6

Chapter 86 Filling in the Blanks

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Jax dropped Ava off at her father's house. She took off her shoes. There was no cleaning them that would ever convince her to put them on again. She understood that shoes went some gross places which was the whole point of wearing shoes, but there were some places that not even shoes should go. She shut her eyes and shuddered picturing the sight of the roaches and mice in that kitchen. And the floor covered in mouse shit and God only knows what else.

She wondered if she should throw her socks away too, but decided the germs and whatever crap that was on her shoes couldn't have soaked through her shoes. She padded into the house and saw Jeeves.

"That house is disgusting," she said shaking her head. "I don't know where the outside trash is here, but my shoes are outside and they need to be tossed. There was mice and roaches and then I got the hell out of that dump."

"It's my understanding that your father was giving you money to fix the house up," Jeeves said calmly.

"The only thing that could fix that place up is a match and some gasoline. Poor Jax. He was so proud of his first house," Ava said sadly. "Not anymore."

Jeeves smiled thinly. It was one of the first times he could remember Ava expressing sympathy for another person. Ava's marriage might actually be good for her.

"I'm sure everything will work out."

"I think so too," Ava said. She wasn't going to tell Jeeves that she and Jax were giving the house back to her father. She would wait to tell Jeeves until after she and Jax told her father.

"Jax is going to talk to Gemma and then he'll be back. I'm going to decontaminate myself. Make sure Jax doesn't wear his shoes in the house. His shoes should get trashed too. The things we walked on . . ." Ava shuddered again and headed upstairs to her room.

Jax walked into the office to see Gemma. She had to know something about what happened to his house.

"Hey, baby boy," Gemma greeted him.

Jax went over to where she was sitting behind the desk and gave her the expected kiss on the cheek.

"What the hell happened to my house?" Jax demanded.

Gemma laughed nervously.

"Yes, it is a wreck, but TB got it for a great price and he's giving you a big chunk of money to fix it up."

"It would be better to insure it and then have Bobby or Opie blow it up," Jax said only half joking. He perched on the desk looking down at Gemma.

"I told TB that house meant a lot to you. I thought you would love to have it back."

"Have you seen it?" Jax asked. "It's got mice, roaches, dead dogs and sewage."

"The people that bought it got it through some government program and then defaulted on the loan. They turned it into a weed grow operation. By the time it went into foreclosure, they harvested their crop and moved out. It was cheaper than paying rent. The bank got really screwed," Gemma said with a smile. "The loan went bad and then the house got trashed when the people left, so it's worth much less than the loan amount. It was a great bargain for TB and he's going to give you plenty of money to take care of all the problems."

Jax thought about accepting the gift from TB and fixing the house with the money he was going to give them, but when he saw what its new owners had done to it, it destroyed the love he had for the house. All he could see were the rats, roaches and dead dogs. He didn't think he would ever be able to set foot in the house again without smelling the stench of sewage, decomposing dogs and rodent shit.

"Sometimes it's better to let the past stay in the past," Jax said.

Gemma was annoyed. She wanted the little princess to see what it was like to live in a home that wasn't a castle. It wouldn't have hurt her to live in Jax's old house. It wasn't like anyone expected her to deal with the house in its current state.

"Jax, this is TB's wedding gift to you and Ava. You can't turn it down. It would look like you're ungrateful," Gemma scolded.

"I'd rather live in an apartment until I can afford a house," Jax said.

He knew that TB expected that he was going to get a large settlement from the state and the federal government over his false conviction. When he got that money, he could buy a house. For the present, he thought an apartment might be their best choice. While it was easy and comfortable living with TB, he and Ava needed to have their own place. He would never live off TB.

He did have the money that Ava had given him for marrying her, but he didn't want to touch that money. It didn't feel right to him.

"Well, I don't think you should insult TB," Gemma said.

"We're not going to insult him. We'll be very respectful and simply tell him that we want to pick a place to live together that can be our place," Jax said. The idea had just come to him. They could turn down the house because it was "his" old house. Perfect.

"Are you excited about your big party Friday night?" Gemma asked changing the subject. She was annoyed that Jax didn't appreciate the thoughtful gift of his old house. It was her suggestion.

"Yeah, it will be nice to get a hero's welcome," Jax said drily.

"We'll be doing a massive Costco run tomorrow to get all the drinks. Anything you want special?"

"Ava likes to drink plain unsweetened iced tea," Jax said. "I've been drinking a lot of it too."

"Fine," Gemma said. "We'll be sure to get some."

"And beer."

"Yeah, I think we're going to get a keg as well as some cases for the clubhouse. TB is handling all the food. It's kind of nice that he wants to be involved and is going to have food there."

"The more I see of him, the more I like him," Jax admitted.

He thought of telling Gemma that he was thinking about studying law and becoming a lawyer, but he decided to keep that to himself until he had a chance to talk to TB. He didn't think Gemma would be very encouraging. The only thing she'd ever encouraged him to do with his life was to patch SAMCRO and become its president after Clay stepped down.

He had a feeling that TB would be more encouraging, not because he had a problem with Ava being married to a mechanic but because he would encourage him to try new things. He hoped that by establishing a good relationship with TB, he could help Ava improve her relationship with him.

"You think you'll be well enough to come back to work Monday?"

"I could come back today, but Ava and I need to get some things settled before that."

"Did you two enjoy your honeymoon?" Gemma asked. She was expecting Jax to complain about Ava and her spoiled princess ways.

"We had a blast. I love traveling and she's a great companion."

Gemma wasn't under any illusions that Jax and Ava were in love, but she was surprised to hear that Jax had good things to say about her. He expected him to complain about her spoiled brat ways. The sooner that marriage ended the better it would be for Jax. She didn't want him to get his heart broken, so the sooner they got divorced before he got attached to her, the better.

"You didn't send us very many pictures," she said.

"Ava took quite a few. I'll send some more to you. Hawaii was great, but we actually loved Louisiana more. We even stayed overnight in a tree house twice."

"I can't imagine Ava agreeing to that."

"It was basically a hotel room in a tree with air conditioning," Jax admitted. "It was beautiful though. I'm going to start taking real vacations now. I want to start seeing more of the world."

Gemma didn't like it. Charming and the occasional visit to other clubs should be enough for Jax. She liked him to be near her.

"Do you need any help with the party?" Jax asked.

"No. Between the girls and TB's staff, it's all going to get done with minimal work on my part. I've just got to get the word out about the party and let everyone know that everyone in the town is welcome to come."

"I'm going to head back to TB's. I need to decontaminate myself." Jax said before kissing Gemma on the cheek and heading out the door.

He could still smell that house. Maybe the stench had soaked into his shoes. . He just wanted a shower and some lunch.

Jax went into the garage and talked to the guys for a few minutes before climbing on his bike and heading back to TB's. When he turned off to take the winding rode to TB's he noticed the beaten up looking dirty white van that was following him up the rode. That didn't seem like the kind of vehicle that would go to TB's.

That was the last thought Jax had as the van sped up, swerved into him and everything went black.