He Use To Be A Son Of Anarchy

Chapter Fourteen: Death Wish

Let me tell you this: Georgeville surely knows how to waste a good Sunday.

I found a pamphlet shoved under my door when I woke up. At first I thought it was a note from Jax, but after closer inspection I discovered it was not.

ALL RESIDENTS TO ATTEND MEETING IN TOWN HALL

The town of Georgeville friendly requires all residents to attend a meeting in the town hall at 12pm. A barbeque is to be held afterwards in the nearby park.

Regards, Mayor Arthur Fritz

I crumpled up the note and tossed it in the dustbin. I supposed that it would be in poor taste not to make an appearance at the meeting, but I was definitely not sticking around for some barbeque. I was not in the mood to pretend that I liked the people of this town.

So when 1pm rolled around I gathered my things and walked off to the town hall. Here and there I saw others also making their way to the building.

Once inside I glanced around to try and find an open seat. The small room was packed. Eventually I found a seat in the second last row next to Al from the garage. He smiled politely as I sat down next to him.

A few moments later there was a tap on the microphone. Mayor Fritz was standing behind a podium and waiting for the crowds' attention.

"Good afternoon," he greeted the room, "I would like to thank you all for taking the time to attend this meeting. I will keep it brisk seeing as some of you are only here for the barbeque afterwards." There was laughter from the crowd. I stayed silent.

"Now, as you all know Georgeville is not a rather big town and we hardly get any newcomers; just a few passing by, but none coming to settle."

My heart was suddenly beating very fast. This better not be a belated welcome party of some sorts, because I was prepared to run for it.

"The issue we are facing is that the businesses in town now mostly rely on the residents for support. We want to change that. The council has proposed that we announce this issue to you in hopes that it might spark some ideas on how to lure more people. By this we mean not only tourists, but future residents."

My heart calmed down a little, but I wasn't going to pay attention to much of the speech. My eyes were scanning the crowd for Jax. It took me a few minutes to spot him. He was on the other side of the room, positioned between Mr Jones from the clothing store and a man I did not recognise.

He looked attentively at Mayor Fritz. It was hard to believe he wasn't just a regular mechanic from a small town in the middle of nowhere. He blended in so well with the crowd. Any normal person wouldn't give him a second glance. He appeared to be perfectly normal. The only thing that made him stand out remotely was his charm and good looks, but to fully appreciate that you actually had to make an effort to speak to him.

I supposed that he was used to putting up this front by now. Yet, he stood out for me. This was probably because I knew more about him than the rest of the citizens did.

"...we encourage any suggestions to be placed within the allocated box in the town hall offices. Any and all ideas are welcome. Please do attend the festivities afterwards. I myself will be there with open ears if anyone wants to rather talk to me personally. I wish you all a good day," the mayor concluded.

I quickly got up, shuffled past Al and darted out the door.

I was planning on doing some more research on Jax once I got home. Something wasn't right with him (well, apart from the criminal activities he used to participate in) and I was going to find out what. I already knew a lot about his criminal activities, but some things he really was not willing to tell me. Was it too personal? Was it too dangerous? Either way I would find out for myself.

I was just about to grab my keys from my bag when I noticed something peculiar. Jax's door wasn't closed all the way.

I hesitated outside my own door. Looking at my keys, but wrestled with an idea in my head.

Everything inside told me to not do what I was about to do, but I did it anyway. I surveyed the hall and then gently nudge the door open.

The apartment was just as I had last seen it, except the TV had been moved. It was now standing next to the box that it was on top of. The box was also open.

I don't know why, but I was drawn to it. I inched closer until I could peek inside.

Right on top was a leather cut off jacket. I picked it up and turned it over. Sons of Anarchy California it read. I turned it over again. On the one side loose threads bore the scar of where some sort of patch used to be. The remaining patches read Redwood Original and Men of Mayhem.

Jax talked about meeting Mr Mayhem before he kicked me out. Did this patch have something to do with that?

I held the cut in my hand and looked at the contents under it. One photo in particular stood out. Two young boys were sitting on a swing set. One looked to be no older than five or so and the other no older than a year. They looked happy.

Was this his family? Did Jax have children?

"Did no one ever tell you it's illegal to break into someone else's apartment?" a voice said from behind me.

Jax was standing in front of the now closed door.

"I'm sorry. Your door was open."

"And that made it right for you to come in and go through my things?" he asked.

I had no answer.

"I actually can't believe you're so unwilling to live. I gave you many chances to just walk away."

He came forward quickly, grabbed the cut from my hand and tossed it back in the box. "You're pretty fucking stupid for a college grad, you know."

I was trembling.

"What else did you see?" he asked pointing to the box. "Nothing," I said meekly.

He grabbed my arm and threw me against the wall. "Don't lie to me. What else?" he demanded.

I was breathing quite loudly. "The boys," was all I managed to say.

His face dropped. "You had no right to do that," he said angrily, "Those are mine and mine alone." I nodded weakly.

"My boys," he said eyeing the box sadly, "Those are my boys. Mine. I swear to God if I ever catch you in here again I will cut your fingers off and feed them to you."

He took the pocket knife out of his jacket and fiddled with it. "You and this God forsaken story. I don't get it. What in your screwed up little mind gives you the idea that my life would be worth writing about, huh? Is it me getting away with it? Is it the drugs and guns? Or is it the fact that I had to murder so many people?"

I flinched as he came forward, shoving the knife into the wall next to my head.

"You are stupid. And so fucking naïve to think this would work."

He was so close to me. His face inches from mine. I could feel his hot and angry breath on my face.

He hastily pulled the knife from the wall and backed off into his room closing the door. I took it as my cue to leave and practically ran to my apartment.

I wasn't scared of Jax. I was at first, but not anymore. I was starting to feel sorry for him as twisted as that sounds. Something told me that this version of Jax Teller was not who he wanted to be.

There was something more to him. He wasn't just a criminal and murderer, but a father. That had to mean that he still had a little good left in him. God help me, I wasn't giving up.