grab my forgotten bottle of whiskey, then make my way back to my table. I may not end the night with my dick getting wet, but that don’t mean I still can’t catch a good show and get drunk before passing out.

***

I wake to my phone going off loudly beside my bed. I don’t remember how long I stayed at the strip joint, or even how I got home, but my head is killing me. And the phone blaring on my nightstand isn’t helping matters.

“What?” I bark into the phone, not caring who the fuck it is, just pissed all over again about how last night played out.

“You plannin’ on showin’ your face for this meeting, or making us guess what the fuck happened down south?” Bear growls into the phone.

I should feel bad, or at least apologize, even though I won’t mean it. He knows how I get sometimes, especially after a long run. He’s mostly just putting on a show for my brothers who are no doubt listening in on the conversation, or at least his side, while they sit and wait for me inside the chapel at the clubhouse.

Groaning, I lift my head to look at the clock. It’s eleven fifty-five. Our meeting doesn’t start until twelve, but I would have needed the wake-up call anyway. “Be there in five,” I say before hanging up.

Pulling my hungover ass out of bed, I’m glad there isn’t a random woman laying naked there. I don’t remember how the night ended, and for all I know, I banged every girl in that place five ways from Sunday. But at least I don’t have to try to give them the brush-off before hightailing it to the clubhouse.

I pull on the pants I wore last night and a shirt I see lying beside them. I don’t know if it’s clean or dirty, but I could care less at this point.

Before walking out the door, I take a swig of mouthwash, grab my cut off the chair and head outside, swishing the liquid in my mouth until I’m sitting on my bike. Spitting it out, I light a cigarette and start up my bike. I rev the engine a few times before peeling out of my parking space in front of my apartment.

I’m surprised that my bike was even out there, since I don’t remember riding it home last night. I’m happy I don’t have to take a cage or call a brother to come pick my ass up. No way am I riding bitch.

I make it to the clubhouse in no time, and walk through the chapel doors just as the clock chimes noon.

“Cuttin’ it a little close, aren’t we?” Deuce says as I sit down in my seat around the big table. It was custom made with ashtrays built into it, and our MC colors painted proudly on top.

“Shut the fuck up and let’s get down to business,” I growl, not in the mood to deal with anyone’s shit, least of all his.

Deuce is younger than me and has always been one to think pissing me off as a game. It’s like he wants to see how far he can push me. I don’t usually fight with my brothers, unless they’ve betrayed us, but I may have to make an exception today for him.

“All right, pipe down you two. Let’s get the show on the road,” Bear scolds in his gravelly voice.

“We’re still missin’ someone, Prez,” Teto interjects. I know who he’s talking about, but I’m not going to voice what’s going on. I’ll let Bear do that.

“Yeah, but we’re gonna start. I’ll get to that later.”

Everyone nods and waits patiently for him to continue on with the meeting and the reason behind it. I’m sure a few know what this is all about, or at least have an idea. Like me, I know what we’re here to discuss, I just don’t have all the specifics on one of the subjects. But on the other, I have all the information. Hell, I’ll probably be talking just as much as Bear, since we’ll be going over my trip and the things I’ve found out.

“Let’s start with our first round of business. As you all know, Torq went down to Texas to fix the problem with the Devil’s Crew. They weren’t holdin’ their end of the deal and needed to be dealt with.” Looking to me, he waves his hand, giving me the table.

“The problem ran deeper than I thought, but it’s handled. Dino was eliminated, along with most of his crew. They backed him one hundred percent and wouldn’t have taken to new leadership, so I got rid of them,” I inform them. No one looks surprised. We knew a lot of them would have to go, fearing they wouldn’t do what we needed them to, but I honestly didn’t think that I’d have to take out most of the damn club. Guess some of them knew otherwise.

“I patched in a new president, who just so happened to be one of their prospects.” Now my brothers are surprised. To be honest, I was surprised as hell too, but that doesn’t mean I regret my decision. In fact, it’s probably one of my better ones lately.

