Chapter Text
”She slides down inside your skin. In time she will make you scream. She's death in a cool black dress. She rides in the night of your mind.”
When Jax got to Teller-Morrow after school to start his shift, Clay pulled him aside. “I heard from Kyle’s dad that you beat him up over some pussy in your Chemistry class?” Gemma was standing next to Clay in the office with her arms crossed. The tap tap tapping of her stiletto was the only sound.
“Did Kyle’s dad also tell you that he pulled the new girl’s bra strap so hard it almost ripped her shirt off?” Clay looked genuinely surprised and Gemma looked pissed. “She’s the fourteen year old genius that was placed in the Junior-level Chemistry class until they get the advanced shit set up for next semester.”
Gemma looked at Clay, “I told you that little prick had to have done something really ignorant for Jax to get involved.” Clay rubbed his hand over his face. “Yeah, Hobart’s old man failed to mention that. He made it sound like a harmless prank. It better have been seriously ignorant for you to beat down a brother so bad he had to go to the ER.”
Jax looked at Gemma and Clay, “She was the one who nailed him with the ten pound textbook that broke his nose. I just followed up after Donna Costello kicked him in the nuts too. She had to hold her shirt on just to get out of the class. SAMCRO might be a lot of things, but we don’t assault girls for shits and grins.”
Clay agreed with Jax, “I’ll have a word with his old man and lay that out to him. If that kid wants to prospect, he better not be doing that kind of shit now. Sloppy shit now means even sloppier shit down the road and the club doesn’t need the kind of heat that brings.”
Jax was thinking that the dignity of the girl was more important than the club’s image but brushed it off when Gemma hugged and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m proud of you, baby. That little girl doesn’t need that kind of bullshit just because she’s smart. I’ll put a stiletto in any of the guys’ ass if they play those kinds of games.”
Clay interrupted, “Has anyone seen Bobby? We have some parts to inventory and we need his brain to wrap around some of these numbers.” Gemma looked up, “He’s off this afternoon, giving that kid guitar lessons. He said he’ll probably stop by later.”
Jax went to his service bay to start the oil changes lined up. Opie walked up and patted him on the back, “Hey bro, the whole school is talking about you giving Kyle that beat down. Donna actually called me and wants to hang out this weekend.” Opie smiled a dopey grin that Jax had to laugh at. “Looks like playing the knight in shining armor is the best chick magnet. Thanks, man.”
”Oh yeah, apparently she told Hale to shove it up his ass when he tried telling her to stay away from you.” Jax got pissed just at the mention of that self-righteous prick. He was always trying to act like his family was better than everyone else’s, but especially Jax’s family. “What kind of ties does the new girl have to that prick?” Jax threw his oil rag down and chugged a beer from their cooler.
Opie laughed, “Well, supposedly she dated him off and on but he talked some shit on her dad and us. She told him that we, ‘have more chivalry in our middle finger than his whole family.’”
Jax spit out some beer, “No shit? Good for her, she might just survive this semester without our help. Now, what are you going to do with Donna? You been chasing that tail for so long do you know what do now that you’ve caught her?”
Opie looked at him cross-eyed, “Man, have some respect. She’s not one of those club skanks, We’re going to hit up the movies or some shit. Her parents will probably shit when I show up so I’m taking the cage and putting on a clean shirt.” He smiled, “I’m definitely at least going to hold hands with her.”
Jax smirked, “Whipped already.”
The end of their shift was coming up when Opie and Jax were cleaning up their work areas. Jax had changed the oil on five cars so his area took a minute. Opie was cracking open a beer for both when they heard Tig let out a low whistle.
“Damn, Bobby. Who’s the jailbait?” As they walked out from the garage Bobby pulled up on his bike. Behind him was a chick with black jeans and when she stood up a decent body with a Danzig tank top. Jax and Opie smiled and walked out to see what Croweater Bobby snagged for the night.
Bobby turned and walked over to Tig, “Have some respect, this is Tara and she ain’t no Croweater.” Jax almost choked on his beer when she took off the helmet and it was the new girl from Chemistry.
Holy fucking shit.
Bobby looked at Jax and Opie too. “I’m looking for Clay, he called about inventorying some parts tonight. Tara’s dad is out of town this week so she’s staying with me.”
Clay walked out of the office, “We need to go over the parts inventory tonight for the run. Is that your guitar lesson? Jesus. She’s too young to be hanging out at the clubhouse. Jax. Opie. Hang out with the little girl so we can get this shit done for the run tomorrow.”
Bobby looked at Jax and Opie, “Keep an eye on baby girl here. Don’t either of you two turkeys think about getting fresh either.”
Tara laughed and rolled her eyes. “He’s overprotective but helps my dad out a lot. By the way, thanks for everything that happened in class today. It sucks being a freshman and even worse a freshman in upper classes.”
