A/N: I do not own anything about Sons of Anarchy. It belongs completely to Kurt Sutter, and I am just so glad to be allowed to play in the wonderful world he created.
Chapter Five
Charlie stopped by Opie's house and visited with him and the kids for a while. Her mother was still staying with them for a few days, but Charlie wasn't sure whether Mary was helping or not. It broke her heart to see those kids so sad and unresponsive at an age when kids shouldn't have a care in the world. Opie wasn't ecstatic about her working at the Bastards' bar with the neo-Nazi's in town, but she convinced him that she would be fine.
Charlie pulled into Chibs' driveway that evening, noticing that two bikes were in the carport instead of just one. She grabbed her purse and exited the truck, walking to the front door and opening it. As she stepped inside, she was greeted with laughter and the smell of cigarette smoke. Chibs and Juice sat at the dining room table, drinking beer and eating lasagna.
"Well, well, look at you." Charlie said, dropping her purse on the couch and walking over to them. "Did you put that Stouffer's in the oven all by yourself?"
Chibs swatted at Juice as they both laughed, and he smiled up at Charlie. "Aye, lass, I did. But for that comment, ye can have cereal for dinner instead."
Charlie stuck her tongue out at him and walked to the fridge, getting herself a beer and popping the top. "You wouldn't make the girl who landed not one, but two, jobs today eat cereal for dinner, would you?" She took a sip as they both looked over at her curiously.
"Two? I thought you were just interviewing for the teaching job today." Juice said.
Charlie walked over and took a seat beside Chibs. "Yeah, and I got that. But it doesn't start until August, so I need to make some money in the mean time. Clay said that the Bastards were looking for a new bartender at one of their places in Lodi, and I went and talked to T.O. today. I start tomorrow night."
"Congrats!" Juice yelped, smiling at her and patting her on the back. Chibs didn't look as happy for her though.
"I don' know if that's a good idea. We don' know what these League guys are up to, and working with the Bastards might not be a good plan." Chibs said with a look of concern.
Charlie sighed and started pulling off her cowboy boots. "You and Opie have the same opinion, but I think it'll be fine. They're not going to come after me; I'm not a member. Plus, I need to start paying rent to my roomie." Charlie looked up at him. "That is, if you'll have me as a roommate."
Chibs' face went from concerned to surprised. "What? Ye want to rent a room from me?"
Charlie laughed and took a sip of her beer. "Well yeah, but if you don't want me to I can start looking for someplace else. I just figured that it'd be safer to be with a club member, you know, watch each others backs. And you wouldn't make me pay a deposit and shit."
"Oh, but I thought the League wouldn't come after ye because ye aren't a member." He said snidely, grinning when she punched him in the arm. "Aye, it's fine with me. I guess we'd better start moving your shit into the house though. If it rains, all of it'll be ruined in the back of your truck."
"We can do that tomorrow." Charlie said as she picked up Chibs' fork and stabbed a piece of lasagna on his plate. She ate it and smiled at him. "It's good." She said with her mouth full.
Chibs shook his head and moved the plate away from her. "Ye know that there's more on the stove. Quit eating mine."
Juice ended up sleeping on the couch that night so that he could help Charlie and Chibs move her things into the house. Most of it fit in her room easily enough, and the one piece of furniture, a bookcase, fit in the living room. Charlie enjoyed hanging out with the two men and enjoying the easy camaraderie between them. She hadn't grown up knowing these two, but after spending a few hours with them, she felt like she had known them all her life. There was a special bond that formed between sponsors and prospects, and the bond was clear between Chibs and Juice after spending only a little bit of time with them. The boys headed off to TM after helping her unload everything, and Charlie spent the rest of the day putting her clothes into the dressers that were in the bedroom and organizing her books on the bookcase in the living room. She left the house a little after five that evening, and as she pulled into the parking lot of Muller's, she noticed that the parking lot was fairly full. Charlie slid down out of the truck, locked the doors, and clipped her keys to one of her belt loops. She felt around to her back and made sure her Makarov was covered by her black t-shirt, then headed inside.
Dantarieus was behind the bar pouring a patron a drink when he looked up and saw her. She gave him a little smile and he motioned her over.
"T says that you have experience as a bartender, so I'm not going to waste my time explaining a lot of shit. The stockroom is behind the door to the left," he said, pointing to a door beside the bar. "Should you need anything, you can get it from there. Shotgun is under the counter, and don't be afraid to use it. It can get rowdy in here and if they break anything, you either have to get the money out of them before they leave or you pay for it. A member from the Bastards will come in around closing time to make sure that everything is locked up and the money gets in the safe. If there's a problem that you just can't solve, T's phone number is on the wall by the phone."
