MC: Moniz: Book 9 (4 page)

“You comin’ up to the Club for a beer?” VP asks.

My hands freeze and I look at him. “Yeah, let me close this down.” I finish and close down as he sits.

“I like you here. Works for me.”

I laugh. “Glad I can do that for you.” He gives me a look.

“I like it too. I see more here than I ever did at the Club. The only thing I don’t like is the kids aren’t right below me anymore.”

He looks at my screens. “Danny and Digs got them up right here and at your house.”

I look at the KC. “Yeah, but they can’t come to me like they used to. Now they’re on video.”

“Jeremy still comin’ to see you?”

“Yeah. Brantley and José came up for lunch today. It was good. I don’t see the younger ones because it’d be fuckin’ weird to ask them to lunch.”

“Go have it there. The head of IT needs to know what the fuck’s goin’ on.” He watches me. “What’s this really about?”

Fuck. “They’d come up asking all their questions. It’s fuckin’ cool how they work shit out. They’re different on the video chat. They get an answer and they’re gone.”

“Go there. Work with them an hour or two, probably get more from you that way. Kids been with you from the beginin’. No one’s got a problem with you bein’ there.”

I smile. He’s right. “Yeah. I’ll do that tomorrow.”

“You can go tonight. Goin’ to be right there.”

I need food. “I need to shop. There’s no food at my house.”

He fuckin’ laughs. “Livin’ away from the Club is good for you.”

“No fuckin’ food isn’t good for me. I like the Prospects there.”

“Let’s get a beer so you can shop.” He stands ready to leave.

“You shop?” Maybe he’ll go with me.

“Jess gives me a list I give it to Prospects. They deliver for me.” Fuck maybe they’ll deliver for me. “Need to go and buy your shit. After couple times then ask.”

“Get out of my head!”

“I’ll go after a beer,” he says. Fuckin’ guy has a thing for a beer today. I nod and grab my bag stuffing my laptop in it. “Goin’ be trouble at the Club. Need to be there.”

Now I get it. “You really give Little Ben shit over scalping the pussy?”

“Was uncalled for. Usin’ scalpin’ to make a point was the wrong point. Heritage isn’t a point.” Shit when he puts it like that I guess he’s got his own point.

“Glad I didn’t get shit about shooting the feet.”

He laughs. “Only shoot one next time. One foot is enough.”

“They were assholes asking if he got money from the casinos.” I shake my head thinking how fuckin’ racist that was. I follow him out the door.

“What the fuck? Didn’t tell me that. Thought it was just a shakedown?”

“Yeah, they missed the cuts and the big guy asked if he got casino money. Said he wanted some of it. Little Ben’s hair is long, so I can see them missing the cut on him but the other two’s eyes were on me.”

“Need to tell Pres. Fuckin’ kids need to be careful. Someone’s preyin’ on Indian. Half the kids are.”

I should have said something sooner. Jesus, the kids go everywhere. He starts his bike and waits for me. The whole way to the Club I’m thinking I don’t know shit about their personal security. I do the computer shit but don’t ever see the other side. I need to pay better attention to shit like that. The Club lot is full. What the hell is going on? We pull to our spots on the side, go in the side door and hear the yelling from here. VP jogs to the common room. Holy shit they’re fuckin’ crazy. Danny, Rich and Little Ben are in the middle of a crowd fighting their way out.

Pres comes up behind me. “What the fuck?”

“Just got here,” VP says pulling guys away and throwing them back. A Brother turns and swings at him. The guy is down so fast I didn’t see him fall before I stepped on him. I keep clearing the way on the side of him. Pres hits someone, and I see he’s not fuckin’ playing with these guys. The guy is out cold. We clear a side and people start moving away. Danny has three guys on the floor piled on top of each other. Only one is a Brother.

What the fuck is going on? Someone swings at me and I duck coming up swinging. Little Ben yells my name. I turn just in time to duck a bottle coming at me. “I don’t fuckin’ think so.” I hit the asshole until he’s not seeing me then push him toward Danny’s pile and watch him fall. Fuckin’ people, who are they? Turning I see Pres and VP back to back hitting anyone that comes near them. Danny’s watching them with a smile. Little Ben pulls his knife out and people move away from him.

