There was nothing like riding a bike on an open highway. You couldn't compare it to riding on any other mode of transportation. It was something completely different and once you experienced that thrill you had to have more. You were addicted to it like a drug addict. The sound of the bike would call to you and seeing a biker ride by would spark some internal craving pushing you move faster and get on your bike.
Harley had grown up around bikes. Her father and mother had rode with a couple of different outfits but it wasn't until they had set up roots in a quiet little town called Charming in Northern California that they stayed with a club on a permanent basis. Her father was one of the original members of the fledgling motorcycle band and it grew over the years becoming one of the most powerful in the United States and even on into Canada.
Naturally they all rode Harley's and it was how Harley came to be christened. Harley India Morgan. The India shortened for the Indian that her mother was so very fond of riding. She had learned to love her name even though she had heard more comments about it to last her several lifetimes.
Unlike most kids who got a car when they graduated high school, Harley's first vehicle was a Harley that she and her father had built from the floor up. They had spent many weekends over several years working on the bike making sure it was perfect down to the color – a midnight blue with white striping.
It seemed only natural to Harley to get a job doing what she did best. She was one of the best mechanics at Teller-Morrow. She'd considered branching out and opening her own shop but she never followed through and she was loyal to the family that owned and didn't want to cause problem.
She was pretty girl but never played up on her assets. She preferred to wear her dark hair in a ponytail and she always wore jeans and t-shirt. She wore no makeup because she'd never saw the point. She was always working so she was covered in grease by the end of every day. She had her father's pale green eyes and her mother's olive complexion which now sported several tattoos. She gotten her first tattoo with Jackson Teller when they were still in High School and she'd become hooked.
She rode through the streets of Charming, heading toward the shop. She'd gotten up early and had gone out for a ride. It was something she hadn't been able to do in awhile and it felt good to get out and enjoy the rush a motorcycle ride provided.
The shop was still quiet, since it was still pretty early in the day. She pulled her bike to a stop in her usual parking spot and cut the engine. She pulled off the helmet she was forced by law to wear and set it on the seat when she got off.
"Jax has been looking for you." She turned around when she heard the voice of one of the technicians, Billy, behind her. She frowned.
"What for?" She asked starting to walk towards the bay doors. Billy shrugged and followed behind her. There was a car on a lift and the sound of an air gun in the shop. A couple of the guys were milling around the coffee pot talking about the game that was on last night. She looked around and spotted Jax in the office and walked over there.
"What's up?" She asked walking in. Jax motioned for her to shut the door and she did so. She was wearing a blue button up shirt and stained jeans. His work boots were splattered with drops of oil and grease.
"Where were you last night? I stopped by but you weren't there." He asked. He was sitting at the desk holding some paperwork. Invoices probably, but that something his mother usually took care of.
"I had some things to take care of. You didn't mention you were coming over so I didn't wait around." She answered sitting in a chair by a filing cabinet. She leaned forward and tugged off her sweater.
She and Jax were seeing other. It was something they kept quiet and it was not like they were committed. It was exactly like it looked. They were fucking and nothing more. Something that had started when they were still kids in High School. It was had happened by accident really. They'd grown up together and hung out all the time. One day they had run out of things to say and had decided to try something the other had never done before. It had started innocent. Kissing but had progressed to making out and finally one summer night they had had sex. It was the first time for each and was done in the basement of her family's house while their parents were upstairs. They never told anyone and kept what they did a secret. It wasn't something that Jax was exactly thrilled for Harley's parents to find out and Harley had pretty much the same opinion.
They'd stopped fooling around when Jax has married Wendy and Harley had been secretly jealous of the whole situation. She had become strongly attached to Jax. She would probably even say she was in love with him. Something she's not told him of course. She didn't want to mess things up.
When Jax and Wendy had split up, he and Harley had started right back up again. Harley had been upset when she found out that Wendy had gotten pregnant after the split up. She wasn't delusional. She knew that Jax was fucking around and it killed her. She wasn't going to say anything because the last thing Jax liked or wanted was a girl demanding things of him. He was not the commitment type and that's why he and Wendy had failed. He was also not the father type. He had never wanted children and when he had found out Wendy was pregnant it was not something he celebrated.
"Are you gonna be home tonight?" Jax asked. Harley shrugged.
"I should be if my boss doesn't keep me late tonight." She said smiling. Jax smirked.
"I think that if you ask your boss nicely you might get off with no problems tonight." He said. The meaning in the words was not lost on Harley and she raised an eyebrow.
"I hope so. I had to work all by myself last night before I got off." She said. She watched as Jax licked his lips and looked her up and down.
"I wish I would have know. I was more than willing to help with the workload last night." Harley shrugged. She stood up and took a step towards him and lowered her voice.
