A/N: I do not own anything about Sons of Anarchy. It belongs completely to Kurt Sutter, and I am just so glad to be allowed to play in the wonderful world he created.
Chapter Nine
When Charlie woke up the next morning and drug herself into the kitchen around nine, she found Chibs, Opie, and Jax sitting around the kitchen table. She walked over to Opie, took the cigarette out of his mouth, and took a draw off it as she walked back to the counter to make herself a cup of coffee.
"That was my cigarette." Opie grumbled as he dug into his kutte for his pack of cigarettes.
"Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of waking up to two more of SAMCRO's finest?" She asked as she shoveled sugar into her coffee cup.
Jax laughed and replied, "Ope wanted to come check on you, and I came along for the ride. Wanted to see how many bullet holes and blood stains you and Hap left in Chibs' carpet."
Charlie rolled her eyes and opened the fridge, hunting for food but coming up empty. She closed the door and sat down at the table between Jax and Chibs, taking a sip of her coffee as she flicked ashes into the ashtray on the table. "No blood. No bullets. He turned the TV to cartoons; I went to bed. Slow night."
Chibs glanced over at Charlie, knowing that she had omitted the argument that had occurred between her and Happy.
"Well that's boring." Jax sighed, picking up her coffee cup and taking a sip, then grimacing as he swallowed. "Jesus Christ, how do your teeth not rot out?"
Charlie smirked and pulled her cup back towards her. "Don't drink my coffee, jackass." She turned to Chibs and said, "There's no food here, so I'm going to go grocery shopping today. Do you want anything particular?"
Chibs shrugged as he took a sip of his own coffee. "Nah, ye get what ye like, lass. Another lasagna would be good. I can make that." He grinned at her and Charlie laughed. "I don' know. We could grill out tonight; club doesn' have anythin' pressin', unless somethin' happens. Juicy could come over; we'll make a night of it. Just get a lot of meat. We'll freeze it if we need ta. I've got a deep freezer hooked up out back."
Charlie nodded and stood up with her coffee cup. "Okay then. I'm going to go get ready. It takes time to make this," waved her hand across her face and down her body, "beautiful." She laughed.
"Yeah, we weren't gonna say anything, but you're downright scary looking in the morning." Jax joked. "I don't know how Chibs doesn't have nightmares."
Charlie glared at him and smacked the back of his head.
"Ye should've seen her yesterday mornin', Jackie boy. Now that was scary." Chibs said, laughing as Charlie swatted at him and he moved out of the way.
Charlie dropped a kiss on the top of her brothers' head as she made her way out of the kitchen, but she heard him get up and follow her down the hall. He leaned against the doorjamb of her bedroom as she set her coffee cup down on the nightstand and rummaged through her closet for clothes.
"Pop's worried about you. Mom too. You haven't come to see her since you got back." Opie said, his hands in his pockets as he stared at the floor. "And dad doesn't want you to be in contact with Tully."
Charlie threw a pair of jeans and a red tank top onto the bed before kneeling in front of a drawer. "Mom will survive. I'll call her later. And dad… Look, Tully's my business." Charlie threw a pair of underwear and a bra on top of the clothes on her bed and stood up, turning to look at her brother.
Opie met her gaze and said, "No, Tully's club business now. Unfortunately."
"I know."
"You know?" Opie's eyes narrowed. "How? Chibs wouldn't have said anything."
Charlie didn't answer, and Opie sighed. "Tully. You've talked to him since the other night?"
"He stopped by yesterday. We had a… chat." Charlie averted her eyes and cleared her throat.
Opie stomped towards her and forced her to look at him by grabbing her chin. "Are you fucking him again?"
Charlie jerked away from his hand and scowled. "No, but even if I was, it wouldn't be any of your business, Opie. My sex life is just that - mine. It's not your business; it's not dads; it's not the clubs." Charlie's voice rose as she talked. She was pointing at Opie and stabbing her finger into his chest for emphasis. "I'll fuck whoever the fuck I want to. I'm 25 years old, for Christ's sake! I'm not an idiot."
