When we pulled up to Soft Tails the lot was already full. I knew we weren’t early but we weren’t late either. Fuck this was not going to be good.
“Shit, when Roscoe beats us here you know you’re late.” Speed shook his head and walked toward the door. “Now we are probably going to have to listen while the dads bitch us out in front of the whole club.”
“Bullshit, I’m not getting yelled at, Crusher, because you were too busy getting your dick wet this morning,” Flirt followed behind Speed, griping.
“I didn’t ask you fuckers to wait on me. You could have left. I’m a big boy, could have found my way here on my own. Besides, we are on fucking time, assholes. Unless the time was changed and no one told us.” I walked beside Devil as we were the last to get off our bikes.
“I haven’t seen Dad for a couple days. They’d been holed up in the office working on what, I have no idea. I asked and he told me not to worry about it, that they had it handled,” Devil said.
“I got told the same shit by Prez,” I said and as Speed pulled opened the door, Tank and Dare were standing there.
“Hey, brothers,” Speed said and held out is hand. We all watched as Dare and Tank both looked down at his hand but neither extended theirs. The look on their faces were blank and detached. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Prez will tell you, boys. Go take a seat, you are the last to get here.” Tank stepped between us and threw the lock on the door. I looked around the room that now held chairs facing a long table where the leadership sat. At the table sat Stroker, Preacher, Romeo, Flyboy, and even Cruz, Coast’s dad, who usually stood off to the side since he was an Enforcer.
We walked to the front to take a seat. Speed went to sit with the dads since he’d already taken Cutter’s position.
“Speed, you can sit with the others,” Stroker looked at Speed when he spoke and motioned to the empty seat beside me. It didn’t escape me how quiet the room was. Speed stood beside the table where the dads were sitting and looked at each one. The only one that looked back at him was Stroker.
Stroker cocked his eyebrow at Speed, “You got a problem with what I said, Speed?”
Speed’s lips thinned and he glared back, a few seconds passed with the stare down until finally Speed was the one to break it as he turned toward me and the others, “Nah, Prez, your meeting, you run it how you like.” Speed sat down beside me. I looked back at the Prez and the others and they were looking at us. Their faces were the same as Tank’s and Dare’s: blank, distant.
Fuck me, Jag was right, not calling them until after we had things handled with Carly had pissed them off. I didn’t want to have a yelling match in front of the entire club but the way we were getting treated pissed me off.
“Anybody else feel as though we went back in time like twenty years?” Flirt leaned over and said and Romeo’s head snapped in his direction.
“Watch your mouth and show respect in here or get out,” Romeo said as he looked at Flirt. If this meeting didn’t start soon there was going to be a fight. I could feel the tension in the room and the only sound was that of members shifting in their seats behind us.
Flirt was right though, it did feel like we went back twenty years to us sitting in that office at Black Hawk because of some dumbass shit young boys do, waiting to get yelled at and to find out what our punishment would be.
“Okay, let’s get this meeting underway, we got a lot of shit that needs to be covered. Romeo, you start with the financials.”
At Stroker’s words Romeo opened the folder in front of him. “As of today, every business owned and run by Black Hawk members shows a profit. With the exception of Custom Rides. The profit margin is showing a steady increase every month, if this continues at the end of next year Black Hawk will have doubled across the board.” Romeo, treasurer of the club, continued on with each individual businesses’ profit. This whole meeting was strange because the profit and lost sheets were something the club only went over at the end of each year. We weren’t even halfway through the current year.
“Thanks, Romeo,” Stroker said and looked over at Cruz. “Cruz, you want to address any problems going on internally that the club needs to handle.”
Cruz, Enforcer for the club, opened the folder in front of him, “Just a couple, Prez. Boss and Turk have been warned twice for fighting with each other over the last of the marijuana plants that are ready for harvest. Seems they didn’t want to give that part of the business up to go legal. I’ve spoken with both men and they’ve agreed to stop fighting with each other and work together. Flyboy got the plant problem solved.” Cruz looked out at the members, “You agreed with the assessment, Boss? Turk?” I looked over my shoulder to see Boss and Turk in the back sitting beside each other.
