I'm glad you guys like the way I portray Tig. I think he's a a very warmhearted guy towards women, unless they're whores, and he gets an initial sense to protect them with his life. And he sees Marceline as another opportunity to play Papa Tig and not screw up, but I think he'd be like that to any Son's daughter.
On a side note, the Pinterest board for this story is up. {l0v3m3n0tr3b3l}
Thanks for all the love and support!
Chapter 10:
"Many times we are our worst enemy. If we could learn to conquer ourselves, then we will have a much easier time overcoming the obstacles that are in front of us."
―Stephan Labossiere
"Hmm, that one?"
"Nope."
"What about...that one, with the red door?"
"Nope."
"Umm...ooh! That's gotta be it."
"It's nice, but no."
"Okay, I give." I leaned back into my seat and Dad was chuckling at my defeat.
We were currently sitting in a moving truck that was full of furniture we picked out, along with his motorcycle, and were parked on a street. Dad wanted to surprise me, so I've been making him stop on every street to point out which house I thought was ours. I was pretty excited too. I was getting my own room again!
Dad was still chuckling at me, but he grabbed the keys off the large dashboard and put them in the ignition. He started driving again and I caught an extremely bright ray of sunlight. Squinting, I pulled Dad's shades from around his neck and slid them on. He drove us down 3 more blocks, not stopping on any of them when I asked him to, and my eyes locked on the house that had a bunch of motorcycles parked in front of it. When Dad parked next to them, honking in a signalling kind of way, I pulled his shades down to let him see my cocked eyebrow. He just smiled at me.
I stuck my tongue out at Dad, but grabbed Magnus while he had my bags of clothes and I hopped out of the tall truck. A tan and white traditional styled Bungalow with beige pillars was at the end of a flagstone and pea gravel pathway. There were ivory stone steps leading to an open porch with 3 double hung windows on the right side and on the left were wheat curtains attached to the twin beige pillars. The front door was slate grey and it had a fiberglass crescent shaped window on the top. It was wide open too.
"Like it?" Dad asked and I smiled at our new place.
"It's perfect. I can't wait to trash it with my friends this Friday."
"Plannin' on throwin' a wild teenage party, eh?" Dad asked with another chuckle.
"Big time."
Ready to see what the inside looked like, Dad and I climbed the stairs to our new house. The first thing I noticed was the living room, with a champagne colored carpet, was almost fully furnished and there were shirtless, tattooed backs arranging the black, 3 cushioned Dunbar tuxedo sofa. There was a matching loveseat and black recliner to go with it. I didn't fail to notice the Sons of Anarchy flag mounted on the wall that all the chairs were facing and there was motorcycle artwork decorating the pale-sage walls too.
Once positioned, the Sons with matching back tattoos stood up straight and high-fived, finally turning to us. Who I thought was Quinn was actually Opie and Jax was with him. They both shot me a smiling nod.
"Anything on the truck?" Opie asked as Jax ran a hand through his hair to push his blond locks behind his ears.
"Beds, frames, dressers, bedroom stuff mainly. Gotta nice TV for the livin' room." Dad explained and he set my bags down to start shrugging his kutte off, which I put on. "Where's Hap and Tig?"
"They left about a half hour ago to get that thing." Jax answered Dad and the emphasis he put on 'thing' had me curious as to what he was talking about, but the men were smiling, so I don't think it was anything bad. "Juice and Half-Sack are supposed to be wiring you guys up, but they're probably blowing each other in the basement."
Dad nodded and the men went back outside to start bringing in the other furniture. I set Magnus where Dad dropped my bags and went exploring, finding the kitchen behind the wall to the living room. The transitional styled kitchen had cherry wood counters and cabinets with black tops, a silver fridge at the end of the counters, and there were 4 ladder-back chairs surrounding a table. We already had a dishwasher, coffee maker, toaster, microwave and when I opened one of the cabinets, I saw that we were stocked on tableware too. Gemma must've decorated for us. The amount of light coming from the far end of the room lured me to it and what I thought were bow windows was actually a pair of sliding French patio doors. We had a nicely sized, fenced backyard and there was even a Dogwood tree in bloom.
Heading out of the kitchen, I made my way down the hall where I came to a split. To the left was an almond door at the end of the hall. Down the other hall was a single door and another on the right wall. I decided to look at that one first and opened the door on the right wall, discovering a bathroom. I smiled when I saw a purple 'M' hanging on the next door and figured this was the room Gemma picked for me. I turned the black knob, but the entire door didn't open, only the bottom half.
What kind of Alice in Wonderland shit is this?
Smiling, I kneeled down and crawled through the opened half, seeing a perfectly sized bedroom with a pair of casement windows on one wall. There were 2 louver doors on the back wall and I guessed that was a closet. Unlike the rest of the house, my carpet was maroon. I already knew I wanted to repaint the walls a different color and we picked up some paint on our shopping trip. I was glad I picked the darkest navy the store had because it'd look great with the carpet and a black trimming.
When I looked at my weird door I saw the black slide bolt lock on the top half wasn't connected to the bottom door and realized this was a dutch door. I connected the doors with the lock and they both moved when I pulled it open. I was on my way to bring my bags into my room when I heard the Sons yelling at each other to go a certain way. Dad was barking about being careful, so they must be bringing in the 60 inch TV he bought today and I think he wanted it mounted on a wall. I'll never understand a man's need for a huge TV.
When I poked my head into the living room, I saw Opie and Jax helping Dad install the big TV under the SOA flag and they already had the speakers set up. A hand went to my side and I looked over my shoulder, seeing Kip. He smiled at me, looked around the corner, then tugged me down the hall. I led him to my room and set my bags down while he was looking at the space.
