Disclaimer: I own nothing. Which is getting quite depressing to have to repeat every chapter…. Blah, blah, blah…. Kurt Sutter gets credit for the characters etc etc etc. EXCEPT for the ones I create, so suck that Sutter.
Trouble In Paradise
Tara P.O.V
With Jax and Abel off on the latest run, it is just Tommy, Ryanna, and I keeping it straight on the home front. Even though I love my kids with every fiber of my being, I feel lonely without Jax here by my side. A queen needs her king, you know. Especially last night, I was lying in bed when I was jolted awake by this sharp pain in my chest. I immediately went into doctor mode, assessing where the pain was (my heart) and whether or not certain parts of my body were going numb and entering paralysis (they weren't). I deduced it was a freak occurrence and attempted to go back to the bliss of sleep, but that pain resonated throughout the night and I had a hard time sleeping.
Waking up this morning I felt the residual pain, almost a slow burning at this point, and popped a couple pain killers before the kids woke up. I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down with my phone. Flipping the screen open, I noticed a good morning text from Abel, one which very delicately stated, "im alive. No worries." Strange though, Jax hadn't texted or called me yet and he always does to let me know he is okay and that he loves me. The burning became a bit stronger and I absentmindedly rubbed my hand across my heart as I anxiously checked my phone every minute. The shrill ringing shocked me out of my stupor and I hurried to answer the call. "Hello? Jax?" I breathed out, waiting for the reply. "Not Jax, a fact you'll be glad for soon enough." Okay, what the hell is going on here I thought before answering, "Who the hell is this?" The unknown voice called back, "What? You don't remember your favorite croweater? It's Cherry".
I pondered out loud a bit, "Cherry? Wow, it has been a very long time. How are you?" She hesitated before whispering back, "It's been about twenty years." I instantly recognized that it has been about twenty years since Kip was murdered…right in front of me. "I miss him too," I whispered back but before I could continue in my memories, Cherry interrupted in a much stronger, harsher tone. "I didn't call to talk about him, I have some information that I think you'll find extremely pertinent, information about your husband." Cutting out all the niceties, and morphing into Queen mode, I growled into the receiver, " You have three seconds to spit out whatever the fuck you think you know, before I shove my hand through this phone and slit your god damned throat." "JAX FUCKED A CROWEATER LAST NIGHT!" she screamed into the phone. My heart slowed to an insane rhythm and I calmly whispered, "Excuse me? What the fuck did you just say to me?" "I know this may seem hard to believe seeing as I just called out of the blue—"tick tock Cherry"— "um so a couple of girls back at the Nevada clubhouse and I keep in touch and well I was told that he went into the back with this redheaded bitch named Nina, and was not seen until the morning. Reports say they were very vocal throughout the… experience, if you will, and pictures were taken." "Send them to this number. NOW!"
Within seconds my phone was buzzing with an incoming text, or rather at this point, THE pivotal text. With shaking hands I paused the call and clicked onto my inbox. Taking a shallow breath I accepted the message and was faced with several images. Most of which were of Jax fucking the bitch, except the last two. One showed Jax leering at the thing and delivering the lady killer Teller smirk. The other was of the two passed out on some dingy backroom bed, fully naked and obviously in the after throes of their fuck. My heart stopped. My breath stopped. My mind stopped. Silence stretched across the empty room like an overwhelming shadow, and then it happened. My soul shattered.
It was all I could do to hang up the phone. I sat, paralyzed, in the house that Jax and I shared. The house where we raised our children, the house that was filled with all kinds of love, the physical manifestation of our success as a family. We were sturdy, strong, protective, and made to last. We WERE all those things, now we ARE nothing. That man broke the solemn vow he made to me in front of God and our family, the one pledging his everlasting fidelity, the deal breaker as I christened it so many years ago. I don't know how long I sat in that god forsaken chair, but I know it didn't take long to lace up my running shoes. Having let the news resonate, I was pissed off. How dare that son of a bitch do this to me! Never once, whether in high school or adulthood, have I cheated on that man. Not once, I can't even find it in myself to look at another man, and yet he can easily manage to shove his dick into someone who was most certainly NOT his wife. Thank god I never sold my father's house and have paid for the upkeep over the years; the old thing is going to be having some new tenants. Having resolved myself to my plans, I stood up quickly and shoved away from the chair. Marching with purpose I stride into Tommy's room and then to Ryanna's screaming them out of their naïve oblivion and into this new reality with my mantra for the day: "Get up and pack your shit!"