Page 6 of Alex

Shock and anger lace my words, “Who the fuck do you think you are, Ryder? I’ve been VP for years. Anytime something has gone down, I’ve been right next to Prime trying to make sure we stay whole. How the fuck can you say that I’m not ready for this?”

“You’ve been by his side. Yeah, you’ve always been right next to him. You’ve never been on your fucking own. This shit isn’t you picking up the patch and just stepping into his shoes. This is you having to see every fucking possibility, this is you making decisions for all of us and following through even if it’s something you don’t want to do. You no longer have yourself to look out for, now your decisions should be about the club, for the club and to help the club. You not ready to do that., I’m sorry brother.”

“Ryder, I hear what you’re saying but I have faith in Alex. And he’s not alone. That’s what the fucking club is for. You all are going to have his back and when he looks like he’s about to crumble, which will happen, all of you will steel your fucking spines and keep him standing tall.” Prime leans forward and shoots daggers out of his eyes in Ryder’s direction, “Also, you don’t have a fucking say in the matter, Ryder. Alex is the fucking president, and his word is law.” Prime sneers at his friend.

There’s not one more peep out of anyone, not even me. I never expected something like this, not anytime soon, at least.

I clear my throat and look at the man I’ve considered to be something like a father figure, “Everyone out, let me talk to Prime.”

“Sure thing, Prez.” Wire is the first one to say before he claps me on the shoulder and walks out. The rest follow doing the same. I’ve gone from Alex to Prez in five second’s flat. What the fuck is happening here.

Once it’s just me and Prime in the room he starts to get up from his chair at the head of the table.

“No, it’s okay.” I shake my head, still not wrapping my mind around the fact that he’s going to be leaving.

“Fuck that. You listen to me boy. Respect is a key part of what drives this club. You never let anyone take your seat. The only time you let someone forget you’re the president of this club is when you can no longer be the fucking president. Take your seat, Alex.” Prime gets up and gestures to it.

I nod my head and sit in his place.

Adrenaline and testosterone flood through my body as I get comfortable. Fucking hell, this feels good.

“You have anything you need to ask me?” Prime asks standing.

“Yes, I need you to tell me everything. WOD is going to be around for a long time, and I need to know how to prepare my men. I’m never going to be you, Prime, but I love these men with all I have. They’re my family and I’ll do whatever I have to in order to make sure that we rise to the top.

Prime nods and sits down in one of the open chairs, “You’ll make it to the top Alex, but you’ll fall too. What matters is who you are when you get back up.” He scrubs his hand down his face, “I hope you have some time, Prez, because I got a lot of shit to tell you.”

Alex

2 months later

“Prez, I hear what you’re saying but where the fuck do you think the money for that shit is going to come from? All our income streams dried up when Prime left. We need to eat before we need to worry about trying to fight the fucking Rolling Cobras.” Ryder grits out.

“Fucking hell. Fine.” I lean forward in my chair to think and Max leans forward as well.

“Alex, we need to get some money in. Right now, those assholes at the Rolling Cobras don’t seem to be fucking with us. Let’s find some cash.” Max whispers to me before he leans back.

I nod and look up. “This is what’s going to happen. I have a few leads on some work we can do but I have to flesh out the details. Clean and I will go up to the city and check on another lead later today. Ryder, you figure out exactly what we need to keep us afloat. Max, make sure the rest of these bastards here aren’t just stupidly running through our funds.”

“Heard.” Max says and waits for me to call the end of church. I swing my eyes over to Ryder who has yet to say anything. As the Treasurer, he’s having a hard time with the lack of funds coming into the clubhouse.

“Ryder, you straight?” I squint my eyes. If he’s going to fight me I’d rather him do it here.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Ryder says, “I’ll do the books again and try to see where we can cut out some expenses.” He leans back in his chair and shoots me an ice-cold glance. As long as he doesn’t disrespect me, I don’t care what he does.

“Great. Get out of here, let’s get this shit done.” I raise my hand and flick Ryder away. A day after I took on the role of Prez, I asked Ryder if he wanted to be higher in the club, but he refused. All he wants is to control the money, so I’m not really understanding why he has all this animosity toward me.

Max and I watch Ryder leave without saying another word. “You know it’s just because Prime left. Ryder’s not big on change.” Max claps my shoulder before he gets up. The minute I thought about it I knew there was only one person that I would ever make my VP. Max. I’m glad I have at least someone in my corner.

Though everyone is keeping to the protocol I can tell they don’t think I’m going to be able to handle this. It didn’t help that as soon as Prime was out the door all the perks he had vanished right along with him. I stepped into power just as the shit was hitting the fan. I can’t depend on the same connections he had. I have to go out and grind to get everyone’s respect. It’s no problem. I was groomed to take this seat and now that I have it, I’m not going to let a little work scare me off.

Max and I walk out of church to see Archer, Wire, and Gin in the main sitting area. They look like they’re playing a card game or something. “Where’s Clean?” I ask and Wire simply gestures to the kitchen. I should have fucking known.

“Clean! What the fuck man. Do you have a fucking tapeworm?” I yell out as I make my way to the kitchen. When I peek around the corner, I see him with a huge tuna and jalapeño sandwich in his hand and a half-gallon of strawberry milk in the other.

“Oh, you ready Prez? Hold on. I’m coming.” He says and proceeds to shove nearly half the sandwich in his mouth. He quickly swallows three large gulps of the strawberry milk, then does the entire process again. I can do nothing but stand there and stare at him in revulsion. He’s going to be fucked up later. Human beings aren’t meant to eat like that. “You ready yet?” I snap at him once I get my stomach to settle.

“Mmmhmmph.” He grumbles and uses his shirt to wipe the junk from his face. The man is a fucking mess. The only reason we gave him the road name Clean is because he’s the sloppiest son of a bitch any of us know. Hopefully, if we keep saying Clean around him he’ll realize that he has to pick up his shit. So far it hasn’t worked.

---