It didn't take long for Clove to butt heads with her eldest brother, Hades. The two barely spoke the night before, it seemed her homecoming meant very little to Hades. Yet, Juan swore up and down the man with the scar was just as worried when it came to the youngest Knox. Juan couldn't quite figure out their dynamic.
Did sibling rivalry have something to do with their distaste for each other? Did Hades do something to Clove to cause her to turn up her nose at him?
Juan so desperately wished he had known the secrets about the Knox family before meeting Clove. Their meeting was by chance, but if someone had mentioned these things to him months ago — perhaps he could have done everything right. In the end, as much as Juan questioned — he understood that he wasn't fully patched. The MC wouldn't give this Prospect information.
Still, Juan saw Clove's reaction and felt guilty for something he hadn't done. And why did he feel so hurt about all of this? He saved her and gave her another reason to keep going. Shouldn't he be feeling proud? After all, his helpful hand just may bring the club closure. But as he plunged into the toilet bowl a bit, gritting his teeth at the awful smell of human waste, Juan felt everything but pride.
"Juice!" Tig Trager's medium-toned voice brought the young man out of his thoughts. Holding the plunger in both hands, the young man raised his head to see Tig strutting down the hallway of the Clubhouse. One foot stepped in front of the other as if he were marching. Juan lowered the plunger back into the toilet but kept his gaze on his elder.
"It's Juan," chuckled Ortiz nervously, for Tig made him anxious. Trager is a wildcard, a little creepy, but he means well. At least, Juan told himself that. Despite Tig constantly placing Juan into uncomfortable situations.
"Juan, Jose, Juice. It's all the same," Tig waves his hand while his elbow leans against the worn doorframe. He sniffs, then rubs the hairs on his chin as if to be thinking. "Listen, I need a favor."
"Okay. After I finish this though. Clay wanted -"
"I'll have another idiot suck out shit, I need that favor now," Tig snaps his hand that dangled above his head.
Hesitation settles on Juan's shoulders, but he nods his head soon after. With one or two taps against the ring of the toilet, then placing the object beside it, Juan attempts to wash his hands. However, Tig is swift, yanking him by the cut sleeve of his Prospect Kutte. Juan felt dizzy as Tig threw an arm over his shoulders and forced him to walk up the hall.
"So, I - uh," Tig squeezed Juan closer to his side while his free hand circled his right ear. "The other night I got so piss poor drunk, I clunked my head, man. Hit it so hard. Been havin' issues with hearing."
Juan points an awkward finger towards Tig with his brows knitted; "You should get that checked out:"
"Yeah, no insurance. Anyway," Tig lied while turning the corner which led them into the large area where most of the members hung out. The room was so large, back in the good old days, the first members were able to create a bar, kitchen, and meeting room. With hard work and dedication, this once-abandoned building became the home for any Redwood Originals. The shop was an added feature a year later. Since then, the clubhouse had seen its share of happiness, sadness, madness, and all of the above. Different men came and went. Some died, imprisoned, and others were transferred to different Charters.
It was a place to be rough and tough. To be whoever you wanted to be.
But today, the dimly lit building sat with thick cigarette smoke and the smell of rum. Just about everyone had been smoking more than usual and downing their favorite poisons. Clove's appearance gave everyone anxiety. Not because she lived, but because she held information about that night. It was a mystery no one could quite grasp.
Back to Tig and Juan, the two men now stood in front of the Chapel's double doors. They were wooden, recently replaced, and glossed thanks to Ortiz. His duties seemed to be nothing but refurbishing the whole damn building. Tig placed his free hand onto his hip while still holding Juan close;
"I need you to listen," Tig tells him.
Surprised, Juan snapped his gaze away from the double doors and gawked at Tig. It wasn't ideal to listen in on family matters. Yet behind those doors, anyone could hear the muffled shouts coming from the Knox siblings.
Happy Lowman and Noah "Nasty" Jones sat at the bar, hoping to hear something important. Until Tig and Juan made their way up to the doors. Happy, the club's Sergeant at Arms, knew perfectly well what Tig was doing. Mess with the Prospect. It's always fun. So the bald man with many tattoos placed a toothpick between his teeth, smirking. Noah on the other hand tilts his head, curious at this display.
