Chapter 1:
It was a pleasure to ride!
The freedom that came with it and the thrill of the breeze brushing past your face, the road, and the infinite possibilities that accompanied it. Cars, trucks, all other automobiles were just a blur to the rider. It wasn't about the destination, it was about the ride. It was living free, if it was only for a few minutes, or hours.
It was the only way to live free in Jax Teller's mind.
The seventeen year old was riding down Main Street, smirking at a pair of girls jogging down the sidewalk. He was clad in baggy dark blue jeans, a wallet chain hung from his right side. A large leather vest was draped over his shoulders, the dark leather gleamed in the sunlight of the early Californian morning. On the back of his cut, on the bottom rocker, the word PROSPECT could easily be seen. He pulled on the throttle of his motorcycle, a Harley Davidson 1991 FXDB Dyna Glide Sturgis. Jax's plaid button shirt blew in the breeze and the checkered navy blue material flapped loudly as the teenager smiled. He couldn't be happier on this particular day. He made the usual turn down Eden Avenue and sped up, pushing forty miles per hour.
The usual fading of houses stopped at the whitish yellow home at the end of the street. Jax pulled into the driveway and parked. The young man unfastened his black helmet and placed it on his handlebars. After putting down his kickstand, he dismounted the bike and walked to the bright red front door. He rapped on the door three times, hard. A large, aging woman answered the door.
"Hey Mary" Jax said to the woman as she ushered him inside. Mary closed the door firmly as Jax entered "You eat already Jax? I made breakfast." She walked over to the counter next to the sink and grabbed a large platter.
Jax smiled again "No I didn't, thanks." Jax sat down at the table, where he was presented with a large plate of eggs, bacon, and sausage. He picked up a fork and bit into the sausage, juice from the pork burst onto his tongue as he did so. "Is Op up yet?" Jax asked as he picked up a piece of egg.
Mary was scrubbing at a dish at the sink, she paused to light a cigarette. "He just stepped out of the shower, he should be ready soon."
"Cool" Jax said as he continued to eat his eggs, which seemed like the best meal he had ever eaten today.
Harry 'Opie' Winston walked in a few minutes later, his large figure crowded the hallway as his broad shoulders. There was still water dripping from his beard, which was very long and thick for a sixteen year old. Opie's long red hair was quickly covered up by a beanie hat. The same cut that Jax wore, almost identical to his best friends, was being slung over Opie's arms and across his shoulders. "You're up early." he addressed Jax as he sat down with him, offering his fist, which was swiftly bumped by Jax.
"So, today's the big day?" Opie said as he dug into his own breakfast.
"Hell yeah" Jax smirked for the third time this morning and took a sip of orange juice. "I'm finding it hard not to want to ditch today."
Opie looked at his mother, busy at the sink "I know what you mean…"
Mary scoffed loudly, "Don't you dare" she said to him "Go to school, use your brains, or you'll end up like your father." She warned.
"With emphysema?" Opie laughed loudly.
Mary scoffed again "Smartass" she pulled Jax's empty plate away from him as he thanked her. The young man stood up. "We're gonna be late if we don't start heading out, bro"
Opie tried to scoop the rest of his eggs into his mouth as Jax tapped him on the shoulder. He frowned as he discovered bacon grease in his beard. Jax knocked on the open front door loudly. Opie pushed his chair out "Yeah yeah I'm coming"
Opie mounted his own bike, a Harley Davidson XL 883, and turned on the engine, which roared furiously from the heavy modification. Jax had already started down the street and Opie hit the throttle hard to catch up. "Your excited today huh?"
Jax shrugged his shoulders, "I just wanna get this bullshit over with and get to the best part of the day."
"Amen, bro" Opie laughed as they cruised down Maplewood.
They continued to ride together until they reached their destination: Charming High School. The parking lot was bustling with activity when they pulled their bikes into the school. They parked in the front, ready to slide out of the lot as fast as possible after the last bell rang.
