Ryker by Jeneveir Evans

Chapter 39

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.

~Marc Brown~

Mad Dog

November 26th, 1999

I had an unusual request late last night. Jett and Taron had asked if they could come talk to me today. It appeared like these two young men had become friends. I’d noticed them talking while they played pool. As the evening wore on, it seemed like their conversation had gotten serious. I’d gotten up to head toward the apartment when they approached me to ask if they could meet with me today. I’d told them to come to my office at three-thirty, then I’d called Vip to ask him to come to the meeting.

It was almost time for the boys to arrive. Vip and I were nursing beers as we talked about Ry’s situation. We’d had to get Mr. Jerik involved because the police were giving Ry and his men the run around. Hopefully, Mr. Jerik would get everything cleared up so Ry and his men could head toward Arkansas.

“You think they are gonna ask if they can prospect?” Vip asked.

“Not sure what else it can be.”

He jerked his chin at me as he lifted his bottle to his mouth.

“Would have thought Jett wouldn’t want to leave Vision.”

“Not sure I’d make him, Vip. Vision and Jett both deserve to spend as much time together as they can.”

“I agree. What you gonna do if he asks?”

“Been thinking about that. Jett has an accounting degree. Think it might not hurt to take that further. If he did, he could help out the club...” I stopped talking when Vip tilted his head. I knew that someone was heading in our direction.

Sure enough, Jett and Taron stepped into the doorway.

“Y’all come in and grab a seat,” I said.

As they walked into the room, they glanced at Viper. I gave them a chance to get settled before I addressed them.

“What’s on your mind, boys?”

Jett glanced at Taron before he began to speak, “Dog, Taron and I were talking last night about how much we want to be in the MC.”

“When you think you might want to do that?” I questioned. This time it was Taron who responded.

“I would like to start as soon as Dad and the guys patch over. If they don’t, then I’ll need to talk to Dad before I firmly commit. Gotta say though, that I really hope things go okay for them. I’ve liked what I’ve seen since we got here and would love to be a part of this club.”

“Understand you wanting to know how it goes with Ry first. Jett, what about you? When would you want to start?”

“As soon as possible.”

“Jett, you realize that having to live in the Clubhouse while you prospect is one of the requirements, don’t you?”

He grimaced. “Yeah, that’s the only negative for me. I really want to be in the club, yet I’d like to stay with Dad.”

“Can understand that. You sure you don’t want to wait a little while before you start?”

Vip and I watched as he struggled to make up his mind. For me, this was a test to see how bad he really wanted to join now.

He sighed. “If things don’t work out for Taron, I might wait a couple of months before I start. That would give me more time with Dad.”

“Alright. Let Vip and me talk about this. Then I’ll bring it up at Church tonight and get the Brothers’ thoughts.”

“Sounds good, Dog,” Taron uttered as he stood up.

“Yeah, that will be okay. I’ll talk to Dad about this. I haven’t done that yet,” Jett stated as he got up too.

“That would be a smart move. You need to know how Vision feels about you joining.”

We let the boys get out of the room and down the hall before speaking.

“What do you think, Vip?”

“Think I know what you want Jett to do and I think you know my opinion on it. Taron will be good to go. He’s had the chance to live with both parents his entire life.”

I tilted my chin at him. He made a valid point.

~*~

November 27th, 1999

Vip and I had talked about how we wanted to proceed with the situation concerning Jett and Taron. Then last night at Church, I laid out what we thought should happen. All of the men agreed and the boys were voted in to prospect if everything worked out with Ry’s guys.

Ry had gotten in late yesterday evening and I’d put a call in to him and Vision requesting that they meet Vip and me in the office today at nine a.m. I’d told Vision to bring Jett and Ry to bring Taron.

Eight-fifty found Vip and me drinking coffee and waiting for everyone to arrive. Five minutes later, Vip let me know that they were coming down the hallway. Vip’s tilt of the head when he heard someone coming toward the office was like a weathervane that let you know which way the wind was blowing. Unless a storm had the wind spinning the vane madly, you could always count on it to know the direction of the wind. Same held true with Vip, unless he was in a deep emotional rage, you could count on him hearing when someone was coming.

