Chapter 13: No turning back
A/N: I haven't decided when Jesse is introduced to do her POV, what do you think?
Jax POV:
Previously:
Tig stands up and can feel the tension. "Alright, so, one you fuckin' wanna tell me what the hell's goin' on…?"
"Yeah. Yeah." I say and sigh. This ain't gonna be easy.
"I called Happy. I needed answers, man. The fact that she knows so much and he told us she knows so much-" I couldn't even finish my sentence. Man, might end up with another knockout.
"What did he say? What does he know? What is that dick hiding…?" Tig says impatiently.
Jesus. He's already worked up. I look over at Opie hoping he can do his weird calming thing but he just stands there. I don't think Gemma is really paying attention, cuz she's too caught up in wondering what the fuck happened between her and Clay.
I sight, take a deep breath and say "He said that right before she took off, he heard a conversation with her and Clay" I can see Tig ball his fists. Shit. But, I gotta just get it out. "He said that Clay gave her some sort of ultimatum. Get out of Charming, don't look back or he'll make her life a living hell."
Tig doesn't waste a minute before he's walking back to the car. Shit. Opie rushes up to him and says "Relax, man, relax. Just hear Jax out. We don't know the details and we know Clay ain't gonna tell us. Going back there ain't gonna do shit. We gotta get it from Jesse."
Tig glares at him and walks over to the truck. He doesn't have the keys but I know he's determined enough to hotwire the fuckin' car. Instead he punches the passenger side window and it completely shatters. Shit. I ain't seen him this way since Jesse took off. Shit. His eyes look murderous.
"WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MANIPULATIVE PRICK THINK HE'S DOING TO CONTROL HER? She's his fuckin' step-daughter. WHAT THE FUCK DOES HE KNOW OR WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED THAT HE SAID THAT TO HER? WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T HAPPY SAY ANYTHING?" I honest to God am scared right now. He's completely off the rails and I got no idea how to get him back. I think if I tried to knock him out again he'd fuckin' kill me, no joke.
I see Gemma and Opie take a few steps back in fear, too. I know Tig wouldn't intentionally hurt us, but he's in fuckin' Hulk protective mode right now. I know his rage is towards Clay and mine is too. But Tig's off the charts.
He goes to grab something out of his pocket and for a god-damn second I wonder if he's gonna blow up the fuckin' car. Instead it's his cell phone, he goes to press a number but I take the chance and take it from him cuz I know he's about to go psycho on Clay and that'll only fuck shit up. Not surprisingly he comes after me and we skirmish for a minute until Opie breaks it up.
"Tig, TIG… knock it off. We're trying to fuckin' help you and we gotta see Jesse instead of Clay, man. She's the one who will tell us the fuckin' truth…. You gotta calm down…"
Gemma's almost catatonic at this point and if it wasn't for me worried that Tig is gonna go slaughter a bunch of people, I'd check on her. Opie tries to pull Tig off me and Tig finally lets up.
"Alright, ALRIGHT…." He looks at me and I know what's comin'.
"What else did Happy say cuz I know that ain't all of it?" He glares at me.
I don't know how to word it so I just go ahead and get it out. "He and Jesse have talked to each other a couple of times since she's been gone." I say it as calm as possible.
But, something weird happens. Instead of Tig getting more pissed off, he looks up with tears in his eyes and says "Why… why him and not me? WHY THE FUCK DOES HE GET TO BE PART OF HER LIFE AND NOT ME?" He screams. I think he's sayin' to the world and not just us. I didn't even consider he'd react this way. I figured he'd be pissed at Happy but I can tell he's mad at her and hurt. I agree with him but I gotta cool him off.
Tig takes a deep breath and looks at us. Opie's just watchin' him closely and finally Gemma seems to be back with it, but she's got tears streaming down her god damn face. I'm sure she feels the same. Jesse reached out to Happy over her family. Another puzzle to solve.
"Is he the one that told her we're comin' to see her?" He says desperately.
