Walk Away from the Son
Parker Sister Saga continues - Season 2 of SoA
Chapter 19- Charming Nightmares
By BG and Reaper
AN: They say it takes a village, well I would like to thank a very important Villager, B.C., for keeping the "Juice" flowin' right & proper!
Now, respectful "Props" due to any "works" quoted herein. Sometimes we are witty enough to make up names of books and places and spout wisdom fit for a fortune cookie , sometimes we need a little help. Pop Culture references are made with humble admiration and supreme hopes of never getting sued as our only "gains" from the writing of these stories are the reviews of the readers. That being said, we write when we can – between full time lives and jobs and husbands and children at every stage of development. We ask only two things:
A) If you read, leave a review (good or bad – we can take it! Calling us names & threatening death, however not so much)
B) Bare with the delays. We PRIDE ourselves on GOOD QUALITY! (I've recently learned that Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn underwent seventeen HUNDRED revisions. Now while we do not presume to be in even the same solar system as Twain... quality takes time!) We have mapped out very interesting futures for these Parker Girls. We hope you'll stick it out with us, we're pretty sure you'll continue to enjoy the ride….it just may take us a while to get there.
We Love ya'll!
Reaper & BG
XXX
As for inspiration, check out Avenged Sevenfold's song Nightmare.
You should have known
The price of evil
And it hurts to know that you belong here...
Oooh, yeah! It's your fuckin' nightmare...
While your nightmare comes to life.
XXX
Just like the Hatfields and McCoys...the names of those feuding familes that Vix is doing research on for her paper was the thought tumbling around in Juice's head as he stared at the blips of blue and red flashing lights filling the night sky. They lent a carnival-like feel to the state of things at Teller Morrow. They all knew this had to be LOAN and there seemed to be an uncategorizable threat the likes of which his club had never run across. Juice didn't do uncategorizable very well, his mind needed to identify and process and if it took parlaying what these assholes were doing into the equivalent of some goddamn hillbilly feud from the 1800's so be it. We are the McCoys... and we are so fucked! Because while Ethan Zobelle might not dress the part, Juice could certainly see where he could play the role of patriarch, Devil Anse Hatfield. He recalled Vix saying that the Hatfields were supposedly way more affluent and well-connected politically. "This is a fuckin' nightmare." He muttered to no one in particular then glanced around Where the hell IS Vix?
XXX
"Boy's got a strong constitution." Chief Unser said aloud as much for the benefit of the SAMCRO president as for his own. Think It So was the title of the latest inspirational reading book added to the pile on Wayne's bedside table. Chock-full of positive thinking BS was more like it. This morning's gem of wisdom had been: Redirect substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. Well, fuck The Self-Help Daily Press for publishing the damn book and fuck Ralph Marston for uttering that useless damn phrase in the first place. About all Wayne Unser knew about the power of positive thinking was that it will positively fuck you over but it will generally annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
He glanced over as Clay mumbled something about volatile liquids. "If Forensics finds anything else, Feds are gonna be all over this... bombs are Homeland Security." Shaking his head in resignation, he listened to Clay instructing him to massage the evidence to make it look like an accident and not a bombing.
With a sigh, he moved onto the next unpleasant topic. "Look I know what you gotta do here but we both know Zobelle has caused enough damage in this town."
Clay sneered at the one-foot-out-the-door- the-other-in-the-grave Chief of Police as he pointed out that the blow back from any retaliation could hit Charming. "Then you get me a home address for him and Weston, they both live outta town. Otherwise, you'll be watching Main Street on the 10 o'clock news."
XXX
"You doin' a'ight?" Jax called out to Juice, who was walking by looking a bit panicked. He knew how club adversity had a way of knocking the guy way off plumb.
Pausing, Juice rubbed his hand over his mohawk, "Um, nah...but I'm more worried about Vix. She practically hyperventilated after the explosion. She's still got that post traumatic shit from the fire at Twisted. Now I can't find her. Have you seen her?"
Jax shook his head. "If I see her I'll tell her you're lookin' for her." He watched Juice nod and wander off just as Deputy-Chief Hale approached.
"This was Zobelle."
XXX
Vix was half-hidden in shadow where she sat cross-legged on the pavement next to the cinderblock wall of the club house, halfway down the parking lot. She rocked back and forth with Spawn's head in her lap, his ever-growing, lanky body curled up beside her. Fire. There was all this fire again. And the acrid smell of smoke and burned plastic, melting rubber, gasoline...and even if it was in her imagination, she swore she smelled blood. Really it was just her imagination but that didn't make the scent less real. No wait... there was blood, quite a bit, pooling out of Chibs' head wound. JEEZ-US! She stroked her baby's head absently while in her own head, two versions of the same song battled round robin style for dominance. One tune, two wholly different meanings but neither a comfort. And both were tied to tumultuous moments from her past. Past? Please, make that her entire life, beginning the moment she shot out of her mother's birth canal. It had all been crazy: round robins of shit and more shit. As she started to hum, the sound quickly became a whimper, and Spawn picked up his head in concern before resting it back down as Vix began to hum...Hmmm... hmmm. Hmm hmm hmmm ….hmm hmm...hmm
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
One, Two... Freddy's Coming For You...
Three, Four, Knock At The Door
Three, Four... Better Lock Your Door...
Five, Six...Five, Six ?
She could hear her breaths leave her lungs in panicked spurts. As she stared at the flames that keep reigniting and eating up the frame of the minivan, the idyllic lyrics faded, leaving behind only the nightmarish ones. They taunted her, a sing-song voice inside her head that none of the chaos around her was able to drown out...
Five, Six... Grab Your Crucifix...
Seven, Eight... Better Stay Up Late...
Nine, Ten... Never Sleep Again...
She never saw it coming, so focused on the dancing flames and smoke. She never heard a thing, the sounds in her head drown out every other. But she felt it….the feel of a hand upon her. It startled her so that she kicked back with a loud yelp, her back slamming into outside wall of the clubhouse. Her movement was so quick that when she skidded back Spawn jumped to his feet, getting in between Vix and "the threat", snarling and snapping at the air.
Juice retracted his hand. "Jeez-us Christ!"
Vix snapped back into reality, "What?"
"You're fuckin' hound of hell tried to bite my hand off."
Vix scowled at him, "He's traumatized Jean!" The anger waned as she added, "We all are."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry, babe." He took a step in her direction, only to be met with a snarl revealing twenty eight very sharp teeth. "SPAWN!"
"Come here, Spawn, baby." Vix murmured and reached out a hand, running it down the length of the Doberman's spine and soothing down the hairs that were standing on-edge. The pup responded by backing up and sitting at attention directly at her side. "That's a good boy." She lovingly nuzzled the side of his neck and then pulled away, glancing at Juice, "He's just protecting me, you know that right?"
"Yeah, I get it. Can i sit?" He watched Vix nod and then sat down on pavement beside her."You ok?" He knew she wasn't but couldn't help the question from coming out of his mouth. "Stupid Question number four hundred seventy-seven."
"I'm freaked the hell out, Juice. This is way the fuck too close to home. I keep snapping back to the night Twisted blew up... all the lights and sirens, the smell of smoke, the flames."
"Come here." Out of his periphery, he watched her scoot closer and felt her lean into him. "Slow it all down, Vix." He said in the calmest voice he could muster. He listened as she took a few deep breaths and blew them out slowly. "Gonna have to take a raincheck on dinner." He shot for some levity but then noticed that Vix wasn't listening to him. She looked up at the sky and shook her head.
"I hate being scared. It's not a default setting... hell, it doesn't even come standard. Ballsy, bad-ass, brave."
"Vix! Jesus, you're one of the ballsiest chicks I know. And it's alright to be scared, baby. One of our family just blew up in front of our eyes. If you weren't afraid I'd be scared OF you. Being brave ain't got shit to do with not being afraid. It's doing what you gotta do despite the fact that you are."
