Twist of Fate (Kings of Chaos 6)

sp; “That’s not what I’m looking for with her. That’s not what this is about all.”

“Does she know about your affiliation?” His voice turns stern.

“No. You know I can keep my mouth shut.”

“I know you can, son. That’s not where the problem comes in. Our life isn’t easy, and it’s important to know where your woman stands.”

I don’t even know where I stand with the club. How can I talk to her about it?

“That’s a long way down the road if ever.”

“Happens fast and hard for most of us. Best to be aware.”

“I hear you.”

“Sure you do.” His skepticism-laden tone makes me laugh.

“The whole lot of you are hard-headed little shits who are making me old before my time. It’s a wonder I don’t have a head full of white hair already. It’s like having too many sons to try and wrangle and teach right from wrong.”

“We keep you young, old man.”

“Ha, that’s what you tell yourself. What do you need from me on my end to help get the business ready?”

“Marketing research.”

“What now?” he asks.

“Xia is their marketing guru. She says it’s important to know what the locals like, what the current food trucks are selling, their prices, and what hole in the industry you can fill. It’s a difficult sweet spot to hit, but once you do it’s profit time.”

“Damn, you’ve really have been listening, haven’t you?” Stone asks. “I’m impressed.”

“Impossible not to soak it up when it’s repeated constantly. I can see why they’re successful. They had a reputation to launch from, but it’s the way they approach business that’s carried them so far.”

“I have to get some of the younger kids on this. I have no clue what these young fools around here want, and even less patience to find out.”

“Who do you have in mind?” I ask, thinking of the women in the club who don’t already have a career.

“Me? I got no clue. I’ll put one of the boys on to it. They got old ladies now. They’ll know who’ll be a good fit for this. I’m the banker. He’s not the one who gets his hands dirty.”

I snicker. We’re truly entering into a whole new phase. The club is growing in leaps and bounds. Brothers are getting hitched, becoming fathers, and running legitimate companies. We’ll never lose our edge, but survival has become about blending in, keeping the illegal operations far underground, and staying small enough to stay off the radar of the FBI. The local cops can only look the other way as long as we keep them from having a reason to dig deeper.

It’s crafting a new way of life. In another ten years, we won’t look anything like the original club. It’s not a bad thing. I think it’s a plus. We’re seeing power houses dwindle and die out, while we continue to remain. It makes me proud of the legacy we’re continuing to uphold. We’ll never be saints, but we are learning. The change to the by-laws that stopped the restriction on members strictly based on race showed that we could be better.

“When you get a chance, I want you to swing by the L.A. Chapter I want you to talk the V.P., Knuckles, and be my eyes and ears. Internal shit is about to go down there, and I want you aware of it. We’re going to have a change of power, and I’m not sure how well that’ll go over. I had Wizard down to whip them in to shape, and he noticed some weak points. I’m not going to punish all of them because Big isn’t on his job.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. They had their time to get things straightened out. I ain’t impressed or feeling benevolent. A leader who can’t control his men is dangerous. There are too many wolves in that hen house, and we need to flush them out.”

“Did something happen?” I ask.

“Nothing that you don’t know about, I’m not going to wait around for the next offense.”

“You think they’re coming to right the wrong they feel Psycho did by raising Calla?”

“I believe them sneaking up here to spend time with Billie when Calla’s due to come out this year is a red flag I’d be a fool to ignore. We’re not losing anyone else on my watch.” The determination in Stone’s voice is clear.

“I’ll get down that way this weekend.”