Talia was taking a lazy Sunday catnap with Hayleigh. With her hair still boyishly short, she was trying to stay in her masculine mindset almost 24/7. That meant her panties were replaced with boxers and instead of bras, she wore compression undershirts. She was on her stomach, her face to her bedroom door and her hand under her pillow around the grip of her pistol. Hayleigh was on her back, partially tucked under Talia's other shoulder and had her arms wound around her girlfriend's waist. There was an empty pizza box and a half-finished bottle of Mountain Dew on the floor near the TV from lunch and near the closet were a few shopping bags. Talia treated Hayleigh to a little shopping spree earlier, but Hayleigh just didn't have it in her to splurge, so Talia ended up buying things for her girl.
With Talia being raised in and living an active outlaw lifestyle, Happy trained her to never fully go to sleep unless she was somewhere safe. She'd drift off into a deep enough slumber to let her body recharge, but still be awake enough to jump into action. So, when she heard someone pounding on her front door, she was out of bed and on her feet before she really woke up, gun in hand with her aim at her bedroom door. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Hayleigh waking up herself, but another round of pounding made the girl flinch in surprise.
Talia told Hayleigh to stay behind her and they quietly traveled through the house to the front door. Talia looked through the peephole and let out an irritated sigh when she saw who was on the other side. She quickly yanked the door open and Ethan almost fell into the house.
"You wanna get shot, don't you?" She sarcastically questioned, but noticed the serious look on Ethan's face. "What's wrong with you?"
"Look at-" He turned to his side, but nothing was there. "Dylan, get over here!"
When Dylan didn't show himself, Ethan walked a few paces over and dragged Dylan onto the doorstep. The younger brother was wearing his blue and white track uniform, so he must have just come from practice, but it was stained with blood and Dylan's nose was still bleeding as he used his shirt to try and stop it.
"You're overreacting." Dylan sighed.
"I'm over- look at your face, Dylan!"
"Jesus." Hayleigh gasped. "Dylan, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Hayleigh. Really, I am. Ethan's blowing this whole thing way out of proportion."
"Did your old man do that?" Talia interrogated, serious as stone.
"No, Dylan got one better. Some fuckheads at school have been bullying him since the beginning of the year." Ethan answered and he was still boiling, so he began a short pace in front of them. "He had track meet today and this is what they did to him. They could've killed him."
"Talia, I'm fine." Dylan repeated, trying to convince someone other than himself.
"No, you're not. You're literally bleeding on my doorstep, Dibs." Talia brought the brothers inside and made Dylan sit at the dining room table. "Halo, clean him up, please. There's a first-aid kit under the sink."
While Hayleigh took Dylan into the kitchen to clean his wounds, Talia went back into her bedroom and Ethan was following behind her. As she rummaged around her room for something to wear, Ethan was filling in the blanks of why Dylan looked the way he did, but she noticed that he wasn't telling her who jumped his little brother.
"I need names, Ethan." Talia said as she pulled a black and white flannel over a black tank, not bothering to button it. "I'm gonna kick somebody's teeth out for picking on Dibs, but I can't do that if you don't tell me who did this."
"I only know one, Peter Riggs. That still leaves three other people, Talia. I don't know their names."
"They go to our school?" Ethan nodded at her question. "I got this."
She usually didn't use her pocket laptop for anything other than her hits, but she decided to make an exception this time. She was grateful that Juice hooked her up with all the programs and databases he uses for club business because it was going to be very easy for her to look at her school's cameras. She knew Peter Riggs and she remembered the faces that were usually around him, but she didn't know who his friends were either. She first pulled up the school's yearbook and took a snippet of Peter's picture before she started searching the videos for a match, watching the green square search the feed for a face.
Talia was expecting it, so she pulled her Burner off the charger and had her hand hovering over it as she watched the screen. Ethan came to see what she was watching, but he didn't say anything about what was on the screen. As expected, the disposable phone started buzzing and Talia let it ring three times before answering.
"You remind me of someone." Was the first thing Juice said when she picked up instead of greeting her.
"I remind you of the babe."
"What babe?"
"Babe with the power."
"What power?"
"The power of voodoo."
"Who do?"
"You do."
"Do what?"
"Remind me of the babe."
Juice and Talia laughed at each other after the silly exchange, but that was their way of making sure everything was aces. Juice had come up with the idea when he learned that Talia was getting her hits from her laptop. He didn't want another hacker to get their hands on her laptop and if someone stole it, he'd be able to track it down or simply erase everything on the device remotely.
"You got another job?" He asked.
"No, this is personal. Someone dog-piled on Dylan. Me and Ethan are about to kick some major ass."
