“You didn’t make shit right with your boy before you showed up.” He gave me a knowing look and I had no doubt that Jasper had told them everything there was to know about why we no longer hung out. “Head on in, pretty sure Crutch is waiting on you. And here’s a tip: He is Crutch since he’s not your prez. If you know his government name, best not to use it. You want to join the Kings not the Boy Scouts.”
I nodded and followed the man inside the clubhouse with my grandpa behind me. I noticed Jasper right away. He stood behind the bar with a towel slung over his shoulder and a scowl on his face. He dropped it long enough to tip his head to my grandpa. He wasn’t angry with the man, just me.
“So, I hear you want to buy your way into our club?” Someone asked from behind me.
“No, that’s not what I want.” I turned to see Crutch there with a smile on his face as he reached out to shake my grandpa’s hand. “Good to see you doing well, Tim.”
“You have my respect for everything you’ve built here,” Grandpa said. It hit me then that Crutch was probably close tomy dad’s age. I wondered if they knew one another and realized I was an idiot. We lived in a small town that was even more so a generation back.
“Did you know my dad or something?” I asked anyway.
“Smart as a whip, that one. I see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Why would we want him?” He ignored me to ask Grandpa.
The old man shook his head. “Nothing like my son. This one has a lot on his mind right now and his top priority is making sure his grandma and I don’t lose our house thanks to what his shit-stain of a father pulled.”
“Responsible and loyal then?” Crutch asked.
I was so fucking confused. “I’m standing right here. You could ask me.”
“Can’t expect a man to tell the truth when asked if he’s loyal, boy. You have to find that out through the people who know him best. From what I hear, you’re a mixed bag. Not sure you’ll be worth the trouble.”
I gave him a nod. “You’re right. I’ve had my issues, but I had reasons for doing what I did.” I turned my head to find Jasper had moved closer and was listening in. “Sometimes, being loyal to one person - especially family - means pushing someone else out of the picture. Doesn’t have to be your finest moment in life to be true as fuck.”
“Now, that is the God’s honest truth right there. Let’s take the rest of this conversation into my office,” Crutch said as he turned and walked away. We followed him and my feet moved me across the distance on auto pilot.
Once the three of us were behind closed doors, Crutch indicated for us to take a seat on the couch that was situated in front of his desk. “You mind if I bring my son in on this? It won’t be long before he takes over as president and I want him to know where this land came from, if we decide to do this deal.”
“Travis is in line to be president already?” I asked, astonished because he was only five years older than me.
“Don’t get your hopes up, kid. My boy was born into the club life. He might have prospected like every other member, but he put time in long before that officially started, too. He knows the ins and outs better than some of the old timers, and it helps that the bastard is smart as a whip. You need to learn to use everyone’s road names if you plan to prospect here. We won’t tolerate you using government names in the clubhouse for members unless they explicitly tell you to for some reason.”
“Understood.”
Crutch hopped on the phone and said, “Send Bigfoot to my office, immediately, and tell him to step on it.” As we waited on his son, Crutch tapped his fingers against the desk in a pattern that seemed to make sense to him, but I didn’t think anyone else would get it.
“You have anything against drugs?” Crutch asked as we continued to wait.
“Smoked pot a couple times but other than that I don’t do them, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t have a problem with people who use them responsibly either.”
Crutch chuckled. “We don’t always get a say in how others handle the shit they put in their bodies.”
“That’s true, but we also don’t have to continue to associate with them if they become a problem that can’t be solved,” I countered.
“Well said.” He turned to stare at the door again and then sighed before he picked up the phone again. “Get that mother fucking son of mine to my office now! I don’t care if you have to drag him here fresh from whatever pussy fell into. That’s the only reason I can think of that he might be taking his sweet fucking time when we have people waiting on him.”
Grandpa chuckled. “Good to know some things never change. Youthful pursuit of pussy is the downfall of men.”
“Nah, it’s the downfall of boys who pretend to be men,” Crutch argued politely. Once they find the woman who belongs at their side, they find the manhood and purpose they were missing all along.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Grandpa agreed as they both turned to look at me.
“You’re married. Is she the one for you?” Crutch asked.
I couldn’t answer that. Fuck no, Simone was not the one. She was a far cry from the girl who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Unfortunately, she was the one I married, and I believed in honoring my vows.
“I take it from your lack of response that she was not. Our prospect, Jasper, filled us in on the situation a little bit. He says you were baby trapped.”
“I wasn’t trapped. Didn’t have to marry her or accept responsibility for the baby, but I’m not the kind of man who leaves his shit to be handled by others. I married her. She wasn’t the love of my life,” I said as my eyes met my grandpa’s. I still remembered our conversation the night I originally hurt Cassidy. He was right then and it still held true. “That said, I made vows to the woman and she will remain my wife and I will do right by her until she wants to leave or gives me a reason that I can’t stick it out with her.”
