After Prez told Snoop to bring the newcomers to his office, he went to check his email and to look online to see if there was any news about Hank's Hangout being blown up last night. He clicked on the link for the news channel and while he waited for the newcomers he watched the report about it being blown up and there being no suspects in the case.
"There are 22 semi-trailers parked in the lot next door but no drivers. There are 8 private vehicles in the parking lot. There were 3 vehicles, one in front and two in the back that were almost completely destroyed when they caught fire and their gas tanks exploded. The bar itself is now just a big hole in the ground.
The reporter went on to say that the remains of the stove showed that the knobs were on and it may be that someone had been trying to light the stove when it exploded.
The fire chief said it looks like the explosion originated from the kitchen area of the bar. The health inspector reported that the kitchen had not passed inspection on their last visit and the owner, Hank Hanover, had been fined and ordered to discontinue food service.
"There is no definite way to tell who was in the bar, except by the vehicle registrations, when it exploded but the state police have been contacted because of the fact that the local sheriff's car was parked in the lot. Why he was here alone is currently unknown." The reporter said. "This is..............." Prez clicked off and thought to himself, "Smart move, Guardian. Leaving the truck in neutral." The picture on the news report showed Larry's truck appeared to be several feet from the front door, not blocking the doorway. The force of the blast had pushed it away from the doors instead of blocking them.
Just then someone knocked at his door.
"Come in." He called out and Snoop led the newcomers inside.
As they entered his office, Prez told them. "Come on over to the table and have a seat." Prez picked up a legal pad and walked over to his place at the table and after all of the women were seated, he and Bubba sat down. Prez was glad to see that Bubba seemed to be a gentleman.
"Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Prez asked, hoping to put them somewhat at ease since they all seemed rather tense.
"Yes sir, it was very good." Bubba said. He was a very soft spoken man and obviously well mannered.
"Good. I'm sure you are wondering what it is that I want to talk to you about. Well, I do want to hear all of your stories but first of all I want to tell you what we do here." Prez told them and then explained what it is that the club and its members do.
"Now we will not kick you out but I need to know if you have somewhere to go? If you women are claimed by a club brother, then you will be welcomed into the family. We provide you with a cut, which is the vest you see us all wear. Your men, if you have them, will explain about them more later on. We provide all the rescue's with two changes of clothes and Doc will attend to your medical needs at no charge.
If you decide to stay once claimed by a brother, we also provide your room and board, your medical insurance and all medical related expenses including your lady visits with the doctor in town and your time in the hospital if /when you have children or get sick or hurt.
If you have a car, we also pay your car insurance but you are responsible for your own drivers license and car registration in addition to any speeding tickets. That last privilege will be withdrawn if you get too many tickets because even though you pay them, they show up on our insurance reports and affect our premiums.
The other women will be able to tell you more about sharing in household duties, like cleaning and taking care of the house. Like I told you last night, you are not expected to provide sexual favors to anyone but if you are claimed by one of the brothers, let me make it very plain that none of us share our women so if another brother approaches you in an inappropriate way, you have to speak up to a senior member or one of the other women.
Believe me, telling them is probably more dangerous for the man than telling one of the executive staff. The women are all like sisters. They may not be related by blood but they are by loyalty, to their men, the club and to each other. They are very protective of each other. For any man in this club to disrespect any woman, well, let's just say they all value their man parts too much to even think about it.
Until you are claimed and wear a cut, you are not to wander the house alone and when you leave the clubhouse for any reason, at any time, an escort will go with you. I need for you to understand that anyone knowing you are staying here puts a target on your back. While none of the men here will hurt you, that doesn't mean that rival clubs won't.
Right now, it's pretty quiet and we've chased out all of our competition but that doesn't keep them from coming back. If you are ever in town and see someone with snake tattoos or cuts, that usually means Vipers or Cobras. Some of them like the Satan's Riders wear cuts with a skull and crossbones or a devils' head. All of them are outlaw clubs who not only run drugs and guns but are involved with human trafficking. Since you don't know who's good and who's not, it's safest to say if they aren't wearing one of our cuts, stay away from them.
