MC: LaPonte

by L. Ann Marie

  Danny

  "Nice fuckin shot Jake. I like the twofer." Two guys fall out of the truck bed. He laughs. "I'm running low." I tell him turning down the alley.

  "You have one block left Brothers. They moved another truck in. Pussies are hiding behind it. Looks like twenty or so." Digs tells us. I wonder if he knows Jake's not a Brother.

  "We could have some fun with this one. You up for a change?" I ask him as we're getting new clips.

  "What are you thinking?" He asks taking off his helmet.

  "Let's go behind them with grenades then swing around to the front and catch whatever is left."

  "I like it. Did Digs hear that?" He ask putting his helmet back on.

  "I got your six Jake. I think it would be more effective with the extra vehicles and people."

  "Thanks Digs. We're ready to roll. I'm heading north so they'll be on my left." I tell him.

  "I have clean up from another section blocking you. The pussies are looking up the road for you. Cleanup is going to circle the block to the front giving them something to look at while you move in. You're clear Brother go!"

  I don't wasted time. We race around the corner coming up on the opposite side lobbing grenades. Four go in and we open up getting the fuck out of there. Turning we hear the fuckin grenades sounding like a huge bomb. I don't stop, we circle he block at a fast clip and aim at everyone running out from the burning barricades. Cleanup is pulling up as we make a second pass.

  "Fuckin Beautiful Brothers." Pres says. "I like you switching it up Brother. We have a fire station in need of assistance. PD was hit; they need some help holding the station."

  "Which one Pres?" I ask.

  "The one you blew up the truck in front of." Digs tells me.

  "I’ve never been to that station before. In the last month I've been there four fuckin times. We're on our way." I hit 75 just as we come up to the truck. "Can we get the truck out of here?"

  "Wreckers on its way." Pres tells me. I turn and pull to the side of the building in front of the truck. Something's telling me I need to check it out. Jake pulls up.

  "What's up?"

  "Something's not right. I need to see what's in the truck."

  "Pussies moved to the back of the station on your approach Brother."

  I move to the road walking in line with the tires of the trailer. I climb up and walk the strap brackets down the side to the back door. Poking my head out I don't see anyone at the station. I jump into the trailer and laugh. "Pres we got a present for you. I think I know how this war started. Digs have the wrecker brought to Security. Make sure they check it before they pull out."

  "Roger that Brother."

  I jump out and to the side ducking back to the tire line. Fuckin shots are flying at me.

  "In the building on the side of the Station. Looks like a laundromat." Digs tells me.

  "Thanks Brother." I run to my bike switching clips in my guns. We roll out heading the opposite way.

  "VP, Zack and Bob are on course to meet up with you on the main road. I'm hooking them in now."

  "Brothers, we'll take them from both sides. Bob has your sniper. I'm on east with Zack. Take west LaPonte."

  "Got it VP." I look toward Jake. He nods. We come around the corner even with the other team Bob pulls in front VP shoots into the laundromat as we pass by. Bob is off his bike going into the building.

  "Looks like something's on the trailer, the camera has smoke stain on it but I saw movement."

  Me and Jake pass the front of the Station while VP turns. Shots are flying everywhere. Fuck. I aim on top of the trailer and shoot. "Thanks Digs." Jake laughs.

  "Fuckin pussy is down". Digs says. We round the station with guns ready. They're turned toward VP. We pick them off from the back. We pass VP and Zack and circle the building. No one’s moving. The firemen open a bay and run for the guns.

  "They're faster than the fuckin cleanup crew." Zack laughs.

  I stop by Alan. "You ok in there? Pres said your PD's are down."

  "They can't hit the side of a fuckin barn. We counted 17; you took them down in a minute and a half. Take the PD, send me a Brother or two." Jake cracks up. VP is laughing in my head.

  "Tell him a Brother's on his way." VP tells me.

  "VP says a Brother's on his way." I tell him.

  "Thanks man. They put someone in that trailer, looked hurt." He tells me.

  I smile, "It's a present for Pres.” I start up and look for Jake, he's waiting on me.

  We roll back to Security while the wrecker hooks up the truck. I can't wait for this. Pulling in the lot people are everywhere. Security is making rounds up and down the roads. I pull to the back and hand my bike to a Brother from up north. I check my guns, dump my pockets and helmet then walk into the meeting room. A fuckin cheer goes up. Fuckin weird shit. I watch the surveillance feed. The wrecker is a couple of blocks away.