Rich swings his foot around and kicks a pussy in the head. “Prospects!” he yells. They come up behind me and I almost hit one until I recognize him. “Clear the pussies out. They get walked or dragged out the gate.” They start pulling people out.

Pres and VP are clear. Tiny walks toward him whistling and everyone stops. Pres nods to him. “If you are not MC get the fuck out. If you don’t go willingly my Brothers will drag you out one by one. If you’re a Brother and you raised your hand to an Officer, drop your cut, and get the fuck out. Prospects pull the cuts before they hit the gate. Tiny make sure they have no problem with that. Security, get outside and make sure they leave peacefully. If they give you a problem, shoot them, beat the shit out of them, but get them off our property. Rich get HS and Security outside the gate to escort them out of town.” People are walking to the front doors. Brothers form a line on the sides watching them go.

Little Ben walks toward us. “What the fuck happened?” Pres asks when he gets close.

“I walked into it. I got no fuckin’ clue,” he says looking around.

Danny comes up beside him. “Tess and Kate were at their table when a pussy put his hands on Tess. She hit him, then Rich did. Kate was pulling her away when a Brother slid behind them with his hands on Kate. She slapped him and he raised his hand. I broke it, then him. Tiny got the women clear and you saw the rest.”

I see Pres freeze. He’s pissed. “A Brother put his hands on Kate? Who?” His voice is low, he’s more than pissed.

“Doesn’t matter,” Danny says smiling.

I think Pres is going to hit him when VP steps in. “Broke his neck,” he says to Pres and I watch his body relax some.

“Tess?” he growls. I guess he’s not that relaxed.

Danny’s still smiling. “Rich took care of it. She’s just happy she got to use her moves again.” VP laughs then we all do.

“Fuckin’ women,” Pres says. “Where are they?”

“Kids room with an HS guard,” Little Ben says.

Pres nods and rolls his shoulders. “Who are the fuckin’ people?”

“Followed the band,” VP says. I’ve been with him the whole time and didn’t see him talk to anyone but Pres.

“Who the fuck is on the gate?” he yells. Fuck.

Tiny comes back in with three cuts. “Don’t know, but three Brothers are gone.” he says holding up the cuts.

Ricky comes up behind him with another. “Fuckin’ Brother left his job then swings at me for pointing it out. I rolled his bike down the side of the hill and pushed him after it.” He hands the cut to Tiny then looks at Rich. “I pulled Security to cover him. Name’s Rags.” Rich nods smiling. Pres shakes his head.

I pull my phone and have Billy check tracking for everyone. He takes a minute then tells me everyone is at the Club, home or has Security covering them.

When I turn back VP is smiling at me. “Protective of your kids. It’s good.” He starts walking to the bar. “Need a beer so we can shop.” I smile following him. Pres and Rich go to get the women. The Brothers relax and start acting like Brothers again.

Little Ben stands on the side of VP and I notice his hair is cut. It’s got to be a good foot and a half shorter. “Locks program,” he says to me. I have no idea what it means. “A little girl with cancer from the tribe, she needed a wig. Dad and Cloud helped too.” I step back and see VP’s hair is shorter too. With hair still down past his shoulders it’s not as noticeable but Little Ben’s was longer and is now the same length as VP’s. I nod and push it away. When the women come up I remember I wanted to ask why Jeremy didn’t pull from Mitch when he’s seen her. Kate talks to Danny and Rich so I ask Tess.

“Tess I wanted to ask you...”

She puts her hand on my arm and smiles. “He was healing. He doesn’t pull anything from people then.” I laugh. She’s getting good. She giggles and it sounds like a song tune. “I talked to Mitch and she asked the same thing. He saw her, but couldn’t focus on anything but helping Jake, Penny and CJ.”

I nod and get swung around. “What the fuck?” Rich is pissed.

Tess walks around me and puts her arms around him. “I was telling him about Jeremy when he’s healing people.” He relaxes.

“We’re in the middle of the common room Brother,” I say to him.