“I know what you’re all thinking, but the kid has balls. He even shot one of the patched members when he pulled a gun on me. I have no doubt that he’s exactly what the club needs as a leader, and everything we need to get this job done.”

When I’m satisfied that there are no questions and they back my decision, I continue. “He’s picked out his officers, which I think will do fine for what we need as well. Then, we went over the plan and how everything will work. I gave him the delivery schedule and setup a meet with the guys across the border, which is set for a week from yesterday.” Looking to Bear, I add, “I can be down there for that if you think it’s necessary.”

He thinks on that for a few moments, then looks around the table. “Not that I have a problem with the new authorities you put in place down there, but we need this to be a club decision. Does anyone think it necessary for Torq or someone else to go down for the meet?” he asks. I’m not upset at all about his question. I know he trusts my decisions, and so do most of my brothers, but this is a club deal, so everything has to be voted on. The only reason I got to do what I did without needing a vote was because Bear put me in charge of everything on that mission, only ordering me to call if anything new became a problem. He knew a different president would have to be appointed, so did everyone else. They may be a little leery, but they all trust me in everything I do, knowing I wouldn’t do anything to put this club or our deals in jeopardy.

No one says anything at first, then Cross speaks up. “What do our friends across the border think of the new change in leadership?”

“Well, to be honest, it sounds like they were glad. After things were setup, they did some research on him. Turns out, they had some old beef with him,” I tell them.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t they mention that to begin with?” Deuce roars, upset that we knew nothing about this.

“Calm down, man. They didn’t have any idea that Dino was leading the club. We only told them that the Devil’s Crew would be meeting them at the border, not specific club roles.” Bear’s the one to answer this time. Deuce is really getting on my last nerve.

Cross looks to me and asks seriously, “You have complete faith in this new guy?”

Answering just as seriously, I say, “I trust him with my life.”

He nods. He gets how huge that is. Most of my brothers know that I don’t trust easily, especially other clubs, even though they’re mostly support clubs. So for me to say that I not only trust this new guy, and with my life, that means something.

“All right. Then I don’t see a reason for you or anyone else to go down unless our boys behind the border want somethin’ different.”

Looking to the rest of my brothers, they all nod their heads in agreement.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll keep an eye on things from a distance, and I’ll make a note to call our boys after the meet. But as of right now, nothing more needs to be done. Let’s just work on making sure the first shipment goes without a hitch on our end,” Bear orders. “Moving on. Before I sent Torq to Texas, he was in Illinois looking for our guy Georgie. He didn’t find him, but he did come across something else.” Again, Bear gives me the table.

Giving them a quick rundown of the new guy running our streets, and the information I got out of him before silencing him for good, I give the table back to Bear.

“After talking with Torq, and taking into consideration the information he got, things weren’t adding up. So I went through our financial records and found some huge discrepancies. After confronting T-Bone, it was proven that he was working with Georgie behind our backs. Not only taking money off the top of our drug business and a few others, but also sending girls up to him to sell as slaves to the highest fuckin’ bidder.”

I can tell that most of the guys knew this, but a few look completely surprised. And everyone is pissed off.

“Where’s he now?” someone asks. I’m not sure who.

“I’ve got him chained up at one of our empty warehouses till we decide what we’re gonna do with him.”

It’s always strange, talking about punishing one of our own, but it does happen. Not as often as it does at other clubs, but it has happened a time or two since I’ve been a part of this club. But when we lay out what they’re accused of, deliver the proof, and vote on what his punishment will be, it’s always hard.

T-Bone’s been a part of the club longer than I have. It’s unthinkable that he’d be the one to betray us like this, but he admitted it through his own lips, and the evidence is undisputable. He’s guilty and must pay the price. We are his judge and jury, and ultimately, his executioner.

The room gets quiet. Everyone’s thinking over the information, and what they know of T-Bone.

