Flashbacks over, we are back on track with anfield's story. This takes place immediately after Chapter 29-the party where V is pounding the tequila is the same party Tig leaves to go get Aisha.
Chapter 11
At first he thought she wasn't there when he let himself in. The place looked stripped-down, made into what he always said it was, a place to store things. The bed was bare and the kitchen looked somehow dismantled. On the far side of the room were the two black duffle bags he'd told her to pack, and then he noticed that she was curled between them, sleeping. Her dark curls covered her face, and she'd curled up into a ball, back in her t-shirt and jeans, barefoot. Between two bags of guns. It was probably the cutest thing he'd ever seen in his life.
He'd called her 8 days before, and she probably hadn't turned a light on in that entire time. He wondered briefly if V was home, upstairs, and if so how much she might be able to hear. Remembering he'd seen her back at the party knocking back tequila with Juice and Half-Sack, he kicked Aisha awake, maybe bit more gently than usual. A bit.
She opened her eyes and smiled. "Happy to see me?" he asked her. She nodded immediately, and struggled to her feet, waiting until he put his hand around her waist before she twined her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You have absolutely no idea," she said.
As she got him a beer (he noticed when she opened it that she'd gotten rid of the light bulb in the refrigerator. He'd told her to keep the place looking deserted in case anyone was watching, apparently she didn't fuck aroudn with that), he told her about the plan, and she listened carefully. When he told he he'd be taking her over to the clubhouse, she looked panicked. "I really have to go there?"
"Yeah. What's the problem?" He could think of three or four problems he had with the whole idea, but he'd never been sure where her fear of the whole thing came from.
She shrugged. "Guess I don't really, um... like bikers all that much."
He blinked at her. "That's the most batshit crazy thing I've ever heard you say. And you once asked me to cut your arm open with a piece of broken glass."
"I don't!"
"You like me!"
"That's different."
"They're really good guys."
She looked dubious. "Really?"
He nodded. "Really. They are." He took a long drink of his beer. "Now, a couple of ground rules, I guess. I don't want you talking to anyone, letting anyone take you anyplace alone, getting on anyone's fucking bike, or leaving the place. Oh, and stay away from the girls that hang out around there. I don't want you talking to them." He drank again. "Everyone's really great, though, trust me, you'll see."
-0-
V kept her eyes away from Jax's and concentrated on the muffins when he came into the room. It's bad enough how much they know already about my business,she thought. Hopefully, everyone had been too lit the night before to notice her slipping up to his room. However, when she saw Gemma blowing on her cup of coffee and regarding V. with narrowed eyes, she knew that at least one person knew exactly what was up. Fuck. Chibs was supposed to be back today. How the hell was she going to play this? She could tell that in some strange way, the little triangle they had going on, as much as it was emphatically not the way things were done around here, was starting to become just the way things were, even a family joke of sorts. Part of her didn't mind that so much—it felt like she'd finally managed to convince them that she could do what she wanted, that she wasn't going to be forced into either of the two roles they held open for women in this club—but part of her thought that it might not be a good idea to get a name as the source of discord and drama in the club.
Gemma eyed her suspiciously. "Didn't make it home last night?"
V shurgged. "Didn't want to drive," she said noncommittally. Given that she was so hungover she could barely lift her head, it wasn't a story anyone was likely to question. Jax had just come out of the shower and was freshly dressed, still rubbing his hair on a hand towel. She felt the makeup from the night before on her face, and wished she still had some things here. It would make mornings like this a lot easier, not that anyone was particularly looking their best right now. Oh, fuck it, she thought. It's not like I should really be planning to make a habit of this.
V heard the door open, and turned around quickly expecting to see Chibs. Instead, Tig walked in, followed by Aisha, who walked a few steps behind him. They both carried black duffel bags, and she staggered slightly from the weight of hers.
Shit, thought V. He's bringing her here? What would be so hard about just getting her out of Charming for a while until this shit with Stahl cools off? She tried to read Aisha's face, but as usual when Tig was around she was too focused to see much of anything besides him in her eyes, and looking at her all you got was the sense that her attention was caught and held by her need to hit the mark, precisely, with him. Every time. She's got to be scared to death to be here, V thought, but you wouldn't know it to look at her.
Clay had wandered into the room at about the same moment, and took in the situation at a glance. I guess I should have seen this coming, thought Clay. Well, shit. He could already feel some seriously bad vibes coming off Gemma, and decided to stick around in case things got... complicated. "'Morning," he offered to Tig. "We were actually just getting most of the guest to clear out of here right about now. Family only." He looked at the girl, smiled. "You understand."
