Shut Your Mouth

The next couple of days had passed quickly, and whilst she was glad that she had been invited to the home of the Sons Of Anarchy, Violet felt more confused than ever. Everything from Happy suddenly showing an interest in her to Alvarez having said that he may have a lead…she didn’t know where her head or heart lay for that matter.
Once she had been dropped back home, she tried to remind herself, that she was still ‘on the job’ and all that mattered was finding out what had happened to Rose, but all of that seemed to disappear into the background when Happy and her where together in the same room.

She had used her burner phone to get in touch with her contact at the PD, giving them just as much information as she had to, seen that she really hadn’t gotten anywhere on her trip to Charming. She made sure to tell them about Alvarez and the Mayans having some clues they wanted to follow up and that Rose had seemed unsettle in the weeks leading up to her murder. Being vigilant in deleting all sent and received messages; she hid the phone in the drawer of her kitchen cupboard.
Something about Alvarez unsettled her. It had nothing to do with the way he had somewhat flirted with her nor the way Happy obviously didn’t like him around her but it was as if she was missing something. She hoped that her old colleagues would be able to fill that void after she had given them his name and affiliation.

“What are you doing here Violet?”

She snapped out of her daze as she heard Lyla’s voice from the office as she was on her way to the dressing rooms at the studio.

“On my way to work? I was scheduled for a shoot today, no?”

Suddenly doubting her memory of a shoot being scheduled including her, she made a bee line towards the other woman, entering the office and letting herself drop into the sofa in the corner.

“Did…did Happy not talk to you? He took your name off the roster a few days ago. He…he doesn’t want you working here anymore.”

Violet’s brows rose in surprise.

“He mentioned something back in Charming, but he didn’t tell me that this was actually happening! How the hell does he imagine me making rent if I don’t work here anymore! This is fucking crazy Lyla!”

She grabbed her bag from the floor to retrieve her phone to call him. She was enraged! Sure: this was never meant as a real job to her nor did she enjoy it, but for all he and everyone else knew, this was her only means of income.
Her foot bounced up and down as she waited for the call to connect, very much aware of Lyla’s eyes on her. She hated to put her in the middle of this, but she had to fight for her job with witnesses.
As soon as she heard him pick up the call, she jumped up from her seat and paced in front of the sofa.

“Wanna tell me why I am being informed that I’m no longer on the roster at the studio without knowing anything about this?! You can’t just take my job from me!”

She could hear him make his excuses to whoever was with him and heard a door fall close a few moments later before he answered her accusations.

“I told you that no woman of mine spreads her legs for money. That may have worked for Ope and Lyla, but it doesn’t for me.”

She could hear the magnitude of his words and how calmly they were spoken, but she felt like a kid who got grounded by her parents.

“For your information Hap, I have bills to pay and food to buy! You mentioned this over 2 weeks ago in passing! You didn’t give me time to look for another job or anything, what the fuck do you expect me to live from now, huh?”

Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Lyla making herself scarce, leaving the office and closing the door behind her to give her some privacy. She silently thanked the woman for giving her the space and made a mental note to thank her for it later.

“You’re a resourceful girl Vi, I am sure that a former cop can land various jobs that don’t entail laying on your back and swallowing some guy’s cum. Don’t give me attitude over this, you knew how I was feeling about this.

She stopped in her tracks and was actually dumbfounded by his response. She was a grown woman and yet he had taken all decisions from her.

“Oh yeah? Well don’t you think there would have been a moment in the past fortnight that you could have brought this up to me? I all but walked in on set to being told I no longer have any business here, do you have any idea how fucking stupid this makes me look? Don’t you think I would have gotten a different job than this if I had any other options?!”

Frustration was cursing through her. This was well above her having taken this job as a cover. This was about the man she had let into her life making decisions for her without even consulting her.
She could feel his agitation even though they were miles apart and only talking over the phone. She knew he was not someone who liked being put into a corner, so she expected him to bite back.

“I’ve got you out of the porn business babe, show some gratitude. I will cover whatever bills need paying until you find something. I am not budging on this issue so there is no point for you to lose your cool like this. Go home, have a hot shower and do whatever it is you women do to calm down, I will be by later.”

Just as she was about to spit more venom directed at him, she heard him disconnect the call and she lowered her phone to stare at it in disbelief. Did he just hang up on her?

“Jerk.”

She whispered to herself, tossing her phone onto the sofa and pushing both hands through her long hair. ‘Do whatever it is you women do to calm down’ she recalled his words and a sly smile moved across her features as a plan set in motion in her head.

“Hey Lyla!”

She had opened the door, seeking out the woman who was possibly her only female friend in this place. She appeared moments later from one of the sets, fully clothed and with some papers in her arms.

“Seen that my boyfriend and I just had a major blow-up and I find myself without employment, I reckon we should go and celebrate, what say you?”

She had the biggest smile on her face as Lyla almost mirrored hers. Throwing the papers in her hands onto the nearest table, she ran to the office to get her bag.