Vix turned, eye brow cocked, smirk on her lips, "What after-school special did you gleam that off of?"
Juice turned his face away and smiled. He knew it took a lot for Vix to admit she to what she deemed a weakness, now she'd get snarky in spades because she'd let someone see that she wasn't really as tough as she pretended to be. "I gotta go. We gotta figure out how were gonna deal with this. I don't want you all alone in the apartment building. Take Cujo over there and go to your sister's. Locked and loaded, ok? You feel threatened by anyone, you blow their ass off this fuckin' planet."
XXX
Jaci kept her eyes on the TM exit, where the ambulance had left a few minutes earlier. She stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Did that really just happen? Were we really fifty feet away from a car bomb? Is Chibs really laying half dead in the back of that meat wagon? She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped at the contact. She turned to see Tig staring at her.
"You ok?"
She nodded. "You?"
"We're headin' to the table."
"Ok. Vix and I are going to head to Jax's place, relieve Neeta. Figured we'd hang there until Gemma gets there later."
He gave quick nod even though he'd rather her just go straight home but he knew there was no way the Parkers would leave Abel hanging in the wind with a 'stranger' tonight. "Fine, but after that you head home. Lock yourself in your house with your sister, the dyke and the motherfuckin' demon dog and stay there. Anyone comes you don't know, shoot first...we'll bury the bodies later."
She nodded her understanding, knowing he was completely serious about the body burying. "Hey, call me when you can." Her request fell on deaf ears as Tig was already walking toward the clubhouse. She sighed and glanced around looking for Vix, found her sister nodding at something Juice was saying as the pair walked towards the pavilion area. "Here we go…shit's getting serious."
They said their goodbyes to Gemma, assuring her they didn't mind hanging at Jax's, then headed for their rides. Jaci sat down in her Mustang with her hand on the keys, not really wanting to turn over the engine. Vix stood at the driver side window. "Oh just do it. I'll stand here...if it blows, we go together."
"Not funny." Jaci chided and turned the engine over. It roared to life without consequence.
"Follow the leader to Jax's?" Vix raised her voice over the revving motor and saw her sister nod in reply.
XXX
Vix stood in front of an open cupboard in Jax's kitchen, "Christ, I'm starved. Where do you think Jax stashes the contraband?" She rolled her eyes at Jaci's questioning look. "Come on, ya know the Ding Dongs and Cheddar Bacon Potato skins? Something besides the organic veggies in the fridge and this fiber-infused crap."
"Jax's stash of Skittles and Twizzlers are in the pantry, hidden behind the wheat germ." Neeta whispered as she made her way across the kitchen towards the back door.
"Anarchy!" Vix grinned and announced as she walked over and threw open the double doors, pulling the long cord on the light.
"Oh and Abel is not allowed to watch Cribs." Neeta advised.
"Why not? He lives in one." Vix re-emerged tearing open an econo-sized package of red Twizzlers.
"No MTV, Ms. Tara says it's not age appropriate." Neeta advised with a smile.
"Whatever, did she happen to mention VH1? There's an I Love the 80s marathon on."
"We've got it covered. Good night, Neeta." Jaci said. The nanny wished them a good rest of the night and said she'd be back at 9am the next morning. She walked the nanny outside then closed and locked the door. She headed back into the living and saw her sister lying on the couch.
"Hey, do you think Jax and Tara will let me crash here if Juice is still tied up at the club house?"
Jaci glanced over at her sister. "Sorry sweetie, Tara is not a fan of your four-legged compadre. Once Jax gets back, we can head over to Parker Place."
"You live on Elm Street, J. No offense but no thanks."
XXX
The hour was late, middle of the night to be precise, and the silence was so total it was ominous. The Woman standing at the window stared out at the dark night. Here and there she could see pinpricks of light, but she had no idea what they were. She could also see her reflection in the dark window as well as the entire room behind her.
The woman closed her eyes and wondered if she would ever sleep again. How long could a person go without sleeping? She should know the answer to this. Why didn't she know?
Decidedly NOT what she needed to be reading, Vix concluded and closed the book, tossing it down on the coffee table. Up Close And Personal by Fern Michaels. Hmph. She was just standing up to stretch, when someone on the other side of the front door attempted to twist the knob. Reaching down, she scooped her locked and loaded Smith & Wesson off the coffee table. Fern may have been right, someone is about to get Up Close & Personal with the business end of my .44.
"Spawn, Guard! " The 8 month-old Doberman heeded one of the his newly learned verbal commands. Instantly on alert, he moved to the spot Vix indicated with a point of her finger. He came to a halt at the head of the hall leading towards Abel's nursery. "Good Boy!" Vix praised.
"Vix, who are you talking to?" Jaci questioned as she entered the hall from Abel's room. She froze upon seeing Vix with her gun trained on the front door.
"Someone's out there. I didn't hear a bike. Did you hear a bike?" Vix hissed at her sister.
Jaci was shaking her head when Spawn started snarling, vision trained on the darkened kitchen. Vix whispered, "Back door." She nodded toward the hallway, "Lock yourself in with Abel. Go." She commanded her older sister seemingly as easily as she did her pooch. "Come, Spawn." The dog responded by leaving his post and trailing behind her toward the kitchen.
Vix was entering the kitchen when the door swung open. "I got fifteen good reasons and one in the chamber for you to stop right where you're at!" She yelled to the still darkened silhouette.
"Vix! Holy Shit! Don't Shoot Me!"
Recognizing the voice, she turned and groped the wall switch plate. "Sack? Oh my fuckin' God! What the fuck are you doin' here?"
"Jax sent me over...to check on things."
"Were you just at the front door?"
"Yeah, I didn't know... he gave me the key to the backdoor. Hey, you mind NOT pointing that at me?" He nodded towards the gun still in her hand.
"Yeah, yeah." Vix grumbled as she turned and walked out of the kitchen. She knocked on Abel's door, "Jaci... all clear, It's Sack."
Jaci unlocked the door and came out clenching Abel, "Have you lost your mind? Ever heard of calling first?"
"Why didn't we hear your bike?" Vix added to the inquiries.
"Didn't want to wake you if you were sleepin' and I'm driving around in a van." Half Sack winced and looked downward for a second. "Bit swollen down south, straddling the bike is uncomfortable."
"TMI! Gross!" Vix tossed up her hands.
"Any word on Chibs?" Jaci asked.
"Nothin' yet. Tara is keepin' tabs on him. Jax was heading over to St Thomas too."
"Juice still at the club house?" Vix ventured a guess. After receiving a nod, she sighed, "Sack's here, I'm going to see Juice." She held up a hand to ward off her sister's objection. "I just... you two got Abel covered. I need to make sure Juice's ok. I.. I gotta go." Turning on her heel, she scooped up her purse and shoving the tell-tale scraps of candy papers inside and strode out of the house, commanding Spawn to follow.
Half Sack followed the youngest Parker sister with his wary eyes. "Is she ok?"
Jaci shook her head. "I gave up a long time ago trying to understand my sister. She'll be fine, Kipp." She rearranged Abel in her arms. "Come on, Little Man. Let's try to get you settled back down."
XXX
Very early in her life, Vix had developed a hard shell around her soul. Her tough exterior had always been an asset but lately she didn't feel so tough. Vix Parker felt vulnerable and raw and she hated how that felt. Navigating the streets of Charming on auto-pilot, shocked when she glanced up and saw the place her subconscious had taken her. Hooking the leash to Spawn's collar before they stepped out of her Jeep, she lead the way across and along the stone wall and came to stop under the brightly lit entrance way. She'd rang the buzzer three times before she heard the locks turn and watched the door pull open in a huff, "Somebody had better be spurtin' blood... it's one o'clock in the morning."