Kip paced around the empty room, then asked if I already planned where everything was going to go and I did. I could picture all my furniture in here and the posters on the walls.
"You didn't hear this from me," Kip said and I looked away from the window to him. "But, Juice managed to get you guys wired with free wifi and cable."
"Nice to hear he's using his skills for good." I shook my head at Juice and mentally scolded him for using his skills on something like this, but I wasn't complaining.
I started heading out to get the rest of my things, but Kip grabbed my hand and I stopped to face him. He gazed down at me and I started to feel myself blushing, but I kept his eyes. His hand came up to my cheek and gently brushed a few stray strands behind my ear, then his thumb was tenderly rubbing against my skin. Before I knew it, he was kissing me and for a second, I was just standing there like a cardboard plank. Like I did in the photo booth, my arms went to wrap around his neck and I felt his around my waist, making me take a step backwards. I heard the quiet thump of Kip's hands on the wall and my back pressed against it with his body pressed to my front. I was still amazed at how gentle he could be, not that he seemed like a rough man, but because he was a Son and they get into some pretty hardcore stuff.
I let out a small gasp when Kip detached from me and my face was on fire, but he was smirking at me. He looked so calm too.
"What was that for?" Surprisingly, I managed to keep my voice from trembling, but it came out softer than I wanted to.
Kip took a second to think about it, his head slightly cocked and his eyes glancing around the room in a reflective manner. He wasn't pushed against me anymore, thank Christ, but he was leaning on his forearms that were flat on the wall, his face still dangerously close. He could probably feel the heat radiating off my cheeks.
"Is 'just because you're beautiful and I couldn't help myself' a good enough answer?" He asked and I was bewitched by another one of his enchanting smiles, the authentic ones I've been seeing since the first day I met him. It seemed so long laughed when I nodded, stupefied by how much sweetness one man could hold within himself. "Let's go get the rest of your stuff." He gave me a sweet peck on the forehead, then walked out without looking back and I gaily smiled to myself.
Pretty sure that means he likes you too.
I gave it another few seconds before I left my room and I bumped into Juice before I walked out the front door. From the sound of it, the Sons were working on Dad's room now. My queen-sized bed was leaning on one of the living room walls and the box to my cottage-styled, wrought-iron bed frame was next to it. The last piece of furniture for me was my combo dresser. As we went outside, I asked Juice about this illicit cable stuff and, of course, he had no idea what I was talking about.
Juice and Kip were getting my dresser out the truck while I grabbed the cans of paint and the brushes or rollers. When I got back into my room, I took my shoes off, cracked open a can and got to work. I was halfway done one wall when I heard paint slapping against another wall and I looked over my shoulder to see Dad getting started on the ceiling.
I wasn't sure how long it took, but time was the least important thing to me while I was painting with Dad. We were laughing and goofing around the entire time. Surprisingly, neither of us managed to get paint on the carpet, but I think I had some on my face and there was a streak on Dad's arm. Now, we were laying in the middle of the room and staring up at the wet paint as it dried from the breeze coming in through the opened windows.
"And this man, Sebastian, would just freely drift between the women whenever he pleased, knowin' they used to be good friends?"
"Yep and they've been living across the street from each other for decades." Dad chuckled and I smiled. I just got finished telling him the whole story behind about Sebastian and the ongoing rivalry his love and attention caused between the former friends.
"So, how've I been doin' at being Dad?"
"Well, I'm still living, so I'd say pretty good so far." I looked up at him and he smiled. I saw his olive eyes fill with love.
"You wouldn't just be sayin' that 'cause I bought you a shitload of stuff, would ya'?" I giggled and Dad chuckled, but he cut it off and it turned into a groan. He sat up and I did too, watching him rub his hands over his face. "...I missed out on so much." He muttered into his hands, dragging them down, then putting them in his hair. "Field trips, your first day of high school, Christmases, teachin' ya' to drive, prom...Jesus, your birthday just passed a week ago...I can't make up for any of it..."
"It's okay." I tried, but Dad didn't look at me and he hung his arms on his knees. I scooted in front of him and took one hand in mine, putting my chin on his knee. "I don't care about that stuff, Da. I just wanna have you around. Honestly, I've been happier here with you and the Sons than I've ever been when we were in Scotts Valley with Rose."
"I shouldn't have left without ya'." He sighed, but his other hand came to my cheek.
Dad still looked despondent and I didn't want him to feel like that, ever. I never had anything against him for leaving or not coming back and I never would. I had an entire life's worth of hate and spite towards Rosemary because she was the one that kept us apart, but never him. He was always the loving parent. Determined, I suddenly lunged forward and Dad had some killer reflexes because he caught me, but we fell back anyway. I was laughing and hugging him, feeling his laughter as it rumbled though his chest.
"Love you, Da." I giggled and gave him a few pecks on his scarred cheeks to make sure he felt the affection.
"I love you too, dovey." Dad gave me a tight hug and we got up just as one of the Sons called everyone to gather in the kitchen with the promise of donuts and shortbread. I haven't had that little cake in years! Dad used to bring it home sometimes and I'd tackle the poor man just to devour the goodies, then I'd be puking my brains out because I ate too many.
I practically skipped into the kitchen and when I got in there, a pink box was sitting on the table. The living room was vacant, but Happy, Juice, Tig and Kip were in the kitchen and I figured Jax and Opie must've left. I didn't greet any of the men before I got a piece of shortbread and was drooling over the sweet, buttery flavor as I sat on the table. It tasted like Heaven.
