MC: LaPonte (42 page)

"Yeah," he goes to the
window and lifts the shade pointing, "Five houses that way. Jessie
asked about it, I think it'd be perfect. I need to get rid of my
house. It's a constant reminder of what isn't. Tracy found the
house and had to have it. I would have been happy living at the
club."

Danny nods. "Tell me when
and we'll get you set up over there." I'm so proud of my
man.

"Always all in, thanks
Brother." He says to Danny. "The closings next week. You can talk
to Jessie about his room. Give him whatever he wants."

"You're a good dad Ben.
Welcome to the neighborhood." I kiss his cheek then Danny's lips
and leave them alone. Danny stops me at the door.

"Babe, Tiny and Nancy's
got Devan, Doc's on his way for the kids. Go take a bath in that
awesome tub I had specially made to spoil my girl. I'm taking you
to dinner later at a noodle place in Bristol." He smiles. I crack
up, walk back to him, pull him down and kiss his lips. I make a bee
line to my room to take a bath hearing them laugh.

One Month...

The kids are bouncing off
the walls. Penny came in with shirts for them. She made jerseys
with the club logo and our names for the whole family. We'll be
wearing them to dinner tonight.

Rich flew right to
Colorado, Patches Digs and Bob met up with him for a week of
skiing. I'm excited to see my boy; he's got another three weeks
before he has to go back. The only time he needs to be away is for
a ceremony in DC to get a medal. He hasn't told anyone so we're
keeping it a secret but we'll be there. Steve got a heads up and
hooked us up so we can support him. I think the whole fuckin club
is going. That should be a sight, our cuts showing while he meets
the President. I can't fuckin wait. Rich and Patches should be here
any minute. I finish screwing the last board on. Devan's room is
finished. He has a tree house crib that can be switched to a bed
when he's big enough. I even got a slide on it for him. All that's
left is paint. Kate thinks I'm nuts but it's been a hell of a week.
I've been as bad as the kids wanting to see Rich and missing
Patches. Not that I'd tell anyone else that. My fuckin man card
can't take the hit after Kate and her fuckin chain last week. I
didn't get more than ten minutes before she had me coming like a
fuckin sixteen year old. I ain't ever letting her fuckin cuff me
again. It's fuckin humiliating. I shake my head to clear it while
I'm picking up my tools and walking out the door. I have no fuckin
business smiling over that. As I'm dropping the tools on the bench
to put away I hear the screaming and screeching. I laugh. The boys
are back. I leave the tools, hit the garage door and wait for
fuckin ever for it to go up so I can see my boys.

Fuck I stand back and
watch my boys, really men, pick up every one of the little guys for
a hug. Rich keeps Ally. She's smiling so big. She sees me and
signs, 'my brother came, my brother from the computer is here.' I
crack up. Signing, 'yes he is.'

Patches looks at me. "No
pain?" I shake my head no. He smiles and hugs me with Aaron on his
arm.

Rich finishes talking to
Jessie and Darren and comes over to us. He gives Patches Ally, "for
a minute." He says to him and gives me a bear hug. "So fuckin happy
to see you dad." The kids yell, he laughs letting me go. "I was
told about you Little Brothers shaking down the Big Brothers. I
came prepared." He pulls two bills out of his pocket and hands it
to Darren who makes whooping noises.

He shows Jessie. "Two
hundred bucks! We got enough!" Jessie yells. Rich tells them it's
for two weeks and they'll negotiate the couple of days at the end
before he leaves.

I ask them what they're
buying. They all look at Jessie, "Lee's mom’s car broke. I asked
Petey how much it cost to fix it. We have three hundred now. Do we
have to pay tax?" He's fuckin serious. I pull my wallet and hand
him another hundred. They jump around. Darren stops everyone and
tells Jessie to call Petey to see if he can fix it now. It's still
too cold for Lee to walk."

Jessie puts on a serious
face and calls Little Ben. "Little Brother, we got the money to fix
the car. Can you call Petey to fix it right away? We have four
hundred see if it's enough for the tires too. Maybe he'll fix it
cheaper for you." He doesn't say anything else just slides his
phone off. "He said give him ten." They all look at their
watches.

