The end is near my friends! 5 more after this one. As usual, everything SOA belongs to Kurt Sutter, and I own my own characters, Esther, Jack, Everett and Kary, Sailor and Madison.
But when he stopped in Volta to gas up, he gave it another hard thought, and as angered he was at Esther and worried he was about Everett, going to Gardena would most likely be a waste of time. She'd been gone two days, trails would long have gone cold. They'd get their hands on Kary, and get Esther's location from her, but Esther was bright. Too bright. She wouldn't leave a paper trail. She bought lemons for cars, cash, she was fairly skilled at fixing what needed to be fixed to make them work, if she couldn't fix it, then she moved on. She paid cash for everything, did not own a credit card, and if she was anything now like she was then, she would have a nice amount of cash stashed away, contingencies. Places to go. Burner phones. Their best bet was Kary. And Kary's trail would certainly not start in Gardena.
Happy had to wait. Buy his time. Be patient. They would make a mistake. In the meanwhile, he had a future-wife and a future step-daughter to do right by. He had made promises, to everyone, Everett, Esther and Sailor, but right now, he had to get his priorities in order. And he was failing Sailor who was getting ready to leave everything of her life for the family they were making, because he'd promised a house, job opportunities, the quality of life she was used to, and he wasn't coming through for her, by going to LA to chase a couple of gash and his daughter. Because what if he found a trail that took him, say, to Nevada. Then that trail took him to, whatever, Texas, then to Oklahoma, then Washington, or whatever? He could be chasing for nothing, for weeks on end.
Staying in Charming, and waiting for a brother to call an actual sighting of his ex or her friend, or his daughter was a much safer bet at this point. Oh, but when he got his hand on any of them, they would suffer. Long and hard.
Back in Charming, he stopped by TM, knowing Sailor would not be home, not when it was a beautiful day like this one. Someone would have had to see the big black Navi with a pirate flag floating behind.
It was parked near Gemma's light brown SUV, and inside the TM office, Gem and Sailor were playing nice, between them, Madison was playing with her dolls on the floor. Gem for now was coldly polite and more interested in Maddie than in Sailor, but Sailor was working hard to get over the initial snafu of going pirate on Gemma over the phone. When he came in, she was talking about Maddie only going to daycare about two days a week, in order to learn how to make friends and play with other kids.
-Plus, when Happy's baby is born, it's going to give me little breaks.
-Happy!
-Hi, babe. You're having fun?
Maddie replies something, for once, he doesn't understand, she usually speaks really clearly, but this time, it's baby babble, and he can't even make a general subject of what she's talking about.
-Oh, yeah, sure.
-Hey, I didn't expect you back within three hours?
-Been doing some thinking. Guess I'm too late for introductions. Who'd you meet so far?
-The guys that were inside, I can't remember all the names. Chibs, Opie, Jax, Bobby and Adara, uh... Piney. And... Crap. There were two more, I'm sure.
-Ratboy and Montez.
-I'm sorry. You wanna go for a car ride? I can show you around.
-Sure. Uhm, it was really nice meeting you, Gemma.
-Leave that baby here. We'll keep an eye on her.
-We're taking her, Gem. She's got to decide what her favorite playground is.
-But tonight if you want, she can sleep over. She loves sleep overs.
-If she's not staying now, she's not staying tonight.
Sailor was getting up, she pauses ever so briefly, tosses a sideways glance at Happy, he's not getting involved any further, if Gemma's too stubborn to take what's generously been offered by Sailor, then it's on her. Sailor pinched her lips, licks them before bending over and picking up Madison and dolls alike.
-Well, I guess we'll see you another day, then.
Gemma has that expression of hers, watching Sailor walk back to her car, Happy goes to follow, when he hears Gemma behind him, admitting what she would never admit to any woman's face.
-I like that one, she's a good mom. Don't let her slip away. And I want that baby at my house by six thirty.
-Aye, mother.
The afternoon is really nice, even if he can't keep Esther and Everett out of his thoughts. Sailor's music is annoying as hell, she listens to just about anything, her playlist is not constant, Latin music follows Pink Floyd and that pirate never heard of Frank Zappa. And she sings. Not well, but not badly, she sings every track from the first note to the last. Even that track that was Serbian rap. And her daughter's no better, she's got about the same quirks as her mother, and no control on how loud she screams each time she sees a yellow or purple or otherwise oddly colored car.
And Sailor actually argues with her. Like a three years old. Turns around, and argues semantics and details, as if it really was important. Happy's not too sure how to deal with that.
-You know that kid will drive her teachers absolutely insane, right?
-Oh, I know.
-Maybe you guys should lay off sugar.
-No way! Sugar is yum!
-Wasn't talking to you, bunny hop. Was talking to your mom.
-My mama is your mama! Suck it!
-Did she just tell me t...
-Madison Hendrix Justice Steele! What did I say about suck it?
-Not say suck it.
-What do you say to Happy?
-Sorry, Happy.