"I know. You were always good with your hands and helping me things done." She winked at him and turned. She opened the door and just before she walked out she turned back to him. "Stop by if you wanna ride tonight. I'll be ready." She said.
There was a time when being in a motorcycle club meant you simply met up with other members and traveled across the country. You rode with friends and family and while people viewed you as a menace to society you were simply riding a motorcycle.
Things changed for motorcycle riders when OMC or Outlaw Motorcycle clubs were formed. These people were drug runners, weapons dealers and all around bad guys. Criminal backgrounds were a rite of passage for members of these clubs. The longer your rap sheet the tougher you were.
While SAMCRO certainly fell into the category of OMC, they were not as "bad" as other OMC's. Sure they dealt weapons to whoever would pay and they were far from altar boys. There was no secret that if you wanted someone dealt with, Sam Crow boys were ones you would call. But there was one thing Sam Crow boys didn't tolerate and that was drug dealing.
There was enough bullshit in the world to deal with and selling drugs to people including children was something that Sam Crow did not do and it was something they didn't want in their town.
The NORDS and the MAYANS were two rival MC's that were constantly getting into shit with Sam Crow. They were a low level motorcycle crew in the eyes of the Sons. They were not above selling drugs to whomever and trying to steal the action from others. They were criminals with no morals and it was something the Sons could not abide by.
They had managed to get them out of the city limits of Charming but they still ran their operations outside of town and were branching out into neighboring towns. They were at war and their war was against them. A fight that some were not sure would ever end.
Clay sat at the wood table in the club house. The carving of the Sons famous Grim Reaper decal had been cut out into the center and it was around this table that all important Sam Crow decisions were made. If you were sitting around this table you were a high level member of the Sons and you were someone to be respected.
"We got a shipment coming in from Ireland. I need some of you guys to be there when it comes in. As for where we are storing those, anyone have any ideas. With the warehouse burned to shit and ATF now breathing down our necks here in Town we have to make sure we put them someplace safe." Everyone sat there thinking about what Clay has just said. Cigarette smoke billowing up to the ceiling while ideas were thought over.
A few ideas were thrown out but quickly shot down because they weren't good enough. It was finally Jax's idea to take them over the state line into Nevada that made sense. It would mean riding through MAYAN territory but it was something that had to be done. The crew was worked on and the meeting came to end.
Jax and Clay sat at the table after everyone else dispersed. They sat there in silence for a moment before the older man spoke up.
"Have you seen your son lately?" Clay asked. Jax nodded his head.
"Yeah, Tara said that he's not as critical as he was when he was born. He still has a bumpy road ahead of him but he should be okay." Jax said. Clay nodded. He reached up and took off his sunglasses.
"Listen. When you meet with your Uncle make sure that things go well. We need them to patch over. It's important to them and it's important to the Sons. Got it?" Clay asked.
"Yeah I got it." Jax said. He pushed his chair back and stood up. "It's not going to go over well but I think we can get a good number to stay." He said.
Jax spotted Billy Morgan over at the bar and walked over to the man. Jax had always like Harley's father. He was a big man, tall and built like an ox. He spoke with a deep loud voice but in a complete contradiction he was a gentle giant. Sure he'd done time but he was not like most of the guys in the club.
"Hey Billy." Jax said sitting down next to him.
"Hey son, how you doing?" Billy asked. He reached over and squeezed Jax's shoulder.
"Good. Listen I've been meaning to stop by and see Sara. To thank her and you for all you two have done for me and Abel. It means a lot." Jax said. He was referring to the amount of time to two had spent at the hospital and countless dishes of food that Sara had made for the family at home at the hospital.
"It's nothing. You're part of the family and you need all the support you can get." Billy said. Jax smiled and nodded.
"Thanks anyway. Tell Sara I'll stop by soon and see her." Jax said.
"I will. Hey and make sure you tell Harley that she needs to spend a few moments with her Pop working on the new bike." He added.
"You two working on another one?" Jax asked. Billy nodded.
"Yeah. Found a classic Indian for Sara that we decided to fix up and give to her for her birthday." Jax whistled.
"She'll love that." He said. Billy laughed.
"Gotta keep the old lady happy." He said. Jax laughed.
If Billy and Sara found out the things he was doing to their daughter they might just kill him. He could only imagine the shit they would say about the whole thing. Billy especially. He was fiercely protective of his daughter and no man was ever good enough for her. He remembered the time some asshole from school had decided to feel Harley up without her consent after a football game. When she'd told her father he had kicked the kid's ass and told him that if he ever went near his daughter again he would make sure no one found the body.
Jax was pretty sure that was why Harley had never really dated anyone. Aside from there not being anyone worth her time in this town, they would never measure up to her parents. He had wondered what they would think of him and Harley but it was something he didn't want to dwell on. Besides the arrangement they had worked out well for them. They kept each other company when they needed it and there was no emotional bullshit making things difficult.