Vix, despite the funk she was currently in, could hardly keep the amused look off her face as she stared at the old Catholic priest, standing before her sporting a bathrobe and bed-head, "Spurtin' blood? Really?"
"Yeah well, doing God's Work is rough and tumble. Even HE carved out some time for rest, Parker." Father Carlin sighed. "What brings you 'round at this hour? I heard what happened over at Teller- Morrow."
"Yeah, we still don't know how Chibs is gonna fair.. I've been bombarding The Big Guy with requests as of late, some for good things to happen... some, not so much." She took a shaky breath and glanced around. "I'm a little lost Father. No, that's a lie... I'm A LOT lost and most of my nearest and dearest are too."
"Why don't you come in and sit down Vix? You seem a little... disturbed."
"That's nothing unusual for me, Father." She muttered as she slowly walked past the priest, Spawn trailing behind her. She glanced around the humble abode "We got some confidentiality privilege or somethin'?"
"Church Doctrine prohibits me from revealing anything I am told in confidence so yes, whatever is said will be kept between you, me and God."
"I've got nothing to confess... just need some advise and ain't too keen on the entire town knowing. And for the record... I talk to The Big Guy quite a bit." She glanced over and found the Priest smirking.
"You are aware, Parker, that God's first name is not OH! Nor is his last name Damnit!"
"Nice one, Father Smart-Ass. Coming here was a bad idea. Christ!" She heard him clear his throat. "Oops, sorry. I mean, if YOU can't even take me seriously and it's your job is to believe in the good in people and like bring it out?" She sighed heavily. "I'm lost and don't know what to do. Everyone I care about is getting hurt and I don't know how to help. I only know how to fight and go on the offensive."
Her temper was bubbling just under her shaken up surface, Father Carlin could hear it in her voice, along with the tears. She was wrung out. Her ability to keep her emotions at bay had worn away in the aftermath of everything going on around her. "You're a hell of a tough cookie, Vix, I'll say that for you but that's not always the smartest thing to be. I'm going to give you something." He walked over to a small cupboard and extracted a tiny box. He handed it to Vix. "It's a Saint Erasmus medal."
"A Saint what?"
"Erasmus... also known as Saint Elmo."
"Oh!" Vix nodded. "Like in the movie."
Heaving an exasperated sigh, the priest continued, "The lights in the sky that used to help sailors find their way, they are named after him. He is the patron saint of navigation. Perhaps maybe he will help you find your way."
Vix rolled her eyes but accepted the trinket. "You want me to pray to a saint for guidance? Man, I'd be better askin' directions from a genie in a bottle of Jack D." She stood up. "Thanks for your time though. Come on, Spawn."
XXX
The back entrance to the overflow lot at TM stood open. A uni from Charming PD was at the gate and waved at her to stop. "Hey, Vix. Not a really good idea for you to be hanging around a crime scene."
Her face contorted into an expression of disgust. "Gonna report me to Hale? Maybe he'll cuff me again like he did the last time I was at a crime scene."
With a sigh the officer stepped away from the driver's side door. Vix pulled onto the lot and parked her Jeep amongst the menagerie of REPOs and vehicles to be serviced. She led Spawn the long way around the property line, through the inside gate and over to the clubhouse, careful to avoid the now taped off area where the still smoldering, burn to a crisp minivan shell stood ominously. She rang the buzzer at the door of the club house. A few moments afterward the electric lock clicked and she entered.
"Thought you were stayin' at your sister's?" Juice said when she settled down on the stool next to where he sat. He leaned over and kissed her neck just behind her ear.
"I NEED to be here, where you are. You're my beacon in all this shit." She explained and smiled through the sadness. "You're my St. Elmo." She clamped her hand over her mouth, as she laughed and cried simultaneously.
Juice's eyebrows shot up his forehead, "St. Elmo? Like in the movie?"
Vix sniffled and snickered, "No not really apparently... it's complicated. But how I mean it is that if I just stick by you... if we stick together, we'll be ok. I'm pretty sure."
"And I am pretty sure that was the sappiest fuckin' shit I've ever heard."
Vix shot a startled, death glare over her shoulder. "Shut up, Tig." She hadn't noticed the room's other two occupants when she'd breezed in, being so focused on Juice.
"Tig's just jealous, kid. He ain't nobody's Saint Nothin'.'" Happy chuckled.
XXX
Tig rolled his eyes at the love fest between Juice and Vix and took Hap's dig in stride. He walked off down the hallway and looked back over his shoulder to make sure he was alone. Pulling out his cell, he hit the speed dial for a certain someone. He had thought he had her squared away for the night but here her sister was running around town, not holed up at Parker Place like she was supposed be. He pinched the bridge of his nose while the phone rang. Jaci picked up on the other end but he ignored her hello. "If your sister has her ass parked on our couch...where the fuck are you?"
"I'm gonna stay at Jax's."
"Is that where you're supposed to be?"
Jaci raised her eyebrows at the domineering tone. "Um, I really didn't think you'd want a play by play of my night. You probably have enough to worry about."
"Fuckin' A...so do you really want me thinking you're dead if your house blows up tonight? Add that to the pile of shit I gotta deal with?"
Jaci smiled as she read between the lines of his retort. He was WORRIED but heaven forbid he ever just SAY IT. She thought about teasing him for being concerned and checking in, even if he was doing in a very brash manner but thought better of it. You didn't make fun of shit you would actually like to see repeated more often so she simply replied, "Sorry."
"You're fuckin smiling right now aren't you? I can fuckin' hear it."
"Nooo, not at all." Jaci replied with a small laugh.
Tig shook his head in minor frustration. "Just watch your ass...where ever it is, ok?"
"Will do."
Tig hung up without saying anything else. Goddamn independent women.
XXX
The next morning…
"Oh My God!" Chuckled Jax as he set aside a binder he was writing in. He shook his head as he took in the pair of white-frame retro 50's style sunglasses perched atop Vix's head, the yellow sleeveless sundress and black Doc Martens boots. "What the hell are you wearin', sweetheart?"
"My mood and frame of mind are closely tied to my attire. After yesterday, I need some sunshine and happiness." She explained as she climbed onto the roof.
"Ya look like Sandra Dee does SoHo." He retorted and she tsk'd him. "So what's up, Vix?" He watched her sit down next to him and dig a folder out of a red and white polka-dot tote bag.
"Need some help, got this school project due." She affixed him a stern look when he groaned in protest. "It's really simple, all I have to do is ask three people what they see when they look at these ink blots and write down their response. I'm going to fail Modern Psychology if I don't finish it and well I already have Bobby's response. He's my borderline, I need a relatively sane person." She grinned at him and batted her eyelashes, "That would be YOU."
Jax grinned and nodded. "Ah."
"And then I need a someone completely off the chart nuts. Have you seen Tig?"
Jax snorted, "Nah… but hey, if the resident psychopath isn't available, might I suggest one from outta town?"
Vix followed his line of vision. "Ooooh Happy! He'd work. Ok, take a look at these four pictures and tell me the first thing that you see." Vix handed them one at a time to her ex-brother-in-law. He studied each ink blot and told her what he saw. She jotted his responses. "Ok, and one more."
From the parking lot below, the voice of one of the Charming's finest could be heard calling out, "Hey! This is a crime scene!" Jax glanced down and saw Edmund Hayes walking onto the lot. He handed the picture back to Vix, while standing up and muttering, "Jesus Christ." He paused at the top of the ladder and stared at Vix. "Bit of trouble. Stay here, a'ight?"
