“I seeyou’re classing up the place, Abyss,” BamBam shouts.
“Shelly’s from up north a ways,” I reply walking toward where my club brother is standing. “Her uncle taught her how to tattoo and once folks know I’ve got another artist, she’ll be in a chair. In the meantime, she’s covering the front for me.”
“Hi, Shelly, I’m Livy,” BamBam’s ol’ lady says, holding out her hand to Shelly.
“Nice to meet you,” Shelly replies, grasping her hand and shaking it.
BamBam glances at her wrist tattoo and looks at me, his brow raised. I slowly shake my head, grateful that he doesn’t push the issue. “Need to bring her out to the clubhouse for the barbecue this weekend, brother,” he suggests.
“I don’t want to impose,” Shelly protests.
“No, you really should come!” Livy exclaims. “It’s out at the Triple R ranch and they’ve got horses and everything. Plus, you’ll get to meet my little boy, Theo.”
Sorrow briefly covers Shelly’s face before it becomes a blank mask as she nods. “I’d like that,” she quietly says.
“We’ll leave you to it, Abyss. Pleasure to meet you, Shelly,” BamBam states. He looks down at Livy and asks, “Do you think we should bring food back for Marge?”
“She’s already texted and asked if we would,” Livy replies, giggling.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” BamBam replies.
Shelly is fitting in well at the shop, especially now that her uncle is also here. What can I say? My other artists weren’t giving me the caliber of work I demand and having two artists who are well-known means that traffic is steadily picking up. While she’s somewhat quiet and reserved, I suspect that has more to do with the tattoo she has than anything. I’m curious by nature so I want to know everything I can about her, but I’m exercising patience. She’ll share with me when she’s ready. Or not, who knows?
“Do y’all need us to bring anything to the barbecue?” Mack asks as we clean up from today’s work. It’s the overall end-of-the-day clean, since each of us sanitizes and disinfects our stations before and after every client.
“Honestly? Yourselves,” I reply. “The wives of the ranch hands have the sides down to a science. Unless you drink a specialty beer, we’ll have plenty of that, water, and sodas on hand. Issy hasthe prospects bring the new troughs up from the barn and then they’re tasked with filling them with ice and beverages.”
Mack chuckles while nodding. “Seems like a good idea to keep them occupied.”
Oh, they stay occupied, not that I’ll discuss club business with either him or Shelly. “You’ll meet quite a few more friends of the club,” I say. “The ladies from Hope House will be there, as well as our employees from the laundromat, Marge and Buddy.”
“Might just have Shelly whip up her banana pudding,” Mack muses. “Are there going to be any kids there? They go nuts for that shit.”
“Not sure if any of the women from Hope House have kids this go around, but Livy and BamBam have Theo, and Buddy loves sweets. But like I said, Pancho and Luis’s wives will probably have a table full of desserts as well.”
“Never hurts to have more,” Shelly quips. “I don’t mind making it, plus I’ll be sure to leave some at home for you, Uncle Mack,” she teases, “that way, Theo and Buddy will be sure to get some.”
Shaking my head, I look around to see that the shop is gleaming. “Alright, you two, let’s get on out of here. We’ll see y’all tomorrow around one or thereabouts. We don’t stand on ceremony, so dress comfortably and be prepared to eat some of the best brisket and barbecue around.”
Back at the clubhouse, I see Pokey and give him a nod, which has both of us detouring to his office. “Hey, did you get the background checks in on Shelly and Mack?” I ask.
“Yeah, brother, I did. Anything I should be aware of?” he questions.
“Nope, just need them for their files.” When he hands me the two folders, I slap them against my thigh and say, “Appreciate the help.”
“We’ve got church in thirty,” he replies.
“Gives me time to grab a beer and something to eat.”
I’m finishing up the sandwich I made, having missed lunch when Rio walks through the common room and yells, “Church!” Tossing my trash, I follow my brothers into the room we use and take my seat next to him while everyone else gets seated. Once we’re all relatively calm, he bangs the gavel announcing church is in session and we start.
“How are your new employees working out?” Rio asks once Nerd covers the financial reports from our businesses. Most of what we do is on the up-and-up, but several of our endeavors allow us to launder money, including the rodeos we hold twice a year at the ranch.
We also provide transport services to several other chapters using the reconfigured horse trailers which allows us to haul everything from guns to drugs. It may not be what we choose for making our money, but that’s the beauty of being a chapter of the Kings of Anarchy; we make our own decisions where our businesses are concerned. While we have three main ones, there are a couple more we’ve been thinking about opening to increase our cash flow even more. However, because there’s always a riskassociated with doing that, we’re cautious. We’ve got a good life with the Triple R, the tattoo parlor, and the laundromat, and we don’t want to cause the authorities or any of the alphabet agencies to look closely in our direction.
Grinning, I reply, “Hiring them was like adding the Dream Team to the shop. Since many of their former clients already traveled from all over to get their ink done by either Mack or Shelly, they have no problem at all coming here. In fact, I know we’re toying with adding an auto and bike repair shop, but have we ever considered building one of those small motels? You know, like the ones that we’ve seen whenever we’ve visited other chapters?”
“Like a strip hotel? Cheap rooms that are clean and near shit?” Rio asks.
