Page 14 of Gotta Dig Deep
Blackie spun on his heel and Duane gestured towards the door with a sweep of his hand. Horse fell into line behind Blackie, the spot between his shoulder blades itching with the unfamiliar exposure. A hand landed on his shoulder and Horse lurched sideways, relaxing when he heard Duane’s familiar laughter.
“It’s all good, brother. Promise.” Fingers gave a squeeze, then fell away.
Less than a minute later, they were single filing through the narrow gate alongside the long drive. The yard was cool in the early evening Texas heat, lush grass soft underfoot. He knew care of the property was something assigned to prospects and lower-ranking members of the club, and he realized they did an exemplary job of it. Not out of fear of reprisal, but because they held the club dear. More than an organization, it was a family, the connections between members stronger than anything else he’d ever seen. That was why the outcome of tonight’s question and eventual answer mattered so much to him.
I want this for myself.
Chin high, he stopped when Blackie did. When the man turned to face him, Horse locked gazes and held Blackie’s stare.
I need this.
“Ask me.” Blackie’s arms were relaxed at his sides, this conversation as casual and easy as any they’d had over the past months. “Go ahead, ask.”
“Just ask?” Horse shook out his hands, then adopted the stance he took as a bouncer, feet spread to shoulder-width, arms crossed over his chest.Maybe that’s too aggressive.He uncrossed his arms, letting his arms drop to his sides.Maybe that’s too casual. Shit.Fingers balling into fists, he propped them on each hip. “Just like that?”
Blackie nodded, but his mouth twisted like he was holding back a smile and that gave Horse just a bit more courage.
“What’s it take for a man to petition an MC for membership?”There, not asking about patches or prospect periods. Just straight out.“The FRMC, in case I need to be specific.”Shit.
“Any man?” Blackie’s torso inclined towards Horse slightly. “Or you?”
“Uh.” The way Blackie echoed Duane’s earlier words caught him off guard. “Me, I guess?”
“You guess or you know?” Shoulders lifting in a casual shrug, Blackie shifted his weight to one leg, hip canting slightly. “Matters, man.”
“Me. What do I need to do to start the process?”Okay, better. Hopefully.
“You already did.” One corner of Blackie’s beard lifted, a flash of teeth showing it was a smile shifting his expression. “Hangaround is part of it.”
“Oh. Okay.” His head was nodding without his permission, rapid and desperate feeling. Horse stiffened his neck, stopping the movement. “That’s good then.”
“You want my patch, Graeme Nass?”
The usage of his name took Horse by surprise. It had been so long since he’d heard it spoken. Immediately recognizable, but his brain was rifling through memories trying to determine if he’d given it to any of the FRMC members.
“Yeah, I do.” He choked the words through his blocked throat. Fear or another emotion, it didn’t matter, the physical reaction to the possibility being dangled in front of him reinforced the rightness of this request. “I really do.”
“Tell me why. The why matters more than the simple ask, brother.” Blackie’s stance remained casual and easy, but muscles in his shoulders and biceps tightened. This question was as important as anything, and that knowledge set Horse’s nerves jangling again.
He looked around the yard, cataloging each face he knew and marking the ones he didn’t. Not a single man looked angry. Instead, their expressions were attentive and interested. Oaky and Duane held a note of greater investment, and their postures were tense, anticipatory.
I know these men. I like them. That’s what this is all about.
A sense of calmness swept over Horse, and he shook the tension out of his hands with a raspy chuckle. “The why. That’s the crux of it, ain’t it? I’ve ridden two wheels all over a bunch of the lower forty-eight states. Rolled into places and took a sample of what they had to offer. None of it was to my taste. Not until I shot pool with a bunch of rough-talking bikers in a bar that felt more comfortable than the one I grew up in. Now?” He swept his hands to the sides, indicating the entirety of the group of men. “Now I’ve found something I want to be part of. Want to find my place in the ranks, see where I can be of use to the club. Don’t matter the how, long as you don’t turn me away. I don’t know where I’d be without this, Blackie. Don’t want to find out either.”
Pride rolled off Blackie and he stared at Horse in a way that reminded him of the looks Medric had frequently aimed his direction.
“Now that, my brothers, that’s a hella answer, wouldn’t you say?” Choruses of “Hear, hear” and “Fuck yeah” rose around them until Blackie patted the air, gesturing for silence. “The officers here in Longview have already discussed what we’d do if this man put words to the want we could see burning in him. We’re in favor, in case it wasn’t already clear.” Laughter came from the strangers’ mouths, and Horse twisted his neck, scanning the group again. “Now, Freed Riders is my fuckin’ club and you all know it, but I try to run things so we all get along. By now the tale surrounding the night Horse had his trial by fire has probably made the rounds, and if you haven’t heard the story yet, get with one of us and we’ll educate you. What I’m going to do is skip right across something that’s been in place for a decade, placed there by my insistence. I didn’t want men dragging in and rolling up the ranks without a chance to test and try them. Like I said, if you’ve heard the story, you know this one has already grappled with and bested one of the greatest challenges we could have ever thrown his direction. I propose that for Mother, this man becomes a voting member today. We’ll skip the prospect period entirely.”
A few murmurs sounded along the fringes of the group and Blackie grinned, shaking his head in a slow side-to-side arc.
“I hear you. I do. Man’s been a hangaround but already granted considerable member status, even assigning himself prospect grunt work. He sees something needs doing, he’s all over it without even a request. Leading by example, and I tell you now that it’s forced the official prospects to up their game to stay ahead of him and get noticed. About right, if you ask me. Prospects should work for that vote, and I might have been slacking on that education. Thing is, with how Horse has been, we haven’t had any disciplinary incidents with a prospect. Not one.” He laughed. “Uncommon crop, and none of my doing. Cultivated and tended by someone not even under my patch.”
“I already told you, but he’s got my vote.” Duane stepped up beside Blackie. “You might not admit it, but you’ve been sponsoring him since day one. Dude didn’t have a chance to do anything but excel.”
“My vote too.” Oaky spoke up from where he stood farther around the circle of men. “Respectful, trustworthy, quick on the uptake, and a hella fighter. Be good to have him officially on our side.”
“In light of the vote we already had, we don’t need to hear from anyone else here in Longview. Any other chapters, you got questions? Happy to entertain them for a short time.”
