Page 111 of Army
“I’ll bust your goddamn balls, asshole!”
“I’m ready for you, dumbass.” Army clicked off the phone then threw the empty bottle in the trash. Adrenaline pumped through him and he jumped up and paced the room while he pounded his fist into the palm of his hand. “You sonofabitch. I’m ready for you,” he said aloud.
“Don’t meet him.” Taylor’s voice startled Army and he stopped in his tracks. “I overheard you talking to Mia’s brother. You know this isn’t the answer.
Army shook his head. “You don’t get my world so stay out of this.”
“Yourworld? What the hell does that mean? How is beating the shit out of each other going to solve anything? You need a mediator. You’re both hot heads and have a lot of emotions involved in this. Letmetalk to Vic. I’m sure if he understands how happy Mia is he’ll let her live her life.”
“Are you stoned? Just leave it the hell alone. I’ll deal with it in the way it needs to be, okay?”
Taylor walked over to Army and put his hands on his shoulders. “Please don’t do this. If you don’t care about yourself, think about Mia and Dad. Don’t you want to see Joshua grow up? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Army pushed his brother’s hands away. “I don’t plan on getting hurt.”
“How can you know that? I don’t plan on it when I’m in the ring but sometimes it happens. Let me just try to talk with Vic.”
Army guffawed. “Like that’s gonna do shit.” He patted his brother on the back. “Stick to MMA competitions. You don’t know a fuckin’ thing about the outlaw world.”
“But what’s going to be resolved?”
“Taylor, stay the fuck outta this. This discussion is over.” He glanced at his brother and shook his head. “You need to worry about winning your next fight not about what’s going on with me. I’m gonna hit the speed bags and pretend it’s that asshole Shark.” He laughed, ignoring his brother’s serious face as he walked out of the room.
Stripped to his gym shorts and wearing boxing gloves, Army pummeled the bag with kicks and punches from all directions—each strike tightly executed and perfect in form. Sweat rolled down his shoulders and back, his forearms glistening under the florescent lights as he threw jarring jabs and large, hooking body shots into the heavy bag, grunting loudly. He kept up the grueling pace until his muscles screamed and he was soaked.
As he passed by Taylor on his way to the showers, he noticed his brother didn’t meet his gaze. He grabbed a towel from the rack, stripped off his drenched shorts then turned on the water in one of the shower stalls and stepped in.
After Army dressed, he looked at his phone and saw that he’d missed Steel’s two calls. He packed all his stuff into the duffel bag and tapped in the president’s number as he walked into the break room.
“Sorry I missed your calls—I was working out. What’s up?” Army asked.
“I heard you’re meeting Shark tomorrow night,” Steel replied.
Army narrowed his eyes.Fuck you, Taylor.“Yeah, but it’s personal. It doesn’t involve the brotherhood.”
“When one brother has a problem, we all do. There’s no fucking way you’re going out there tomorrow night without backup.”
Army didn’t say anything, but he understood what Steel was saying because he’d be telling one of the members the same thing if they were planning to do what he was.
“I’ll put it out to the brothers and let them know what’s up. I’ll make it strictly voluntary. I don’t trust the fucking Pistons,” Steel said.
“I don’t either.”
“This is going to turn into a rumble for sure. I’ll let you know who’s going to be with you, bro.”
“Thanks, Prez.” Army slid the phone into his pocket and walked back into the gym. He strode over to Taylor and clutched his shoulder. “I talked to Steel,” he said.
“I don’t give a shit if you’re pissed at me,” Taylor replied.
“I’m not. I’ll talk to you later.”
After putting the gym bag in one of the saddle bags, his phone rang and he saw it was Steel.
“Hey,” Army said.
“All the brothers volunteered to watch your back, but we can’t leave the clubhouse unmanned and we got businesses to run. So the ones coming up tonight are Eagle, Brutus, Muerto, Sangre, Diablo, Jigger, Goldie, Crow, Cueball, and Ruger.”
“Okay,” Army said. He pulled in a deep breath and the feeling of being able to conquer the world filled him. The ties and friendship they all shared were forged in trust, honesty, and reciprocity, and, in that moment, he was proud as hell to be a Night Rebel.