Patches pushes my chin
closed then Rich's. He walks into the house putting his phone to
his ear. These fuckin kids are raising money to fix people's fuckin
cars. "I'm so fuckin proud of you I don't know what the hell to
say." I tell them. Ally hits my arm. The boys laugh. I give her a
buck without thinking about it.

Rich picks her up and hugs
her. "Dad whatever your doing don't fuckin stop. Don't ever fuckin
stop."

I shake my head and look
at him with a smile. "I didn’t plan on it." He slaps my back and
tells Ally he needs to see Kate and Devan then her room. She
squeals for him making him laugh.

I wait with the boys,
Little Ben calls him back in five. He's such a little badass
answering the phone. "Little Brother." I smile, Fuckin kids. "Nice.
Everything! Right. You're good Brother. See you at dinner." He
slides it off and looks at the boys. "He got Petey fixing
everything for three fifty today!" They all jump around. I'm
doubled over laughing when Kate puts her hand on my back. I stand
straight holding my stomach.

She smiles big for me and
tells the boys Rich is checking out their bonus room. They look at
Jessie he says and signs, "Little Ben wants a meeting, I'll ask
Patches. We still have fifty. You got to figure out what's the
important one on the list like before, text him. Little Ben will
tell us what's next when we meet." They nod and run in the house
yelling.

"Fuckin kids. They're like
the adults. I think Little Ben is the Pres. I don't know where that
leaves the others. I always thought Jessie was his dad."

She snorts. "Jessie is
you. They think you're the strongest. According to them, you don't
need to show you're strong; you used it in secret fixing everyone
until they were ready to see it. You've reached super hero status.
Darren is going to be Steve. He sees every freakin thing. It's
eerie sometimes." She laughs at my expression. "I heard Patches
talking to Petey. They're good kids."

"The Best," I smile down
at her. She kisses me leaning her tits into me. I'm hard in New
York fuckin minute. I moan and step away. She laughs. Fuckin
Beautiful Kate. "It's going to be a long fuckin night." I mumble as
grab her hand walking into the house.

I don’t think I’ve stopped
smiling all day. We’re waiting in the hotel lobby. Forty two
Brothers and Little Brothers are here with us. Ben took over a
whole fuckin hotel for the weekend. Kate, Jess, Nancy and Mary are
the only women here. They’re going through everyone to make sure
their ties are straight and shirts are buttoned right. We got
permission to wear our cuts instead of jackets as long as we wore
ties and button down shirts. Patches and Petey made sure all the
Little Brothers got here so they can see a big Brother get
recognition from the President.

Ben stands in the middle
of everyone, Tiny whistles. “The bus is outside Brothers, Brothers
in the back, the Little Brothers in front of them and Officers in
front of them with the women.”

Everyone moves, I’m always
amazed that no one pushes or shoves trying to get in. The ride to
the Whitehouse is short. We file out and are brought to a room
outside of where the ceremony and banquet are being held. We all go
through metal detectors no problem. Steve warned us beforehand
threatening to kill anyone that embarrassed him by being
stupid.

Finally we’re brought out
to our seats right in front. Rich looks nervous up in the front,
when he sees us he smiles shaking his head. He signs he can’t
believe we’re here but he’s so fuckin glad. The Little Brothers
make him laugh putting their hands out. We sit and wait for the
President. When he comes out everyone quiets down. He talks about
honor and bravery. It’s a fuckin good speech making me even more
proud of my boy. He calls the men sitting behind him up. Rich stays
where he is. What the fuck? He puts medals on the men saying
something to each one, shakes their hands, then goes back to the
podium. He talks about the honor of one man and how he saved a
village as well as a team. I have tears in my eye. My boy did this.
The President is honoring him with his words, he calls Rich up
handing him a box with the medal shaking his hand and pointing him
to the podium.

