38 - Punishment

*I disobeyed. I knew there would be consequences. – Darkness*
Two days after the fight, the Cajuns were back in Louisiana and the Saints were headed back up north. Dom was headed to her next job, and no one asked her any questions.
As soon as they were back in Baton Rouge, before all the bikes were parked, Gator was headed towards Camille. The pipes fell silent as the president approached and the men surrounding her quickly dispersed.
“My office, Cher.”
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Gator-“
“No.” he turned and cut Darkness off with a single word and a slashing motion of his hand. “No.” Gator said something else that the other men understood. Camille, however, wasn’t sure if it was a different language or if the accent was thicker with his anger.
Entering the clubhouse, Camille knelt to remove Tink’s vest and lead. She scratched behind his ear and kissed the top of his head. “Go find Rosie, tell her to give you a treat.”
“Cher.” Gator called to her as she handed the vest and lead to Peanut.
“Be strong,” the young man whispered, and she gave a small nod.
She entered the office off the front room where Gator stood holding the door open. With the two doors for his office and Stone’s office next to each other, she had always thought that it looked like a room that had been split in two and a new doorway added. Once inside, she discovered that her suspicions were accurate.
What had once been a closet was now a deep shelving unit with books, memorabilia and pictures. The wall opposite the closet of shelves not only split the original room, but the window on the side of the house. The walls were a light blue, maybe a grey with black trim and accents.
A desk that looked like it belonged to a college student rather than a motorcycle club president sat in the middle of the small room. Gator went around to the old office chair and motioned for her to take the uncomfortable dining room chair in front of the desk.
“Sit, Cher.”
“Yes, sir.”
He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms as he stared at her. Slowly rocking for a few minutes, he let the tension build in the room. The problem was that her father had been a club president for most of her life. She knew the tactics. She looked back, unphased.
“Camille,” he said softly as he sat forward and rested his arms on the simple desk. The fact that he called her by her name did more than the typical tactics did. There was disappointment in his voice. *That* hurt more than any punishment that he could issue her.
Looking down, she blinked away the tears that suddenly flooded her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He let out a deep breath. “Cher, I’m sure that you know that these men, as good as they are to you, they are still bikers. They are still men. Jealousy can rule them in an instant. And jealousy over a woman in a clubhouse can become very dangerous.”
“Yes, sir,” she nodded in understanding. Camille had lived in a clubhouse for the last four and a half years, she understood exactly how they worked. And what could cause issues in the club, and the building. “I’ll go pack up my room.”
He looked at her with slight confusion. “And where are you going to go, Cher?”
“I still have a dorm room.”
“There’s no need for that,” he said quietly. “But I cannot let you go without some form of punishment. You are confined to your room other than classes and swim. You will help Rosie and the girls in the kitchen. You will have no interaction between yourself and *any* of the patches. But most *especially* Darkness.”
Swallowing hard, she nodded and wiped the tear from the corner of her eyes. “For how long?”
“Two weeks.”
A small sob of relief escaped her, and she nodded again and wiped away more tears.
“Cher, I want you to think about what you’re doing. He’s more than a decade older. Your differences are going to cause a lot of issues.”
“I think I love him.” Came a soft admission.
Gator sighed. “Then make sure that any heartache will be worth it. I’m here if you need me.”
“Can I have a daddy hug?”
He came around the desk and yanked her to him and held her to him. “Always, Cher, anytime that you need one.”
A few minutes later, she left the office and headed for the kitchen where Rosie was surprised to see her. Until Gator joined them and told them about her punishment. When he left, the older woman looked at the college co-ed.
“I’ve seen Darkness teaching you to cook, can you cook?” Rosie asked and Camille shook her head. “Can you wash dishes?”
“Yes, that I can do.”
“Well, thank God.” Rosie muttered.
The following morning, Darkness was called into Gator’s office. The president knew better than to expect excuses and begging for mercy from him. That was not his way.
“You are confined to the clubhouse for fifteen days. I want the exterior scrubbed clean. I’m ordering paint today. Everything is getting repainted; clubhouse, shed, all the outbuildings.”
Darkness nodded.
“And you stay away from her. She’s confined to her room. There will be a guard outside her door, don’t think about your midnight pancakes.”
Grinding his teeth to keep himself from saying he shouldn’t, he nodded again.
“You patch her next time we have church.” He ordered.
“Gator-.”
“Don’t Gator me. As soon as you kissed her in front of your brothers it started some shit. They’re all pissed thinking I looked the other way. Guess I just didn’t want to see it.”
Darkness nodded. He broke the rules there too. But there was the order from her father that he could not break or ignore.
“I promised her dad that I would let him know when it got serious-“
“He knows it’s serious! You got arrested, damn it!”
Darkness nodded and ignored the pulse that was ticking on the other man’s jaw. “He expects me to go to him. Present myself on his doorstep-“
“Son of a bitch.” Gator growled.
“-and I’m planning on flying home with her at Christmas.”
“Patch her when you get back. Before the fucking new year.”
The buildings were all power washed and loose painted scraped off. Hurricane shutters were taken down and cleaned. Mortar was repaired and bricks were replaced.
Then the buildings were all painted a fresh coat of gray. The shutters became navy blue and the wood trim a dark maroon.
It wasn’t part of his punishment, but with the rest of the buildings looking good, the wooden porches looked bad. After talking with Gator, Darkness sent a couple of prospects to the hardware store. They were then volunteered to help him.
They sanded the boards, replaced a few rotting ones and resealed all the wood. One of the prospects had never swung a hammer before. Camille watched from her room and was touched by the patience that Darkness showed.
It took just under a month to get it all done. Darkness remained at the compound until it was complete. Leaving only to work under close supervision of Gator or Zydeco.
Using the tools they kept in the workshop; Darkness built a swing bed. Evie’s parents had one at their house and Camille had loved it. He and Peanut were hanging it on the back porch the day before Thanksgiving break.
“Gator says you’re going to patch her.”
“Yup.” Darkness grinned. “Promised I would talk to her dad when things started getting serious.”
“Going to talk to him at Christmas?”
“That’s the plan.” He said tightening the knot on the nautical rope.
“Never thought I’d see the day you got serious about a woman again.” Peanut admitted as he opened the box of the rolled-up mattress.
“Me neither.” Darkness smiled as he tested the strength of the ropes and anchors.
The two men placed the twin size mattress on the frame. As Darkness put a sheet on the mattress, Peanut unboxed pillows.
“Why so many damned pillows?”
“Club girls helped.” He answered as he began to put pillows on.
The back door opened, and Camille stepped out. “Hey…”
She stopped with her eyes wide and mouth in a surprised O shape.
“You’re early.” Darkness said as Peanut grabbed the empty boxes and disappeared.
“Professor canceled class.” She said quietly. A blush crept up her cheeks. “You did this for me?”
“I did.” He answered nervously. “Do you like it?”
Camille turned from the bed to him with a giant smile. “I love it.” She stopped herself before she said anything else. Then with a confused look, she asked, “But why?”
Darkness stepped over to her and pulled her to him. “I’ll let you think on that for a while longer.”