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As they arrived at the house, Eva waited for Tony to turn off the engine before sliding off, sighing and handing him his helmet. She turned and walked up to the door, finding it unlocked. She hesitated for a brief moment, the druggie’s words echoing in her head about finding her and killing her, before shaking her hair about her face and just pushing the door open. ”You forgot to lock the door babe!” she called back to him, she started for the bathroom, seeing the mess he’d made of her medicine cabinet. She lifted a hand to mess with it, but then just waved her hand as if to say ‘I’ll deal with it later’. Instead, she got undressed and slipped into some plaid pj pants and a cami, wanting a shower but too lazy at the moment to take one. She walked back towards the living room and flopped on the couch, looking towards Tony. ”I’m sorry I hit Maria, ok?” she said quietly, hoping he wasn’t mad at her too.
Tony had just been sitting on his bike as Eva headed for the door. Helmetless, he ran his fingers through his hair, laying it backwards. But when he heard her call out to him, he quickly regained his senses and followed. He entered the house just in time to notice her move into the bathroom. He closed the door behind them and made sure to lock it this time. Then he just waited, back to the door and staring into space.
When she returned and stuffed herself in the sofa, Tony’s glare turned in her direction. She apologized for her earlier actions towards Maria, but Tony wasn’t thinking about that. Instead of answering her question, he decided to ask one of his own. “Who’s the guy who attacked you? Did you see his face?” He moved off the door and stood across from her, his arms crossed across his chest. “I’m going to find him E, I’m going to find him” he repeated. In his mind, messing with his family was just over the top. Though it was unintentional, it had happened. And the only way to answer was through retaliation.
Eva watched Tony and could see the wheels in his head turning. She didn’t like that. He was a smart guy, but often got himself into trouble thinking too much, in her opinion. ”Um yeah, up close and personal look,” she mumbled, remembering the man’s watering eyes inches from hers, gun at her temple. She had glanced downwards while remembering, but when Tony spoke again, she looked up at him in alarm. ”Tony what the hell? Why? You’ll just make it worse won’t you?” she said, mainly scared of him getting hurt. She could easily see that big guy hurting her fiance.
As she exploded with questions, Tony took a step back. He could see the concern in her eyes, those same eyes that he’d learn to understand so much. In addition, he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for making her worry, but this is what the MC was about. Tony might have not been born to the club, but had become a full on member in an early stage of his life. Everything he learned, he learned from Harry and Isabel. And when someone like this came along, the answer - the only answer - was retaliation. That was one thing that made the Angels different than most gangs in Crown. Everyone knew that if they messed with them, somewhere along the line, the Angels would get back at them. It was inevitable.
So when she questioned his decision, questioned his judgement, Tony decided to stand for it. “If I don’t do this, he’s going to show up again. He’s going to hurt you again E. Maria. And he won’t stop. What happens next huh? I can’t let him do this. Not again. I can’t let him hurt you” he stated, coming closer to her. He kneeled down to her level and placed his hands on the side of her knees. “The only way I can prevent this from happening again is to finish him off. He’s gotta pay for what he did. Do you understand?”
Eva’s concern grew in her expression the more he spoke. As he got close to her though, she simply looked sad. She loved him so much, but this biker part of him she was afraid would eventually get him killed. She had always refrained from saying anything, since she’d never been involved in any of it before, but this time it did involve her. She still felt like she had to let him do what he wanted though. After all, he was just as stubborn as she was, and the more she would protest, the more angry and stubborn he would become. So she conceded.
”I understand you need to do this to feel like you’re protecting me,” she said with a nod, still looking a bit sad but trying to appear understanding. ”He um, had blue eyes, and a tattoo around his neck. Shortish hair… tall, white… um… kind of a funky beard I guess? White trash looking,” she shrugged, hoping that was good enough as she looked in his eyes.
Her description of him was stored into Tony’s memory. He began to dissect everything she said, thinking and thinking, somehow seemingly knowing the person - or at least thinking he did. It was that sense that he had come across this person at one point in time, but at the moment was not clear to him when.
Anyhow, he started to stand back up, adjusting his belt once he was perpendicular to the ground. He closed into her and gave her a kiss, a smile afterwards. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Don’t wait up” he whispered to her as he headed towards the door. He opened it to become startled by what was on the other side. “What the-” he said, stepping backwards. “What?! Do I have something on my face?” the female voice called back. It was Isabel, Tony’s aunt who was on the other side just about to knock before Tony opened the door. “What are you doing here Auntie?” Tony asked her, letting her come in.