Anyway, I won't get too involved with explaining that right now. What I would really like to know is what did you do before you got involved with Hank?" Prez asked.
"Like I was telling Snoop and the others, I used to work in the kitchen at the Sheraton in Louisville. Mostly doing prep work but I like to cook too."
"Good. If you are interested in working here, you'll have to go through the prospect process like everyone else but we need help in the kitchen. Our old cook is planning on retiring soon because his wife is expecting their first child very soon. If you think you are interested, we'll talk alone more later.
Julia, right?" Prez asked as he turned towards her and when she nodded, he asked "What did you do before Hanks?"
"I worked as a secretary for a local realtor." Julia said. Prez nodded and then turned to the next woman.
"Candace, right?" Prez asked.
"Please call me Candy. Everyone has since I was a little girl. I used to be a cashier at a grocery store in Lexington. My grandmother used to live in Mt. Steel before she passed away. I had gone to put flowers on her grave, like I've done every year since she passed. She and I shared the same birthday and we had been close. Anyway, I was on my way back to Lexington when my car broke down a couple of miles outside of town. An SOB named Larry stopped and acted like he was going to help me." Candy told him.
Prez thought, "She may look small, sweet and cute, but I'll bet she's a lot tougher than she looks. Crusher will have his hands full with this one."
Prez told them, "Sounds like what that guy Larry did to other women as well. Mara, Bullet's woman, said that he also snatched her when her car broke down and he was planning to sell her to Hank. Thankfully we got to her before he could do that."
Prez turned to the last woman. "You're Sandra, right? (She nodded in reply.) "What about you, Sandra?" Prez asked.
"I was a waitress in Paris. I stupidly went on a date with one of Hank's bartenders and he took me there and then spiked my drink. The next morning, I woke up naked and in one of the "cells"." Sandra said.
"Well, Bubba, you and Julia talk. If you think you are at all interested in prospecting for the club, come back and see me. There is no rush on anyone going anywhere. In the meantime, I need to get some paperwork done." Prez said.
"Prez, can I ask a question?" Sandra asked.
"Sure." Prez answered.
"What if we don't get claimed by one of the men here?" Sandra asked.
"I would be greatly surprised if you don't after what I saw at breakfast but if you don't choose to stay with us, then we will either take you where you want to go, within reason, or help you get set up in town with a job and help you find a place to stay.
I'm sorry but unless you choose to become an ole' lady to one of the men here, you can not stay unless you want to be a clubwhore. We used to have some living here but they kept making so much trouble that we kicked them out." Prez said.
With a nod of understanding, they all stood up and left Prez's office. They were rather surprised to find 3 prospects waiting outside of Prez's office for them. Greggory and Carlyle escorted Candy and Sandra to the main living room.
Bubba and Julia asked Ivan if it was okay for them to see the kitchen. "Sure. Butcher is here too. He's the old cook but since Andy is having to take time off today, he's here making lunch. Andy will do dinner, I think." Ivan informed them and then led them back through the dining room and into the kitchen, where he made the introductions.
"Butcher this is, I'm sorry, I didn't get your names?" Ivan said, feeling like he had fucked up again.
"My name is Charles but everyone has called me Bubba since I was a kid. This is my girlfriend, Julia. It's very nice to meet you." Bubba said, sticking his hand out.
"Nice to meet you, Bubba. Miss Julia. Is there something I can get for you?" Butcher said and couldn't help but wonder who had done that to this soft spoken man and why but didn't ask.
"Prez said that someone named Andy needed help preparing meals? I used to work in the kitchen at the Sheraton in Lexington before we got trapped in at Hanks. I did mostly prep work but I know how to cook too. I've just never done it on my own for as many people as you have here." Bubba said.
"I'm sure Andy will be very glad for the help. I try to come as often as I can but my wife is getting close to her due date. They were telling us the middle of April but we think the doctor is kind of off about that since her stomach has already dropped and she's on almost exclusive bedrest now. We're supposed to have another 6 weeks to go. We are not as young as you folks so we have to be extra careful. This is the farthest she's managed to carry so far. I wouldn't even be here right now but Doc's woman agreed to go sit with her while I came to make lunch." Butcher said.
