Fragile Hope

Young Jess was busy playing in his room, making his Ninja Turtles action figures fight Shredder and his Lego henchmen. He made kicking noises with his mouth as Michelangelo took down the mini yellow people in one swoosh.

"Cowabunga," Jess said, trying to copy what the character says on the cartoon.

Just as Mikey was about to take on Shredder, next, shouting echoed from down the hall. At first, Jess was about to go hide under his bed like he usually did whenever his mom got into a fight with one of her latest boyfriends, but then suddenly a sound of a slap was heard, followed by a loud crash and his mom's cussing.

Something inside the small boy made him spring to his feet and race down the hall, stopping just before reaching the entryway of the living room/kitchen.

Peeking around the frame, he saw his mom laying on the floor, propped up on one arm and nursing a bruised eye.

Chuck was standing over her, a half empty beer bottle in his hand. Despite it being February, all he had on was ripped jeans and a white tank top. "Dn' ever speak that way to me ag'n, bi'ch!" His words slurred, exposing his drunkenness.

At that, Jess sprang from his hiding place and dashed over to get between Chuck and his mom.

"Don't hurt my mom!"

Of course, that only made Chuck even more angry. "Get outta here, you lil' rugrag!" He grabbed a hold of Jess' long sleeved camo shirt and threw him to the side. "Can' ya see us grown-ups are talk'n?"

Jess landed hard on the old, stained carpet.

"Go back to your room, sweetie," he heard his mom tell him. "I'll be in to tuck you in, later. Alright?"

Jess looked over at her, getting a better look at his mom's eye. That's when he noticed blood was also dripping from her head and onto the floor, forming a puddle. The bruise near her eye looked like it was swelling up, as well. "But, Mom," he tried to object, worry for her read all over his face.

"I said, go," she ordered him but still with some gentleness in there.

Tears were fighting to surface, not wanting to leave his mom alone with that horrible man.

Suddenly, Chuck started walking towards the boy when he still hadn't moved. "Wa's wrong with ya? Can' a smart lil' bookworm such as yerself follow a simple order?" The guy grabbed up Jess once more and dragged him back out to the hallway.

The minute he did, Liz leaped to her feet and tried to get Chuck to drop him, pounding her fists against his back, ordering to let her son go. Chuck quickly spun around and backhanded her where she lost her footing again.

"Stop hurting her, you...you…you big dick!" Jess tried his best to squirm away out of the man's strong grip on his shirt. He swung his small fists at him and kicked his feet but to no avail.

Soon, he felt himself being flung through the air and landed on the floor of his bedroom.

"Now, you...you stay put in 'ere, otherwise, I'm gunna have to teach ya a lesson." With that said and done, Chuck slammed the door shut, leaving Jess to lay there. His toys were scattered around him. He ignored the pain in his side from landing on Michelangelo.

Jess tried his best not to give in to the tears that were still fighting to surface. But, the fact he felt he had failed in trying to protect his mom made it all the more difficult.

After a few minutes, unable to bear the pain from his side, he pulled Mikey out from under him and just clutched the hard plastic turtle in his hand, close to him, holding his one and only friend for comfort.

Finally, the battle was won but Jess wasn't the victor. Instead, tears began pouring down both sides of his face as more shouting was heard for another five minutes straight before he heard the front door squeak, and then slammed and soon, quietness filled the small, two bedroom apartment.

Hoping it was Chuck who had left, Jess pushed himself to his feet and went over to reach up for the doorknob, opening it enough to peer down the hall.

Swallowing first, he mustered up some courage to call out. "Mom?"

No response. Had it been Chuck, he would have yelled at him. So, Jess slipped out and made his way back to the living room. He was still cautious, though, just in case.

Jess peered into the living room, seeing no one. Slipping more into the room, he looked around until his light brown eyes saw his mother sitting over at the table, lighting up once again.

Making his way over, now a little more confident now that he knew it was Chuck who had left, Jess climbed onto the chair beside her.

"Are you okay, Mom?" He couldn't help stare up at his mom's swollen eye, noticing the trail of blood dripping down the side of her face from her head.

"I'm fine, sweetie. Go back to your room before Chuck comes back and finds you out here." She took a puff on her joint, no doubt about to get high once again.

"But, Mom, you're hurt. You need a doctor," he tried to insist.

"I'll be fine, Jess. Trust me. Now go, I don't want him touching you," she too tried to insist.

"Then, make him go away. Tell him, he's not allowed here anymore," Jess just argued back at her, not giving in.

His mom took the joint away from her mouth. "You know I can't do that!" she snapped at him. "Now, get back to your room, please."

Jess still wouldn't budge. He just sat there, hoping pleading with his eyes would get her to listen.

"I said, go!" She too grabbed him and yanked him off the chair, shoving him towards his room.

Jess managed to catch himself that time since his mom didn't do it in the same manner as Chuck did. He did look back one last time to see she had gone back to trying to get high. He tried to open his mouth but no words came that time.

Turning back around, Jess slowly made his way back to his room, still clutching Mikey in his hand.

Once he was back in his room, Jess shut the door behind him and went over to drop on the edge of his bed. He sat there for a long time just staring at his action figure as it looked back at him. Why couldn't he be more brave like his favorite Ninja Turtle? Better yet, why couldn't he have magical powers like Matilda? That'll show Chuck he can't mess with them.

