Page 21 of Brick

Twelve

The next morning…

Dawn crept over the horizon,frosting the green mountains in sparkling gold. Brick was too tired to appreciate the beauty as he slowed his bike in front of the empty clubhouse. After taking Betsey to his house to sleep and recover, he delivered the money to Raul and watched as the finicky man counted every dollar.

Brick was determined to finish and cut ties. “We’re done here. The Dragon Runners don’t work for you no more.”

Raul had blinked at Brick’s announcement. “Not so fast, amigo. Maybe your club people have a different opinion.”

“Ain’t no more club right now. We ain’t got the men for it. After last night, we got nothin’ but a few patches left. If there’s gonna be a Dragon Runners motorcycle club, it’s gonna be a new one. A different one that won’t include runnin’ drugs.”

Raul smirked. “We’ll see how far that goes. Your men, or what’s left of them, like money, and you have none. It won’t be long before you crawl back to me and beg for us to employ you again.”

Brick looked hard at the man as he mounted his bike to leave. His words were steady and full of meaning. “Don’t hold your breath. Amigo.” He drove away, hoping Raul took his point.

Brick shut off his Harley and set it on its stand. The sheriff had blocked the clubhouse off with yellow tape. Brick stood there looking at the dilapidated building and thought about his father. His lips pressed together at the waste of life.

Walrus came around the corner, and Brick jumped at the sudden interruption.

“Shit, Walrus. Gave me a fuckin’ heart attack.”

The older man looked haggard and beat. Brick guessed he’d been up all night too. “Everything taken care of?”

“For the most part. We still got some loose ends to tie up. We gotta have our stories straight. Blackjack’s gun is what killed Jesse, and I expect some o’ them bullets made it into Bear and Bugs, but there was a lotta lead flying around. I’ll bet my left nut some of them bullets that killed our people came from the cartel guns. I can promise there’s no trace of them other men left, and we can’t use them anyway. If we named the cartel as being the ones who fired them other guns, that’s gonna put a big spotlight on the club and what we’ve been doin’ all these years. Our people will go to jail, and what’s left of the Dragon Runners will disappear. Our name will be tarnished forever. I been thinkin’ on this, and there’s only one way to make this right. Self-defense might work for you and the other Runners, but the cops are gonna want someone to blame. You’ll say I’m the only one who fired back. I wiped off them fancy guns those guards had and put my fingerprints all over them before they got took away. The story is I went crazy. You can say I was damaged comin’ back from the war an’ people will believe it. Blackjack started it, and I finished it. Just me. No one has to worry about goin’ to prison as long as they keep their mouths shut and keep to the story. You make sure Taz knows.”

Brick shook his head. “I can’t let you take the fall for the club.”

Walrus’s face crumpled and his voice broke. “I need you to stay free of this shit, son. I need you to keep your word to me that you’re gonna protect the club and protect my baby girl.”

Brick reeled from his second shock of the morning. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

“It was a long time ago, and I never thought I’d see her again. I loved my wife, God knows I did, and this was only one night and the only time I ever strayed. I guess one night is all it takes. That girl you been claimin’? She’s my daughter. She is the spittin’ image of my mama, and when I rode over to her place, I recognized the woman I cheated with. Life’s been goddamn hard on her, but I could still tell she was the one. I can’t prove it, but I’m sure enough I’m Betsey’s real daddy.”

Brick didn’t know what to do with this revelation. “Damn, Walrus. Are you gonna tell her?”

“No, I’m not, and you ain’t either.”

The younger man’s eyebrows came together in a frown. “Why not? The man who raised her is a fuckin’ drunk piece of shit, and she already found out he ain’t her father. Don’t you think she needs to know?”

“No, she don’t. The best thing I can do for my little girl is let her live her life. She’s had enough in her life to deal with and don’t need a criminal father showing up to make it worse. She needs a good man who’s gonna take care of her, and I know you’ll be that man. You’ll be the man to put this club back together and make it into the brotherhood it was meant to be. Jesse was right. It ain’t gonna be easy, but you’re strong enough to do it. Jesse might not a’ been the best daddy, but he still raised you right, and you got a lot of your mama’s goodness inside you."

The old man’s words flattered Brick, but he was still disturbed. “It don’t seem right.”

“Maybe it ain’t, but I think it’s the best for her, for you, and for the club.”

Brick pondered what he could say to change the man’s mind. “If you take the blame for the shit at the clubhouse, you’ll be in prison the rest of your life.”

“I’m not much into this life anymore. I’m tired. The war, my son’s death, my wife—there’s a lot that’s been taken away from me, and I just want to rest. I ain’t talkin’ about dyin’, so don’t have to go down that path. I ain’t ’bout to sit in a cage neither. My grandma was Cherokee and showed me a deep place up the mountain where her people lived at one time, and it belongs to me now. It’s damn near impossible to get to, and no one can find it if they don’t know where to look. No phone, no electricity, no running water. It’ll be rough livin’, but I like it like that. It suits me just fine. You pin the rest of the clubhouse shit on me. I’ll disappear up there and take it with me.”

Brick gritted his teeth. This was not what he wanted to happen, but Walrus was adamant, and from experience, Brick knew that once the old man made up his mind, it was set in granite.

“You sure this is what you want?”

“Never been surer, son. Somethin’ you can do for me and the club. My little cabin might be small, but it’s on a big piece of land up there on the bluff and extends all the way to the river’s edge. I chose it because it’s got a nice view and it’s hard to get to. When I left my cut on the floor, I went down to the courthouse the next day and deeded that land over to you. Go to my cabin, and you’ll find four big face jars my grandma made. I never did trust no banks. All the money I made doin' them runs is sittin’ in them jars. You take it and use it to build the club back up and make a good life for Betsey and yourself.”

“That’s too much for anyone to sacrifice, Walrus. I can’t take that away from you.”

“You ain’t takin’ it. I’m givin’ it. The most precious gift I have in me to give is my trust. I trust you, Brick, to be the man I need you to be. You gonna keep my trust?”

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