The day after Donna was killed JT woke up and got dressed for school. Jax was in the kitchen when she went out there,
"Hey" he greeted
"Hey" she replied
"Your voice sounds like it's getting worse"
"It's probably from all the screaming last night"
"You want to tell me what happened?"
"I want to, but I can't"
"Why not?"
"I'm afraid of what happens after I tell"
"Nothing's going to happen if you tell me what happened last night"
"You don't know that, dad"
Jax sighed "You don't have to go to school today"
"What?" she asked
"I'm not making you go to school after last night. Not if you don't want to go. You can hang out at the garage and work on the cars if you want"
"Yeah. Yeah ok, I'll do that."
"You want to come with me to see Ope?"
"I-I can't. I can't see him"
Jax nodded "I'll see you at the garage"
She nodded and went out the door and over to Ray's, knocking on the door. The door opened to reveal Destiny on the other side.
"JT! I'm so glad to see you!" she greeted happily
"Hey, Des. It's good to see you too"
"Come in, come in"
JT went inside and shut the door behind her
"How're you doing?" she asked Destiny
"I'm doing ok. But I want to know how you are. I heard about everything that happened"
JT shrugged "I'm doing what I do best. Surviving."
"You are a strong girl, but I know this takes a toll on you"
"It does after a while but what am I going to do"
"You here to walk with Ray to school?"
"No. I'm, um, I'm not going to school today"
"Oh?"
"I take it you heard about what happened last night"
Destiny nodded
"I was there. Saw the whole thing"
"Oh God, JT"
"Yeah. So Jax said it was ok if I skipped school today"
"Who's skipping school today?" asked Ray, coming down the stairs "Hey, JT"
"Hey, Ray. I am. I need you to get my work for me" JT answered
"Why are you skipping school?"
"JT was witness to a brutal shooting last night. Her father is letting her stay home from school" Destiny told him
"Jesus Christ JT. Why does everything bad happen to you?"
"Something bad didn't happen to me. It happened to Donna and Opie Winston"
"I'm sorry. You're right. I'm sorry"
"So can you get my work for me? Bring it by the garage later?"
"Yeah. Yeah I can do that"
"Thanks. I appreciate it"
Ray nodded his head slightly at her and JT turned and left the house. She grabbed her bike and rode over to the garage where she grabbed her old work shirt and began working on the cars with G and Dog.
JT spent all day working on the cars, avoiding Gemma who she knew wanted to ask her about last night. Finally, she saw Ray coming up the lot, holding a few extra books in his arms. She went out to greet him and to take the books from his hands.
"Hey. This is for you" he told her, handing her the books in his hand
"Thanks again"
"Don't thank me yet. You have a book report due first thing Monday"
JT groaned "Great"
Suddenly Jax came up to her and pulled her attention away from Ray
"I need to see you in the chapel. Now," he said
"The chapel? Why?"
"Just come on"
He then disappeared into the clubhouse, leaving JT confused in the garage. She said goodbye to Ray and went into the clubhouse, stepping into the chapel for the very first time. Jax sat at the head of the table smoking and deep in thought
"Dad?" she called, breaking his concentration
"Shut the doors," he told her
She shut the doors and sat down in the chair to his left
"I need to know what happened last night. All of it. The truth"
"Dad, I told you I can't tell you"
"Jude, listen to me, I swear to you nothing is going to happen. Do you think I'd break a promise to you?"
"No"
"Then trust me. Tell me what happened"
JT took a deep breath "Well, I went with Donna to get powder for the dishwasher for Gemma. We were at a light and my phone went off but I dropped it, so I went to pick it up and that's when I heard the shots. I sat up and saw Donna dead on the steering wheel. I turned to get out of the car and that's when I saw the shooter. He looked me right in the eyes then drove off and... well you should know the rest"
"What did the guy look like?"
"He was wearing a shitty ski mask but I could tell he was white. With blue eyes just like Tig's"
"You saying you think Tig did this?"
"The guy was cussing pretty loud, I heard him. It was Tigs voice"
"You sure about this?"
JT nodded
"Ok. You can go, I'll see you back at home"
"You pissed at me?"
"No. I just got a lot on my plate with this club shit. You think I'm pissed at you?"
"Well yeah. Ever since I got arrested over my brother you barely say two words to me. What else am I supposed to think?"
Jax got up and kissed his daughter's head "I'm not mad at you. I get that shit is going on with your brother but ATF was just trying to jam us all up. I'm sorry you felt like I was"
"It's ok"
"Ain't this sweet" came Clay's voice "A father and daughter bonding moment"
"I should get going," JT said "I'll see you at home"
Jax nodded and JT left as quickly as possible, pushing past Clay.
From the shop, JT went straight home, working on her homework. She wanted to call her brother and tell him what had happened, but after their fight, she wasn't sure if they were on good enough terms for her to even call him. So she did her work late into the night, Wendy and Gemma coming into the house with Abel. She didn't come out to greet them but she heard them moving around the house and eventually she heard Tara come into the house to join them. She went out to see what the doctor wanted and stood in the doorway.
"Look who finally decided to join us. You hungry?" Gemma asked
"Not really. I've been doing my homework all night" JT replied
"How're you doing JT? Your voice sounds worse" said Tara
"I'm fine, it's just from all the screaming from last night," JT told her
"Still, it sounds bad"
"Since when do you even care? Huh? Since you've been trying to get in my dad's good graces?"
"I'm not trying to get in your dad's good graces. I'm asking because I care"
"Since when? You've done nothing but treat me like shit since I got to this town"
"I-I-" Tara began to stutter
"You should just get the hell out of here"
Tara grabbed her bag and left the house, Wendy and Gemma staring at JT
"I can't believe you just did that," said Wendy
"That's my girl. You tell her baby" cheered Gemma
"I'm not letting her get away with that shit" JT stated
She then plopped down on the couch and took Abel from Wendy, holding and feeding him.
Jax didn't come home that night as JT found out when she woke up for the funeral the next day. She put on her nicest black dress and left with Gemma and Wendy to attend the funeral. The funeral was large, packed full of other SOA members. JT sat in front of Clay and Tig and in between Gemma and Wendy. About halfway through the service, she saw Jax in the distance walking closer. She got up and went over to Juice, grabbing her dad's kutte from him and brought it over to Jax. She helped him put it on and he turned around and kissed her on her head.
"You ok?" she whispered
"Yeah" he replied
He then left her and approached the casket, picking up a flower and staring hard at Clay and Tig, then he kissed the flower and placed it on the casket, then walked off passed Juice. When the service was over, JT and Piney went looking for Jax, finding him sitting on top of a tombstone. Piney handed him a thick yellow envelope
"Time for a change," he said to Jax
After Piney walked away, Jax opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers that to JT, looked like some kind of book
"What is that?" she asked
"The truth" he answered, stuffing the papers back inside
"Can I read it?"
"Someday. Come on"
They walked over to another part of the cemetery, to another grave, this one reading 'John Thomas Teller'. JT had never met the original JT and Jax never talked about him, so she was amazed that he brought her here. Jax stared at the grave for a few moments before speaking
"Yeah. It is" he said
JT stood by him "I'll be here"
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. From a distance, Clay and Gemma watched the exchange with worry in their eyes. JT hugged her father close and wondered now that he knew about what Tig had done, most likely at the behest of Clay, what was to become of the club and his relationship with his stepfather. She didn't know and that made her nervous but she knew that no matter what she would do her best to protect the club, Jax, and Abel. No matter what it took.