Opie pulled his bike into the spot next to Jax "I almost forgot" he said as he pulled an envelope out of his saddlebag. He handed the white paper package to Jax after stepping off his bike. "Happy birthday bro." Jax smiled again and clasped Opie's hand, he brought Opie in and smacked him on the back hard, a quick embrace.
"Thanks Op." Jax looked inside the package, two hundred dollars, in mostly tens and singles. "You didn't have to, this is a lot man."
"You're my brother" Opie said as they walked into the school, brushing others past as they did so "Your worth it." He laughed as they walked through the hallway, "And besides" Opie said as they stopped at Jax's locker "This is a special birthday for you."
Jax grabbed the lock wheel and spun it. After two unsuccessful tries, he slammed his head against the locker lightly. "Ugh damn it." He swore
"You kidding me man?" Opie chuckled
"I'm not here enough to remember it well" Jax shook his head and sighed. Opie pushed him out of the way, still laughing, and opened Jax's locker for him.
"How do you…?" Jax started, then sighed once more "You know what, just forget it." He tossed the envelope into his locker along with his cut and pulled his knapsack out of it. He slung the straps over his shoulders and followed Opie through the hallway. "I swear man, as soon as I'm patched, I'm wearing that cut everywhere."
"You aren't wearing it now" Opie walked into their homeroom.
"Apparently 'gang' colors or uniforms are not allowed at CHS." He laughed. "Board of Ed don't know the difference between a gang and an MC."
"AND neither are HATS, Mr. Winston" Their homeroom teacher, Mr. Morrissey, interjected into their conversation. "Take it off" he commanded.
"Up yours." Opie said under his breath as he slid the beanie cap off of his head.
Jax laughed "You should have said that out loud, would have been pretty amusing."
"I already have detention again today" Opie sighed "It's like prison."
Jax pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and started scribbling "How many hours today?"
"Two, plus two more on Tuesday for Jessica"
"I told you the worst possible place to make out is behind the stairs." Jax said as he continued to draw.
"Right," Opie nodded "I guess I'll follow your lead and take the next girl behind the bleachers."
Jax smirked "I said make out, not get laid."
Opie laughed loudly and smacked the desk, he made sure that Mr. Morrissey was gone before sliding the hat back on his head. "Your something else you know that right?"
"Just don't try it during football practice," Jax tapped his pencil on the desk, "the whistle messes up your concentration."
The bell drowned out Opie's emmense laughter this time. Homeroom was quick to end, and Jax and Opie were off to their first period, American History, the only class Jax was exceptional in. On his way out, he tossed the piece of paper he was doodling on into the trash basket.
Mr. Morrissey reached down, grabbed the paper and sighed, a large logo was drawn on the scrap paper. A grim reaper, with a black robe, a M16 rifle, with a scythe attached, drawn to look razor sharp. A large globe with a huge A drawn inside it, and huge lettering that read:
SONS OF ANARCHY
Clay Morrow was having a hell of a day. The plumbing was wrecked again, another pipe had burst and they were lucky if the septic tank wouldn't blow. They would have to restock the bar soon, which could cost more than $500, with the combination of beer, scotch, tequila, gin, rum, brandy, and the grain alcohol they saved for disinfecting 'accidents'. The club goes through hundreds in booze every six months, with a drink after every church. With all of this going on, now had been the time Michel MacKeavey had decided to tell him about a missing shipment of AKs. Clay was going to have to wait to sell off the AKs to the One-Niners, which would upset the gangbangers a great deal.
"CLAY" The proprietor of Teller-Morrow Automotive turned to face one of his brothers, Filip 'Chibs' Telford. The Scotsman was wearing his SOA cut over a brown leather shirt, stained with whiskey and cigarette ashes. He brought a hand to his unkempt brown hair and pushed it back. A pair of sunglasses rested on his brow.
"Chibs" Clay nodded at his friend, "What's in the bag for today's shitstorm?"
