"In a child's eyes, a Mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe."
―N.K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
A few days later, Marceline was peacefully snoozing with Bentley when a knocking on the front door woke her up. She quietly slipped out of bed and looked at the clock: it was 7:30 in the morning and she groaned in disapproval at the early hour.
'Someone better be dying on my goddamn doorstep.' Her thoughts grumbled as she shuffled towards the front door, opening it.
"Good morning." An officer was on her doorstep and he greeted her, but took note of her tired appearance. "Sorry if I woke you."
"No, it's fine. It's not like I need to sleep or anything." She yawned.
"Are you Marceline Telford? Because I'm starting to think she might have a daughter."
"Who are you and why do you know my name?"
"Eli Roosevelt, new Chief of Charming PD." He proudly introduced himself and that got Marci to wake up a bit because she remembered what happened to the last one. "Not a morning person or not a cop person?"
"Both." She said as he stepped inside and she shut the door behind him, leading him to the kitchen table. She poured herself a cup of coffee from the maker and stood on the other side of the table, her eyes on Roosevelt as she gently blew at the mug. "Is my Dad dead?"
"No."
"Is he being sent to prison again?"
"No, same goes for the rest of the Sons. They're all walking free. For how long is up to them."
"If that's the case, I can go back to sleep."
"I'd like to talk to you."
"And I'd like a billion dollars." She said with a derisive smirk.
"Mind if I have a cup of coffee?"
"This isn't a goddamn soup kitchen." She denied, sipping from her mug. She knew she wasn't going back to sleep after this encounter. "Tell me what you want, so you can leave."
"Wherever you go, there's always gonna be gangs with guns, influence and money. And for every gang, there's a crooked cop waiting to take the bribe." That sounded like a line from something she'd see on television, so Marceline waited for the man to continue. "When I came to Charming, it was a mess and that's putting it lightly. I've heard lots of things about the Sons of Anarchy over the years, so I knew they'd have ties into the local police. I had every badge of the former force transferred to another station. I couldn't trust any of them."
"And that has what to do with me?" She calmly questioned.
"Before you returned, there was a bit of a commotion a few miles upstate. Word is that an entire MC was killed off. Funny thing is, nobody really knows what happened." He informed her. "Some are saying there was a falling out between the town's MC and another gang. Others are saying there were internal problems and one member snapped, massacred all his biker buddies."
"Again, what does that have to do with me?"
"You're a Scotts Valley native. What do you think happened?"
"Don't know, really don't care." She sighed.
"Marceline, where did you go for that year you were out of Charming?"
"Some family friends, Maisie Caswell and Lavinia Delavan, wanted me to come visit." She used their full names on purpose, knowing that if Elliot decided to call them or even drive to Scotts Valley for a face-to-face, they'd go along with her story.
"Another peculiar thing I noticed, Deputy Chief David Hale's body was found dumped near the highway out of Charming. Nobody found him for a few days, but the autopsy revealed that he was shot and bled to death. Someone killed him around the time you left."
"You think I'm crazy enough to kill a cop?" She asked him, already knowing the answer. "Eli, I've never held a gun in my life and I don't plan on getting a permit. Guns are dangerous and people with them are deadly."
"I don't think you killed David, but I do find it highly suspicious that when you left Charming, suddenly, things went crazy upstate."
"Unless you've gotta charge and some concrete evidence, nothing you say can intimidate or make me admit to something I didn't do." She spat back at him, setting her mug down to frown at the cop.
"You're a woman of SAMCRO. Like Gemma, Tara and Donna, I'm sure you keep secrets about the club and it's usually under the impression that it's keeping your man safe."
"I don't have a boyfriend, I've never been married and incest goes against my Catholic morals, so shut that door right now." She rebuffed with a cross of her arms over her chest.
"I wasn't referring to your Dad." He pointed out. "A pair of ATF Agents, Josh Kohn and June Stahl, went missing while they were investigating the Sons. They're presumed dead. I got a peek into what little evidence was left and found some pictures. A few were of you and one of the younger Sons."
"My Dad's a Son. The members are my family. Why is it so spectacular that I was seen with one of them?"
"You were dating a Son at one point, yes or no?"
"Yeah, I was. What girl can say no to a bad boy on a motorcycle?" She put her hand up when it looked like he was about to continue with his interrogation. "You've overstayed your welcome. Get out of my house and never come back."
"Why so defensive? I thought you had nothing to hide."
