I'll Come Running

Chapter 3

She couldn't believe it. JJ Maybank just called her, after four years of no contact since the day she left. This had to be bad. She knew JJ had gotten in some deep trouble over the past few years, how could he not, but for him to call her had to mean something much worse. She didn't even want to get on the next flight for fear of what she might find when she came back to the Outer Banks. But she knew she had to.

"Mommy?" her 3 year old daughter pulled her out of her trance.

"Huh?" she immediately responded as she shook her head back to reality and looked at her daughter with confused eyes.

"I'm done." she said as she scooted her plate of pancakes over towards her mom.

Jessie took the pancakes and scraped what was left in the trash. Her daughter wasn't the best eater, but hey, she tried, and that's all she ever asks.

How was she going to do this? She had her daughter to think about. And she knew she wasn't bringing her with her. No way. Thankfully, she had some friends that she could ask if her daughter could stay with them until she got back. But when would she be back? Should she get a one way ticket? As she thought of these things she got ready for the day. She put on her black combat boots by the door and slipped on her leather jacket, which was adorned with all kinds of biker related decals. Living in Manhattan was hard, but it was the only place where she could truly disappear after leaving Outer Banks. No one knew her story, and she liked that.

"Honey, you ready?" She called out up the stairs of their tiny inner city apartment, one that was riddled with people just like her: people that laid low and didn't want their stories to be told. Most of her friends lived in this apartment complex, most of them being bikers-- gang members of the Manhattan Mayhem to be exact. To everyone else they were real intimidating people, but they were her people, the only people that didn't ask questions and accepted her and her daughter with open arms. More importantly, they were the only people that she would trust to care for and protect her most precious belonging while she was gone. But Jessie didn't gain that respect and trust overnight of course. Like every other MM member, she had to earn her way into the club.

***

"Alright, sweetheart." Tom began as he lit a cigarette between his lips with his wife sitting on his desk in front of him, staring down the new girl in front of her. "Now I know you want to be apart of the MM, but what makes you think you've got what it takes?" Tom asked with knitted brows and a clear tone of mis judgement. Jessie didn't falter, instead she took the doubt and capitalized on it, like she had done her whole life.

"Well, if I'm being honest, I'm on the run..." Jessie said calmly, staring right back into the burley man's eyes with not a tinge of embarrassment. "And I need protection."

"Oh yeah?" Tom scoffed as he leaned forward to put his hands on his desk to interrogate her further. "What's in it for us?"

"We don't just do protection around here, baby. We do life. That's what it means to be a gang member." The blonde haired woman, Maci, spoke up with a smug smile as if to think that the girl in front of her definitely would not make the cut.

"And to do life means to be willing to give life... you really think you're in for that?" Tom questioned, still doubtful.

"Try me." Jessie smirked. Tom simply looked the girl up and down as if to rethink his previous stance. He raised his eyebrows.

"What're you on the run from?" The bearded man asked.

"Nobody of your concern." Jessie quickly retorted, once again never wavering from her calm, cool, and collected stance.

"It is my concern if you want protection." Tom laughed, puffing a cloud of smoke. Jessie took a big breath in as if to show annoyance with the seemingly unimportant questions.