Page 92 of Whiskey Shivers

Everyone was still on edge and uneasy, but that was neither here nor there – we couldn’t do shit until something went down unless we wanted to skip right over the whole trying to be more chill.

“I mean, we can definitely do small operation shit and operate well within the front line of our lane financially,” Bennie said.

“The question is,” La Croix started, “how fuckin’ serious were you all with wantin’ to establish a new world order within this club and are you fuckers in or out? I’m in.” He raised his hand and the hands went up around the table like mushrooms after a rain. Everyone raised theirs, the motion carried unanimously.

“It’ll be hard fuckin’ work,” I declared and Cypress made a noise like what I’d said was stupid and I had to smirk. “Fair, for some of y’all it’ll be easier – the main thing is it’ll be a long fuckin’ road to get there. There’s no tellin’ when this’ll end when it comes to the courts let alone to when she’ll get the money or how much or any of that.”

“We fuckin’ betting now?” Axe asked with his crazy grin.

“I’m betting six mil.” Saint threw a twenty on the table.

“Shit, I’d say two,” I said. “Fuckin’ district is stingy and I know she ain’t wanna drag things out through a trial but I also know she will. She’s stubborn as fuck. So, I’m going to see your six and say eight.” I tossed in a twenty of my own.

“Twelve,” Chainsaw declared and tossed down two tens.

“Nah, I say four.” Axe threw in his twenty.

The bets went around, the pot was made, and Bennie collected it to put it in the safe, wrapping the paper the bets were written on around the stack of bills.

“Alright, alright,” La Croix spoke over the chatter. “Hex, what we do next?” La Croix asked.

“Next, we need to find a spot out in the woods where no game warden or dumb fuck yokel is gonna stumble on it. Then We gotta fabricate and build our still out there and then I get to work makin’ shit work. Then and only then can I start training you fuckers how to do it so we can keep an eye on shit and make some magic out there.”

La Croix nodded. “Too right, work’s cut out for us,” he said.

“When do we start?” Cypress asked.

“Right fuckin’ now,” I said.

“We wanna use the smokehouse as a launch point?” Axe asked. “Pretty secluded out there.”

I thought about that and I said, “I hate puttin’ all our eggs in one basket.” I sucked my teeth. “Any other ideas, boys?”

I knew something would come to me eventually, but damn if it wasn’t exhausting sometimes being the entire fuckin’ brains of the outfit. Sometimes it was nice to be able to pass the baton and take a rest.

“I got some places,” Cypress volunteered. “Out by my ol’ nucky’s place there’s some flat land ain’t prone to flooding in certain spots. It’s way out there, though. Like prob’ly an hour’s ride then another hour by boat. How often you need to get out there?”

I thought about it, and finally said, “Well, I ain’t got a job so I reckon thisismy job up until things move along a little further in the process. That should work just fine. When can y’ take me out there?”

“Any time y’ want, brother.”

“Tomorrow?” I asked.

He nodded and said, “I’ll see what I can get and drive on out to your place. Take some shit with us. If it works, awesome, we’ve got a start on haulin’ some shit in and if it don’t? Well, then, I at least got some shit out that way for the next place.”

Cypress nodded and said, “Good time to do it, it bein’ the off season now.”

“Yeah, well, how apt is it to be discovered in the ‘on’ season is the trouble.” I raised an eyebrow.

He looked thoughtful a minute and finally said, “Shit, never mind, this spot might not work after all.”

I nodded and said, “Well keep thinkin’.”

He nodded and some of the other guys were thinkin’ hard, too.

“Let me run these numbers before we get too far ahead of ourselves. I mean, I don’t even know what all some of this might cost with the grain and shit until I can get to the internet which ain’t happening in here,” Bennie declared and I nodded.

“Fair enough,” I said.

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