Opie scoffed. "Yeah, well for a 25 year old with a college education, you act like an idiot." He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently. "Wake up, Charlie. He doesn't care about you. He's just using you; partly to get under everyone's skin. It was a 5 to 4 decision, and that was barely because Bobby and Jax both hate the peckerwoods guts but they think he's useful."
Charlie laughed and grabbed Opie's forearms because his hands were still on her shoulders. She shook his arms and said, "Wake up Opie! Members of the club and crow eaters are not the only ones who have sex to scratch an itch. I don't love Tully, you fucktard! I just have… needs."
Opie let go of her shoulders and stepped back quickly, his face twisting in disgust. "I didn't need to hear you say that. Christ."
Charlie heard Jax and Chibs erupt into laughter in the kitchen, and Charlie smirked, knowing that the whole club would know about this conversation by lunch, and that Opie would be hard pressed to live it down.
Ope shook his head, hard, as if to rid his mind of Charlie's words, then said, "Okay, well, we're good, then?"
Charlie laughed as she picked up her clothes from the bed and her makeup case from the dresser. "Yeah, we're good, Ope. I'll find someone else to tend to my needs."
Opie gagged and shuddered, then headed out of her room. Charlie followed behind him and gave Chibs and Jax, who had moved to stand at the end of the hall to hear better, a big smile. They returned her smile with shit-eating grins, and Chibs gave her a thumbs up. Laughing to herself, Charlie went into the bathroom and closed the door, throwing her clothes over the back of the toilet and setting her makeup bag on the counter. She left most of her toiletries in the bathroom, like shampoo, conditioner, her razor, and shave cream, but she tried to take her makeup back to her room after she showered each day. The bathroom didn't have much counter space, and she didn't really want to test the Scot's patience. She was his roommate, not his girlfriend.
Charlie turned on the shower to let the water heat and she examined her face in the bathroom mirror. Her green eyes weren't as bloodshot as they had been yesterday, and her dark circles had vanished somewhat, so that was an improvement. Her hair looked like shit, and she agreed with Jax that she looked scary. It was starting to grow out a bit, and her eyebrows needed waxed as well. She was surprised that Tully was even attracted to her at this point. Well, lust is lust, baby girl, Charlie thought to herself as she shed her shorts, sports bra, and tank top and climbed into the shower. The hot water felt so good and Charlie took her time. She and Chibs shared his shower gel, Bulgari, because she had forgotten to buy any and it smelled heavenly. Charlie realized that it probably made her smell like a man, but she loved the shower gel anyways. Charlie had learned fairly quickly that it was one of few things Chibs' splurged on, aside from beer, cigarettes, and parts for his motorcycle. He special ordered it from Nordstrom, and Charlie had made fun of him for spending forty-five dollars on a bottle of body wash… until she had smelled it herself. They still had half a bottle, but she made a mental note to go online and order another bottle soon.
Reluctantly, Charlie made herself get out of the shower and dry off, then she got dressed after she rubbed her hair vigorously to get out the excess water. She opened the bathroom door to let in some fresh air, because she had steamed up the tiny bathroom significantly, and she started on her makeup. Her mother didn't wear makeup and had never taught Charlie how to, and Gemma had tried to teach her, but it didn't stick, so Charlie mainly stuck to foundation, powder, and a little bit of eyeliner. It wasn't much, but it was simple. Charlie packed up her makeup, threw her towel over the shower rod to dry, and picked up her clothes from the floor, then dumped everything in her room. She grabbed her forgotten, and now cold, coffee cup from the bedside table and took it into the kitchen to pour it out. Chibs, Jax, and Opie were nowhere to be seen, so she assumed that they had left for TM. There was a note on the counter with a couple hundred-dollar bills.
Hurricane,
Like I said, buy a lot of meat and we'll freeze it for later. We need beer too.
