Johnny, on the other hand, was probably asking simply because he considered himself a fellow artist, and Mac didn't mind answering him.
“Yeah. That's why.”
And also that it was a pretty common way to get hepatitis, but it wasn't the best thing to say, since the man took pride in his work. Tattoos were a big part of the prison system, something like ninety percent of the inmates had them, and you were judge by them. A guy with no ink was seen as fresh meat, so even if someone entered the system without them, they often made damn sure to get them as soon as possible to not stand out. The ink told the others who they were, and sometimes what they were in for. Some had them as reminders of what waited for them when they were released, or what they'd lost if they were in for life.
There were other marks that could serve as a message on the body, and not all of them good. The gangs had a thing for slicing gang dropouts in the face. Those guys didn't last long in gen pop and were usually moved to protective custody.
“I can see why,” Johnny said, “She's really good.”
“I suggest you don't talk about her to anyone else,” Mac said, and Johnny nodded.
“Just wanted to ask. I figured it was her.” He stood up and strode off.
“Should keep an eye on him,” Bull said next to him. “Make sure he really shuts up about it.”
“I will.”
He didn't think she was in any danger, but he still preferred if as few as possible knew anything about her. He knew Sami kept an eye on her, and there were usually a few Marauders on any convention she was at. Not only to keep her safe, but because these days they wanted her ink, too. But they were there to keep an eye on her as well. Bear was a very protective father.
CHAPTER NINETEEN:
His Right Hand
-o0o-
BEAR WAS ON EDGE,
he knew he was. Brick and Mitch had left for Emporia, Kansas the day before. Most clubs had sent their President and Treasurer there. He would've wanted to be there as well, but Brick had told him to sit this one out. All clubs sent two men, and they would do the same. They weren't any different from the rest, and Brick
needed
Mitch there.
It might've taken Mitch a while to realize there was money missing, but it hadn't taken him and Duke more than two weeks to figure out who was doing it. Then they'd spent another month chasing all the money trails to make sure they'd caught everyone involved.
It was the treasurer from the Emporia club who'd been stealing from them—Charlie 'Hump' Daniels. Coincidently, he was also the one who'd been bitching the worst about their cuts on the smuggling being too small. That's what really got to Bear. Hump hadn't only been stealing, he'd been sowing bad seed through the entire club while doing it. He'd hidden his own deceit by turning the attention towards charters in charge of the smuggling operation.
Years earlier, he and Brick had discussed how there were two situations that severely increased the risk of betrayal among brothers—when it was more likely someone would turn on the club. One was when the club'd been in a war for a longer period of time, the way Emporia had been. Older guys, who'd seen a few wars, got tired of it and wanted as much money as possible before they left the club. Usually while telling themselves they'd
earned
that money. They'd spilled their blood for it and it wasn't really stealing—it was getting money that was
owed
to them. Which of course was bullshit. No one could earn the right to steal from their brothers.
The second risk was when things were calm, the club made a lot of money, and people got bored. The lack of a common enemy made them turn on each other instead. That hadn't happened yet, but Brick and he were sure looking out for it, because at the moment they were making loads of money, and it had been calm for a really long time.
Bear still felt he should be there when they confronted Hump, and he hated sitting around waiting for a call—like some high school bitch the night after a date.
“You're being sort of an ass again, Dad,” Vi said, and he turned his head to look at her. He'd been a million miles away
“What?”
“I've been talking for, like, ten minutes.”
“You have?” He cleared his throat. “Yeah, uhm, about?”
“It wasn't important.” She folded her legs underneath her and took the bowl of popcorn from him. She turned to April. “What do you think?”
“I think it's a great idea, and you should definitely do it,” April answered with a smile.
Vi was home for the weekend and the following week as well. He'd promised to spend some quality time with her, but about two hours earlier, she'd told him to call April and ask if she could come over. Apparently he was extremely boring company. He knew he was, but he couldn't help it. He wouldn't be able to relax until he'd had the call from Brick telling him it was all okay.