The statured woman entered the home with a smile, but as she turned towards Eva, it faded instantly. “Well, hello to you too sweetheart” he said, turning to Tony and putting a kiss on his cheek. She led herself to the dining room table, sitting on one of the chairs. “I got a message today. It was Maria. She said she’s leaving us. That she fucked up or something, what happened Tony? What’d she do?” Isabel questioned him.
Tony turned to Eva, not certain if he should tell. He closed the front door and bit his bottom lip. “I don’t know” he answered. Isabel gave him a scolding face. “Boy, if you lie to me, you know I won’t forgive you” Isabel stated, that motherly fear coming off of her. Tony looked at Eva one more time, seeing if she was contempt with Isabel knowing what happened. Her eyes seemed to understand he had to tell her, so he did. “She……..Maria got into some trouble Auntie. There’s drugs in Crown” was all Tony said, not really wanting to go into details. “Oh for god’s sake Tony! What the hell is Maria thinking?!”
“I don’t know. She got herself into some deep shit. I told her to fix it, but I didn’t know she would quit. Sorry” Tony said, his gaze turning to the floor as though he’d done something bad. “You’ve gotta get her back. Bring her back home, that’s what we do” Isabel said in return. He started tapping her fingers on the table repeatedly. “Yeah. You bring her back and make it right Tony. She’s family. She messed up, but we forgive. This stays between us. You hear that sweetie? Between us” Isabel said, aiming that last question towards Eva. She even slowed down the ‘Between us’ at the end to get her message across.
Tony looked at Isabel with a frown. “I’m not doin it” Tony exclaimed firmly. “She’s gotta do this on her own. If she thought this was the right decision, then so be it. She’s the only one who decided-” he started, being cut off by the raging Isabel who started for him. “You listen to me son” she said, poking him on the chest. “Maria is part of this family. She’s been with us for as long as you have. She may not be blood, but she’s still like a sister to you. So you better get on that bike of yours and go find her right now, or else I’ll get Harry to do it.”
The biker just stood there as though he was gonna talk again, but said nothing. He just ran his tongue through the inside of his upper lip as he’d been scolded. He looked towards Eva one last time before returning his gaze to Isabel. “Fine” was all he said, fixing his vest over his shoulders. “But if she doesn’t come back, that’s not on me” he stated, storming off without saying another word. Isabel crossed her arms and smiled once he left. She knew she had won the argument and would eventually get Maria back. The only person who could get across the latina was Tony, and he never failed his family.
Awkwardly, Isabel turned to her left, seeing Eva still on the sofa. She just stared at her in confusion. “Oh right, I forgot you were still here” she joked. “What’s your name again?” she asked sarcastically, but still pausing for her to respond.
Eva watched Tony leave and rolled her eyes. ”Bye sweetheart, love ya too,” she mumbled, running a hand through her red hair before turning to glance at Isabel again who was being a bitch like usual. ”Just call me future niece in law,” Eva said with a straight face, lifting her hand to flash the ring Tony had given her yesterday. She normally would have gloated a bit more, but she was worried about Tony going after this drug guy, and now he was running off to help Maria and leaving her here after all she’d been through that afternoon, just because his aunt poked his chest a few times. Now, a woman who hated her for no reason was in her home, and Eva had to work tomorrow for 8 hours straight. So she was in no mood for any of it. ”So why don’t you get out of my house, Auntie?” she said, the ‘auntie’ part beyond sarcastic and biting.
At first, Isabel didn’t really understand what she meant by her answer. She raised a brow at ‘niece in law’, not wanting to believe what was coming. But it did. There lay a very pretty ring flashing in her face. Isabel’s facial expression was nowhere in the spectrum of any form of joy. It was just in a plain and neutral phase, unreadable. But it was sort of obvious, that despite her expression, she held rage inside her. Irritated by the fact that Tony married someone she very much despised.
Still with her arms crossed, Isabel went ahead and addressed Eva’s extreme sarcasm. “I’m hungry, let’s see what you’ve got” she said, walking towards the kitchen. She helped herself to the fridge, opening it up and strolling her eyes throughout the entity of the cold prism. She was disgusted by the fact that there was basically nothing in there but milk, a couple yogurt cups, vegetables and ham and cheese. “Did you not do the groceries?” she asked Eva from the kitchen. Isabel nodded in disappointment. “What kind of old lady are you?” she murmured to herself as she picked up the phone. She started to dial a certain number. After a couple rings, someone answered. “Hey sweetie, it’s Isabel. Is Harry there?” she asked the other person on the line. “Alright well, I’m at……….Evelyn's house. Can you have Prospect or someone bring us something to eat? yeah? Okay thanks baby. Okay. Okay. Bye” she said, hanging up. “Alright, well, they’ll be on their way shortly. So…...You plan to show me around or do I have to do it myself?” Isabel waited. She was being her usual self around this woman.