“Agreed, Cruz,” both men said at the same time. Boss and Turk were real brothers on top of being Black Hawk brothers. When they weren’t fighting with each other that’s when you started asking if hell froze over. If that was the only internal issues going on in the club, meant everyone was doing what they were supposed to. “The last thing, which is new and hasn’t been addressed, a situation with the ex VP of Haven, one that has seemed to have made its way to Black Hawk. The problem arising from this is that a few of the current members and one of the leadership have forgotten that everything that goes on in a club comes through the chain of command and lastly to the Prez. They are to be involved first before any decision making is held. Those members broke that process and recommendation on how to deal with them needs to be addressed.”
“Thanks, Cruz. We will move onto Flyboy and Preacher. Gentlemen, you can start when you are ready.”
Preacher, the club secretary, opened the folder in front of him and flipped through several pieces. I sat, lost, listening to them go over each thing dealing with the club. I turned and looked at my friends and their faces reflected what had to be on mine. What the fuck? And the part that pissed me off most was saving the reprimanding till the end. Like there should be any, we handled the issue and reported when it was over. Not like we hid shit from any of them. Never have we been reprimanded in front of the entire club, it was usually handled in the Prez’s office. Well, I would sit hear listen to their shit and if they wanted to do it in front of the whole club, I would voice our side in front of the whole club too. I just wished they would speed it up, I wanted to get back to Carly. I didn’t want her sitting at the cookout with a bunch of women she hadn’t met. I wanted to be able to introduce her so she would feel comfortable and not overwhelmed.
Preacher pulled out a paper and sat it on top, “The records are up-to-date on every ride we have done for the charities Black Hawk contributes to. We have two we schedule every year, the funds we make go a long way in helping these groups. The Boys Ranch and the Girls Ranch provide an opportunity for kids who have lost their way to get on the right track again. When the one for the Boys Ranch is held, it is only the men who participate in the ride. The Girls Ranch ride includes the women of the club because they run that one, but since most of the ol’ ladies don’t ride their own bikes, the Black Hawk men join in on it. We expect the same turnout and fund goal for this year.” Preacher looked over at Flyboy.
Flyboy, the VP, was the only one who didn’t open the file in front of him and thank God, the fucker was full and had to be a couple inches thick. We’d be in Church till next week if he went over each.
“The newest thing is filed and ready to be operational if the plants Cruz told us about meet the specifications. I made several calls to the government and I got it approved that Boss and Turk can continue to grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. We had to jump through a few hoops, call in a few markers but it went through. There are a few guidelines that will have to be followed and Boss and Turk have those. We should be in compliance within two months.
“I have all the paperwork ready with the changes that are required for the Black Hawk Corp and its subsidiaries. The forms just need to be notarized and filed in the courts by an attorney. That finishes my part, Prez.” Flyboy looked over at Stroker who stood and then looked at me and slid his eyes over the others. It was time for us I guess.
“Crusher, Speed, Coast, Devil, Flirt, and Jag sit in front us today for not informing the club of an issue until it was partially settled. With that being said, I would like to cover a little of what these members have done for this club. They have never failed to support any member who needed something taken care or just someone to talk with. From putting a roof on the garage, to repairing Soft Tails every other weekend when it would get trashed inside from fights. In that aspect they have been the perfect members.
“Now as a dad to one of these gentleman, I would like to speak to this club. Me and the gentlemen beside me, including the empty chair to represent Cutter, raised these six, but not alone. They were raised within Black Hawk, with every member playing a part. And at times, they were thorns in the same members’ sides with the mischief that young boys can get into. We celebrated achievements with them, we even cried as a club when they were given the choice to leave so they could experience the world to see if this is where they wanted to be, and they took it. Not one member voiced their concern as each year passed by and they continued to stay away making their homes elsewhere.
“They came back one by one to Black Hawk and as their parents we had hopes they would take over this club in time after learning how the inner dealings of it worked.” Stroker stopped and picked up the glass of water in front of him and took a drink.
I don’t know how the others felt about what Stroker was saying, but the quiver in his voice that I picked up on, shook me. It was like a father pleading his son’s case before a jury. For a brief second the thought of what I would do without this club had me sick to my stomach. This was home and no matter where I was sent in the military, Black Hawk was the one thing I knew that would still be here when I came back. Stroker looked out at the members again.
“As parents we wanted them to succeed and hoped they took our teachings to heart and could run Black Hawk like us. Speed in his short time back filled Cutter’s position already. Son, know your dad is here in spirit participating in this.” Stroker turned to the others who stood, putting each of them shoulder to shoulder. I imagine as young men in the military they were intimidating.
