Chapter 2: Shit Got Wild

"Ugh"

Jax's eyes snapped open sharply. "What the hell…?" He was laid out on the bar; his new cut gleamed in the florescent lights of the clubhouse. He was clutching a bottle of tequila in his left hand tightly. Jax sat up and scanned the room. Tig was sitting in the corner of the room, his pants around his ankles and his boxers half off. He was crammed on the floor between two women, a blonde and a redhead. Bobby was in a similar state on the couch next to another girl. Everyone in the room was passed out. "What the hell happened last night?" Jax asked out loud.

"Shit got wild" a voice interrupted his thoughts. Jax spun around and saw Otto standing there with two mugs and a pot of coffee. "Get up and drink some coffee kid."

Jax groaned as he rose, bringing life back to his stiff limbs. His white tennis shoes hit the floor with a loud CLOP as his feet slammed against the ground. Otto led him into the chapel room, the only room in the clubhouse at the moment that wasn't occupied by passed out members or half naked croweaters. Otto took his usual seat at the VP spot and Jax picked a chair on the right side of the table, diagonally across from Otto, the seat Happy was sitting in the night before. It was the seat Jax would be taking when Happy left, since Happy was a senior member of the club, Jax had to sit on the outer chairs near the wall until Happy went back to Tacoma. Jax pulled away the leather seat and took a minute before sitting down. I've waited so long to sit here, at this table, in one of these chairs he thought as he was handed a cup of coffee.

"What, you got a date?" Otto asked Jax, laughing "Sit down"

Jax sat down and sipped at his coffee. "So, what exactly happened last night?"

"You don't remember?" Otto ripped open a packet of sugar and poured it into his coffee. He dipped a finger into the hot coffee and twirled the sugar around.

"I remember getting patched in" Jax said as he rubbed his tired eyes "Then a bunch of croweaters showed up, we did shots of tequila, Tig shot a couple of bottles out of the air with his Glock, you went home to get something and then it's all fuzzy from there."

Otto laughed and swallowed down half of his coffee. "Clay told me he wanted to see you later, and that Gemma called."

"Oh god" Jax laughed. "I didn't tell her I wasn't coming home"

"Yeah she's pissed" Otto told him. "So have you thought about what you're going to do about school?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your seventeen years old Jax" Otto said "You're the youngest member SAMCRO's ever had and your still in school. It's gonna be hard juggling academics and club responsibilities at the same time."

"I'll make it work" Jax said confidently "It'll work."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself." Otto smirked at his new brother.

"I guess I am." Jax told him "Did I get laid last night?"

Otto laughed and slammed his hand on the table "Your underage Jax"

"That hasn't stopped me from joining the club"

Otto smirked "Even a croweater doesn't want to be labeled a child molester."

"Where's Clay, I'll go see him now" he downed the rest of his coffee and stood up slowly and steadily. Otto rose with him "He's in the back bedroom."

Jax opened the door and saw that Tig and Bobby were rising. "No baby, you don't have to go" Tig growled at the croweater who had got up and was walking towards the door. He looked at the other girl next to him, the redhead, he squeezed at her breast lightly and seemed to go back to sleep. Bobby on the other hand, was picking up the girl he was with and carrying her out the door.

"BOBBY" Tig shouted out the door, startling the redhead. "MAKE SOME BANANA BREAD"

Jax scoffed at his friends and walked past the bar into the hallway. He stopped in front of the motorcycle in the hall. It was his father's bike, the bike that he had died riding. It had been sitting in Jax's garage for seven months after the accident. Jax had been an emotional wreck, with the death of his brother then his father piled onto his shoulders. Then Opie decided to visit. On the one year anniversary of John Teller's death, Jax and Opie brought the rebuilt bike back to Teller-Morrow and had it placed in the hallway. Two weeks later, on his sixteenth birthday, Jax went to Clay to prospect. Now, a year later, it felt amazing to stand by the bike with his new cut on.

Jax walked down the hall towards the last bedroom. The door had a large plate on it that said PRESIDENT. The club's President, VP, and Sergeant at Arms all had permanent rooms of their own at the clubhouse, though all of them had their own apartments and houses. There were two other spare bedrooms for members that needed them. "Clay?" Jax knocked on the door twice.

"Come on in kid." He commanded through the door. Clay was sitting at the foot of the bed, holding a metal case in his hands. "Jax" he said to his youngest member. "I've got something for you." He placed the metal case on the computer desk. He opened up the case. "In our…" he paused and looked for the correct words "…Line of work, things don't always go as planned."

"Automotive repair?" Jax asked and chuckled.