Vix nodded and stuffed her school stuff back in her bag. Drawn to the edge of the roof, she saw the guys of Samcro meet a familiar looking person. She racked her brain trying to place the face. Where had she seen that face before? She heard the accent and her breath caught in her throat, recalling the Irish guy with the shotgun from the parking lot in Galt. The same guy who had aided Polly Zobelle somehow knew the Sons. Holy shit! Everyone was pretty sure it was Zobelle's crew that had planted the bomb that blew up Chibs and they blew up Chibs to send a message to The Club. And now this Irish Asshole who apparently knew The Club AND Polly Zobelle was nosing around the day after the car bomb that blew up Chibs, which everyone is pretty sure Zobelle planted. There was an old woman who swallowed a fly, we don't know why she swallowed a fly, perhaps she'll die?
Vix shuddered as her mind went all crazy conspiracy theory on her. Inside her bag her phone blared 'Mustang Sally, guess you better slow your Mustang down…Mustang Sally, now baby. Guess you better slow your Mustang down' Digging in her bag, she extracted her phone, "Hey, J. No, no new news here. Last word Jax heard was that his brain is still bleeding. No, I don't think he's alone cause when Clay got here he said something about Gemma being there, why?... Trying to finish my Psych project and that supply order is supposed to be delivered this afternoon… nah, Juice tracked it online… yeah right… would only give a 4-hour window sometime between the hours of 12:30 and 4:30… yeah, I'll tag along, pick me up at TM."
Vix waited for the Irishman to leave and then gathered up her bag and proceeded down the ladder. She was walking across the parking lot when she heard a familiar voice, "Vix… don't you look nice? Pretty yellow dress."
Slowing her stride, she turned and nodded with a smile at the police chief, "Thanks, Chief." She went and took a seat at one of the tables under the pavilion roof and watched Unser walk over and speak with Clay. She watched the SAMCRO president hand out verbal instructions, to which Juice nodded in reply, "Sparkle and Shine." As Juice walked her way he smiled. "Speaking of shiny things, that dress is bright as the sun, baby."
"So I've been informed… repeatedly." Vix laughed, "J's headin' this way to pick me up. We're gonna go check on Chibsy then hang at Twisted 'til they drop off my supply order."
Juice made a grimace. He knew the location of her salon gave her a damn front row seat to whatever might go down at the smokes shoppe. He also knew eyes had been watching that locale and the enemy had not shone hide nor hair. "Vix, I'm gonna be tied up here all day dealin' with club stuff and I know normally low profile doesn't begin to register with you, but because of all this shit that keeps happenin' to all of us…please!"
Vix nodded, "It's alright, I get it baby. No worries. I just want my salon back open." She cocked her head. "Hey, um… that guy, came by little bit ago? Sounded kind sorta like Chibs? Who's he?"
"Edmund Hayes, friend of the club. Why?"
"Looked familiar, mighta seen him around."
Juice nodded, "Yeah well, dude's a complete tool.. steer clear."
Vix smiled, "Completely! Not my type, Juicey…don't get your boxers in bunch." Leaning forward, she planted a kiss on his lips. She heard the low rumble of Jaci's 'Stang before she saw it pull onto the lot.
XXX
At St. Thomas, Jaci waited for her sister to shut the hospital room door before she sat down next to Chibs' bed. She stared at his face as he slept. He had woken up earlier, before they had gotten here, and Tara had been able to tell him what had happened to him. He had just given a slight nod and fallen back asleep. Jaci removed her glasses, rubbed her eyes and then set the trendy frames back on her nose. She had been forced to wear glasses all day since ripping one of her contacts that morning and her eyes were not happy.
It was unsettling to see Chibs in this way…hurt, vulnerable, dependent. He was always so full of it, cracking perverted jokes and whatnot. Now he just seemed lifeless…like someone had unplugged him. Unplugged…holy shit don't say that! She had counted him as a friend since first meeting him but over the past year her feelings for him had taken a step into slightly more than friendly territory. She would have been upset to see any one of the guys laid up in this condition but it being Chibs had her especially concerned. To put it in the simplest terms, they had swapped spit damnit…there was an obligation to care. Thankfully since she was a part of the Club due to various relationships, no one would think it out of place for her to be checking in on him.
Jaci reached out to take his limp hand in hers and looked toward the door just to be sure no one was about to enter. She talked quietly to him for a few moments before realizing she would never say any of that stupid shit to him if he had been awake, it was too formal and pretentious. She sighed and smiled as she teased him. "Ok, forget all that dumb shit I just said. You just need to get better…what if I need to make out with you again someday? And besides that I'm sure the chicks over at Cara Cara are already missing you."
A moment later she felt his hand shift in hers. Her eyes flitted from their hands to his face. He was staring at her with a frown. Do NOT worry him, be cheerful! She smiled widely and said, "Hey, Chibsy. How you feeling?"
He frowned again and blinked his eyes, looking confused as he tried to lean forward slightly. "Who the fook are you?"
Jaci looked surprised. Oh shit, he has amnesia. She leaned closer and put her hand on his chest to keep him from moving. "Chibs, it's me...Jaci…Parker. Do you remember who I am?"
"Jaci?" He blinked hard again and then recognition finally spread across his face. "Well of course I remember who ya are. Why the hell you wearing glasses?"
"Ripped my last contact."
"Oh." He leaned back on the bed and laughed weakly. "I thought you were Sarah Palin. Couldn't figure out why the fook she'd be here."
Jaci laughed with him, relieved that he wasn't going to be some soap opera-eqse biker amnesia victim. "Sorry! Damn you scared me...I thought you had brain damage."
"Nah, my brain's fine." He looked at her more closely and smiled with half lidded eyes. She waited a long moment for him to say something else but instead he fell back asleep. Recuperating was going to be a long process for him.
Jaci gave him one last look and brought his hand to her lips. She gave it a quick peck and then stood up to leave. Just as she walked around the end of his bed, the room door opened. She pulled up short, thinking it odd to see a stranger in his room that obviously wasn't a nurse. The middle aged African American woman was wearing casual clothes and had wild curly black hair streaked with gray.
"Can I help you?" Jaci asked as she protectively stepped between the stranger and the bed where Chibs' slept.
"Ay, you can tell me why you're kissin' on Filip's hand."
Jaci frowned, feeling semi guilty for being 'caught' but shook it off, turning skeptical and defensive. "He's a friend...who was nearly killed. I'm concerned."
"Are ya fookin' him?"
"WHAT?"
"Ya heard me."
Jaci took a moment to process the question and the accent. "Yeah I heard you...just didn't believe my ears that a STRANGER would be so rude to ask something like that." She shook her head in confusion. "Just who are you?"
"I'm his wife…name's Fiona." The stranger said with a smirk. Jaci raised her eyebrows but before she could say anything, Gemma poked her head inside the room.
"Fiona." Gemma said evenly. "Surprised to see you here."
Fiona just shrugged and gave Gemma a cool smile. "Heard he was hurt…Karrieanne was concerned. Thought I would check in on him."
"You got across the pond awfully quickly." Gemma pointed out.
Fiona smirked. "Was already here, Gemma."
Gemma nodded and turned to see that Tara and Vix both were now standing in the doorway as well. It was getting to be a little bit too crowded for comfort. She locked eyes with the confused Parker in the center of the room. "J...come on, let's go."
Jaci looked from Gemma to the stranger woman claiming to be Chibs' wife. She started to ask a question but Gemma said more forcefully, "JACI...let's GO." One look at Gemma's taunt face and Jaci knew to leave. She walked out along with the others and only to be half dragged a few steps away from the door by Gemma.
"Gemma, what the hell?" Jaci yanked her arm free.
"Who's that bitch giving you the stink eye, Gem?" Vix asked with concern.
Gemma waved the group of girls down the hall. As they walked, she gave them the short version of an explanation. "That is Chibs' wife…lives in Ireland."
"She wasn't making that up? He's married?" Jaci exclaimed.
