Jax was sitting on top of the picnic table that sat outside of the club. He was smoking a cigarette waiting on Opie to arrive. Clay had called Jax and Opie to the club for a sit down talk. Initially, Jax refused to attend the meeting but Clay had given Jax a no nonsense talk that left little room for argument. So here he sat waiting on his best friend…former best friend to arrive.
Opie arrived at the club in Piney's car that was really a clunker on its last leg. Piney's car was only running because of the Teller-Morrow garage. Piney turned off the car and looked over at his son. "You ready for this boy?"
"Pop, I don't need you to go in with me." "I am a grown man and I can handle this on my own." said Opie. "You just stay out of it please." "I don't need the help." He smiled at his father. "I will be alright pop." Opie got out of the car and looked over at Jax sitting on the picnic table. He walked passed him without saying anything.
Jax tossed his cigarette on the ground and hopped off of the table. "So you are just going to walk by me." Jax shoved Opie. The fire was still burning in him and more than anything he was ready to take Opie on again.
Opie stopped and said "You want to do this right here and right now?" "I am right here Jax." "And I am not backing down." "And there ain't a woman here this time to get in the way of me kicking your ass." said Opie shoving Jax. "Come on…hit me." "Because you know that I will kick your ass." "I've got nothing to lose…come on."
Jax punched Opie and threw him to the ground and the two started to tussle. In no time Opie had gained the upper hand on Jax and they were scuffling on ground with one another.
The other guys from the club and the garage crowded around Jax and Opie as they fought. There were loud cheers as the fight raged on.
Clay walked out of the club hearing the fight and walked over to it. He whistled and said "break it up!"
Tig and Happy got into the fray and pulled Opie and Jax away from one another. Tig held onto Opie and said "Come on man!" "Cool off…" Tig pulled Opie into the club.
Happy walked Jax over to the picnic table.
Clay looked at Jax and said "You sit here until you think you are ready to come inside and talk this out." "I don't want any more fighting on this lot." "If another punch is thrown it better be done in the ring." said Clay nodding his head in the direction of the boxing ring.
Jax said "If this was about mom…you can't tell me that you would be calm." "You'd be ready for blood." "Why should I be any different?" asked Jax.
"I married your mother. Maybe you should have married Tara." said Clay walking into the club not waiting for Jax to reply.
Jax lit up a cigarette and sat on the picnic table for awhile. His attention was drawn over to the garage…more importantly his attention was drawn to the office attached to the garage. He had a pretty good idea of where Tara was. Jax got up from the picnic table and walked over to the office door and knocked.
Gemma went to the door and opened it. "What do you want Jackson?" "Isn't Clay waiting for you to come in and talk?" "You need to go and do that."
"I know Tara has to be here…she wasn't at home." "I'd like to come in and talk to her…just for a few minutes and then I will go over to the meeting with Clay." "I just need to talk to her and let her know how sorry I am about what happened. And to let her know that I am not mad at her about this…I know this is Opie taking advantage of the situation…of her.." said Jax looking at Gemma with pleading eyes.
Gemma hated saying no to her son but she shook her head. "You aren't talking to her right now." "Not until you get control of yourself and you work out this shit with Opie."
"There is nothing to work out. He crossed the line…he knew how I felt about Tara and he crossed the line anyway…" "There is no way that I can ever forgive that." "I am not sure what Clay…or you for that matter expects to happen." said Jax.
"I expect you to grow the hell up." "Both of you…I expect you and Opie to be men about this and find a way to work it out." "That is the man I raised you to be." "That is the man I know that you can be Jackson Teller." "Now you go and be that man." said Gemma moving to close the door.
Jax said "Mom please…just a few minutes."
Gemma said "I won't tell you again Jackson." "Goodbye…" Gemma closed the door and locked it.
Jax stood outside of the office looking at the closed door. He felt his temper getting the best of him. He punched the closed door and walked over to the club and headed inside. He went into Clay's office where Clay and Opie were already seated.
Clay said "Close the door and sit down Jax."