"Well, tell me what you need me to do and I'll be glad to help you." Bubba said.
"Miss Julia, if you would like to go visit with the other ladies, I'll be glad to walk you down to the living room." Ivan offered.
"Go, baby. I'll come look for you when I'm done." Bubba said and gave her a kiss on the cheek then went to wash his hands.
As Julia walked with Ivan down to the living room, she asked, "Why do we have to have escorts when we are inside? Do they think we are going to steal something?"
"No. No, not at all. Frankly, you'd have to be an idiot to even think about stealing from them. A man would be severely beaten for it and a woman would go to jail." Ivan related what had happened with Foxy and that she was now serving 10 years in prison. "Man, was I glad to see the back side of her. She was constantly making trouble."
When they reached the living room, Ivan told her "If you need to go back to your room or anywhere else in the house, just holler and one of us will come get you."
"Thanks, Ivan." Julia said and then stepped into the living room, only to have all of the women turn to look at her.
"Come on in and have a seat. Your name is Julia, right?" Amanda asked and Julia nodded.
Amanda made introductions and it wasn't long before Julia felt more at ease. They didn't question her about her time at Hank's and mostly just talked about the pending births. She found out that they were planning a group baby shower since all of the women were due fairly close together.
They told funny stories about their men finding out about them being pregnant and how they had been reacting during their mood swings and how they talked to their bellies.
Stella was all excited about her upcoming ultrasound. She really wanted to know what she was having. "My appointment is tomorrow and I can't wait. I know Hammer wants a boy but I'm hoping for a girl." Stella said.
"Julia, are you and Bubba planning on having kids?" Stella asked.
"Well, we have to get married first. But I would like to, some day. I've loved Bubba since high school and he said he was going to propose the night he got attacked but ever since he came out of the hospital, he's kind of stopped talking about it. I've tried to tell him that it's not his looks that I was in love with but him as a person.
Bubba is the sweetest, gentlest, most caring person you could ever hope to meet. He'll give a stranger the shirt off his back if they need it. Since that jackass attacked him, he's kind of lost his self confidence." Julia told them.
"Scar was like that for a long time. I wasn't here when he first came to live at the clubhouse but he told me about what happened to him. Julia, if you ever see his back, try not to react to it. His father whipped almost all the skin off of his back and left him tied to a tree for he doesn't even know how long.
When he came back and found out that his back was infected, he poured bleach on his back and then rinsed it off with boiling hot water. Then he threw him back under the back steps and left him to die. A utility reader found him when he heard him whimpering. His father died in prison for what he did to him." Stephanie told her.
"That's horrible. My step father was an asshole but he never beat us or did anything like that." Julia said. "Prez was telling us that Bubba will have to go through the prospect process. What does that mean?" She asked.
"Well, they basically take care of the men's bathrooms downstairs and the cleaning of all of the main areas. They also rotate helping clean the kitchen, tending and waiting tables in the bar, they collect linen laundry from upstairs and bring it down to wash. They also do all of the dusting and vacuuming of the main rooms.
They also take turns guarding the house at night and escorting us ladies if we want to go somewhere locally, like shopping in Winchester or to have our nails done or something like that. They also escort anyone who is not a member around the house.
If we go out of town, there will be prospects and patched members with us. The rest of their duties are not shared with us. If Bubba decides to become a prospect and go for a patch with the club and wants to know more about what those other duties are he'll have to talk to Prez.
If he does decide to go for it, we will expect you to help us with our duties as one of the ole' ladies. There's an assignment sheet in the laundry room and two boxes. You draw out of one box, do the duty, initial the job on the date it was done and put the card in the other box. We'll show you and we all share duties. The pregnant ladies are excused from working with chemicals." Amanda told her.
"Well, if I'm going to be staying here while Bubba makes up his mind about what we are going to do, then I expect to help out. Just show me what you need done. Prez mentioned something about the club providing us with two changes of clothes? Are they things you already have on hand, like these dresses?" Julia asked.
