=?=
“Church!” Fox called out, walking through the clubhouse about an hour later than he’d originally set for the meeting. Slowly, his brothers filled the meeting room. “Take a seat. We got shit to talk about,” Fox ordered, taking his place at the head of the table. He dropped a heavy file on the worn wood but offered nothing more.
There was grumbling between the brothers. It was late for some. Others had spent the last three hours drinking, but for Keyes, he was just glad that no one was treating him any differently, and for the first time in his life, his old man wasn’t there, throwing homophobic insults and making sure every one of his brothers heard shit about him.
Once the guys got settled, Fox started the meeting, going through the required protocol until the floor was given to him. He stood at the head of the table, looking at each brother before he pushed the file folder into the center of the table, older photos scattered across the top. “This shit came in the mail today. No idea who or where it came from.”
Fox leaned over, and with a swipe of his hand, the pictures spread all over the table. Keyes wasn’t close enough to grab one, all he could see were the photos were all of a younger Ray-Ray with a woman, the same woman in each shot.
“What the fuck’s this?” Ray-Ray asked, defensive as hell. His chair scraped across the floor as he stood, reaching over the table, picking up several photographs.
“You tell us,” Fox suggested, crossing his arms over his chest.
Mack rose, ran his hands over some of the pictures, shoving one particular one to Ray-Ray. Keyes looked around at the other members, but they looked about as confused as he felt when Ray-Ray shouted, “What the fuck, man? You gotta fuckin’ give me more than this.”
Whatever was going on, Mack seemed to clue in based on the anguish crossing his face. He dropped back into his chair, cursing loudly as Fox tossed out a piece of paper that had been underneath the file folder. Ray-Ray took it, and within seconds, he shouted, “Motherfucker!” And kicked at his chair, sending it slamming against the back wall.
“What the fuck’s going on?” Hound asked.
“I didn’t know,” Ray-Ray said immediately, his burst of attitude turned to justification as he stared at Fox. “I swear to God I didn’t fuckin’ know. Honest, the whore was a fuckin’ stalker.”
“Goddamn, Ray,” Mack said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I fucked that whore a few times in the early nineties, man. She was a college chick that kept showin’ up everywhere I was,” Ray explained, shock in his eyes and desperation in his voice as he looked at each of his brothers, trying to make them understand. “I fucked her. She wanted to be fucked. I swear to God I didn’t fuckin’ know.”
Dev rose from his seat, reaching across the table to rip the sheet of paper out of Ray’s hands before taking his seat again next to Keyes. It took a second before Dev muttered the apparent sentiment of the meeting and handed Keyes the typed note. “Motherfucker.”
Keyes read the aloud. “Donice Twiford—senior, University of Texas Dallas—current Dallas County District Attorney.”
Whoa. That was a huge blow, and it took a second for the words to sink in before the room erupted in utter fucking chaos.
“I didn’t know who the fuck she was,” Ray exclaimed, backing against the wall.
“The shit you didn’t,” Hound yelled, and Chain had to hold the brother back as he tried to climb over the table to get to Ray.
“Fuck you,” Ray-Ray yelled, his worry escalating to straight up anger as he got in fight mode, ready to take them all on if need be. “You remember every bitch you fuck?”
“I remember that goddamn bitch. She was over here lookin’ for you for months,” Hound said, and Mack gave a well-placed string of curse words to show he seconded Hound’s statement.
“Then you fuckin’ remember more than I fuckin’ do,” Ray shouted, his face turning beet red, his chest expanding and deflating with every breath.
“Goddamn’s fuckin’ right,” Fox said. The prez was usually the one trying for order, but he was rounding the table with hands fisted. He was going for Ray, and Mack had to jump between the two men to stop Fox’s advances. “This is why she’s fuckin’ on us. She’s got a goddamn vendetta against you, asshole.”
“It’s not my fault. It could be any of us,” Ray yelled.
Dev sat closest to Ray and had had enough. His buddy exploded. Luckily, Keyes was on it. Dev got one unexpected sucker punch in, sending Ray flailing against the wall before Keyes grabbed hold of his arm and collar, pulling him backward.
“Let me fuckin’ go. Fuck you, asshole,” Dev yelled at Ray. “You got us all fucked to shit this year. We’re losin’ our hold on this goddamn city, every other fuckin’ club is gettin’ our business…”