Prodigal Son(53)

Chapter 25


Luke


Sunday, May 12, 2013

The whiskey burned my throat, just as it had for the first two shots I’d downed.

Joker threw his arm around me. “A Son and a brother. You’ve made me proud, Luke.”

“Thanks, man. Glad the vote went the way you said it would.”

“Never any doubt, son. You’re part of the family.”

Joker headed over to the bar to order yet another round of drinks, and I headed to take a leak. I was gonna have to slow down the whiskey, or I’d be passed out before sundown. I locked the door and looked in the mirror. I was a Savage Son.

“Quite a week,” I said aloud. “Yesterday a Harley, and today a member of an MC.”

Joker and Zeno had driven me up to one of the dealers in town on Saturday morning so that I could pick out a bike. Apparently, you had to own a bike to be voted in, and since Joker had asked the Sons to waive the hang around period that was typically required of prospects, I hadn’t wanted to push my luck. Joker had offered to give me one of his bikes, but I didn’t want to take advantage of his good nature. And besides, I had wanted my bike the second I laid eyes on it. It was a 2013 Harley Davidson Dyna Street Bob FXDB, loaded with nearly every option they could add on. It had set me back just over fifteen grand, but it had been worth every penny. Even Bug had looked a little jealous when I’d rolled into the clubhouse parking lot after an hour’s ride on Saturday night.

I’d been worried about Bug and how he’d vote, but he and all of the guys had followed Joker’s lead, and the vote was unanimous. Joker had told me — as a formality — that there was no guarantee that I’d be voted in as a full member in a year, but he seemed certain that it was a done deal. After the club had voted me in, they’d also approved the plan that I laid out for the legal weed business. I’d been worried that they wouldn’t vote for such a big operation if it was pitched by a guy who wasn’t even a full member yet, but Joker had insisted that I present the plan. There had been surprisingly little resistance, and most of the guys said they were ready for an Arizona run to pick up some supplies to get us started.

I was really worried about Krystal, and I couldn’t get her out of my head. I’d picked up my phone to text her more times than I could count, but each time, I’d deleted the text rather than sending it. I hoped she was alive, but she was the one who’d walked out on me, after calling me a pussy, of course. As much as I liked her, I wasn’t going to chase after her like a kicked puppy. I had plenty going on without worrying about some girl with shitty taste in men. Even though I knew it would be awkward, I’d hoped I’d see her around the clubhouse just so that I knew she was alive, but so far, nothing.

Back out at the bar, I watched Bug and J.C. approach me.

“So this weed biz is all your idea, huh?” Bug asked, in a tone that was neutral — neither friendly, nor hostile.

“Yeah,” I answered, taking a drink of my water and hoping that it would help prevent a hangover. “I was talking to Joker about the problems after y’all had to … change your business arrangements, and it sounded like you needed a new source of income.”

“Major understatement, man,” J.C. agreed. “Zeno’s the only one of us who works a full-time job, and as far as I know, he’s the only one current on his house payment.”

“So you think there’s enough money in the legal weed business to make it worth our while?” Bug asked. “We have to divide it up into a lot of shares.”

“Yeah, I know,” I agreed. “It’ll take a while — I think a year — before the business is completely self-sufficient and making real money, but when my parents died, they left me with a little money, and I’m backing the startup costs. I have an attorney who’s going to draw up the paperwork, and Joker wants us to sit down as a club and review the important parts of it.”

“Shit, man, we don’t use fuckin’ lawyers for our business deals,” Bug snorted, dismissively. “You think you can bring your fancy-ass college degree in here and tell us how to run this MC?”

I’d been afraid that some of the members wouldn’t be thrilled about all of the hoops we were going to have to jump through to get a legitimate business off the ground. “Wait a minute, Bug. I’m not changing anything except the fact that you’re all broke.”

J.C. looked at Bug, and I was afraid for a second that they were going to pick a fight.

I held my hands out, hoping to defuse the situation. “Listen, guys, it sounds like you were making an assload of money before Moses died and you had to cool it. I’m not saying you don’t know how to bring in cash. What I’m saying is that you have to get some legal things in order if you’re going to run a legitimate business, especially one that’s licensed and regulated by the state. We can’t just half-ass this stuff.”