It was clear that Dantarieus wasn't going to give her much more information, because as he finished the last sentence, he picked up his keys and headed for the door. Charlie sighed and cracked her knuckles. It was going to be a long night.
Charlie's first night as a bartender at Muller's wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. The regulars took a while to open up to her and trust her, but after a few hours, they were treating her like she'd been working there for years. T.O. was right – they were happy that the body pouring their alcohol had breasts, and they didn't really care what color her skin was. Charlie was almost finished sweeping when she heard a motorcycle pull up outside. There was only one customer left at the bar, an older black man, and he was almost finished with his drink. A tall black man wearing a Grim Bastards kutte walked in through the front door, nodding at her as they made contact. He took a seat at one of the tables.
"Anything else I can get you, sweetheart?" Charlie asked as she came back around the bar and looked at the customer.
The man shook his head and said, "No, I think I'm done." He laid a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. "That should settle the tab; you keep the rest."
Charlie smiled at him. "Thank you. You have a good night and come back to see us."
The man stood up and left, and the Bastard walked over towards her. "I'm Menace." He said, and Charlie put out her hand to shake his.
"Charlie." She replied, opening the cash register and putting the twenty in, then taking three ones out and pocketing them for the tip. She turned back around and saw Menace looking at her. "It was a three dollar tip – I have no desire to visit suddenly ill family."
Menace chuckled and shook his head. "Nah, I wasn't concerned about that. Old Parker's just a shitty tipper."
Charlie shrugged her shoulders and patted her right front pocket. "I think that the rest of the customers made up for his stinginess." She opened the register again and starting pulling out the bills. "Do you take this to the safe or do I?"
"I do." He said. "Leave a hundred in there for Dantarieus so he can make change in the morning."
Charlie had already done that. She turned around and handed him the wad of bills. "This ain't my first rodeo, mister." She said, adding in a fake southern drawl. She looked at him seriously for a minute, and then laughed.
He let out a small laugh and took the money from her, then disappeared into the back room. Charlie finished cleaning the counter and looked around the room to see if she had missed anything. It all looked fairly good when Menace came out of the back room and locked the door behind him.
"You ready?" He asked as he walked past her to the door.
"Yep." Charlie said, grabbing her cigarettes and keys from under the counter where she had put them at the beginning of her shift. She started turning off lights as she made her way to the door, and Menace opened it and let her out first. She stood beside him as he locked the door and they both turned to see a man leaning against Charlie's truck.
"Friend of yours?" Menace asked quietly as he reached his hand into the front of his kutte.
"Can't tell." Charlie replied as she moved her keys and cigarettes into her left hand and pulled her right hand around to rest on her Makarov. Charlie took a few steps forward to try and see who it was, and she recognized the man as AJ Weston. "Not a friend. Don't shoot yet, though. I don't want to have to bury a body on my first night at work." Charlie said quietly.
"Can I help you, Mr. Weston?" Charlie asked loudly, looking pointedly at him.
Weston took a few steps towards Charlie and Menace and she heard Menace step up closer behind her. "I had hoped to have a moment alone with you, Charlie Winston." Weston said, staring at her and then glancing at Menace. "But I see you have a coon bodyguard, so I guess that conversation will have to wait."
Menace growled low in his chest, but Charlie put out her left hand to keep him where he was. "Well you're welcome to speak with me right here, Mr. Weston. However, my good friend will have to stay with us. You see, I don't particularly trust Nazi lovers, with their propensity to systematically massacre of millions of innocent people."
Charlie watched as Weston clenched his jaw and his right hand twitched towards his gun, which was visibly stuck in the front waistband of his jeans. "And I don't trust nigger lovers." He said coldly, spitting on the ground as he walked towards the road. He stopped and turned around as a white Ford pickup truck pulled up and stopped beside him. "I'll see you soon." Weston said, and then he climbed into the truck and it sped off.
Charlie let out the breath that she didn't know that she had been holding. Menace stepped around to look down at her, and he said, "I'll be following you home, Charlie. Just to make sure that you're safe."
Charlie let out a bark of laughter and pulled a cigarette out of the box and placed it between her lips. "That's a good idea, Menace. I appreciate that." She said around the cigarette. Charlie didn't notice her hands were shaking as she lifted her lighter up to the cigarette and lit it.