"Yeah, that's definitely one of Chibs' seeds." I heard Tig say while I was in my own little world of happiness. "I don't get what the big deal is."
"Shortbread is bloody marvelous, that's what the deal is." Dad winked and smirked at Tig as he grabbed one of the short cakes for himself.
"Got somethin' for you, little girl." I glared at Happy and that stupid name he loved to call me, but raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
Tig was smiling at me, but I didn't know why and I looked to Dad. He was leaning on the counters with Kip and Juice, but he just shrugged at me, feigning cluelessness. I set my eyes on Tig and Happy again, waiting for whatever this surprise was. They glanced at each other, then took a few steps to either of their sides. I didn't know what they were trying to do until I caught movement of something dark and I looked to the space they just separated from.
Sitting on the linen linoleum floor was a body of tawny with button ears, a red nose and a white underbelly. It had the sweetest, most beautiful caramel eyes I've ever seen. The movement I noticed was its wagging tail and it was still whipping back and fourth. The dog looked like it was restraining itself from running over to me and I wondered why.
"Is that a pitbull?" I asked and the dog's ears perked at my voice.
"Damn right." Happy answered and he seemed pretty damn smug.
"What's wrong with him? He looks like he's about to cry or something."
"Needs love, simple as that. Women are loving, nurturing creatures with big hearts."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but my heart's a frozen lump of coal." Happy huffed at me and I smiled back at him. "Why'd you get a dog?"
"He's for you, the house. When you're home alone, you'll have something here to protect you. He's already trained, just needs somebody to give a shit about him."
"Diesel was trained to protect and serve, spent some time working the police." Tig explained. "When his cop died, he was taught to be a comfort animal, a therapy pet, I think. He was making a lot of old people happy before they croaked and one day, he was assigned to live with a soldier who came home with PTSD. Nobody knew how bad it was until they saw what he did to poor Diesel. He forced him into dog fights and beat him pretty bad if he lost. The fighting was shut down and Diesel was put in an animal shelter, got him patched up. What Happy was trying to say was that if you love that dog, he's gonna stay by your side until his dying day."
"Never had a dog before." I said softly, already tenderhearted after hearing about Diesel's past. He seemed like a loyal pup and he looked like a protective one too. I knew nothing could ever replace Melinoë, but I came to Charming for a new start and Diesel could be part of it.
I slid off the table and went to Diesel, barely managing to hear the small whine that came from him. I got on my knees and pet his head, smiling when he nuzzled into my hand. When I stopped, he lifted his left paw and after a second, I opened my hand to let him drop his heavy foot in, shaking it.
"We got a collar for him." Juice chirped from behind me and Happy came to give me the strip of black leather with metal spikes. They had to make Diesel look like a badass. I scoffed when I saw the name tag was simply a gold SOA charm, but latched it around Diesel's neck.
Happy crouched down next to me and was giving me the rundown on the commands Diesel knew, but I glanced behind me when I heard a phone chiming, seeing Tig and Dad walk out of the kitchen. Happy told me there was a bag of stuff for my new companion in the living room and I was tempted to take Diesel for a walk.
"Hap, Juice, we got Church. Let's go." Tig called and Happy gave the dog a pat before standing and leaving with Juice. Tig came back in the kitchen to pluck a doughnut from the box and gave me a hug, turning to Kip with the powder from his doughnut in his facial hair. "Keep an eye on her, grunt."
Kip nodded and Tig swiftly left. I heard Dad say goodbye and I called one back, hearing motorcycles start up and drive off. Kip said he was going to put the remainder of my stuff in my room and I went to get Diesel's things from his bag in the living room, seeing a pair of 50 pound bags of Iams. It took a minute to lug the dog food into the kitchen and get it in a bottom cabinet, but I did and filled Diesel's bowls next to the backdoor. I left him to eat and went to check on Kip, seeing my room furnished like I wanted it. My bed was on the far left side of the window and my dresser was against the wall across from it with my laptop on the lightly shorter side.
With the walls dry, Kip helped me tape my posters where I wanted them and he easily hung the fairy lights along the coping of the wall and around the frame of the windows. After hanging the black lace curtains and making my bed, I smiled at the end product. My room was perfect. I sat on my bed and fell back on it, feeling at home.
I wanna know
Is there anyone on the floor,
Who can suck me like a whore?
Who can make me scream for more, on and on?
I wanna see all you ladies in the place
Put your titties in my face
Shake that booty to the bass, just for me
"Um...what?" Kip laughed as the beat for the song dropped and looked away from my dresser, where he was setting up the 30 inch TV he said one of the Sons got me as a housewarming gift. He said the kitchen was stocked too, probably with beer, and I wondered what else the Sons bought for the house. That ringtone was assigned for Jasmine, because I knew she'd love it, and I had to dump all the clothes out of my bags to finally find my phone.
"Hey, sweet thang." I answered.
"Oh my God! Turn that song back on and get your ass outside!" She laughed and I could faintly hear her nearby.
As requested, I hung up and let her call me back. I went out into the living room and I could hear someone cheering Jaz on from the other side of the door. Diesel was already waiting for me at the door and I got a grip on his collar. I opened it and saw my best friend twerking her ass off, seeming to be trying to teach Evan how to do it while Cameron was laughing at them. When Cam noticed me, he gave me a shy smile and poked Evan in the arm, making he and Jaz turn to me. Evan jumped back when he saw the red-nosed beast at my side, but I assured him that Diesel was harmless. After making Diesel one happy pup by getting a few pats, Jasmine gave me a hug and was going a mile a minute about how perfect her ringtone was .
