Kale, p.7
Kale, page 7
part #2 of Texas Kings MC Series
“Okay. I’ll let them know. He’s scum and needs to be caught. The weird thing is that he’s coming after Robin. There were two men in her apartment waiting for her the other night. Luckily, I was with her and she was safe. We thought they were there looking for Dean. When the FBI interrogated them, they found out that the men were there to take her to Dean and Parker.”
“You think that’s why Dean killed Parker?” Daughtry asked but at the same time Bird and Clem shook their heads.
“No. Parker didn’t want Robin. Dean does. Probably for revenge for some stupid shit he made up in his head.” Bird sounded disgusted. I knew he hated Dean as much as I did. “He’s a crazy fucker.”
“Yeah, he was mean to her when we were young. I remember that Justin had to protect her. Man, I hated that bastard.” Even though Clem was the most mild-mannered of the four of us, even he hated Dean Spencer.
“Robin mentioned that you and Bird didn’t like Dean and hadn’t since all of you were young.” Jesse was talking to me as I slid a beer over to him.
“There was always something off about him. When we were kids, I thought it was because he didn’t talk much. Then he went away for a while. When he came back it was worse. He just sat and watched us. As we got older he would go away and come back, but it never got better. He looked, I don’t know, dead inside, I guess.” Bird shrugged his shoulders. “He tried to kill Kale when we were about thirteen.”
“Yeah.” I put in. “We were fucking around at the skate park and he fell down. I laughed at him. A couple of days later I was sitting on the bleachers talking to some blonde and out of nowhere the fucker hit me in the back of the head with a skateboard. Knocked me on my ass. Got me a few more times when I was down. Took Clem, Daughtry and Justin to get him off me. He was in a fucking rage, screaming that nobody laughs at him. He went away again right after that and didn’t come back for a few years.”
“So, he went to boarding school?” Jesse asked. All four of us shrugged.
“He’s a psycho and needs to be put down.” I really hated Dean Spencer. He was just off, for lack of a better description. His eyes had always been cold and hard, even when we were young. I hadn’t seen him in years, but I imagined that prison hadn’t made them any softer. It made sense that a man like him would be working for Salazar.
“Yeah. Don’t get caught doing it but feel free. For some reason he wants Robin. She’s cooking up my future in there. I don’t want her hurt.”
“Talk to Justin. He’s the oldest. Something happened when Robin was little that got Dean sent away. He’d know what it was. Maybe why he wants her. We’ll take care of her with you, keep an eye out. We’ll take care of any problems that come up if we can.” That was as close as I was going to come to telling my cousin that we were going to kill his future brother in law for him. Even I had my limits of trust.
“You guys still keeping the streets clean?”
“As much as we can. Why?”
Jesse pulled a baggie out of his pocket. It was a small baggie, like drugs were distributed in. It had a four-leaf clover stamped on it. “I found a bunch of these in Dean’s room at Robin’s place. I guess his group is dealing and this is their mark.”
I looked up and caught Bird’s eye. He nodded at me silently.
“Yeah. That shit’s been popping up recently. Now we know it’s Dean.” Bird leaned over the bar and looked down over the floor. “Got an issue down there at table sixteen. Handsy. Who’s turn is it?”
“I’ll take this one.” Daughtry got up and moved to the door. “Don’t go anywhere until I get back, Jess. Need your brain.”
The four of us watched Daughtry come out of the doorway beneath us and walk to the table that a group of young, college aged men were sitting at. He spoke to them for a minute and apparently didn’t like what he heard. He grabbed two of the biggest ones by the hair on top of their heads and drug them to the front door. Their friends thought about defending them but then saw the other three bouncers moving in and decided to calmly follow Daughtry and his squirming luggage outside. Daughtry was back in the office within ten minutes. He wasn’t even winded.
“So, where were we?” Daughtry asked as he moved to refill our shot glasses. “To Jesse coming home and making Robin our family.”
All four of us cheered and slapped the bar as Jesse finished his shot.
“Spencer’s Bar is a family business now, if you’re with Robin. I’ll put the word out that they are under our protection.” Bird stood up and grasped Jesse’s shoulder. “We’ll watch out for Dean. If anything comes of it one of us will let you know.”
“Thank you, Bird. We need to get together for dinner soon. We can catch up now that I’m not one of those assholes with a badge.”
I put my hand on Jesse’s shoulder and said my goodbyes. “Bring Robin and your parents out to the house. I know your Mom loves to talk with Merlin.”
“Kale’s gonna have him an old lady soon.” Clem chuckled to Jesse as I walked off. “She’s got a mustache.”
“Why hasn’t anyone killed you yet, asshole?” I flipped Clem off as I walked out of the office.
I needed to get out of here and head to my own bar to take care of some paperwork. Maybe write a letter or something.
6.
O=O=O=O=O=O
I watched the bar clear out from my stool at the bar in my office. The window spread across the entire office all, and I was able to see the entire floor, all three stages and both bars were clearly visible.
It was late, only an hour before closing time, and I hadn’t finished any of my paperwork for the day. I couldn’t keep my mind on work. It was on the faceless woman who I couldn’t quit thinking about. I had written her three more times this week and received a few more letters from her.