"Oh, no! Once Prez says it's okay, we'll take you shopping or we can get online and order stuff. Most of the time, I can supply temporary clothes and while I might be able to help you with bottoms, nothing I have is going to cover those impressive boobs! Dang, girl. You got more than blessed!" Brigett teased.
"Believe me when I say these things are more of a curse than a blessing. They draw unwanted attention and have caused Bubba to get in several fights because men stare at me and at Hanks, too many men wanted to touch them. Plus they are so heavy that my bra straps cut into my shoulders and I've never been able to get a regular bra to fit that doesn't ride up in the back and corsets are uncomfortable because they squeeze your ribs.
Going without anything makes me look like I've got two gallon ziploc bags full of jello hanging around my neck. Right now I've got the wife beater tank top that Bubba had on under his shirt. I just twisted it up and tucked it in so that I wouldn't bounce and knock myself out." Julia told them and all of the women laughed with her.
"Well, maybe Prez will let us go to town if not this afternoon, tomorrow." Brigett said.
"What happened to your friends?" Sara asked.
"Crusher and Fist asked to talk to them privately. I think they are in the main living room." Julia answered and saw smiles pass between all of the women.
Just then Ivan came back and said "Lunch is ready."
"Wow. Where did the time go? It seems like we just sat down in here." Julia said.
All of the ladies stood up to go to the dining room and Julia was rather surprised that lunch was a smaller group than breakfast had been. "What happened to all of the other men?" Julia asked curiously.
"We own several businesses in town so they went to work. When the weather warms up, most days it's only a few men here. They are the house guards. The ones not working today, work mostly the construction crew, which is another of the businesses we own." Amanda explained.
"Any chance they have jobs for women?" Julia asked.
"Well, you don't have to work and you'd have to ask Prez or Spokes about anything that might be available." Amanda said.
~~~~~~
In the main living room, Fist and Crusher decided to sit in different areas so that they could talk more privately to Sandra and Candy. They both assured the women that they didn't have to tell them details about what they had had to endure at Hank's, if they didn't want to. They both explained how they had become involved with the club and both women were rather shocked to learn that at one point they had both been rescued from bad situations.
Crusher had been there since he was 17 and had been rescued when one night his father beat him up real bad. It hadn't been the first time but that night, Crusher's mom had helped him run away.
For years Crusher had felt so guilty for not making her come with him when two weeks later, they found out that his father had shot and killed her. His father had never admitted it but Crusher knew it was because he had figured out that she had helped Crusher escape. Crusher told her that he was now in prison for the rest of his life. Whether or not he was still alive, Crusher didn't know and didn't care.
"Most of us have been rescued from one situation or another, not just the women." Crusher explained.
The men answered all of the women's questions as best they could and then explained about being a brother's lady as well as if they became ole' ladies.
"So, will you let me introduce you as "my lady"? I'd like to do it at dinner time since that's when all of the brothers will be in the house again." Fist asked Sandra, hopefully.
"Can I ask you something?" Sandra asked.
"Sure. I hope we can always be honest with each other. No subject off limits. Agreed?" Fist said.
"What do you think of what I had to do at Hanks?" Sandra asked softly as she began to pray that he would say it didn't matter to him.
Fist took a deep breath and said "Look, Sandra. I can't say that I like what happened but I know you didn't do it willingly. What happened to you was awful but it wasn't your fault. To me you are the same as any woman here except I don't want any of them.
When I saw what was happening to you in Hank's last night, I felt a rage like I've never felt in my life because of the way you were being treated. It took everything in me to not pull my gun and blow them all away but Thor held me back and I'm sorry to say that he was right. For me to have lost control then meant we would have been seriously outnumbered and would have sealed all of our fates and things more than likely would have ended very differently. Understand?"
Sandra looked at him and prayed that what he was saying was true and that she really could trust him. "God, I hope what he's saying is true because if he's being honest and feels the way he says he does then it means you are finally answering my prayers. While I never imagined my knight in shining armor would be a biker, I couldn't ask for someone more handsome. Thank you!"
