Chapter 28
-:- CHAOS -:-
Axel has called church for this evening. It's a special meeting rather than the weekly Sunday one. With everything that has been happening, I’m not really surprised, but I’m hoping it isn’t going to take hours.
Sitting next to Meat on one side and Target on the other, I relax back in my seat and wait. When Axel, Buzz, and Drag enter church they quickly take their seats, and Axel starts the meeting.
“Forest isn’t present this evening as he has something at the Sheriff’s Office he cannot miss. But, and yes I pause, he had news from his FBI friends. The ring of launderers has been rounded up and we are talking about two hundred.” Axel pauses when brothers gasp and throw comments about how many were involved in this shit. “Quiet!” Axel then continues, “Forest’s contacts kept our name out of it, so we’ll have no investigation of the club. The good news is we have closure for Bethy and Art. Art was pulled into the mess by Tizwald, and from what Forest has found, Art did everything to not be entangled with it all.”
“Can we call this shit closed now, Pres?” Beer asks.
“Yeah, I think so. We will get the Memorial Garden finished and lay Bethy and Art to rest. Then we can regard it as finished andallow Victoria to heal.” Axel, as always takes it to conclusion. “Do you have anything to add, Hammer?”
“I have shown Victoria the headstone I ordered, and she okayed it, so it is underway. The area chosen is being fenced, and Tilly said she’ll plant a border around the fence so it looks welcoming if anyone visits. She wants to know if we’ll have a bench in the garden.” Hammer looks around the room and waits for comments.
I quickly speak, “I think that’s a great idea. The garden is at the top of the compound, near enough anyway. It’s a fairly long walk, and if you are spending time up there, then it’s a nice thing to have available. Sitting for a while may give a moment of peace to anyone visiting. I’m sure Victoria would use a bench when she visits Bethy.”
“I agree. We all know Victoria will visit Bethy and Art. Even if the bench is only used by her, then I’d be happy to personally buy a bench,” BS says, and I give him a look that tells him no way will he be paying for the bench my wife will sit on. “No need for that look, Chaos, it’s only a suggestion.” BS chuckles showing he was pulling my wires just for the fun of it.
“Okay, Chaos, buy a fuckin’ bench and take it to the garden once it’s done. Hammer, just do what’s needed and let me know when it’s finished. For the flowers that Tilly plants, get an invoice and give it to TwoCents. The club will cover the cost for those as an inclusion of the cost to create the Memorial Garden.” Axel has obviously finished with this topic on the meeting agenda.
“The wedding is planned and ready. All we need is Chaos to get the rings, and Victoria to get her dress. The rest we have undercontrol,” Specs states. He knows, as we all do its time to move on.
“Get the rings Chaos before you end up in front of me to say your vows and not have one to put on her finger. If you do that, I’ll beat the fuckin’ shit out of you. Got me?”
“Yeah, got you, Pres.” Everyone chuckles at the situation, and I have to get my shit together and get the rings. “Are you coming with me, BS?” I ask. Knowing he’s the most sensible of us.
Smirking when he takes the tiny pencil from behind his ear and writes on the mini notepad from his pocket. “Yeah, noted,” he replies, and doesn’t crack a smile, although everyone is smirking at him.
“I gave Victoria her kutte. She knows to wear it whenever outside of the house. I told her what it means to wear it,” I’m speaking to Axel and not the brotherhood at this point. He gives me a nod of understanding, and we move on.
“Anything else?” Axel asks the room.
Lucas grabs everyone’s attention. “We found who was messing with the yard. It was someone we knew a long time ago, but he’ll not mess with us anymore. He’s spending a few weeks in hospital from what I understand.”
Axel not missing a trick, looks over all four brothers who work the wood supply yard, and we all see the cuts on their hands. Axel, being Axel, smirks, “Okay, we’ll not speak of this again. Dismissed and be ready for the wedding everyone.”
****
This morning I’m standing in the jewelry shop and looking at rings. Now let me tell you I’ve no idea what I’m looking at. White gold, yellow gold, this, that, and the other… I look over at BS and can see him doing his best to hold back laughter.
“You’re supposed to be helping, asshole. Not gloating.”
BS stops smiling and looks at me. “We are military men and bikers to the core, Chaos. What in this row of rings catches your eye?”
My eyes run over the rings, but at the bottom of the display is a pair of black, silver, and gold hammered wedding rings. I only know that because of the note sitting in front of them.
Opening the case and taking out the rings, the man, who, according to his name tag, is ‘Simon,’ describes the rings. “They are rustic wedding rings, unusual but stunningly beautiful. The rings are, as you can see from the colors, black, silver, and yellow gold. Hammered outer edge, but the texture is brushed inside, so smooth against the finger. The rings will, as they wear, return to silver. We can oxidize to get back to the dark color it is now. The smaller ring is 6, and the larger is 11. We don’t keep many in stock. In fact, this is only one of two sets we have, and we won’t get more. If you are interested, let me know your sizes and I’ll check if we have them.”
BS nudges me and points to the same hammered ring, with the same rugged look, but not black. These are silver and gold, and although I love the black, I think Victoria will go for the prettier version. I don’t give a shit what I wear, but the black would feel more comfortable for me.
BS can see the dilemma, and he understands. Then he surprises me. “Chaos, do you think Victoria is a girly - girl? Or do you think she has fire, sass, and has fit into the club with ease? If you can honestly say that she’s fit in with everyone then you don’t need to worry about her wearing a black wedding ring. She’s a biker's wife, or gonna be.”
I hand Simon the note with Victoria’s ring size and tell him mine. He goes into the back of the shop, taking the rings with him. I grin as he’d locked the glass display cabinet before leaving because if we wanted to steal something we’d just break the damn thing.
Twenty minutes later we straddle our hogs and with the rings safely tucked away we start them up. “Wanna come with me to look at trikes?” I ask.
“Why not?” BS pulls out and I follow. He knows where we can buy trikes as well as I do, so I’m happy to let him lead the way.