He’s relaxed, but his eyes are hard. “Her hands were on you
Brother
.”

Fuckin’ hell. “With your dad, VP, Little Ben, and Pres right here I don’t think you had anything to worry about Rich.” He looks around and throws chin back at me. Fuck, everyone is a little high strung tonight.

I put my bottle on the bar and tell them I’m out. I got food to get and I’m not up for more shit from Brothers tonight.

“I need food too, I got my truck here. Get your bike through KC tomorrow. You’ll get to see the kids too.” Little Ben says making me laugh.

VP slaps my shoulder. “I’ll meet you there.”

“You’re not in the Club anymore?” I ask.

He laughs, “Still here but in your old room. It gets me away from the crazy fuckin’ Brothers, but still in the middle of everything.” I’m relieved but push it away.

Little Ben hits the grocer on Main Road. I’m glad he said about the truck, I’ve never been to the grocery store, and didn’t think about carrying more than a bag of food back.

The first thing I see is fruit. I like this place. I start bagging fruit when VP comes up on the side of me. “How much you eat in a week?”

I have a full bag and think that’s enough for a couple of weeks. “This could be for two weeks.”

“Some won’t be good in two weeks.” He takes the bag and dumps it in the cart.

“What the fuck? I want them.”

He looks at me smiling and pulls more bags. “Jess puts it together.” He puts the apples in a bag and opens another.

I get it. I start taking fruits and putting them in separate bags. They have the green apples so I get a big bag because they are my favorite.

Little Ben comes over and laughs. “Who the fuck are you feeding?” I look in the cart. There’s a lot of fruit. “Think about how much you eat in a day. Get a couple of days’ worth. You come back or stop at the fruit stand in the backyard to get fresh. You’ll like it better than half rotten fruit in a week.”

That makes sense. I can stop on my way home. I dump half the fruit in his cart. “You eat like me.”

VP laughs and pulls my cart to the vegetables. Fuck. How do I know what to buy? “You eat baked potatoes, get a bag. You make mashed, use them ‘fore they go bad.”

I look at the bag. “I don’t know if I want to eat that much in a week VP.”

“Good for couple weeks.” He pulls the cart to onions and throws a bag in.

“How long do they last?”

He looks at the onions, “Month.”

Ok, I can do this I just need to know how long shit lasts. We get to the milk and I look at the date. I can only get one. “Fuck, I’m going to be at the store every fuckin’ day!”

Little Ben laughs. “Look behind the first ones.”

I look at the date it’s a week away. “What a fuckin’ racket.” VP agrees.

We go up the aisle. There’s every fuckin’ bread in the world. “Where’s Italian bread?”

“The bakery,” Little Ben says. Fuck I need to go to another store. He laughs. “It’s here on the other side.” I start walking down the aisle to get bread. “Do the aisle then get the bakery food. You don’t want it crushed under beer.” I stop. Fuck, I have to buy beer. They fuckin’ laugh. I could live without the laughing, but I need help here. Little Ben gets peanut butter.

I want peanut butter so I get a big can. He fuckin’ laughs. “Look at what’s in it.” VP spins it around for me to see.

Holy fuck. “I thought it was just peanuts?” VP shows me Little Ben’s jar. It’s peanuts and oil. I could do that. I get one like his. I get jelly that’s fruit and get the fuck out of that aisle. We make it through every fuckin’ cookie in the world and boxes of everything. When I look at the back it’s everything but food. I follow what Little Ben gets and figure I’m good. He tells me canned veggies are pretty good but read them. I don’t bother I just get what he does. How much can you fuck with carrots?

We’re in soap, every fuckin’ soap there is. “Order from the form; delivers on the first. Just hit reorder and they send same as you started with,” VP tells me.

“I need to wash clothes, but don’t have soap.” The fuckin’ machine looks like it comes from a spaceship.

“Pods. I ordered your drys, got pods like it said.”

“You ordered my drys, you got eight things of deodorant! What the fuck is a pod?”

“Deodorant’s cheaper in bulk, all dry is bulk. You can pay eight bucks here or eight for eight on the dry form.”