Vision and Jett were the first in the room quickly followed by Ry and Taron.

I indicated the table and stated, “Y’all join us at the table.”

I sucked down my last drop of coffee before it got cold and looked at the two young men sitting by their dads.

“Y’all tell your old men what you wanted to do?”

Both shook their heads. Ry and Vision looked puzzled at my question and their response.

“Vis, Ry, let me assure you it’s nothing bad. They met with Vip and me yesterday and indicated that they wanted to prospect. They want to follow in their dads’ footsteps.”

While a smile crossed both men’s faces, I could tell that Vision looked a little sad.

“Vip and I talked about this and came up with something. We took that to Church and your sons were voted in to prospect along with our idea.”

Vis and Ry looked intrigued whereas their sons looked puzzled.

“Taron, you are going to be required to move into the Clubhouse and prospect as normal.”

The grin on his face showed his excitement.

“Jett, you know that as a member of the club, you do what your club needs you to do, don’t you, son?”

“Yes, sir. What does the club need me to do?”

“This is where your prospecting will be different. Here and there you will occasionally be required to do normal prospecting chores, however the club is going to require more from you.”

Vip and I watched to see how he was taking that news. The only expression on his face was confusion.

“You have your accounting degree, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stop the sir shit,”

“Yes… alright, Dog.”

“We’ve decided that you aren’t going to be required to live in the Clubhouse. We feel like it would be better for both you and your old man to spend more time together. You will still have a room in the Clubhouse to use if needed. I’m sure you’ll want to make use of the club girls just like Taron will want too.”

Jett and Taron went bright red and all four of us chuckled at them.

“Jett, we want you to get your master’s in accounting,” Vip spoke up. “After you get that, we need you to get your CPA. You will need to work under a certified CPA for a year. We talked with Mr. Jerik. He has a tax attorney in his firm who is a licensed CPA as well. Mr. Jerik said you could work with his man. I believe you can space out the time frame so that you could meet your year requirement while you are getting your masters. That would allow you to only work part-time.”

“The MC has its finger in many businesses,” I told him. “As we continue to grow, it would benefit the club to have someone dedicated to making sure that we continue to do everything legal in regard to our taxes. The club will pay for all your school. You agreeable to do that?”

“If that’s what the club needs from me, then yes, I’m agreeable to that,” he responded.

“Good man. It will save us from having any outside sources looking at our finances,” I replied.

“You okay with that, Vision?” I queried.

“Dog, the additional education isn’t going to hurt the boy any. If that is what the club needs, he should feel honored he’s being asked to do that,” Vision remarked.

“Taron, Viper is in charge of the Prospects schedule. You’ll let him know where you would like to work. You have your choice of the garage, the construction company, or the bar, unless you see yourself training to become a tattoo artist. The academy opens next month, but those jobs are reserved for our military Brothers,” I informed him.

I cocked my head and studied Taron. I wondered if he thought we were giving preference to Jett.

“Taron, want to know what you think. Do you feel like Jett is getting preferential treatment?”

“Dog, my ass was happy to get out of high school, never did think about going to college. If you told me I had to go back to school, I’d have to think long and hard about what you wanted from me. It’s not that I don’t want to be a member of the club, it’s that I suck at school. As for Jett getting to live with Vision, I don’t have any problem with it. I can understand them wanting to spend time together.

“I’ve had that time with my parents. If I was in his shoes, I’d want to live with my dad too,” he stated.

All of us members smiled. His attitude was what made a good Brother.

“Good answer, Taron.”

“Dog, will I get to start as soon as we find out if Dad and the others find out if they are patching over? If they don’t get to patch over, I’ll have to make up my mind if I still want to join.”

“Don’t think you have anything to worry about, son,” I let him know.

“Thank fuck, because I really want to be a member one day.”

“Y’all go find Clair, she can let you know which rooms are open so you can choose one.”

Both boys popped up, smiling and headed toward the door.

“Well, Brothers, one day soon those boys will be wearing an ARMC cut,” I said.

“They’ll make fine additions to the MC,” Vip added.

They would indeed.

~***~