The European native clicked his tongue and thought, "We gotta ride up to Oaktown for a meet wit the 'Niners. Then, we gotta go pick up Happy, the crazy bastard gonna stay in Charming for a while after a hit he did in Tacoma. After that, we should head back here and get ready for Jackie-Boy's thing."
"Almost forgot that was today" Clay said as he walked to the bar. The SAMCRO President reached down and grabbed a beer bottle from the large mini fridge below the bar. The bottle made a loud hiss as he twisted the bottle off, and Clay let out a sigh of relief after his first sip. "He's excited huh?"
Chibs let out a small laugh "The boy been bouncing off the walls for a month." Clay handed his brother his own drink.
"And what about Opie?" Clay asked "How much longer?"
"Bout another month or so." Chibs said after he took a long gulp from his drink.
"Alright" Clay nodded. "Let's handle the 'Niners." He got up and started to walk out. The aging man was about to push open the door when his phone rang, a loud irritating ring. Clay pulled the large clunky phone off of the clip on his belt. After thirty seconds, the phone was still ringing. Clay pushed several different buttons rapidly. "Shit, how do I answer this damn thing?" He asked Chibs.
Chibs let out a small chuckle and clicked a button on the mobile, the one button Clay hadn't pushed. "It's 1995 brother, time to get with the times." he laughed.
Clay let out a non audible curse word to Chibs and brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he waited for response. "Okay" he growled into the phone quickly before hitting the End button. Clay's face grew visibly angry as he threw the phone back into the clip. "Well shit!" he swore.
"What happened?" Chibs asked before downing the rest of his beer.
"The Mexicans attacked the 'Niners" Clay scowled. "Their guy who was backing our deal on their end got capped. The deals on hold."
"SHITE" Chibs cursed loudly. "That was a $20,000 deal brother."
"Yeah," Clay swallowed the rest of his Budweiser, "I guess we're getting Hap a little earlier than we planned."
"I'm sick of eating this slop" Jax set his tray down on the table next to Opie. "This isn't even qualified as real chicken."
"Well then why don't you just bag it to school?" Opie asked as he dug into his own brown paper lunch.
"I guess I'm just lazy" Jax laughed and picked up his fork. More people joined them at the table, more girls than boys. Penelope, a girl Jax had met in his Algebra class, was seated at his left, while Opie took up the empty space on Jax's right side.
Halfway through the usual fighting, food throwing, and teenage debauchery that was lunch, Jax found himself dazed. Across the cafeteria, sitting at a large table in the corner, was a girl. Jax Teller had seen many a girl in his teenage years, but this one was different. Long brown hair, pearly white skin, a smile flashed across her face, revealing icy white teeth. She was wearing a tank top, with stripes of red and black, along with a pair of white jeans that hung to her hips tightly. Jax was memorized, she seemed so innocent, and yet, the playful way she conducted with her friends said more about her real character.
"Penelope?" Jax nudged the blonde on his left on the shoulder. She turned to him "What?"
"Who's that?" he pointed to the brunette across the cafeteria.
"Oh" Penelope swept her hair back "That's Tara Knowles, she just transferred here from Stockton HS" she took a bite of her pizza. "She actually lives in Charming" Penelope told him. "She's been going to Stockton for some extracurricular shit they had, but the funding stopped so she started going here."
Jax was bewildered "How do you know all this?"
Penelope shrugged "I get around" she stated and went back to her lunch. Jax looked at Opie and gave a look that said I bet she gets around in more ways than one. They shared a silent laugh together.
Jax was seated in his Chemistry class, tapping his fingers on the small desk. His Chem teacher Mr. White, was rambling on about molecules and Jax couldn't concentrate in the slightest. His mind was racing in anticipation of tonight's event, and there was no point in listening to his teacher now. This was the last period of the day, and was the subject Jax was doing worst in.
"Remember boys and girls, the smallest part of a compound is a…?" he asked
"A molecule" The class responded, obviously bored and tired after the long day of education.
