𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 - 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙮

Fifty-Six

At preschool, Gemma drops Abel off for his first day and meets his teacher, Mrs. Harrison.

"Grandma, I presume?" The teacher asks.

"Yeah. I take care of him now." Gemma says.

"Good morning, Abel." The teacher watches as another leads Abel into the classroom.

"So you stay in the car during drop off. It just makes things so much quicker."

"Bye, sweetheart." Gemma calls after him.

"Ms. Harrison." The teacher introduces herself, "Folks get a little impatient in the morning. If you wanna walk your kids in, you gotta park-"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's my first time."
Gemma pauses to threaten another parent who honks at her for taking too long, "If you beep at me again, l'm gonna shove that cup so far up your ass you're gonna be shitting mochachino for a month!"

"Damn, grandma's kind of crazy." The teacher says as Gemma drives off.

Driving home, Gemma talks to Tara, "I'm gonna take Wendy's lead on that private school. Expensive as shit. I just don't get it. I never sent Jax or Thomas to any of that daycare or gymbob jamboree shit. Feels lazy to me. Dropping off your kids for strangers to raise. But I know it's what you'd want. Schools are different now. Kids gotta keep up. Who knows? Maybe Thomas will be a doctor like you. But Abel- I can see it in his eyes. He is his daddy's son. He knows his tribe."

~ SOA ~ ~ SOA ~

"What are you gonna do?" Ellie Winston asks Ellie Teller as she visits the Winston household while Lyla's gone.

"I don't know. Nothing makes sense. I've been keeping quiet, listening to everything, everyone, hoping I can figure out what makes sense... who did it." Ellie vents, feeling so stressed lately.

"Is there a chance your mom can survive?" Kenny asks.

"She will." Ellie says, "She just- she needs time y'know. She's had surgery. When Nero took me to the hospital, the nurses said they were waiting for her brain swelling to go down. The sad thing is I don't even know if my dad or anyone from the club's been down there to see her."

"The club killed our mom and our dad," Ellie Winston says, "Don't trust anyone. Be careful."

"The day that all that happened," Kenny asks, "That was the day your dad was gonna make a deal and get out? Like your mom wanted?"

"Yeah. They had some kind of agreement. My dad went to jail for a little bit. God, I just wish I had the answers."

"Keep a close eye on Abel and Thomas," Ellie W. tells her, "Especially now."

"We're sorry about all this," Kenny tells her, "Our stepmom was gonna call you, but she didn't know what to say. She talked about buying you guys flowers and seeing Tara."

"Thanks," Ellie nods, "I'm gonna figure this out. I'll update you guys if something happens with my mom. I hate Gemma being with my brothers all day. She's so controlling and obsessive. Wish we could just stay here..."

"Yeah can though." Kenny tells her, "I'm sure Lyla wouldn't care if you spent the night."

"Yeah." Ellie W. agrees, "When your grandma's driving you crazy, just come over here and hangout."

"Thanks." Ellie hugs both of Opie's teenage children and leaves the house.

She walks back home, not caring if someone from the club saw her, or even if her dad did. She was done with everyone's bullshit.