Chibs
P.S. – You'll have a shadow. Don't shoot him.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Charlie growled to herself as she marched to the front door, unlocked it, and wrenched it open.
Juice was sitting on the front step with his head in his hands, but he jumped up as soon as he heard the door open.
"Hey! I knocked, but no one answered." He said, smiling at her.
"Yeah, sorry, I was in the shower." Charlie smiled back at him and stepped to the side. "Come on in; I'm almost ready. I just have to shoot my hair with the blow-dryer for a minute."
Juice walked into the house and sat down on the couch, picking up the remote and turning on the TV. Chibs' house was pretty much like a second home to Juice, and Charlie enjoyed how at ease he was there. Hell, everyone that visited was at ease, but she guessed that was because the guys were so close. That's what the brotherhood of the Sons of Anarchy was like. Charlie smiled to herself as she walked down the hall and plugged up her hair-dryer. She fixed her hair as best she could, promised herself that she would find a hairdresser, placed her phone in her back pocket, and grabbed her boots, a pair of socks, and her gun from the dresser. She walked back to the living room, set her gun on the table beside the recliner, and sat down on the edge of the recliner as she pulled on her socks and boots.
"So, where are we going today?" Juice asked, looking at her with that puppy dog face, and Charlie couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face.
"Well, the grocery store for sure. You're invited to dinner, by the way. Chibs wants to grill out." Charlie said as she stood up, checked that the safety was on, and tucked the Makarov into the back waistband of her pants. "I need to find a hairdresser to trim my hair, but I know you don't want to wait around for that. You've probably got better things to do than follow me around."
Juice stood up and turned off the TV, practically bouncing on his heels. "I don't mind. I get to ride my bike instead of being cooped up in the garage all day."
Charlie walked into the kitchen and grabbed the cash that Chibs had left, sliding it into her pocket. "Well okay then. Let's get going." Charlie grabbed her keys off the hook by the door, let Juice out, and then locked the door behind her. She walked to her truck and opened the passenger side door, then called to Juice to come over before he got on his bike.
"Hey, do you have a pocketknife? I left mine in the house."
Juice dug around in his pocket and handed her a small knife. Charlie pulled the floor mat of the passenger side up, opened the knife, and wedged the tip into the floor, pulling up a piece of the carpet. There was a small hole in the floor, and a wad of cash was in the floor.
"Shit." Juice said, looking over at Charlie.
Charlie shrugged and counted out two hundred dollars in twenties, shoved the bills into her pocket, then replaced the carpet and the floor mat. "I don't trust banks." She closed the pocketknife and handed it back to Juice. "But I can trust you, right?"
"Of course!" Juice replied, his eyes almost bugging out of his head. "I wouldn't tell anyone."
Charlie smiled at him and closed the door, then went around to the driver's side. "Alright then; let's go spend Chibs' money."
Charlie didn't know how much fun grocery shopping could be until she went with Juice. He was funny and smart, and they had a great time picking out food for the house. He told her what Chibs usually liked and didn't like, and was just helpful all around. Charlie was picking out fresh salad ingredients in the produce department while Juice was in the ice cream section, deciding which flavor he wanted. As Charlie had approached the produce department, she realized how poorly she had been eating and how much alcohol she had been drinking, and that did not bode well for her body. She wasn't a stick by any means, and she envied Tara and Gemma's bodies, but she wasn't overweight, and she intended to stay that way. I'll get some fresh fruits and veggies, and I'll start running again. Maybe I can convince Chibs to go with me, Charlie thought to herself as she walked around the department, analyzing the produce.
She bumped into someone and she gasped, grabbing onto the woman who stumbled. "I'm so sorry! I was completely preoccupied in my mind. Are you okay?"
The woman was wearing a pantsuit, and her dark blonde hair framed her face, making her blue eyes pop. "Yes, I'm fine." She said, and Charlie realized that she still had hold of the woman's arm, and Charlie let go quickly.
