Redwood Nine: Season 03 Ch. 02

Lenny was sitting at the table doodling on paper, while Lorraine sat on his lap cuddling with him.

"What are you writing, Baby?"

"We need something for our letterhead. I'm just trying to figure a way to shorten it up a bit."

"Is that the initials?

"Yeah, doesn't make any sense like that."

"Almost looks like it spells out Sam Crow, that place by Lodi."

"Yeah it does, doesn't it. Too bad we don't have any of the last letters to make it work."

"What's that, Lenny?"

"Trying to shorten our club name for the letterhead, Piney. It takes up too much space at the top. Hey, JT!"

"What's up, Lenny?"

"What's the name of our charter? If we start up more, we need to designate a location for us."

"Funny, I was wondering that myself. Charming just doesn't cut it, so I was at a loss for something to call us."

"Redwood."

"That's good, Piney. If we can think of a name with an O in it, we can make our name Samcro, like the corners Lorraine was talking about."

"An O? Let me think about that. Hey, how about Redwood Originals? We are the original charter and the others are coming later, so how does that sound?"

"Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Originals. I fucking like that name, dude. Our chapter can be called Samcro. Nice going, Piney."

Piney smiled and took a bow, pleased he had contributed personally to the club. The name was batted about and every guy agreed it was a good name to go by and acceptable to use for tattoos and club insignias.

"I'll head into Stockton and see Kenny about making up some badges that say Redwood Originals. Any guy who starts in this chapter gets one. I'm thinking of getting another one made as well."

"What do you want on it, JT?"

"First 9. We need to let others know we were the ones to start this club and deserve the recognition."

"Yeah, I like that."

The commune sat quietly, as the club discussed the topic, but eyes watched and observed them closely. The show of recognition to themselves worried Moon, seeing the sin of pride wrapping around them with the idea. Pride was something good, when a person showed it for good reason, or deed, but when they took pride in honouring death, elitism and individuality, it brought a concern to him, to wonder where their hearts lay. He decided to speak with Spirit and have the commune do a prayer for the club in the circle. As much as their hearts were filled with love, dark forces were also present in them as well.

The rendezvous was still a torturous six clicks away, every step taken with death in mind of them. Clay had point and shone his penlight on his compass, looking at the direction to go. He turned it off and put them away, standing to a crouch and looking around. He motioned with his hand to move forward in the direction they had to go and used two fingers to point at his eyes and then where he suspected sniper lookouts and traps might be.

Before they had moved out from their last position, Clay gave them pointers on what to look for, so they could avoid traps. They found two and marked them, moving on to their next position. Ground traps were easier to spot, once they knew what to look for and found three bamboo spiked holes. Clay might have come across as an asshole to them at the start, but asshole or not, he was keeping them alive and doing a good job on how to stay that way.

Clay taught them to work in teams, one in front scouting for ground and tree traps, while the one behind watched the bush and the treetops for snipers. He saw their respect for him and knew he had earned it by doing his job. His move up showed the others he had what it takes to lead, his confidence in what he knew, kept his unit focused on him and every word he spoke. Clay was in his element.

Riding out to Willy's the next day, the guys were excited to pick up the new parts and get started putting them on the bikes. Willy heard them pulling in and went out to greet them. His smile told the guys the Olds was a hit with Becky and he was happy to relate how thankful she was. He took them to the shop and showed them the old bike was already stripped down and the cuts made to the frame for the chop and extension. The guys were impressed with the attention to detail he paid, removing unnecessary metal and grinding it smooth. Willy basked enough in his work, then went through to the store with them. Boxes and parts lay on the floor for them and it was like Christmas for them.

They packed them in Wally's car and it was as fast as they could get back to the shop to start putting them on. Wrenches and screwdrivers were removing the old parts and a pile of them began at the side of the shop. JT went around and lent a hand where needed, having nothing of his own to do. Before the end of the afternoon, bikes were started and tested out, making sure the new parts worked right. Smiles were on every face, as pride of ownership was shown by them all.

Otto began the task of writing down everyone's choice of paint job, the difficulty increased, after seeing Mutt's work on his bikes. Otto asked JT if he wanted anything on his bike done, but it was a flat out no, that it would remain the way it was always, despite the prompting of Otto's thoughts on what he could do. Wally wanted his bike to look like the car, so he left it up to Otto to choose, but he liked the flat black that he was starting with.

The shop was closed and the club headed out to Calaveras, taking a slow trip through town. Heads turned to notice several bikes parked at the curb in front of the Hairy Dog and a biker standing out front having a smoke. He looked at the club and nodded to them, getting a nod back in recognition. He wasn't wearing a cut, but that didn't mean he and his friends inside we're completely friendly, making JT and the others wonder what their business was in town. They sped up and waved to the cruiser parked in the parking lot of the Save-a-Lot food store, getting a wave out the window back to them.

JT would have to check in with Unser and see if the bikers were of any concern to them. As much as they had considered Charming as their own, it was a free place to live and come to. All JT hoped, was that it was a group of guys like they were in the beginning and nothing more. Competition with more than one club, would put off the balance of good the club had with the town and drop their favouritism with them. If the other club was conducting any business in town, JT definitely wanted to know what it was and make sure he had his cut of it. Free place to live or not, they were there first and this was their town based on that. The more JT thought of what was unknown and could be, his worries vexed his thoughts of the Eden they had created.

How had starting a club with friends to ride motorcycles and live by their own rules, turn into a business? A business that operated a step or two over the line in the beginning and then jumped leaps and bounds into killing and claiming turf to defend. The thin line seemed so easy to fall off of, deviations and pitfalls lying in wait to trip them up. JT hoped what he had done was good, then thought of what he might have failed to do, to stay true to the intentions of it. He cast his eyes to the skies, looking for the answers sailing on them, hoping an answer to his thoughts would be there.

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