Chapter 3:
Previously: Jax stands there for a few minutes and doesn't say anything and I wonder what he's thinking. Finally, he said "Let's find her."
With no hesitation I say, "I'm in". Then, pathetically I might add, I turn to him and say "How?"
Jax POV:
Well, shit. He had me there. All we could see is some random bar. How the hell are we supposed to find her? Half Sack… the kid may be dopey, but he knows his shit when it comes to techy stuff.
I look at Tig and say "Half Sack".
Tig takes no time and says "Half Sack, get your ass in here NOW."
He comes running and looking worried. We can be bullies and jackasses when we need and want to be. We're dicks most of the time.
Tig says "What can you do to help us find here?"
The Prospect just looks at us with a confused face.
I can tell Tig is worked up. I don't blame him. He found out he has an 8-year old kid he never knew about. Fucked up shit. Before Tig got us too far off course, I said to the Prospect, "you're good with tech shit, right?"
He seems to sort of get what we're asking and says "Yeah, what do you need?"
Tig doesn't even hesitate. "We want to find Jess, or Karen or whatever. What the hell can you do to help?"
"Uh… well, since we know her name, or her other name, we can start with a Google search." It finally looks like he's starting to think in the right direction.
I say "How do you do that?" I'm a biker and an outlaw, not a fucking nerd.
Half-Sack gives a little smirk an pulls out his iPad and goes to a screen and says, "So, her name is Karen Harper now?"
Tig says "Yup. You think we can find out why the fuck we she changed it?"
I'd like to know that too.
"Uh… I can try but that might be a little harder. Do you know where she might live now, like even a State?"
"No dumbass. You think we can tell from a fucking bar?" Tig says annoyed. I gotta mediate this situation. Tig is wicked worked up and the guy can be like a fucking bomb when he goes off.
"Just try searching her name, man. You never know? You randomly saw that video…" When the hell did I get so optimistic? Jesse's return to our life probably.
Half-sack types in her name and presses search and we see a whole bunch of results. There's Facebook, LinkedIn whatever the fuck that means. Then I see there's photos. "Look at the photo's man…"
He starts scrolling through and on the third try or so, I see her. She's all dressed up in a fucking business suit and looks like some attorney. What the fuck? The Harley riding, classic rock singing, badass bitch is some corporate tight ass? Did she, like, switch personalities or some shit? This just gets weirder and weirder. I look at Tig and I see his wall come down and looks at her with such longing it's sad. He doesn't even say anything. Jesus, is this fucking real?
We see some link thing and I tell Half Sack to follow it. He chuckles at my language "Fuck off man, you jerk off to this shit, and we bang real ladies." God, Jesse would slap me upside the head if she heard me say that.
He clicks the link and it takes us to another page with a lot of information about her. Jackpot. Tig leans forward and starts mumbling the words to himself and I read silently. She's some high tech Computer Engineer Consultant. Jesus. It's not too surprising. She's the fucking smartest person I know. I read on and see she has a whole bunch of degrees and won all kinds of awards. Whoa. She really made something of herself. Then I hesitate. Is it worth finding her? Do we have the right to show up when it seems like she's got a good life? I can tell Tig is too far gone with his emotion to think clearly and then I think of my Mom. She'd do anything to see her again. Tig's still mumbling to herself when I see exactly what we're looking for.
"Here, here!", I say excitedly. "Karen lives with her son in Morristown, NJ and works in our New York office. Never heard of it, but it's Jersey and can't be too far from New York. Fuck, that's gonna suck. There's a whole bunch of MC's we're gonna have to let know cuz a shit storm would happen if even just Tig and I show up there. Another fucking complication.
Tig sees the part about where she lives and gets up from the barstool and starts getting his shit together. "Let's fucking go.. Now.. we ride all night we can get there in what, 3 days? We gotta go. Call Gemma." He's clearly past any point of reason. Great.
The Prospect just stands there not knowing what the fuck to do (as usual) and I say to Tig "Whoa, whoa, whoa we gotta chill for a minute.."
He cuts me off. "Fuck no! 8 years, man. 8 fucking years. Not to mention my god damn kid. No, we're going. Or, I'm going alone."
I had tried to stand in front of him to block him from running out the door and I had to grab him. "Dude, you know how many fucking MC's are out there? You know what could happen if we even find her house, show up on her doorstep and then God for fucking bid a whole bunch of riders follow us?" I know you want to see her man, she's my fucking twin sister. Believe me, I'm doing everything I can not to just bust out too. But, we gotta think smart. Think about her. Her safety.. Your son…" Jesus, Abel's 2 months old and I'm talking like some responsible parent. Scares the shit outta me, but, I know I'm right.