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to fall." Charlie said, smiling hesitantly, but the woman didn't return the smile. Charlie saw Juice come towards her from the corner of her eye, and he had a carton of ice cream in his hands. He came up behind Charlie, set the carton in the grocery cart, and stepped beside her, almost in front of her.
"Juice, isn't it?" The woman asked with a smirk on her face. Charlie was confused, and the woman turned her eyes to Charlie. "Agent Stahl, ATF."
Charlie swallowed hard, and Juice grabbed onto Charlie's arm as she took a step toward the woman. This was the bitch that got her sister-in-law killed, and Charlie felt her blood start to boil.
Stahl, with her smirk still in place, said, "It's so nice to finally meet you, Charlotte. I've read so much about you. Cum Laude graduate at UDub, and now you've got a teaching position at the local high school, right? I've done my research."
Charlie narrowed her eyes. "Congratulations. Would you like a fucking cookie?"
"You might want to be careful, Charlotte. We wouldn't want anything to show up on that background check for the school, would we?"
Charlie clenched her jaw and Juice pulled her back a step, clearly afraid that she was going to attack Stahl. "It's not enough that you got my sister-in-law killed, but now you want to destroy my career? What, are you not a good enough pig to actually do investigative work that you have to destroy innocent bystanders?"
Something flashed in Stahls' eyes, but Charlie watched her force a smile onto her face. "I'll be seeing you, Miss Winston."
The woman turned around and started to walk away, and Charlie said loudly, "I hope not. I rather enjoy being alive."
Stahl paused for a moment, but then continued to walk away with her shoulders rigid. Juice looked over at Charlie incredulously.
"What was that about?"
Charlie shrugged and went back to picking out her produce. "The less you know, the better, Juicy. Trust me."
Charlie finished her shopping and paid, then she and Juice loaded everything into the cab of her truck, with the exception of the two cases of beer that went in the bed. Juice followed her home and helped her unload and put everything away, they ate sandwiches for lunch from some deli meat that Charlie had bought, and then Charlie decided to ride back with him on his motorcycle to TM to see her dad. Juice handed her his helmet as he climbed onto the bike and started it. Charlie put on her sunglasses and clipped the helmet on, then climbed on behind him, wrapping her hands around his waist. Juice pulled out of the driveway and revved the engine, accelerating quickly as Charlie laughed. She closed her eyes as the wind whipped against her face and the sun beat directly on her skin. She loved riding on a bike, and she hadn't really enjoy it the other night when she rode with Opie because of the turmoil of the day. Juice pulled onto the lot at TM and Charlie climbed off the bike as he prepared to back it into his spot. She saw Happy and Chibs sitting at one of the picnic tables, and they were both watching her. Charlie took of the helmet, thanked Juice for the ride, and headed for the picnic tables.
"Here's your change." Charlie said as she sat down beside Chibs and handed him the money.
Chibs shrugged and pushed the money back at her. "Ye can keep it, lass. I know ye haven't been paid from the bar yet."
Charlie laughed, leaned over, and shoved the money into the front pocket of his kutte. "I have money, Chibs. I paid for half of the groceries. I'm not your charity case."
Happy snorted softly and Charlie turned her head slowly to look at him, but she didn't reply. She knew Happy's opinion of her, and that was just fine.
"I got the steaks that you wanted. I also got plenty of hamburger, cube steak, chicken, and a pot roast. I broke it up into Ziploc bags and put it in the deep freezer out back, and we can defrost what we want as we want it." Charlie stood up, ruffled Chibs' hair, and headed towards the clubhouse. "I'm going to talk to my pop. Don't leave without me."
Chibs laughed. "I wouldn' dream of it, lass."
Charlie spotted her dad and Bobby sitting at the bar and headed towards them, sliding her sunglasses onto the top of her head. They both smiled when they saw her, and Charlie stopped beside Bobby, who put his arm around her in a side-hug and kissed her temple.
"You doin' okay, princess?" Bobby asked, his eyes searching her face. "You've had a rough few days."
