CHAPTER TWENTY
-:- ROCK -:-
The information Red gave me about this little asshole at school has me seeing more than a little trouble brewing. I know Colt Philpott and he’s not someone I would attribute with bullying. It doesn’t seem like something he’d be happy with his family being involved in, never mind instigating.
He’s still working at the fitness center as far as I know, so I’ll be paying him a visit and see what he thinks of his wife and son being bullies. I have the video which Jessica sent to my phone, showing Colt’s fuckin’ wife attacking Red. It also shows the little asshole smirking at Jessica until his mother boxes him around the back of his head.
Catching Clay’s eye as I pass him in his bay, I shout. “I’M OUT FOR A WHILE.”
Giving me a nod, Clay turns back to the hog he’s working on and I make my way to my hog, which is parked out front. I chin lift Fist as I straddle my hog and fire her up. Let’s hope Colt is in a good mood. I grin when I hear a hog start behind me and turning Dice is slamming his brainbox on, ready to roll. I know Pres said to travel in pairs, so I’m okay with Dice tagging along.
It doesn’t take long to reach the fitness center, and after parking, I turn to Dice. “Stay here. I won’t be long. But if you hear a scuffle cover the sound.”
“What the fuck are we doing here?” Dice asks, and not because he’s worried, but he wants to get in on any action that may go down.
“I’m teaching a lesson about bullying, if needed. But you hear more than one fighting, jump in and give me a hand.”
“Will do, Rock.” Dice places himself near the door, where he can see inside the center and watch the hogs. What has me smirking is the way he’s rubbing his hands together, flexing his fingers and grinning while his eyes are searching the inside of the center.
Walking inside, I look around. I see a woman working out on a treadmill in the corner of the room, and two men are lifting weights, one standing as a point.
Turning when I hear someone approaching from behind me, I smile at none-other than Colt. “Hi, Colt.”
“Hi, Rock, how are you? I’ve not seen you in a long time.” Colt holds his hand out for me to shake and as I’m not petty, I give him the handshake he’s looking for. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, you can stop your woman being a total bitch, and your son a fuckin’ bully.” Snarling my words, taking him by surprise.
“What the fuck you talking about, Rock?”
I can see he’s trying to hold his temper, but I don’t give a shit if he holds it or not. What I’m here for is to give him a warning. “My niece Jessica is in school with Acton. Now your son is kicking, pinching and hitting her. The principal has spoken to your son and your wife. My Ol’ Lady has spoken to your wife who, by the way, tried to intimidate my woman. Then she attacked my woman.” The shock on Colt’s face is something to see. I take my cell phone out of my pocket, find the video, and show him the incident outside of the school.
“What the fuck!” Colt snarls, and replays the video before looking up at me with an expression that tells me he’s more than a little pissed off with what he’s just seen. “Leave it with me, Rock. I’ve told her about her fuckin’ attitude, and I warned her I’d take Acton and leave her if she continued. She wasn’t like this when I married her, and the money her grandfather left her when he died has gone to her fuckin’ head. I’ll deal with it, and if I grab my boy and leave, I’ll let you know, then you can deal with her as you feel necessary.”
“Oh, the Ol’ Ladies can deal out shit. Don’t you worry that she’ll get away with this bullshit, because I can promise you she won’t. But you had to know what was going down with her.”
I can see he’s having more than the attitude problem about bullying with his wife. I can also see he’s on the verge of leaving her and walking away. “You want to leave, get your kid and go. We’ll deal with your wife, or ex-wife, if that’s what you want?” I’m asking that last part because if he’s going to leave her, then we can deal with the bitch our way.
“I’ll let you know. I’d rather Acton keep his mother, but if she won’t toe the line, then she’s gone.” I give Colt a nod and turn to the door. “Rock!” stopping to hear what he has to say. “Thank you. You could have come here all guns blazing, but you were reasonable. Thank you.”
Giving Colt a nod, I step outside and give Dice a chin lift to get out of here and back to Hot Hogs. The ride back I keep to a sedentary pace, enjoying the moment with the wind in my face, before it’s back to work and the hog I need to finish today.
That’s not what happens when we reach Hot Hogs. What we are met with is a large crowd of townsfolk, and reporters shouting questions and photographers taking pictures.
“What…The…Fuck…” Dice snaps as we park our hogs and walk towards the front of the building. Pushing people out of our way as we go.
