Heavy Duty People: The Brethren MC Trilogy book 1 Read Free Page B

without question if we caught him. But here and now, we would hear him out and he would unquestionably walk out unharmed.
    ‘ If you try to stay neutral in a war, you will end up the losers. And the losing side in the war won’t be able to help you, while the winner won’t have needed you to win or have any reason to value you.
    ‘ But don’t get the wrong idea here. I’m not here to threaten you guys.
    ‘ We don’t recruit, we recognise.
    ‘ And I’m here to tell you, as guys we respect, we want you on our side.
    ‘ So as I say, I’m here to offer you all a choice.
    ‘ It’s time to step up to the big time. Time to join the international Brethren world.’
    Oh fuck , I thought, so that was what was coming.
    ‘ We want you to patch over. We want you to join us to expand the North-east charter across the region.’
    Oh fuck. The what happens if you don ’t was unsaid. Once The Brethren had made an offer like this we were either in or against them. It was not a choice being offered but an ultimatum, however quietly and smilingly delivered. It was join us or disband.
    And it was always a one time offer.
    Once Dazza had finished, Tiny stood up to formally respond. He thanked Dazza for coming out to see us and for setting out what he had to say so clearly. Obviously there was a lot to take in and we as a club would need to consider what he had said; to consult; we would need to ask the brothers inside who weren’t here tonight what they thought; we would need to come to a view.
    ‘ Of course,’ said Dazza. ‘That’s only natural. Now I could hang around but I know that this is something you guys will want to discuss amongst yourselves so I suggest I leave you to it. Obviously you guys know where I am if there’s anything you want to talk to us about.’
    Butcher stood up to escort him from the room.
    ‘But before I go, there is one thing I would like to say in conclusion.’
    The room waited in silence.
    ‘Just don’t take too long.’
    The storm of noise and voices broke after he left the room.
    It was a h eated discussion, freewheeling was always the way in the club. But immediately, it was difficult to put a finger on it exactly, there was already a bit of a change in atmosphere. The discussion was perhaps just a shade less open than it would have been normally. I just got the feeling that some people were being more careful about what they said than they would normally be. That this was serious, that the wrong words here could have serious consequences later on, of interests being assessed, of positions being considered.
    Irrespective of what we thought of him or the message, as a representative he had clearly given a good impression for his club. As the evening wore on I heard a number of people say more or less the same thing:
    ‘ He has balls coming in here like that.’
    ‘ He was pretty cool about it.’
    ‘ You’ve got to admire his balls, walking into our clubhouse to deliver a message like that.’
    We broke up that night without any formal decision being taken. I hadn ’t expected it would be. We were a strangely democratic group in many ways; we were brothers and we tended to naturally seek to reach a consensus. With most things Tiny would take soundings, discuss the offer with small groups, and gradually we would come to a view as to what we, as a club, would decide to do.
    *
    It was a crisp cold night under an inky black sky filled with millions of brilliant white stars and the ride home from the clubhouse took twenty minutes or so.
    I loved riding on my own at night.
    There was something about the blackness, the cold wind biting my face, the streaming smear of light on the road ahead, the howling solitude, the unthinking way that I followed the road, long grooved with memories, testing each familiar curve just one more time, that made me feel as though I was riding towards the end of the world; by myself in my own private bubble of time and space.
    Alone in a dream I roared up and