1
Charming, California. Hot. That's what I thought about when he said Charming, California.
"I want you to go to Charming, take up residence. Anything mailed to you will be delivered to Clay Morrow. Only you will deliver it. No one else."
"Yes sir."
"I'm counting on you, O."
"Your wish is my command."
I unpacked the last box which had some shoes in it. The movers carried in all the big furniture. The house I had rented was a nice three bedroom, two and a half baths. It was spacious enough. I went ahead and paid for the entire year. The neighborhood seems quiet, but I noticed older women peeking out of their windows, some on their porch watching, curious of who the young black woman was that moved in to their neighborhood. I sat on the floor looking at the files before me that contained the members of SAMCRO.
Clay Morrow, the current president of the Charter. He's old, but he's lethal from the information gathered. From the hospital records he has arthritis in both his hands. Must be difficult to ride a motorcycle. He's marred to Gemma Teller whose son Jax Teller is also a member of the club. They're bound to John Teller the first president of the club. I moved the three photos out of the way and continued to look. Chibs Telford, the Sgt. At Arms. A Scott. That's not something you see every day. He was a part of the True IRA before being banished by Jimmy O'Phelan. Next was Tig Trager, Bobby Munson, the clubs secretary, Juan Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz, the hacker of the group, Harry 'Opie' Winston, son of Piermont 'Piney' Winston, one of the greats, married to Donna Winston, deceased. And last was Happy Lowman, a nomad who used to run with the Tacoma club. Like Tig they're both good enforcers who will kill for the club. I tilted my head as I took in the images of everyone I saw, but the Tacoma Killer's face stood out a bit more to me. He's rough like all of them but yet holds my attention.
I continued to look through the many files until a gentle knock came from the front door. I looked up and then pulled my phone from my pocket and saw I had no messages. I then gathered my files and put them to the side before coming to the door and peeking out the peep hole to see it's a familiar face, not one that I had seen in person, but in the files. Slowly I opened my door to the brunette giving a gentle look of curiosity to the long-haired brunette.
"Hi. I'm Tara Knowles, I'm your next-door neighbor. Um, I just thought I'd welcome you to the neighborhood with a pie." she said holding up the round tin pan. I opened the door a bit more observing her. She seemed genuine, but I found it odd that someone affiliated to SAMCRO would come to me directly. Clay knew I was here, but anyone else I was not sure. I gave a polite smile.
"Hi. Um, thank you that's too kind of you. You can call me, O." I replied and she nodded and handed the pie to me.
"It's cherry. I have a real talent for pies." she said and I kept the smile on my face.
"Thank you, Tara. Have you lived in Charming long?" I asked and she licked her lips and wobbled her head some.
"Yes and then I left and then came back. I work at the hospital up the street now." she explained and I nodded.
"Ah, I'm sure you stay busy." I replied and she nodded with a laugh.
"Never a dull moment." she replied before taking a step back. "Well it was nice meeting you O, maybe I'll see you around."
I am sure of it. I nodded.
"Sure. Nice meeting you too." I replied and with that said, we said our goodbyes and I closed the door. Moving into the kitchen, I scraped the pie into the garbage and cleaned the pan so I could return it in a few days. After setting up a few home cameras both inside and outside the home, I finally took a shower and got settled for a bit. There was a firm knock at the door. I checked my phone that was connected to the camera and saw a dark figure leaving the driveway, a folder left at my door. I moved over to the front door and picked it up. It was addressed to Clay. So it was time to begin. I placed my phone to my ear after dialing the president's phone.
"Yeah?" the grizzly voice asked.
"Hello Mr. Morrow, It's O, are you available to meet tonight? I have the first package from Mr. R." I replied.
"Yeah Teller-Morrow Automotive. We're having a little get together you should join us. The crew would love to meet you." he said stoically.
"I do like a good party here and there." I replied.
"Nine sharp." he said.
"Nine sharp." I confirmed before hanging up. I sent a message to Mr. R to let him know the plans. After getting cleaned up once more, I wore my usual jeans and a black ribbed tank top with an oatmeal cardigan. Simple. I wasn't a threat to the club and so I had no need to look intimidating, because I wasn't. I took the package and got in my white 2019 Camry and used my GPS to get to the mechanic shop. The moon was already out and I could see numerous people gathered outside the mechanic shop. A lot of people in black and leather drinking and smoking big cigars. I grabbed my tote purse and kept the package inside. I stood out mostly because there was no one who looked like me and everyone was huddled up together talking and laughing.
A few eyes were on me already as I merged my way into the crowd. It smelled like tobacco and beer all over. Now a lot of people were looking at me and I just needed to find a familiar face. I saw the side profile of Bobby Munson standing beside Tig and Chibs. I calmly approached the three men. Tig seemed to notice me first and give a look over.
"Well who do we have here? It's not every evening we see a pretty face around the car shop?" he asked flirtatiously trying to step close to me. I merely smiled.
"Evening. I am looking for Mr. Clay Morrow he is expecting me." I replied to the three men who looked at each other before looking at me a bit more seriously.
"You uh, that girl from Waco?" he asked. I nodded.
"Yes sir. Is Clay around?" I asked. Chibs nodded hitting Bobby's shoulder lightly.