"I don't, but you're annoying the tits off me and I really don't want 'Maniacally assaulting an officer with a fucking banana due to sleep deprivation' going on my record."
Bentley shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. "Morning, Mommy..."
"Hey there, little guy." Eli greeted the boy, but all Bentley did was blink at him. "I'm Officer Roosevelt. What's your name?"
"Do you have a permit?" Bentley questioned.
Eli chuckled. "What do you know about permits?"
"Know cops need one to come into someone's house." Bentley sternly said with a frown. "Do you have one or not?"
"No, but-"
"What about a warrant?"
"No."
"Then you have to leave. We don't want you here." The child demanded, crossing his hands over his chest.
"He's the man of the house, better listen to him." Marci added and that made Eli get to his feet, leaving. She locked the door behind him and watched him leave from the window before going back into the kitchen to where Bentley was now sitting. She smiled at the boy. "You hungry?"
~.~.~.~.
Marceline had just finished cooking breakfast and plated it when there was a knock at the front door again; Phil was waiting on the other side. "Did you come here 'cause of the cop or because you smelled food?"
"Both." He smiled before waving to Bentley. "Hey, little guy."
"Hi."
Marci set a bowl, spoon, carton of milk and box of Apple Jacks in front of Phil. "Go nuts."
"What? No heartfelt breakfast for me?"
"You love cereal and I don't feel like cooking again."
"Finished." Bentley stifled a burp as he wiped his face. "Can I go play in the backyard?"
"You gotta wait at least a half-hour, buddy." She giggled as she tussled his hair, knowing that all Bentley wanted to do was cartwheels in the grass and that meant his breakfast would be all over the backyard. "Go watch an episode of cartoons and when it's over, you can go play. Discovery Kids is 879." Bentley was repeating the channel number as he jogged into the living room.
"Guess you've met Eli." Phil assumed.
"He's a peach." She rolled her eyes. "Were you watching the house?"
"Yeah. Since you got back, Ha-" Phil started coughing to cover his slip up and Marci just shook her head at him. "Chibs wants eyes and ears on you and the kid at all times."
"And Half-Sack had nothing to do with you watching us?"
"Nope." He smiled at her. "By the way, Diesel's the new garage guard dog. He kept getting out of my house and coming here until he figured out that you were gone, then he wouldn't leave the clubhouse, so we just let him stay there. Actually, he ran off some Junkie that was trying to steal a car."
"I'm glad he's okay."
"He's gonna go nuts when he sees you. I'll bring all his stuff here. He'd be a good friend for the kid, run around with him in the backyard. And added protection for the house. "
"Thanks, Phil." She said as she hugged him.
"Can I tell you something, friend to friend?"
"Shoot."
"And this is coming from my own thoughts, okay? I'm not pulling a Damien-Jasmine stunt."
"Spit it out, Phil."
"Kip's a good guy, seriously. He's been like that since we met." Phil began and it slightly caught Marci off guard, but she motioned for him to continue. "When I came to the clubhouse just to shoot pool, I saw how he was with the Crow Eaters that wanted him. Guy had his fill a long while before he met you. He wanted a girlfriend, not a distraction or a convenient lay. He wasn't looking for a girl like Cherry."
"Okay, that's enough of that."
"I mean it, Marci. He's the kinda guy that'll turn out like Jax, happy with his Old Lady and kids. In this life, those are some of the best things a Son could ask for."
"You think he's gonna get that with me?"
"I don't know, but I do know that he was in love with you and he still has love for you." Her expression must've portrayed how she didn't believe what he just said because Phil added, "If he didn't, he wouldn't have sent Cherry all the way to the Belfast charter after you smacked the shit outta him."
"Why'd he give her the boot, got sick of his sole nut burning?"
"Damn, you are cruel." He laughed. "He sent her away and told her not to come back because she's a serious problem and she's not who he loves."
"If he loved me so much, he'd have treated me better. It doesn't take much to be nice."
"C'mon, Marci. Don't turn into a mean-spirited person, that's not you. You're the sweet, 'let me put a Band-Aid on your boo-boo and kiss it better' kinda girl."
"Maybe I'm done being nice."
"Yeah, and the sky's done being blue."
"Screw you." She giggled and sent a playful punch to his arm. "Don't think you're a bigshot now that you've got that patch. You're still an ass-kissing, bitch boy Prospect to me."
"Aw, I knew you loved me!"