Biker's Little Secret: Carolina Devils MC

by Brook Wilder

“Like always.” Hammer smiled at his longtime friend. “Gotta keep the girls happy. I sure the fuck don’t want to encourage a meth habit among the whores or brothers.”

  “Good call, prez.”

  “I’m going to suggest we spend the money on Kevlar for every patched member and prospect. We also need to upgrade security a bit. We should keep about fifty grand in the safe. That leaves about ten grand each for the patched members and five apiece for the prospects. If you’re satisfied with that plan, we’ll present it tomorrow morning for a vote.”

  Rip breathed out a sigh of relief. “Sounds just fine to me. You got a head for business, Hammer. Me? I just feel like I did right by my brothers today.”

  “That you did, my friend. That you did.”

  Chapter 8

  Getting Clued In

  Alina sat watching her class work on their writing projects. As usual each student was either deep in thought or bent over their paper writing. Again, the exception being Jaden who was staring out the window. Alina hesitated to look out the window for fear of what she would find, but forced herself to do the right thing.

  Instead of fighting, she saw only a beautiful fall day. The sun hung behind amber colored clouds and leaves whipped around in wisps of yellow and red. Her eyes went back to Jaden. He had been getting progressively more withdrawn as the weeks flew by.

  She cleared her throat. “Jaden, do you need some help with the assignment?”

  His head swiveled around and his green eyes landed on her. His expression was blank.

  “I’m finished.”

  “You were asked to write a fifty word essay on the importance of resolving conflict nonviolently. I don’t feel that is much space to write on such a vast subject. It was my way of forcing you to be concise.”

  Rather than arguing he passed his paper to the person in front of him. Each student in his row continued to pass it forward until the person sitting in the first seat handed it to her. She looked down to the tiny paragraph he had written.

  Treat others as you wish to be treated.

  This is easy to do when you agree with the other person.

  It’s difficult to do when you are disagreeing.

  It takes more than a mere disagreement to make an enemy.

  Let violence be the last resort instead of your first stop.

  She glanced up at him with a slow smile. “Exactly fifty well-chosen words. Do you mind if I ask why you chose them?”

  “My father says that violence begets violence. It means the more you hit people the more they want to get back at you which leads you to hitting them some more. It’s better to talk about problems if the other person’s able to listen.”

  As she stared at him thoughtfully he continued. “Just because he hasn’t been to college doesn’t mean he’s not smart.”

  Her eyes flew open. “I don’t think anyone’s suggesting your father isn’t smart.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by the bell signaling the end of class. As the children filed out she reached out to touch Jaden on the arm. He paused while the room cleared, then turned his sad eyes to her.

  “Is there anything you need to talk about? You seem sad.”

  “I don’t talk to bitches, about my feelings. I have brothers for that.”

  She refused to have the conversation derailed because he called her a bitch, which was probably what he intended. Instead she commented matter-of-factly. “I thought you were an only child.”

  He pulled on the leather vest he wore and murmured again. “You don’t understand the way I live.”

  “I’d like to understand more about your life.”

  He sighed and when he spoke his voice was tinged with frustration. “You only see the world one way. In your world people don’t curse, fight, or have bad problems. In my world, people are living, dying, and struggling to survive.”

  Alina’s brow furrowed. “Jayden, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

  He just shook his head. “It’s because you look but don’t really see what’s going on around you. Open your eyes sometime. You’ll see it, then you’ll know why every now and then a person has to fight back. I gotta go, my brothers are waiting.”

  She walked out with him and watched as five motorcycles pulled up and Jaden got onto the back of one. This time she took his advice. She opened her eyes, taking in every detail. The men were restless and glancing around wearily. They looked tired…no exhausted. Several had dark circles under their eyes. He considered these men his brothers? She looked Jaden in the eyes for one brief second before the helmet went down obscuring her view. In that brief second he knew that she finally saw.

  Glancing around, she saw even more. Three more men were milling around, on the far side of the street. They were wearing jeans and dark t-shirts. Once Jaden left they headed for some bikes parked down the street and the engines roared to life. As she watched them pull out their vests and put them on, she realized something was very wrong with this picture. What the hell kind of situation could take eight badass bikers to pick up one kid from school? Whatever it was, her gut told her it was dangerous.

  She kept her eyes open and looked around. Their principal had his secretary in his office. The blind flickered closed and she could see their silhouettes coming together. Jesus, he was married. God, just how much was going on right under her nose that she didn’t see.

  She turned in time to see the scrawny boy who had been fighting holding a little girl’s hand as he walked her to her bus. She hesitated at the door, and he nodded to her. As he walked by, he made a punching motion with his fist at one of the boys seated near a window. The kid immediately looked away, but not before she recognized him as the one the scrawny kid had beat up.

