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“He just said he wanted it to look good when he gets back,” Rage tells me.
Excellent. No one here will stop me from doing what it is I really want to do.
So. Step one—I need to paint over my last mural.
Before I do that, though, I snap a few more photos of it with my phone.
Pictures are all I have left of a lot of my art—even more now that Control has physically destroyed part of my portfolio.
I liked the mural well enough. It was an image of all the club bikes out in front of the clubhouse with the blue Atlanta sky over them and the city in the background.
Control told me he didn’t want any of that “fancy shit” in my new painting, but no one here seems to know that.
If that was true, he shouldn’t have left me alone to complete the work. I’m an artist, not a house painter. Control put the brush in my hand, but then he made the mistake of taking off.
Even if he hates what I’m about to create, I know most of the other Burning Heretics will love it.
FIVE
Dion
When my father said I’d need to do some undercover work for this, I never thought I’d be going this deep, but here I am. I’m standing in front of an auto mechanic shop with a fully furnished apartment upstairs. It’s available for rent, and they’re asking just under twenty-four hundred a month. It has two bedrooms, a full bathroom, a spacious kitchen and living room area and there’s even parking available to me as well. Internet is covered, and cable is too. It seems like a pretty good setup, but I haven’t even been inside yet. Everything I know about this place has just been from the ad that was posted online.
I was instructed to walk into the mechanic shop and ask for Doug, so I’m doing that right now. I pull open the glass door, and there’s an older man with a grease stain across his cheek. His embroidered name tag reads ‘Larry’. “How can I help ya, young man?”
“I’m looking for Doug. He’s supposed to be showing me the apartment upstairs.”
“Ah, yeah, yeah. You must be that kid he was talkin’ about. You take a seat. I’ll go get Doug for ya,” Larry tells me, and I do as he asks. I walk across the concrete floor and take a seat in one of the metal chairs. There’s about a half-inch of foam over the seat and the back, but I’d hate to be stuck in one of these for an extended period of time.
It’s becoming a habit for me to check my phone for messages from Rebellion throughout the day. I know what I can’t do here. I can’t fail. I can’t let my father down, or the club for that matter. I have a rightful place in the club, but I know there are members who think I’m nothing more than a spoiled bastard. I plan on using this experience to show everyone I deserve to be here. Hopefully, it’ll shut everyone up in the process.
“Howdy there, you must be Leon?” Doug asks as he walks over to me. He’s older, just like the other man. I’d say mid-fifties, and he’s got scruffy white hair he keeps under a ball cap.
“Yes, sir. Pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise. We haven’t had much of a market for people who want to live above a working shop. One look at you, and I think you just might appreciate this gem.”
“I’m sure I will,” I comment, and Doug leads me outside of the shop. We round the concrete building, and there’s a set of stairs that lead up to the second floor. “As you can see, you’d have your own private entrance.” We head up the stairs, and he unlocks the door, then we both head on inside.
The floors are a deep walnut hardwood, while some of the walls are painted blue. The indigo blue walls accent the floor and really pair well with the exposed brick running along one of the living room walls and in part of the kitchen. “When the shop was built back in the 1950s, it was brick. For the most part, we upgraded, but my son said it would be cool to have some exposed brick up here. He said the tenants would appreciate it.”
“He was right. It looks really good. I’m sure the last tenant really liked it.”
“The last tenant was my son, but he got shacked up and just finished building a house with his new wife. So, this place became available. You’re new to the area, right?”
“Yeah, I’m from out of state, and I’m looking for someplace new to put down some roots.” I don’t know how long I’m going to actually end up being here, but I will do whatever I need to for however long is required.
“Well, this is a good place to do it. We’re close enough to Atlanta for you to go out on the town too.”
“It’s a shame you aren’t renting out the space below as well,” I say as I walk through the living room to the door on the other side. I push it open, and this has to be the master bedroom. There’s exposed brick on the back wall, and an oversized window sits in the center of it. In the far-left corner, there’s a doorway inside the bedroom, so I go over to it and push it open, revealing a bathroom. The bathroom keeps the same manly feel the whole apartment has. As I’m leaving the bathroom, Doug is right there.
“Are you looking for work?”
“A little bit. I’m a mechanic and can work on anything that has a motor, and I mean anything. Small engines, diesels, boats, it doesn’t matter.”
“Well, I had one of my young guys ditch me last week. He hasn’t called or shown up, so I’m down a man. If you want to give it a go here with us, I’d be more than open to that. It would get me out of a tough spot. We’re already startin’ to fall behind on a couple of jobs.”
“Yes, sir. I’d have no problem helpin’ you guys out.”