Mr. White turned to write something on the blackboard. Jax took this opportunity to scribble down a note and nudge the person next to him. The girl turned her head to Jax, who pointed across the class to Opie.
"Jackson" Mr. White whipped around faster than a wheel at 90 mph. He sauntered over, past row after row of desks to Jax, stopping methodically in front of the blonde teenagers desk. "Would you care to share what you have written to Harry with the rest of the class?"
Jax took a short breath and sighed "Not particularly Mr. White." He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. Jax's dutiful teacher plucked the note from the desk and read out loud.
"Do you think Chelsea Whitman stuffs her bra? If so how much?"
Mr. White dropped the piece of paper back on the desk and silently walked back to his desk as the class erupted in laughter. A small girl in the front of the class, two seats away from Opie blushed bright red and pulled her shirt up sharply.
"The Sons of Anarchy" Mr. White mouthed as the bell rang "What are you going to do?" he sighed. The class was up and out of the door in an instant. Opie and Jax practically ran out of the room, dying of laughter.
The two best friends ran at the stairs. Jax mounted the railing and slid down fast. He landed with a smooth plop and they continued down the hallway. Jax was able to open his own locker this time, and grabbed his cut. "This will be the last time bro." he shook the cut and smiled.
"Amen" Opie nodded and slapped him on the back. "Let's get to the clubhouse"
"So I was doing the dirty deed, and all of a sudden…"
"Wait wait, do we even want to hear it?"
Alexander 'Tig' Trager was standing with his fellow club members outside Teller-Morrow Automotive. Tig was a large man, his muscles bulged out of the button up shirt he was wearing, and his black hair was sticking in all directions. His cut boasted a unique patch SGT. AT ARMS. Tig was recalling a certain event with two different women, one that, by the look of his brother's faces, was outrageous in detail.
To Tig's left was Robert 'Bobby Elvis' Munson, a heavy set man, with brown hair dangling all over his face. He had five O'clock shadow on his cheeks as well. Bobby's cut had the patch SECRETARY stitched into it. Which meant that he was in charge of all of the clubs finances, including run funds, stocking the bar, and collecting dues. Bobby was growing a large gut, and was pushing two hundred and fifty pounds.
To the right of Bobby Elvis was Otto 'Big Otto' Delaney. Otto Delaney was the current Vice President of the Sons Redwood Chapter. Otto wore a black bandanna around his head, to go along with his black hair. He was currently chewing on a heavy Cuban cigar and laughing with the rest of the boys, he stroked his thick goatee as Tig went through his story.
Tig was about to continue when the three heard the roar of approaching bikes. Jax and Opie came rolling into TM at high speeds, Jax had a huge grin on his face as he came riding in. Bobby, Tig, and Big Otto yelled at the pair as they parked their bikes, and Chibs could be seen exiting the garage as well, yelling just as loudly at the two friends.
Jax dismounted his bike and ran up to Bobby, who stretched out his arms wide. "Happy seventeenth my boy" he shouted at Jax. Jax clapped Bobby on the back hard before breaking away. He did the same with Big Otto, Tig, and Chibs before they started walking back towards the clubhouse. The SOA Clubhouse smelled and looked like it usually did. The place smelled like booze and women, along with gunpowder and motor oil.
The table in the church room. It was a holy item, where all of the club's decisions were settled on. A large reaper was set in the center. The table was a gift from a local artist by the name of James Anderson. It was carved out of 100% real California Redwood. Clay walked out of the meeting room and chuckled slightly at the sight of Jax. "Today's the day." He said, hugging Jax and clapping him on the back softly. "Sit down and have a drink." He said to the two minors.
Jax chuckled and sat down as Opie rounded the bar. Opie grabbed a bottle of scotch from under the bar and set it on the table with two glasses. Sure Opie was 16 and Jax had just turned 17 himself, but it was a huge perk to be part of an outlaw motorcycle gang. Jax swallowed down a shot and poured himself another. The members of the Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original walked into the chapel room one by one after downing a shot. Bobby was the last to enter and the last to sit down, he closed the doors and took his seat on the left side of the table.
