Page 35 of Emergence: Prequel
DAVID TIN
PROSPECT 1 – To be confirmed
PROSPECT 2 – To be confirmed
“Tinman. What do you think?”
I raised my eyes from the list he’d given me; it was a well-thought-out list. Every one of the brothers on the list had dual nationality, none of them were in a serious relationship, all under the age of thirty except for one other and me. They weren’t set in their ways, and none of them had a hope of moving to an officer’s position if they stayed with the Mother Chapter. The only way they would ever advance was if a new chapter was set up. They were all good, solid brothers. I’d have been happy to have any of them at my back.
My only concern was Cobalt, or Bolt as he was known. He was twenty-three and hadn’t yet learned that not everything was about drinking, fucking, and riding—not always in that order.
“I see you have Bolt in a position as Road Captain. Do you think he’s ready for the responsibility?”
I wasn’t blind to the faults of my sons, and Bolt could do with growing up a little. Hard to believe that when I was his age,Maggie and I’d been married over a year, and Coal was already a month old. Responsibility made you grow up damn fast. In a way, I was glad that none of my kids had been in a hurry to start families, but the downside to that was they’d probably be my age before having their first. Whereas Maggie and I were planning on travelling as soon as Opal was an adult, which would be in a few short years.
“I thought of that, but I think the responsibility will be good for him. Here he doesn’t have to be accountable as long as he’s doing his job and not jacking off. He’s never not done anything asked of him. He stepped up last month when he was needed without being asked. I think this will be good for him,” Maestro replied, his face serious, so I knew he’d given it some thought. It wasn’t like he didn’t know my kids.
“It’s a good list,” I agreed, “but you’ll only know if it’s a good idea if you speak to them. I have no idea what my boys want. I’d never ask them to leave their brothers, and neither would their mother. Opal will be going with us, but the boys are all adults. We’re keeping the house here for when we come back to visit, or if you need it, the club can use it. Speak to them, ask them, and then we can plan. I’m assuming you have something in mind?”
Maestro shook his head, “Not really, but my dad and Chains made a few hesitant plans when Maggie first inherited. And recently, we’ve made good contacts in that area with the Crows and O’Sheas. I’ve also just had a visit from the Skulls, who assured me that it’s the right thing to do. There are reasons behind that, but I can’t go into it yet until I know Coal and the boys are in this for the long haul.
“We own some warehouses near the docks and have done for a few years. They are rented out, and they’ve made pretty good money over the last five years. It’s all sitting in an account in the UK just ready to be used. It will help with setting up a newchapter. I have a few ideas on what we can do, but I’ll wait and speak to Coal and see what he thinks.”
I started to laugh, “Fucker. I should have known. Chains was always planning something, and I was always along as backup in case something went wrong.” I was silent for a while as I thought about what I’d just said. Maybe if I’d been with him that night, he’d not have been gunned down. We’d never know now. “Fuck, I miss that bastard,” I muttered softly.
“Me too, brother,” Maestro says softly. “I think this will be good for everyone all round.”
Slapping my hands down on my thighs, I rubbed them up and down. When I was sure I’d be able to speak, I cleared my throat and looked up, “Right, best you get my boy in here and let’s ask him.”
Maestro grinned, picked up his phone and rang Coal without hesitation. As soon as Coal answered, he ordered, “Get your ass to my office pronto.”
Disconnecting the call, he threw his phone down on the desk, reached back to the fridge behind him and pulled out three beers. Opening them, he handed me one while he took a drink from one and the other was left on the desk for Coal. We shot the shit while we waited for Coal to arrive, and I can’t lie, it was good.
I hadn’t really caught up with Maestro since he’d taken over as President from Red. While I was closer to Chains, I’d always liked Maestro; his and Cash’s relationship was similar to mine and Chains. Maestro had always been a force to be reckoned with, and he made a solid President. Now that he had an Old Lady and kids, I could see he was even more settled.
We’d nearly finished our beers when there was a knock on the door and Coal shoved his head around at Maestro’s call to comein. “Hey, Pres, Pop,” he greeted as he threw himself into the chair next to me, sprawling out, dirty boots crossed at the ankles.
Grinning at him, I shook my head in amusement. For as long as he’d been around, my eldest had sprawled, he’d never sat. I took a good look at him; he must have been working in the garage because he still wore coveralls on the bottom but had pulled the sleeves off and tied them at the waist. He had on an old grey T-shirt. All my kids were good-looking, not sure where they got their looks from because I certainly wasn’t a picture painting, and my Maggie, while to me she was beautiful, had never been what society would call beautiful or even pretty. All our kids had inherited her pitch-black hair and bright green eyes. And with both of us being tall, our kids were never going to be short. All my sons were between six foot four and six foot six, with Coal being slap bang in the middle and the baby, Bolt, at six foot six. Even Opal was tall at five foot ten.
Taking a deep drink of the beer Maestro handed him, Coal let out an appreciative sigh as he finished off half of it, “Thanks, Pres, that’s good. It’s hot as balls out there. So, tell me what’s going on? I feel like I’ve been called to the principal’s office. Whatever it is that’s happened, Bolt did it.”
Laughter rang out at his comment. I slapped the back of his head lightly for throwing his brother under the bus.
“It’s nothing like that,” Maestro assured him before explaining, “Your dad came in to let me know that your ma, him, and Opal are moving to the UK, and I wondered what your plans were.”
Side-eyeing me, Coal asked, “You’re really going then? It’s not just talk or you needing a break?”
I shook my head, “No, son, I need to leave. Too many memories here, and your mother needs to have a chance to live her dreamswhile we’re still young. What happened with Chains reminded us that life changes in an instant, and we need to live it.”
“Okay,” Coal agreed, “you need to do what is good for you, and if moving away is it, then we’ll miss you. But it’s not like we can’t visit, and I’m sure Mom will be calling constantly anyway. I’ll probably speak more to her now that you’re going to be in a different country rather than just down the road.”
“That’s why I’ve asked you to come in,” Maestro advised. “One, I wanted to know if you’re happy here and two, would you ever be interested in running your own chapter?”
Coal sat up straight, his face serious. “Are you fucking with me?” he asked, looking at Maestro. “Because man, if you are, that’s not cool. I mean, I know that I can be a pain in your ass, and we sometimes butt heads. But my own chapter? That’s not something you joke about.”
“First of all, Coal, I’m your goddamn President and above shitty games. I know you and I butt heads on the regular but fuck it, man, I thought you knew me better than that. Now answer the fucking questions,” Maestro snapped, slamming his hand down on his desk, standing up, and leaning over it, glaring at Coal.
Putting a hand on Coal’s shoulder, I held him back.‘Maybe it was a good idea for these two to be in different chapters,’I thought. They’d always been hard-headed and had butted up against each other more than once, even with the fifteen-year age gap between them. They were both stubborn, neither willing to back down. It’s one of the reasons they’d both make good presidents. Chains and Red had been the same.