"We were on our way to pickup Cam and your Dad rode by with the other Sons, told me where you were. We've come to kidnap you." She said, motioning to the boys behind her. I opened the door to let them in, already breaking that outrageous No Boys Allowed rule, and they all took a spot on the couch while I headed back to my room, almost crashing into Kip.
"Is that Jasmine?"
"Yeah, she's got something planned and we're gonna hang out, but I don't want you to third-wheel, ya' know? Hanging out with a bunch of teenagers won't be anything fun for you and it would be really inconsiderate to just leave you here 'cause I know you're supposed to keep an eye on me and everything and I don't wanna get you in trouble, but-"
"Marci, take a breath." Kip chuckled and put his hands on my shoulders. "I'm not gonna stop you from being with your friends and the guys left some chores for me to do around here anyway. Just text me where you are and call when you wanna get picked up. Take your gun too."
I smiled at Kip and gave him a hug, relieved that he was being so understanding. He went down the hall and I had a feeling he was going to keep an eye on the boys. Like Kip asked, I went into my room to get my gun out of my bag, loaded it and flicked the safety on. I went rummaging for that stupid consent form and gently tore out the page I wanted to get inked. An outline of the white rabbit with his pocket-watch from Alice in Wonderland was in the middle of a rainbow of watercolored gust that was spilling out of a glass jar with a 'Drink Me' tab. Happy was going to tattoo me if it was the last thing he did.
After folding the papers and tucking them in my pocket, I called for Jaz. After a minute, she poked her head in my door and smiled at me.
"I didn't know Dreamboat was here." She whispered a giggle. "Did we interrupt something?"
"No." I smiled back and she looked at me as if I were lying to her, but her eyes fell to the pistol sitting on my dresser. I thought she'd get freaked out about it, but just like Dad, she seemed to be more interested in the design.
"Your Dad got you carrying too?" She asked and picked it up, putting it in her fannypack without another question.
"Yeah, all times."
"Talk about over protective, my Dad's the same."
"You've gotta gun?"
"Yep, know how to use it and take it apart. According to Daddy Dearest, I have to be strapped every time I leave the house."
After making sure my gun was safely settled in her bag, Jasmine lifted her black shirt and I thought she was flashing me for a second, but she was showing me the gun T.O. gave her. The holster for the gun was attached to the center gore of her lacy, sapphire balconette bra. She effortlessly removed the gun and showed it to me, a PX4 Storm SubCompact. She concealed the gun again and tugged her shirt down.
Jasmine was telling me how much she liked my room when we got back into the living room and as I suspected, Kip was leaning on the wall to the kitchen with a stern-eyed Diesel, both of them hawk-eyeing the pair of boys sitting on the sofa. Kip smiled at Jasmine and told me to be careful before we all piled out of the house. I asked where we were going and Jaz said we were following the guys, so we stuck behind them to let them lead. I asked her if Damien tried anything since we saw him at Fun Town and, to no surprise, he's still been trying to win her back.
"Did you hear about what happened after we left?" Jasmine asked and unlike before, she sounded a bit glum.
"No, what happened?"
"As soon as I got home, Dad was freaking out. He's telling me that a girl got raped and was left near the road, one of those freaky carnie clowns just dumped her there like garbage. She's 13."
"That's seriously fucked up." I commented, shaking my head with Jaz.
"What's even more fucked up is the fact that this wasn't some random girl, it was Tristan Oswald." I almost tripped over myself when she said that, remembering the man who called the garage with a heartbroken voice. Maybe that's why he sounded so distressed, his daughter got mutilated. "Her Dad's, like, the unofficial President of Charming. He gave our school money for books and a computer lab, he's always supporting local charities and clinics and homeless shelters, he's just an all-around good guy. Tristen's a sweet kid too, super shy. That shouldn't have happened to her."
The conversation was shut down after that, all of us simply walking in silence. I was thinking about Elliot and his daughter, when he called asking for Gemma or Clay. If he called the Sons, they had to be helping him find the perverted clown that hurt Tristan. This was their town and they weren't going to let horrible things like this happen without consequence. I didn't know if she forgot or if she didn't want to say anything about it, but Jasmine told me about some disturbing jester that she ran into when she was headed to the photo booth. The creep was mercilessly pushing up on her, but Juice came along and threatened to drown him in the Dunk Tank if he didn't step off.
After a good 20 minutes of walking, the conversation getting revived along the way, the boys started jogging to a single house in a newly constructed neighborhood. I saw a few cars parked in driveways, but almost every mid-century Bungalow on the block looked to be vacant and waiting to be bought. Evan and Cam ran up to an orange and white one with Jaz and I quickly following behind. I didn't know how they planned to get in the place because there was a keypad lock attached to the door.
Evan took a look around before he hunched over the knob and I could hear the beeping of the buttons as he punched in numbers. I heard the lock click and Evan smiled back at us, opening the door to reveal the barren living room. We followed Evan to the back of the house and into a bedroom. There was a backpack and red cooler sitting next to a retro TV. Other than that, there was a chestnut armoire on the opposite end of the room. The boys went to the tall wardrobe and pulled it down, making me realize the dresser was a Murphy bed.
Jasmine and I plopped on the fresh smelling bed and Evan kicked back next to Jaz, Cam sitting on the floor in front of us. He tossed the backpack to Evan and pulled the cooler over to us, opening it. Inside were sodas, but there were beers and Seagrams Escapes wine coolers chilling in the ice too. Cam tossed a beer to Evan and set one aside for himself.
