Record of Wrongs

Chapter 13.

Jax

"Are you really going to divorce her?" Opie asked me as he helped me stand Abel's dresser upright. It was midnight and I had come back home after speaking with Ari at Cara Cara. I called Opie to help me fix Olivia's nursery because I wanted to make sure that the house was ready for her and the kids in the morning. 

However, my plans of setting up Olivia's room quickly turned into restoring Abel's. Since Tara had destroyed my son's dresser after I left with my mom to go see Ari. Which I was now fixing with Opie in the middle of the night.

"That's what she wants," I mumbled as I took the screwdriver to assemble all the pieces of his dresser.

"Yeah, but is that what you want?"

"Obviously not Opie."

"Okay, so what's your plan?" Opie asked intrigued.

I let out a sigh, "You're going to think I'm crazy."

"Probably," he answered bluntly. "That's never stopped you before."

I snorted at his honesty and proceeded to tell him my plan. "As far as we know, the feds and the CIA are going to be around here for a couple of months. Romeo and Luis told me that the U.S. Attorney wants to use RICO to persuade Ari to talk."

"Yeah, but hasn't she made it pretty clear that doesn't want to."

"Right, but you know as well as I do that they're going to pull out all the stops. Which in turn will make her realize..."

"That she needs protection?" Opie looked unsure of his answer, but I encouraged him to continue. "Which means...you?"

"Right."

Opie had a puzzled look on his face, "So, you're entire plan relies on something else being the greater evil?"

"Yes! I mean no," I wanted to agree, but the way Opie made it sound told me I shouldn't.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you are the most delusional person I've ever met."

I frowned at him and stopped working on Abel's drawers. "Call it what you want, but I just want my family back. As far as I know, I only have a couple of months until I have to honor my promise and give her a divorce, so I'm going to do everything in my power to win her back in the meantime."

"Yeah, but as your friend and VP, I am required to tell you when your plan sucks, and this is one of those times."

"Do you have a better plan on how to do this, because I don't think any licensed professional would tell Ari to work on her marriage right now. They'd probably all tell her to pack her sh*t and leave while her head is still attached to her body."

"Well, they wouldn't be wrong," Opie mumbled under his breath. My mouth fell slightly open and I glared at my best friend. He noticed my face and held his hands up in defense, "What? I'd divorce you too."

"Oh, and Donna shouldn't divorce you for lying to her?" I shot back.

Opie rolled his eyes, "I mean sure, I'm in the dog house right now. But at least I'm still in the house. I never treated Donna like anything less than my ole lady. I wasn't jerking her around, cheating on her, and I damn sure didn't bring another woman into her home."

"I'm trying to fix it!" I yelled at him. I was already annoyed to find my son's room trashed, so now was not the time to remind me of my shortcomings.

"Really? What part have you fixed other than Abel's dresser?!"

I inhaled a deep breath before trying to answer Opie calmly. "I already broke up with Tara a few hours ago. She's gone and she knows that I want to work on my family."