Small Town Hero

Chapter 17

"You're pretty good, Noelle." Gemma commented.

"Trisha, my bestie's mom, taught me how to cook and bake while I was living with them. I needed to learn for when I had a place of my own." Noelle shrugged.

"Tell me about how you grew up." Gemma stated.

"I really don't think now's the time..." Noelle trailed.

"It's going to take us a while to make dinner, sweetheart, no better time than now."

Lyla was a bit curious about this woman as well. She remained quiet as Noelle sighed. She hated talking about herself and why she was emancipated. Figuring she wasn't going to get out of the conversation, she started with her parents, how they treated one another, how they treated her, and all about their divorce and custody battle. Noelle told the two women how she didn't understand why the judge thought her mother was the better parent and gave her custody of her. She explained all about her mother's drug use, how she'd witnessed her OD'ing on several occasions, all the times she'd traded sex for drugs, and all the debauchery she'd witnessed her mother commit while high and drunk.

Gemma couldn't believe what she was hearing. Noelle went on to explain how her mother would sometimes let her dealers have their way with her daughter as a drug payment. The Queen could hear the shame in the young woman's voice as she spoke. Noelle went on to tell the pair about watching her mother snort coke, shoot up, and smoke drugs. Lyla gasped hearing some of the things Noelle was telling them. The more Gemma found out, the more she wanted to take the girl under her wing. Noelle explained how hard it was for her to make friends because nobody wanted their children to play with her because of her mom's reputation.

It broke Lyla's heart hearing that. Noelle began describing how mean her father became when he was drunk and how he pretty much stayed drunk. How he lost several prominent jobs because of his drinking which just added more strain on her parents' marriage. Gemma understood Happy's over-active desire to protect the young woman. Her life had been hell up until she came to Charming. Then she talked about her best friend Janie and how she had started researching how she could get away from her parents. Emancipation was the answer. She moved in with Janie and her family and then petitioned the judge for emancipation.

She was granted it at fourteen. She got a job at the local Dairy Queen, dropped out of the public school, signed up for an online school, and started her journey to freedom. She graduated early from her online high school since she could go at her own pace. She worked full time and did her studies at night. Noelle explained how Janie's parents taught her how to drive and how her mother Trisha had taught her how to budget her money. She chuckled and stated she was rather frugal knowing how expensive everything was and that she only had herself to depend on.

"Well fuck, sweetheart, I didn't know you'd lived such a hard life for someone so young." Gemma commented making Noelle shrug.

"All I want is to be as far away from her as humanly possible and live in peace." Noelle replied.

"Why do you want to be away from your hometown so much? Wasn't living on your own enough?" Lyla inquired.

"No. I had her reputation hanging over my head. Dairy Queen was the best job I could get because no one else trusted me thanks to her reputation. To truly live on my own and make a life for myself, I had to get away. So for the last three years, that's all I've saved up for was to move away." Noelle explained.

"Where are you working now?" Gemma asked.

"At the bar on the other side of town." Noelle told her, "I can make some really nice tips on a good night which helps a lot."

"Do you have any aspirations besides working at the bar?" Gemma asked.

"I've signed up at the community college for photography. I'm hoping to land a job with the local portrait studio when I graduate." Noelle exclaimed.

"Aww. That's a good goal." Lyla smiled at her.

"When do you start?" Gemma asked.

"Classes start in a little over two months. I'll be going to school during the day and working at the bar at night." Noelle shrugged.

"Sounds like you'll be pretty busy." Lyla stated.

"Do you need anything for school?" Gemma asked.

"I need a camera and a laptop. I went out window shopping today but didn't purchase anything. The electronics store here in town had a bad selection so I headed over to Stockton to see what their stores had. Much better selection and decent prices." Noelle stated.

"You better be careful going into Stockton by yourself. That's Mayan territory. If they saw you and knew you were associated with us, you might have a huge problem on your hands." Gemma warned her.

"Is that why Happy told me we'd talk about it later when I told him I was coming from Stockton?" Noelle asked.

"Yes. He was probably worried about your safety." Gemma smirked at the younger woman who seemed to have struck Happy's heart.

"Oh. I didn't realize it was so dangerous going there by myself." Noelle exclaimed, "I never had to deal with 'territories' before I came here."

"It's ok. You're an associate of the Sons of Anarchy now. Other motorcycle clubs figure that out and you're in their turf, things could get hairy." Gemma explained.

Dinner was nearly done so Gemma had Lyla get out the paper plates and plastic ware. It was easier than using glass plates for clean up. The women had all the food set out in a buffet style line. Gemma walked out of the kitchen and told her husband dinner was ready. He announced it and told the women and children to make their plates first. Women with children got in line first followed by the women who didn't have children like Noelle. Happy watched as Noelle stood in line waiting to make her plate. Chibs watched Happy watching Noelle and couldn't help but smile.

Despite what Happy did in the club, he knew there was a soft side to him. Somehow this emancipated teenager, young woman, had brought it out of him. She acted much more mature than her seventeen years. Seeing the things she'd seen and enduring the things she'd endured would make anyone grow up pretty fast. The Scotsman hated knowing how badly she'd grown up but hoped she would be happy here in Charming making a life for herself. When Noelle came out of the kitchen, Happy nodded towards their table.

She walked over and had a seat with him, Chibs, and Bobby. She greeted the pair cordially. She waited for them to eat since she was taught by Trisha that eating in front of others was rude. Before long, they stood up to stand in line for their dinner as well. Happy was surprised she hadn't started eating yet. Once the trio of men had sat back down with her, she began eating. The bikers chatted about bike modifications which bored her. She just sat there quietly eating wondering what was going to happen after she ate.

"Here. Head to my room. We've gotta talk." Happy handed her the key to his dorm room after she ate.

"What do you have to talk to her about?" Bobby inquired.

"Her being in Stockton by herself." Happy retorted before finishing his beer.

"Oh. What was she doin' in Stockton?" Chibs asked.

"That's part of what I gotta talk to her about." Happy replied.

The prospects were going around taking everyone's trash as they finished up eating. She unlocked his door and stepped inside. It was much cleaner than she expected it to be. The bed was even made which surprised her. Most men were slobs. Happy seemed to be a neat freak. She had a seat on the bed, after taking her shoes off, and waited for Happy to arrive. She wasn't sure what he wanted to talk to her about other than what she was doing in Stockton earlier. She hoped he wasn't too mad at her. The idea of him being mad at her made her very sad.

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