Page 35 of Blackout

Chapter Twelve

BLACKIE

No one spoke on the matter of Wolf after that and Riggs revealed he purchased a bar that he’s secretly been converting into our new clubhouse. We went from one fucking shit storm to another. Tuning out Lacey’s voice, I was ready to crack and so was Jack.

“There is a massive back room we can use for a chapel and two apartments upstairs that I opened up and converted into individual bedrooms. Bas can finally get out of the projects and Needles, I even made a room for your daughter. The bar will be extra income for the club and help us get out of the red,” Riggs shares.

Until now, I didn’t think our lack of having a clubhouse was an issue. Our days of partying and housing whores were long gone. Most of us were married and had our own homes, others made do with apartments, making the need for room and board for riders obsolete. If another club dragged their pipes through our streets and needed a place to land, one of us had no problem opening our homes for a while and we were making things work by operating out of Pipe’s garage.

Jack grips the edge of the table and bites the inside of his cheek. If I know him as well as I think I do, he’s battling his pride. Jack doesn’t like anyone sweeping in to clean up his messes but me. Everyone here knows it was his responsibility to rebuild what we lost but there was always something standing in his way, some enemy or dire situation and the clubhouse fell to the bottom of the list of his priorities. Riggs taking the initiative has been a tough pill for Jack to swallow.

“Before you tell me to go fuck myself, you should probably know I already hired my mother-in-law as the head cook and she’ll have your balls on a platter if you take away her job.”

Giving Jack a minute to process the news, I grab the phone.

“You did this on your own?” I ask.

“If you’re asking if I laid out the money, yes. I’ve got more than I know what to do with Black and the club can pay me back after we’re back on our feet.”

Peering at Jack from the corner of my eye, I wonder if that’s eased the blow to his pride.

“Well, that explains the restaurant tables,” Cobra says, knocking his knuckles against the grain.

“It’ll be another legit business for the club and with our cop friend in the dirt, it’ll keep the pigs off our backs. It’s time to bring back the clubhouse parties, man. I’m not saying we fill the joint with hookers and shit but, we used to celebrate when we patched someone in. What do our prospects have to look forward to? Free pickings on Wolf's tomato plants?”

“If we dig up that fucking garden, we’ll have more room on the lot for the buses,” Pipe says, pointing to the parking lot behind me where Wolf put a vegetable garden.

“Where is this bar?” Jack growls.

“Well, that’s the only problem…”

“Riggs so help me God—”

“It’s in Staten Island but before you blow your top, hear me out—everyone from Brooklyn migrates to the island, anyway. No one is going to care if our rockers read one borough and we congregate in another. Besides, Blackie already lives in Staten Island, Pipe and Layla just closed on a house there too. The rest of us will have to get an EZ Pass.”

“I’m going to kill this fucking kid,” Jack mutters, rubbing his hands over his face.

“You’re going to thank me before you kill me, I promise. Look, I gotta go. You’ll see, this will be good for the club. In the meantime, I’m going to plan a Grand Opening. Every fucking person from Bay Street to Tottenville is going to know the Satan’s Knights are moving in and they’re all going to want to party with us.”

“Because we’re just a barrel of fun,” Stryker deadpans.

“Speak for yourself buddy,” Deuce argues.

“We’re going to need to discuss this further,” Jack warns.

“Sure thing Daddy-O,” Riggs replies.

“Hang up on him.”

I end the call and along with everyone else seated at the table, I turn to Jack.

“Fuck, I’m exhausted,” he grunts. Drawing in a deep breath, he grabs a toothpick from his pocket and slips it between his lips. “Moving on from that fucking clown,” he starts, turning his attention towards Bas “It’s time for you to fill us in on what the fuck is going on with your dead brother and why you’re looking after his woman and kid.”

I swear if I make it through this meeting, it’ll be a miracle.

Those still exist, right?

Bas begins to share his story with us, revealing him and Mac were together back in the day. However, he wasn’t sitting at our table asking for protection because once upon a time he got his dick wet with his brother’s piece. Nah, that woman was in a shit ton of trouble and so was her kid.

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