Six
A few days later…
The older manwas sitting under the porch when Brick pulled up to Walrus’s small cabin. It was early enough in the evening that the sun was still bathing the area in heat and light. The man lived as minimally as anyone he knew. Walrus had come to Isaac’s funeral but hadn’t come back to the club and hadn’t picked up his cut from the floor where he threw it.
“Hey, Walrus. Got a minute?”
“I got more ’n one.” The old biker had his knife out and was carving a piece of wood. The thin shavings fell to the ground, adding to the pile already built up. “I ain’t goin’ on no more of them runs. Respect to your daddy, but Jesse can kiss my ass if he thinks I’m watchin’ my club go down the fuckin’ toilet.”
“I ain’t here to talk about Jesse or Blackjack or any of them. I’m here ’cause I need some advice and might need backup.”
Walrus stopped his carving. “I’m listenin’.”
Brick stood straight and took a big breath. He had thought long and hard about what he was going to say to the man but hesitated. His ideas were radically different from the direction the club was going in and could get him ousted or even killed. If there was one man he could trust, it was Walrus.
“I’m tired of takin’ chances on the Tail and other runs. I’m tired of seeing my club people dying for no good reason. I’m tired of livin’ like a fuckin’ criminal just waitin’ to get caught. This ain’t freedom. This is bidin’ time until we meet our Maker in a bloody mess left on the road for someone else’s profit. Freedom is ridin’ and knowin’ at the end of the day, I got something to live for. Freedom is havin’ kids someday and being able to keep them safe. Freedom is havin’ a good woman by your side when you go to sleep at night. Freedom is wakin’ up in the mornin’ breathin’ easy and not wonderin’ if today is your last day on this earth. I want that freedom, Walrus, and there’s only one way I see we can ever get it. We gotta get out of the drug business and go legit.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Brick thought he would feel a weight lift from his heart. He didn’t. A picture of Atlas, the god who carried the world on his back, flashed over his eyes as the heaviness of his decision and what it meant lay across his broad shoulders.
Walrus eyed the younger man. “You serious?”
Brick swallowed. It wasn’t too late. He knew Walrus would forget this conversation ever happened if Brick turned around, got on his bike, and left. Once he started down this path, he would have to see it through to whatever end would come.
“Yeah.”
Walrus’s mustache twitched once. “What's your plan?”
“We need club businesses that make good steady money. Already own a garage that turns a nice profit. Moses is getting old. He’s made noises ’bout sellin’ the diner. I’m thinking it would make a right good bar. Jesse’s got a big piece of land set aside close to the Tail. Be a good place to build a campground for all the tourists who come around. Wouldn’t be hard to get built up. If everyone contributes time an' a little money, I bet we’d get it done in a year or two. We can be done with this drug shit and live free. Really live free.”
Walrus picked up his knife and resumed carving. Brick watched another long peel of wood fall to the floor. “Gonna be tough. The club will split, and it won’t be pretty. Jesse’ll probably listen some, but Blackjack and his boys won’t. Bear’ll probably be on the fence, but he’s got more to lose now that he’s a grandpa. Scottie will go with you, but Mothman will go against. Bugs and his sons will be against. Also be hard to break away from the cartel people. They ain’t gonna be happy with us quittin’ their sweet deal. I ain’t gotta tell you there’s gonna be blood spilt. You ready for that, son?”
“I’d be lyin’ if I said I was, but I don’t see this club survivin’ without a change. If this is what it takes, so be it.”
Walrus grunted and peeled another long strip. “This have anything to do with that pretty waitress at the diner?”
“I’d be lyin’ again if I said it didn’t. I’ve been watchin’ and waitin’ for her a long time. She belongs to me, but I can’t call myself her man until I make it truly safe for her to be my woman. I ’spect you would understand that feeling more than most.”
Walrus cut the wood curl from the piece and let it drop. “You’d be right. Whatever goes down, I got your back. You decide when to make your play and I’m there.”
The jangling ring of the old telephone reached Brick’s ears from inside the cabin. Walrus grumbled as he hefted himself up to go take the call. He barked a rough, irritated “Yeah” into the oblong handpiece. “Are you shittin’ me? When? Now? Fuck.”
Walrus slammed the phone handset down. “We gotta go. Jesse done called a meeting, and it sounds bad. Somethin’s going down, and it ain’t pretty.”
Brick nodded. He had been expecting something to break soon. The tension was too high in the club to do anything else.