Both Opie and Jax were in shock. “No problem. How the hell do you know Bobby?” Opie asked. Jax couldn’t believe what he was seeing and was just dumbstruck. Just when he thought she couldn’t get any hotter, shit he can’t go there. She’s fourteen. He just beat Kyle’s ass for trying to go there.
“Bobby is my neighbor. My dad and him are friends, and he gives me guitar lessons twice week. What are you guys up to? Are you mechanics, too?”
Jax realized this girl had no idea what SAMCRO was and looked at Opie. Before Opie could go any further Jax jumped in, “Yeah, this was my dad’s shop that he started with Clay. We fix bikes, cars, and some big trucks. What does your dad do?”
Tara went and sat down at the picnic table. “He’s works at Oswald Lumber as a Logistics Analyst. He’s in San Diego for a business meeting and I’m staying Bobby’s until he gets back.”
”What about your mom?”
Tara looked down at the ground and kicked a rock. “She died from cancer when I was nine.”
Jax felt like a total asshole. “Oh shit. I’m sorry. My dad’s gone too.”
Tara had heard about Jax’s dad. The whole town was shut for a week for the funeral as all the motorcycle clubs came in to pay their respects.
”Don’t feel bad, not many people ask so I just don’t talk about it. Playing the guitar helps though, Bobby’s been teaching me since then.”
Right at that moment, Gemma, Bobby, and Clay walked out. Bobby was pissed. “Damn it Clay, I told her dad I could keep her this week while he’s out of town. I can’t just leave her alone.”
Clay responded, “Where’s her mom? SAMCRO isn’t a babysitting service.”
“WOW. Screw you Clay, I told you a month ago that I had to have this week off. Take Jax or Opie with you, they need to learn this shit sooner or later.”
Clay threw down his cigar, “We need your specific set of skills for this run, Bobby. We can’t just do ‘on the job training’ with that kind of work.”
Gemma saw it was getting heated and jumped in, “How old is the girl, Bobby?”
Bobby looked at her, “Fourteen and no. I will not leave her alone. There’s way too many freaks out there. I’ve been helping her dad out since her mom passed and promised him I would take care of her.”
Gemma looked at Tara and smiled, “She can stay in the guest room with us while you guys go to the ‘bike show’, if that’s ok with her and you.”
Clay looked at Bobby and he waved Tara over. “Tara girl, do you mind staying with Gemma? There was a last minute opening at the bike show in Sacramento they need me for. It’s up to you.”
Tara looked at Gemma and was nervous but knew Bobby traveled for his job and she didn’t want him to get in trouble. “Can we call my dad and just make sure? I want check with him first and don’t want you to get in trouble with your boss, Uncle Bobby.”
Gemma liked the girl already. “It’s nice to see a kid with some manners around here” looking pointedly at Opie and Jax. They were still dumbstruck that any parent would leave their kid with Bobby, let alone this girl.
Jax was already thinking about the fact that she was going to be sleeping across the hall from him and was mentally slapping himself trying not to picture her in pink pajamas and ponytails.
Bobby, Gemma, and Tara went into the office and called her dad at his cousin’s place he was staying at in San Diego. “Daddy? Bobby needs to talk to you real quick.” Bobby took the phone and explained the situation in couched terms to Tara’s dad. He knew exactly what was going down and told Bobby that they better watch those boys around her. He knew Gemma wasn’t going to put up with any shit though so he agreed.
Tara got back on the phone and told her dad she was ok with it. Gemma grabbed Opie and Jax to help go to Tara's house so she could get some clothes for the week. She went inside and threw a duffel bag together and they helped lock up her house. They knew Gemma wanted them to scope out the place to just to make sure everything was locked up at Bobby’s place too since he was heading out from T-M with the guys when they got back.
Tara really liked Gemma, and they hit it off right away. Gemma joked with her that she might adopt her because she was tired of all the testosterone. Jax couldn’t believe his mom was being so girly. He always thought of her being tough as nails but realized she had to being surrounded by all guys, all the time. He hadn’t seen her so happy since before Tommy died. The thought made his heart hurt but at least she was smiling. He still needed to wrap his head around the new girl, Tara, staying at his house this week.
When they got back to the lot, Gemma pulled in and all the guys were getting ready to head out. Gemma grabbed Tara’s hand and said, “This is one of the fun parts of the club. We get to see the guys off. You can be there for your Uncle Bobby.” Tara laughed as Gemma pulled her towards the clubhouse and she stood with Gemma and the other Old Ladies. The Croweaters always stood behind and away from the Old Ladies out of respect.
Jax was off in the mechanics bay with Opie and Lowell, Jr. Kyle was in the hospital overnight for his nose and Jax laughed thinking about Tara busting his face with that book. He also watched Tara laughing with his mom and walk up with the other Old Ladies to hug and kiss the guys goodbye.
Tara gave Bobby a huge hug and Jax pictured her kissing and hugging him as he drove off with the guys. Shit. He had to stop this thinking, especially since are was going to be staying right across the hall from him for a whole week.