I apologize for the delay and how short this chapter is. I'm going to be honest here. I work in law enforcement dispatch and we've been particularly busy and stressed so it's really been killing my creativity and energy. At any rate, that isn't your faults so I apologize for my lack of updating. I am trying to fix that. I do hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for your support.
Chapter 26
"Have you thrown away any boxes?" Jax asked as he walked into his kitchen where I was showing Tara the ultrasound picture. She glanced up and shook her head. Jax scratched the back of his head and then let his hand fall to his side.
"I threw away a box of funky boxers and shirts." Mom said. The three of us turned to see her sudden appearance. She and Jax shared a look and I knew there was something more to that box. I stood up and motioned towards the garage.
"I'll help you look." I said, sliding the ultrasound picture in my bag before Mom could see that I had been showing it to Tara. I knew it was juvenile, but she would have been upset if she knew I showed Tara before her. I followed Jax into the garage and closed the door behind me. "What's in the box?"
"Dad's manuscript. I've read it at least twice and could probably quote half of it." He still looked worried and I understood why.
"You're just worried it will fall into the wrong hands." I supplied for him. He nodded and I took a deep, lung filling breath. "Was it in that box mom was talking about?"
"Yeah, pretty sure she knew that to. She either got rid of it or has it." Jax said, pushing his hair out of his face. I lifted my shoulders and let them fall quickly. "Yeah I know, there's nothing I can do about it now."
"Not really, no. Let's get back in there before Mom starts something with Tara." I said, turning back towards the kitchen. Jax followed me back inside where Tara was picking up her bag like she was about to leave.
"I'm going to the store. Do you need anything?" Tara asked Jax. He shook his head as he crossed the room to kiss her cheek. She smiled and squeezed his hand before she left. Mom, Jax and I were left in the kitchen. It was tense and awkward.
"I'm going to take Happy lunch at the shop. I'll see you two later." I said, grabbing my bag and rushing out before anyone could try and make me stay to be the buffer between them. I drove out to the new taco stand just outside of town and got both Happy and I lunch. On my way to the garage, I got stuck behind a Prius that was driving on a flat. I was baffled that the driver didn't stop, she was riding on metal before we even hit Charming. I was shaking my head as we turned into the lot of TM.
"I think its flat." Opie said, walking out to the Prius. I walked around to the other side of my car to get the food out and glanced up, listening in.
"It went out on 18." The blonde said. She looked familiar.
"You rode on this all the way from the highway?" Opie asked, blinking at the girl and then looking at her nearly oval rim. She frowned and looked up at him.
"Its bad, isn't it?" She asked. I chuckled quietly and headed to the garage. Anyone could see that the rim was shot. She would be lucky if that was the only damage done. Happy was standing in the doorway of one of the bays. He pointed towards Opie and the blonde.
"Being nosey?" He asked, taking the bag I held out for him. I nodded, not ashamed to admit it or silly enough to try and deny it. "How much trouble would I be in if I said you were like your Mom?"
"I've got another six or so months before this baby is born and then six weeks of healing after that. Do you want to go that long without sex?" I threatened, narrowing my eyes at him. He laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist, turning me towards the clubhouse.
"You wouldn't make it a week, Alexis." Happy said quickly. I scoffed and elbowed him in the ribs. He laughed and leaned over, kissing the top of my head. "Calm down, woman."
"I do what I want." I protested. Happy laughed and sat down across from me at the first picnic table. I smiled. "How's your morning been?"
"Uneventful." He said, unwrapping the top half of his burrito. I took a deep breath and he looked over at me. "Something happen?"
"Nah, not really. Just some drama between Jax and Gemma." I said, glad that I wasn't really in the middle of it. I knew what was going on but Mom didn't know that. I liked it that way. "Do you know that blonde?"
"Nah, she's one of Luann's girls though. Lulu or something. Hangs out with your buddy Ima a lot." Happy teased. I hurled a tortilla chip at him as hard as I could. He laughed and picked it up off the table. He put the whole thing in his mouth and snapped his teeth together. I rolled my eyes and looked back over my shoulder to see if the girl was still there. She and a boy who I assumed was her son were getting into one of the tow trucks with one of the mechanics that went by 'Dog'.
