Short one tonight, guys! Sorry, it's been a hell of a day for me! Hope that you all enjoy and please leave some reviews!
Filip had run out of time. He had been on a quest to find his best friend, who was obviously hiding from anybody and everybody, and he had run out of time. He was supposed to have found the kid and been at the warehouse more than an hour ago, but he had let the warehouse responsibility fall to the wayside in favor of finding the kid. Now, apparently, there was a vote regarding a change of leadership that had to happen, and he was supposed to bring he boy and meet the guys at the Clubhouse in an hour. This was just what they fucking needed right now. He would not only have to show up and admit that he had never arrived at the warehouse, but also that he had failed to find the boy wonder. Tonight was going over really, really well for him.
Figuring that he should, at the very least, stop in at the warehouse and make sure it hadn't completely dropped off the face of the earth, like Juice had, he turned and headed west. It wasn't far and the ride wouldn't be long, but he couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding that had settled over him. He was very nearly afraid of what he would find if he went to the warehouse. It could be up in flames, it could have been taken over by a horde of angry clowns, it could be completely and totally fine. There was literally nothing that would surprise him.
He pulled up to a stop sign and waited, as he could see another bike approaching. He sincerely hoped that whoever it was, they would just wave and head to the Clubhouse. This wasn't normal for him. He usually relished time spent with his brothers and would pretty much always rather ride with them than without them, but tonight was different. He didn't think company would be of any benefit to him tonight. He needed to think things though, deal with whatever was going on, and he needed to do it alone. As Tig pulled up beside him, he racked his brain to try and think of a polite way to tell him to fuck off.
"Hey brother," Tig grinned as he stopped his bike next to Filip's. "You know that the Clubhouse is the other way, right? All that sex didn't make you lose your bearings, did it?"
Filip forced a smile and shook his head. "Close, but not quite. I need to head to the warehouse, see if I can find Juice and check on things. I will be back before the vote. That shit is crazy."
"You're telling me," Tig nodded. "Where the hell has Juice gotten to? He's been a little off the reservation lately. I am starting to think that he misses prison. Or maybe he just misses bunking with me."
"I'm sure that's it, Tiggy," Filip rolled his eyes. "Nah, he is just adjusting, and after all that shit with Miles, he deserves some time. He will be fine. If I ever find him, that is."
"Well, I'll ride with you out to the warehouse. Can't be too careful with all of this cartel shit," Tig reasoned, pulling off and doing a quick u-turn with his bike. "Let's get this done."
Shit, Filip thought. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted, but there was really no way to avoid it now. It looked like he was riding with Tig, whether he liked it or not. They took off and headed toward the warehouse, Filip knowing full well that there was nothing he could do about this situation now.
The ride was quick, and they passed almost nobody on the road. He figured that most normal people were at home, either in bed or spending time with their families. For the first time in a very long time, he wished that he was normal. Thinking of families only made him think of his own family, tucked safely away at home. No matter what happened tonight at the warehouse, no matter which direction this crazy vote landed in, no matter what was going on with Juice, it warmed Filip's heart to know that he could go home to his wife and kids.
They were coming up on the warehouse when they noticed the Teller-Morrow tow truck pulled off on to the side of the road. He knew pretty much right away that they had finally found Juice. The kid had taken the truck out, and that meant that wherever the truck was, Juice had to be as well. Filip noted a major flaw with that logic almost immediately. The truck was here, pulled off to the side of the road, the hood cold to the touch, and Juice was nowhere nearby.
Tig and Filip looked at each other, both of them wondering what the hell was going on. They were both quick to dismount their bikes and take a look around. It was pitch black, the headlamps on their bikes the only thing cutting through the darkness.
"The truck isn't locked and the keys are still in it," TIg reported. "He can't be far off. What the fuck is he doing out here?"
"Don't know," Filip replied, his sense of absolute wrongwrongwrong being amplified by the minute. He turned towards the woods. "JUICE!"
They listened for a minute, staying quiet enough to hear any sign of life that might be there, but still the heard nothing. "JUICEY BOY!"
It was only another few seconds before Filip could make out a shape coming through the trees. He breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized Juice jogging towards them, covered in leaves with his hood pulled up.
"What the fuck are you doing out here, man?" Tig asked, just as blunt as ever.
Juice was grinning and out of breath, almost as if he had sprinted towards them. There was something unnatural and almost unnerving about the smile on the boy's face. "Nothing. Just taking a piss."
Filip walked around Juice, slowly taking in the boy's appearance. There was something stiff about the way he was standing there, and the dead leaves and damp ground covering his black hoodie did nothing to help his appearance. Filip looked the kid up and down, brushing off his shoulder.
"What'd you do, take a spill?" Filip asked. Juice started to answer, but Filip's eyes caught the edge of an angry mark beneath Juice's hood. The skin on the front of the boy's neck was raw and red, all signed pointing to some sort of violent encounter, and a recent one too. "What the hell is this?"
Not many people would have noticed, but Juice's eyes got slightly desperate. "Crazy old man. He's got security wires all over the place out here."
It was a flimsy excuse, and both Filip and Juice knew it. Tig, however, seemed to have no problem accepting it for truth. "And you clothes lined it?" he asked with a grin. "You dumb ass."
Tig's laughter distracted both men from their thoughts as they joined in, just for show. Filip was trying to imagine how fast one might have to be running to clothes line a wire and have it do that much damage. Then, he was trying to come up with a reason as to why Juice might have been dashing through the woods, blind, at roughly forty miles per hour. He knew that no matter how hard he though, he wouldn't be able to come up with one. Juice was just hoping and praying that the guys would stop asking questions and he could get out of this mess without either of them discovering the truth.
"Come on, shit head," Tig said. "We need to get back to the Club house. Got a vote."
"Drugs?" Juice asked, relieved that they were no longer talking about his jaunt into the woods.
"Nah," Tig answered. "Change of leadership."
"Shit," Juice muttered, as he made his way back towards the tow truck. Tig climbed back on his bike. Filip, though, remained standing on the side of the road, his eyes on Juice. The boy knew, right then and there, that he hadn't fooled the older man.
Filip knew that he could stand there, in the middle of the road, all night, waiting for the truth to just appear, but it would do him no good. He knew something was up; he was well aware that there was something that he wasn't seeing, and is he could only figure out what it was, than maybe he could help. Maybe he could figure out why his brother, his friend, was so miserable. Maybe he could figure out what the kid was running from. Right now, though, Filip just couldn't put it all together; just couldn't figure it all out.
"Chibs, man," Tig called out to him. "You coming?"
He climbed onto his bike, wishing that he could just leave all of these problems on the side of the road and ride back to the Clubhouse with his brothers. He knew that he couldn't do that though; he couldn't let all of this go. Not until he knew what was going on with his brother. So, he packed up all of his troubles, all of his concerns, and climbed on his bike.
"Yeah," Filip sighed, "I'm coming."