Jax closed the office door and shook his head. "I don't need to sit down." "This won't take long."
Clay's eyes narrowed. "Sit your ass down…" "Now."
Jax shook his head and sat down in the chair.
Clay said "Now, I know what happened and I know why it happened." "I've been there before…" "I… was in love with Gemma long before John died…" "John and I had to work that out and so do you and Opie." "You two are the future of this club." "I am not going to let either of you throw that away."
"What is there to work out?" "My dad was married to my mom. She was his old lady. You don't screw someone else's old lady." said Jax.
"You are right…story over in that case." "But you and Tara broke up." "Tara isn't your old lady anymore." "Which means she is fair game and you know that." "You know the rules as well as anyone else." said Clay. He looked over at Opie. "And Opie you had to know how this would work out when Jax found out." "You knew the problems this would cause." said Clay.
"It wasn't like I planned for this to happen Clay…it just happened." "It got away from me before I could really get a handle on it." "But this isn't some fly by night thing." "I love her." said Opie.
Jax clenched his fists. "You love her?" "Since when?" asked Jax. "You are only with her because you are grieving. What are you going to do when you aren't grieving anymore?"
"I've loved Tara for a long time." "Most of that time it has been as a friend but I love her." "I wouldn't do anything to hurt her." said Opie.
Clay said "Listen, the two of you are going to go to the cabin for a couple of days." "Gemma can look after Abel for you Jax. And Gemma can look after Kenny and Ellie for you Opie if Tara is busy." "Although considering she was literally stabbed in the back today I don't think she will be going to work for a few days."
Jax tried to interrupt Clay. "Wait"
Clay said "This isn't up for discussion. You two are going to go to the cabin and work this out." "Do whatever you have to do to make it right." "But by the time you two come back it better be settled." "No more fighting." "There is no going Nomad and there is no going to another chapter…I won't put it up for a vote." "So figure it out." "Now get out of my office." said Clay.
Jax and Opie both sat there in shock for a moment.
Clay said "I said get out of my office…."
Jax and Opie both got up and walked out of the office and went their separate ways. Both men went to their respective homes and packed for their three day trip. Jax spent some time with his son Abel before he left for the trip.
Opie spent some time with Ellie and Kenny for he left.
The two men didn't leave for the cabin until 6:00 that evening. On the way up to the cabin Jax and Opie both rode their motorcycles and were a few yards behind one another. Even the distance between their motorcycles spoke volumes. Usually they would have rode side by side on such an isolated road.
The cabin was a little more than two hours away and they were nearly here. As they were riding on a mostly desolate road they both heard the roar of motorcycles coming from the other direction. Jax hoped that the approaching group of motorcycles were friends of SAMCRO but as soon as they came into view Jax knew better. The approaching gang was a group called the Mayans.
The Mayans and SAMCRO had a long and murky history. There were times when the two groups had peace between them and then there were times when they held bloody month long feuds. Right now the two gangs were experiencing a tenuous time of peace. That peace had come at a significant price to the leader of the Mayans, Marcus Alvarez. The Mayans had teamed up with local drug dealer, Ernest Darby. Darby had inside information about where SAMCRO housed their weapons. The Mayans raided the warehouse, stole the weapons, and then burned the warehouse to the ground. SAMCRO retaliated. And so went that back and forth feud until it reached a boiling point. The Mayans attempted to kill Clay and Ernest Darby.
The hit was botched and Clay survived unscathed but the damage was already done. Ernest Darby survived as well but three people at his home at the time were not as lucky. The hits had been orchestrated by Alvarez's son, Esai. To prevent a long and bloody war that was sure to follow Clay sat down with Alvarez and Darby to broker peace.
As part of that peace all of the Mayan charters had to settle disputes with all of the SAMCRO charters with SAMCRO coming out on top for all of the deals. And Esai had to die for his part in the attempt on Clay's life. And so one day at a park Alvarez delivered Esai like a lamb to slaughter to Happy. Happy killed Esai with an ice pick to the back of the head. Since then the two clubs had lived in relative peace with only a few dust ups but they were bitter about the price they paid for peace.