"Are you ever at work?" Clay said with a laugh. He walked out of the clubhouse and stopped about six feet from the table Happy and I were sharing. I looked over at him and forced a smile, trying to stay civil with him.
"Good to see you, Clay." I turned back to my food, hoping that was the end of our first conversation in days. He was still standing there, puffing on a cigar. I scooted towards the end of the bench to get away from the smoke. Ever since we found out I was pregnant, Happy had cut back on smoking and never smoked near me. I wanted to take every precaution I could to make sure the baby was healthy.
"This bothering you?" Clay asked, lifting up his cigar. I knew Mom would have told him about the baby by now. I narrowed my eyes at him and set my jaw. "You're welcome to leave."
"Excuse me?" I coughed. He'd said and done some ridiculous things in the past but he'd never gone as far as to make me leave. Normally, I was the one doing the leaving on my own accord. "I'm not even in the clubhouse and I'm just having lunch with Happy."
"He's got more important things to do." Clay said, looking over at Happy. He had been staying out of it until then. I kept my eyes on Clay, imagining a list of creative ways to kill him.
"You need me to do something?" Happy asked. If it wasn't for the tone in his voice, I would have thought he was bending over for Clay. I took a deep breath, waiting to see what was going to happen. Clay looked over at Happy, clearly surprised. "I'm eating with my old lady. Unless it can't wait, I'm busy."
"Hate to see you losing sight of what's important, Killah." Clay said as he walked away. I blinked, shocked that he would insult me and provoke Happy like that. I saw the vein in Happy's temple pulsing and moved my hand to cover his quickly. He looked at me with darkened eyes.
"Leave it alone." I said softly, knowing that he was already angry. I watched his adam's apple move as he swallowed. "Happy, he's just being an ass. No one would ever question your loyalty to the club."
"He just did." Happy growled. He shook his head and moved his hand away. I let my shoulders fall with disappointment. "I'll be home later, Alexis."
"Happy." I called out. He was already gone. I closed my eyes and lowered my head. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen when we got together. I never wanted the club to come between us. Now it seemed that I was coming between Happy and the club, at least according to Clay. I felt a hand on my back and looked up. It was Opie. "Hey."
"Hey yourself." Opie said, looking towards the garage. I started gathering up the remnants of our lunch. "Don't worry about that. Prospect or somebody can clean up."
"No, I'll get it. I'd hate to cause any more problems for the club." I sighed and looked up at a wide-eyed Opie. "Sorry, it's just Clay."
"I get it, Lexie. You two have never gotten along. Don't let him get to you." Opie said, offering me a toothy smile. I shook my head.
"I'm used to it." I tossed the garbage in the trash and looked over at the garage where Happy was talking to Clay.
"Lexie, don't worry about Hap. He knows how Clay is." Opie said. I turned back and gave him a weak smile. He shook his head and pulled me into a hug. I laughed and remembered the way he'd always give great, big bear hugs. He didn't squeeze me nearly as tight as he used to, thank goodness. "Don't worry."
"Yeah, I'll try not to. I'm really good at it though." I said with a light laugh. Opie nodded and raised his shoulders. "Go fix porn barbie's car, I'll be fine."
We parted ways. Opie went to the garage that Clay was storming out of and I got into my car, ready to go grocery shopping for dinner. I thought I would make Happy spaghetti. It was one of his favorite meals and something I could easily throw together without much effort. I got a chill up my spine as I pulled into the parking lot. Something was off, I could feel it. I glanced out of the passenger window and then out of the rear view mirror. That's when I saw it. It was the mini-van the girl had lured me back to before knocking me unconscious.
I wanted to wait for her. I wanted to catch her off guard like she had me. I wanted to make her pay for what those men had done. What kind of woman would help those men do something like that? I took a deep breath. I couldn't put the baby in danger. I couldn't follow that crazy bitch and beat her senseless. I had to go inside the grocery store. I had to let it go.