He was a short skinny man, with bright red hair. Funny looking at that and despite his stature, the man was insane. Nasty had become Happy's best friend. Possibly his only real friend.
"What?"
"Please? It's - she's like a niece to me -"
"You were looking at her ass last night," Juan tells Tig, noticing the awkward moment.
Shrugging, Tig clicks his tongue, "I ain't never said I was a saint, Juice. Okay, come on. Please. I'll leave you alone for a week."
Juan hesitates before slowly coming to terms that no matter what he says or does, Tig will find a way to make him listen in. After nodding his head, Juan took a few steps closer, noticing the door wasn't fully shut. His right ear faced the voices as his head turned to get a better listen. His fingers pressed against it.
Clove's voice spoke with impressive quickness. Cussing, grumbling, and gasping with annoyance. Hades followed closely behind while Jax and Chibs argued for the siblings to calm down.
Juan licked his upper lip, and as he leaned closer, Tig placed his hand on the back of Juan's shoulder blade. What happened next, made Juan wish he hadn't listened to Tig of all people. The doors swung open and Juan found himself stumbling into the Chapel with a horrified gape. As he found his footing, just in time to not fall on the empty chair before him, the room went silent. All eyes fell onto him.
Chibs, Jax, Clove, and Hades glared at the Prospect.
Tig exclaimed behind him, shaking his head as if he had caught the young man red-handed. "I found this little freak listening in. Guess he thought he could get away with it." Behind Tig, Noah and Happy grew in laughter as Juan's tanned face reddened at the lie.
"What the hell is wrong with ya?" Chibs barked, grabbing Juan by the nape of his neck.
As Juan stammered, raising his hands in fear that Chibs might pound his face in, Clove removed one foot from the table. Her lips smack loudly and she waves her hand to show she doesn't care if Juan was listening in. He saved her after all. He had every right to be here; Despite his status.
"Leave 'em be, uncle. He belongs here." Said Clove, earning a glare from her brother.
Between gritted teeth, Chibs eyed Juan once more before shoving him down into an empty chair. After shutting the double doors on a proud-looking Tig, the older gentleman nursed his temples as the siblings went right back to arguing.
"You could have said somethin'. Anything! You could have let us know you were alive!" Hades barked, standing and leaning over the table. His index finger pointed to Clove who simply rolled her eyes. The pair had been going in circles with this disagreement for nearly an hour. And no matter what Clove said, Hades bickered and fumed. She found this needless.
"And what have you done?! Hm? Nothin'! You wouldn't have done shit!" Clove shot back.
"I'm still your brother, God dammit! Stop being a coward for ONCE in your life!" Hades slammed his fist into the table. This caused Clove to jump to her feet. In return, Jax attempted to calm the woman down by calling out her name, but she ignores him altogether.
No matter what Hades thought he was, Clove saw him as another useless limb within their father's legacy. For years, he ran away from their father. No matter how many times Arthur reached out to know how his eldest son was, Hades turned up his nose. He was no better than Clove. All those years were wasted. And here he was, yelling at her. If she was a coward, Hades was a bitch.
"Let me remind you who hurt our father more than anyone else! YOU DID! Where were you?! Da accepted everything that everyone else in this damn club saw as disgusting. You are gay. You are a black man. You are a fuckin' bastard. But he loved you just as much as he loved me and Titus. But where were you as his heart broke into a million pieces?! Nowhere to be found!" Clove shook as her voice boomed. Juan kept his gaze on her. Surprised to see such underlying anger spew out into the open.
"You think you have any right to speak to me like that?" Hades spoke after a long pause, keeping his cold stone expression on Clove. He wished she understood the truth and everything that came along with it. He wished she thought about the remaining family still alive. If Clove had reached out to Hades and their uncle after the death of their father and brother, things might have been different. They could have helped each other. That is what mattered the most. But as the years went by, the healing process lacked and those in America thought their loved ones could never get the revenge they deserved.
"That's enough from the both of ya," Chibs says. "None of this is gonna help the situation and it won't bring our boys back -"
"Yeah, whatever."
