Blood and Water

Chapter 42: The Feast and The Famine

The Feast and The Famine - Foo Fighters

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Jax leaned back in his chair and sighed. He started speaking again after a few quiet moments. 

"I never really wanted this chair. I guess some part of me knew it would happen, but I always dreaded the weight of it. The responsibility. The truth is I can barely make the right choices for myself. I've been trying to take this club in a direction I thought made sense. To move us away from all the outlaw sh*t. That hasn't worked. I think some part of me was trying to buy back all the bad sh*t I've done. The people I've hurt. That's a false pardon. It's dangerous. And it's selfish. JT did the same thing. And those choices took away everything from my old man. His family and his patch. I already lost the woman I love. I'm not gonna lose my club. For me to move forward with all the things we now have to do, I need to know this table has no doubts. No mistrust. That every single one of you would kill or die for the man next to him, and if you don't feel that way, now's the time to speak up."

No one said anything. They all looked at their president who was ready to kill the world.

Chibs leaned forward in his chair and looked at the rest of the club. Looking back at Jax, he said, "We're all in, brother. We love you. We trust you. Tell us what you need."

After a few minutes, the guys walked downstairs and saw Nero at the counter talking to Chucky. He needed to talk to Jax about a few things. They walked outback, leaving the club inside. Chibs sat down at one of the booths and pulled out his phone.

Mina's pocket vibrated and she pulled out her cell phone. She looked around to make sure no one saw her as her class ran around the track.

Chibs said: Jax got out of jail this morning

She thought that was a strange thing to tell her over text but she'd take it.

She wrote: That's great! How is he?

Mina felt weird asking how he got out so she just left it at that. Maybe Chibs would tell her later. She looked up at the class to make sure they were still doing what they were supposed to be doing. Her phone buzzed again causing her to look back down.

Chibs replied: I'm not sure. He seems okay, just stressed about club stuff and Tara mostly. 

As she was responding, he wrote: I gotta go. I'll talk to you in a little bit, love

Mina responded with an 'okay' and then put her phone back in her pocket. Even though they barely talked during the day, she liked getting quick texts like that from him. Just to remind her that they were together. 

The club had to meet with Alvarez and Lin in Oakland to talk about everything that had happened. Chibs and the rest of the club sat quietly, listening to Jax and watching out for any threats. 

Jax dug in his cut for his lighter as he said, "Nero expressed your condolences. Appreciate that."

"Awful thing, losing family," Lin sneered. 

"Yeah," Jax sighed. 

Nero leaned forward, "Okay, so let's figure out we have to do, keeps everyone moving forward. Pushing back on turf, blood for blood, we all know why we have to it, but we also know how much it hurts business. You throw in the heat from ATF, gang task force, we're just gonna end up choking each other out. No one wins. We have to be smarter than a loaded gun, yeah?"

Jax apologized to Alvarez and Lin for upsetting the balance and made a few offers to help them. 

Lin said, "It's a start."