"Separated…very long time, just never got divorced, bad situation. She's with another guy now…goddamn psycho. Chib's has a teenage daughter too, they live in Ireland for the most part." Gemma replied, clearly agitated. "I've only been scared of three woman my whole life…my third grade teacher, my mother, and that Irish bitch. You girls stay clear of her." When she didn't hear a response she came to an abrupt stop and looked each girl in the eyes. "I'm serious on this shit. That woman is bad news; she's got straight line ties back to the IRA. If she's here so quick, it's for reasons other than just Chibs and you don't want any part of it. You all stay the hell away from her. Do not piss her off."
Tara nodded her understanding. The Parkers picked up on the stress in Gemma's voice and simultaneously gave her a reluctant but sincere, "Yes, ma'am." Tara went back to work and the others rode the elevator down to the lobby in silence. They walked to the parking lot and Gemma quickly loaded up her ride and rolled out without another word.
XXX
"Ain't that some shit." Vix mused. Jaci nodded and tried to wrap her brain around the whirlwind hospital happenings. She fished out a cigarette and fired it up but not before offering her sister one. Jaci waved her off in a polite decline.
After a few puffs, Vix announced, "I think I fucked up, sis."
Jaci stared at her, "What now?"
"I think I might have gotten Chibsy blown up." Vix stated bluntly. Jaci was all frowns so Vix gave her the quick version of events. "When Nolan, me and Bodie went to Gault…I sorta got a hold of Polly, that chick that burnt the salon. Ran across her in the middle of town...I sorta beat her ass."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah…it was a good little fight, till we heard the cops coming. We broke off and me and the guys got the hell out of Dodge." Vix explained.
"Juice know about this?"
"Nope, just you. Nolan laid his bike down on purpose to have an excuse for me being scratched up. I didn't want to tell anybody…didn't want people getting pissed. But she set me on fire, J."
"I know." Jaci oddly wasn't mad, she was getting used to random odd shit happening. She shook her head and laughed slightly. A beat down actually seemed a little light in the punishment department for what Polly did and she was proud of Vix for showing restraint. "While it might have been a bad idea, trust me, Vix...a little fist-a-cuffs didn't land Chibs in the hospital."
"But what if she told her dad? He'd be pissed and they'd want to really get back at all of us..."
Jaci held up her hand and said very seriously, "Vix...you didn't cause it. You know as well as I do we're not privy to everything this club does. There's probably tons of shit that's gone down, much worse things. Everything piled up, it wasn't just you."
Vix cocked her head, "What do you know?"
"Nothing…I'm generalizing." Jaci replied. The sisters stood in the parking lot mulling over the situation. She sighed and decided to break the tension with a confession of her own, sensing that Vix felt really bad about her Polly secret. "I can make you feel better."
"Oh yeah?"
"I made out with Chibs."
Vix's head jerked around. "Say what? When?"
"When me and Tig were broke up. He came over to apologize for the stuff with Juice, that Cara Cara stuff that went down after they beat down your teacher? I was upset...and drunk. He tried to make me feel better...we just took it a little too far."
"How far, J?"
"Not THAT far...Jesus! I'm not completely stupid!" Jaci spat. "We pulled up short, no harm, no foul. Just wanted you to know you're not the only one that fucks up."
Vix was stunned and oddly proud. "Wow...I can't...just wow." She laughed and stared across the parking lot of the hospital.
"You can NEVER tell anyone, Vix. I'm fuckin' serious. You know what would happen." Jaci warned.
"That'll go to my grave, sister." Vix crossed her heart with her finger and zipped her lips.
"Thank you."
Another moment of silence overtook them bfore Vix grinned. "So what was it like?"
Jaci laughed and shoved her sister. "Shut up." She took a step toward her car and suddenly stopped.
"Shit."
"What?"
"I forgot my damn jacket...it's in Chibs' room." Jaci sighed. Vix raised her eyebrows and nodded back toward the hospital as if to say 'let's go' but Jaci waved her off. "Just hang out here...I can brave the dragon lady myself."
She quickly made her way back to Chib's room and peeked inside through the small glass window in the door. Fiona was nowhere to be seen. She looked down the hall both ways and then slipped back inside the room. She walked straight to the chair by the bed and grabbed her jacket. After a quick glance at Chibs' sleeping form, she made her way to the hallway again, all without incident.
Jaci walked toward the elevators but pulled up short when she came to the door to the stairwell. Her pulse quickened as she stood staring at the door and she surprised herself by reaching out and opening it. Can't be scared of goddamn stairs for the rest of your life. She stepped over the threshold and let the heavy door shut behind her. The stairwell was empty and quiet as she took a few tentative steps forward on the landing. Her mind immediately jumped to those tense moments, months earlier when the two Nords had jumped her. She walked slowly down the first section of stairs and stood on the next landing, her back pressed against the wall as the assault replayed in her mind.
So much had changed since that time, Abel and Vix were both better now...her nephew healthy and her sister finally coming into her own and growing up. Relationships had been forged and some had flourished while others had failed, only to rekindle later. The club had seen its share of hardships...first Donna and now Chibs. Jaci felt like the only thing that was constant in Charming was the cold hard fact that NOTHING was constant...chaos always seemed to reign supreme.
She held her jacket close to her chest and leaned her head back against the wall. She thought of Chibs, in a room above her, fighting for his life and she knew his brothers would be eager to avenge him. A culprit's name had already been tossed around...Zobelle, the same one that was responsible for torching her sister's salon. A frown creased Jaci's brow. Zobelle...Weston...Hoover...Jenkins. Her mind flashed to Tig and Motor beating the shit out of the Nords who had attacked her and suddenly a new connection clicked violently into place in her mind.
The rumor around town was that Jenkins had gone missing, well some said he had just blown town but others said that theory didn't make any sense do to the fact that his truck was still parked in his driveway. God bless the rumor mill of a small town otherwise Jaci would have been oblivious indefinitely. Jenkins had been missing for days...it had been days since Tig and Motor had shown up at her house at 3am. Tig had been acting extremely weird that night, something had happened. She hadn't pried, figuring it was none of her business but now...a few days after Jenkins had went missing, Chibs was blown up in the SAMCRO clubhouse parking lot. What if? What if Tig and Motor had had something to do with Jenkins going missing? What if THAT had something to do with the car bomb? What if...?
"Shit." Jaci muttered and covered her mouth with her hand, hating the puzzle she was pretty sure she had just correctly assembled. She stomped slowly down the rest of the stairs to the lobby level and wondered what the hell she was supposed to do with the knowledge she had just gained. As she walked to her car, she knew the answer...she'd do what you were always supposed to do with club shit you figured out...nothing. She'd just drop her sister off at the salon and go on with her life.
XXX
"Ok, that's the last of it." Rachel announced, carrying one last box into the supply room. "When do we officially open again?"
"The fliers Juice and I made on the computer say Saturday. Speaking of, are you going to see Aurora later?" Vix asked as she sliced the packing tape from the carton and began removing hair dye..
"Yeah, later...gotta finish this fuckin' Sociology paper. Why?"
"Got no wheels, J dropped me off. Was wondering if you could swing by the printers, over off Sullivan Trail?"
"Sure, no prob While we're askin' favors, mind helpin' a girl out with a survey?"
Vix shuddered, knowing she'd have that class when they started back up after the summer break. She nodded and positioned the last bottle on the shelf before turning and following Rach out of the room, flipping off light and shutting the door as she went.
Rachel grabbed her school bag and sat down in one of two massage chairs that made up the pedicure station. In cost cutting efforts for the salon re-openin, Vix had contemplated foregoing the insanely expense yet ultra luxurious 'thrones'. But as she now rested in one and let the gentle heat and massage work its magic on her aching back, she was extremely happy she'd not been cheap-ass.