"Ladies, anything tickle your fancy?" He asked, glancing up at us with a smile.
"That sounds gay and perverted on so many levels." Evan laughed and Cam flipped him off.
"I'll take a Blackberry Breezer." Jaz chirped and Cam dug around for her bottle, handing her a purple one. With a little whoop she popped the cap off and took a sip.
"Gotta Strawberry Daiquiri in there?" I asked and Cam nodded, quickly handing me the pink bottle. Like Jasmine did I took the cap off and took a swig from my bottle. I remembered starting off on these coolers when I first got into drinking and even as a lightweight, it almost took a 6-pack for me to get a little buzz.
For some time, we just talked and laughed and swapped interesting stories with one another, Evan tossing everyone a bag of chips out of that backpack. Something like this was probably a normal thing for Jasmine and the boys, but this little get-together was a nice change of pace for me. I could get used to hanging out with people in my age group and just being a teenager for once. I had to grow up entirely too fast and I never really got a chance to be reckless and carefree. With Rose's maltreatment, I knew I turned into more of an introvert and I was quick to push away almost any social interactions. I always felt like someone would want to come into my life just to use me or abuse me, then leave me broken and throw me away when they got what they wanted.
"Minnie, will you please talk to Damien?" Evan pleaded and Jaz gave him a glare that was dripping in malice. By now, I was sitting on the floor next to Cameron and our backs were to the bed. Jasmine was leaning against the wall next to the TV and Evan was laid out in the middle of all of our legs.
"I'll talk to that malted bag of horse balls as soon as God allows Hitler into Heaven."
"C'mon, I'm so sick of hearing him whine and bitch about missing you. I think he's slowly turning queer."
"Evan, a relationship is like a house. If a light-bulb goes out, you don't buy a new house, you just change the light-bulb."
"Unless that house is a lying whore." I muttered into my bottle and took a sip, hearing Cameron snickering next to me.
"And if that's the case, you drench that son of a bitch in acetone, strike a match and watch that motherfucker burn to the ground! When there's nothing but ashes left, you stomp on them and buy a better house with lights you can fucking count on! You buy bright Halogen bulbs instead of those stupid, lying, unfaithful fluorescent bulbs!" Jasmine snapped and I almost choked from trying not to laugh. "Is that why you wanted to hang today? Damien told you to butter me up, so I'd crawl back to him, didn't he?"
"Yes, Jasmine, that's exactly what's going on. Instead of wanting to hang out with the only girl in my social circle that I haven't slept with and whom I consider to be a very dear friend of mine, I was sent here to manipulate you into getting back together with Damien, but I just could not fool you." Evan explained, sarcasm evident in his every word, and Jaz stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh, and you've been such a spectacular host." Jasmine replied in the same teasing tone. "I simply cannot wait until your next gathering." She smiled and he scoffed. "As exhilarating as it is to drink 4% of alcohol, you don't have anything else for us to do?"
"We scored some bud earlier." Cam offered and Jasmine made a noise of approval. He reached behind him for the backpack on the bed and unzipped one of the outer pockets, tugging out a Ziploc bag of green buds with orange hairs, Top rolling paper and a lighter.
"Either of you know what that is?" I asked. I remembered when I bought a bad batch of pot from some guy and it must've been tampered with because I was tripping some major shit, seeing demons and experiencing the end-of-the-world scenarios, trippy.
"Girl Scout Cookies, well, that's what Carl said." Evan answered. "He's got the hookup on all the haze he can smoke and he said this stuff keeps his 'unbearable chronic pain' at bay."
"You bought this off Creepy Carl, the Creepiest Creeper that's ever Crept around Charming?" Jasmine asked and she sounded like she couldn't believe what was happening right now; Evan and Cam nodded.
"There's nothing wrong with it." Evan defended and Jaz huffed. "I'm serious, Cam had a blunt and he was fine. You know I'm not gonna let you smoke something I don't trust."
"You could've bought some off the Niners."
"You expect me to take my lily-white, wannabe Josh Hutcherson looking-ass up to Oakland, have the balls to approach a Niner, try to convince him I'm not an undercover cop, somehow manage to buy weed that's probably been laced with Mollies or Perks or fucking acetone and make it back to Charming alive?"
"That was racist." Jaz scolded and smiled, but she got serious again. "I'm not smoking that suspicious junk you bought from a shady janitor."
"Well, shit. We don't have anything 'fun' to do then."
"Don't you have some..." Cameron asked and he rose his eyebrows at Evan in a signalling fashion. I shared a confused look with Jasmine and she shrugged at me.
"Have some what?" Evan asked, clearly not catching on to his friend's hint.
"Dude, I put up half for you to get us some."
"I got everything. We got beers, coolers, snacks, pot. What else could- ohh." Even stopped himself, realization smacked on his face, and he smirked. "I forgot all about it."
Evan looked from me to Jasmine with considering eyes, then he put the bag of weed back in the backpack. He sat on the floor and motioned for Jasmine to get closer as he rummaged around the pack again. He took out a blank CD case and glanced at all of us again before grabbing something else that he kept hidden in the fist of his hand. Even turned his back to us and started doing something with the supplies he just took out, but I couldn't see anything. The only sound was something tapping against the plastic case.
"Don't freak." Evan warned, looking at Jasmine and I from over his shoulder. He carefully turned around and showed us what he was being so secretive about. On the CD case were 2 long, off-white, verging on khaki, lines of powder and my eyes went wide at the sight of them. "Now, this is gonna be fun."