Rich steps up putting the
medal down, he signs and says thank you to everyone clapping. We
all sit. He keeps signing as he talks. “I was told I had five
minutes to talk. I was nervous because I really only had twenty
seconds figured out.” Everyone laughs. “I’m signing for my brothers
and sister, so please bear with me. I didn’t tell my family I was
coming here today. I was ordered to come and graciously accept this
medal.” He looks back. “Sorry Mr. President, no offense.” People
chuckle. He smiles. “I didn’t think I deserved this medal. It
wasn’t until I saw my family this large group with the MC cuts on
in the front here.” He points us out. “It wasn’t until I saw them
that I realized it isn’t just me being honored today. “’We take
care of our own.’ That’s what Pres always say.” He looks back
again. “Sorry, I mean the other Pres.” The President laughs with
everyone. “That’s exactly how I came to be here today. My fallen
Brothers who will forever hold a place in my heart taught me to
never give up the fight for right and just. Never let their
sacrifice be anything but a lesson in honor and a motivation to
continue where they left off. My team that’s waiting for me to get
back to work gave me the support I needed to accomplish my job.
Every one of them played a part in our success. Without their help
we certainly would have failed. My family the Brothers, Little
Brothers and Old Ladies of the MC that taught me how important it
is that we stand together as one in honoring our women and
children. Being committed and loyal to the Brotherhood and each
other. Standing together for those who can’t. Your lessons saved a
village of women and children whose men were taken. A village that
needed us to stand together for them. My LaPonte family; teaching
me love in its purist form, with no conditions. I thank God every
day I have you to keep me grounded and tethered to the people that
have taught me so much. My new mom Kate, fighting every day for
abused women. I did one job. You were on my mind during the whole
mission. My dad, the man this wouldn’t be possible without. You
earned your black belt so you could teach a bunch of scraggly punks
discipline, respect and commitment. You had a baseball team learn
sign language so one player could feel like he was part of the team
teaching me compassion and acceptance. You bought me my first gun
teaching me aim and patience, the respect of my weapons and the
importance of every single life. I have to stop here and say, as of
last week, he still out shoots me with bow and guns!” He looks back
at the President. “We need to step up our training Mr. President.
He’s old and only has one eye!” Everyone laughs. “My father taught
me how to live in honor, with integrity and loyalty. I am so proud
and grateful that you’re my dad. It is with great pride and honor
for all of you that had a part in me being here today that I accept
this medal. You all taught me how to be the man I am. Thank you.”
Everyone stands and claps for him. I have tears in my eye as he
walks down the stairs and hugs me.

The President comes to us
with security following. Kate says, “Holy shit!” Rich snakes his
arm around her. “No Rich, the President is behind you.” He lets us
go and turns around at attention.

The President laughs.
“Relax son, I just wanted to shake the hand of the man that
instilled such remarkable honor and integrity in someone so young.”
He shakes my hand. “Thank you for raising such an inspiring young
man.”

I shake his hand feeling
fucking great right now. “I couldn’t do it without my wife and
Brothers here.” I introduce him to Kate, Ben, Steve, Tiny and
Casper. He shakes all their hands thanking them. Holy Fuckin Shit!
He talks with Ben for a couple of minutes as I stand proud, arm
around Kate while all the Brothers and Little Brothers hug and
thank Rich.

We float through the rest
of the banquet. The Little Brothers are so good making us proud. As
we’re sitting at the table I asked Ben what the President said to
him. He tells us they have a dossier on the Club, he knows the work
we’ve done to make it good and keep drugs out of our backyard. He
looks down then back at us. “It was an honor to hear him say he is
proud of us. Not something I expected the President of the United
States to say to the President of an MC.” I see respect in his
eyes. “This is a Brotherhood we can be proud of, the one that I
dreamed of so many years ago. The fuckin President said he was
proud of us. It doesn’t get better than that. Thank you Brothers it
took every fuckin one of us to get that and fuck if it doesn’t feel
good.” He smiles looking at each one of us with pride. Fuck if it
doesn’t feel good.

As we stand to leave we
gather the Little Brothers from their table. I ask Victor where
Little Ben, Jessie and Darren are. He points to the right. I look
over and see the boys talking to the first lady. I hit Ben and call
to Steve, I point to the boys, Jessie is signing for Darren while
Little Ben is talking. I see Jessie thank her and turn back to us.
They are talking to each other on the way Jessie walks backward
signing while Little Ben steadies him and keeps him from hitting
people. Ben asks what they were talking about. They look at Jessie.
“Since we have a black President and the next one will probably be
a woman we asked what she thought the chances of a deaf President
were. She thinks it’s not only possible but probable. That means it
will most likely happen because we have good strong role models.”
Fuckin kids. Ben cracks up.