Because they weren't apart of the mother charter, Coyote and the Nomads sat at the rear of the room, while Kyle sat at the foot of the redwood table.
Seated in front of Kyle was every member of the Redwood Original.
"We're gathered here today to discuss patching a member out hard and whether or not we ought to take the chance on our hangaround becoming a Prospect," Clay began. Looking around, he continued, "Let's start with the easier of the two issues."
Clay looked at the SAMCRO members and said, "What do you all say? Yay or Nay?"
Nods all around gave the silent, unanimous vote of Yay. "Coyote, go fetch him."
Coyote didn't acknowledge Kyle as he got up and walked out the door. Only after he had closed them did Clay address the primary issue.
"You bailed on a job, nearly got two of our brothers killed and then fled the state. Any one of those things would have gotten you a beating."
"Only reason I'm alive and at this table is because of Coyote," Opie added, glaring daggers at the man.
"The cops were on us. I had to make a move." Kyle spoke up.
Sharky immediately put a hand on the pressure point between Kyle's clavicle and neck, gave a squeeze and made Kyle scream in pain. "Your panic is what brought the law down on Opie and Coyote. Your cowardice nearly got them killed. End of story."
"A new patch, not even a year old member, has more balls and brains than you do." Clay did his best to stay objective, but was ready to chop Kyle Hobart's head off on principle alone.
Bobby tossed Kyle a set of divorce papers. "April already signed it. You owe her alimony and child support until your son turns 18. The amount owed is non negotiable."
Looking over the papers, Kyle threw them on the table. "How can I get that kind of money each month? I'll end up working myself down to nothing."
"You're already nothing so you're half way there." Swamp Man shrugged.
With a heavy sigh, Kyle signed the papers.
Before the ink began to dry, Clay immediately brought up a vote. "All in favor of stripping Kyle Hobart of his patch?"
"Yay!" Everyone said unanimously.
"Any opposition?" No one said a thing.
Kyle watched the gavel hit the redwood table in defeat.
"You have a month to black out your ink," Tig instructed.
The Nomads grabbed Kyle by his shoulders, stood him up, and violently ripped the leather straight off his back.
"Leave the kutte on the table and take him out to the ring. Give him a proper send off."
As they dragged Kyle out of the chapel, Coyote walked in with Juan behind.
"Close the door, Juan," Coyote instructed.
With the door closed again, everyone looked at Juan with stone cold expressions.
"Easy part is over," Clay spoke before he nodded to Bobby.
Bobby stood up, and revealed what was in his hands; a leather kutte with a prospect rocker.
He tossed it to Coyote, who then handed it to Juan, "You don't speak until your sponsor says you can. That clear, Prospect?"
As he put on the kutte, Juan nodded, "Does this mean you are my sponsor, Coyote?"
"No. I am," Tig barked out, "Prospect year ends, minimum, one year from today."
"75 bucks are due on the first of each month," Bobby instructed.
"Considering who your sponsor is, good luck. It's gonna be a long year," Opie said with a chuckle.
"Now get out," Jax ordered.
The new SAMCRO Prospect opened the door and walked out, closing the door behind him.
"Meeting adjourned. Bobby, give the papers to Olivia. She'll take them to April." Clay instructed.
When night fell over Bakersfield, Cricket went out with three of her closest MC sisters for a binge of tequila and tacos from their favorite food truck.
Before long, they were all at her apartment, filling plates with food, glasses with drink and rolling papers with mota.
At a height of 4'11", Palma was the shortest in the entire MC, but one of the toughest. It didn't take much for a gun to look like a cannon in her hands.
Cricket had seen her flirting enough with women to tell that she was a lesbian but never brought it up. Then it was confirmed when she walked in on Palma with her head between the legs of a busty blonde. That didn't change Cricket's opinion about Palma.
On top of that, Palma never backed down from a confrontation. With the exception of Sabrina Alvarez, it didn't matter to her who was in front of her or that they were either men or women.
Among her many talents, Palma rolled the best joints.
Among her flaws was an absolute lack of tact.
"I'm curious, Cricket. How did the New York last longer than the two before him?" Palma asked in between a bite of her carnitas and a shot of tequila. "Did you scare him off like you did with Jaime? Or did he put his hands on you like Oscar did with you?"
"Neither one, Palmita. Unlike Jaime, he understands the life and didn't get scared off. Unlike Oscar, he never tried to push me around."
"He must've made a very big impression on you, carnala." Chayo said, impishly pushing her tongue against her inner cheek multiple times. "Did he always come out here to you or did you ever have a good time with him in Sin City?"
"I never went to his place, Chayo." Cricket said as she grabbed a carnitas taco and munched on it. Washing it down with a shot of tequila, she went on, "I've never been with anyone who stood over 6 feet like him." Jaime and Oscar were under 5'10". Coyote stood well over them at a height of 6'2" tall.
"If he is that much of a catch, why did you toss him out?" Mariposa asked. She was the only one who had ever spoken to Coyote, even though it was only once. "Did he make you go down on him every day of the week?"
"No. Only time I ever blew him was before I ended it." Cricket's answer raised six eyebrows.