"Fist, I've never been much of a risk taker but something is telling me that I would be making a huge mistake walking away from you and my heart is telling me that you are my chance at happiness plus damn you are hot! So yes, I'd like it very much if you would introduce me as your lady." Sandra said as she leaned towards him and softly kissed him on the cheek as she thought to herself "please don't let me be making a big mistake."
As Fist took her hand and stood up, pulling her to her feet and into his arms. She suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that this was where she belonged. When he lowered his head and softly kissed her lips, it just felt so right.
Crusher and Candy had been sitting on a sofa closer to the bar and when he asked Candy if she would be his lady, she looked at him closely without saying a word for a minute. Then she took a deep breath and said "Crusher, I know everyone looks at me as being short and sweet and I can be but I also need for you to know that because of what I've been through, even before Hank's, I can also be leathery tough. Make a fool out of me or fuck me over, and you'll wake up without your man parts. Are we clear?" Candy said.
"Feisty! Baby, I have waited for you for a very long time. I would never do something like that to you. Care to share why you feel that way?" Crusher asked.
"When I was in high school, I had such a crush on this older boy, Dennis, that hung out at the same place my friends and I did. My parents warned me against him but I had just turned 18 and was so tired of being controlled by my overbearing father, I defied them. Even my cousin, Earl, tried to tell me that he was bad news but Dennis had always been a gentleman with me.
Well, a few nights after graduation, he convinced me to sneak out one night and go to a party up at the lake with him and some other kids we went to school with. It was supposed to be both boys and girls just getting together to listen to music and maybe drink a little beer. But when we got there, it was just me and one other girl. She was rather plain and her family was dirt poor. I was the short, fat girl with the scary father that most of the boys were afraid of, even if they wanted to take me out, none of them ever dared to ask.
There were at least 6 boys there, all of them had already been drinking but I don't think they were drunk. At first they told us the other girls would be coming and started pushing us to drink. Neither of us really wanted to but they just wouldn't let it go so we agreed to one beer and told them that if the other girls didn't come by the time we were done that we would be leaving, even if we had to walk.
That's when things got scary. It was three on one, Crusher, until they switched places. All 6 of them raped us, taking turns with each of us. We both had black eyes and lost our v cards. Our clothes were ripped and we were covered in bruises and there was no way we were going to be able to hide what had happened and knew I couldn't go home.
It took us 2 hours to walk out of there and the whole way I tried to convince her to run away with me but she refused. I went to a girl friend's house and she helped me get out of town. I grew up in Owensville. I had some clothes I'd left at her house and she loaned me some money for gas and even helped me get my car from where I had parked it to meet up with that jackass, Dennis.
I had a little money saved from my job and stuff, so I got on the road. My friend let my cousin, Earl know what happened and she told me that Earl, some of our other cousins and some friends took care of Dennis and his friends. She also told me that Cassie, the other girl who had been there that night, committed suicide a couple of months after it all happened.
Noone really knows for sure but my friend told me that her parents disowned her and kicked her out after it turned out that she had gotten pregnant from one of the guys there that night.
I moved to Lexington and worked for almost two years then I got a call from a friend of mine that my grandmother had passed away. I was on my way back from putting flowers on her grave when my car started acting up so I pulled over.
That's when I met Larry. He offered to help me but said he needed some tools from home and convinced me to go with him because it was too cold to wait in the car. You would think I would have learned my lesson but I stupidly trusted him and went. Well, you saw where that landed me. So when I say, screw me over and I'll make you regret it because I've had enough of being screwed over by men." Candy told him seriously.
"Baby, I would never do any of that to you. I just want the chance to get to know you better. When I saw how they were treating you last night, I wanted to kill every man who even thought about putting his hands on what I want to be mine. Hammer had to hold me back and that's only because we were outnumbered.
Prez had already said that we were going to rescue all of you but even if he had changed his mind, I already knew that I was going back to get you. From the first moment I saw you I knew you were the one for me.
I barely slept a wink last night because I just wanted to go to you but I didn't want to scare you or make you feel like I was trying to treat you like those other men did. All I know for sure is that I'm so happy to have you in my life now. So can I introduce you as my lady at dinner tonight?" Crusher asked.