Buck is the Sargent at Arms for his club. He stands about 6 foot 4 but despite his imposing stature, he has always been a peace-maker. Even back in school, he was the guy that stopped fights rather than start one. It was just his nature.

Buck was a perfect fit for SAA. He always looked for a way deescalate conflicts but the Brothers knew, if you get to throwing hands with another club Brother, Buck was going to crush it (and you) quick.

Buck looked over the three Hang Arounds standing in front of him. Over the years he had seen many come and go and had gotten pretty good at knowing who would eventually become a good Brother or not. He felt good about these three. What was remarkable to him was that these three were so different from each other.

There was Hang Around Jake, a young kid who rode a hot rod Dyna,

Hang Around Don who looked like some corporate guy to Buck but was always there, working his ass off for the club…

And then there was Frankie, Frankie was a military guy who at times was a little quite but always had a good attitude. He was always cracking jokes and keeping the brothers laughing. In short he was a fun guy to have around.

Buck liked all three and that in and of itself was also unusual.

Buck looked at the three in front of him and said, “Ok, look guys, we’re gonna bring you each, one at a time into the meeting.” “The Brothers are gonna ask you why you want to become Prospects, basically, why do you want to be a part of this club and have a chance to become a Brother.” “I don’t want no Goddamn cookie-cutter answers and the first one to say that they’re looking for a brotherhood is gonna get run out of here and thrown out, right on his ass.” “I want you to dig deep.” “I want to know who you are and why you’re hanging around my family.”

Buck looked at each in turn and said, “If you just want a riding buddie, I know an outstanding Riding Club right down the road that is perfect for that, Hell I make the introduction myself.” “If you’re looking for more, well I want to know what that more is, and why that is something you can only get with my club.”

He stood up and said one last thing to them, “I mean it, don’t give us some bullshit, run of the mill, average answer.” “You have to dig deep and show me who you are.”

Jake the young kid was up first. He walked into the meeting room and the door closed behind him. He stood there looking at these guys he had come to know over the past few months. He liked them all and really looked up to some of them. He wasn’t sure what to do so he just stood there waiting. It seemed to Jake that most of his life was filled with the feeling of not knowing quite what to do.

Big John, the Chapter President started things off. He said, “Jake, you’ve made it known that you want to prospect for this MC.” “Is that the case?”

Jake didn’t like being up front and center like this. He often felt nervous standing in front of crowds and this was a crowd he very much wanted to impress. That only made him more nervous. He said, “Yes” in a low voice.

It was as if Big John knew what he was feeling because he looked at Jake, smiled and said, “Son, just relax.” “We just want to know who you are and why you’re here.” “So tell me, why do you want to prospect for this club?”

Jake instantly felt better and more at ease. Big John had that effect on people.

Jake took a deep breath and just decided to be as completely honest as he could be, even if he ended up being laughed at. He looked around the room and started to speak. The words just started to flow, unhindered. He didn’t think about how they might be perceived, he just started expressing exactly what he felt and who he was.

“I grew up without a dad.” “He left my mom when I was like, five or so.” He ended up getting married to someone else and having two other kids.” “I guess his new wife didn’t want to be reminded that he was married before so I didn’t see much of my dad.” “I still don’t today, in fact he can fuck off for all I care.” I heard from him twice a year, at Christmas and my birthday and that usually meant a $20 dollar bill at Christmas and ten on my birthday.” And here's the kicker, he lives about an hour away.”

“So growing up I had my Mom and Sisters.” “I didn’t really learn how a man is supposed to interact with other men or even the world at large.” “Whatever I did know is what I saw on TV or what my friends did.” “I thought that to be a man I had to smack the shit out of anyone who even looked at me twice, so I was in trouble a lot.”

“Then I start hanging around you guys and I see that maybe, I had it all wrong.” “At first I was hanging around you guys because I like to ride, and you guys ride a lot.” “I wasn’t thinking about any of this deeper stuff.” “I just thought it was cool to ride with a bunch of guys but then I started to see how other people treated you guys.”

“I thought you guys got all this respect because everyone knew you would beat their ass if they didn’t but that didn’t seem quite right.” “A lot of these dudes showing you so much love were big ass dudes and they too rode in clubs.” I then started to notice how you guys treat other people and then it was like some kind of light bulb went on in my head.” “Holy shit, you guys get all this respect because of how you treat others and at the same time you demand that others treat you with the same respect.”