At the oddest times I found myself wondering about her. I wanted to know what she looked like, so I could keep the picture in my head.
I needed to leave here and go over to the clubhouse. I could find some company and take the edge off. I thought about it for a minute and it didn’t even stir me. I looked down at my lap when I realized my dick didn’t even twitch at the thought of a good hard fuck with one of the sweetbutts available to me at the clubhouse.
Well, shit. She’s fucked up my mind and now my dick. And she’s got a mustache. Shit.
I heard the office door open but didn’t move my gaze from the floor. It was probably one of my asshole brothers and I was going to have to resist throwing them out the fucking window onto the tables below.
“No greeting? Nothing?” I turned my head to see my old friend, Brenda. She and I grew up a few houses down from each other and had gone to school together from kindergarten on. I stood up and met her in the middle of the room.
She grunted as I hugged her tightly and swept her off her feet. I put her down and we walked together to sit by the window and watch the floor.
“What are you doing here, B?” It was good to see my friend, but she wasn’t really one to hang out in a strip club.
“Well, funny story. It’s starts like they all do.”
I laughed at her for a second. “So, I was on a date with this guy? That story?”
She smiled at me, but I could see that it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Yeah. Just like that. Again.”
“Which one is he? Do I need to kill him?”
“Nah, he’s not here. We were down the street at Kings and Bird already got a piece of him. I left and came down to visit you.”
Kings was another bar I owned with my brothers. A regular old dive bar, it had a dance floor and live music on the weekends. Bird ran it while I ran the Glass Slipper, one of our strip clubs. Clem was in charge another strip club called Cookies. We were all helping run Spokes, it was a biker type club that Grunt was in charge of right now. Our cousin, Gina, ran our other club for us. Corks was a higher end bar with a wine list and an uppity clientele. My brothers and I avoided it as much as we could, so we didn’t scare off the more uptight customers.
“I appreciate it, darlin’. Don’t see you nearly enough. You want an update?”
“How is he?”
“Sonny is as well as can be. Might be better if you would visit. Or write.” Her high school sweetheart, Sonny, was in prison for a crime he committed when he worked for her Father. He was a member of the Texas Kings, a brother to me. He had been in for almost six years and we weren’t sure when exactly he would be out.
“Can’t do it. He told me that he didn’t want to see me again. He told me to forget about him and move on. I’ve done that. When he gets out, we’ll just be old friends who used to date.”
“Then why do you always ask about him? And why does he grill me about you?”
“I’m not here to talk about him. Daughtry told me that you needed to talk to me about something.”
“Well, for the first time in my life I’m gonna start a story with, ‘So, there’s this girl.’ Sounds odd, huh?”
“Stache? The mustache girl?”
“Jesus Christ does everyone call her that?”
Brenda giggled a little bit. “Yeah. Everyone knows how much it pisses you off. I’ve never seen you give a shit. Well, since Audrey pushed you off the monkey bars and told everyone you smelled funny.”
“Audrey was a bitch.”
“We were eight, Kale.” Brenda laughed the way she always did when she brought up Audrey. “Anyway. Stache. What about her?”
“I don’t know what to think. We’ve been writing back and forth. Pen pals. Lisa wants us to hook up when she gets out. I’ve been thinking that I could get some real kink going with a woman who’s been inside for ten years.”
“Yeah. No shit. She might just hurt you.”
“She’s a virgin.”
Brenda snorted out a laugh. “The hymen doesn’t grow back, Kale. No matter how long it’s been.”
“No. A virgin. Went in right after her sixteenth birthday ten years ago.”
Brenda’s face went serious. “Shit.”
“Yeah. I like reading her letters. She’s funny and sarcastic. I check the mail every day now hoping I got a new one. She gets out in like six months.” I put my hand up and pinched my nose. “I tried to get laid at the clubhouse the other night and it just...I just...I couldn’t.”
“Holy shit.” Brenda reached over and took my hand off my face. “You like her.”
I growled at her.
Brenda hopped off her bar stool and moved to stand between my legs. She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. “Oh, Kale, honey. You really like her. She’s getting inside. That’s it. I’m coming with y’all to get her. Daughtry invited me today.”
“Get off me, woman. That’s not it. It was supposed to be about having a good time. She’s got a fucking mustache for God’s sake. I can’t even bang a wench now without thinking about the fucking chick I’ve never seen before.” Brenda moved away from me and perched herself back on her stool.
“So, you don’t know what to say? Or what to do?”
“Nope.”
“You want to quit writing her so you’re not under pressure?”
“Fuck no. She’s cool. I don’t want to fuck her up. I’m not hearts and flowers, B. You know that.”
“Maybe you are, and you just haven’t had a chance to show it.”
“I’m not the kind of man a woman like her needs in her life.”
“So, a woman who’s about to get out of prison is too good for a man like you who’s been in prison before? I don’t follow.”
“It has nothing to do with prison. She’s perfect. Makes me feel like I’m too dirty to touch her.”
“Oh, sweetheart. No. No. Don’t do that.”