“Do what?” Bear asked, but the two of them ignored him.
“I was thinking blue would go nice with my hair. Like dark, almost navy, blue?” Vi continued.
“Yeah. Even the stay ups,” April said. “If you had a blue corset—oh, maybe with purple ribbons!”
“What the
fuck
are you two talking about?”
“The pictures I'm going to take for Mac. I've hired a professional photographer,” Vi said with a sweet smile. “You just said it was a good idea.”
“That's not going to happen!”
“Then maybe you should pay attention when you daughter is talking to you, honey,” April said. “They do tend to notice when you're not, and that's when they ask the really juicy questions.”
He pointed at April. “I'm going to get you for that. You're supposed to be on my side.”
“Says who?” She raised her fist in the air. “Sisterhood forever.”
“If the sisterhood wants dick, then the sisterhood should be rooting for the man attached to it.”
April looked a Vi and shrugged. “Sorry, I like dick.”
“Turncoat!”
April just threw a handful of popcorn in her mouth with a happy smile.
He'd met April's two sons, and he liked them. Good kids, but just like April and Vi, he would never be more than the guy their mom'd hooked up with. He didn't even try to resemble something like a parent; that would just be strange. Vi and April had the same thing going on. They got along, ganged up on him at times, but they were just friends.
He'd lost any track of what was going on in the movie they were watching and went out to the kitchen for a smoke. Vi came after him just a few minutes later.
“Are you okay?” she asked and sat down at the table.
“Yeah, just some shit. I'm waiting for Brick to call.”
“Would this be the same shit that's been bothering Mitch?”
“Probably. Why, has he said something?”
“No. We went through some things last week, and he seemed a bit off. Not his usual, flirting self. I don't know why he bothers.”
“Bothers with flirting? That's just what he's like.”
“No, bothers with going through the finances with me. Not like I get much of what he's saying, and I doubt he'd try to trick me. That's why I asked him.”
“No, he wouldn't trick you.” Bear said. “Think he just wants you to know how much money you're making.”
From what he'd heard, she was making a lot of money. Mitch didn't share any details, which he shouldn't, just joked he should get her to pay rent. No fucking way would he do that. His daughter wouldn't pay rent for as long as she lived under his roof. Which he assumed wouldn't be that much longer anyway.
“I know. But he sort of freaks me out. He told me I should invest, and started talking about... stocks and real estate, like I should buy a house!”
“Maybe you and Mac should.”
“Dad! That's freaking me out! I'm not going to buy a house!”
“Okay,” he said and did his best to hide his smile. She obviously didn't feel all that grown-up yet. Which was good. “I think I'll just hit the sack. You two should finish watching the movie.”
Vi stood up and came over to kiss his cheek. “You know Brick, Dad, he's all over whatever it is. He'll fix it.”
“I know. I just hate when he fixes shit when I'm not around.”
“Aww. You two have the cutest bromance going on.”
“You're really getting mouthy on me!” He turned her around and pushed her towards the door. “Just to make sure. The pics for Mac...”
“I was kidding!”
“That's what I thought. Go and bug the other woman in my life.”
Vi laughed as she left the kitchen.
Bear finished the smoke, took a shower, and went to bed. The phone woke him up a few hours later.
“Brick?”
“Yeah. It's taken care of.”
“All okay?”
“As okay as it can be. We took his ink, everything contracted for us, and his right hand.”
When a person was patched into the club, they signed a contract saying anything they owned with the club's mark on it would go to the Marauders if they left the club. This would include their bikes and their tattoos if they left in bad standing. In general, if someone left in good standing, the club let them keep small stuff, like knives or small paintings and shit, even the bikes if they took away the club logo. But if they were kicked out—left in bad standing—like Hump had done, they took everything including the skin with the club tattoos on.