"No man, no and I know it ain't easy to believe him but he said that she was able to do some tech thing. I don't get it. I've never gotten anything she's capable of. But we know she's a fuckin' genius on like a crazy ass high scale and she's someone that's capable of putting her mind to anything. I honest to God believe him…" I try to say this as calm as possible and try to remind Tig just how smart Jesse is.
"She been watchin' us this whole fuckin' time?" I can tell he's pissed at her right now, and he really has every right to be.
"No no doesn't sound like it. I don't get it man, but somehow she did something so she was able to know who saw that video and I guess she knew we'd come to find her." I say.
Tig is getting a little calmer and it's allowing us all to take a breath. She's his rock as much as his trigger. Surprisingly, he smirks. "My girl is one in a fuckin' million." He says it quietly but we all heard it and nod our head.
Gemma finally speaks up. "Yes, she is. She's always been that way every since you both were toddlers. I could never outsmart the brat." She chuckles and the comment is appreciated. This has been a crazy fuckin' ride the past few days and we gotta just laugh at some point.
"So, you really think goin' to her instead of Clay is the right move even though she sounded scared that we're comin… I love her and I need to see her but I can't put her in danger or some shit…" Tig says. I can see the almost tortured look he has. I feel the same way but she's his whatever and they've got a kid. I really can't imagine how he's feelin'.
"No, honey. We gotta see her. We're gonna see her and we're gonna protect her. She's smart to protect herself but we're gonna do it anyways. She's my daughter, she's my blood and she's your girl. We ain't gonna let anything happen to her." Gemma says in a calm and soothing voice. It seems like she's a little better than she was and I know I gotta try to talk to her about her sort of breakdown earlier but now's not the time.
Tig looks at us and he's honest to God got tears down his face. "I love her Gem. I love her so fuckin' much and now that we found her, I can't fuckin' let her go. I just can't. If she tells me to walk away, I'll fight her on it and call her out on her whole whatever, but I'll listen. But she's my life. I gotta see her."
Gemma nods. "She's my daughter, Tig. I understand. We gotta deal with Clay but that's for another day." I see Tig's eyes flash dangerously and I glare at my Mom. But she continues and quickly veers back to Jesse. "We're gonna finish our trip, we're gonna figure out how to get to her and we're gonna figure out what to say to her and convince her to talk to us. We can't control if she wants to come back, but, we can get her to tell us what happened and why Clay said what he did."
Tig asks the question that's been on the back of my mind since this whole shit started. "How you doin' with that?"
I figure she's gonna blow off his answer, but she looks at him and says "I don't know."
We all stand there lost in our thoughts for a minute when Opie finally says "Alright, let's get back on the road. We don't got much more than a day left and if we just plow through, we can avoid other Clubs and get there." He looks to me and says "We find out an address for her yet?"
I try to remember if it was in that file that Happy gave us. I open the car door and the shards of the busted window are on the seat. God damn Tig.
"Sorry about that" he says sheepishly. I just shake my head. I really don't know what the fuck possessed my sister to date this nut bag. I search through my back and pull out the file. I try to flip through the pictures fast but I hear Tig clear his throat and I know it hurts to see those photos. I finally find the sheet that Happy gave us.
"Alright, looks like the last address as of a couple of months ago was 184 Spruce Tree Lane. What kind of fuckin' name is that for a street? Sounds like a fancy ass place." I say.
"Dude, she's a fuckin' genius that can do anything. She's like Bill Gates or some shit. Of course she's gonna live somewhere fancy." Opie says.
Tig and I just look at him. "Who the fuck is Bill Gates?" Tig says. I got no clue either.
"Man, I dunno how you two are related" he nods his head in my direction "and how the fuck you managed to get her" he looks at Tig.
We can always count on Opie for a laugh. "Alright, we're burnin' daylight." I say. I look at Tig seriously "You alright now brother?"
He looks at me and scoffs. "Fuck no, but I don't feel like blowing up the world at least. Thanks, brother. No one I'd rather be with right now helping me out with this crazy shit." He says.
We all climb into the car and pull back onto the road. Here we go…