Page 37 of Keg's Revelation

“I’m meeting with Tram, Crank, and Pinch. After you left the funeral yesterday,” we both smirked at his use of funeral for Freak’s snake, “I sent Crank and Pinch on a little recon to see if they spotted any Widows out and about. Tram was going home to do his thing on the computer and see what he could find out on their leader, T-bone, so he’ll be there to update. And I do want to check on Freak. Also, we’re going to do inventory for the clubhouse. That way Latch and Mac can pick up supplies next week. Friday night’s party is for Taylor being patched in. Which reminds me that soon at one of the meetings, I’m going to want all your opinions on if you think Latch is ready to patch in. Oh, and I got the names of two guys looking for a home from General Patel. They’ll both be retiring soon, and they ride. I’ll get more info on them from the General and have it at the next meeting, too. Today’s stuff is nothing pressing, so I’ll catch you, Moose, and Hawk up later. No sense for you three changing personal plans when you don’t need to.”

“Club is family. I can see with Moose and Hawk because they have ol’ ladies. I don’t.”

“Bullshit, son. You’ve eaten and slept the club since you pulled on that vest as a prospect. And I let you because I was doing the same thing. After your mom died, it was easier to work on Haven’s issues back then than it was to deal with the pain of losing her. If she were still here, I wouldn’t be going into the club to handle shit that can wait until tomorrow or at the next meeting. If we were making plans to hit the Widows or backing up the Chief, you all would be in attendance no matter what time of day or what day it is.”

“Club is twenty-four/seven. It’s not a nine to five, Monday through Friday, Dad.”

“You’re right. But it doesn’t have to consume your every thought. It’s balancing, Reed. You’re going to have to learn to balance between the club family and regular family now. There is club. There is family. And there is the ability to combine the two, so they can coexist. Pick one over the other, and you will fail both. Get me.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“Good. The key to the shed is in the drawer, same as always. Lock up when you leave.”

“I will. Ride safe.”

“Always.” Dad started to walk off and stopped and turned. “I watched you watching her with the same look you had for her before she moved. I also see the hesitation on your part.”

“I want her, just not sure it’s enough. And I sure don’t want to start something with the potential to go bad and the repercussions from thinking with my dick, harm what I’m trying to build with Ry.”

“I can understand that. But what if it works? Look at what you could have. Besides, I’ve never known you not to go after what you want.” Dad didn’t even wait for a reply, he turned and walked out. I grabbed the key out of the kitchen junk drawer and then did the same and walked out.

Outside, Raven, Ry, and Reagan were sitting in the chairs around the unlit fire pit in the middle of the yard.

“I always wanted one of these. I bet it is nice sitting out here when it’s cold and roasting marshmallows and making s’mores.”

“I’m not sure about those, but hot dogs come out real good.” I walked past them heading toward the shed, then yelled over my shoulder, “Come, helpers, let’s see what awaits us!”

“That is a lot of stuffto take to the dump.”

I had to agree with Ry. “I’ll get a couple of the prospects to haul the stuff away.”

“These cards are neat. Some look old. You must have collected them a long time.”

“For a few years. I’ve always liked baseball. When next season starts, would you like to go see a game? We could go watch the Mariners play.”

“That’d be cool. I’ve never been to any professional sports games before.”

“Then, we’ll definitely go.”

We opened box after box of my stuff, and though I had no plans to admit to my dad he was right, I agreed with him, too—it was mostly crap. He should have made Sami and me go through the junk years ago. We made two stacks, a dump stack, and a keep stack. The keep side consisted of two boxes with baseball cards, which Ry was flipping through, a few action figures, and various pictures taken of friends and family. The dump pile needed no explanation.

“Uh...have you ever thrown anything out?” Raven said and laughed.

“Hey, at one time or another, everything in here had importance and meant something to me,” I said with the straightest face I could muster.

“Even this bag of rocks.” The expression on Reagan’s face as she looked down at the plastic bag filled with rocks she was holding in her hands, left me unable to keep a straight face.

“Well, I think I was younger than you when I collected those. Maybe six. I lived in Germany at the time. My dad was in the military then, and he was stationed overseas. I collected the rocks to bring back to the States with me.”

“Ookaay.” Reagan’s drawn out response fitted her facial expression perfectly.

What I hoped to find amongst the boxes hadn’t been located. There was only one box left on the side of the shed where my things were. I removed the tape and folded back the flaps and was disappointed it didn’t have what I was looking for. It did contain a few items I’d forgotten about.

“Ooh, a teddy bear. It’s so cute in its outfit,” Reagan exclaimed.

The bear was dressed in a military uniform, and I smiled thinking of why I had gotten it.

“Wild Bill gave it to me before he deployed. His unit was going to be gone for six months. He told me all I had to do was talk to it while he was away, and he would hear me.”

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