Eva frowned heavily as Isabel went to her kitchen, getting on her knees on the couch to look over the back of it towards the woman. ”Guess I’m too busy helping people instead of leaving ass prints on motorcycles all day,” she mumbled while the woman pulled out her phone. She rolled her eyes at the obviously intentional use of the wrong name, sliding off the couch and standing as Isabel asked for a tour.
A devious, yet tired smirk abounded on her lips as Eva spread her arms. ”Why of course. This is the living room. This couch right here is where Tony and I have done it numerous times, you can tell by the slightly worn leather. Oh and the kitchen! This is where I have friends over to drink and talk about how my boyfriend’s family has hated me for the last 3 years and I have no idea why. Ah, and the bathroom, where you can see all my medicine in the sink and on the counter from Tony trying to find overdose medicine for Maria while we were panicking trying to help her despite her being stupid as hell. And the bedroom. Where Tony proposed to me just last night,” she finished, crossing her arms with a sigh and leaning against the hallway wall.
The little tour was not at all what Isabel had expected. This little girl had much more froth than she expected. Isabel wanted to throw out the fact that she reminded her of herself, but couldn’t. This Eva was honestly a mirror image of herself, a good girl with the heart of a lioness. What Isabel was mostly afraid of was that sooner or later, this girl would be the one to replace her. Once Harry stepped down, Tony would become the new head, and the new old lady would be Eva. But in Isabel’s mind, she wasn’t ready for all that. She wasn’t ready for the sacrifices, the struggles, the duty that came with being the mother of the MC. It was tradition to run The Florence as the old lady, to run all the numbers for the club. This little girl wasn’t about to give up her life as a nurse for that, and Isabel knew it.
With all her spaz, she was also changing Tony. This new rebellious person he’d become in the club, Isbel truly believed it was her fault. The boy had this image to make everything right, whatever that meant. But Isabel’s husband Harry had done so much to make things the way they are now. They were getting more revenue than ever in Fallen Angel’s history. Sure, it was a different way of doing business, but they progressed from what they were and had become a major contribution to the gang life in Crown City. So Isabel is currently frightened by the club’s future, uncertain of what will happen if the new leaders are as weak as Eva.
Once the tour had come to a conclusion, Isabel peeked into the bedroom. “He did it in here? Oh god. I thought that boy would have more class than this. Tsk. Did he at least get on one knee? Even Harry got on one knee and the old man can hardly walk” she joked. She turned towards Eva and nodded side to side. “Oh well. So you’re a nurse right? Yeah that’s right, Tony told me. Are you looking to become a doctor? Or do you plan to support yourself on a nurse’s salary?” she asked, making her way back to the living room. She was just about to sit on the couch when she recalled what Eva had said about it, turning ninety degrees back towards the dining room chair. “Come sit, let’s have a talk” she gestured towards her. “How far are you willing to go for Tony?” she asked in complete seriousness. It was that same solemnity in her eyes that Tony had when he was serious. It showed where he got it from.
Eva scoffed and smirked a bit, remembering how she’d thumped Tony on the head after he’d proposed. ”Ha, no. We were in bed about to go to sleep and he pulled it out of the nightstand and proposed. Just like that. Trust me, I called him out on it,” she said, unsure why she felt the need to say she hadn’t thought it was the proposal of her dreams, but whatever. Maybe she really did care about Isabel’s approval, as much as she’d convinced herself she didn’t.
”Nurse… and nurse alone… After all, I was affording all this before I met Tony,” she said, waving her hand around the small house and following Isabel to the dining room table, chuckling softly to herself when she saw the woman avoid the couch. She sat and put her elbows on the table, looking at Isabel and searching the woman’s eyes. She wanted to understand. What was it about her that Isabel hated? She knew it would make Tony happy if they got along.
Isabel’s question almost made a lightbulb go off in her mind though. Did Isabel not think she was loyal? Or not willing to do anything for Tony? If she only knew some of the fights they’d had… some of the stuff they’d been through and she was still around… she wouldn’t ask that question. Eva frowned heavily and shook her head. ”I would do anything for Tony,” she said softly, a bit of confusion in her face.
Isabel gave a faint smile at Eva’s answer, but it didn’t satisfy her question. She still didn’t believe what she had just said. Still there was this…….disconnect between the two women. The thing was, Isabel herself believed she would do anything for Harry, but at times found herself short of the definition. So her desire is to find someone for the next president - Tony - who would be able to accomplish what she herself hasn’t. And in her mind, Eva was not that person. In her mind, Maria had been that person, but do to her recent action, lost that respect.