"I-Is that...Angel Dust?" Jasmine asked and her voice was a little shaken, but her eyes were just as huge as mine.
"No way. We're not that crazy. I scored some Speed from the NORDS." Evan casually laughed it off like the Meth in front of him wasn't killer. "Savannah can get her hands on some of the best Crank in California and she introduced me to this lovely stuff, but not her dealer. Sworn to secrecy or something. This is why everyone wants to get invited to her parties, free smack."
"Does Damien do this too?" Jaz questioned and Even took a razor blade from his pocket, cutting the lines into 4 strips.
"Nah, he's a goody two-shoes. He got freaked when I showed him a little dime-bag." Evan teased, but I heard Jasmine's relieved sigh. "I'm not used to cutting 4 ways with this amount, but we'll make due this time and everyone'll get blitzed for a good half-hour. Minnie, you can hit my half and Marceline can take Cam's half."
"Don't be nervous. This is only my 3rd time." Cam's hand went to my knee in what I guess was his attempt at reassurance, but that did not help me relax.
"Ladies first." After making sure the powder was straight, Evan tucked the blade away and took $5 from his pocket, tightly rolling it. He extended both of them to me and smiled. "Just take one big inhale. It's gonna sting at first, but it'll pass."
"I'm not taking anything." I scolded and bolted to my feet, Jasmine slowly rising next to me. I would've smacked that crap out of his hand, but I knew that would've been a very bad move.
"I thought you said she was cool." Evan said to Jasmine, clearly offended that we didn't want to be involved with this madness.
"You wanna know what's cool?!" I snapped. "Not being a junkie asshole and having a functioning brain!"
"Marci, let's just go." Jaz muttered into my ear and tugged me to the door, but I tucked her behind me when Evan got up with a threatening stance.
"You gonna go snitch to the Sons, aren't you?" Evan accused and I narrowed my eyes at him, already having my fingers wrapped around my gun in Jasmine's fannypack. "You gonna rat on me? Make those bloodthirsty bikers put a bullet in my head and throw me in a fucking ditch?!"
"Evan, cool it! She's not gonna tell anybody anything." Jasmine's promise didn't seem to do anything to calm Evan down because he set the CD case down and started taking stomping steps closer. He stopped in his tracks and I saw him pale when my gun was aimed right on his head. Evan's hands slowly inched up and as hard as he was trying to keep a stoic expression, I could see the fear in his eyes.
"Whoa, easy! Hey, Marci, just calm down, alright?" Cameron slowly got up and tried to calm the situation down, but my furious eyes never left Evan's platinum-grey ones. Cam looked torn between deciding if he should get in range of fire to protect his friend or if he should just mediate from the sidelines, but he obviously chose the latter of the options. "Y-You and Minnie don't wanna hit it, that's fine. Nobody's forcing anyone to do anything and none of us are gonna snitch to anybody. Nobody's dying. Everybody's cool here...Jesus, let's just c-calm down and be cool."
"Keep it away from her." I warned and Evan slowly nodded.
Jasmine urged me to leave with her again and was tugging my arm to lead me out. I was walking backwards with a steady aim on Evan as we walked out and I didn't stick my gun in my jeans until the boys were out of sight. As soon as we were outside, Jasmine grabbed my hand and took off in a sprint. We didn't take the same route we did when we came here and I didn't know where we were now, but I just wanted to get away from that house before bad memories started resurfacing. I stopped our running and sat down on a nearby bench, Jasmine plopping down next to me. With a second to ease my burning lungs, I saw that there was a cemetery filled with white headstones behind us.
"That was...weird." Jasmine sighed and leaned back into the wooden bench. "I never knew Evan was into that kinda stuff and Cam's way too sweet to be a junkie. It's bad enough they got their hands on that crap, but buying dope from the NORDS? That makes it 10 times worse."
"Who are they, the NORDS?"
"Local dealers. The Sons don't want any dope getting pumped into Charming and they shut down anybody selling under their roof. The NORDS are pretty sneaky though. I hear, they setup around town and deal under the table."
For a minute, we sat in silence and let the events that just unfolded sink in. I've never experienced something like that, being offered hard drugs that could instantly kill me. I knew what happened when people got hooked and I'll be damned if I was going to experience the same downwards spiral as Rose did. I watched those drugs destroy her and I refused to ever get hooked. Dad would be so disappointed in me. I know all parents must think their kids are being introduced to all kinds of hardcore drugs, but most of the time, the only thing we see are cigarettes and pot. Even when I was in Scotts Valley with the Spartans tapping into the drug game, nobody ever came up to me and tried to sell me Cocaine or Heroin or any kind of pills.
"I've had enough excitement for one day." Jasmine said, pulling me from my thoughts. I glanced at her and saw that she was texting someone, but I smiled at her phone's background picture. It was a snap of she and I at Fun Town enjoying a huge puff of cotton candy. "I just texted Lander to come get me. I just wanna go home, take a bath and try to understand what the hell's plaguing teenage youth."
"Good luck with that." I smiled and she gave me one back. After asking for the name of the cemetery, I texted Kip and asked if he could give me a lift.
To pass the time until our rides got here, Jasmine and I were talking and I was pretty glad to hear that she was going to give Damien a few minutes of her time to talk about what he wanted to get off his chest. So long as he wasn't snorting shit with his friends and he worked out that Savannah stuff with Jaz, he was okay in my book. For the next 15 minutes, Jasmine told me about cheerleading and the girls on her squad. She wanted me to come see them practice or a game one day and I promised I would.
