A/N: I normally don't like have multiple stories posted because things can get lost in the shuffle. However, this idea would not stop nagging at the back of my head and I wanted to at least get the first chapter out to see how it was received.
There are only a few more chapters left of "Maintain the Pain" and I have started outlining the trilogy, which won't be as long as the others. I hope you all enjoy this and please give me any feedback.
Piney Winston pulled into the garage of TM Auto with a heavy heart and a slight hangover. He took off his helmet and grabbed his oxygen tank before limping towards the office door. He knocked twice on the open door and sent a quick smile at Gemma.
"Mornin darling."
"Hey old man. You haven't been around for a couple of weeks. Is everything alright?" Piney shook his head slightly.
"Nah baby there is some shit that I had to take care of. The guys here?"
"Most of them are in the clubhouse. Jax is the only one that hasn't shown up yet. Tara had a doctor's appointment this morning." Tara, Jax fiancée was in the first trimester of her first baby and Jax had been watching her like a hawk.
When his ex-wife gave birth to his first son, Abel, she had been addicted to crank and Jax blamed himself for not taking a more active role during her pregnancy. Jax was determined that it wasn't going to happen a second time.
Piney nodded and made his way towards the clubhouse. Chibs and Happy were sitting at the bar nursing a cup of coffee. Juice, as per usual, had his eyes glued to whatever was on his laptop. The three prospects were cleaning up shop and Tig was enjoying bossing them around. Piney took a sit and said hello to his brothers.
"Hey stranger, you got here just in time." Bobby exclaimed when he came out of the kitchen, a plate in his hands. "Banana bread, fresh out the oven." Piney smirked at the pot bellied man before turning to Clay who had walked in from the back room.
"Good to know you are still alive old man." The pair shared a hug before Piney cleared his throat.
"I need the table. There is something I need to discuss with everyone." Clay noticed the seriousness in the man's eye and knew this wasn't another "change needs to happen" bullshit that he had been ranting about lately. Clay nodded and clamped a hand on his brother's shoulders. He turned towards Juice.
"Hey Juice. Round up the boys. Let them know as soon as Jax gets here we are having church." Juice nodded as she shut his laptop cover and went looking for Opie and Koz.
Everyone was sitting around the redwood when Jax walked in. He greeted everyone before taking his rightful place on Clay's left side.
"How's the kid?" Clay asked.
"Perfect. Everything looks good so far." The guys gave their congrats before the noise simmered down.
"Piney asked for the table. The floor is yours man." Piney grunted.
"Do you guys remember Honey?"
"The medicine chick you were banging Pop?" Opie asked and Piney nodded.
"Yeah. She was killed two weeks ago; they found her body off of Interstate 18."
"Shit Piney. I'm sorry." Jax asked as he shook his head.
"Thanks kid but that's not the problem. There is a girl named Leylani. Honey took the girl under her wing years ago; showed her the ropes, etc. Honey made it known that if anything was to happen to her, Leylani was to be next in line to run shit."
"What exactly did this Honey do?" Tig asked.
"She was the go-to for all prescription drugs in the area."
"She was dealing?" Piney shook his head.
"Not like that. She would sell the scripts to clinics who couldn't afford getting the meds from other sources. Anything you want, Honey could find a way to get them."
"And this Leylani is taking over?" Piney nodded as he took an envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
"Honey wanted me to have this in case something happened to her. She asked for my help. She knows that once word gets out about her passing, they are going to start going after the girl. Honey asked me to keep her safe." The guys all glanced around and eyed each other.
"Will she have anything to help Rheumatoid arthritis?" Happy asked causing everyone to look at him. "My ma…she's not getting better. Her bones are stiffening up more often than not and the docs say she can't get out of bed cause she's high risk for fractures. The hospice care is digging me in the hole and I could use the help on getting her on some pain management." Everyone sat briefly stunned. Happy was not the kind to offer a lot of information about his life outside the clubhouse. The fact that he was sharing this information showed his true concern for his mother's health.
"I could use some help with the kid's inhalers and shit." Bobby spoke up.
"I figure we can make a deal with her." Piney stated. "Our Irish pipeline is on back order and our funds are low. Maybe we go into partnership with Leylani."
"We get a cut of the scripts and she gets protection." Jax said. "Is there a lot of money in these meds?"
"Honey was pulling in seven figures a year."
"Shit." Chibs whistled. Everyone turned to look at Clay who lit up a cigar, which was a tell tale sign that he was getting ready to make a decision.
"Piney, Hap, Bobby and Jax: go up to see this broad, try to feel her out. The last thing I need is some bitch coming around starting trouble we don't need." The guys nodded and Clay slammed down the gavel.