  I walk to the front. "Pres you need to come out to the lot. You might want to bring the Chief with you." I say with a smile. He nods and starts walking, Beau and the Chief follow. I get a gun before I walk out. VP is waiting out front. The wrecker stops on the road and everyone walks toward it. VP jumps up into the trailer. We hear him laugh. "What did you go and do this time Barney." I crack up.

  Barney is hanging off the trailer painted yellow, hands cuffed and buck naked. Everyone is laughing except the Chief. "There's a flash drive hanging around his neck." VP hands it to Pres. "Prospects put him in a holding cell." He lets Barney go just before the Prospects get there. "Oops, sorry Barney." He jumps down and walks away making everyone laugh. I have to hold my fuckin face. I follow VP.

  "You ok Danny?" Zack asks as he and Jake come up beside me.

  "My fuckin face feels like it's going to explode. It hasn't healed from last time, laughing does that sometimes."

  "You got blood around your patch." He tells me. Fuck.

  "Thanks. I'll clean it up. VP has stuff in his office for me. I'll meet you in there when I'm done." I tell them going to his office. I get water and the first aid kit and clean myself up. When I get into the room Barney is on the big screen talking to a group of outlaws. What the fuck? He's talking about giving them free reign over the drugs and money we store. This fuckin guy and his drugs.

  I stand by Zack and Jake. "Fuckin Barney." Jake says. We watch him tell the best time to hit the PD and he'll watch for Jess to leave town letting them know where they can pick her up. Fuckin hell! VP looks at the Chief like he wants to kill him. Pres cuts it off and turns around. Fuck he's pissed.

  "You hired this fucker, kept him on with all his fuckin screw ups, put my fuckin family in mortal danger. We lost a fuckin Brother today! The whole fuckin town was seized by at least four chapters because of Barney fuckin Fife? You'll not only take the bodies and deal with them you'll be getting a fuckin bill for all the fuckin time and ammo we used to fix your fuckin fuck up!"

  "Half the guns and ammo isn't even legal!" The Chief yells back. There's a collective in drawn breath. Pres launches himself at the Chief and has him up against the wall. Holy fuck he can move.

  "Every fuckin gun and box of ammo was checked on the last fuckin fuck up Barney had. Don't think you can fuck with me after this colossal mistake on your part. I'll bring this video to the fuckin news and have your fuckin job myself. The one thing that everyone knows about us is we don't deal in fuckin drugs! People are fuckin fighting to get into this town because of it. You clean up the fuckin town, process the fuckin bodies and pay us back for the fuckin hit we took because of you! Maybe then I can keep my fuckin VP from killing you in your fuckin sleep for putting his fuckin old lady in danger and losing us a Brother!" He lets him go and steps back. Taking a breath he visibly calms. "Are we in agreement here?" He says quietly. Not a fuckin person moves.

  The Chief looks around. "Yes."

  "Get your useless fuckin police force out of my fuckin buildings. Prospects will deliver fuckin Barney to the PD when we're done with him. Brothers will be patrolling until we
're satisfied it's safe for our old ladies, kids and neighbors. Can't say I'm fuckin impressed with the level of protection you have to offer. Get the fuck out." He turns and walks out of the office. Everyone takes a breath.

  "Who did we lose?" I ask. Everyone looks at me. Fuck.

  "Was Luke. Sorry Danny." VP says. I punch a fuckin hole through the fuckin wall.

  "How the fuck did he get in the line of fire. He wasn't a fuckin soldier!"

  "He was run down at the first exit on the highway. He was supposed to just show a presence." Casper tells me.

  "Fuckin Hell." I walk out. I remember the truck and the crash. I was fuckin there. I sit on the couch in VPs office. My head is fuckin pounding. I close my eyes and try to clear my head. Pres comes in. He sits in the chair and closes his eyes. I get my anger in check. I put everything where it needs to be and feel calm by the time VP comes in. I have no fuckin clue how long we've been in here. I get up and find Tylenol in the kit I swallow four. "Am I on patrol?" I ask VP.

  "No, get up to the Clubhouse, get some food and sleep. You're on seven to three tomorrow with Jake."

  "Thanks VP." I walk to the door.