What we didn’t expect was Mikala Mitchell flanked by two bodyguards, allowing photographs and answering questions. She is even signing autographs for townsfolk.
Fist, Clay and Krylon are enjoying all the attention. Grinning and answering questions about the business. Mikala keeps giving all three of them a huge smile, and I’m sure she’s finding this highly amusing.
I catch the eye of one of the bodyguards and point to the front door. He gives me a nod and guides Mikala inside with all of us right behind.
“Oh, that was fun.” Mikala laughs while turning and hugging Fist, Clay and Krylon. Her bodyguards are smirking at her, which tells me this is a regular occurrence.
“You ready to see your hog?” I ask, breaking up this hug fest she’s having. Much to the annoyance of the three assholes who should be back at work.
“Oh yes, I want to see my girl. Where is Lucy-Loo?”
Walking through the workshop, we pass a row of hogs I’d lined up earlier. Mikala’s new ride being the center one. Dice is the only one aware and knows exactly when to start her up and do his thing. In the middle of the workshop is an old piece of junk that I’d covered with a piece of cloth as though I was going to do a big reveal.
I see Mikala eyeing the row of hogs appreciatively as we go by, not recognizing her own new and improved, Lucy-Loo. Standing before the covered hog, I give a speech about the amount of design, fabrication, and engineering that has gone into making this an exceptional project.
Taking hold of the cover, seeing Dice slip off to Lucy-Loo, I pull it off and the junker falls over with a loud crash. Mikala leaps forward to grab her beloved hog and only when she gets there does she see what a state it truly is. Rushing up to me, nose-to-nose, she starts a rant of abuse that I don’t think would be out of place in a prison block.
The sudden roar of Lucy-Loo’s supercharged engine has her breaking off and looking behind her. Dice trundles her forward with the engine growling, and it looks and sounds amazing.
Mikala stares at the bike as it rolls up to her, realization dawning that this is hers. She stands to the side and begins to take in all the changes. As she slowly walks around her baby, she notices more and more. Dice puts her on her stand but leaves her running.
Pointing to the now empty single seat, she looks at one of her bodyguards and grins. “No more lifts around the grounds for you.” That’s when she notices the stitching. “Oh my God. My initials are on the seat.”
“The paint job is fantastic. I love it. And the bits sticking out of the engine. I don’t care what they are or what they do, but they make her look so fucking mean and fierce. I’m not the girly-girl type, so you have nailed it.”
“The first few times you ride her, you’ll need to be very gentle with her. If you get too aggressive with her, she’ll definitely bite you in the ass. The bits sticking out are an up-rated air filter and a supercharger. Your girl has gone from domestic pussycat to full-blown panther. She will cruise all day, every day and fly when you need her, too. We’ve tweaked a few other engine bits too, so she’s ultra-reliable.
“You no longer have an oily chain and sprockets. We installed a belt-drive system instead, and she looks super cool. You’ll feel the difference when you pull away at the lights. What do you think?”
Mikala looks like she’s about to burst into tears and I’m worried we’ve gone too far.
“She’s not my old Lucy-Loo anymore. I think she’s evolved into what she should have been all along. It’s like you’ve seen into my head and even without me knowing, you’ve created a beautiful monster. I love everything you’ve done. Thank you.”
“I hate to be a businessman, but it wasn’t cheap. The bill was a bit higher than you may have been expecting.” I look sheepishly at Mikala. “We certainly got carried away when it came to the original brief we had on what you asked for.”
“Rock, I couldn’t be happier and I couldn’t care less. She looks a million dollars and if that’s what it cost, I’d probably ask for a discount as you’re gonna use her for advertising.” Mikala laughs and tells one of her bodyguards to go settle the bill. The other one leaves her with me and heads off to the SUV. While he’s gone Mikala sits on her hog and gives the engine a few extra revs. Giving out a very guttural laugh, she says she loves the way the seat vibrates with the extra power.
The bodyguard returns from the SUV with a holdall and a helmet bag. Mikala heads for the bathroom and returns a few minutes later, all geared up in her riding leathers.
Getting ready to leave, she takes out the helmet and literally bursts into tears. Krylon must have had an insider on her team. The helmet has a paint job with a picture of the hog from both sides, and has Lucy-Loo hand painted on the back, in gloss black to match the black chrome on the hog.
Krylon stands in the office door watching and then high-fives one of the bodyguards, both grinning like crazy.