"He sounds like a gentleman. So, again, why'd you toss him out?" Palma asked. "Did you find an engagement ring in his kutte with your name on it?"
"You should have let us know you were letting him go. Who knows? Mariposa and I could have had a shot with him." Chayo remarked as she licked the edge of her taco before taking a generous bite.
"If what they had fell through, Chayo, the last thing on his mind was going down the line of Hell Cats in Bakersfield." replied Mariposa. After a healthy pull of her joint, a smile crossed her face. "I bet Cricket's Fat Boy was getting jealous."
It got a laugh from Palma and Chayo, but it didn't put a grin on Cricket's face.
"You're all my sisters, but I'll throw your taco munching, pot smoking asses out the door." Cricket said sharply before taking a big bite from her taco al pastor. "He was too romantic. I wasn't going to lead him on and the look in his eyes...it's over now."
"It hasn't even been a day, Cricket. He may have left on his Harley but you have his heart on your bedside table. I could have 12 dates in two weeks and go to bed with all of them, easy, without getting the idea of settling down. After a while, you can spot the ones just out to get some from the few like that New Yorker." started Chayo as she nursed a shot of tequila in between puffs on her joint. "If he's as much a gentleman as you say, he's not drowning his sorrows in pussy."
"Besides, something would have had to start for something to be over, Cricket." Mariposa said as she and Palma each grabbed several nachos with bean dip. "Does your bed still smell like the two of you?"
"It was just sex." Cricket insisted as she took a double shot. She needed to wipe out the memory of the last fuck she got out of Coyote.
"Don't lie, carnala. He wasn't your first but he is the first to stick in your head. You enjoyed him when in and out of your bed. I'll stake a C note that you still feel his mouth on your tits and both of his hands on your ass." Palma remarked, bringing laughs from Chayo and Mariposa, who added, "Not to mention his cock in your..."
"Callate, perra!" Cricket snapped before getting her temper back in check. "I'll admit we had a lot of fun. He never looked down on me and I actually cared enough to let him sleep with me rather than risk him wiping out on the road. We somehow trusted each other to talk about anything. He never asked me what I did for our club but he trusted me enough to tell me what happened with him in his."
"Does he have a name?" Palma asked.
"Coyote."
"So does that make you his Road Runner?" Palma joked, getting a laugh from Chayo and Mariposa at the cartoon reference.
"Doesn't sound like it was just sex, Cricket." Mariposa remarked, pausing to take a puff from her joint. Cricket said nothing as she took a heavy pull from her own.
"It almost sounds like Cricket is in..."
"Don't say it." Cricket may have been floating in a haze but she knew right away what Mariposa was suggesting. "I didn't earn my kutte to hang it up for anyone."
"No one asked you to hang it all up. Certainly no one at this table and most of all, not the guy you tossed out for being too romantic." Mariposa pointed out.
"If the thought of Coyote fucking any other woman doesn't upset you, then it was just sex." Palma stated, pausing to down a shot of tequila. "But if it does upset you, it means you're in love."
Olivia calmly watched Kyle get escorted out of the clubhouse without his kutte on. A moment later, Bobby approached her with the divorce papers signed.
"Did he make a fool of himself yet?"
"He was a fool long before today. Now he's an excommunicated fool."
Taking her phone in hand, Olivia dialed a number from memory.
"The papers are signed. You're free, and Kyle is out. Only time you'll hear from him is when he's paying what's owed."
A moment of silence passed.
"When your son asks, tell him his dad had to leave California for a job out of state."
She ended the phone call in time for everyone else to leave the chapel, including Opie and Jax, who were talking with Coyote in hushed voices.
"Coyote," she called out, getting the younger man's attention. Coyote looked to the 2nd generation Sons and said, "Leave something for me to hit when I get out there."
"If he's still breathing, you'll get your shots in," Opie said.
Jackson looked at Olivia before he whispered, "Tig has done worse to guys just for staring at his Old Lady. Tread carefully."
Olivia had no doubt they were telling him to watch his step with her. When the two SAMCRO heirs had gone outside, Coyote approached her, "Ms. Evans."
"It's Olivia. And don't worry about Tig. He probably already knows that you have a young lady down in Bakersfield."
Coyote's face fell just enough for her to take notice. "Are you alright?"
"I have had better days."
"Your girl in Bakersfield? Did something happen?"
"We've had...a long needed discussion. She made it clear what she is, and what she won't be."
"Don't give it any mind. It's her loss. For now, at least know you have a place to lay your head for the night."
"Where's that? I don't think Tig would take well to me spending the night at your place."
"Not with me or him. April Hobart offered to let you use her guest room."
Coyote let out a thin smile.
"For now, I think I ought to go throw my frustrations at Kyle while he still has a pulse."
Coyote had been taught by The Caveman on how to properly fight. That is to say, how to fight dirty when the situation called for it. And the most important rule he'd drilled into his head had been that strife must not interfere on an emotional level.
Come to think of it, that was the first thing he'd ever taught him as a prospect.
