Page 69 of The Deals We Make

“Depends. Have you worked off that fucking attitude you had this morning?”

I don’t answer the question but pull out my chair at the table we use for church. “You don’t know the full story of how I came to join the club, but it’s time you did. The only people who know what happened are me, your dad, and Cue Ball. I think it’s time you knew what really happened to me, what happened to my best friend, Calista, and how it fucked up both our lives.”

King’s face changes as I say the last sentence. “I’m listening.”

Like with Switch, I lay out the whole story. I leave the part out about the sex I had with Calista last night and my worries about the Cosa Nostra. But I tell him everything else. How his father, thanks to Cue Ball’s intervention, gave me no choice but to stay. How they terrified Calista and her mom. And how, in hindsight, I know it was the best decision for the club, but that itruined my friendship, changed the course of my life forever, and would never have been my choice.

“So, you never chose to become an Outlaw?” King asks.

I shake my head. “I thought the job was a one-and-done. Dude, I’m a fucking Black man. Was the only Black man in a club full of white bikers, who have a long track record of being racist dicks. You think I ever felt safe for a millisecond during that first year? The guy who skipped the whole prospecting process. The guy who didn’t have to pull off a big gig to prove I had the balls for it, and so you all had something over me.”

King rubs his hand over his jaw.

I share how I’ve got insomnia. How I barely ever rest. How shit is catching up with me. How Calista is back in town, and I want the chance to put that part of my life back together, even if that means putting her on a plane back to California.

And the whole while, King listens.

When I’m done, he doesn’t say a word for five minutes.

“I don’t know what my dad or Cue Ball were thinking about back then. I guess the call isn’t too different to the one I’d make now, without the assault of a woman. I’d like to think we’d do more of a warning, given she hadn’t actually hacked us.”

I huff. “Switch said the same thing.”

King glances out toward the clubhouse where Switch is leaning back against the bar, watching. “He’s a wise man who has clearly got your back.”

“Yeah. Sometimes he speaks sense.” I raise my middle finger at my friend. He grins and lifts his middle finger in salute.

“Why are you telling me all this?” King asks.

“Because you deserve to know why I was pissed this morning. I feel like the club let me down. I have no idea whether what Cue Ball did was sanctioned by your dad or not, but Camelot meant a lot to me as a mentor. I’m pissed, and there’s no one alive to get the facts from or be mad at.”

King grabs a box of cigarettes from his drawer and offers the pack to me.

I take one and light it, and then King does the same.

“Thought you quit,” I say.

“Meh. For the most part, I have. One or two a month for the stress. Plus, I kinda like triggering my sticker chart every now and again.”

I bark out a laugh at that. Rae made King a sticker chart to stop smoking. If he quit for a certain number of days, he’d get certain sexual rewards that got progressively more perverted. “I don’t need to know about that.”

“You need some time off?” King asks.

I shake my head. “Think I just need space to process. If I say I can’t do shit, I can’t do shit. Think I need to lay off working late for everyone at the drop of a hat. Try to get my sleep problems in line.”

King nods. “Understood.”

“I will get on that information you needed about Saint and the strip club.” I stand up to leave. “Thanks, Prez.”

And now, there is only one person I need to set straight.

Assuming I can find her.

21

CALISTA

Isee Ti’s truck pull into his mom’s drive, and I know I need to make the first move to apologize for behaving so poorly this morning. I’d like to think the show is for me. To prove to myself I can do the right thing.