Page 12 of Truck

“Of course,” I quickly respond and step through the swing doors into the kitchen. Now, I don’t need instructions on why she needs a helping hand. The sink is overflowing and pans are lining up on the counter. “Oh, you got a little bogged down I see.”

Tracy grimaces, “Yeah, I did. I’m not as good at staying on top of things as Brian. He seems to have it all down to a fine art. Me, I’m a darn nightmare to myself.”

Giggling because she is shaking her head at her own misgivings. “Let me tell Shelby I’m in here with you so she can watch the diners.”

“I’ll tell her, Rory. It’s my fault, so I’ll take the backlash if there is any.”

I watch as Tracy leaves the kitchen and get down to filling the dishwasher. Thankfully, there are two people in the kitchen. But I throw pans into hot, soapy water in the sink and scrub them clean. It won’t take that long, I don’t think, and let’s be honest you can only do one job at a time. As long as I’m working and earning my salary, I don’t care what I’m doing.

When it’s time to leave, I give a wave to Tracy who climbs into a vehicle with her husband, who is always here on time to get her. Anyone can see he’s besotted with her, and she with him I admit.

“I’ll see you in two days, Shelby,” I say as I’m unlocking my car.

Shelby walks over to me and holds the top of the driver's door as I climb inside. “Could you change that day's shift for me, Rory? I need you to come in on the morning shift because Jayne has a hospital appointment with her mother. Her mother has had to have a hip operation, and it hasn’t been successful, so they are talking about doing another one.”

“Oh no, that’s terrible. Of course, I will come and do that shift.”

“Thank you, Rory. Now, you drive carefully and I’ll see you in two days when the birds get out of bed,” Shelby laughs at her own remark, and I’m thinking I’d rather work later than that early in the morning.

Shelby had told me she had rearranged the hours of the shift patterns. The morning which is the first shift is now 6:00 until 11:00, the second shift of the day, 11:00 until 4:00, and the longest shift being the evening shift 4:00 until 11:00. I have only covered the late shift, as I think of it, so I admit I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like to work in the morning.

Chapter 7

TRUCK

Placing my mug in the kitchen sink, I turn and give Jo a thumb's up sign. “Great breakfast, Jo,” I say as I head out of the kitchen. I look around and the common room is a fuckin’ mess. There is no other way to describe it. Since Jeremy started on the suites, the clubhouse has had dust and dirt everywhere, and I know the club women and the cleaners are struggling to keep it to a minimum, but they are losing the battle.

Speaking of club women, Trix and Daisy storm past me, complaining about having to clean and not do what they came here to do, which of course, is fucking a brother. Hoping to catch one for themselves and become an old lady. It’s not going to happen as far as I see it. Some brothers may not care who has been with the woman before them, but for me and quite a few others we don’t want that. We want our woman to be ours in every way, and not to have been passed around the club brothers.

I snidely speak before they get too far past me. “You can always leave. You know, if you don’t want to help keep the place clean. We are all doing our best to keep the dirt down while the work is in progress. But nobody is keeping you here. You can leave any time you like.”

Stuttering, and with an embarrassed red face, Daisy quickly tries to cover their asses. “No, we are just grumbling, Truck. It’s not meant in a bad way. We’ll get on top of it.” Daisy grabs Trix’s hand and drags her away, talking to her hurriedly. I don’t stop the smirk because I know they are going to keep complaining to each other, but will do their best to delay the fact they could get thrown out on their asses.

Knocking on the President's office door, I only enter when I hear, “Come in,” called.

“Sorry to bother you, Pres, but I wanted to report that all is going well with the gas station. We’re working well, and with Xero, Collins, and Mitchell on the way it’ll be even easier to get it up and running. Is it okay with you that the three of them stay here? I wanted to be sure not to have them here if it isn’t what you want. Mrs. Ambles' house is still up for rent if we want to grab that, and it’s nearer the gas station.” I stand and wait for Tracker to respond, but he’s obviously thinking as he has steepled his hands and rested his elbows on his desk.

Sighing, Tracker replies, “I was hoping to have them here so they could see what club life is like. But with the top floor being ripped apart, and the place being a fuckin’ mess, let’s be honest about it. I reckon they may be better off staying at Mrs. Ambles' place. Get Coin on it and make sure they get settled. If it doesn’t work out, then yeah, they’ll stay here, even with the fuckin’ mess we’re all living in.”

“Could they have stayed at your house?”

Tracker laughs. “No, it has sold. I got a hefty profit on the place, too. Who would have thought I bought it for peanuts really, and with all the work I did on it I got a hefty return on the sale of the place.”

“You did like that place, Pres,” I state matter-of-factly.

“I did, but I hardly ever lived in it. On the whole, it was a great place, but it is better with a family in it. I don’t have an old lady so it’s not a serious problem that I don’t have a place away from here. I will build here on the compound. It’ll be the best move for me I think.”

Nodding because I agree with him. If we have houses on the compound, we are behind a wall of security, and if any shit kicks off, we are more easily able to defend ourselves.

“I’ll deal with Xero, Collins and Mitchell, Pres. I’ll make sure they have somewhere to stay.”

“Okay, but have them come here for meals and shit. I want them to feel like this is their place. Then they’ll stay when the time comes for them to decide on their futures,” Pres states and I can tell he’s still thinking about rebuilding the MC to what it was before all the bad seeds joined and before we had to clean house.

Turning to leave I remembered something and turned back. “Pres, has the purchase been completed for the land extension on the compound?”

Frowning, Tracker replies. “Yeah, why?”

“Just wondered because I heard that a new man came to town and was asking about it.”