If a guy was caught stealing from the club, he should count his blessings if he made it out alive. Bear hadn't been sure Hump would survive, but apparently the vote had gone against killing him.
“You took his right hand? As in his actual right hand?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck...”
They were both silent for a while, because they both knew it was a message. Hump wouldn't able to ride again.
They'd talked a lot about it the last few weeks. That feeling of one of their own turning on them, and how it was always tough to retaliate when that was someone so close.
“How's Rabbit doing?” Bear asked. Rabbit was the president in the Emporia charter and Hump's friend. Bear suspected he was the one who'd stopped the execution.
“Not too good, but he's taking care of things.”
Someone talked to Brick in the background.
“Gotta go. Just wanted to let you know it's taken care of, and everyone is on board again. We'll talk more when I get back.”
“Yeah. Talk when you get back.”
They hung up and when he lay back down, he felt April's arm sneaking around his chest.
“All good?” she asked in a yawn.
“Yeah. Think so.”
“So you think you'll be able to communicate with the rest of the world again?”
“Maybe,” he said in a laugh. “Sorry.”
“It's okay.” She nuzzled closer to him. “Violet seems used to it, and I don't mind since I know you'll make it up to me.”
“I will?”
“Yeah, you will.” She opened her blue eyes.
He turned over to his side and tucked her closer. “I would do it now, but I'm not doing that when Vi's around. You're a screamer, baby.”
“You like that.”
“No, I fucking love it.” He looked at her and stroked her cheek, giving her lips a kiss. “And I love you.”
He hadn't said it before, but he'd known it for a while. The woman was amazing. She gave him a smile, reached up and gave him a kiss. With a firm grip of his beard, she looked him right in his eyes.
“I love you, too.”
They stared at each other for a few moment. “We should fuck now, shouldn't we?”
“We should,” she agreed. “Maybe if you hold a hand over my mouth?”
He laughed as he pushed her to her back. “I can do that.”
-o0o-
Mac looked at Mitch, sitting opposite of him. They were talking in low, almost whispering voices.
“So it's all done?”
“Yeah. He's out and... some other things.” Mitch shook his head. “You never think about it when you start—how it ends.”
He'd seen things before, but he knew Mitch hadn't, and he was really sorry he'd been thrown into it the way he had.
Mac still had a hard time seeing Hump do this. He'd known the guy, shared a charter with him, and called him his brother. He'd never noticed him being anything but happy in the club. He'd loved it just like most of them did. It didn't make any sense to Mac, but Hump wasn't the first time a formerly loyal member had flipped. His dad had told him stories about members turning on the club, sometimes even jumping to rival clubs.
“It's not on you, you know that,” he finally said. He couldn't think of anything else to say.
“I know, just...” Mitch shook his head. “It makes you see things differently. Not that I thought it was all booze and pussy, but this was the real shit. The thing I've only heard of, and it— Shit,” he laughed a little. “I'm sounding like a pussy, don't I?”
“A little,” Mac said with a nod. “But it's okay. Just me here, not like I'll spread the word.”
“I know. Weird part is, I liked it. Feels like I'm really in the club.”
“Not that weird. It's rite of passage kind of shit.” He said it as a joke, and it worked.
“Don't throw that tao-shit on me,” Mitch laughed “I'm supposed to be the smart one. We'll talk about it later, when you get out. I'm fine, I know it was the right thing.”
“Yeah. When I get out.”
He didn't think it was strange that Mitch felt the way he did. It wasn't just what'd gone down with Hump, but that he had a purpose in the club. He'd been prospect for a year, with all that meant, and then he'd partied for almost a full year. Now he was taking care of the finances, and he was making changes in the system. Impressive changes, if Mac understood it correctly, and he'd uncovered a traitor within their own club. It was big stuff.
“What else is going on?” Mac asked, and Mitch smiled.
“You girl is still flirting like crazy. I'm tellin' ya, she's gonna dump you and run off into the sunset with me.”