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Then I saw the patch that read “VOODOO” on ol’ icy eyes’s cut. As I scanned the small group, I read the names on their cuts. I was no stranger to MCs. In my travels, I’d done odd jobs for them but stayed aloof and didn’t get attached.
“I’ll tell you what—you come with us and see what you think of the place. Maybe you’ll stay a while, maybe you won’t. Regardless, it’s your choice. But know that the only reason I didn’t slit your throat for what you did was because Voodoo stopped me. Be thankful he sensed you’re one of us,” Venom explained as he squinted at me.
I scoffed at the thought of him cutting my throat. Wouldn’t have been the first time. And he was right to be a mad motherfucker. I’d pissed on his front tire in full view of the window they’d been sitting by. Was I stupid? No. Not by a long shot. Did I have a death wish? You’re goddamn right I did.
Sitting at the bar, nursing a beer, I’d heard them pull up and watched them walk in, grinning and joking with each other. Their easy camaraderie had set my teeth on edge and unfounded rage had sizzled under my skin. Wanting a reminder of my shit existence, I’d gone looking for trouble.
Now they were inviting me to ride with them? What the actual fuck?
Patiently waiting, Venom stared at me with a hard and emotionless expression. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he didn’t care if I went with them or not. Yet for some reason, I knew he was intrigued by me and was hoping to get me to spill my guts.
Yeah, not happening.
However, I had no destination in mind at the moment, and without a single idea if I’d ever find Soleil, I decided to satisfy my own curiosity about them. Without a word, I strolled to my bike, climbed on, settled in the seat, and lit a cigarette. They still watched me for a bit before Venom shook his head and got on his bike—the same one with the tire a prospect had washed off with a bucket of water.
Maybe it was a ruse to get me to go willingly to their clubhouse so they could kill me—well, at least try. Except they were fucking idiots if they thought I cared. There was zero fear in me anymore.
What I hadn’t anticipated was the peaceful feeling that settled over me the second we hit Ankeny, Iowa. Weirdest thing ever was the magnetic pull that held me to the earth outside of the huge metal building that turned out to be our final destination.
“Still can’t believe Prez didn’t fucking kill you,” a guy with a patch that read “BLADE” sneered as he stopped next to my bike. He had dirty-blond hair and about as many tattoos as Chains.
Another man startled the shit out of me when he spoke from my other side because I hadn’t heard or seen him approach. “Who the fuck is this?” he demanded.
“Ghost, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Dude has balls the size of Texas though,” Blade said to the new arrival.
“Well, come in and have a drink with me. You can tell me all about it while I kick your ass at pool,” Ghost ribbed, pretty much ignoring me from that point on.
With one last glare, Blade followed Ghost inside.
“Well, did you ride all the way here to sit your ass on your bike?” Venom asked as he crossed his arms and stared down his nose at me. Raptor stood back at his bike, acting like he was organizing shit in his saddlebag, but I knew he was listening and observing.
In that minute, I decided to stay. Leisurely, I got off my ride.
“What’s your name, son?” Venom asked.
I stared him in the eye and replied, “Roscoe.”
“Well, Roscoe, let’s go inside and have a beer. It’s a hot motherfucker out here today. Oh… and if you ever do something stupid like that stunt you pulled at the bar, no one will ever hear from you again. Got it?”
“I got it.”
He nodded and I followed him inside with Raptor trailing behind us.
A little over a month after I arrived, I began my prospect time with the Ankeny chapter of the Royal Bastards. Don’t think they didn’t make me pay for the shit I’d pulled at that bar—because they sure as fuck did. The thing was, I really didn’t care.
Because for the first time in hundreds of years, I experienced an anomaly of epic proportions—I seemed to have developed roots.