"Is Dylan okay?"
"Halo!" She called and her girlfriend appeared in the doorframe. "Is Dibs still conscious?"
"I cleaned up all the cuts on his face, but his nose won't stop bleeding and he's holding his side like something's wrong with it."
"Juice, tell Chibs to come to my house."
"He's on his way." Juice affirmed and she heard some of the Sons in the background. "Who did this?"
"We got one name, but three John Does." The compact laptop beeped to let her know the facial search was finished and a match was found. "I'll call you back."
Talia played the short video that showed Peter with, just to her luck, three other boys at their row of lockers. Just like she did initially, Talia took snips of the other boys' faces, cross-referenced them with the school's yearbook photos and easily found the remaining culprits.
"Kristopher Banes, Tristan Mattes and Joseph Salle." Talia informed Ethan, but he didn't respond. He still looked just as peeved as when he showed up, but it seemed like he was thinking now.
"I know where Tristan plays ball. It's a couple blocks from here."
"Lovebug," Hayleigh called from the door. "Chibs is here."
"Jesus, lad." Chibs sighed as he looked at the damage done to the boy's face. "Did ya' piss off a sledgehammer?"
"He got jumped." Talia informed him. "Looks like his nose is broken and something's wrong with his stomach."
"I can re-adjust the bone here, but I don't have x-ray vision, so you gotta go to St. Thomas for that gut."
"Thanks, but I think I'll be alright." Dylan slightly groaned.
"You just got the tar beaten outta ya' and you're holdin' your side. That could be a rupture, your gut could be fillin' with blood, lad. Gotta take care of that before it turns into somethin' real nasty."
"I'm-"
"Dylan, shut up and listen to him." Ethan pulled his chained wallet from his pants and pulled out a Health Insurance card, giving it to Chibs.
"I can handle things here, lovie."
"Halo, stay with Chibs, alright? I'll be back soon."
"Don't get arrested."
"I can't promise you that, but I'll try not to." Talia kissed Hayliegh goodbye, then went into Happy's room and found his baseball bat next to the leaning next to the TV, so she grabbed it before heading to the door with Ethan. "C'mon, let's go be psychos together."
"Ya' seem real calm 'bout this whole thing, Hayleigh." Chibs commented.
"I have a type, clearly." She knowingly shook her head. "I've been dating bad girls since I realized I was into girls. I guess I'm used to the chaos and law-breaking and jail-time that comes with them."
Chibs chuckled. "Tal's gonna get booked for this, I know it. I'll have to give her Da a call."
"Yeah, she is." Hayleigh sighed in agreement. "I can't be mad at her though. She's protecting a friend."
"...Tal really likes us?" Dylan quietly asked.
"Of course, she does. Why would you think she didn't?"
"When we first met, she made it pretty clear that we were strictly bandmates and not friends. Then, we started sitting with her at lunch and she had Word History with Ethan and we started hanging out after school and stuff. I thought she was just...I dunno, putting up with us all this time."
"Talia isn't used to having friends, Dylan. She's still learnin' to accept that she's gotta big family lookin' out for her now, that a lot of people care for and love her." Chibs explained. "She comes to the clubhouse and talks about you lot almost every day. We watch your shows and Bobby's happy to be managin' all of you."
"She loves you guys, Dylan." Hayleigh sweetly added. "If she didn't, she wouldn't be out there with your brother right now and Ethan wouldn't have came here for her help if he didn't know she had mad love for you."
Chibs gently pat the boy on the back. "Let's get you to St. Thomas, aye?"
~SOA~SOA~SOA~
Ethan and Talia got off easy after they attacked the boys that jumped Dylan. Things were fine at first and Dylan was healing well enough. He didn't tell his Dad, but Talia suspected that he wouldn't care if either of his sons showed up with a couple of bruises. After about a week, everything caught up with them. Kristopher, Tristan, Joseph and Peter's parents decided to press charges after seeing their kids beaten an inch away from death.
Today was their juvenile court hearing.
Talia and Ethan stood behind the podium and waited for the judge to enter. Talia would turn around to look at her family and smile because they usually made a face or mouthed something equally silly. All the Sons were attending the hearing, as were Gemma and Hayleigh. Dylan was on their side too, safely tucked under Chibs' arm like a hawk protecting its chick, and Talia was unsure if the brothers' Dad was in the audience, but she really didn't give a shit.
"All rise, the honorable Judge Lukas Ortega presiding." The bailiff commanded and the spectators got to their feet.
"Oh, fuck me fuchsia." Talia grumbled, trying to hide her face from the approaching Judge.
"What?"
"It's the Judge, I think I know him."