  She walked up to him and asked politely. “How long are you going to keep bullying that heavyset kid?”

  The boy looked her in the eye before responding. “Until he stops punching little girls in the face.”

  “I remember that now. He hasn’t done anything like that since. I think he learned his lesson, so maybe you can leave him alone now.”

  “No he didn’t. He’d still be hitting people if we let him. She’s still scared so we take turns walking her to class and stuff.”

  She tilted her head slightly. “I didn’t know she was still scared of him.”

  “Anyone three times you size ever punch you in the face with his fist?”

  She shook her head.

  “Didn’t think so. Sorry, if you don’t like how we handle things, but sometimes a man has to step up.”

  “Jaden teach you that, did he?”

  “Him and his dad. Hammer’s teaching me to fight.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “He’s also teaching me when to fight. There are rules. You don’t just go popping someone for any little thing. You try talking to them first. Try to work out a solution.”

  “It’s never okay to punch someone in the face. I hope you know that.”

  “Jaden’s right about you not havin’ a clue.”

  “Well I’m certainly getting clued in about some things today.”

  “Sorry if you don’t like us.”

  “I can still like you without approving of everything you do.”

  She shook her head as he walked away.

  Great, Jaden’s father was making a gigantic impression on her students and she wasn’t sure it was a good one. Still, what could she do about it besides continue to try to be the voice of reason? That sexy ass biker was getting to be a pain in her backside. She thought briefly of trying to confront him but thought better of it. He didn’t look like the kind of guy to tangle with.

  Chapter 9

  Absenteeism

  Alina took role, much like she did every morning. Jaden had been conspicuously missing since the day of their very frank discussion. One week to the day she noted, looking down at her planner.

  She went through the motions of teaching her class as she worried about her favorite pupil. Between classes she call
ed Jaden’s father. Getting his voice mail, she decided to leave a message.

  “Hello this is Alina Stuart. I’m Jaden’s teacher. He hasn’t been to class for a week and I was wondering if it would be possible for you to meet with me after school tomorrow to discuss the situation. If’ he’s sick I can link with the other teachers and send home work for him. I don’t want him to get too far behind. Please call me back at your earliest convenience.”

  Sliding the phone back in her pocket, she returned to her teaching duties. The kids were feisty today. She redirected one for running in the hallways and another for pulling a girl’s hair. She spent her free period coaching a young boy on compound fractions. He responded by making the brazen claim that figuring out math problems was fracturing his brain. Gee whiz, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Kids would always be kids, she supposed. And those kids would always need caring teacher to guide them. It warmed her soul to know she was making a real difference in their little lives.

  She got a text from Jaden’s father later in the day.

  Hammer: I can meet with you the day after tomorrow right after school lets out.

  Alina: Is he okay? I’m worried.

  Hammer: He’s just sick. We’ll talk. Please have his homework ready.

  Alina: I’ll make sure it’s all prepared.

  Hammer: Good. The doc says he might be out a couple more weeks.

  Alina: See you tomorrow afternoon.

  Alina gathered up his work from each of his teachers and put it in a canvas bag for him. As the school day wore on the next day, she became anxious. She had a bad feeling about this situation and she didn’t know why.

  Sure Enough, Mr. Hark had been a no show for their scheduled meeting. After waiting for an entire hour, she decided to pay him a little visit. There was only one day left before Thanksgiving break and she had no intention of going three whole weeks worrying about Jaden. It was now or never. Going to her permanent records, she pulled his address. During the drive there, she planned out in her head what she was going to say. Several concerns floated to the surface. First, she worried that something bad had happened to Jaden. She also worried that he was being abused or neglected. There was also some anxiety revolving around speaking with Jaden’s father, Hammer Hark. She tried to think of ways to say what was on her mind without being offensive. She definitely didn’t want to set off his father. The man looked lethal and for some reason, he was always angry.

  Perhaps Jaden was trying to tell her he was in some kind of trouble during that last conversation. What had he said? “People in my world are living, dying, and struggling to survive.” It had left a gnawing feeling in her gut when he said it, like a harbinger of impending danger. Only now was she beginning to see that it might have been a cry for help. What if it had been and she’d been too stupid and naive to recognize it.

  She had a terrible gut feeling that something was wrong. How long had it been since she relied upon a gut instinct? Probably never. In her life it had never been necessary. Alina’s time was spent teaching, reading, shopping, and baking cookies. Shit. It sounded pretty pathetic in her own head when she thought about it.

