CHAPTER SOUNDTRACK: 'BAD COMPANY' – FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH


Rebel souls, deserters we've been called;
chose a gun, and threw away the sun.

"Let's do this, boys," Jax said as the men secured their packs onto their bikes. Half-Sack and Piney jumped into the box truck adorned with the 'Ride and Read: Helping Charming's Local Schools ' banner. It was their cover for transporting Dante's weaponry. It'd been three weeks since the opening ceremony and little had anyone known, that had been a cover for his Sicilian associates to fly in to 'celebrate' and to also bring in his goods. The guns had been assembled, the ammunition pressed and the grenades safely housed. Samcro hadn't realized they were transporting weapons of military destruction until it was too late. It caused a little dissention, but once they received half of their payout, it seemed to quiet it down.

They were all on edge as they arranged the "charity ride" for the local school district. They would in fact collect books to donate and even give money during the ride, but it was the perfect cover for the transport. The box truck housed crates of books on top of those weapons and the Sons on bikes rolled the smaller weapons into the bedrolls.

Their last stop before heading up the coast was Rossini's to make it appear as though Dante was donating a lot of books from his travels across the United States, and a check. It was not fake. He, indeed, did as the crates were loaded into the truck. He sent the men off with trust in them to get the task done swiftly and smoothly.

One by one, the Sons mounted their bikes and revved them up, pulling away from Rossini's and heading out of Charming on their first big [and new] business venture. Hearts pounded, nerves were on edge. Nothing could go wrong. There was too much precious cargo in that truck. They could die during this run. They could go to jail for life during this run. The people they were leaving behind with Dante could get hurt. Shit had to go exactly as planned.

Now these towns, well they all know our name.
The death punch sound is our claim to fame.

"What are you doin'?" Juice asked into his burner as he sat down on his parked bike outside of their destination. The club was protected by the cover of night at the moment as Dante's associates unloaded the box truck in back of the establishment. The drive had been a straight shot aside from the few stops they had to make to make the charity ride look real. The hotel they came to stop at was run by one of Dante's associates. Samcro asked no questions, just accepted the hospitality and the envelope of the rest of their payoff. There was food, booze, and women waiting for them inside the hotel, compliments of Mr. Rossini. They all agreed that if every run was this way, it would be a good relationship.

"Painting," Bianca said.

"Painting? Painting what? I didn't know you painted."

"I don't. I'm painting the bedroom." He laughed.

"Why?"

"I'm bored."

"You're bored."

"And nervous. I do weird things when I'm bored and nervous."

"You don't have to be nervous, though. Everything went good. We'll be on our way back in the morning." She sighed. "Is that it?"

"Is what it?"

"Is that the only thing bothering you?"

"Yeah. You forget, this is the first time I'm having to deal with something like this…other than…" she let her voice trail off, because he already knew she meant having to deal with the Mayans and that whole mess. "I'm just not used to it."

"I know. It'll be okay. It's only once a month and it was easy." She was silent, and Juice could tell there was something else on her mind, but he didn't push her. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. "What color are you painting the bedroom?"

"Black, like my soul." He laughed again.

"Seriously?"

"No, it's called…hang on," she paused, "it's called, Caribbean Sea."

"So, blue."

"It's a shade of blue."

"It's blue. Just say it. Blue."

"Shut up."

"Juice!" he heard Jax shout from behind him. Juice shot a look over his shoulder toward the entrance of the hotel and sighed.

"I gotta go babe."

"Okay."

"I'll text you in the morning."

"Alright. I love you."

"I love you too." Juice snapped his phone shut and jogged to meet up with Jackson. "What's up?" Jax gave him a folded over envelope.

"For your trouble, bro." Juice smiled and nodded. Jackson wrapped his arm around the younger man's neck and pulled him into a headlock. "Let's go get shitfaced."