We both looked down the street when we heard the roar of a motorcycle coming down the block and Kip's white Dyna came to a stop at the curb; he waved at Jasmine. Standing, I gave her a hug and quietly asked if she was alright. She said she was and I went to get on Kip's bike.
"Keep her in once piece, Dreamboat." Jasmine called as I strapped Kip's spare helmet on. "Don't have her walking around bowlegged and starry eyed."
"Goodbye, Jasmine!" I hissed and she laughed at me before waving, skipping off.
I followed her and watched as she pranced up to a tall man who was leaning on a pumpkin-orange Harley-Davidson Road Glide. He had a Grim Bastards kutte on, but I couldn't see his patches from here and his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. He smiled when he got a hug from Jasmine and Kip pulled off. As we started gliding down the streets of Charming, I noticed we weren't heading home and I wondered where Kip was taking me. After riding through Main Street, past all the stores, I figured we were going to the clubhouse.
When the gates to Teller-Morrow Automotive were in sight, the first thing I noticed was the huge truck backing into one of the parking spaces with Piney giving the driver directions. There were dark barrels attached to the long, metal trailer and I wondered what was in them.
"What's that about?" I asked Kip as we dismounted his bike and sauntered over to a nearby picnic table. I sat on the top and he was next to me, both of us watching the truck.
"Just a shipment. Engine oil, Coolant, Brake Fluid, Gearbox oil, Battery electrolyte, maybe some parts." He explained, but I looked at him with knowing eyes. I noticed that when he's lying, to me, or when he can't talk about something, his voice almost unnoticeably raises half an octave and he usually doesn't make eye contact. He was rambling too. "Clay likes to buy in bulk, lasts longer."
I simply hummed at his explanation, deciding not to call out his fib, and continued watching what was going on with the truck. The driver's door opened and Quinn was in there. Due to his height, he barely had to hop out of the truck. Clay, Tig and Jax were making their way over to the truck and Jax took a look around the lot, glancing over here. He sent a particularly flirty wink and smile my way, to which I flipped him off. He was such a playboy.
Quinn started talking to Clay, motioning to the truck as he did, and the passenger door popped open. From the angle, I couldn't see who got out of the truck, but I saw Clay's demeanor change. He wasn't trying to raise his voice, but a word or two would be loud enough to hear all the way over here. I guess something was wrong with Quinn's check-in.
Tig and Jax left the other men to investigate what was getting Clay so worked up and after they peeked around the other side of the tuck, briefly talking to someone, they went their separate ways. Tig went back to Clay's side and Jax was coming our way, lighting a cigarette.
"You've gotta visitor." He nodded to Kip and the youngest member looked confused. "She needs to be outta here in the next 2 minutes. You're handling that shipment with Piney. Do not screw this up." Without another word, Kip got up to see who Quinn brought along for the ride. Jax took his seat and sighed, smoke leaving his lips. "I don't know how he got to her before I did."
"Got to who?" I asked.
"Some sweetbutt from Indian Hills, Carrie or something. We just established a new charter a few days before you popped up and I guess they hit it off. She managed to convince Quinn to let her hitch a ride with him back to Charming."
Curious, I looked back to the truck and finally got to see the woman Jax was talking about. A woman, who looked to be around my height, was currently getting a mouthful from Clay and Kip was waiting behind the President. She had chocolate-brown hair and I couldn't see the color of her eyes, but she was definitely dressed like a Crow Eater. Her black shorts just barely covered her ass, the calf-high boots strengthening her hairless legs and the form-fitting white tank showed off her chest.
Clay stopped his venting and whipped around to Kip, a finger jabbing the Prospect in the chest. Tig caught the woman by the arm when she tried to intervene, shaking his finger at her. Clay barked a command at Kip and stalked off, but he stopped and looked at the office. Gemma was standing in the doorway, arms tightly folded over her chest, and when he called her, she slammed the door. What the hell was going on around here?
"Fuckin' tart." Jax scoffed and I shoved him in the arm, giving him a scolding glare. "What?"
"She's a tart just 'cause she didn't sleep with you?"
"Yeah, the hell's her problem?"
"I haven't slept with you, does that make me a tart too?"
"See, it's different with you." He smirked and I narrowed my eyes, fighting the urge to smile. "I've gotta work for you and it'll be worth while. I'm pretty sure you're Old Lady material too. And you are not a pass-around. Carrie's a whore. No effort, easy lay, drops to her knees at the snap of a finger. This is what she signed up for when she decided to be a Crow Eater, but she's not living up to her expectations."
"Is my Dad around?" I asked Jax, shaking my head.
I turned back to the woman he just called a tart and saw Kip reject her attempt at giving him a hug. He said something to her and grabbed her by the arm like Tig did, tugging her away. Nobody seemed to want that sweetbutt around and considering how high the Sons' sex drives were, that was pretty strange.
"Yeah, he's inside."
"Happy too?" Jax nodded and I slid off the table, heading for the clubhouse.
When I got inside, I saw Dad leaning on the bar with Quinn and the taller man looked like he was a bit stressed, probably due to the scolding Clay just gave him. I hated being told off, so a grown man had to feel patronized beyond understanding when he got scolded by another adult. The men had a few shot glasses out and I slipped under Dad's arm.
"Hey, dovey." He smiled. "You settle in at home?"
"Yep. Fair warming, the house is completely trashed, the toilet's clogged to the brim with scat and most of our furniture's been looted, destroyed or defaced."
"Ah, raging pubescent party?" I nodded and he chuckled, making me smile.
