Chapter 6.

Jax

I was riding around looking for Opie, I had gotten a tip that he was at the morgue. As much as I hated intruding on the time that he was probably spending talking to Donna, I needed someone to talk to. And I could think of no one better to talk to about this whole thing with Abel than my brother. However, when I saw his bike and Unser's truck parked near the crematorium something in my gut told me something was wrong.

When I pulled into the parking lot I saw the mortician walking out while Unser made his way inside. I walked inside the building and to my horror, I saw Opie holding his father's jacket with blood on it. We made eye contact and that's when I noticed a box burning in the furnace. The foul smell of burning flesh let me know that Piney was the one inside.

"Oh, my gosh. What happened?" I looked between Opie and Unser for answers. "I found him at the cabin, shotgun to the chest," Opie informed. His voice lacked emotion and I knew it was probably because he had none left. Opie had already lost his wife and now losing his dad may send him over the edge.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I gave Opie a hug while emotions rushed through my body. Piney was the center that kept this club grounded. He was one of the first nine; losing him was like losing a part of my own father.

When I broke away I noticed that Opie had yet to display any emotion, so I asked him, "you think this was the Mexicans?"

"I'll fill you in, I just wanted to say goodbye. I know that he'd want you here." Tears welled up in my eyes as Opie threw Piney's jacket into the furnace. We didn't say much of anything else as we watched Piney's body be torched to ashes by the flames. I felt sick to my stomach as it happened and was all too happy to leave the room after Opie.

"You want to tell me what happened to Piney?" I asked Opie once we were outside. Opie whipped around with Glock pointed straight at me, "you should know, you're Clay's boy!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Clay killed my old man!"

"No," I shook my head in disbelief, "no Ope."

"Yes! He killed my wife, now my father," Opie's voice started to break, "did you know?" My mouth dropped from shock, "did you know?!" Opie repeated with more conviction.

"No Ope! I didn't know, I'd been distracted all day. My son is back in Charming and some woman is claiming to be his mother! So, no I wasn't privy to what Clay had done to Piney."

Opie let his gun down and started to breathe heavy, I took the moment to reason with him. "look if Clay did this, we take this to the table. We let everyone know and we can vote on it!"

Opie shook his head and aimed his gun at my bike. The bullet flattened my tire, "that's not good enough for me." That was all he said before he took off on his bike. I cursed under my breath and took Unser's keys to tail him. I knew he was seeking to find Clay, even the score for everything that was taken from him. But I just couldn't allow Opie to go back to prison. I couldn't allow him to lose out on his life again.

However, when I finally got to the club Opie had Clay cornered. Clay's gun had been tossed on the floor and Opie had the advantage. I pulled out my gun, "Ope, please don't do this!" I begged as I aimed my gun at my best friend. I had no intention of shooting him but I couldn't allow him to throw his life away like this. Clay deserved to suffer but not at Opie's expense. "Please Ope, don't make me kill you," my voice was shaky and unconvincing. Opie has known me since I was five years old, I knew he had caught my bluff.

He locked eyes with me and then out of the blink of an eye he shot three bullets into Clay's chest. Clay's body shook with the impact and my mouth dropped from shock. Clay was miraculously still breathing and Opie attempted to release another shot, but I shot at his hand to make him drop his weapon. Opie's gun flew as he held his hand from the pain.

Clay and Ratboy ran into the room and looked at the scene. "Call an ambulance and put him in the garage. Make this look like an accident," I ordered. The two got to work as I dragged Opie back to Unser's truck.

I couldn't take him back to the hospital because of the suspicion it would cause with the police. My head was spinning until I saw a gigantic SUV drive by. The windows were down and that's when I was able to see Erin. I figured she was alone as I dragged Opie to her car.

She was startled to see me when I smacked on her hood. The scene must have scared her, Opie holding a towel with blood, me in a picked state. It was as if I was just giving her reasons not to trust me with Abel, but I was too desperate to care.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" her voice dripped with concern as she opened the door. "I need you to take us to a hospital," I ordered ignoring her question. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion as she began to drive, "are you going to tell me what happened first?"

I remained silent and I could see her visibly roll her eyes. "What's your name?" she looked back at Opie. Opie rolled his eyes and remained silent. Erin sucked her teeth and put a smile on her face, "Abel, Henry, are you going to say hi?"

I felt the color rush from my face as I turned my head to the backseat. My heart stopped when I made eye contact with my son and a sea of regret rushed through my body. I wanted to yell at Erin to stop the car because this was not how I intended to reunite with my son. But Opie needed medical attention and we were already so close to the hospital.

Abel and Henry waved shyly at me and Henry was paying special attention to Opie's injury. "Mommy, blood," was all he could manage to say. "I know papa, we have to help him go to the doctor."

Erin pulled into the carport of the emergency room to let us out. I raced out with Opie without another word, "that's her?" Opie asked as he walked with me. He could tell that the meeting had affected me, but there was far too much going on for me to stop and think about any of it.

The waiting room was crawling with cops and Roosevelt was in the process of questioning Unser. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't buying whatever Unser was saying because he didn't even bother writing it in his report. When he noticed Opie's bleeding hand, I could see the wheels going off in his head.

"Let me guess, unidentified black gang got him too?" Roosevelt's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "No, just an identified woman," I turned around at the sound of Erin's voice. Maybe I should have been clear about her not coming inside after us.

"Ms. Jackson? Care to give a statement?" Roosevelt pulled out his notebook to begin to write.

Erin adjusted Henry on her hip as Abel gripped onto her leg. "Nothing really to say, I overreacted, Jax and his friend came to the house to talk. It was dark and I got scared, I shot him before I saw him." She looked over at Opie, "I'm sorry again, no hard feelings right?"

"Yeah, none." Opie looked just as surprised as I was before he was whisked away by the nurse. Roosevelt looked dissatisfied but took down Erin's statement, nonetheless. He eventually left the hospital and Erin was left standing on the opposite side of the waiting room eyeballing us.

I noticed my mom walking down the hallway but she stopped when she saw Abel. "Why'd you do that?" I asked Erin.

"By the looks of things, sounds like you should be thanking me. Besides, I figured Abel wanted to meet you formally." She got down to Abel's level and whispered something in his ear. He looked at her before burying himself in her arms, but she pulled him away to repeat whatever she had said.

Abel looked at me shyly and I found myself getting down to his level. He then took the moment to run into my arms and allow me to hug him. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes as I held his small frame and I couldn't help but be grateful for what Erin did tonight.