“So what you’re telling me is that you’d do ANYTHING, for this boy?” she asked again. Same question, just different emphasis on the certain word.
Eva hesitated when Isabel asked the question again. Taking a moment to think. ”I think I know Tony well enough to know what lines he wouldn’t ask me to cross. Anything he’d ask of me I’d do. If anything happened to where… I’d lose everything else but have him, I could do it,” she said, a determination or loyalty in her hard eyes, hoping she’d been a bit clearer.
“But even if he doesn’t ask you, are you willing to cross those lines?” Isabel started. Her tapping from earlier resumed again. She looked into the girl’s eyes, not seeing the spark yet. She leaned forwards, also placing her elbows on the tabletop. “You’re going to marry Tony, that means you also marry the Club. With that comes your duties. Responsibilities. You try and be separate from it, but it’s going to catch up with you sweetheart, believe me. Like it or not, you’re a part of the entire family, despite…….my…...feelings towards you. I want to see Tony grow up to be like Harry, better than him. That’s how the we keep the Club running. But he’s changing. I think he’s getting used to this goody-two-shoes lifestyle you both developed here. If you want him to be successful and happy, you’ll embrace the MC and let him do his thing. Don’t resent him in any way or fashion. Just abide by what he wants and ask what you can do to make it run even smoother. When you put that ring on, you became his old lady. That’s when you chose to be part of Tony’s world, chose all the good and bad that came along with it too. The better the old lady the better the member sweetheart. We are the heart of the club family. So I ask again, are you willing to do anything…...anything….for Tony and for the Club?”
Eva listened to Isabel ramble on, taking it all in. ”I do want Tony to be successful and happy. And being with me makes him happy. And I honestly think he’d be happier if everything at the Florence was on the up & up. You’re asking me to embrace the lifestyle you want. That you want for Tony. But I plan on letting him decide whatever path makes him happiest. If that’s taking over for Harry, and running the bar in the same style he’s done, fine. Is it what I want for him? No. But if chooses to do it, I’m not stopping him. I’ll be next to him. But what I really think is that you and Harry need to realize maybe Tony isn’t exactly like you. He’s not exactly like me either. He’s somewhere in between and I accept him for that. Do you?” she asked, very serious and proud of the man she loved.
The conversation had turned from one of relaxation to a serious topic. Isabel wasn’t even supposed to have stayed, her main goal in coming for Tony was to get him to find Maria, nothing more. But now she stood face to face with her nephew’s fiance, a very bright girl - or so it seemed. Isabel felt as though she was the inferior being at the time, Eva standing much taller than her - symbolically. But despite that, Isabel wouldn’t allow herself to be seen weaker than anyone, so she stood up off her chair and placed both her palms on the table, now face to face with Eva.
“Look here sweetheart” she emphasised. “You have no idea what Tony wants. He’s my nephew and I’ve raised him, so If anyone does know, it’s me. Tony wants to make this Club the best it can be. But due to you, his mind is clouded and can’t think straight. He wants to go back to what the Club was at first for God’s sake! Those old men who started the Angels have no idea what they were doing, nothing but amateurs. So you go ahead and keep thinking that you’ll be able to stay by him no matter what, but what Tony really needs is an old lady, not some stuck up lover girl who thinks she can handle it all, because she can’t” she finished, starting for the door, forgetting about the food she ordered Prospect to bring.
As she took the handle she turned and looked back at Eva. “You have no idea the kinds of things Tony has to do and deal with as a member of the Club. But you’re lucky you don’t, because you couldn’t handle it sweetheart. See ya around…….or not” she stated as she exited the house. Her nice and shiny car was parked sideways in her driveway, without a care in the world. She revved the car’s engine as though it was a motorcycle and sped off, like always.
Eva raised an eyebrow as Isabel stood, knowing she’d said something that had pushed a button. A sore spot. She would have smirked if the conversation weren’t so serious. But Isabel had her feelings hurt. Eva claiming to know Tony better than her had stopped whatever amicable emotions she might have started to feel towards Eva, but she didn’t care. Eva just watched the older woman leave like a diva in a soap opera, revving her car and speeding away. The younger girl just sighed and shook her head, mumbling about how Isabel knew nothing about her and what she could handle. She went to the bathroom and took a few pain killers for her now throbbing head. Mumbling something again about how Tony didn’t want to burden her and she wasn’t going to press, cause his time with her was when he didn’t have to worry about all the stress of the club. A soft fluttering of her eyelids and curling up on the couch, and Eva was asleep, pushing thoughts of Isabel out of her mind and letting her thoughts wander to better memories to lull her to dreams.