  "Danny, you're the best fuckin soldier I've ever worked with. You're a big part of our success today. Not out of the woods yet but we're a hell of a lot closer because of you. Thank you." I don't know what the fuck to say to that. I just lift my chin to him as I go through the door. I'm proud I made VP happy today but feel so fuckin low, I lost a Brother. I want to protect all of the Brothers. I don't want to lose any more fuckin Brothers to the stupid fuckin shit like Barney pulled. I collect my gear filling my pockets again and walk out.

  Jake and Zack are waiting. I throw them chin and get a Brother to collect my bike. "Knight told us to ride with you to the Club. There are rooms for us. They threw out all the cops, he wasn't sure they'd let us through without you." Jake says. He's probably right. I nod taking my bike from the Brother.

  I put my helmet on. "Do I have eyes for the ride to the Club?" I ask.

  "I'm here Brother. You're hooked to Jake and Zack. Casper's still running the room." Digs tells me.

  "Thanks Brother. Don't you ever sleep? You've been on with me since this morning."

  "I'm afraid to sleep. You or VP may kill me!" He says in a high pitched voice.

  I pull the helmet off holding my face laughing. "Fuckin Digs." Jake and Zack are laughing beside me. When I'm calm I put the helmet back on. "Fuckin Digs, my fuckin eye was already bleeding from laughing today. When you clear me, go home, sleep, take a drink or three but fuckin relax Brother."

  "I'll come to the Club and have a drink with you Brother." He says.

  "I'll be there. You make sure you have Security riding with you Digs. I don't want another fuckin Brother lost.”

  "I will Danny."

  I start my bike and roll out. We make it to the club turnoff and here shots. “Fuck!” Digs says in my helmet.

  Fuckin Hell! "What's happening Digs?"

  "Truck coming up on your right."

  I slow down. "Is that Tiny's truck?" I ask him. Looks like it. What the fuck is he shooting at? He says it is. "Anyone behind him?"

  "Another truck. Trees blocking the camera." I stop and wait for Tiny. My guns at the ready I aim at the truck behind him. They fire another shot the fuckin back window explodes, Tiny ducks fishtailing the turn.

  I open fire and don't stop until my fuckin guns are empty. I walk to the truck and pull the body out. When it hits the ground I kick it. "Not losing another fuckin Brother today." I keep kicking.

  Jake comes over and leans against the truck. He's just watching me kick the dead body. Tiny comes up to my left side. "Brother. He hooks my neck and pulls me away from the body and into a man-hug. I'm ok."

  I step back. "Thanks Brother, I needed that." I turn around and go back to my bike. Fuckin Tiny laughs.

  Riding up the hill Jake tells Zack, "told you he was a lunatic with a gun."

  I crack up waiting for the Prospect to open the gate. Tiny follows us in.

  "I'm out Brothers." Digs tells us.

  "Roger that. I'll find you at the bar." I say taking my helmet off.

  "Could use a hand with this shit." Tiny says. A Prospect from the door helps him carry bags in. I grab a couple and hear Jake and Zack grab some. Tiny drops the bags in the hall. "Names are on them; get them to the right rooms." He tells the Prospect.

  I drop the bags with his and go to the bar. "Need a shot of Jack." The Prospect slides it to me. I slam it back for Luke. "For you, my Brother Luke." I say then leave to find my old lady and kids. I take maybe five steps and hear a squeal. I know that sound. I fall to my knees and wait. They jump on me all at once. People are laughing. I stand up with them hanging from me. I hold as many as I can and laugh with the Brothers. They're cute kids. I bend so they can touch the floor and hold onto Ally and Arron for an extra squeeze. I put them down and talk to Darren. He's telling me he watched over the little ones with Little Ben and Jessie. I ask how they were. He looks at Jessie, 'they were ok until the teenager gave them candy, we lost control for a while there, then they took naps'. I hold my face and laugh with the Brothers that are watching.

  "What did he say?" Zack asks. A Brother tells him. He cracks up.

  Jessie laughs. "After that it was a piece of cake. We're watching the teenagers from now on though." He's fuckin serious. I bend over holding my face.

  "Uncle Danny you need to see Doc." Little Ben tells me leading me down the hall by the hand. I can't stop laughing so I follow. "I got another one for you Doc."

  I laugh more. Fuckin kids. "Are you ok?" I stand up looking at my Beautiful K. I shake my head no. "Laughing again?" I nod. "Thank you Little Ben. Did the kids calm down?"