Calling Krylon over, she gives him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Whatever you want to use for advertising your skills, you have my permission to use.” Taking a card from one of her bodyguards, she signs her name with a flourish and states, “Add that for authenticity. Now, get the hell outta my way so I can ride this bitch.”
Gingerly, she heads out of the workshop with her two men running for the SUV. As she rides away, she opens up the throttle and we all hear her screams of delight.
“Job well done, onto the next!” I exclaim as we all turn and walk back inside.
After seeing Mikala and her bodyguards leave along with the crowd that had accumulated, it’s time to get back to work. With that in mind, I make my way over to the new building and take in the new door to the back parking lot, and the inner doors to the kitchen, restroom, and office.
The office is my next chore. I want to check the walls and see if it needs new drywall. If not, then I’m good to clean the room, and get to painting. I spoke to Hammer and we’re going to put tiles on the floor, which will be easy to wet mop. I’m wondering if we can persuade Bren to clean here and watch over the computer system that we are bound to need. It’ll be linked to the Hot Hogs system, because we don’t want everyone rushing from here and back each time they have to check a customer’s details.
The drywall is good, so I quickly clean the room of its cobwebs and dust. That is the main issue once I’ve ripped out the old rotten carpeting. Why anyone would put that in here, I don’t know. I’m going to be in Bren’s bad books, I’m sure, as I raided her supply cupboard next door and have ruined her mop and bucket. The vacuum cleaner is covered in dust and grime and that’s going to make it worse, I’m sure, but I had to get the place clean before I can paint.
“RAW!” I shout, and stand with my hands on my hips while I wait.
“Yeah, what’s up, Rock?” Raw asks from the doorway.
“Can you run into town and get me a can of light gray paint for the walls? Here’s the business card, but get a receipt or TwoCents will have our guts.” I pass the card to Raw who takes it before turning to leave, then turns back to me.
“Shall I price up floor tiles while I’m there?”
“Yeah. Let’s measure up and bring what you think we need. Anything we need at all for this room to be done and finished. Fist will mostly use this office, but you guys will come in here to use the computer system too. So, keep the floor tiles to something that won’t show every bit of dirt, or Bren will have us eating shit for a week.” Now Bren brings cupcakes and pastries from the bakery on Thursdays and none of us want her to stop doing that, so we will try to keep the workload down for her.
Raw takes off in the Hot Hogs’ truck, and I grin when I see Dice standing on the sidewalk shaking his head. He’s nowhere to be at the moment, so I’m not worried. He can chill out and I get back to work.
While I’m waiting for Raw to come back and after I’ve cleared away all the cleaning equipment I relax out front and people watch, as I like to do. My phone vibrates and looking at it, I see a message from Beer.
Beer: Are you still up for the road trip?
Rock: I am, as long as nothing untoward happens.
Beer: OK. I’m trying to find out how many brothers are still wanting in.
Rock: I’m still in as far as I know.
Beer: What about now you are after Destiny?
Rock: I am sure she’ll not mind. She will understand I had made commitments.
Beer: Actually, I think you’re right. She’s a nice person. I like her.
Rock: Yeah, I like her too.
Beer: Well, I would hope so or you are gonna have a shit of a bad Ol’ Lady time of it.
Rock: Not gonna happen.
Beer: OK. I’ll count you in.
Rock: OK. Thx.
Once Raw gets back he helps me get the painting done, and prep the floor for the tiles tomorrow. I don’t want to hang about as there is so much else to be done. Hammer’s second team are moving along well, but with no plumbing needing to be done in the office, I felt it was good to give a hand and have one room down. I’ll have to make sure Hammer knows they didn’t do the office or he’ll pay them for this room, too.
Taking out my phone I send a text to Red.
Rock: Be ready for four-thirty. I’ll pick you and Jessica up. We’ll go out to eat. No need for fancy dressing. Jeans will be fine.
Red/Destiny: Where do you want to go?
Rock: Club Whisky. Eden has organized a Kid’s Time from 4:00/5:30 for meals. There is a list of rules on display, I’m told. Typical Eden if you ask me.
Red/Destiny: OK.
I mess with my phone and get rid of Destiny on my caller ID because I know who Red is, and she’s gonna always be that to me. I need to get some time on our own because I can’t claim her with Jessica hanging around.
I’m thinking ‘Time’s nearly up, Red’, I’m coming ready or not!