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In his hands he now held the club’s emblem and a new bottom rocker that read ATHENS, indicating our area or territory. It would replace his prospect patch and secure him as a fully patched member of the Brothers by Blood MC.
“Fuck,” he hissed, gripping the patches tightly in his fists like he was scared we were going to rip them from him.
“There’s one more in there,” Op said, indicating to the box.
Ham frowned, searching the soft packing material until he pulled out a much smaller patch, which had his road name imprinted on it.
“Shake?”
Op hadn’t told us that he’d already picked out the kid’s road name, but as he said it, I found myself nodding.
“Yeah, Shake,” Op confirmed. “It’s kinda an ode to your family, short for Shakespeare. But also, I felt it fit you pretty damn good. Over the time you’ve been with us, not once have you complained, not once have you protested when something’s been asked of you. And not once have you let any of the shit going on around you impact on the way you do your job. You’re strong, loyal and unshakeable.”
The brothers around the table all nodded and hummed in agreement.
It was a good choice.
A perfect choice.
Ham’s face lit up. “Man… I… I can’t even tell you how much this means to me.”
“You proved yourself to every man in this room,” Op continued. “But don’t let that go to your head. Every day we must remember to respect and support our brothers. You represent us, your actions reflect on all of us. It doesn’t end when you get your patch. You remember who we are and what we stand for.”
“Yeah, Prez,” Ham replied, his head bobbing.
Optimus stood from his chair. “Now, go sew that shit on ‘cause we wanna get these celebrations fucking moving. I need a drink.”
Ham took a deep breath before rushing from the room. I stayed sitting, just to let Op know that I needed to talk with him. He sat back down after my brothers exited and the door was closed.
“Meeting with the security team in an hour to discuss the game this week,” I explained. “We’ve got a great team, in my opinion. They listen, they’ve got their shit together, and they’re hard ass fuckers,” I explained simply. “These kids decide to start any kind of shit… they’re gonna find themselves in a whole lot of trouble.”
The school that Athens was playing for the state championship were known to be ruthless. Their coaches encouraged intimidation tactics from not just the players but from their fans. It was pathetic if you asked me. Adults teaching children that violence and strong-arming people was going to get them ahead in life.
Most of the club were going to be helping out with security at this event, not just for the security side, but because we always supported the school in sports and other events, where we could. So, if I catch any of those little punks being assholes, they better run fast. I wouldn’t hurt them of course, but my brothers could be pretty fucking scary when we needed to be and we would make sure they learned the true meaning of intimidation.
“Good. Deacon will be there.”
I caught the small flick of annoyance on Op’s face and couldn’t contain my smile.
“So any shit, and you let all the boys know to take them straight to him, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.”
“You still holding a grudge?”
Before Optimus had finally claimed Chelsea, Deacon had made a play for her. He at the time was also trying to get info on the club, suspecting that we had some dirty shit going down with the mafia. Unfortunately for Deacon, Op and Chelsea had too strong of a bond to ever have it broken.
“He caught up with Chelsea last week, giving her pictures and shit of her parents,” he answered through tight lips. “She’s at peace with what happened, but it will always be a sore point for her. She doesn’t need that right now.”
I nodded in understanding. Sometimes the past needed to stay in the past.
“We’ll need to call a meeting later in the week to let the guys know what the happenings will be after I talk to the officials today.”
“Yeah, no problem. They’ve already been warned,” he agreed before pushing back his chair and standing again. “Now, let’s hope the kid sews fast ‘cause I wasn’t lying when I said I needed a drink.”