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Life goes on, right?"
Bobby laughed and Piney grunted. Charlie looked over at her dad. He had prominent dark circles under his eyes and there was a deep frown on his face. Charlie slipped out from Bobby's arm and stepped over to her dad, wrapping her arm around his waist and dropping her head onto his shoulder. "You okay, pop?"
"Depends. Sometimes I'm worried. Others I'm pissed."
Charlie bit her bottom lip and looked over at Bobby, who shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "I've… got to be somewhere other than here." He said, clearing his throat as he stepped away from the two and headed towards the front door of the clubhouse, leaving the door open behind him.
"So, are you pissed at me?" Charlie pulled away from her father and sat down on the stool that Bobby had just vacated, staring down at the floor.
"Charlotte… I honestly don't know. I thought that you knew better than to get involved with someone like Tully – involved in any way. You're supposed to be the child that thinks things through; the one that I can count on to be smart."
"Why? I'm no better than Opie. He's your heir, successor, whatever."
Piney slammed his hand onto the counter then balled it into a fist, and Charlie jerked her head up to look at him. "You're still on about that? Charlie, you've known all your life that you'll never be a member of this club, and frankly, I wouldn't want you to be a member right now. This shit with Tully, you think that was a good idea? A good plan?"
Charlie let out a strangled scream and stood up quickly the stool falling down behind her and slamming onto the floor. "Why the fuck is it such a big deal that I had sex with Tully? For heaven's sake, all of you fuck anything that walks through those doors as long as it has a pussy! I'm twenty-five years old; I'm allowed to have a sex life."
Charlie heard footsteps and turned to see Chibs, Bobby, Tig, and Jax standing in the doorway. She ignored them and looked back at her father. Screw them, she thought. If they want to be nosey, the so be it.
"It's not the same thing." Piney growled, taking a deep breath from his oxygen tubes.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because you're my daughter!" Piney yelled, standing up too. "My daughter will not be some peckerwood's whore! I won't allow it."
Charlie shook her head slowly and bit her lip, then said, "You don't get to call me a whore. I don't deserve that." She turned and walked towards the door, pushing past the men who gave her sympathetic looks. Once Charlie got outside, she realized that she didn't have a vehicle at TM, and she sighed.
She started toward the gate and the main road, and heard Jax yell out behind her, "Charlie! Where are you going?"
"Home. I'll walk." Charlie shouted over her shoulder, and she heard Jax jog up behind her and he grabbed her arm.
"Charlie, let me drive you." He pleaded. "Come on; it's five miles."
Charlie jerked her arm from his hand. "I said I'll fucking walk."
Jax sighed and stopped, and watched Charlie until she was out of sight. He jogged back down to where Chibs, Tig, and Happy were standing by the picnic tables.
"Bobby's talking to Piney. Maybe he can smooth this over." Tig said, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels.
"I'll go after her." Jax said, and he headed towards his bike.
"No." Happy's gravelly voice stopped him. "I'll go. Hurricane's angry and she's gonna lash out. She already hates me. No harm to do."
Jax hesitated, looking over at his usually silent brother. "I don't know." He said. "You might agitate her more…"
Happy shrugged and headed towards his bike. "If I can't get her on the bike, I'll follow her home."
Jax watched as Happy sat down on his bike and buckled his helmet. "She might shoot you."
"Won't be my first bullet wound." Happy cranked his bike and drove out of the lot.
Chibs looked over at Tig and Jax, shaking his head. "The man has a death wish."
"I agree." Tig said, and Jax couldn't help but agree as well.
A/N: Bulgari, also known as Bvlgari, is a real line of personal products, such as shampoo, conditioner, etc. And let me tell you, it smells amazing on both males and females, but particularly on males. And I just see Chibs as being someone who would splurge on something personal, whether it be cologne or body wash or maybe a special kind of coffee. Not to be snooty, but to have certain things that he likes that are a little high end. But that's just how I see him.