“So now in addition to riding with a bunch of guys that I like and respect, I want to learn from you all; how do you get to the point where everyone you meet respects you?” “How do you get the reputation that this club has and how can I get a reputation like that?” “I want to know and I want to add to it. That’s why I want to prospect for this club.”

Jake, sat down and the next Hang Around was brought in.

Next up was Hang Around Don. Don stood in front of the club with an ease. He was used to giving power point briefs and proposals to corporate big wigs. He had an air of confidence about him. Don was asked the same question, why do you want to prospect for this club in particular.

At first Don thought of this just like any other business proposal. He had his sales pitch all worked out and was ready to “sell” the club on the idea of him prospecting. He then saw Buck in the back corner. In that one moment Don decided to take a chance and really tell the truth. He knew it might mean losing his chance to prospect but something that Buck said really stuck with him. Buck had said that the club wants to know him just as much as he wants to know the club. So he took a chance…

Don took a moment to look around the room and said, “Death by Cubical.”

The club Brothers looked a little confused, but he had their attention.

He expanded, “I work in a huge building with all these cubical offices.” “They’re all crammed in next to each other so close that I hear every fart, belch, and whisper from every other wage slave in this modern day hell hole.” “Oh don’t get me wrong, the pay is outstanding but it cost you your soul.” “I literally feel myself getting older in this place every day.” “The job consist of making numbers fit into little boxes.” “And the people that work there, well let’s just say that they aren’t my people.”

“I’ll give you an example.” “I hate dealing with computers, I just can’t seem to make these little basterds work the way they’re supposed to, so I tend to curse at them – a lot.” “This of course causes the entire building from management on down to have a “talk” with me about my language.”

“Another time I go into the Director’s office with a major proposal”. “I spent all week on this thing, it was air-fucking-tight.” “It meant a lot of money for our company and you know what the Director spent 30 minutes of my hour long proposal on?” “The fucking cover sheet.” “I didn’t have the latest version of the official cover sheet.”

”This fucker didn’t hear shit all I was saying to him because he was so stuck up on the Goddamn bureaucracy of a fucking cover sheet.”

“Fuck that and fuck their whinny little way of life.” “I was at a loss and I thought that these fucking people were just gonna wear me down my whole life until I was some version of their pathetic little selves, but then I met Buck and started hanging around you guys.” “It felt like I had finally found my people.” “I’ll still have cubical hell because it gives me the money to pay my bills but I need this family and this club in order to really live a life worth having.” “With you all, I am myself and that is something every man needs in his life.”

Last up was Frankie. He had been dreading this moment. He didn’t want to think too hard about what he may or may not feel. He spent a lot of time trying to not feel. He stood there in front of these guys and for a quick second, he thought about just turning away and walking out. But Frankie wasn’t a quitter and he knew that he needed this. He needed this team and these guys. He needed to ride and to know that the men riding next to him were with him. He needed to feel again.

Frankie started talking in a low and serious voice. This was unusual for him because he was always the loud guy making everyone laugh with his quick come backs and one liners. It took a few of the MC Brothers by surprise. They all leaned in to hear what he had to say.

“I did 20 years in the big Green Machine.” “16 of that was in SF, so that means that I traveled the world with the same 20 to 30 guys for years at a time.” “I lost brothers who haunt my dreams and I’ll be honest,” Frankie paused as if he was unsure if he should go on. He looked straight at the back of the room not looking anyone in the eye directly and continued, “There has been more than one time that I thought about joining my guys on the other side.”

“Times like that I would hop on the bike and disappear for two, three days or even weeks sometimes.” “Made it hard to keep a job and at times it was hard to stay sober enough to get the bike upright.” “I miss those guys but you know what else I miss?” “Having a Team.” “As I said I travelled the world with the same dudes for years and got close to most of them.” “Doing dangerous, and most times stupid shit causes that, that bonding I’m talking about.”

“I’m better now.”

“I know that my death won’t bring anyone back or set right some cosmic injustice, but it’s hard”. “I just want a Team back with the kind of men I see here.” “I’ll never get back to what it was like in an ODA, that’s a platoon within a Special Forces Group, but I can come close with this MC.” “I’m not looking for you guys to fix me, cause frankly only I can fix me and I’ve already done most of the fixing over the years, but I’m far enough along the road to Normal, whatever normal is, to know that being a part of a team of men that I can come to know and love, is exactly what I need.”

Big John stood up and called for a floor vote on each of the Hang Around to become Prospects.

In the back of the room Buck leaned his chair against the wall. He looked around the room and without even realizing it, a big fat, shit-eating grin spread across his face. He loved it when peopled listened to his advice.

-Drifter

 

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