by Kim
This follows Ask Me No Questions (I'll Tell You No Lies) in the M7-SoA crossover A/U.
The next day:
Vin spotted Lydia sitting at the bar talking to Inez. He slid onto the stool beside her.
"Hi, Vin," she said. Inez gave him a smile.
"Hi," he said. "Can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything," Lydia said and slid a hand along his leg. Inez giggled beside her.
Vin laughed. "Are you trying to seduce me?" he asked.
"Well now, that depends," Lydia answered. Her hand moved up his thigh and over his denim-covered cock.
"On what?" he asked smiling at her.
"On whether you want to be seduced," Lydia answered and gave his cock a squeeze.
"You're gonna get me in all kinds of trouble," Vin said with a grin. "But, I really need to ask you something."
Lydia laughed. "I think you've got all the trouble you can handle right now," she said and squeezed his cock again and then removed her hand. "Alright, what's your question?" she asked.
"Who's Tom Wilkes?" Vin asked.
"Excuse us for a minute," Lydia told Inez. Inez kissed her on the cheek and wiggled her fingers at Vin in a goodbye gesture. Lydia sat up straighter on the barstool and lit a cigarette. She smoked half of it and then crushed it out. She turned toward Vin. "Where'd you hear that name?" she asked.
"Buck told me to ask you about him," Vin said.
Lydia shook her head and laughed shortly. "I'm surprised that Buck mentioned him," she said.
"Why?" Vin asked. "Who is he?"
"He's nobody," Lydia said. "At least not anymore. Do you want a drink?" she asked.
"Beer," Vin said.
"I'll be right back," Lydia said. She went behind the bar, got a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey and then sat them in front of her seat. She pulled a beer for Vin from the cooler and returned to her stool. She eased onto the barstool and poured herself a drink. She sipped at the whiskey for several minutes. Finally, she sat the glass on the bar and turned toward Vin. "Tom Wickes was one of the Cowboys, before the Sons patched them over."
"Was?" Vin asked.
"Was," Lydia confirmed. She picked up her cigarettes with shaking hands. She took one out and tried to light it, but her hands were shaking too badly. "Damnit!" she cursed and dropped the lighter.
Vin picked it up and lit it and held it up to her cigarette.
"Thanks," she said. She smoked the cigarette halfway down and stubbed it out. She smiled wryly. "Trying to quit," she said. "I smoke half and put them out."
"Makes sense to me," Vin said.
Lydia laughed. "Not really. I smoke twice as many," she said and they both laughed. She took another sip of her whiskey. Vin noticed her hands weren't shaking as badly. She put the glass down and unbuttoned the top of her blouse. She pulled the bra cup down off her left breast. "That's Tom Wickes," she told him. "That's the kind of man he was."
Two rough scars in the crudely shaped letters T W covered the top of her breast. "Fuck!" Vin said.
"He ran girls in Redding," Lydia said. "I was one of them."He was a sadisctic bastard," she said. "He did that to me, because he could. He did worse to some of the other girls."
"Sounds like a real piece of work," Vin said.
"He was," Lydia confirmed. "Until Buck showed up."
"What did he do?" Vin asked.
She finished the drink and lit another cigarette. "What you have to understand about Buck," she said, "is that he doesn't care who you are. If he likes you, you're his friend, whether you're one of the club or one of us."
"He said something like that last night," Vin said. "After Eli Joe and Marshall had their fun."
"Those two," Lydia scoffed, "are nobody's friends, except maybe each other."
"They sure ain't my friends," Vin said.
"They get mean?" Lydia asked.
Vin shrugged. "Some. Nothin' too bad. Tell me about Wickes," Vin requested.
"Buck showed up in Wickestown - that's what Wickes called the part of town we worked. Buck showed up one night when Wickes was teaching a girl named Nora a lesson. Buck taught him one. He beat the shit out of Wickes and told him, he'd be back and if Wickes ever hurt one of his girls like that again, Buck would see to it that he could never hurt anyone else."
"So, he beat up an asshole pimp," Vin said. "That don't mean he'd take my side against one of them. You know how it works. We got a beef with one of them; they win. End of story."
"Most of the time, most of them would," Lydia agreed. "Buck's not most of them. Wickes did this to me after he beat up Nora. Buck came back, just like he said he would."
"What did he do?" Vin asked.
"Josiah held Tom Wickes down and Buck used a hammer on his hands. He smashed every bone in both of his hands. Then, he carved his initials into Wickes' chest. He told Wickes he was out of the Cowboys and that if Buck ever saw him again, he'd kill him. He brought me here. That was over five years ago. I've been here ever since. Nobody gets hurt. That's Buck's rule. If they get out of line once, he makes sure they don't get out of line again."
"I didn't believe him," Vin said quietly.
"He's hard to believe," Lydia said. "Buck's a Son through and through. He'd die for anyone of those guys, especially Chris. And he still wouldn't let any of them hurt one of us."
"Thanks for tellin' me," Vin said. "I ain't met many people who'd stand up for one of us against one of them."
She smiled. "You tell Buck if one of them gets out of line. You'll see for yourself."
"I will," Vin promised. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Gotta go to work now," he said. "They should be rollin' in any minute."
"Maybe Rory will be in," she said. "He's a lot more fun than Eli Joe or Marshall."
"Ain't that the truth," Vin said and they both laughed.
NEXT: To be decided