  She’d always known her life was a little hum drum. In retrospect, she could now see it was downright benign and boring. She remembered what her friend had said about the MC and it bolstered her opinion that Jaden and father’s life was filled with excitement and sometimes even danger.

  Well, Alina was tired of playing it safe. This was her chance to do something for another person that really mattered. No matter what kind of illegal stuff his father was into, she wasn’t going to let the angry man bully her. She’d find out where Jaden was or there would be hell to pay. A determination she’d never known before settled over her as she pulled up to the chain link fence with a huge sign that read, Dirty Kingsmen Clubhouse.

  Alina was let through the front gate, with nothing more a few wolfish looks from the good looking men manning the entrance.

  Before venturing out she’d done her due diligence. A little online research taught her why women came to places like this. As the days ticked on and Jaden wasn’t at school, she’d become curious about the environment he lived in. After asking discreetly around she found no scarcity of information on the Kingsmen. They got mixed messages from the people she spoke to. Some seemed awed by them, others laughed off all the gruesome stories, insisting they were created as part of the clubs scary persona.

  Still others thought they were the sons of Satan, one old woman took the stories quite literally, pointing out that as the reason they were all so devilishly handsome. The young single women seemed smitten by the dirty crew. She verified that if a woman liked drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex then the Dirty Kingsmen Clubhouse was the place to be in this town. Apparently the fun didn’t stop all weekend.

  She headed into the clubhouse and approached the bar. The young man behind the bar could not have been more than twenty years old, but that didn’t keep his eyes from glazing over with lust as he spoke.

  “You must be new around these parts. Love the glasses. You’re rocking the sexy schoolteacher vibe a little hard, but I can tell you’re gonna be real popular around here.”

  She sighed and straightened her glasses. “I am a schoolteacher, you dimwit.”

  She almost laughed at his confused expression.

  “I’m actually Jaden’s teacher. I brought his make-up work. May I see his father?”

  The man looked exceptionally uncomfortable. “Umm…mam…we don’t disturb him when he’s…umm…upstairs.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him a stern look. “I’m sure he can take a break from the drugs and women long enough to talk to me.”

  A smooth female voice interrupted. “Mal baby, I got this.”

  Alina turned to see a woman standing before her wearing a tong and baby doll t-shirt that showed her midriff. Alina felt her face heat and immediately averted her gaze.

  “My name’s Shelby and there’s no need to be embarrassed. Anywhere you look in the joint your gaze is likely to land on a whore, so you might as well just look at me.”

  This was a situation she hadn’t expected to find herself in. Having it out with the king biker, yes. Getting embarrassed talking to a half-naked whore, no. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”

  “You weren’t. Most folks need a minute to get used to…the ambiance of a clubhouse environment.”

  “I’m not here to get used to anything. I just need to see Jaden’s father. The quicker my business is concluded, the quicker I can…you will be free of me.”

  The woman shot a tentative look at the bartender. “He ain’t coming down until he’s damn good and ready and we sure as shit ain’t going up there to get him.”

  “I’ll just go up myself.” The woman stepped in front of her.

  “That ain’t gonna happen.”

  Looking slightly guarded the woman continued. “The third floor is their family quarters. No one is allowed up there and we all know better than interrupt Hammer when he’s…spending time…with Jaden. They spend a lot of time sparring, talking, and riding. It’d be pretty rude to interrupt that, especially since you don’t have a meeting scheduled or anything.”

  Alina relented. “I suppose you’re right. Thanks for explaining all that to me. I guess, I should have called first or texted him.”

  “You could text him now. If he wants, he’ll come down. We don’t usually do that, but…” The woman looked her up and down for a brief moment before continuing. … he might not want someone like you hanging around his club without permission.”

  Alina’s eyes flashed her irritation but she forced her voice to remain casual. “What do you mean like me? They let me in at the gate. I didn’t sneak in or anything like that.”

  The woman laughed and pulled her down to sit at the bar. “More like you entered under false presences, I think.”

  Alina could feel her face flaming red. They wouldn’t really think she cam
e looking for a good time, would they?

  “Want a cold beer?” Her gaze drifted over the bar tender who was doing what bar tenders do, offering drinks. She nodded her head and the bartender quickly sat one in front of each of them. “I’m fairly certain they thought you were coming in here to whore.”

  Alina laughed. “If the snazzy pants suit didn’t give it away, I would have thought the fact that I’m driving a Prius would have.”

  “What are you saying, that whores aren’t environmentally conscious?”

  Rolling her eyes she responded. “Nope. It’s just that suits and hybrid vehicles aren’t renowned for being particularly sexy. You know what I mean?”