“Is there anything that someone wants to add? Information we need? Anyone got any ideas of how we should proceed?” Bear asks the room.

No one speaks, but I feel we have enough. The information I got from others and what Bear got from T-Bone is all we need.

“I say we end it quick. He won’t tell us more, if there is anything else. As time passes and questions arise, we can find a different, more knowledgeable source. But I move for us to end him, and continue efforts on finding Georgie.” Fuck, do I want to find that man. His days were numbered a month ago, but the days that he’s been allowed to live must come to an end now. Sooner rather than later, and hopefully by my hands.

Bear looks around the room. “Do I have a second?”

“I second that,” Cross speaks up.

“All in favor of T-Bone meeting his maker and making it quick, say aye.” The room is filled with every brother and their agreeance.

“How do we wanna do this?” Deuce asks.

“I think you should do it, Prez,” I vote. Sometimes, you have to let others have the fun. But in this case, I don’t think anyone would enjoy taking his life. It weighs heavy on us all, even though he’s no longer a brother. But as our president, it’s his right to terminate a disloyal brother.

“Anyone disagree?” Bear leaves it open for discussion, but no one argues.

“Nah. It should be you, Prez,” Cross says. Everyone agrees.

“Then it shall be done,” Bear declares, then calls the meeting to a close.

Everyone is silent as they get up and go their separate ways. I’m the last to leave the room, but before I even breech the doorway, Bear calls me to stay back.

“What’s up, Prez?”

“Do you have an idea where our friend Georgie could be?” Ah, Georgie. That fucker is like a flea; unseen, but pesky all the same.

“I have no idea. I’m surprised he wasn’t where I thought he’d be before. Unless he was dealing in a different location that night and was back now,” I think out loud. It’s very possible. Knowing for a fact that he is indeed selling flesh, he could have gone anywhere to finish a deal on girls.

“Or maybe he knew you were comin’, thanks to our friend, T-Bone.” That’s possible.

“Maybe we should have a chat with him before he meets his maker,” I suggest, needing to know if Georgie is onto us.

Bear stands and I follow him out of the room, heading outside to make our way to ask T-Bone one last question.

***

Twenty minutes later, Bear and I are standing in front of T-Bone. He doesn’t even look like the brother I remember. He’s bloodied and haggard looking, but I don’t feel sorry for him. This is what he deserves.

In our way of life, all we have is our brotherhood and loyalty, and he took that and shit on it. Fucker deserves so much more, but to make things easier on us, we decided to make it quick for him.

Coughing, T-Bone lifts his head to look at us with acceptance in his eyes. No fear or anger. He knows what he did and what’s to come. He won’t beg for his life or for our forgiveness. It’s too late for that.

“I’m sorry, brother,” he whispers through cracked lips.

Bear holds up his hand, silencing him, though I don’t think he was going to say more.

“I don’t want your bullshit apology. You could’ve come to us, told us what was goin’ on. But instead, you chose some piece of shit over brotherhood. It’s too late for ‘sorrys,’ but there’s one thing you can do. It won’t save your life or renew your status, but it will help those that you’ve betrayed.”

Bear steps closer, and now has a look of sadness on his face. It is sad, though. We’re losing a brother tonight, no matter the reason behind it or the way of it, we are forced to say good-bye.

“Did you warn Georgie that Torq was comin’ for him?” Bear asks, but before he can answer, he adds, “And if you ever felt anything for our brotherhood, you will not lie.”

T-Bone stares off into space for a moment, then looks at Bear. “No. I swear, I never said anything to him. But, I do know he was there that night. I don’t know if you missed him or if he spotted you before you spotted him, but he should have been there.”

I’m not sure if it’s wise, but I believe him.

Nodding, Bear backs away, pulls his pistol from his belt and levels it at T-Bone’s head. He doesn’t look away, but stares past the barrel, right into his president’s eyes.

“I’ll see you in Hell, T-Bone,” Bear says, then pulls the trigger, taking the life of a once friend and brother.