"You are just like your father." Clay laughed with him "Always a smartass" he pulled a rag out of the case and started to hand it to Jax. Jax reached for it and Clay pulled it back. "Listen; in our line of work, people get hurt. Now, taking a life is never easy, but sometimes it's necessary. These belonged to your father; he would have wanted you to have them."

Jax took the rag and placed it on the bed; he unfolded the cloth and pulled two items out. The first was a Colt 1911 handgun; Jax heaved it in his hand and checked it over. He pulled the slide back and looked into the action. The second item was a Marines K-Bar Tactical Knife. Jax picked up the knife and pulled it out of the sheath. The blade was dark, so that it wouldn't gleam in the sunlight. Jax traced his finger over the serrated edge. "Wow" he said as he put the knife back in its scabbard and undid his belt. He looped the knife through the belt and hung it on his hip. Every member of the Sons of Anarchy wore some kind of knife on their belt, mostly hunting and Army knives.

"Your dad carried those in 'Nam" Clay told him "Your grandfather used that pistol when they stormed the beach in Normandy. And now your gonna be able to use them to defend this club."

"Thanks Clay" Jax said as he hugged the older man, patting him on the back. "Really, thanks"

Clay sat down on the bed again. "I need you to ride up to the cabin with Opie, wake up Piney. Tell the old man I wanna see him, got some shit to discuss. Then get home before your mother chops my head off."

Jax nodded and Clay handed him the metal case, there were several clips of .45 ammo in the case. "Go and get a holster for that too. Tig should be able to hook you up."

Jax threw the pistol in the case and walked back out to the bar, he saw Tig and Bobby in the kitchen. Bobby was mixing batter into a blender and Tig was standing over his shoulder, directing his every move. "So when's it gonna be ready man?"

"Tig" Bobby shook his head "If you ask me when the banana bread is going to be ready one more time, I will dump this batter on your head and never make it for you again."

Jax laughed as he walked over to the fridge. He pulled a milk carton out of the metal box and put the case on the counter. He opened the carton and took a long swig. "Hey" Bobby said, grabbing the carton from him and pouring it in the batter. "I need that."

Jax tapped Tig on the shoulder. Tig turned, still glancing at Bobby out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

"I need a holster, for a .45. Clay said I could ask you."

"Yeah, sure thing man." He turned and dipped his finger in the batter. "Tomorrow"

"Okay, thanks." Jax said as he left the kitchen while Bobby slapped Tig's wrist.

Opie knocked on the cabin door five times. "Dad" he called out. After one minute, Opie pulled a key out of his pocket and shoved it in the keyhole.

When Jax and Opie walked in, they were treated with the smell of whiskey again. Overturned portraits and pictures of Piney and the First 9. The table had been flipped over and several guns had fallen to the ground.

"Dad?" Opie called out "You in here"

"Yeah" a voice called back. Piney walked out of the bedroom, his cut ruffled and his balding hair disheveled. His cut revealed a bare spot, where V. PRESIDENT used to be. Piney was just as big as Bobby, with a large gut protruding from his shirt.

"How you feeling Piney?" Jax asked

"Like the VP patch was taken from me and given to Otto just before you joined." Piney had wanted to give Jax the Vice President position when he joined, but unfortunately, Clay had said that he was too young a member right now to become the VP and had to earn it. The patch was tossed between Otto and Tom Whitney, but ultimately, Otto got to stitch it into his cut. Piney had believed that Jax could handle the VP spot, but even Jax admitted that it would be too hard having a Vice President in high school.

"Relax Dad." Opie commanded "Otto deserves the seat. It's cool"

"Ugh" Piney groaned as he pulled the table up and readjusted it.

"Clay told me to tell you he needs you at the clubhouse. Has to talk to you about some shit." Jax grabbed a bottle of water off of the table and chugged it down.

"Did he say what?"

"No" Jax said "Probably something to do with the 'Niners, got to vote that."

"Yeah, ugh, I'm sorry I missed your thing last night kid. I was ugh…"

"Passed out?" Opie suggested.

Piney laughed and smacked his son on the shoulder. "Yes indeed." He walked out of the cabin and locked the door. He hugged Jax "Glad to see you made the cut Jax, your father would be proud of you."

All three of them mounted they're bikes and rode down the dirt trail back to the highway.

"This is bullshit and you know it Clay." The leader of the One Niners said in anger to the President.