“It’s true, B. You know I’ve dated, well I did in school. You know I never fucked any of them?”
“Not even...”
“Nope. I’ve had free ass thrown at me through the club my whole life. Never fucked anyone who’s opinion mattered the next day.”
“Damn.” Brenda whispered and then reached to end of the bar for the bottle of whiskey I kept there for my Dad. She didn’t even grab a glass, she just unscrewed the top and took a swig.
I took the bottle out of her hands and took a long drink.
“Okay. So, here’s the deal. She’s a virgin but it’s not like you found her on the front row of her Daddy’s church. You’ve got issues. Like, issues that are in you like DNA from your Dad and what happened when you were a little one. I love your Mom, Kale, but you and I both know that she’s not Mrs. Fucking Brady.” Brenda shrugged her shoulders when she saw my frown. “I love Martha. You know I do. But, you were raised in a lifestyle that doesn’t appreciate gentleness. You and your brothers need that in your life, but you don’t know you do, and now that your curious about it you don’t know how to fix it.”
I took another swig and handed her the whiskey bottle.
“I’m gonna do something and I want you to roll with it. It means nothing and won’t leave this room. Our little secret that we will never talk about again.”
“You’re freaking me out a little bit, B.”
Brenda got up and locked the office door.
“It’s a comparison. You can’t compare spam to pate unless you try them both, right?”
I squinted my eyes and stared at her in confusion.
“Just roll with it, big boy.” Brenda moved in front of me and grabbed my head in her hands right before her lips hit mine. She kissed me and without even thinking about it I kissed her back. It was rough and wild and hot. Brenda pulled her head back and we both were breathing hard. I was surprised the rest of me wasn’t hard.
“That was just fucking.”
She stood there looking into my eyes for a second or two.
“This. This is what love feels like.” Her hands still on the side of my head she moved closer to me until our mouths were almost touching. She waited a breath or two and then nibbled at my bottom lip with hers. She moved her mouth over mine softly. Her tongue came out and she touched the tip of it to my top lip before she moved back and started with the soft kisses again.
When she moved back I was even more out of breath than I had been before. And, I could build a house with the wood I had in my pants.
She took another swig of the whiskey and sat in her chair. I was stunned, staring at her profile until she turned to me.
“You’ve been like that first one all your life. Since the first time you had sex. Now, tell me that the second one wasn’t even more fucking hot than the first. That second kiss? You open yourself up to Stache and you’ll get that and better.”
I sat there silently for a minute and then took the bottle from her.
“You get what I’m trying to say? You want the first one you keep finding your sweetbutts and the wenches at the clubhouse. You want the second then you keep your dick in your pants till Stache gets here. You give her that second kind and all of you? She’ll give you the fucking world.”
I smiled at Brenda as she turned to stare at me.
“Well, I’m gonna go with door number two.” At my comment Brenda threw her head back and laughed.
“It will be different when she kisses you, obviously.”
“Well, yeah, of course.”
“Her mustache will tickle a little bit, I’m sure.”
Terra,
Hi. I’ve started this letter and thrown it away three times so far. So now, I’m just gonna say fuck it and what I write down gets sent.
I read your last letter and it took me about twenty-four hours to wrap my mind around what it made me think.
Scared the shit out of me, honestly. You’re a virgin. I’ve never thought about how important it is the first time with a woman until now. Never had to. The women I’ve been with in my life weren’t the type to think about tomorrow with. What you’ve got is different. What you’re thinking about trusting me with is special. It’s important. I wasn’t sure that guy could be me for you but now that I’ve wrapped my head around some shit I think it is. Kind of pisses me off to think of it being anybody else.
No, I don’t know for sure what you look like, but Zeke has described you to me just a little and that’s fine. What I think matters is that when I turn down the road to my house everything else falls out of my head and all I can think about is getting to the mailbox to see if you’ve sent another letter.
I’m kind of pissed when the box is empty.
So, if you want to just write me doodles and bad jokes and mail them to me each day, I’m okay with that. I’ll arrange for more money on your books to cover the extra stamps today. No pressure if you don’t feel like it, but it won’t be too much if you do.
I realized this morning when I got off work and drove home in the rain that I think of you a lot. Like, I knew you would love the rain today. It was a long, soaking rain. It was cold as shit on my ride home at three this morning, but I still thought about you and how much you would appreciate it.
Then, I read your letter and realized that you aren’t like the other women I’ve known. You’re smart, sarcastic, funny. Lisa had a good plan when she said we should write to each other and get to know the insides.
So, what I’m saying is this. If you don’t shake my hand when you see me the first time, I’m gonna give you your first real kiss. Then, I’m going to take you into town and pamper you before we go on our first date. What happens after that is all about you and what you’re comfortable with.
I’d like to think that maybe if I do this right you can see a future here in Texas with me. Shit. That’s hard to say. Never thought of saying that before.
I’m gonna seal this in an envelope and get it to the post office on my way home from work tonight, otherwise I might chicken out.
Hope you’re doing well.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle K – Bill and Ted
Kale
P.S. The first time it rains after you come here I’m going to sit on the porch swing with you and watch the rain fall. Maybe we’ll even dance in it together.