"Where's Oscar the Grouch?" I asked and Dad raised an eyebrow in question. "Happy."
"Oh, he just went to the can. Need him?"
"Actually, I need you to sign something for me." I managed to climb on the bar top to sit on it and unfolded the document in my pocket, giving it to Dad. He set his next shot down to dig in his kutte's pocket and plucked out a pair of reading glasses. He scanned the paper and chuckled as he took in the words. I took my sketch out next and showed it to him, loving how his eyebrows went up in interest. "I wanted it on my shoulder."
"This is nice, watercolor looks pretty." He complimented and I smiled. "Where'd ya' find this?"
"I drew it." Dad looked at me from over his glasses and his eyebrows seemed to raise higher. "I'll show you my other sketches when we get home."
With a nod, Dad grabbed a pen from the small counter behind the bar and signed away just as Happy came strutting down the hall. When I got the paper back, I went up to him and shoved it in front of his face. He snatched the paper from me and looked to Dad; he nodded. Happy looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but he just naturally scowled.
"Don't start cryin' when the needle comes out." He warned and led me to the other side of the clubhouse. There was a short rack of baseball bats, another pool table and some kind of arcade game on this side. There was only 1 leather lounge chair and Happy told me to sit in it, Dad taking an armchair next to me with a bowl of peanuts in his hand. Happy was setting up his tattoo equipment. He seemed to take this very seriously because he was using the utmost care as he attached and sterilized everything. "What'd you want, a unicorn on your back?"
"Actually, I wanted you to shave my eyebrows off and put 'Reaper Crew' across my forehead." I quipped back and Dad laughed. He handed me my sketch and I passed it off to Happy. I saw his eyebrow quirk as he looked it over and after he asked where I wanted it, he stuck my drawing into some small machine that looked like a mini paper shredder.
After wiping my shoulder down with an alcohol pad and shaving the spot with a disposable razor, Happy placed my sketch on my skin. He set some colored caps on the table with the small machine, rubbed some ointment on my shoulder and I heard the buzzing of his tattoo gun starting up.
"How much is this gonna hurt?" I asked.
"On your shoulder, pinpricks or papercuts." Happy answered and I was actually reassured. That didn't seem too bad. "Gonna get this done in a half-hour, so sit tight. No bathroom breaks."
Happy gave me a few buzzes with the tattoo gun and it didn't hurt anywhere as much as I thought it would, so he continued without a problem. It honestly felt like I was rubbing my shoulder against a humming cactus. It felt good too, not something I would continuously indulge in, but it was a nice feeling for an every now and then experience. Every time I tried to look at Happy's progress, he'd nudge my head away with his knuckle and tell me to quit moving because apparently, I was disrupting his work.
"So, Da." I prompted and turned to him, since Happy wanted to sit in silence. Dad even managed to quietly crack his peanuts and I didn't understand why the Nomad adored noiselessness so much. "Are these NORDS guys a problem around here?"
"You seen one of 'em around town?" He asked, not sounding the least bit pleased.
"I don't think so. Jaz just told me that you guys don't mess around when it comes to drugs in Charming, but these people slip under your radar sometimes."
"The NORDS are our neighborhood Nazis, strong supporters of 'If it ain't white, it ain't right'." Dad began to explain and I heard Happy huff. "They're tied into the Meth business, make, sell and distribute to anyone willin' to get their hands on some C-class Crank. They're nothin' to worry about, but steer clear of any skinhead with a swastika on his gullet." I took Dad's words in and nodded, turning back to Happy. He looked like he was switching off the needle of the tattoo gun and I tried to see how my tattoo was turning out, but his finger nudged me in the cheek and I groaned. "Wouldn't make that a habit, Hap."
"Oh, yeah?" He asked, getting back to inking my skin.
"Aye. If she's anythin' like her Ma, she'll start nippin'. She used my fingers as a teething ring when she was a wee bairn. Rose used to do it to me all the time, 'cept it wasn't my finger she was bitin'."
"Is that why it's turned like that?" Already highly grossed out, Tig walked in and took a seat next to Dad. "Mine curves up to my bellybutton like a banana, yours kinda...corkscrews to the side." He stuck his pointer finger up and tried to curve it without using his knuckle, his head cocking with it. "Her mother did that to you?"
"Yep." Dad sighed, cracking another peanut in his hand.
I didn't notice Happy stopped his work until the buzzing wasn't humming in my ears anymore and we were both staring at the pair like they were sitting in front of us stark naked. Dad and Tig were so gay for each other.
I partially heard Happy mutter a comment of distaste, but he wiped my shoulder down and started cleaning up his equipment, blindly putting his big hand on my head to wrench my eyes away from my tattoo. If his fingers were lower, I would've tried to bite his goddamn thumb off. He turned back to me and began rubbing another kind of ointment on my slightly tender skin, then he put some kind of plastic bandage over it. He gave me a hand mirror and I finally got to see the end product, a perfect replica of my sketch. Happy's skills with the watercolor part turned out better than I drew them. I spent a long time going over every inch of my newly colored skin, partially in adoration, but more to look for some kind of hidden SOA branding that deemed me a woman of this club. I didn't find anything...yet.
After showing off my new ink to Tig and Dad, getting praise from both men, I gave Happy a one-armed hugged and he actually wrapped one of his beefy arms around my shoulders in a sign of affection. Since most of the Sons were outside, I was headed back out there to show Jax and Kip, maybe Gemma if she was alright, my fresh tattoo, but I couldn't even get out the front door because people wearing bulletproof vests were swarming the clubhouse with their heavy boots and loaded guns.