"I'll go and find him." he said to him before walking off inside the garage. Bobby turned to me more and now both men visibly looked me over and so I took the time to do the same.
"So you work for Mr. R?" Bobby asked. I nodded.
"Yes, I am one of his body slaves." I replied. Now both men looked at each other perplexed and then back at me.
"Body slave?" Tig asked. I nodded.
"He owns my body. I do what he tells me." I replied. Tig arched a brow.
"Anything?" he asked. I gave a slow smile.
"Anything." I said in an icy tone. Now he looked even more curious until Chibs returned and beside him was another familiar face. Clay Morrow. I faced him now and smiled.
"Mr. Morrow?" I asked. He just raised his hand, numerous ring bands covered them.
"Mr. Morrow is my father. Call me Clay. You must be Mr. R's girl." he said. I nodded.
"Yes. I am O." I replied and he nodded.
"Well let's make this fast, I don't plan to miss a party for nothing." he said. I nodded.
"Of course, I don't want to take up too much of your time." I replied and he turned and just motioned for me to follow him and so I did. Chibs, Bobby, and Tig followed behind me. We moved into the back of the garage until we were in a well sized office. There were all kinds of tools and files and photos tacked to the walls. There was a small table and Clay and I sat down across from each other while the other me stood around us. Clay cleared his throat.
"Where are my manners. These are Chibs, Tig, and Bobby." he introduced to the men around us. I nodded and gave a smile before holding up my purse and reaching in to take the envelope and my phone out. I looked at Clay.
"Ready?" I asked. Clay just raised his hand up for me to go ahead. I made the call and placed the phone on speaker. The other side answered.
"Master, I am with Clay Morrow and his associates." I replied ignoring the looks that was given to me upon the introduction.
"Good girl. Mr. Morrow." Mr. R replied.
"Mr. R." Clay responded loud enough.
"Glad to finally put this little alliance into motion. Your club has been quite the talk in Waco and I am actually looking forward to future business we are going to do together." Mr. R replied. Clay nodded.
"Well talk about you has spread over all the chapters, and I do mean all. You're quite a king I hear. But let's to business. Rumors say you can make things happen from numerous sides of the law spreading out all over your territories. You can make things disappear and you can supply us with any drugs or weapons we may need if we ever find ourselves in a situation with our backs to the wall." he explained.
"Anything you want I can see it is done as long as you communicate it to O. But like I said everything has a price especially when coming to me." he said. Clay nodded.
"So I've heard. Well having your name tied to us would open up a lot of opportunities and right now with the law cracking down on smuggling and drug runs, I need to make sure we can get our product to where it needs to be." he said.
"It will be done. As a sign of good faith, of our alliance, the first part of our agreement." he said and I slid the envelope to Clay who took it. I was never to know what was in it. "You may use O as a contact and anything else to help run your business. But I must tell you Clay, I am very protective of my slaves, especially my sweet O. You are to keep her safe as a part of our ongoing business together." he said. Clay arched a brow and glanced at me and I just looked at the phone.
"Don't worry Mr. R. No hard will come to her as long as we both stay on the same page." he said coolly. I looked up at him and he looked at me with a serious stare.
"Good. Your club has proven itself many times, but I will only tell you one time, Clay, don't ever try and fuck me." he said darkly. I closed my eyes and looked down remembering all the times that someone has tried to take on Mr. R and failed. Clay nodded.
"Yeah same here." he replied.
"Well good now that we are on the same page, what had discussed earlier will be put into motion. The shipments start tonight. I'll be in touch." he replied.
"Good. We'll speak soon." he said and leaned back. The phone turned off and I hung it up. After a few seconds of silence, Clay stood up and I joined holding my bag to me. I looked at all the men in the room.
"Gentleman." I merely replied before turning and moving to leave. Chibs opened it and I smiled my thanks at him before walking on.
"Hey." Clay called out and I paused and turned to him.
"Yes?" I asked and he moved and stood beside me, hands on his hips as he looked around at the many people still talking and laughing.
"Since your boss isn't here to shake my hand and form this deal, how about you form it on his behalf and stay a while. Give the crew a chance to get to know you." I thought about this for a moment before nodding.
"As you wish." I replied. Tig and the others chuckled a bit at my words. Clay smirked and shook his head.
"Look I don't know how things are in Waco, but here you ain't no slave to no body. You're a business partner." he said. I tensed at his words.
"Never say that in front of Mr. R… but I will stay and enjoy this get together." I said with a soft smile.
"O?"
I turned and saw Tara approaching. I tensed a bit but smiled.
"Tara hi." I replied. She looked confused.
"I see you're making friends." she said, a handsome familiar blonde was behind her.
"I have a habit of that." I replied. She nodded slowly, her eyes already showing she knew I wasn't just some woman. She then looked at the blonde behind her.
"This is my boyfriend Jax." I replied and the blonde nodded.
"Nice to meet you. Clay told me a lot about you. SAMCRO welcomes any member of Waco." he said. We will see. I nodded.
"Thank you. Nice to meet you as well." I replied.
"Well it's only natural you meet the rest of us. We're going to do business a lot. You need to know who you can trust. Come on." he said and with his hand in Tara's, the two began to move over to another group of men standing off to the side beside a row of bikes. All of them dressed in black leather, rings on their fingers and covered in tats.