Hades stepped from around his seat, pushed the chair in with an attitude, and left the room without saying another word. As the doors swung shut, Clove studied Chibs and then Jax. Deep down, she knew her hiding hurt many people; however, she had her reasons. She couldn't bare the questions, accusations, and above all else, the paranoia of not trusting those she loved the most.
"Look," Jax began, "You gotta understand, Hades thought he lost his whole family."
"Fuck that. How is that my problem?!" Clove spat.
Juan leaned his forearms on the table with an unlit cigarette between his fingers. "Yes...." The words came out of his mouth without much thought. And just as they came out, Juan flinched as Chibs slapped the back of his head.
"You got somethin' to say, Prospect?" Clove growled, her anger now placed on the Puerto Rican. With a rub of his head, Juan readjusted in his chair. Had he kept his mouth shut all members of the room wouldn't be looking at him as if he had said something insulting.
After a moment or two, Juan thought to himself. There is much to say, but how to say it took more steps and care. Licking his lips, Juan kept his stare on Clove with bravery.
"I have a sister. We aren't close —" Juan paused, not wanting to go into details about his past. " — Let's just say she hates my guts. But if she thought I had gone missing or died, and it wasn't true — I would go to her. She's still family. She still loves me deep down. I think Hades is the same and I think you too..."
Jax and Chibs are ready to keep Clove from jumping across the table to strangle Juan. As she did not take assumptions well. Nonetheless, the two men are idle as Clove did not react. She, for the first time, listened. This shocked Chibs.
".... I think you care about Hades, more than you show. If I were you, I'd hear him out and try to listen to his pain. He's the only one you've got. If I had a chance to talk to my sis again, I would. He deserves more than - this."
Juan had concluded, after silently questioning Hades' anger, that the relationship might have been complicated. There is no denying that the love for each other lay underneath the soot of destructive history. Every family held their problems on their shoulders, but that didn't make their love any less.
The room went silent, and Juan found himself holding his breath. Clove studied Juan for a while before ultimately leaving the room with an eerie look. Juan kept in his seat as his lungs contracted.
"I was wrong about you," Jax spoke, while Chibs watched Clove stomp towards the front entrance of the Clubhouse. "You're either a genuine guy or you're the luckiest son of a bitch I know. 'Cause the Jinx I know would have bit your ear off. Literally, not figurative speaking." Jax leaned back in his chair, fumbling with his kutte pockets to find his new pack of cigarettes. "Get back to work, Prospect. Don't pull that shit again and next time, keep your mouth shut."
Outside, Clove stood in front of the metal door leading into the Clubhouse. Before her, Hades sat on the old bench occupied underneath the patio roof. His back was turned away from her, sitting on the table surface with his boots propped on the long wooden seating. She could tell his leg shook by the way his body moved.
Breathing out, the woman walked over and moved around to Hade's left. To her surprise, her eldest brother's face held an unnatural expression.
Remorse? Sadness?
She couldn't believe it. As the tears rolled down his cheekbones, Clove came to acknowledge Hades wasn't the brooding asshole he had always perceived himself to be around her and Titus. But a lost child with emotions. With a damp cigarette between his teeth, Hades looked up at his sister. Unable to mask his sentiments.
"He was my dad too......I loved him too...I love...I thought I lost....everyone...."
The words came out in a sputter. And for the first time, Clove felt moved by his small whimpers. Without thinking, the woman took a step closer and wrapped her arms around Hade's head, pulling his upper body into her torso. In silence, she allowed her brother to grieve. The years of pent-up feelings crumbled.
His arms wrapped around her midsection as she held the back of his head, pressing her lips against his buzzcut. The cigarette now lay on the ground between Clove's boots. Broken in half.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
Clove felt her chest tighten at the apology given to her. Pulling him deeper into her embrace, her wide hazels grew damp while her bottom lip quivered. Before long, Chibs had enjoyed it. Clove wasn't sure when, but the three were engulfed by their uncle. The two siblings melted as if they were children again. Traumatized and confused.
Promising the other that nothing like this will happen again. Alas, their words are empty on the vast horizon. This life is no stranger to grief.