The four men headed up to Rouge River. The address for Leylani took them up the mountains to a cabin. The cabin sat all by itself surrounded by nothing but woods. They made their way up the front door and rang the doorbell. Immediately they heard the sound of a dog barking. After a few moments they heard a distinctive female voice.
"Jesus Christ. Shut the fuck up. You are supposed to bark when people are in the house, not alert them before hand. Fucking dog." Jax and Piney smirked as the door was thrown open and the four men were staring down the barrel of a shotgun.
"Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested." The woman in front of them said. Jax put his hands up.
"No need for that darling. We are friends of Honey's." Jax pointed to the older man next to him. "This here is Piney."
"Let me see your cut." The four men turned around and after a few moments they heard the click that told them the safety was placed back on the gun. They turned around and finally got a good look at the woman.
She was standing in front of them wearing Smurf pajama pants and a blue tank top. Her black hair was pulled to the top of her head but you could see bright red streaks shining from around her head. She stood at barely 5'3 and had curves in all the right places. She also had a pretty nasty black eye on the right side of her face. Her dark brown eyes started to soften a bit as she nudged her head, allowing the men to come in.
"Sorry about that." Leylani locked the doors back and motioned for the men towards the living room. "Shit has been a little on edge lately."
"No harm sweet pea." Piney said. "I'm Piney, the blonde is Jax, the fat one is Bobby and the one that is looking like he may shoot your dog is Happy."
"Have a seat. Scuttle, come here." They watched as the Husky lay down next to his master.
"I'm Leylani. Nice to meet you. Honey spoke very highly of you Piney." Leylani gave a soft smile.
"I'm sorry for your loss. Honey sent me a letter, said you might be needing some protection." Leylani sighed as she pulled her legs up Indian style.
"Honey thought if something happened to her and word got out that I was running things now I would have some problems. Peckwooods or some other hillbilly, white trash bullshit fuckers coming in trying to scare me."
"Did they? Is that what happened to your eye?" Bobby asked and Leylani touched her face gingerly as if she had forgotten the bruise was there.
"Nah…this is some other shit. Two days after we buried Honey, some guy walks into the hair salon where I work. I wasn't prepared for him. He had on a three piece suit and was driving a Benz. Said he heard about my "problem" and wanted to help."
"Did you get a name?" Leylani stood up and walked towards her purse. She dug around for a moment before she produced a card.
"Ethan Zobelle." The guys all looked at each other.
"Why the hell would Zobelle wanted to get involved with scripts?" Leylani put the card on the table before answering.
"Scripts hold a lot of street value. There is a big market of people willing to pay nice money to get legally high. Junkies start feeling as though since it comes with a prescription label, then it's not that bad."
"Did he threaten you?" Happy asked making it the first time he spoke. His deep raspy voice startled Scuttle who quickly stood up and sniffed his way over towards Happy. It took him a few minutes to decide how he felt about Happy before lying down at Happy's feet. Leylani smirked to herself.
"Not directly, but I will say this: fucker scared the shit out of me. There was something in his eyes that made my skin crawl."
"Honey asked me to look after you and I have every intention of doing just that. I need you to come to Charming, sit down with out President so we can decide the best course of action to take." Leylani nodded her head. She knew that she would be paid a visit by Honey "gentle bear" so she wasn't too surprised when they came knocking on her door. She looked back up when Piney spoke.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you meet Honey?"
"My ma had AIDS. It was the ghetto in the 80s; she got it by decorating her arms with track marks. Honey lived up the street from us. She was always around to help out as much as she could. She would give my ma meds, food, whatever. She took me in, offered me a safe place to lay my head when shit got real bad, taught me important life lessons. My ma passed when I was 13 and she didn't have any family. Honey let me stay with her, made sure I finished school, even forced me to go to community college. She was all I had left." Leylani's voice took a sad turn but once she cleared her throat, it seemed to go away.
"I have appointments that I have to keep tomorrow. The Stockton clinic needs supplies and it will be an all day venture. I can drive down to Charming the day after tomorrow."
"Why did Honey sell to clinics if there is more money to be made on the street?"
"Honey saw first hand what the streets can do to people. The clinics around here aren't financed properly. There is a boat load of uninsured, unemployed families that can't even afford Nyquil. Honey wanted to help. She sold to the clinics for well under what the scripts are worth and still walked out like a fat rat. She could line her pockets and help others at the same time."
"Makes sense." Piney looked at Happy. "Oh, we are going to need your help getting our hands on some meds." Happy took it as an opportunity to speak. He took a piece of paper out and handed it to the young woman.
"For my Ma." Leylani looked over the list and stood up. 10 minutes later she came back in the room with a box in her hand.
"Here's what I have now. Some of the meds on that list are rare. I will have to make a few calls; hopefully I will be able to grab them by the time I make it to Charming." Happy gave her a slight smirk when he grabbed the box.
"Thank you."