“What they have done is surpass us at every turn. From the young men who left for their own adventures in life to the men who sit in front of us now—they have proven they are ready to take Black Hawk over and keep it thriving into the future. So as President of Black Hawk and my last order of business and with the unanimous member votes—I turn this club over to my son, Russell “Crusher” Davis, Black Hawk’s new president and his fellow leaders. May their reign be as enjoyable as ours.” Stroker smiled and held out the patch to me. I stood and walked to him, taking the patch in my hand and looking down at it.
To say I was speechless would be an understatement, I looked over my shoulder at my friends and smiled. In a way, we had spent our entire lives preparing for this moment. I looked back at Stroker, it couldn’t have been easy on him or the other dads to deal with six boys and yet, they’d done it, not once complaining. I couldn’t have picked a better dad even if I had been giving the choice. I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug, I owed this man a lot and I loved him.
No one had yet spoken or made a sound. Stroker stepped back after I released him. “Well, Prez, you might want to have the others hand their patches over and then maybe end this meeting so we can have a drink and attend that celebration cookout the women are putting together.”
I turned to the other dads whose grins split their faces. “Enjoy retirement, gentlemen, and know your legacy is in good hands.” Preacher, Romeo, Cruz, and Flyboy held out the patches for their sons to take from them. The exchange was made and I faced the club as the Prez for the first time.
“We’d like to thank you for your trust, your loyalty, and most important, your friendships. Now let’s end this meeting and fucking celebrate.” The men stood and the club exploded with noise. We were hugged and slapped on the back so many times I would have sworn something was going to get knocked loose inside me.
“Holy shit, when that started I thought we were done,” Jag walked up beside me. We’d finally gotten a break in the congratulations. Our dads joined the other members in a toast for all their years taking care of them. Each of us would talk with our dad later, that would be the father/son private moment on what took place today.
“I know, thought you were right and we pissed them off. Was worried there a second that we were getting kicked out.” I shook my head. They’d pulled off a good one. None of us had had a clue.
“That shit was so fucked up.” Coast walked up to join me and Jag. Speed, Flirt, and Devil walked toward us.
“Did you ever think this day was actually going to come? I thought for sure they would drag it out,” Flirt said.
“Me too,” Devil said.
“You don’t know how close I came to ripping my fuckin’ patch off when that shit started. Only thing kept me from doing was the respect for them,” Speed said.
We talked with members, and shook hands until the only ones left in Soft Tails was the five dads and us. At the bar, shots were poured and a toast for the future and the shots were thrown back. Stroker’s phone rang just as we set the shot glasses back on the bar.
It couldn’t be good, and I sure as fuck hoped it wasn’t the sheriff calling because someone wrecked. But while he listened to the caller his eyes met mine.
“Yeah, we are still here. Got it covered, Sue. Uh huh, stay in your house. We will be there in less than five. Don’t do anything to let on you know.” Stroker disconnect the call.
“Stone and his buddy are in town. They are held up in Sami’s old place,” he paused and my stomach dropped.
No fucking way, I left her in bed. She was going to help Sami so there was no way she was there.
“Sue was leaving for the cookout while Carly was arriving. They spoke for a few minutes and Carly went in and Sue left for the clubhouse.
“Sue had gotten halfway to the club and remembered the potato salad. When she went back and as she walked to the kitchen, she noticed two men entering in the house. Crusher, Carly is in the house with them.”
Fuuuck! I was going to need to focus if I was going to get to her. I just got her, no way I was going to lose her now.
“I going to kill that fucker with my bare hands!” Speed yelled.
The others moved in. “We need a plan of action. And, Dad, I hope you have the keys on you.” Soft Tails was club owned and all our businesses had a few surprises in the structure because you never knew when you would need something.
Cruz stepped around the bar and with the key in hand he stuck it in the lock that was hidden by a small picture on the wall. When he turned it, the wall of booze slid off to the side and the guns were displayed.
We talked about how we would handle this while we got what we needed from the wall and the ammo to go with.
Speed even called Wild Bill, told him we were going after Stone and the man, Jacks. They talked for a minutes and Speed hung up.
“Wild Bill’s men are on their way down for pick up. Said he’d appreciate it if they were alive but would understand if they weren’t. You going to be alright to do this, brother?” Speed waited for my reply.
“You bet your ass. Let’s go get my woman.” I didn’t wait for any responses, I turned and headed toward the door.