"Piper! Phones for you!"
"Tell'em I'll call them back I'm in the middle of a tattoo."
"It's Jack, says it's important."
Jack,... haven't heard from him in a while, better take it.
"Enjoy a few minutes break while I take this call. Shouldn't be too long." I tell the customer as I'm shutting off my machine, removing my gloves and picking up the phone.
"How much is bail this time, Jackie?"
"Piper,... Moms dead."
The room begins to spin as I take in the news. Hanging up the phone I numbly tell my co-workers that I have to go and apologize to the customer saying that we'll have to set another appointment to finish.
Walking the streets home I'm oblivious to the lurking danger that has been following me for the last 3 blocks. Thoughts of the life I left behind, and the woman I will never again see, fogging my brain. As I round the corner taking my usual shortcut through the parking garage I see the figure behind me. Keeping calm, I casually reach into my pocket muting my Ipod to better hear the approching man.
A few minutes later I see the light of passing cars on the main road, If I can make it there I'll be fine. As I approach the exit three more men enter the garage. Shit, now my night is complete. The man behind me catches up to me and grabs me by the hand. I whirl around quickly and immediatley recognize him.
"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted to thank you again for doing a great job on my leg." Its a client I had earlier today, one I didn't particularly enjoy working on; gave me the creeps.
"Oh, hi. Im glad you enjoy it. Now if you'll excuse me I'm on my way home now."
"I see, well actually my buddies here were looking to get some new ink of their own. Come say hi fellas."
The three men approach us and I catch the scent of alcohol on them, "Hi, I'd love to help you get some art done but you'll have to head to the shop or call and make an appoinment. I'm sure your friend here has the number, now if you'll excuse me."
"What's your hurry girl? Why dont you come with us, have a beer, unwind a bit. I think you'll come to find that you enjoy our company." One of the men offer as they start to surround me.
"No thank you, I have to get home. Maybe another day", I push through them and walk towards the exit. Just as I round the corner I'm grabbed by the hair and slammed up against the wall.
"Not so fast lady! We're not done with you", in the dim light of the alleyway I can make out their faces. The one holding me is the one from the shop earlier. The others all look basically the same; tall, tanned skin, tattooed, dark hair. One had a scar across his face and a crooked nose.
I struggle to move as he presses his body against mine breathing on my face. I look around for some way to get free while trying to block out their wandering touch and crude comments. They take their time, making me feel more helpless with every passing second.
Well, I guess this is it. I've pushed my luck with this damned short cut too many times and now I'm getting what I've got coming to me. There is no point. I've been running my whole life and now it's time to just give up. Maybe, if I go to heaven I will get to see her again. Her. Evelyn. What am I doing? Evelyn would have a damn fit if she were to hear these thoughts. I am a fighter. Ive been fighting my whole life. By myself and along side the Mercers. Bobby, Angel, Jerry, Jack. Jack.. Jackie... I will not give up. I have to be there for Jack. He needs me and I will be there for him as he has been there for me time and again.
I snap out of my thoughts in time to feel someone unzipping my jeans. Thats it! Having been comatose throughout their entire attack so far it is easy for me to begin fighting back now, as they are least expecting it. I use my leg to push myself off the wall slamming the man infront of me against the opposite wall. The others begin to reach for me but I attack them in a wild frenzy of kicks, punches, slaps, and clawing. Anything to get myself out of this situation and to safety. Turning to throw another punch I am met with a hard kick to my shin causing me to fall to the ground with a yelp.
"Fucking bitch! Hit me! Now you're gonna get it even worse. Come on guys hold her down!" growled the leader of the small group through a bloody grin.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" I shout hoping that someone walking by will hear me as I realize just how screwed I really am. Still being beaten I see a new figure come running down the alley towards us. I start to fade in and out of consciousness and barely make out the sound of my name being called before I fall into the darkness.
Beep. Beep. Beep. I hear the sounds of the hospital monitors and machines before I see them. Wincing against the pain of my bruised and battered body I open my eyes and sit up. looking around the room I see none other than Jack Mercer asleep in a chair beside my bed. Smiling to myself I push the call button to talk to a nurse about getting out of this place.
After talking to the doctor she said I was fine to go home but I would need to take some medication for my head injury and that I should come back if the pain gets worse.
"Jack." I say softly rubbing his cheek. "Jackie"
Groaning he opens his eyes and jumps up when he sees that Im awake, wrapping me in a tight embrace. I hiss in a breath from the pain the shoots through my body, but dont dare to let go. I've missed him too much and am too happy to see him. As we pull apart he explains to me that when he called me he was in the city for a gig and was on his way to my house when he heard me screaming and "came to your rescue".
"You've always been one for being dramatic"
"No, thats Bobby." He laughs. We take a cab back to my place. Catching up along the drive. Once we get there I tell him to make himself at home while I shower and get out of these nasty clothes. After my shower I examine my body in the mirror. I have bruises on my stomach and ribs, one on my shin, a few on my arms and the left side of my face is a bit swollen and bruised up.
Covering what I can with make up I find Jack in the kitchen cooking us lunch. Ive always loved his cooking. I remember when we were younger every saturday he would have Miss Evelyn take the day off and would cook all our meals for the day. Sometimes I would help him and other times I would just sit and watch him manuver the kitchen with chef like grace. The smell of his steak burgers bring me back to reality as he sits at the table beside me.
"Bon apetit, my dear"
We eat our food in silence, appreciating each others company. After we finish I start cleaning up the kitchen. Washing the last of it I feel him come up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. He and I have always this type of relationship. He reaches under my shirt and rubs my stomach softly while whispeing in my ear "I've missed you so much. I don't know what I would have done if I hadnt shown up in time last night. I... I can't lose you too. I've already lost mom, losing you.." cutting him off I turn around and hug him tightly, silent tears running down both our faces.
Once were done consoling one another he tells me that the funeral is this weekend. He looks up the flight times and orders us tickets for later today and then helps me pack my bags. We talk more about how life has been for us and we share some of our favorite childhood memories. I have to change mine a bit because they all revolve around him, and he's not allowed to know that, right?
On our way to the airport we stop by the motel that the rest of his band is at and get his bags. We get to the airport just in time to get our tickets and go through security.
"Please fasten your seat belts and prepare for take off. Enjoy your flight and thank you for choosing New York Airlines." I grip Jackie's hand as we ascend into the air.
"Still not to fond of flying, eh?" he chuckles as he rubs circles with his thumb on the back of my hand.
"Im fine with flying, it's just the taking off and landing part that scares me"
"Ah, well... if we crash you can have the first oxygen mask"
Whimpering I grip his hand tighter, my knuckles turning white.
"So, do you think Bobby will show up?", Jack asks after a while of watching me work on some tattoo designs.
"I'm not sure, I haven't talk to or heard from him in a few months. I hope so though. It'd be nice to see him."
"Yeah." he says trailing off into thoughts of his own.