Page 75 of Tank
It was almost hard not to snicker at that. Axe knew damn well what he was doing when he told Mom that, but she had no idea about Dya and her profession and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.
With a heavy exhale, I told her the story she wanted to hear but dreaded to tell. I moved to the couch and flopped down. My sisters did the same, perching on the edge of the cushions, elbows on their knees, and chins resting on their hands like they were about to hear some romantic tale like in those damn books they kept leaving at my place. Yes, the very ones I would pick up and read after they would leave. I hated breaking their little bubble as I opened my mouth and gave them the cleanest version of the events.
“Her name is Nadya, but I call her Dya. Well, really, I call her Angel. She helped me through my darkest time in the weirdest fuckin’ way anyone could imagine. I don’t even know how to begin to tell you. She’s…different. But I think she was what I needed at the time. And now I’m here, so that’s it.”
I knew that wasn’t going to be enough for them and I had to hold back a laugh at the way all their faces fell. What else could I do? I hated that she’d left me, but I also knew I had to move on. Didn’t think it would be easy by any kind of means, but I had a son to bring back home and a life to continue. I had to be the best for him and if that meant letting her go, then it was what I was going to do. But I couldn’t voice any of that to them.
“That can’t be the end. Where is she?” Veda asked, bouncing wildly and throwing her hands out as if calling me an idiot.
“She left me in the middle of the night, what was I supposed to do?”
“Chase after her,” she said like it was that simple.
“Life doesn’t work that way,” I chuckled, knowing I was breaking her little romantic world she had built in her head. “So, how about some dinner?” I asked changing the subject knowing that if Mom thought I was hungry, she’d make a full meal to feed me, and that would take the heat off of this conversation.
But it didn’t stop her from throwing me a sad look and shaking her head as she left the room.
Cal called church the next day. There was a lot to discuss and I knew it would take a good chunk of the day, but I wasn’t complaining, it meant one step closer to the goal.
“Alright. Tank is back. Thank fuck. Now that that’s been said, let’s get to it,” Cal said starting the meeting once the room was full. I was surprised to see Brand standing in the corner but I wasn’t about to say anything. He was still new to his patch but I knew the kid was going places in the club if he wanted to. “First, let’s fill you in,” he said looking at me. I nodded and waited for him to go on.
“Brand took over lookin’ after the prospects in your absence.” Ah, there it was. I nodded, it was a good choice. “Lake got patched in ‘bout a month ago. Dane will probably be next, but we’re gonna wait a bit for that. Got two new ones while you were gone. Vetted them and they’re good. Haven’t seen much out of them, but things have also been quiet while you were gone. They seem to do good ‘bout takin’ orders and don’t bitch too much, so there’s that. We need numbers, but I’m not takin’ in just anyone.
“Right now, we got the backin’ of the Brothers of Destruction MC and the Nightmare boys you talked to in Tennessee. We just need to pin down a location. Called Hunt, but he said he couldn’t get involved in this, so there goes that. Didn’t say why, and I didn’t ask. Been seein’ more of Vice lately, Savage seems to be lettin’ him handle the pick ups. I don’t know if it’s because he’s scared or got other shit goin’ on that we might need to be worried about. The Russians don’t want to lay hand on this war and in a way, I’m glad. Don’t want to be indebted to them, that’s for fuckin’ sure. But they let us know that when the time came, they wouldn’t get in the way.”
He let that linger for a moment and I was glad, my brain was trying to play catchup with all the information that had been thrown at me all at once. I loved that Cal didn’t sugar coat shit. He said point blank what needed to be said, but when he was giving me so much at once, it was hard to follow along.
“Axe has had his hands full since he got back from seein’ you. Ethel called and there is someone rentin’ her place. Girl seems skittish and we are tryin’ to figure out what the hell is goin’ on with her. She isn’t one to open up, but then again we are a bit scary lookin’ when you don’t know us. So, Axe has set up there, practically livin’ on her couch. She’s got a little boy, too, so makes it a little harder to push her.”
I nodded, understanding. We were about protecting women and children. Especially, Axe. Which I understood, knowing his story and the shit he’d been through. I could only imagine how hard it was to walk that line if he felt she was hiding something.
My eyes shifted over to him, only to find him looking down at the table lost in thought. That wasn’t like him. He was usually alert and hanging on to every word that was said in this room. Something was up and I wondered if he would talk to me about it. That would have to wait for a later time. I swung my gaze back to Cal, ready for him to go on.
The next couple of hours we spent going over what runs I’d missed and how Cal had been stocking up on guns. He was readying the club for war and I could tell we were all itching to go right then. Savage needed to be taken down and it was so close I could almost taste it.
Luckily, Cal had already filled everyone in on Dya and so there was no reason to rehash that. It made breathing a little easier knowing that wasn’t going to be a topic.
“Sent Seven and Brand out the the cabin, once we finally got the damn story of what went down with you. By the time they got there, they place was cleaned up spotless.” Cal shook his head as if he couldn’t believe the shit that was going on. “I would have called bullshit on your story, but one of the front widows was broken out.” He huffed out a laugh letting me know that he was joking, even if he was thoroughly confused.
“Clean called me just before I walked in here,” Diesel said, pulling all eyes on him. He scratched the scruff on the side of his face, a sign that he wasn’t sure about all the shit happening either. “He said it was him. He took care of it. He didn’t say why or how he knew. Or how he even managed to get there before we knew about the situation. Anyway, he said it was on him. So we don’t have to worry about it.”
A weirdness settles across the room. Mr. Clean was a pretty alright guy in our book, but he was still a business man. So, him doing something for cheap, let alone free, was unheard of.
I swung my gaze over to Cal. All the weathered lines on his face pinched hard as he tried to believe what Diesel had said. With a shake of his head, he shrugged it off. For now. I knew that man wasn’t going to let that shit go, but now wasn’t the time to dig into it. He would do it on his own time and come back to the table if needed.
The meeting broke, with new information on the table, but nothing that really had us any closer to the goal. It was just a matter of time and I was fucking ready.
“Hey,” I said as I caught up with Axe at the bar. “What’s going on?”
He shook his head as he pulled out a cigarette and tapped the filter on the outside of the pack. Then he tilted his head, indicating that I should follow him outside. So I did.
“I don’t know man,” he said, lighting his smoke and taking a deep inhale. “This chick is hiding something, but I can’t tell what.”
“Hmm,” I said, noticing the strange strain in his voice. There was a nervousness there and a pitch that was unlike him.
“She’s got this kid, man,” he went on, not really focusing on me. It was like he needed to talk about it and so I let him. “He’s like fuckin’ little. He’s barely walking and…Oh shit. I’m sorry.” He looked up at me with sympathetic eyes.
“Grass is alive,” I whispered. I had no idea why. Maybe I needed to tell someone and I knew he’d keep my secret. His eyes went comically wide and I let a tired smile spread on my lips. “Yeah…”