"I know, Tre, I know" Clay said as he crossed his legs. He and Tre, the head of the 'Niners, were sitting in a park in Oakland. Tig, Otto, and Bobby were sitting at a bench not far from them, and the 'Niners that had accompanied Tre were seated on another bench. "Look, if you just finalize the payment…" Clay started

"Hell no" Tre said sharply. "Jake was the smart one, he was the one handling your deal. Everything died with him, your deal is on hold Clay."

"Now listen to me Tre…"

"No, you listen to me, bitch!" he shouted. "You ain't in Charming right now, this ain't ya goddamn clubhouse. If I tell you ya deal is on hold, you will sit your cracker ass down, shut your mouth and listen."

Tig could see the anger in Clay's face building up, and at first thought Clay was going to shoot Tre in the head. "Tre" Clay said, "Buddy, pal" Clay wiped sweat out of his eye "I only want to help you, see, we're gonna find the Mayan that killed Jake, we're gonna get rid of him, and then we're gonna talk guns. Is that cool?"

"All right" Tre said "When the Mexi asshole that killed my boy is six feet under, we can talk business."

"You got any idea who this wetback was?"

"I got a few." Tre told Clay "Asshole wasn't wearing a cut, but we caught the Mayan artwork on his bike. He was wearing a hoodie that had a logo for Emilio's Chili Dogs up on 7th. We figured that the SOB must be turning Oscar-Mayers in his spare time."

"So, what?" Clay asked "You want us to barge into a restaurant and start shooting in the middle of broad daylight? We're not gangsta dawgs."

"Your pushing the line again Clay" Tre eyed the President. "You find a way to get that bastard, or you ain't ever selling gats to my crew ever again." He got up and walked away, his boys trailed off after him.

"I totally thought you were gonna mess his shit up" Otto said as Clay walked back.

"Maybe" Clay said "Too bad we need this deal. They want us to kill the Mayan."

Bobby shook his head, "We just said yesterday, at the table, that going at the Mayans right now will start another war."

"That's why they can't know it was us." Clay smirked and got on his bike.

"Mom?" Jax called out as he opened the door to his house. He looked around the kitchen and found a mug of coffee. There was steam rising from the cup, and it had just been poured.

"Jackson" Gemma Teller walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The 37 year old widow still looked as young as she did at 25, with a flat stomach, tan skin, long black hair mixed with blonde dye. The most distinguishable trait Gemma had was the long scar that trailed her upper chest, between her breasts. She was born with a heart defect that all of her family possessed, including Jax.

"Mom, how are you?"

"You could have called before you stayed at the clubhouse you know."

"Sorry, I got wrapped up after school."

"Oh my god" Gemma gasped, "It was yesterday wasn't it?"

Jax grinned and turned around, revealing his full patch to his mother. He swung back around and was kissed on the cheek. "Congrats baby. I knew you'd be patched soon."

"Thanks" he sat down at the dining table and leaned back. Taking a deep breath, he rapped his fingers on the wood "Are you going to TM today?" he asked Gemma.

"No, I think I'm gonna go out with Luann today, gonna get lunch, do some shopping."

"Alright" Jax said.

"What about you?" Gemma set a plate of pancakes in front of him and kissed the top of his head. She took a seat and drank her coffee.

"I'm going back to the clubhouse; I'll probably get Op first. I'll see if Clay needs anything."

"Planning on getting any homework done?" Gemma asked sarcastically.

"Screw homework" Jax said, "I'm gonna graduate for sure, but we all know I'm not exactly going to excel academically."

"Just don't grow up stupid, you hear. Your father never had a real education you know."

"And he died being hit by a semi and dragged a 178 yards. Not of hunger. Dad did fine for himself. Look at TM."

"Whatever, I don't want to talk about your dad right now. I'm gonna go meet Luann. You eat your breakfast."

"More like lunch" Jax said "It's almost twelve."

"How we gonna do this?" Otto asked his President outside the chili dog restaurant.

"I don't know yet" Clay told him, "I'm trying to find a way to make sure they know it wasn't us or the 'Niners. If we can divert the blame, we can avoid a war, and if we can keep the heat away from Tre's crew, we might have a chance of still selling them the Irish stock."

"So that we don't have to double up on storage." Otto finished.

"Exactly" Clay continued.

The restaurant was too occupied to go in and gun down the Mexican in plain sight. The chili dogs were obviously very good. Tig walked out of the restaurant and took off his sunglasses. "They got a camera in there too; the tape is behind the counter, still too many witnesses."

"There a camera on the outside?" Bobby asked.

"No" Tig told him "There's a street cam down the road, but I doubt it could ID us."

"So" Otto said "We have to start from the outside."

"Let's take the bikes into the back alley" Clay said. They moved their motorcycles into an alley a few blocks off. Otto came back alone, with a heavy brick. After scanning the street for cops, he got the Mayans attention.