Tig swung his duffel bag down with a metallic clanking noise, seeming not to have heard Clay. "So I've got an apartment over on the West side," he said without preamble. "Did, at least, until a certain crazy bitch we all know and love decided to move in upstairs." V felt her temper rising, despite the fact that she could see him smiling. She did not need Tig deciding that it was his mission to start making fun of her on a regular basis. "Fuck you," she replied in a cheerful tone. "I'm supposed to check with you where I can live, now? How the fuck was I supposed to know?" In her annoyance, she didn't notice Tig was laughing.
"I don't give a fuck where you live when it doesn't lead an ATF cunt straight my fucking door," Tig said almost pleasantly. Clay suddenly felt his hands seize up. Oh, shit, this was what he'd been talking about—Tig had some... some teenager, from the looks of her... stashed in his place, and he didn't want Stahl bringing her in. It all made sense now.
"Things should die down pretty soon, but I cleared the place out anyway. There's what's in these bags, and there's her. The rest of it, ATF can come in and fuck it all up, they want to. It's nothing anybody's gonna miss."
V thought for a moment about how carefully Aisha kept the place, and all the little things she'd brought upstairs. She doubted Tig had found a place in his bags of what were most likely guns and money for a bunch of things like Aisha's sea glass, her herb garden. She'd had to leave all of it behind, V. realized. Bet he didn't even think to let her pack anything more than what she's wearing.
Tig reached out to touch Aisha for the first time, gripping her shoulder firmly. "This gonna be OK with everyone?" he asked conversationally.
Jax shook his head, not in the negative, but as if to clear his mind. "I—OK, I'm gonna have to ask you a couple of questions here. I mean, you cant just—Jesus Christ." He ran his hands through his hair and lit a cigarette, looked around to where a couple of last night's stragglers were collecting some of the beer bottles, emptying ashtrays, and generally trying to restore the place to a semblance of order, then he turned to Aisha. "Why don't you go talk to the girls, darlin'? We're gonna get this all fixed up."
Tig's hand on her shoulder tightened, and he drew her a little closer. "She can stay here," he said.
Jax shook his head again, more in disbelief this time. "Sure. Fine. Whatever. I don't really get what's going on here and I don't really care. So you had this girl staying at your place… where's she from?"
Tig shrugged, and sat down. "Mind if I get one of those muffins?" he asked. "You're gonna fuckin' interrogate me, least you can do is offer me breakfast."
Jax felt himself getting pissed off. "Interrogate you?" he asked, "what the fuck, I just asked where she's from? I seem to remember someone getting pretty fucking paranoid about V. staying here. Now suddenly it's your own personal fed-proof safe deposit box for teenage girls? How old are you, anyway?" he asked her.
She looked at Tig before answering, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. "Nineteen," she said.
V heard Gemma snort in derision, and realized she'd never known how dangerous that could sound. She looked over. Gemma was tapping her fingernails on the side of her coffee cup and looked like she was about to go off on somebody. V wondered if it was wrong of her to be a little bit happy that some of the woman's attention had been drawn away from her night with Jax. "Oh, she talks?" Gemma said sharply. "Well, wouldn't have known that. How long have you been at Tig's place?"
Aisha looked away, waiting for Tig to answer. It became obvious to everyone that she was going to let him get their story straight. Tig, on the other hand, had a look on his face like he was counting on his fingers. "It's what," he said, "five years?" He looked up at her. "Five years, right?"
"Four years seven months," she said.
There was a stunned silence that seemed to stretch on for a full minute. Tig didn't seem to notice, just finished his muffin and reached for another. Aisha was looking around curiously. Everyone else seemed like they didn't know quite what to say. Gemma broke the silence.
"Jesus Christ, Tigger," she snapped, lighting a cigarette. "Her daddy lose to you in a poker game or something?"
Most of them tried not to laugh, Juice not quite succeeding and Bobby managing to turn it into a cough.
"You cleared this?" Jax said to Clay, who nodded. Jax felt himself getting pissed off again, but didn't want to focus any more hostile attention on the girl. While he was still debating what to say, the door slammed open again, and Chibs walked into the room.
He could feel the tension immediately. And what the hell have I walked into? he thought.
Clay sighed, and took over the introductions. "This young lady has been living at an apartment of Tig's-"
"-that none of us knew existed," Jax tossed in.
Clay continued, "-an apartment of Tig's. Now there's some heat, Stahl tryin' to bring her in, seems like a good idea she stays here for a while."
Chibs smiled at her pleasantly. "What apartment?" he asked.
Bobby sounded like he was suppressing a chuckle. "Downstairs from V, seems like. Got Stahl all kinds of interested, I guess."
Chibs looked around, his ears still ringing from the road. Wait a minute—Tig kept an apartment with some girl in it in the same building as V? Well, he thought, trying not to start laughing. It seems I owe the princess an apology. And what I wouldn't have given to be there when she and Tig discovered they were neighbors.