"Ok, now answer each question IN DEPTH with your gut response, 'kay?" Rachel instructed and after seeing Vix nod, she started. "Would you ever date a man who had a history of being less than open in his intimate relationships?"
"Yes!" Vix said with a laugh then stopped. "Wait, when you say less than open do you mean would I date a liar? Cause, shit… I don't think I've ever dated anyone who wasn't deceitful in some way. I mean I wouldn't be with anyone who tortured small animals or conned old ladies outta their life savings or nothing, but sexy liars? Sure, why not? I tend to go for charming bullshitters."
They both startled a bit at a loud rap against the front door of the salon. Rachel laughed "His timing is oddly impeccable."
Vix rolled her eyes and added her laughter as she cut a line across the salon to the door. "Hey, baby. Thought you were gonna be all day at TM."
She stepped aside as Juice breezed through the door.. "Unser made me leave before Lodi CSI arrested me or both of us. CSI peeps are so much nicer on TV. Give me Grissom from Vegas or shit even that red-headed douche bag from down in Miami. At least they are cool. The two that showed up at TM were complete A-holes, man. CAPITAL A." He nodded over at Rachel, "Hey, Rach."
"Hey Juice... um, Vix I gotta split. I'll text you the other rest of the questions, shoot me back the answers, kay? I'll hit up the printers for the fliers."
"Thanks, chica." She wandered over and hugged an agitated looking Juice. "How can I make it better, baby?"
XXX
The sound of a group of Harleys pulling up out front caught their attention. Vix stilled, mid-downward thrust. Underneath her, seated in her desk chair, Juice bucked his hips upward forcefully, "Almost there baby, don't stop... come on." His words came out a mixture of pleading and harsh demand.
She felt his hands on her hips, urging her undulations as she slid up and down the length of his cock. She could feel his shoulder muscles bunching up underneath her fingers, as his whole body tensed. Vix gritted her teeth as she rode him, bucking her hips and grinding against him, intensifying the friction. It was a contest now to see which one could get the other off first. As she concentrated on squeezing her inner muscles, Juice lost all ability to communicate in other than harsh gutteral sounds and she was certain she would win but suddenly he pulled an illegal move. He bit down on her nipple, his teeth delivering some serious pain but the shock was such that it shot Vix right over the edge. She shuddered from head to toe, rocking with pleasure, a stream of profanity spewing from her lips. Though Vix had beaten him to it, Juice was right on her tail. His fingers dug into her hips, sure to leave bruises. He bucked up into her, his loud groan of pleasure drown out against the flesh of her chest as he pulled her forward against him and buried his face between her tits. They clung to each other for a few moments, exchanging shaky sighs and sated smiles as their pulses settled back down and their breathing returned to normal.
The muffled noise of what sounded like shattering glass filtered up to them "What the fuck was that?" Juice's attention diverted from fixing his belt buckle. "Shit." He mumbled as he suddenly remembered the rumble of the bikes that had been forgotten in post-coital memory lapse. He rushed through the office door tugging his shirt over his head, clutching his cut in his one hand.
Vix quickly re-clothed herself in her yellow sundress and watched him descend the stairs two at a time. Disregarding her chunky black boots, she slammed her feet in a pair of flip flops and raced down the stairs.
Across the street, a line of Harleys was parked in front of Impeccable Smokes. A handful of back patches met Vix's eyes, forming a solid wall along the sidewalk outside the cigar shop. Snatching up her sunglasses off the counter, Vix darted across the street. She saw Hap glance back and nod at her with a twisted grin. Tig managed to toss her a smug smirk. She walked up and stood between the Nomad Son and Juice, watching with the others as Clay trashed the inside of Zobelle's shop and couldn't stop the huge grin from spreading over her face.
XXX
"It's password protected… can't get it." Happy advised walking into the hair salon with Juice and Vix, motioning towards Weston's lap top that he had retrieved from the saddle bag of his bike. The laptop was the one gain from the confrontation between the Sons and Weston's kids earlier that day.
"Let me see it." Juice motioned for Hap to hand it over.
Vix locked the door behind her and closed the blinds along the front window of the salon. She turned around and watched Juice and Hap checking out the pilfered laptop.
"Just knowing that evil racist asshole touched that thing makes me not want it in my salon. Here let me get you some gloves, 'for you touch the keys, baby."
Hap chuckled as Vix disappeared into the supply closet, "I think she's serious."
"I KNOW she is." Juice replied
XXX
Hap glanced at the stairs. Juice had retreated up to the office to work his magic. "Hackin' shit always take this long?"
Vix shrugged, "I guess... Juicey guards club intel behind layers of firewalls and techie stuff I cant begin to understand. I guess it depends on how smart the person is and how badly they want to hide their shit." She paused for a minute and considered the Nomad before her. "Hey, Hap…would you mind doin' me …"
Her words were cut off at an unfortunate juncture by a loud crash followed by an equally loud stream of Spanish cuss words coming from up the stairs. Standing up out of the chair at her station, she walked to the base of the stairs, "Juice?"
"Everything is FINE, Vix!" Came a less-than-sincere sounding reply. Shrugging, she turned back towards her chair only to find Hap staring intently at her. "What?"
"You were sayin'?"
"Oh! I have this project and I need to ask three people questions and Bobby and Jax helped so I was hoping you wouldn't mind. All you gotta do is look at these ink blots and tell me what you see, like the first thing that pops into your head."
"Do I gotta give my name?"
"No, you can work under an alias if you wanna."
"Ok." Hap replied with a nod.
"Really?" Vix grinned. "Ok… let me grab my stuff." She gathered the supplies out of her bag and sat the first picture out for Hap to see. "Ok, just tell me what you see."
He studied the image. "It looks like my belt buckle."
While her mouth asked "Excuse me?" Vix's eyes dipped down to Haps' waist. She laughed, "Yeah, it sorta does. The other guys saw a dude riding straight at them on a Harley with ape-hangers. Jax went so far to mention that the kick-stand was down and so the dude must be a dumbass." She shook her head and laid out the next image.
Hap sorta made a disgusted face and a growling sound after a moment, "What was that story about the little dude who pulled the sword out of some rock?"
"King Arthur?" Vix offered, she'd literally only knew that because Kenny Winston was doing a book report on the Sword in the Stone.
Hap nodded, "That's it… this right here. The top part? That's the hilt. Then the blade, and the blob thing that looks like a bear skin rug could be a stone? Hmmm?"
"I don't think there are any wrong answers, Hap. Everybody just sees what they see."
"What'd Bobby see?"
"I can't say…but he has an obvious fascination with food. Ok, here's number three."
"What the fuck is that shit?" Hap asked with a squint. "Damn that looks like some kinda fuckin' Indian rain dance, with the little drums and shit." He shrugged. "Maybe you should ask somebody else. My answers are stupid."
"Just one more to go, please!"
Hap grumbled but glanced at the fourth and final ink blot image. He contemplated what he saw, cocked his head and looked at it from a different angle. "Baby elephants."
"What?" Vix's eyebrows sprang up her forehead.
Hap shrugged, "Baby elephants. probably African since the ears are so big but just babies because they don't have tusks. Look at it, Vix". He pointed at the image. "See, they're touching trunks together in the middle...which is kinda gay. But they are. I dunno what the red shit is. Birds maybe. Flowers? Maybe they're eating the flowers. Yeah...that's what it is. They're reaching up to snag the flowers and eat 'em."
Vix stared over her notebook at the badass killer seated across from her. Baby Elephants?
"We're In!" Juice's suddenly announced, causing her to jump. She looked over to where he stood at the bottom on the stairs holding Weston's lap top, "I found his appointment planner."