Chibs had been sitting in the living room when Charlie got home, and he immediately began to question her about having an escort home. Charlie told him about Weston's appearance at the bar, and that she had noticed him following her when she left the school the day before. The Scotsman blew up in a rage, yelling at her about safety and telling the club about these things. He immediately called Clay and told him what happened, and Clay ordered that a member of the Sons follow Charlie at all times, unless she was at the bar, when he knew that the Bastards would be around. At least, Clay was going to tell T.O. to make sure that a Bastard would be there. Throughout the rest of the weekend, Charlie had been escorted everywhere by a member of either MC. Her brother and Jax were extremely angry with her because she didn't tell anyone about her being followed, but they were equally worried.
On Monday afternoon, Charlie pulled up at the Charming Police Department for her drug test and fingerprinting, and Happy pulled in behind her on his motorcycle. Charlie got out of the truck and headed toward the door when she realized that Happy was following her.
Charlie sighed and spun around to glare at him. "Weston is not going to attack me in the police station, Happy. I think I'll be fine, you know, surrounded by all the police officers and their guns." She growled at him. Three days of MC protection details had her on edge and angry.
Happy stared at her and then shrugged. "You carrying?" He asked roughly.
Charlie sighed again and resisted the urge to stomp her foot. "It's a fucking police station. Of course I'm not carrying!"
Happy blinked at her and shrugged again. "Fine." He said. He walked back to his bike and sat down on the seat, staring at her.
Charlie shook her head angrily and stomped up the steps to the door, jerking it open roughly and heading inside. She smiled as she saw Eglee sitting at a desk. The young woman had went to high school with her brother and Jax.
"Hey, Eglee. I'm here for my drug test and fingerprinting for the job at the high school." Charlie said with a smile.
"Yeah, they mentioned that you'd be coming by. We have everything all set up for you." Eglee said as she stood up and motioned for Charlie to follow her.
They went through the fingerprinting process and then Charlie peed in the cup for the drug test. At least it's easier for the guys to do this, Charlie thought as she washed her hands afterward. They have to test so much it must be like riding a bike. After she had finished with all the necessary tests, Charlie took a deep breath and started towards the front door of the station. Back to her truck and her bodyguard.
Charlie met David as she was heading out of the station.
"Hey, you. I completely forgot to get your number when I saw you the other day. We need to get dinner and catch up." Charlie said, smiling at him.
"Yeah, of course." David said hesitantly. He looked over his shoulder and then pulled Charlie against the brick wall outside of the station's front door. "Look, Charlie, I need to talk to you."
David's face was contorted with concern and a knot started to settle in Charlie's stomach. "Okay." She said. "What is it?"
David put his hands on her shoulders and backed her against the wall gently. "You need to get away from the club." He said urgently, his eyes searching her face. "You're going to get hurt, just like Donna. I can't protect you if you won't get away from them, and now you're working at a bar owned by another club?"
Charlie put her hand on David's chest and pushed gently, but he didn't back up. "I can take care of myself, David. Don't worry about me."
David scoffed loudly and moved his hands to cup her face. "Charlotte Winston, I… I care about you, and I have since you were in high school. For fuck's sake, I took you to your prom! Hell, I took your virginity. The last thing I want is for you to end up dead because you have some illusion of grandeur because you're a daughter of a member of the MC."
Charlie glared at him and jerked her face out of his grasp. "I don't have an illusion of grandeur, David Hale. And I have enough protection. I don't need someone else making sure that I am safe." Charlie tried to work her way from between David and the wall, but he pushed against her harder.
"Charlie." He whispered, looking into her eyes. "Please. Please don't make me witness your death too. I… I couldn't handle it." David brought his lips against hers softly, kissing her for only a few seconds before pulling away. He stepped back and Charlie bolted down the front steps. She stopped suddenly when she saw Happy facing her. She couldn't tell where he was looking because of his dark sunglasses, but there was a grim look on his face.
"The Deputy Chief? Really?" He asked shortly.
Charlie growled and gave him the finger. "Kiss my ass, Happy. You're here to make Clay feel better, not question my judgement." Charlie stalked back to her truck, jerked the door open, and slammed it behind her. Once she was inside, she let out a shuddering breath. She started the truck and lit herself a cigarette. She backed out of the parking space, left the station parking lot, and set a course for TM. Her shadow followed close behind her.