Of course, you needed to take a second mortgage to join it but it didn’t seem as though they were hurting for membership.
When Hawk and Christopher sat down in the diner, they ordered a huge breakfast and made sure that the waitress knew they would be there a while. Behind her, a table full of college-aged kids were loud, making obnoxious sounds.
Christopher glanced over at the table, giving the look that said, ‘cut that shit out’, but they didn’t seem to get the message.
“Don’t worry about them, hun,” said the waitress. “They’re all full of themselves because they play ball for the community college. They’ll leave in a few minutes and spend three or four hours at the gym. Then they come back here, want five or six chicken breasts each, plates of vegetables, and want me to fill their empty milk jugs. A gallon of water.” She shook her head and moved behind the counter, entering the order.
When they stood to leave, Hawk and Christopher noticed that the young men were trying to slip out without paying. Both men stood, blocking the glass door of the diner.
“Excuse me,” said one of the kids.
“Did you forget something?” said Hawk.
The kid looked up at him, then at Christopher. In spite of there being four of the young men, they knew enough to not push these two men. They were bigger, older, and obviously more experienced.
“Oh,” said one of the guys looking back at the table. “The check. Right.” He grabbed the check and handed it to the cashier. The kids all coughed up money and left with a nod.
“Punks,” muttered Christopher. Hawk laughed. “What?”
“We were punks once upon a time.”
“No. We were never punks. We would have never walked out on a hard-working waitress and stiff her on the check. We wouldn’t have behaved like that and if I had to guess, they’re all on steroids. Something else we wouldn’t have done.”
“Fair,” nodded Hawk. “Although in my youth I did some punk-ass shit. If it weren’t for Eagle I probably would have ruined my chances with Steel Patriots and Ghost. I owe him for the life that Keegan and I have.”
“Naw, man. Brothers don’t owe one another. It’s what brothers do. You earned the life you have with Keegan just like I’ve earned my life with Ramey. A life, by the way, I never thought would happen.”
“I remember when she came to us. I couldn’t believe that woman was in a wheelchair. She was so full of life and so in love with you,” smirked Hawk.
“I almost didn’t see that. I almost let it slip away. I thought it was all my fault,” said Christopher.
“Brother, from what I heard, you saved her life.”
“Maybe. But she damn sure saved mine,” he said nodding. “How about a game of chess?”
“Let’s go.”
It was several hours later before they got the text that the class was done and the girls were ready to be picked up. It wasn’t a far reach. The men walked across the street, stepping inside the massive gym. The sound of weights crashing against one another and men cheering had them frowning.
Why did young men think that things had to be loud in order for them to work?
The weights crashed against the weight rack once again and the group of young men all gave a loud sound of approval. The young man was lifting an incredible amount of weight for his size and it seemed that he was still working on putting more plates on the bar.
Keegan and Ramey walked out of the training space and stared at the group of young men shaking their heads. They’d attended the spa workshop at the facility located within the massive gym, learning new massage and facial techniques, as well as new ways to grow their business. They were already prepared with a bunch of new ideas on how to expand the spa and salon.
“Hey, you guys ready?” asked Christopher. He stood next to Hawk, both men happy that they’d insisted on taking their wives to the seminar and waiting for them. They’d spent the entire day in the coffee shop across the street but secretly didn’t mind, getting a quiet day of shooting the bull together.
“Oh, hi. Yes,” said Ramey. “Hey, isn’t that kid lifting too much?”
“Way too much,” frowned Hawk, “but you’re not going to tell him that. He’s a kid. Maybe twenty-two or twenty-three. He thinks he knows everything and that the world is his oyster. Trust me, he’s going to hurt himself.”
They heard the cheering and yelling behind them and turned to see the other young men cheering the guy on. Both men shook their heads but couldn’t stand to watch. As he lifted the barbell from the rack, they all heard it.
A sickening sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones. His painful scream was atrocious, bringing the entire gym to a halt.
“Fuck,” muttered Hawk running toward the bar. Christopher right behind him.
“Lift it off of him!” yelled Christopher to his friends.