All I Know So Far

Chapter 21. TITE

I sipped my coffee as I flipped through the letters of the late John Teller. The man, the romantic, and the myth. His letters to Maureen Ashby were personal, to say the least. His emotions ranged when it came to the club, his life with Gemma, and the life he hoped for with Maureen. There were things I knew like the meeting that was supposed to happen before his death, and there were things I didn't know like how deeply he felt about everything. In a lot of ways, he reminded me of Jax. Stubborn, Angry, and in love.

Reading how he described the fall between him and Gemma, sounded familiar. How much her distaste grew after Thomas, how she viewed him as weak for wanting to get out of guns. However, I hadn't expected him to write about my parents. Most importantly, my mother, he described like a sister, a dear friend who was easy to talk to. It made my heartache to know he experienced parts of her that I will never.

I wasn't expecting him to write Barry out to seem so evil and envious. According to this letter, they butted heads a lot, more often than not. It was strange to know that my mother shared her unease with Barry being around, I always heard that she was a good judge of character, so I was puzzled.

I brushed it off once I remembered that this was the writing of a man who was riddled with depression and was constantly running in another direction. I decided to wrap up my day and stuck the remainder of the letters back in my storage drawer. I had to stop by the club anyway to meet up with Mila.

I was grateful to have my dad take Ava for the day because when I pulled into the driveway to see the infamous license plate of IMA TITE, all of the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. Ima and I never exchanged hands, but she was another gash who was always trying to rile me up. Thankfully, she never bothered me after I threw her little friend through a window.

I swallowed my pride and walked into the clubhouse anyway to see Ima being ambushed by the Queen and the Princess. If looks could kill, Tara would have been charged with manslaughter. I'm assuming she and Ima have a not-so-friendly history. Mila was sitting next to Piney while she watched the interaction from a distance. She turned her head to look at me and everyone's eyes followed.

I could see the tan leave Ima's body as she saw me trying to hold in a laugh. She almost tripped over her feet trying to back up, while I was still standing on the other side of the room. Tara made eyes between us and Gemma sighed as the memory tapped into her head.

"Hey Ima," I said casually. I didn't mean for it to sound so cynical, but it was enough for Ima to turn around and without so much as a word. I started to laugh as Mila looked at me with wide eyes, "Ella, what did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" I protested, but the smile on my face said otherwise.

"Uh-huh, please she looked at you like you were the reaper himself."

I sucked my teeth, "I resent that if anything I'm just the wh**e thrower. Sounds way more festive." Mila shook her head at me and went on to grab her things so we could go to lunch. Mila and I began to walk out of the clubhouse when I saw Lyla walking towards it. I could hear Tara mutter underneath her breath, "great, here comes another one."

My head snapped at her and my mouth geared up ready to tell her off. Mila held my hand trying to plead with me to keep my mouth at bay. I wanted to respect Ms. Thang, but she was just too much. She walked around here like she was the best thing this club has ever had. Always looking down at everyone like she was better than them somehow. As far as I was concerned, Lyla was an old lady, just like Tara. "Slap me if I ever become such a b****," I made sure Tara could hear me as I sized her up and down.

"Hey, you guys seen Kozik? He didn't come home last night," Lyla said her voice laced with concern for her new husband. I looked away to hide the disappointment on my face. No doubt Ima was here for a house call, and if your husband is missing, it's probably his call that she's answering.

I inhaled deeply as Tara and Gemma started to pump a story to Lyla. I glowered at Mila to make sure that she wouldn't partake in such a heinous crime towards a woman. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about it as Mila began to distract herself by rummaging through her purse for a fake item.

It all seemed to go away when Lyla began to walk back to her car, but then she saw Ima's car. And next thing I knew, my heeled boots were riding on her coattails. I cared about Ima, she was a very sweet person who was trying to do what was best for her and her family. And it also didn't hurt to look out for a business partner either.

Lyla walked into the clubhouse, ready to rip Ima to shreds. But Ima was prepared, holding a gun out at anyone who got too close to her. I let out a heavy sigh as I pulled my own weapon out at her.

"Listen, if you shoot, you best not miss. Because I promise you I won't." The grin on Ima's face fell, as the high she got from holding her weapon sank. Lyla had run out in tears and I lunged at Ima grabbing her .38. I examined the gun and realized the clip was empty, Mila grabbed her before she could run and I rolled her hair in my fists and dog walked her out of the club.

She began to plead with me as Mila carried Ima's purse in disgust. "You pointed a gun at someone with a child in the room. Tsk tsk, I always thought you were better than that," I slammed her face against the hood of her car, while I saw everyone watching from a distance. I didn't need an audience for this as I flung Ima against her car, her extensions got caught in my rings and I plucked them out.

"You as so much as look at Lyla funny, and I will personally make sure that whatever you got between your legs becomes boring without the ring, now get up, you look a mess," Mila handed Ima back her bag and Ima took it as she scrambled to get up.

I walked back over to the clubhouse and barked out Lyla's name. She stood before me crying and holding herself to keep from falling. I sympathized with her, I did, but I needed her to learn from this more.

"Look at me," her face was drenched with tears and Mila handed me a tissue to wipe them. "Never cry in front of your enemies, only elevate. Now, go get yourself together, so you can come have lunch with me and Mila."

She nodded her head as she disappeared into the clubhouse. Tara and Gemma looked at me but dared not say a word. While we waited for Lyla, I could hear the sound of motorcycle engines pulling into the driveway. I placed sunglasses on my face to distance myself from the show before me. Before Kozik could even fully walk off his bike, Piney punched him. It was a good punch from the old man too, split his eyebrow.

When Lyla saw her old man with blood streaming down his face, she walked right past him. Noella and Mila shared a look that Jax knew all too well. He's had his fair share of her walking past him like he didn't exist. Her big sunglasses was hiding something, she was either using them to stand back from the crowd or hide her amusement.

Mila began to follow Lyla and Noella got up to follow suit. Jax couldn't help but ogle his wife's body, trying to memorize every curve and bump that wasn't there when they met. Certainly, pregnancy was good to her. The way she filled out her top could make a blind man cry. Jax dared not look back to see her walk away, Tara was already on edge from this fiasco, he knew it.