"HEY, YOU WETBACK BASTARD!" He screamed through the open doors. He tossed the brick into the window, shattering it and sending glass into the store. Several of the restaurant's patrons yelped and screamed as the glass shattered, and the sound of a crying baby was heard. "SCREW YOU, YOU BROWN PIECE OF SHIT!"

The Mayan was out the door when Otto rounded the corner. Otto darted across the street and dodged a Toyota. He dived over the hood of the car and slid off of the roof. He continued to run at the alley. Otto sprinted into the alleyway with the Mayan quick on his tail. Otto rounded the corner and broke into a dead run. Slowing down and allowing the Mexican to catch him, knowing that Clay and the others were hidden behind the dumpster. The Mayan grabbed Otto and pushing him against a chain link.

"You white trash PUTO!" he slugged Otto in the lower stomach as Clay and Tig rounded the dumpster.

Tig took a hold of the Mayan's tee shirt and threw him against the fence "Easy there Jose Conseco" Clay said as he reached inside his cut. The President pulled out a silenced Beretta and shoved it into the Mexican's chest.

Otto stood up and spat on the Mayan "You hit like a girl."

"You killed Jake Lerone" Clay said "The 'Niner on 9th street, two nights ago."

"What?" The Mexican said "You?" he looked at the patches on Clay's cut. "GODDAM SONS"

"Not so loud there amigo" Tig said, pulling at the Mayan's hair.

"You killed Tre's man, and you screwed me in the process." Clay accused. "You I hope you've been forgiven of your sins." He said, noticing the catholic cross that hung around his neck. "Adios" Clay fired his gun into the Mayan's chest four times, piercing his heart and sending blood everywhere. The silenced gunshots seemed to ring in their ears just as loudly as they would have without the suppressor.

Clay pressed his gloved hand into the Mayans neck, feeling his pulse and smirking. "Give me the picture Tig."

Tig pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket of his cut and handed it to Clay, along with a stapler. Clay pressed the paper into the Mayans head and with a sharp click stapled it into the Mayan's flesh. "I can only imagine the look on Alverez's face when he finds this." Otto said, laughing. On the paper was the picture of a Chinese symbol, the symbol for death. Otto had found it in the library in Oaktown and ripped it out of the book.

Clay smiled as he rose "When Alverez finds this guy, he's gonna go to war with Lin. We're gonna go back to Tre and he's going to want our guns. When the Mayan's strike against the Triad, Lin's gonna come to us for firepower. We can sell all of our Irish stock, and we'll be set for quite a while."

"The hell happened to you boys?" Chibs asked as Clay, Otto, and Tig walked out of the setting sun and back into TM's garage. Chibs was ripping an engine from a red Dodge's block when he saw the blood on Clay's sleeve. "You three look like you've had a hell of a time, huh?"

Clay scoffed and helped Chibs pull the engine out of the car. "All that matters is that we can sell off those AK's to the 'Niners."

"OH" Chibs yelped at Clay and bumped his fist, "Way to go brothers, bout time we got that cash."

"Church" Clay told Chibs; "Tonight" he pulled his cell off of his belt and clicked a speed dial. "Make sure everyone knows" he said to Otto before raising the mobile to his ear. The phone rang six times before someone answered.

"Hello"

"Hey, Gem, it's Clay"

"Hey handsome." Gemma said "Calling for Jax or me?"

"Can't it be both?" Clay laughed and walked back towards the clubhouse.

"Jax just left for TM. I was walking in when he headed out"

"Okay then, I'll wait for him."

Gemma grabbed the leftovers she got from her lunch with Luann and placed them in the fridge. "Are you coming over later baby?"

"I can if Jax isn't going to be there."

"Oh come on" she moaned.

"Look Gem, I'd rather just let it settle for a while" Clay explained.

"We told each other we were gonna get married."

"Not yet"

"Then when?" She stammered as she sat down at the table.

"Soon, I wanna let Jax settle into the club before I spring anything major on him. Give me a few months"

"Months?"

Jax was starting to pull into the TM lot. The roar of his motorcycle clouded Clay's thoughts as the young man rolled into his parking space. Jax put down his kickstand and dismounted his bike, placing the helmet on the handlebars and walking over to Clay.

"Hey I gotta go, I'll see you later." He hit end and stowed the phone on his belt. "The prodigal son graces us with his presence." He said to Jax, raising his hands into the air. "You speak to Piney?"

"Yeah" Jax said. "We rode from the cabin back onto the highway. He said he needed gas, he stopped at the station and we kept going. He's not here?"