“Fuck this place, let’s go and get drunk! I’ll drive!”

Violet laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm as she followed her out the door to Lyla’s car. What better way to forget about a fight like this then get drunk?

“Where to boss?”

Lyla asked as both of them sat in her car, loud music filling the inside of the car.

“There is a bar a few blocks from here, never been there but I guess it’s the closest. Unless you have a better idea?”

Lyla pursed her lips and shook her head, not able to come up with a better idea. Driving through the streets, Vi heard her phone and slipped it out of her pocket to read the screen: Happy.

“The man of the hour?”

Lyla piped up from next to her, giving her a look from the side, wondering if their plans would change. Violet considered her options for a moment, but rejected the call and switched her phone off completely instead.

“Yes, but fuck him. I am officially unemployed and have nothing better to do than get wasted with my good friend. I’ll talk to him later.”

Lyla laughed but shook her head: giving Happy the cold shoulder was most likely not the smartest thing her new friend could have done, but she admired her for not being intimidated and insisting on having her own mind.

Moments later they parked the car and walked into the bar. They didn’t fail to notice some bikes outside, but were certain that none of them belonged to their guys. They went straight up to the bar and asked for a couple of shots and some beers, Violet sliding some notes across the wooden bar as their order was put in front of them.

“Keep the drinks coming, we’ll be at the table over there.”

Lyla said to the man behind the bar, who nodded his head with a gentle smile before turning to the other end of the bar to keep drying glasses.
Falling into a small booth, both women looked at each other with smiles before clinking their shot glasses and downing the amber liquid.

“So I guess Hap didn’t really make an effort to apologize for not telling you he pretty much cost you your job? Where do you go from here, any idea?”

Violet sank back into the seat, taking a drink from her beer. There was only so much she could give as an answer, no matter how she felt about this job or Hap.

“I know he means well, but I cannot believe that he just completely went over my head to make this decision. Like, how old am I, 5? I don’t care how mean he can be or if he killed people, but he does not get to decide when and how I leave a job without speaking to me first. He is a grumpy ass man, how the fuck does he get his name anyways?”

She looked at Lyla and the way she averted her eyes once she started talking.

“You ever seen his tattoos? The smiley faces?”

Violet cackled and took another pull of her beer, she knew exactly what she was referring to.

“Sure have. I mean…getting one is fair enough, but a collection of them? Not something for a guy like him.”

Lyla looked at her from under her lashes and chewed her lip as if she was uncertain about something.

“They hold a meaning you know. And yes: they are a collection of sorts.”

Vi laughed again at this information.

“What, a new one for every time he actually manages to smile? Come on, don’t be silly.”

Lyla smiled crookedly and nipped on her beer, her eyes wandering around the room.

“Maybe ask him about its meaning when you two see each other next, it holds a lot of meaning to who he is. But you didn’t hear it from me. Hey, let me check out the jukebox and see if we can get some better music than this crap.”

She moved out of the booth and sauntered over to the jukebox near the bar, flipping through the songs. It struck Violet as odd that she had brushed the subject but then didn’t actually give her an answer as to the meaning of those tattoos. Making yet another mental note to bring this up with Hap, she emptied her beer and raised the empty bottle towards the bar to the man still occupied with drying glasses. He smiled and busied himself with getting a few more drinks.
Getting more comfortable in her seat, she let her eyes roam over the other patrons. It was only just after 2pm so there wasn’t a big crowd: a lonely man sitting at the end of the bar, two tables with a few people and a booth on the far end of the room with about 5 men, all of them in cuts. She couldn’t see their patches from where she was sitting, but judging by their faces, they were Mexican. Mayans most likely. She noticed that two of them looked her way before diverting their eyes again. Violet wasn’t worried: she had no dealings with MCs.

“Picked some awesome songs, prepare yourself to be dazzled!”

Lyla suddenly appeared again and fell into her seat just as the guy from the bar made his way over with a tray of beers and some more shots.
Lyla was about to grab her wallet when he waved her off:

“Don’t worry ladies, your drinks today are all taken care of.”

He motioned to the booth in the back and turned to return to the bar. Lyla narrowed her eyes to see better before realization hit her.

“Mayans. Maybe this is not the best place to be hanging out after all. I know you’re new to this, but we’re known to be associated to SOA, it may come across as weird if we hang out in one of their bars.”

Lyla whispered, fumbling with her bag next to her. Violet turned her head to look at the table again, seeing a couple of them raise their bottles their way in a salute. Grabbing one of the shots, she copied their actions before looking across the table to Lyla again.

“Come on girl: it’s not like they’re hostile, they’re buying us drinks. It would be impolite to turn that down. Raise your glass and thank them.”

It took her a moment to follow her instructions, but as soon as one of the songs she had picked came on, she threw caution to the wind and followed her friend’s gesture.

“You’re right. Now let’s get these shots down and dance!”

Clinking glasses again, they downed their shots and jumped up to dance to an old 90’s pop song, laughter filling the bar as both girls just forgot about any worries they had.