“I’ll never pass up a free meal, especially when your wife is the one cooking. Please tell me she is making her fried chicken.” Abel licked his lips dramatically.
“She made me get her seven chickens this morning before I could come over here. I hope it’s enough,” I responded with a chuckle.
“Enough for Abel alone,” Rave badgered as he poured himself a shot of whiskey.
“He’s not wrong.” Abel smiled with a shrug as my father walked in behind me.
“Gents, you made good time.” My dad greeted both of them quickly before joining Ravage in taking shots.
“Got on our bikes right after Maccon called. It seemed important.” Rave slammed his shot glass down and poured another round for all four of us.
“Maybe we should go in and talk.” I glanced around the lounge room of our clubhouse. There were too many cut sluts and low-level guys hanging around to speak openly about the reality of our situation.
“Sounds good, brother.” Abel grabbed the bottle and his glass then followed me into the war room.
After we all took seats around the table with our skull and bones burned into the wood, I began to recap the last few days’ events in graphic detail. Abel and Rave sat there with fire building in their eyes as they listened to what all had happened in such a short amount of time.
“At least you took care of the damn asshole. Good for you.” Abel raised his glass to me before shooting down the smooth liquor.
“Do you know what we’re actually dealing with?” Ravage looked from my father to me. “How big is their organization? I don’t remember them ever being a problem for us.”
“Until now, they really weren’t. The Renegade Kings are just about two-thirds the size of this charter in total from what we can tell. They mostly handle drug deals, pretty minor shit. Honestly, I don’t think they’re really the out-for-vengeance types. It gets messy when crank and shit is involved, though. They have a lot of heat on them from that alone to add in bloodshed,” I answered.
My father leaned back in his chair, lighting a cowboy killer with his engraved Zippo. “That’s what worries me,” he muttered, letting out a large puff of smoke.
“Me too. You don’t know what they are capable of if you haven’t seen it before.” Abel looked over to my father with respect and admiration.
“How are Jett and Reese handling all of this?” Rave asked quickly.
I shrugged. “The best we could hope for. Jett hasn’t gone on a killing spree yet. I consider that a win for that crazy son of a bitch.”
My father laughed. “Ain’t that the damn truth.”
“So what do y’all want us to do? How can we help?” Abel looked like he was ready to go on a witch hunt to pick them off one by one.
“I just wanted you here for backup while we see what their play is going to be. I need the best guys here protecting this family. That’s why I called y’all in on this.” I wasn’t shy about admitting we needed help. Our club was getting older, and we weren’t having luck with our newest recruits. I didn’t yet trust any of the young blood to handle the situation with the care and discretion it seemed to warrant.
“We’ll stay as long as you need us to.” Rave looked me dead in the eye. “Anything you need. We’ve got your back, Pres.” The little wink he shot me was priceless. Ravage was like an uncle to me, and it had been hard with him so far away for so many years. It was for the best and I knew it, but it was good to have him home for a change.
“Is it time to go eat?” Abel smiled up at me before slamming his last shot.
“I think it is.” I clambered to my feet. “Thanks again for making the trip.”
“Don’t mention it. That’s what family does for each other. You’d do the same thing for us.” Rave clapped me on the back.
We all walked back out into the main room.
“Let me just call Allie and make sure she’s ready for all of us to descend on the house.”
I walked out front, lighting a cigarette before dialing my wife.
“Hey, handsome,” she cooed into the phone.
“Hey babe. Are you ready for us?”
“I am just getting back from the store now—needed to get some more potatoes. Come on home. We miss you.”
The sound of her voice coursed through me. She was my bright light in a life filled with darkness.