"He never showed up." Clay looked around the lot. "Anyone seen Piney?"

Three Hours Ago

Piney Winston had just stopped riding with his son and his best friend's son. He had finished gassing up his ride, and was riding on the high way. All he could think about was his newest brother. He was proud of Jax. He could remember the day he was born. Hell, he could remember the night he was conceived. They had yet to settle in Charming, and they were a nomadic chapter. They rode up and down California, up into Oregon and Washington. On the rare occasion, they rode into the desert, in the east.

"Welcome to Vegas baby" Lenny Janowitz yelped as they spotted the city. Lenny Janowitz was the third member to join Sons of Anarchy. He had long brown hair that raced down to the middle of his back. Unlike most of the club, he had no beard, and was clean shaven. He had a cigarette burning in his mouth and had a second one lined up to light. If only he knew his three pack a day habit would lead to throat cancer. Lenny sped up, breaking rank and accelerating to almost ninety miles an hour. He roared past John, the chapter President, Piney the VP, and Clay the Sergeant at Arms.

"He's excited huh?" John asked his friends as Gemma clutched tighter to his midsection. Jax was the spitting image of John. The only difference was the blond hair Jax possessed.

"It's been a while since he got laid." Piney chuckled and scratched his beard. Unlike in the present day Piney was in tip top shape. He was still a soldier at heart, and kept a strict work out regiment. Piney was a monster, standing at least at six three, before his bad back caved in. Piney was all muscle.

"When was the last time any of us have been?" John asked Gemma mockingly.

"Your not exactly selling yourself sweetheart" Gemma kissed the back of his neck, just below the hairline. She glanced off to the left, where Clay was eyeing them. Upon the sight of Gemma looking, he turned his head and revved off toward Lenny.

"Has Clay ever broken rank before?" Piney asked JT.

"No"

SOA rolled into Vegas, the flashing lights and strip club signs blasted out onto everyone's faces. "This is my kind of city" Clay said as they rolled past another casino. It was 1977 and Vegas was the single craziest city in the west. Crazy fashions, crazy hair, crazy people, it was a wild time. Piney and JT decided to hit up a biker bar.

"Come on man" Lenny pleaded with John "I love the life, but all we do is go to biker bars." He circled John and Piney "Let's hit up the casinos man, hit this shit, one of us could be walking out of here a millionaire."

Piney laughed "You hear that John, a millionaire!"

"What could we buy the club with a million bucks?" John asked his Irish friend, Keith McGee

"A few golden bikes?" McGee offered, laughing.

"Maybe a swimming pool filled with chocolate?" Piney wondered

"How about a thousand color TVs?" John asked Lenny.

"Oh come on guys"

"Sorry Lenny" JT said "We don't have money to blow in a casino"

"TWENTY TWO BLACK" John yelled at the table "TWENTY TWO BLACK"

The ball rolled past twenty two and landed on red. "Shit" JT swore as the rest of the table groaned. Piney placed a hand on John's shoulder. John stole a glance "How did we end up here?" he asked Piney.

"One string of bad decisions to another my friend." Piney said.

JT was about to place another bet when Gemma walked into the room. She was wearing all leather, leather pants, a leather jacket, leather boots. She had specifically let the jacket's zipper pull down, revealing much more cleavage then she should have. She held a bottle of champagne in her hand.

She walked up behind JT. "I just found out this place is a hotel." She growled in his ear. "You should cash out. She strutted across the room and back into the lobby.

John glanced at Piney. "Well go you SOB, I can take over here." He said to John.

Piney smirked as he remembered the next month, the realization of Gemma's pregnancy, relocation to Charming, John and Gemma's wedding, where, for weeks before, him and Clay had fought over best man privileges. In the end, it ended up going to Clay. Clay was the best man; Clay was JT's successor as President, not him. It took Piney a while to realize he was driving.

A screech of tires, a scream, the honking of several horns. "SHIT" Piney swore as his bike swerved. He struggled to control his ride as he tumbled away from the other cars. His hands rattled as he reached for the brakes. Piney swerved right and hit a rock.

He was thrown from his bike with force, going clean over the handlebars and over the grass on the side of the freeway. Time seemed to slow down for Piney as he flew away from the road. He landed roughly on a patch of dirt and rocks. The older man felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as he groaned. He could taste blood in his mouth. "Damn" he swore as he tried to raise his arm to feel his head. When he tried to move his hand, he felt like he had been stabbed in the arm. Piney moved his right hand to the back of his head. He could feel wet blood.

Wet blood

That was his last thought before passing out.