I didn't expect to come face to face with her in the doorway. There were several other places she could have been; the post office, the pharmacy, the coffee shop. She was younger than I remembered her being but it was definitely her. She glanced up at me, no doubt wondering why I wasn't getting out of the way. I saw her eyes widen slightly. She must have recognized me. I felt my muscles tightening and my heart beat starting to pick up. She shoved past me and sprinted towards the van, glancing back every few feet to make sure I wasn't following her. I stood in the doorway to the grocery store and watched her drive away. When she was out of sight, I got back into my car and headed home. I didn't feel like cooking anymore.
"Hey." Happy said as he walked inside. I looked up from my computer and nodded. "What's wrong, baby?"
"I'm just tired." I hated lying to him and didn't think for a second that he would actually believe me. The look on his face as he shook his head confirmed that for me. Still, he didn't pressure me about it. He just sat at the opposite end of the couch and pulled my legs into his lap, running his palm up and down my bare skin. It was calming but I still felt uneasy. "How was the rest of your day?"
"Not great. Went with Clay and Jax to talk to the cigar shop owners. White supremacist pricks looked at me like I had three heads." Happy said. I felt my stomach churn at the mention of Zobelle and his crew. Something about them never sat well with me. "That dark haired jackass has some of the worst ink I've ever seen. He's got this butchered inverted peace sign right here."
"What?" As soon as he mentioned the tattoo, everything came rushing back. I could almost feel those men's hands on me again. I scrambled off the couch and ran to the bathroom, locking myself in. Within seconds, Happy was banging on the door.
"Alexis, I'm going to break this fucking door if you don't unlock it." Happy said, hitting the door so hard it shook on the hinges. I wrapped my arms around my knees and put my head on the wall behind me. He knocked one more time and then the door came flying open. He rushed over to me. "Lexie! What's going on?"
"It was them. This whole time. It was them." I whispered. I closed my eyes to keep from crying. Happy stood up and I glanced up to see him staring at the shower. His right hand was on the hilt of his knife.
"Them? Zobelle did that?" Happy asked slowly. I shook my head and covered my face with my hands. "The guy with the ink though. He raped you?"
"He was one of them." I muttered. Happy turned his eyes away from the shower and narrowed his eyes a little. I swallowed hard. We'd never talked about it in detail before. He knew there was more than one man that had assaulted me and where it had happened. That was it.
"How many, Alexis?" Happy asked, his soft voice not matching the ice in his eyes. I bit my bottom lip to stop its quivering. "Baby."
"Four." I whispered. Happy spun around quickly and smashed the mirror over the bathroom vanity with his fist. I jumped reflexively and bit my lip even harder. He let his fist fall to his side and I saw blood starting to drip onto the tiled floor. I forced myself out of the floor and grabbed a towel. Happy watched me closely as I wrapped the towel around his bleeding hand. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" He said, his voice lathered with anger. I frowned and applied pressure to his hand. "Was it the tattoo?"
"Yeah. Besides them being white males, that was the only thing I could remember." I said, not meeting his eyes. His shoulders dropped and he wrapped his un-injured arm around me.
"They're going to pay for this, Alexis. I promise." He said. There it was, the promise that I didn't want him to make me. I never wanted revenge. I just wanted to get back to my life. I wanted to leave it in the past and prevent any bloodshed or blowback. "We need to take this to the club."
"What? Why is what happened to me their business? I just stopped getting pity looks when I come to the clubhouse." I said, running out of steam towards the end. I knew why it was their business. I was family. I was Jax's sister, JT's daughter and Happy's old lady. I couldn't been any deeper in the club without a kutte on my own back. I looked up at him and took a deep breath. "Okay."
I tended to his hand with some butterfly sutures and hydrogen peroxide but he refused to let me clean the floor. While he cleaned up the glass and blood, I went and changed into a pair of jeans and plain black t-shirt. I waited for him by the front door, ready to get it over with. I ran my hand over my stomach and felt guilty that the attack and those bastards were getting in the way of celebrating and enjoying my pregnancy. I wanted it to be over.