Tig looks at me and I haven't seen him look like that since Jess left. He's even got tears in his eyes. Man, when we end up finding her, it's gonna be intense as shit. One step at a time, Jax. Tig says in a quite voice "Please man, she's all I got.. and now my kid."
I think for a minute and fucking realize we gotta talk to Clay. Shit. That's just asking for another shit storm. Then I pause. Happy. He's fuckin' been everywhere and knows everyone…
"Happy." That's all I say and Tig lights up again. Man, he's hooked. It's crazy. 8 fuckin' years and it's god damn puppy dog love…
I pull out my phone and dial Happy. He picks up after the second ring. "Happy, it's Jax."
"What's goin' on? How's Clay?" I can tell it's a smartass comment.
"Great", I say sarcastically. "Listen, I need a big favor…. You got any connections with MC's in Jersey or New York?"
"What, you going on vacation? Clay sendin' you on some wild ass fuckin' goose chase?" He sounds completely baffled and I don't blame him. Shit's as weird as it gets.
I pony up and just tell him the truth, hoping he won't say anything. "We found Jess. She lives out there and we gotta see her."
There's a long pause and he finally says "Well, shit. That's some god damn crazy ass fucking shit. I'm not even gonna ask how the hell you found her cuz I don't wanna know what the fuck Tig did, and I'm guessin' he's the "we"?
I smirk at his comment. No lie. "Gemma, too man. She's our Mom. We haven't even told her yet."
"Alright, you gonna ride or what?"
Fuck. I suck at details. I think about it and that'd only draw more attention to ourselves.
"Shit, we gotta take the truck."
He says something that surprises me, "You can't wear your cuts or anything related to us. You gtta leave that shit in Charming or hide it when you're around people. I can still make a couple calls but you might just have to blend in as much as you can, man. Take Tig on a fuckin' shopping trip and get him all metro-sexed up….."
God, he can be an ass when he wants to be.
"You might wanna bring Opie, too. I know they were close and he's also another person to have around in case you get into it. Tig grimaces. Jealous wacko. I think about it for a second and it makes a lot of sense. He just lost Donna (Author's NOTE: Tig and Clay had nothing to do with her death, hence the "A/U". Clay's still an ass, but not that much of one.) Back to story: Opie might wanna get the fuck outta dodge. His mom is good with his kids and he needs a fuckin' break. Then I think about how Jesse might react to the four of us showin' up outta nowhere. No matter how put together she looks now, tiger's don't change their stripes. And her bite is worse than her roar. Fuck it. Safety in numbers, right? I realize there's bee like 5 minutes where I didn't say anything and since Happy hasn't said shit, I wonder if he passed out….
"We'll bring him". Surprsingly, Happy says "Alright, let me make a call. You gotta tell Clay something and good luck with Gemma." Then he just hangs up. God he's an ass. If he didn't know as many MC's as he did, I'd tell him to fuck himself but he's a useful guy to have around.
Tig's just been staring at his bottle, not saying shit and I say "Happy's gonna hook us up. We gotta wear civs and take the truck but if you want her, we can get her."
The guy fuckin lights up like the god damn Fourth of July. Makes me fucking sick. This crazy ass volatile potentially psychotic bastard is fucking happy as a god damn clam. It's like I'm in an alternate universe.
"Alright, then let's get Opie, Gemma and get the fuck on the road."
I look at him for a second and say "Man, we gotta fucking tell Gemma and Opie what's up. That's gonna be kinda nuts man. We'll get outta here tonight, man. I promise. But, I gotta fuckin' tell my Mom why we're hauling her ass across the country. Plus, I think she'll wanna know she's got another Grandkid and this one can talk and walk and shit. Probably…" Bustin' on my sister already. Great.
He sighs and runs his hand over his face. "Fine, fine, who first?"
"Let's get my mom first. She'll take a little longer. Opie'll just say yes or no and not ask questions.. I think.
The truth is, when Jess left all of us fell apart both on the inside and amongst ourselves. Shit got bad with everyone. She's just that kinda magnetic person that holds the shit together. Gemma tries and she's a hardass and keeps us in line, for sure, but Jess.. man, as lame as it sounds, she's one in a fuckin' million.
"Let's go find my mom. One thing at a time, man. We'll get there."
Tig just grunts but I'll take what I can get. Fuck. Mom. Jess. Kid. This is gonna suck.