Page 46 of Hawk's Cry

I go up to my house and crash for what time I have. Sitting with Eli last night meant I hadn’t gotten much sleep and I’m in much need of catching forty winks.

As soon as my phone chimes with the alarm I’d set, I’m wide awake. Years of being prez had honed my skills so I could go from being dead to the world to being ready for anything in seconds. After splashing cold water on my face and changing into a fresh t-shirt, I’m ready to go. Or, as ready as I’ll ever be. How do you explain your son has reached the end of his tether? That he’s been brought so low, there’s no further he can go.

Straightening my shoulders, I make Eli a promise. We’ll carry his load while he’s unable to. We’ll make sure Olivia has everything she needs as well.

Men are already milling into the meeting Wizard called. I follow behind, almost diverting to my place I’d adopted at the bottom end of the table when I’d handed the mantle of prez over, but remember in time and still feeling out of place, I take my seat to the left of Wizard. It reminds me of the time decades back when I’d been my father’s VP. Of course, the club was in a different location then, and the table with the Satan’s Devil’s insignia proudly carved into it had been destroyed when the cops had invaded. When I took over the club and we’d moved here, everything was new including the chairs we’re sitting on and the table we’re sat around. It was a badly needed fresh start. Ancient history now of course.

The sound of the gavel banging brings me back to the present.

Prez nods toward the two empty chairs. “We’ve two members absent with permission. Wraith, for reasons which will become clear, and Lady who’s making a delivery in Phoenix.”

Joker raises his hand. “Lady has made me his proxy in case any vote comes up.”

“What about Wraith?” Peg asks. “You holding your hand up for him, VP?”

“Let’s leave that for now.” Prez’s stare, rivalling mine back in the day, silences further discussion.

Of course, everyone will be chomping at the bit to find out what they’ve been called in to discuss at this impromptu meeting today. It normally spells trouble, and most men are tense, anxious to hear what Wizard has to say.

Prez doesn’t keep them waiting. “I’m going to hand over to the VP to explain why I’ve called you all here. If a vote needs to be taken, then Drummer, for reasons which will become clear, will not be party to that. He’ll update you, answer questions, then make himself scarce. He will not be party to the discussion we might need to have.”

I raise my chin toward Prez. It’s as it should be. Brothers should be free to discuss matters freely without worrying about hurting my feelings, and my vote is a given.

Clearing my throat, my prepared speech goes out the window. “Eli’s suffering. He needs to come back to the compound and have family around him.”

There’s a stunned silence. If they had any expectation of what they were about to hear, it certainly wasn’t that.

“What the fuck?” Marvel starts. “He’s fuckin’ suffering? Our VP walked out on the club and now you want him to come back? What, your boy doesn’t like it on the outside?” he sneers. “Finding citizen life a bit hard?”

Wizard bangs the gavel loudly. “Will you fuckin’ do as I asked? Hear Drummer out and ask questions for clarification only while he’s here.”

I give Wizard a chin lift to show my appreciation, then take a deep breath. “A year back, I stepped down as president, and Wizard stepped up. We voted in new officers. Though he didn’t show it, it blindsided Eli to be given the VP patch, but he accepted it and the responsibility that went along with it. Seven months ago, Eli found out his wife-to-be was pregnant. Think the kid must have forgotten to glove up, as it wasn’t planned or expected, though Olivia was already his old lady. Five months ago, Eli and the prez had their wedding. It was touch-and-go whether it would go ahead at the time, or whether instead there would be a firefight with Archangel.” I pause and look around. Some look interested to see where I’m going with this, some, like Marvel, already look closed off.

I tap my head. “Who knows how the fuckin’ brain works? What’s certain is that Eli’s has turned against him. Where did it start? Who the fuck knows? When he was first voted in as a VP? Or before that, when we gave him his patch? Maybe it was when we tested him more than any other prospect during that year when he had to prove himself.” I slam my fist down on the table. “I fuckin’ know I was right. He was my son, but more than that, he was the man I wanted riding at my back.”

A chorus of ‘that was then, this is now’ and ‘Eli’s not that fuckin’ man anymore’ come from all around. Derisive comments that show how badly my son’s bridges were burned. As I let the wave of comments brush over me I realise, it doesn’t matter how much I want it, Eli may never be able to come home.

Chapter Seventeen

Drummer…

Wizard bangs the gavel loudly, and then again until everyone shuts up. “Brothers, I know there’s a fuckton of bad feelings, but I need you to think back further than a couple of months, before Eli walked away from the club. Without letting what’s happened since taint your views, can any man here raise their hand and say they disagree with Drummer? Did you feel under pressure to raise your hand and say aye when I proposed Eli as my VP? From where I’m sitting, every vote that was taken was a free one and each had to be unanimous. But if anyone had doubts and just followed the pack, I’d be interested to hear you say it.”

“Can’t say that,” Rock inputs. “That’s why his departure hit us so hard. How could we have read the man wrongly?” He gestures toward me. “If you’ve got an explanation, Drummer, I, for one, want to hear it.”

There are nods and growls of agreement.

I catch sight of Joker staring at me. He gives a slight inclination of his head, a silent offer of support should I need it.

I grimace slightly. “I want you to think about Eli, because fuck knows that’s what I’ve been doing. Think of the carefree little boy most of you remember him to be…”

“What?” Peg scoffs, grinning widely. “That kid was never carefree. He was always a mini-you, Drummer. From the day he entered the world he had your scowl dead to rights.”

I glare at the ex-sergeant-at-arms. “Eli officially prospected when he was eighteen. Can’t say that was when he started living and breathing the club, as far as I saw, he always had. But that was when he came on the books. Then he was patched in. As I said, getting on for a year back, he became VP.”

“No need to go over it again, Drummer.” Cast sounds bored.

I shrug. “Somewhere, somehow, he started to change, changes I didn’t see happening.”

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