And she really looks sorry, she took a baby voice, and she looks like she's trying to disappear, or melt into her racing car seat, her cheeks are red and she looks near tears from being scolded.
-That's the one thing I wish Victor stopped saying. He says that for everything, it drives me nuts. She'd walk up to strangers yelling suck it. And he lets her!
-I accept your apology, baby. Just don't ever let me catch you say that again.
-I'm sorry!
-It's fine.
She's crying, now. God damn it, he made a three years old cry. He finds himself pulling over, and fumbling through trying to make her stop crying. Shit, he didn't sign up for this. And she just won't stop crying. He's about to lose his cool when Sailor pulls him back towards her, pushes her arms around his neck and kisses him, what the fuck now? This ain't the time to make out? Her kid's having a near meltdown back there.
-Deep breath. She's just cranky because it's her nap time. Just keep driving, she'll be sleeping before ten minutes from now. She knows you don't hate her, ok? She's just outplayed from all the playgrounds you showed her.
And holy crap, both things worked. Sailor got his attention, and her daughter's asleep within five minutes of him pulling away from the curb and heading towards a coffee drive-thru.
The ride is much quieter, once Madison is asleep. And Sailor took his hand on his lap, she's leaning her head against his shoulder, and she's talking, for a long while, of how repressed her childhood was. And how she never wants her kid to grow up in a place like that. She wants to raise free spirits.
-Like you.
-I'm not a free spirit. I don't do music or arts or shit.
-You are. A free spirit to me is someone who lives by their own conventions, outside of that little... Nine to five, wanna be normal box, man. I wanna be a damn pirate! I raised a girl stuck in a boy's body. And I got one right there that wants to grow up to be Rapunzel. And you know what? I'm going to do everything in my power for her to grow up being whatever the hell she wants to be.
-What if this baby wants to be a Son?
He puts a hand on her stomach, glances at her while pulling in the drive-through, he can see she's giving it a serious thought. At the intercom, he orders two coffee and a sandwich for himself, he's hungry, and the food she's packed him earlier stayed in the backpack he left on his bike. Pulls to the window, pays, gets their order, he just merged back into traffic when Sailor takes his hand off her stomach and kisses the top of it.
-Could I really stop it from happening? Really? Could your mother ever stop you from becoming a Son?
-No.
-You'd take care of him, if he ever became a Son?
-Oh, and I wouldn't if he became a lawyer?
She laughs, it's nice to hear that. She has a nice laugh. At the red light, she pulls away, but he cups her chin, lets himself shift to his softer side to kiss her gently and rub his nose against hers for a second.
-I'm gonna take care of you, Sailor.
-You came back.
-I was about to go and chase cold leads. But I made promises. And I never break my promises.
-Ever?
-I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna take care of our baby. I'm gonna take care of Madison when she's with you. I'm an enforcer, Sailor. Taking care of business is my job.
-But isn't you being here breaking a promise to Everett?
-I got a couple thousand of my brothers looking out for a sign of my daughter. When someone sees her, babe, I'm gone from here within the minute I get the call. But until then, I'm gonna honor the promises I made to you. I'm gonna deliver, Sailor. I'm not flaky.
-I never said you were.
-I just want you to know that I ain't.
She smiled, pulls him closer to kiss him again, and he feels it again. This time, it doesn't just throb his ticker, it flushes his cheeks as well, when she rubs a hand on his head while kissing him. He really likes this chick. She is familiar, yet so different. Maybe it was a good thing that th...
Behind them, while they're kissing, a driver beeps his horn impatiently, five time in a three second span, he pulls away, look through the back windshield, this fucker's got to be kidding. He beeps three times more before Happy throws the car in park, had Maddie not been with them, he might have thrown it in reverse, and ram into the fucker.
Another beep of the horn as he glances at Sailor, she's smiling and biting her bottom lip, she ain't the one that's about to stop him. Hell, it may even improve his already good mood. Because he isn't giving a single shit if he would miss three green lights in a row, he's busy sucking face with his new girlfriend.
Three more beeps during the half second it takes to open the door.
-Tell me you travel with a bat, or something?
-I have a cross thingie to change tires in the trunk.
Good enough. He steps out, and when the dick in the four door behind sees him, he doesn't feel like honking anymore. Doesn't matter any to Happy, who pulls the hatch door open, grabs the tire iron, a quick glance, the dick is male, and all alone in his car. No kids in the back. Even better. That asshole ruined their moment.
-You're quiet now, bitch?
Climbing on the hood and smashing that windshield procures him a delightful feeling, like sex, or shooting guns, or killing people. Seeing his kid. Knowing he's going to be a dad again. The driver flees under the assault, but that doesn't stop Happy. He's in an excellent mood, now.
-Anyone else wanna honk while I suck face with my old lady?
No, no one. Everyone will nicely sit there quietly, or just take another route to their destination. He chucks the tire iron back in the trunk, shuts the hatch, when he gets back in the driver's seat, Sailor is trying to hide her laughter. Welcome to Charming, baby.
Thoughts? Also, don't forget to go and vote on the poll that's on my profile page!