XXX
She can be the one, she can be the angel
She can get me high, she can be my savior
If the right one came along, God knows I'd do her wrong
~ Do her wrong, Atom Smash
Jaci stirred the pot of near boiling liquid that sat cooking on the stove in Tig's kitchen. After the potential revelation she had come to earlier in the day concerning Jenks, she had thought about canceling the little dinner surprise but she had wanted to do something nice for Tig. With Chibs being hurt so violently, tensions within the club were high and everyone was stressed. The guys had all been running ragged trying to get a bead on LOAN. She was hoping to get Tig to relax, if only just for a moment. Besides that, he couldn't go on living off cigarettes, coffee and beer much longer.
She had decided to keep her suspicions to herself for now and just focus on having a quiet night. Tig was running really late but that was fine. She had spent over an hour and a half cleaning his house so she was behind as well. He would have never asked her to clean up but she had taken on the task for two reasons...one, it desperately needed to be done and two, cleaning relaxed her, gave her focus.
Now she was in the middle of making chicken and dumplings. The broth mixture was simmering and smelling great. She had just put the finishing touches on the dough when she heard the key rattle in the the back door. Tig stepped into the kitchen with a frown on his face, "Why you here?"
"Just being nice…knew you've been swamped. Thought I'd help out?" Jaci replied with a slight smile. When his facial expression didn't move off of annoyed she dropped her smile. "I thought we were making an effort this time around…this is my effort." More over she was thinking, if you didn't want me to USE your house key, you shouldn't have given me one.
His response was a grumble, "I got whackjobs blowing up Sons and you think its a good idea to hang out in my house...real smart." He stomped through the kitchen and headed down the hall, hollering over his shoulder, "You went to a lot of trouble for nothing…I'm leavin' out of here in five minutes."
Jaci frowned, a bit stunned by his sudden appearance and then immediate DIS-appearance. Her head turned on a swivel trying to keep up with him. At the sink, she quickly scrubbed the flour that had matted to her hands and then hurried down the hall after Tig. When she reached the doorway of his bedroom, he already had a duffel bag on the bed and was changing out of his clothes. He pulled on a fresh black t-shirt as she asked, "What's going on?"
He shot her a look that said you know better to ask questions and went back to searching for something in the closet. She watched him and tried to gauge his mood…definitely agitated. She noticed that his cut laid on the bed and as soon as she saw him yank a dark blue sweatshirt off a hanger, she knew something shady was going down.
He pulled the sweatshirt over his head and locked eyes with hers. He studied her for a moment, letting go temporarily of the annoyance of finding her in his house uninvited. A predator's smile finally spread across his face. "Fuck it...I'll tell you what's up. Tonight's the night...those LOAN motherfuckers are getting what's coming to them." He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to smile and say 'really?' Instead she frowned.
"What're you talking about? What're you doing?"
Tig broke a cardinal rule and told exactly what was going on. "Zobelle...Weston, they've been holed up since they blew Chibs up but we found them. Got 'em nailed down to an exact time, exact fucking location. Tonight, we're taking those motherfuckers OUT. Gonna be like shooting fish in a goddamn barrel." He explained with a sinister laugh.
"For them or for you?" Jaci replied. She had a very bad feeling about the picture Tig was painting for her at the moment. "They fall off the face of the Earth and now they're just suddenly BACK? Isn't that a little too easy?"
"God, you sound like Jax." He muttered and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it is too easy...cause they're fuckin' stupid. They fucked up, left this info just laying out there. We're gonna settle the score on a whole lot of shit...Chibs getting hurt, them blowing up your salon, all the threats against the club, all of it. They're gonna fucking pay." He gave her a long look. "I thought you'd be a little more excited about this." Actually, he had expected her to pretty much be a goddamn cheerleader on the matter.
"Excited? Why would I be excited about you getting hurt?"
"Nobody's getting hurt."
Jaci shook her head, her logical cautious mind told her something was wrong; the guys were rushing into the retaliation too quickly. "Tig, this isn't a good idea. Can't you wait? Like really check things out? These guys aren't stupid."
"And SAMCRO is?" Tig shot back. He had expected her to be completely supportive and here she was waffling. He stopped what he was doing and glared at her.
"No! I'm not saying the club is stupid for going after them...it's just...I just think you should wait." Jaci swallowed hard. "Maybe try a different approach or something."
"Different approach?" Tig repeated, his tone nasty. "Like maybe we ask 'em to apologize and then we hug and make like best friends? Those fuckers are kickin' a hole in us left and right. We shut them down, end of story." "
She sighed, he was missing the point completely and suddenly she thought about Jenkins and what she believed really happened to him. Now wasn't the time to discuss it but the knowledge shaped her next comment. "When does it end, Tig? Uh? They hit you, you hit them ...tit for tat, back and forth. Who wins like that? When's it ever stop?"
Tig ignored her and focused on loading up his duffel as his mind raced. How the fuck can she question this? This was NOT the way he had pictured it, not the way it was supposed to go. He was taking these assholes out for her just as much as for Chibs and the Club. For God sake's, he'd KILLED for her just the other night, granted she didn't KNOW that but how could she balk at getting back at LOAN, it was a no-brainer. He was flat out stunned and that surprise turned very quickly to embarrassment. The little devil inside started laughing at him, 'Hahaha you fuckin' idiot! She's not your saving grace you moron...she can't even side with you for something as simple as THIS. Try telling her you murdered Donna by accident and see how understanding she is. You are FUCKED!'
"Tig, look...I just don't want you guys getting hurt." Jaci ventured, seeing that his body language had taken a turn for the worse. Gone was the excited vibe from earlier, he was pissed now. "Please...just stop and think about this."
"The fuck's wrong with you?" Tig spat. "I bet your sister's showing a shit load more support about this than you are."
Jaci rolled her eyes. "Of course Vix's more supportive… she's hard core, balls to the wall, eyes wide SHUT when it comes to her support, but you know that leaves little room for THINKING."
"Were you THINKING when you fucked with that porn bitch for talking shit to you?" Tig shot back. "Such a fuckin' hypocrite. You're all about the revenge as long as the risk is small and won't blow back on you, right?"
"We fucked with her SHAMPOO, Tig. We weren't going to KILL HER. Bit of a HUGE fucking difference there."
"Exactly...the punishment fit the crime. Jaci, these assholes tried to blow your sister up. They set off a goddamn car bomb in the middle of our parking lot. Chibs is lucky to be alive. What if that had been me in the fuckin' van? Huh? I got blown to goddamn kingcome...would you still be pussy footing around on this?"
"YES!" Jaci exclaimed. "I hate that anyone got hurt...but we don't need to add to the body count."
The devil inside him continued to pick at him, making fun at him forever thinking he could get support from a WOMAN. Who the hell was he trying to fool? First she just shows up uninvited to his house, cooking and cleaning, playing house and shit, probably went through all his stuff snooping and now she's trying to tell the club how to handle their business…invasive much? Tig held up a shaky hand. "I can't deal with your shit right now; I got a brother to help. Club comes FIRST, you know that, it's not up for discussion. Deal with it or walk."
"You can't bail every time you don't like what I say, Tig. It doesn't work like that!" Jaci snapped, irritated at his sudden descent into full CLUB MODE, which meant his brain was shutting off. "Would you just listen to me? I just don't want you ending up in jail or worse."
"Nobody's going to jail!" Tig screamed and threw his duffel on the bed and started to pace. He ran his hands over his face. "Jesus, just know your place and fall in line on this. Back off!"
"Know my place?" Jaci shook her head in frustration and tried to squelch the feminist fury that blossomed inside of her. "Ok, fine...I think my place is two steps behind you, watching your goddamn back. How's that grab you? And I care enough to tell you when you're WRONG and not just nod along like a mindless idiot yes man."
"The club didn't even have to vote on this shit. It's a no brainer."
"Yeah, well...you ever heard of mass hysteria?" She asked. "Think about it, sometimes the path of least resistance is less resistant because it's been greased, it leads to a set up... a trap. I'm just trying to protect you."