Two pitchers of margaritas was the capper to their binge. And no matter how loaded on tacos, high, or drenched in alcohol they were, Cricket's sisters in arms managed to hang up their kuttes before passing out on her fold out sofa.
The mota was extra strong. Cricket felt it seep through her lungs and across her brain as she breathed in the lingering cloud of weed. Her vision was somewhat distorted, as if she were walking through a fog.
When she got to her room, Cricket heard a commotion she could easily identify. "If any of you three brought your guys down here for a fuck, I'm throwing you..."
The closer she got, Cricket saw it was her in bed with Coyote. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and both her arms hooked around his. Her hands were clutching his shoulders as he thrust in and out of her. Cricket felt her heart beat faster as he fondled every inch of her body.
It was when he ate her out that she realized it was the first time they ever had sex. It was also the one time she ever had him fall into her arms after sex, his face buried in her cleavage as she ran her fingers through his short, wavy black hair.
Jaime could never have worked up the nerve and Oscar would have made her jump through hoops without any reciprocation. Coyote was enthusiastic to learn what made her feel good and was humble enough to not feel entitled to anything.
Cricket never told her MC sisters what else was done the first time she ever fucked Coyote. She never told them how he gave her a full body massage, which spoiled her and gave him all the opportunity to touch her from head to toe.
In the mirror, Cricket saw herself wrapped in Coyote's arms and sat in his lap as if he were a human throne. Cricket could still feel his body pressed against hers to where she could feel and hear his heart beat.
Meanwhile, Mariposa was grinning with amusement as she heard Cricket getting herself off in her sleep while whispering Coyote's name.
"You look like you've had quite the day," April said as she offered the young Son a glass of water. She watched as he took his time in lifting the glass to his mouth.
"I did," Coyote answered, "The woman from Bakersfield I'd gotten close to apparently felt I was getting too close and she cut things off."
"What did you say to her?"
"I asked if she wanted to get some get some breakfast with me."
April grinned.
"If nothing else, it's the personal underlying tone that scared her. She's probably never gone farther than taking you into bed with her," April, folding her arms, "Waking up one morning and having something like that brought up is something she never expected."
"She told me I wasn't her man and that she wouldn't be anyone's Old Lady."
"Give her a week or two. Men and women sometimes make knee jerk reactions and it can take a long time to correct them." April paused in self reflection. "That's coming from first hand experience."
"Kyle?" Coyote asked.
April sighed as she drank from her glass.
"It wasn't all bad. We did love each other, once upon a time," She finished her drink and set it down, "He made his choices. I made mine. And maybe some time apart is for the best."
Coyote finished his own water and asked, "Where's Charlie?"
"He went with his friends to an arcade in Lodi. Not a lot to do for kids in a small town," April remarked, "Let me show you to the guest room."
Coyote followed April down the hall to a door just across from the master bedroom.
"I left toothpaste and a spare toothbrush for you. Just in case you didn't have them." April said, while mentally reminding herself that she was easily 20 years Coyote's senior on looks alone.
Walking inside the guest room, Coyote took in the sights around him. Curtains over the windows, queen sized bed with clean sheets and a bathroom with shower. A television sat across from the bed with folding dinner tables against the wall.
"This will work. Thank you..."
"April. You can call me April. I won't be Mrs. Hobart anymore. Do you need me to wake you up tomorrow?"
"If you're up at 7 in the morning, I would like to be woken up by then if the alarm doesn't go off."
"Sure. No problem. Get your rest." April said before leaving Coyote by himself in the room.
A soothing shower helped to calm the nerves and take his mind off the day's events. Drying off, he went about brushing his teeth and gargling with the mouthwash he always brought with him during long runs.
He tried, but Coyote found himself unable to go to sleep.
After a few minutes, he got up from bed, set up one of the folding tv dinner tables and started to clean his Beretta.
He hadn't used it, but taking it apart and putting it back together helped him to keep his skills fresh. A part of him hoped it would make him tired enough to get some sleep.
What really kept him up was the feeling of being alone in a bed. The feeling of Cricket's warm body pressed up against his had helped him sleep easier.
A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.
When he opened it, he found April's teenage son staring at him.
"Coyote, right?"
Coyote nodded, "Your mom offered me a place for the night. Tomorrow, I have to get back to Nevada. I won't be here long."
"I'm alright with you being here." Charlie said before asking, "How old were you when you thought to Prospect?"
"Well after I graduated from high school and long after that. Why do you ask?"
"No one will say it to me but I have a feeling my parents are not staying together. Does it have to do with the club?"
Coyote grimaced. His parents had divorced when he was only 10. While his father left New York, Coyote and his mother were left to fend for themselves until after his graduation from high school.
He went to live with a friend who was a Prospect for the New York Crew after his mother decided to move out to New Jersey with her sisters.
"As far as your parents splitting apart, you're not far off from the truth. As for everything else, it's not my place to say." Coyote said before he turned back to the bed, when Charlie surprised him.
"What's gonna happen to my dad? Where is he?"
Coyote took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts.
"You didn't lose your father, but he lost his patch. You'll have to ask him for the rest of the story."