Tulip poplar trees can be majestic, untill they reach heights of seventy some feet. The taller they got, the more they were prone to dropping limbs on houses , or, in this job, the property owners vehicles.

The limbs were being chipped as Jax arrived.

"Change your mind , or did it crap out again ?" Opie grinned, noticing his newer truck.

"What?"

"You got the new Dodge..."

Jax didn't understand. " Yea..."

" I didn't see the 02, I thought u were using it.."

" No, why?"

" Someone has it, cause it wasn't there when we left..." Opie was thinking of an employee they had fired a week or so ago...

" We still got gps on it?"

" I got this..." Opie was texting Donna back at the garage.

Jax was gearing up. There was something about climbing that gave him an adrenaline rush, and he felt impatient, when a response came back .

Opie looked confused...

"It's located at...BWI...what the hell ?"

The first thing Tommy noticed was the landscape. Nothing but brown, gray, and maybe some green. But mostly brown, and dried out from the heat and lack of rain he thought. It was hot out too, but a different kind of hot. On jobs back home , he'd be sweating his ass off, but out here, he discovered he needed a bottle of water to keep the dryness out of his mouth..even his shirt stayed dry. Plus it seemed flat everywhere, between small clusters of mountains. It seemed amazing how clear it was too...no haze at all. Glancing at his brother behind the wheel, he turned the volume up on his earbuds.

Abel was pissed... A few quick texts between him and his dad , which began with WHERE IS YOUR BROTHER, turned into a conversation between his dad, and that dude, Bobby, and then orders for Spider to take his little brother out of Charming.

Immediately.

Abel looked in the mirror, as Booter kept pace with the blue Chevy, while they headed towards Nero and Wendy Padilla's ranch, somewhere south of Gilroy.

" I still got my job here, right ?" He had worriedly asked Bobby before leaving. It wasn't so much the job, as it was his newfound status amongst some of the club members. Broan had previously praised his aptitude as a reliable mechanic, and after that bout in the ring the night before, others were aware of who he was.

There was his bike too, which was finished, and road worthy. Not to mention the crow eaters available anytime...and redroad...shit, he thought, Lauren...not sure what to think about her sometimes, he thought, but there was a bond between them. And the sex...fuk, he thought, and glared over at Tommy.

Back home, the Jax was having trouble with the reality of both his sons, right back in the grips of Charming, and the club. The first priority was to get them safe, and the logical place was with Nero and Wendy. Then he made flight arrangements, first just one ticket, but then, under Opies insisting, two reservations.

Then, he had to tell Tara...

Bored with his music, Tommy scrolled through his videos.

"Who's sending me this ?"

Tommy thrust it at his brothers face.

Abel could only glance at the images, as he recognized Tina, Heather, and some other crow eaters nude bodies. There were a few flashes of himself, but whoever took this made sure the females activities took precedence.

"Your real into the muff munchers, huh?" Tommy leered with a grin.

"Get it outta my face, dude, I'm tryna drive..I don't know who took it, or sent it, but whoever did knows your my brother. And no, I'm not with some ho every night...is that why you ran away?"

" I didn't run away " he replied, almost petulantly , suddenly feeling like he was 12 years old.

" Well I sure as shit didn't ask your stupid ass out here. And you really fuked my shit up. What the hell do you want ? I'm stuck babysitting your bitch ass!"

" I don't have a fuking life back there that's why!

I don't have any money, I'm stuck in a shit job, I don't have time to deal with my drawings, Dad's on my neck all fuking day and night, and Zenith talks about the baby and don't give a shit about me!" Tommy yelled back , finally able to vent his anger and frustrations. " You ditch everyone, nobody gives a shit, you go wherever the fuk you want, and I get this shit like it's right in my face, dude...what the fuk?" He spit at Abel.

Booter watched from his bike several car lengths behind , as the Chevy began to wobble then weave across the highway to the median , and stop. As he pulled behind it, both boys tumbled out the passenger side , punching, and grappling. Thinking how these two would work inside the ring, he stood by and watched, with amusement.

Booter leaned against his bike, lit what was left of his joint, and watched the brothers struggle on the ground. It wasn't as dramatic as Spiders stand off against Skidmark , but it was sure as hell funnier...it even had dialogue!

Abel finally gained the upper hand, but his brother managed to grab his face. It was a challenge, especially when Abel had him pinned.

Pushing his arm away, Abel tried to land a few punches.

" You always fuk something up for me ..." He swung, as Tommy managed to block them.

" This isn't about you, micro brain, get the hell off me!" he grabbed his brothers face again, trying to gouge an eye. Abel grabbed his arm and began twisting it with one hand, and swung again with his right.

" And don't call me micro brain, you fuking little piece of shit! " Tommy always dug in with that, and he hated him even more...but suddenly Tommy relaxed, staring beyond him. Letting go of his brothers arm, he turned to see Booter patiently watching.

" So...are y'all done ? That's all ? "

Spider stood up. He noticed blood coming out of Tommy's nose, and a rip in his shirt.

" Sorry... sometimes he needs his ass beat..!"

He wiped something out of his eye, and saw blood all over his sleeve. Tommy managed to rip open the cut above his eye.

" Come on lil bro, get up , we gotta get goin.."

He extended his arm, and Tommy stood up, brushing himself off, feeling suddenly emberressed. Oddly, their anger was gone.

" You guys crack me the fuk up...this always happen?" Booter grinned mounting his bike. He didn't have siblings. " Let's go "

" Hey , I wanna stop somewhere n get something, I'm fukin starved "

" Yea , I guess. When's the last time you ate, anyway?"

They got back in the car. Tommy looked at his brothers injury. " What happened to your eye anyway? Who kicked your ass?"

" Some dude I beat the shit out of in the ring a few days ago...you missed a ass whooping !" He grinned back.