Clay took a deep breath before speaking. "We all know what we decide tonight, but before we get started I got some things to say." The President coughed and lit a cigar. He looked to his VP, Big Otto. At Otto's left was Bobby Elvis, who was picking pieces of bread out of his beard. To the left of Bobby was 'Uncle' Tom Whitney, who's brown hair was draped down his shoulders and behind his chair, the hair almost obscured the FIRST 9 patch on his cut. The seat directly across from Clay wasn't occupied, but the smell of Piermont 'Piney' Winston, Opie's father, was very potent even in his absence. On Clay's right sat Tig, the SGT. AT ARMS was always seated at the right of the President. Next to Tig was the Scotsman, Chibs Telford. Finally, the last chair was occupied by Happy Lowman, a bald man who wore the same cut as the rest of the bikers, but his patch read TACOMA instead of Redwood Original. Happy was an attack dog from Tacoma, Washington. Yet, although he was from Washington, he had very tan skin.
"We had a problem with the 'Niners today" Clay said "I got the call this morning." He took a long drag off his cigar. "The 'playa' we made contact with in the One Niners got killed in a drive-by" he let the information sink in as the rest of SAMCRO groaned "Which means…" Clay set his beer down "Our deal is on hold… maybe permanently."
"Wait" Tig interjected "Who killed the 'Niner?"
"It was the Mexicans" Chibs said, shaking his head "The goddamn Mayans, those pricks."
"So how do we move on from here?" Big Otto asked as he lit his own cigar. The smoke drifted up to the ceiling and dissipated. "Retaliation?"
Bobby sighed. "Wasn't our guy who got clipped." He said stroking his goatee. "If we start killing wetbacks we'll start a war."
"More like restart," Tom Whitney said "Mayan war just ended two years ago."
Clay stopped them all. "Look, we can find another buyer soon, either the Triads or somewhere else. What we need to worry about now is what we're going to do with all the guns now. We have another delivery from the Irish in two days that's going to double our stock, and we have nowhere to put 'em"
"We could drop some of them off at my sisters" Tig said.
"Your sister would be okay with having AK-47s in her house?!"Otto asked, astonished.
"I never said she would know about it" Tig said honestly. The table erupted in laughter as the entirety of SAMCRO chuckled at Tig. Clay clapped Tig's hand "Don't worry Tiggy, we'll figure something out."
Clay changed the subject. "On to tonight's scheduled entertainment, Jax" The rest of Clay's brother's let out small nods and appreciative glances as Clay continued "Vote has to be unanimous." He took a drag off of his cigar and put it out. "Yay" he said as he turned his head to Tig.
Tig took a few seconds "Yeah"
Chibs was ready immediately "Hell Yes"
"Yes" Happy said resoundingly.
"I'm a yes" Tom said, nodding his head
"Oh yeah" Bobby told everyone
"Defiantly yes" Otto said sharply
Clay took up the gavel in his right hand and slammed it down hard on the block. "It passes." He nodded at Chibs, who rose and pushed open the door.
"Jackie-Boy" Chibs beckoned for Jax to join the rest of the club. Opie put his hands on Jax's shoulders and smiled. He brought Jax in for a quick hug. "Get in there" he said to the blonde.
"Jax" Clay said to the prospect after the door was closed. He stood up and walked to the safe at the end of the room. He turned the dial softly, letting the clicks reverberate across the room. He grabbed a leather cut from the safe. It was generic, a leather jacket with the sleeves cut off, except for the SAMCRO patch on the back, with the top and bottom rocker. "Take off the Prospect cut"
Jax smirked as he took off the cut and handed it to Tig. Jax's mind was racing as he stared at the full patch. Clay picked up the cut and had Jax turn around. The President slipped Jax's arms into the cut. Jax shrugged his shoulders in pride and took a deep breath before turning to face Clay.
"Welcome to SAMCRO"