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Chapter 455 D.E.A.D. That Spells Dead
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Happy was surprised that Clay had tasked him with driving a car. The last time he'd driven a car for SAMCRO more than six months ago he'd crashed it into a street light. It's hard to drive and shoot a gun at the same time. Something was bound to go wrong. That's why they used stolen cars. He had explained this all to Clay, but Clay was still pissed and he hadn't driven a car for a SAMCRO operation since.
This was his chance to redeem himself. He carefully maneuvered the big Buick down Charming Main. It was a street with aspirations to be a cool quaint street with old shops with fresh coats of paint and clean windows and new shops with a hipster vibe. Happy passed one of the "Charming Main" signs on either end of the six block street. The signs welcomed people to "Charming Main Historical District" in a unique shade of blue. SAMCRO had donated the money for the signs and the blue color was the same shade as the blue in SAMCRO's reaper known as SAMCRO blue. It was a way of subtly reminding people that SAMCRO paid for the signs.
There had been a small war over the almost five foot wide medians that ran the length of the street. Some wanted low maintenance, drought tolerant shrubs, but the Charming Garden Club led by Gemma as its president wanted medians filled with bright colorful annuals. They won with the provision that they would replant the medians every season. If they failed to keep up the medians, the landscaping would be replaced with a variety of low growing shrubs. Gemma took it as a personal victory.
Jax and Juice didn't have on seatbelts because they were going to hop out of the car soon. Happy didn't wear a seatbelt because he liked to break laws and no member of Charming law enforcement would dare pull a Son over on a seatbelt violation even David Hale knew better.
Just as Jax was about to get out, he spotted Esai in his car trying to start it.
"He's in his car on the other side of the street," Jax said pointing.
The plan was Jax and Juice would get out on the opposite of side of the street as Esai's car. The van was supposed to pull up a minute or two later on the same side of the street as Esai's car. They would force Esai into the van discreetly making it look like it was friendly or at least not openly at gun point. Happy saw that the van had gotten stuck two blocks back at a stop sign behind three cars.
Happy had the opposite of ADD (attention deficit disorder). When he was on a task, he got tunnel vision. He was focused on killing Esai. He was even doing a cheer in his head. Give me a D. Give me an E. Give me an A. Give me a D. What does that spell? DEAD. And whose going to be dead? Esai. Esai. Esai. It repeated over and over in his head.
The van would never get into place in time. Happy knew it was up to him to get to the other side of the street before that slippery bastard got away again. Happy jerked the wheel hard to the left cutting off a silver compact car. He drove up over the curb into the median and up the median flattening a rainbow of poppies, pansies, marigolds, verbena and other flowers as he went. He finally swung the car off the median bouncing it back onto the street into the lane next to Esai's only a couple of car lengths behind him.
Esai punched the car's accelerator, ran the red light hitting an old man on crutches, knocking him to the ground while Clay and Tig watched from the sidewalk near Floyd's Barber Shop.
Happy was still doing the cheer inside his head. They were going to catch up with Esai. Give me a D. Give me an E . . .
"Stop!" Jax yelled.
Happy obeyed because he was an order taker and Jax was the club's VP. He jammed his foot on the brake so hard Juice, who was leaning forward in the gap between the front bucket seats, would have sailed through the windshield or smashed his head on the dashboard if Jax's reflexes hadn't kicked in so quickly blocking Juice with his arm, holding him back. They stopped half a car length from the fallen man.
"Thanks, bro," Juice said to Jax.
"Damn it, Happy," Jax said furiously. "That's the last time you're driving. You were going to hit the guy."
"I could have cleared him with an inch to spare," Happy insisted.
"You would have driven right over the guy," Juice said.
"I might have hit him a little, but it wouldn't have hurt him anymore than he already got hurt," Happy argued.
"Even SAMCRO can't get by with running over an old man in a cross walk on Charming Main with all these people around," Jax said.
"Did you hear that old guy yelling something before he got hit?" Juice asked.
"I didn't hear anything," Happy said. He had been too focused on his cheer.
"I heard something," Jax said. "Something like "hey". He was probably yelling at the car to stop."
"I think it was more than that," Juice said.
"I feel like Wile E. Coyote and Esai is the fucking Road Runner," Happy said. "Damn it," he said slamming his hands on the steering wheel.
"This is getting embarrassing," Juice said.
"No shit," Jax said, shaking his head, "No shit."