  "Yeah, you were right, a nap did the trick." He tells her.

  "Fuckin Hell." I'm bent over laughing again.

  "Maybe Uncle Danny needs a nap too?" He says looking up at me concerned. Fuck!

  "I got him from her Little Ben. Can you keep the kids busy til we get him fixed up?" He throws chin and walks out. Fuck. I'm holding my breath trying not to laugh. She pulls my patch and hugs me. I hold on trying to replace all the fuckin bad from today with good. Beautiful Kate.

  "Thank you. It's been a rough day." I tell her hearing the emotion in my voice.

  "I heard. Let me fix you up so you can have drinks with the guys." She starts cleaning me up, but asks Doc to look at it. Fuck.

  While we're waiting on Doc I hold her hands. "I need to have a drink with Digs. He kept my ass covered all fuckin day. By tonight he was stressed. I promised him."

  She nods leaning in to kiss me. "I heard about Luke. How are you doing with that?"

  "I'm so fuckin glad you didn't say sorry. I hate that. What can you say to sorry? I think it sucks. I stood outside the club and repeatedly kicked a dead guy trying to get rid of the anger. He wasn't a soldier. He shouldn't have been there. It was on the highway when we were following you. I didn't even know he was run down. I was so focused on keeping the suv clear. My whole fuckin world revolved around that, I never knew he was even fuckin hurt."

  "Would Luke hold it against you for keeping your family safe?"

  "No! He wasn't the most standup guy but he lived for the Club." He did too.

  "He died too freakin soon but he did it with honor and loyalty. Standing up for his family, doing what he needed to keep us safe."

  "I love you baby, you're right and that feels a fuck of a lot better." I hug her and don't let go.

  "Can I break you up to take a look Danny?" Doc says.

  "Yeah." I let her go and let Doc check me out.

  "I've been worried about this for some time now. I think when they put the graph the skin is stretched too much. It's not healing the way it should be. Couple week’s back I called a friend and asked about what we can do about it. I didn't want to bring it up unless we had more problems. We have problems. They can place a graph across the eye covering the area that keeps ripping open at the bottom. That is the
quickest most painless procedure. They can do a lot more with the scar and eye reconstruction but recovery is lengthy..."

  I wave my hand stopping him. "Do what needs to be done, the quickest way to stop my fuckin eye from bleeding every time I laugh. I don't give a fuck about the scar. I just want to stop bleeding and scaring the fuck out of people."

  "Ok, when things settle down I'll make the appointment and we'll get it done. In the meantime, I'm going to use a different bandage, like a plastic coating that will hold the skin together. I'll need to change it for you every couple of days. I think it will work better than what we've been doing. Beside, my friend said so."

  I crack up. "Fuckin Hell Doc!" I slap a hand to my eye, he slaps my shoulder and gets the supplies. Kate gets me a pill and some water. I swallow it down and kiss her lips. She holds gauze on me and kisses me again.

  Doc sits and bandages me up. Kate cleans my patch, she hooks it to my belt telling me it needs to dry. Fuck. She walks to the back and comes back with a mirror. There's plastic covering my eye with gauze under it. I smile for her. "It doesn't look so bad and it doesn't hurt to smile. Thanks Doc." I kiss my girl and tell her I'm going to find my baby and grab a drink with Digs.

  Finding my boy with Nancy I take him out to find Digs. I slap his back and get us drinks. "Thanks for having my six Digs. You saved my ass all fuckin day. I didn't want the day to end without telling you I realize and appreciate it. You got me through another day so I can see my kids and old lady."

  He nods; I can see the emotion in his eyes. "Thanks Brother. No one ever thanked me before."

  "Maybe today is the start of a new policy. Every day that you get my ass home to my kids, I'll say thank you."

  "You're different than the other guys; I don't think they notice me." He says.

  "No one noticed me for five years Digs. No matter what I did, they didn't see it. I know how that feels. Let's change that starting now." I turn toward the room. "Hey everybody!" I yell. Everybody looks my way. "This is Digs." I slap his back. "He kept my six all fuckin day making it possible for me to walk through the door and see my kids, my old lady and you, my Brothers. He's one of the behind the scene guys. He keeps the guys with the guns alive to protect all of us. Make sure you thank him for that." I hold my shot up. "To Digs!" Everyone yells 'Digs.' Brothers are slapping his back. I smile and lift my chin as he's swallowed up by the crowd.