Spark in the Dark

Chapter 122

Shawn arrived home from work the next night and changed into more comfortable clothing before heading into the kitchen to figure out what she wanted to do for dinner. She began taking things out of the freezer and tossed them onto the counter when the backdoor opened and Juice stepped in.

"Hey," she greeted him happily.

"Hey," he repeated. His voice was light and cheerful in a fake way. She could tell he was forcing himself to sound normal. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Can I get a beer?"

"Sure," she said and opened the door. She took out a bottle and handed it to him. Juice opened his beer and took a large gulp of it as he sat on a stool. "Rough day?"

"No," Juice denied it.

"Juice," Shawn said skeptically.

"I'm fine," he insisted, but his composure was beginning to break. His face looked more pained than Shawn had ever seen it.

"Juice," Shawn said, again, but this time with concern. She closed the fridge door and took a seat on the stool next to him. "What's going on?"

"Shawn, please don't. I can't."

"Why? Who said you can't?"

Juice suddenly leaned into her so his head was resting on her chest as he wrapped his arms around her middle. "I'm dead. No matter what I do, I'm dead."

"Jesus Christ," Shawn said and held him. "Juice, talk to me. Please?"

Juice sat up. He had his head turned so he wasn't looking directly at her, but she could see the tears in his eyes.

"Roosevelt, the new sheriff, had some of his guys take me into the station today," Juice began to explain. Shawn refrained from asking questions, not wanting to distract him. "He must have done some digging into my profile and he found out something about me. He's threatening me with it."

Juice finally looked at her. His eyes were pleading with her, but Shawn didn't know what he wanted her to do.

"Threatening you how? To rat?"

"He hasn't said yet, but probably, yeah."

"You cannot rat, Juice."

"If I don't, he'll tell the club-," Juice stopped himself.

"Tell them what?" Shawn asked gently, but Juice just shook his head. "Baby, there is nothing you can say that is going to make me love you less."

Juice wiped his eyes and seemed to be thinking. Shawn waited, hoping he was ready to tell her the truth. He looked up at her. He still looked anxious, but she knew whatever he had to say was coming.

"If I don't do what he wants, he'll tell the club that my dad... My dad's... Black."

He watched as her concerned face turned to confusion. "I... I don't understand."

"SAMCRO doesn't let blacks in. If they find out, they'll vote me out, if not kill me."

"Juice, that rule is from, like, the 70's. They are not going to kill you over who your dad is."

"Even if they don't, they'll still vote me out."

"Okay, let's think about this for a second. I know I don't know everything about how you guys operate, but I know enough to know that it has to be unanimous, right?" Juice nodded. "Do you really think Chibs is going to vote you out because of the color of your father's skin?"

"I don't know. I guess maybe not."

"What about Jax? Or Opie? Can you really see either one of them caring about who your dad is?" Juice's face was beginning to look relieved, but she knew he still wasn't completely convinced. "How about Tig? Sure he might be stricter about the rules than some of the others, but he knows that if you leave, then I leave. I know family is supposed to take a backseat to the club, but c'mon. My dad wouldn't risk losing me over something as simple as this."