"Don't fuckin' talk to me about protection!" He screamed and pictured ramming a knife through both of Jenkins' eyes. "You ungrateful fuckin' bitch. Goddamnit!" He glared at her for a second. You're supposed to be different...you're supposed to have my back, not be second guessing my every goddamn move. Disappointment bubbled to the surface and he suddenly yelled, "Are you fuckin' kidding me?"
Jaci froze at his sudden anger. She had no clue why he was so furious. She just wanted to protect him, to make him stop and think but he wouldn't listen to her, wouldn't let her explain. He was pacing and mumbling and not making any sense. "Tig...I..."
"Are you with me or against me?" Tig asked, obviously struggling to maintain control over his voice. His jaw clenched and his blue eyes bored a hole into hers. In his mind, he pleaded with her to give the right answer.
"God, how did we get to this?" Jaci shot back in return. "Two nights ago you're begging me to tell you I love you and now I'm AGAINST you just because I don't agree with you? Tig, I don't understand..."
Embarrassment rushed over him...you begged me to tell you I loved you. Tig suddenly felt like an idiot for running to her that night, felt stupid for going after Jenks...she was supposed to be worth it. Is she worth it now? Standing there talking shit to you...is she worth it? Tig saw red and picked up the bedside lamp and threw it before he even realized what he was doing. The lamp slammed into the wall next to Jaci's head and shattered. She let out a scream of surprise and threw her hands up in an attempt to shield herself.
"Shut the fuck up!" He seethed. He started to take a step toward her but stopped himself. He pointed a finger at her. "Do yourself a favor and don't say another fucking word." His glare and voice were both ice cold and Jaci stood completely still, knowing better than to push it with him. He kept his finger held out for a long moment, his jaw flexed and his breath was ragged.
He looked like he wanted to punch her. She kept her eyes on him and tried to stare hard enough to get past the psycho on the surface but at the same time she was calculating the distance to the door in case she changed her mind and wanted to run...or needed to. She started an internal move to chill the fuck out. Jesus Christ...ok, ok. Stay calm...you stay calm and he'll calm down. You just hit a nerve somehow...everybody's upset. Everybody's scared and on edge. Just calm down.
Tig finally broke eye contact. He threw a few remaining items in the duffel and zipped it closed. He grabbed his bag and his cut and stared down at the bed. He took a breath, "We're done."
"Tig..."
"SHUT UP!" He yelled. "Shut up and fuckin' LISTEN. I don't need this bullshit! You and me, we're fuckin' done...you can't support me, this club...your ass is gone. I should have known better. You're just like everybody else...when it comes down to it...you're full of shit."
"Stop and THINK about this." Jaci pleaded. "Don't pull this knee jerk bullshit again."
"Fuck that...you think about it." He seethed and pushed past her out of the bedroom. As he stalked down the hall, he yelled over his shoulder, "And get the fuck out of my house!"
The back door slammed a few seconds later and Jaci finally blinked, forcing herself to walk down the hallway. What the fuck just happened? She tried to steady her breathing. They had fought before but he had scared the shit out of her by throwing the lamp. She could take a lot of crap but he was goddamn unstable and suddenly she was second guessing ever thinking they could work out. Hell, she didn't have to second guess it; he had done it for them.
As she walked into the kitchen, she frowned and felt her fear morph into anger. She completely understood he was mad about Chibs, he was upset, scared even. She got that...but how the fuck could he doubt HER, to think she was against him...against the club? Fuck him for questioning her loyalty. All she wanted him to do was THINK and he was too goddamn stupid, too goddamn macho to do it. She shook her head and threw the towel she had been holding toward the sink. "Fuck this." She spat. Being with Tig was a goddamn rollercoaster and she was tired of it and she be damned if she was going to put up with him throwing shit at her. What if he threw a fist next time instead of a lamp?
She stalked to the stove and twisted the burner knob to off. Tears suddenly stung her eyes...but they weren't from sadness like in the past. These were tears of anger...of frustration. No matter how much progress they made, there was always a brick fucking wall that they'd slam into. Nothing ever changed, nothing ever really got better...they just limped along in some goddamn delusional state until reality bitch slapped them again.
She grabbed the bag of flour on the counter and furiously started to fold down the top of the bag. "Fuckin' asshole! Goddamnit!" She hefted the bag in her hand and then turned and launched it across the kitchen. It slammed into the wall of cabinets and white powder exploded, saturating the air. "You're not the only one that can throw shit!" She yelled to the empty house. She watched the flour settle onto the cabinets, the floor, pretty much everywhere.
With her hands held to her head, she sucked in deep breaths, her biceps aching in that weird way they did when her blood pressure spiked. She resisted the urge to go and pour bleach over all his clothes that she had washed that afternoon. That wouldn't phase him though, he'd just be pissed. Tig needed to be taught a lesson and she was pretty sure his actions with the club that night would do it. There was no way their little plan could end well. She just prayed the lesson didn't last twenty five years to life.
Jaci grabbed her purse from off the back of a kitchen chair and walked out of the back door, slamming it behind her. Let him fuckin' clean up the mess.
XXX
Tig rolled up a little late to the staging area. Luckily Op had been running behind too but due to getting his kids straightened out for the night, not getting into a screaming match and then dumping his girlfriend. They parked their bikes and walked to where the others stood around the back of the van, waiting.
As they went over a rough plan of attack, Jax finally spoke up, letting them all know that the church wasn't just filled with a handful of thugs…it was a full on AB membership rally.
"How do you know this?" Tig asked with a frown.
"Hale…he grilled Zobelle's daughter, she told him. He's got deputies on the way." Jax replied coolly. "We do this, we all go to jail."
Tig couldn't help but smirk at his VP, the jail warning rang a sensitive bell. "You really did marry the wrong Parker sister, man. You and Jaci are totally in-synch with which side of the fence you're on at any given moment. What do you do, like call each other every morning? Text message?" Tig took his voice an octave higher. "Ok, it's Tuesday, let's swing far right today, Jackson." He snorted a laugh as his brothers look at him in confusion wondering what the fuck he was talking about. "'The two of you THINK so damn much you can't even FUNCTION."
Jax glared at him. "Well, I sure as shit turned my brain off TONIGHT and look where we are."
"Oh for Christ's sake, shut up." Clay seethed.
The young VP glared at his step-father. "This is what YOU wanted...fuckin' happy now?"
Clay ignored the question and dug into the back of the van. "AKs and shotguns…let's go."
XXX
The LOAN gathering at the Morada Christian Center had been a complete and utter fucking set up. There were no angry-gun toting AB sign ups inside, only families enjoying a fellowship dinner. The Sons stormed the event and stood down once they saw the attendees but Weston let a few bullets fly and started a panic. Families rushed from the building screaming as sheriffs arrived on the scene. The Sons tried to make a run for it out of the church but were quickly surrounded by cops with only Opie getting free.
As the guys layed on the grass in cuffs, waiting to be hauled away to jail, Tig spoke in a strong whisper. "Hey, Juice…how pissed you think Vix is gonna be when she finds out her bro-in-law got her man locked up?"
"I told all of you the cops were coming, said if we do this we ALL GO TO JAIL." Jax interjected with a hiss. "You wanna play the blame game, fine…but you cut the deck right."
The cops hauled all of them to their feet and loaded them into the police van.
Bobby sighed. "Too bad we rushed 'Bama home?"
"Why? So there'd be more of us in here to bail out?" Clay smirked.
"Hogan might make for amusing company in jail." Bobby retorted.
Tig snorted. "Yeah, Hogan could give us a lecture us on the evils of raiding a church." Hap smiled slightly. Tig sighed and shook his head. "Well, Hap...prepare to suck the cock of Karma." Hap shook his head. "This boy don't suck cock."