HARDCORE: Storm MC(26)

“Thanks, man.” And with a final look at Sienna, who was not taking note, I took off.



I hadn’t talked to Clav one-on-one in many weeks. Time was, we were buddies. We’d hung around the compound together a lot over the last six years, since I joined the Storm. Sure, he was of the older generation, had been in the MC for decades. Best friend to our old Pres, Duke, who had passed along from a heart attack several months ago. Duke was a great man, a fine president. He always did right by us. I figured he’d be turning in his grave if he knew how far we’d sunk down the tubes since his passing.



Clav had seemed the natural choice to take on the lead role after Duke died. Shit-poor reality was biting us all in the ass.



After that night with Sienna, when she told me all about her sister and the porno lot, I knew there was something really dark going down with Clav. From her description of the two MC guys on the lot, it was obvious that she had seen Manny and Clav there; they were those two guys she had described. And from her description of the time, the weekend of the big snow in late February, I also knew that that was one of the last times anyone had seen Manny alive.



So if both her sister and Manny Fidel died that weekend, it only made sense to presume that their deaths were somehow linked. There was a tie there, but I didn’t have enough information to figure it out yet.



In the last few days, I had been raising the specter of Manny some, asking a couple of my Storm brothers if they had ever been out to the porno lot to serve as security for Ronn out there in his little porno world. I also was trying to figure out exactly who had seen Manny last, and where.



So maybe I was raising eyebrows among the brass with my questions. Maybe people were talking. As far as I was concerned, I didn’t give a shit. Manny was the best friend I’d ever had, and I felt like shit for not having tried harder earlier to get some serious answers. But now I was done laying low. With the knowledge from Sienna about her sister, it was past time I kicked up the dust. The smog of silence was killing my soul.



But Clav, our esteemed President, him I had not yet talked to. And now I knew that he had been there that day. He was likely the only one who really knew anything. Fuck, he was probably involved in it. I determined that tonight would provide some answers. The way I saw it, even if he was the Pres, he owed me honesty. For Manny.



When I rolled up on my bike, the compound was mostly dark. Damn, this place was turning into a ghost town. It was a fucking shame. I was a little surprised that Clav even used his office anymore. I hadn’t been here in weeks. I might have gotten a little nostalgic, but this was not the time to dwell.



I let myself into the main building, which was still dark, and flipped some switches for light. Looking around, I saw that nobody was in there. I headed back to the hall off the bar and saw from under the door that the Pres’s office did have light. I rapped on the door with a knuckle, calling out, “Yo, Pres, it’s Dom.”



“Get your ass in here and sit. Shit.” And we were off to a great fucking start.



I went in, shut the door behind me, and took in my options before choosing to avail myself of the more comfortable couch, rather than one of the chairs facing the desk. This might have thrown him off; he was sitting at his desk, leaning forward on both elbows, looking about ready to rail into me from a beleaguered position of authority. I was not going to take that shit. I hadn’t done anything wrong.



I decided to set the tone on a more even keel. “Yeah, sure, I’d love a drink. Johnnie Walker, if you got it.” I knew he had it.



He looked at me a minute, pursing his lips. “You watch yourself, Dom.” Still, he got up, fixed me the drink, and brought it over to me at the couch. He took the armchair, and we studied one another for several seconds while I sipped.



He looked tired. His salt-and-pepper head of long frizz was tied back in a low ponytail, his mostly gray beard hanging down off his chin a few inches. His eyes had dark circles hanging underneath, and the lines on his face seemed more deeply ingrained, especially the ones between his brows, like he spent all his time lately frowning something fierce.



Sienna had not been far off; the man scowled an awful lot. Didn’t used to be like that. There was a day not so long ago when his laughter had rung out loud and often. I guess it’s lonely at the top, especially when you lose your best friend. I knew something about that, myself.



Remembering that, and the way Clav had forced us into this indentured servitude for Joey Ronn, I steeled myself. I was not here to give this man compassion or pity.



“I overheard some shit about you earlier today, Dom. You need to know. That shit you pulled last week with Fielding is comin’ back to bite your ass.”