Page 29 of The B!tch is Bad
Chapter Nine
Creed
“Eleven in the corner pocket,” muttered Baron Funkhauser.
Faux Pas, leaning on his pool cue, scoffed. “No way, fucktard. My two’s in the way.”
It was funny hearing the thick, elaborate French accent wrapping around a word like “fucktard.”
Santiago Slayer watched the game, just as skilled at uttering insults in a sumptuous accent. “You are tripping, my man.” He pointed. “He can deflect that two against the rail.”
Tuzigoot, a hulking, menacing Hispanic fellow, nodded. “He can make it.”
Sure as shit, Funkhauser whacked the eleven right in there, ricocheting Faux Pas’ two into an undesirable position.
“Ho, ho!” cried Slayer. “I should have bet on that one!”
“I did,” declared Town, shaking his fist in victory.
Slayer frowned at him. “You’re allowed to bet? Go get me another Tequila Sunset.”
Since Townshend was a lowly Prospect, he instantly strode back to the bar, where Patience and I perched uneasily on our stools. She drank a Pinot to calm her nerves, and I tried some of Sean Wildstar’s ’08 Cab. I’d heard the Bum Steer, clubhouse of the Bare Bones MC, had become more like a wine bodega since I’d moved into the area. They carried our wines, among others in Seeker Valley. Town owned a magical mushroom farm, but because he was prospecting for the club he had to spend a lot of time in Pure and Easy doing menial work for them, like making Tequila Sunsets. He enjoyed harassing me to become a Prospect so he could get fully patched.
Town grimaced, yelling over the sound of the ice crusher. “I had to learn what a ‘horizontal tasting’ is yesterday. Hint—it’s different from a vertical tasting.”
I yelled back, “Sorry about that. Listen, what’s the latest update on Ford arriving?”
We couldn’t start the meeting without Ford, the Prez. He’d been off on a run when the emergency popped up. From what I gathered, he was ironing out technical stuff with some cartel near Slide Rock.
“Oh, he’s here,” Town shouted, then stopped the ice machine. “He’s just, ah, changing into clean clothes.”
“Some clothes that aren’t bloody,” said Duji. One of the founding elders, Duji could go behind the bar and do whatever the fuck he wanted. And he wanted to pour a beer on tap. He looked at Patience. “You’re the girl from Smoky Mountain, the girl this dipstick is looking for.”
“That’s me, all right,” Patience said with gloom.
Duji nodded. “You’ll be fine. We’ll take care of you. You’ve been a hang-around for awhile now.”
I cut in with a swipe of the arm. “She’s no pass-around.”
“We get it,” said Duji, sipping and leaving foam on his mustache. “She’s your old lady. But we protect our own. We’ll do right by her. We don’t want no out of control ex rampaging all over our turf. We’re bringing it to the table in a few minutes.”
I held out my hand for Duji to shake. “We appreciate it. Your help is invaluable to us.”
Indeed, at that moment Ford strode out from the back hallway and tossed a wad of clothes at Town’s head. Town, an army vet, caught the ball like a viper, leaving the orange slice swimming in the cocktail glass. “Last call for church!” Ford bellowed. His face turned from anger to sympathy as he nodded at Patience. “I’m sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances. Leave it up to us. We’ll deal with it.”
Patience asked, “Will I be able to face this shitstain? I have questions for him.”
Ford glanced over his shoulder at the milling crowd of men who shoved each other to get inside the “chapel,” or meeting room, tossing their pieces and phones into a large plastic bowl near the door. “Well, we don’t normally let outsiders into our church. But I see your standpoint. Come in when Town tells you to.”
He nodded to assure Town had heard him. Slayer swept in for his cocktail while Town escorted the bloody clothes down the hallway.
“Are you going in?” Patience asked me.
“Definitely. I wonder if they’ll really let you in?”
Patience went pphh. “I doubt it. Such a male-dominated society. A woman has probably never been in that room.”
Sure enough, Town gestured at me to come. Raising my eyebrows, I pointed to Patience.