Judge Lukas entered the room and took his seat behind the bench. The bailiff ordered everyone standing to sit and Judge Ortega flipped through some of the papers on his desk.
"This court may now come to order. This is the case of Banes, Matte, Riggs and Salle vs. Casey and Lowman." He held one of the papers up to his face, then looked at who was standing behind the podium. "Lowman? Talia Lowman?"
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Talia whispered.
"Talia Rae Lowman, that better not be you."
"Oh hey, Judge Lukas." She smiled at the man. "Look at you, as handsome as ever. It's been forever since we last saw each other. How's that cute husband of yours? Y'all got any babies yet?"
"I moved out of Oregon to get away from you, Talia."
"Ouch, that's a bit harsh."
"What are you doing here?"
"I got tired of the cold of Oregon, so I came to Cali for the beaches and babes." She nodded back to Hayliegh. "Look, that one's mine. Isn't she gorgeous?"
"Why are you in my courtroom?"
"Oh, that. See, what had happened was, I had to hurt somebody's kids 'cause they thought it was cool to jump my homeboy. I'm a ride or die, Judge Lukas."
"And being a 'ride or die' means breaking Matte's leg, giving Rigs a black eye, breaking Banes' nose and fracturing three of Salle's ribs?"
"Nobody told Peter to fight back. If he'd have just taken it like the bitch he was, I wouldn't have had to hurt him so bad."
"And what about you, young man?" He turned to Ethan. "What injuries to these four boys are you responsible for?"
"The black eye and broken nose." Ethan confessed. "Those guys jumped my little brother, Judge Ortega. They've been bullying him for a while and he didn't tell me. He was just letting them use him as a punching bag and if this kept going on, he could've ended up in his grave."
"Ethan, this is not your first time being arrested, but you've never had charges pressed against you. I feel like you were just trying to protect your brother and I understand where you're coming from."
"He's a big brother too, Ethan." Talia whispered. "He's gotta baby sister. She's fucking hot. I wanna smash her so bad."
"I'm cutting you some slack today, Ethan." Judge Lukas continued. "Instead of sending you to Juvenile Hall, I'm sentencing you to four-hundred hours of Community Service and you are hereby forbidden by this court and the state of California from coming within five-hundred feet of Banes, Matte, Rigs and Salle. If you do, you'll be fined three-hundred and twenty-five dollars for each violation and you'll be spending a year behind bars."
"Thank you, Judge." The bailiff came to escort Ethan out of the courtrooom while Judge Lukas was drumming his fingers against the wood of his desk, contemplating on what to do with the teenage girl.
"And what am I to do with you, Talia?"
"Let me off easy like you did Ethan." She smiled.
"Not happening. I've seen your face way too many times. You're gonna learn a lesson today, young lady."
"I mean, if you wanna put me over your knee and spank me, that's fine, but I dunno how your husband's gonna feel about that."
"Talia, enough." Judge Ortega ordered with a short bang of his gavel. "It seems like you have Intermittent Explosive Disorder. That means, you fail to resist aggressive impulses and that's likely the genesis for all the Assaults you've been charged with."
"I don't have a problem resisting my 'aggressive impulses', Jude Ortega. I can assure you that. The problem is that people piss me off and I react in a very colorful way."
"Talia, I don't believe in admitting adolescents and children to psychiatric hospitals. They're still developing and there's so much chaos locked inside them that only maturity and time can pacify, but you blur that line for me. I won't order you to be admitted, but you will have mandatory sessions with your school's Guidance Counselor until you graduate high school."
Talia beamed at how light she was getting off. That was a slap on the wrist as opposed to the punishment she was thinking she'd get. "Aw, thanks, Judge Lukas! You're the last of the real ones. Give hubby a kiss for me."
"Not so fast. You're being charged with Aggravated Assault, but since you're a minor, I can't send you to jail for two years. Instead, I sentence you to be put on House Arrest for the next six months with the exception of going to and from school."
"Six months?!" Talia almost shrieked. "This is some bullshit, Lukas! I gotta girlfriend! How am I supposed to wine and dine her if you got me cooped up in the house for six fuckin' months?!"
"In addition, you're being fined the hospital bills for all four of the boys you attacked. Their parents have also issued a Restraining Order against you. Just like Ethan, you are not to be within five-hundred feet of any of them."
"Fuck them bills, I can pay them off outta pocket. And fuck that Restraining Order, them pussy-ass boys are ugly as fuck anyway." Talia rebutted and heard some of the spectators laughing at her remark. "We need to discuss this six months of House Arrest bullshit you cooked up! The hell am I supposed to do with that?!"
"Deal with it, Talia. Court is dismissed, bring in the next case."