Jax slowed down so that Opie could catch up with him. He looked over and yelled. "Mayans! Up ahead!"
Opie nodded and they took off down a side road hoping to avoid a major conflict with what appeared to be an entire charter of the Mayans. But there was to be no such luck on this day. The Mayans had spotted Jax and Opie and took off down the side road as well chasing them down. They were only a couple of miles from the cabin but they definitely weren't going to make it there.
Jax and Opie knew this area like the back of their hands so they sped along the road until they reached an area of the forest that they knew well. They both got off of their motorcycles and abandoned them on the road. They headed into the forest trying to throw the group of twelve Mayans off of their trail. The sun was going down by now darkness was quickly approaching. Darkness would be their best ally.
Opie led the way through the woods. "Come on Jax…keep up." said Opie.
"Shut up." said Jax running to keep up with Opie. "Let's stop…and see how far behind us they are." "I am going to climb up the tree…" said Jax motioning to a tree in front of them. Jax went over to the tree and climbed up it and was able to get a clear view of the Mayans looking for them. "Shit, they are still coming after us." Jax hopped down from the tree. Jax took out his cell phone and called Clay.
Clay answered the phone. "What is it?"
"Clay, we were on our way to the cabin when some Mayans spotted us." "We tried to lose them but the followed us." "We left our bikes on the road and are in the forest." "We are going to try to make the last mile on foot up to the cabin." "But we could use some help."
"Shit….alright." "Try to keep your head down." "We are heading out there now." Clay hung up.
Jax hung up and looked at Opie. "We should have reinforcements but it'll be at least an hour or more even with them speeding to get here."
Opie asked "Do you have your gun with you?" Opie took out his gun.
"I've got my gun and my K-Bar." said Jax. Jax's father, John, had given him a K-Bar knife when he was younger and he always carried on his belt with him.
Opie nodded and said "So do I." "If we are going out….let's go out fighting." Opie and Jax both took defensible positions behind trees and as the Mayans started coming into view they both started firing.
The Mayans started shooting back.
Opie and Jax took out four Mayans before Jax got shot in the arm and then in the leg. Jax let out a scream of pain and hit the ground. He scooted behind a tree for cover.
Opie looked over seeing Jax. "Jax!" He moved from his position over to Jax. "Are you okay?" As he was moving over to Jax he was shot in the arm. "Shit!' groaned Opie with a growl of pain.
Jax said "This is the arm I shoot with." "I am not going to be much help." "You need to take off. There is no way I am going to be able to walk on this leg."
Opie heard the Mayans getting closer and the shooting getting closer. "I am not leaving you here to die." Opie said "I want to be with Tara but not like this." Opie lifted up Jax and lugged his body as quickly as he could through the forest.
Jax groaned in pain the moving was causing him excoriating pain.
"Suck it up." "I am the one carrying your heavy ass." said Opie. They got deeper into the woods and realized they didn't hear anymore gunshots. Opie set Jax down on a fallen tree and looked around. "I don't know…I think they might have turned back." said Opie in a quiet voice.
Jax said "Well, it is getting late. There is nothing but the moon for light right now." "Maybe they decided it wasn't worth it to keep chasing us through the damn forest."
"Maybe…or maybe they are regrouping…either way we could both use some rest." said Opie. He had a seat on the fallen log and tore his long sleeved shirt to get a look at the gunshot wound to his arm. "At least it was a through and through." said Opie. "What about you?" asked Opie looking over at Jax.
Jax said "The arm is through and through…but the bullet is still in my damn leg."
Opie took the torn part of his shirt and handed it to Jax. "Try to stop some of the bleeding from your leg man."
Jax took the shirt and pressed it to his leg and groaned in pain. Jax took out his cell phone and said "I can't get a signal now…" "I guess we are too far in…"
The two men sat there in silence listening for approaching enemies and worrying if they would make it out of the forest alive. As the minutes ticked by nearly an hour passed.
