Johnny
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
John rolled over and looked at the clock. 2:36 in the morning. "Who would be at the door at his hour?" he thought. He rolled back over and saw Natalie's sleeping form. She looked so beautiful from where the moonlight shined on her face. As the knocking continued, he got up, trying not to wake up Natalie and put his sweatpants on. Wiping the sleep from his eyes he went to answer the door.
"Yeah what the hell is it?" he asked cranky. And then he saw her. A splitting image of her mother. Her blonde hair in a mess and her blue-green eyes full of pain and hurt. Their was no doubt that it was Kacey's daughter. But what was she doing here and why do late?
"Annie?" he questioned the teenager. She looked up at him, her right eye bruised and swollen.
"Oh Johnny." She said as her eyes filled with tears. He pulled her into him, letting her cry into his chest.
"Annie babe, what are you doing here? Does Joey know you're here?"
"Johnny I'm sorry but I didn't know who to turn to." He let go of her and looked down at her.
"Don't be sorry. You know you can come to me for anything. Now come here. I'll put some coffee on." John guided her by the shoulder to the couch. Noticing that she was shaking uncontrollable, he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her. As he started to make the coffee, he started to remember her mother. His best friend since high school. She was beautiful and had a great personality. He remembered beating up the boys that broke her heart and her 12:00 o'clock calls at night from where she was at a party and wanted to go home. Kacey was the sister John never had as John was the brother she never had. He had been there when she met Joey. John never liked him, but never said anything to Kacey's face. She was too stubborn for her own good.
Later on in life, they got married and had Annie; John's god daughter should anything happen to the two. The Marriage didn't last long. After Annie was born, Joey walked out on Kacey, leaving her to take care of Annie by herself. Since Kacey didn't have a job, John had her and Annie move in with him. Helping her out until she could get back on her feet. During that time, John grew close to Annie, feeling obligated to be the father figure in her life since Joey wasn't much of one. As soon as they were able to live on their own, they took the town house next to John's, Years later Kacey was dignoised with breast cancer and was told she had about a year to live. She lived 5 months after. At the funeral, Joey should up demanding his ten year old daughter. John didn't want her living with Joey. He knew it wasn't going to be good for her, but had no choice in the matter. They kept in contact awhile until John moved to Lanview but kept little contact. And now 6 years later she's at his door step in need of him. Realizing the coffee was done, he poured some for him and Annie. John handed her a cup. Sitting down next to her, he touched her eye. Annie winced in pain and pulled away, letting out a small whimper.
"Who did this to you?" he asked. She tucked her hair behind her ear and folded her arms.
"John…I don't want to talk about it." She said seeing if that would work for him, but she knew John saw right through her.
"Annie, I'm going to ask you again. Who did this to you?" He pressed her. She looked down at her feet and shuffled them a little. "Dad." She whispered.
"Joey/ Joey did this? That little fuck." John cursed "Does he know that you're here?"
"No, I snuck out of the house and drove his car here. He had some slut in his room so he didn't even notice that I was gone." John cocked and eyebrow.
"You drove here? You have your license?" She looked down at her feet again, and started twiddling her thumbs.
"Ehn." She said
"Ehn? What the hell do you mean by ehn?" his voice raised.
"I have my permit." She blurted out. She never liked it when she thought John was upset with her.
"So what made you leave?" He took a sip of coffee, getting angrier by every question she answered.
"He hurt me Johnny." She looked at him. John saw the fear and pain behind her eyes. "Since I started living with him all he ever did was abuse me. Told me that all I was to him was a mistake. He brings a hooker home like every night and cares more about them then me. I got tired of it." She pulled her knees to her chest. "So I did something about it."
"Why didn't you tell me this before I left Lanview? I would have taken care of you." He said a little hurt that she didn't come to him when it first started.
"I know, but I was scared. And plus I thought he would change, and start to love me. But that never happened." She looked up at him. "I'm sorry Johnny." As the tears came back to her John hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at Joey for what he did to you. I'm sorry you had to go through that." He let go of her and got up. "Why don't we finish this in the morning? You look pretty worn out." Finding the spare pillow he put it on the couch. He tucked her in. Sitting close to her, he pushed the hair out of her eyes.
"One more thing, how did you get into his car?" He pretty much knew the answer to this but wanted to hear it for himself.
"John you taught me how to key a car when I was 7. I knew it would help me out some day," She smiled. "And yes I took the license plates off and threw them away when I got into town."
John smiled. "That's my girl. " He kissed her fore head and tucked the blanket in once more.
"Night Annie-bear." He said using the nick-name he gave to her when she was born.
"Night Johnny." He got up and went to his own bed, snuggling up to Natalie.
"Well did you hear everything alright?" Natalie giggled and faced him.
"Yes I can't wait to meet her. You've talked so much about her and Kacey I feel like I know her."
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