“Mayor Kirkley, as you call him, has been around MCs his whole life. I call him Paul. Mayor Kirkley takes too long to say.” She stared at me and I assumed she wanted a form of acknowledgment, so I nodded my head and she continued, “Luke told you the story of his grandfather, Pops, and his buddy Gill forming the Devil’s Renegades. Paul was Gill’s son.” I couldn’t help it. An audible gasp escaped my lips and Red paused, smiling a little at my reaction. “I know, it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Not many people know that though. Paul was much like William, Luke’s father. He hated his dad and everything he stood for. He hated the club even more and made it his life’s mission to take it down. Paul also hated William. When Paul and William were in college, William managed to sweep Karen, Luke’s mom, off her feet, which would have been romantic if she weren’t already engaged to Paul. You still with me?” What the fuck? Of course I didn’t say that, instead I just nodded my head. At this rate, I would have whiplash by the time this conversation was finished. “Good,” Red said, taking another long swallow from her glass, and then continuing. “Paul decided that the best way for him to vent his frustration was by lifting weights, which was good considering William was doing the same thing, except he was doing it with Paul’s ex-fiancée.” Red laughed at her own joke and I smiled, thinking it was the appropriate thing to do, although my mind was spinning and I felt like I needed to hold onto the chair to keep from falling off. “Shit, I’m funny. Anywho, Paul went on to be a body-builder while William settled down with Karen and started his own timber business. Business was booming and William was doing better than ever when Paul returned in hopes of showing Karen how successful he was and stealing her back. The problem was, William was successful too and Paul didn’t stand a chance against him. Karen is one lucky bitch, by the way. Paul and William were both fine as hell, rich as hell, and hopelessly devoted to her. Paul soon learned, that if he wanted to be a Mayoral candidate, the last thing he needed was for everyone to know that he was envious of William. So, what does he do? He marries a beautiful woman, has a beautiful daughter and becomes the doting husband when his wife is diagnosed with cancer. Of course she died, and Paul was left with a daughter to raise. The people ate it up. A single father raising a little girl? Priceless. The papers wrote endless columns about the struggles he went through while his wife was on her death bed. Nothing stood in the way of him being elected as mayor, except for your father.”
Now it was my turn to sit up and gulp down my drink. This was where I would find out the things I feared. I held my hand up and ran inside, fixing Red and I another drink and returned in record time. “Continue,” I told Red, putting my elbows on my knees just as she had done and giving her my full attention. She smiled.
“This shit is good, ain’t it? It’s like a fucking soap-opera!”
“Red.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going. So anyways, your father had a lot of property in Hattiesburg. He also did a lot of business with William. He-”
“Wait, wait, wait, my dad knew Luke’s dad?” I interrupted.
“Hey, what did I say about interrupting? Yes, they knew each other, now would you shut the hell up and let me finish?”
I gave her a nod and she started in again, “Now, where was I? Oh, okay, he needed William because at the time, William was the best in the timber business and as you know, there was not an acre around that wasn’t covered in pines. William is still the best around, in my opinion, but that’s irrelevant. Anyway, your dad, I’m gonna call him Herman, cause that’s his name and I hate saying “your dad”, didn’t want the pipeline coming through the city. The reason why was because he owned all the land and he knew that he could make twice as much if he cut the timber, then sold the land. So, Herman being the genius that he was, by the way, not everyone would say that, but that dude was fucking smart, had some signs made that said, “William Carmical for Mayor.” Now, Paul is a very intelligent man, but at the time instead of investigating what was going on, he simply saw red and went ape shit. Of course, he knew your father too, not personally or anything, but just through his real estate. He finds out through hearsay that Herman is backing William and he gives him a call. Herman tells Paul to keep an eye on you and make sure you are safe and he will give him all the land on ninety-eight and William will lose his sponsorship for Mayor. Paul agreed. Paul hated the club, but hands down, they were the best security force in the state. He had no problems with Luke and he knew Luke had just been named Sergeant at Arms, and was the biggest badass around. He also knew, Luke was trying to prove himself to the club. So, he paid him to watch over and protect you. Luke had no choice but to take the job because Paul threatened to take down the club if he didn’t, and the club really needed the money. So, the club voted and Luke became your protector. He finally met you, fell in love, and the rest is history. I need a drink.” With that, Red took our glasses and went inside, leaving me to process everything she said. I seriously hoped this next drink was a double.