Jess looked over at the book on his nightstand which was actually an upside down milk crate with a small reading lamp sitting on it.

Laying down on his pillow, Jess grabbed the book and continued to read Matilda to try and take his mind off of everything and escape to Matilda's world. Not that hers was any better, what with mean parents, an older brother who bullied her, and a principal who was just plain evil. At least she had a way to deal with them.

Jess got a few more pages in before sleep overcame him. When he woke up again, the room was in darkness, quickly realizing night was upon them.

He looked around as Jess sat up, putting his feet on the floor. The apartment was quiet except for the sounds of New York's after hours were heard outside. Somewhere, a dog barked from a distant.

Clutching Mikey in his hand, still, Jess crept over to the door, opening it just enough to poke his head out. The light was still on in the living room but this time he could hear the heavy snoring of Chuck from across the hall.

Slipping out, he tip-toed down the hall and looked around the wall. This time, his mom was nowhere in sight. Jess moved more into the room for a better look. Nothing. The chair she had been sitting in now was vacant.

He crept back out into the hall and carefully made his way over to peek his head into the master bedroom. Chuck's big, calloused feet hung over the edge of the mattress and box springs that sat on a metal bed frame. Beside him was his mom, sleeping while cuddling his arm.

Jess' little heart just about stopped at what he saw. But before tears could even begin to fight, it slowly turned to rage.

Quickly but quietly, Jess hurried back to his room and grabbed his backpack for school. He then started packing a few clothes that could fit, plus his toys he was playing with earlier and his book.

He slipped back out to quietly grab his toothbrush from the bathroom and some cookies from the kitchen since there wasn't time to make himself a sandwich, in fear of Chuck waking up. That said, he finished packing what he could and got his shoes and jacket on, zipping it up before tip-toeing over towards the front door which made him a little nervous since it squeaked whenever someone opened it.

Thankfully, Jess only opened it enough for him to fit through, avoiding the squeak in the process and made his way in search of a pay phone. Before he left, he had made sure to pack the jar of change he was saving up for a new book to read.

The streets were mostly quiet but a car would drive by every few moments. New York never really died down completely after all.

A few blocks away, Jess managed to spot a payphone underneath a streetlight. He hurried over and had to stand on his tip-toes to at least reach the metal cord of the receiver, pulling it down. His eyes scanned the payphone for the change shot, spotting it at the very top and out of his reach.

He looked around at his surroundings in hope of anything he could use to stand on to be able to reach and of course dial his uncle's number, the only other person he knew he could call and the only decent guy the boy knew. But, there wasn't anything in sight. However, it was inside what looked like an open box to him.

So, pushing himself up, onto the ledge, which was just wide enough for his legs to hang off of, Jess pushed in the coins needed and dialed his uncle's number.

"If you or Jess ever need help, call me. Day or night, his uncle's words echoed in his mind as Jess pushed each number on the keypad. Jess held the receiver to his ear that was basically the size of his head.

It rang and rang over and over again.

"Come on, Uncle Luke. Come on," he prayed to himself, under his breath. "Please pick up."

It eventually stopped and his uncle's voice came on the phone, sounding like he was out of breath. "Hello?"

"Uh...Uncle Luke?"

"Jess? Jess, is that you?"

"Who else calls you Uncle Luke?" Jess couldn't resist with a smirk.

"Alright, smartass," Luke told his nephew, unamused as the boy couldn't help snicker.

"Did you just call me for that?" he questioned. "Because I almost hurt myself, getting out of the shower to come answer the phone."

"I really don't need that picture in my head, Uncle Luke," Jess said, slowly shaking his head. He was holding onto the edge of the payphone for balance so he wouldn't fall.

"I'm hanging up, now, Jess. Good night."

Before his uncle could actually hang up, Jess yelled out, "Wait!"

"What is it, Jess? It's late and I'm tired. Plus, I have an order coming in, early, tomorrow, I gotta be up for."

"Oh." The boy suddenly fell silent.

His uncle must have sensed something was wrong. A truck drove by, blowing its horn at someone. Jess had his back to the street so he couldn't see who it was. "Jess, what's wrong?"

Suddenly, the tears resumed their fight.

"Jess, talk to me. What happened? Is it your mom?" There was a sense of urgency in his voice.

The verbal thing was starting to come and go and always at the worst possible time. His chest was starting to heave.

"Jess? Come on, buddy. Talk to me. Tell me what happened."

Wiping his face on his jacket sleeve, the boy mustered up to get some kind of words out. Something. "Please come get me."

"Where are you?"

Jess looked over his shoulder, noticing he was at an intersection. The light above the street signs said, tenth and Main Street. He managed to read off the signs to his uncle.

"Okay, stay put. I'm coming to get you." That said, both uncle and nephew ended the call and hung up.

Once Jess hung the receiver on the hook, he climbed down and turned around to finally get a look at his surroundings. Jess clutched Mikey in his hands, shivering from the cold. Listening to his uncle, he sat on a cement ledge that was beside the payphone, staying put with a streetlight illuminating him from overhead. The boy wasn't sure how far away his uncle lived having never visited him. His uncle had always visited them, especially whenever his mom had gotten them in deep water again.

Sitting there for a good fifteen minutes, a rumbling sound was heard from his stomach. Taking off his backpack, Jess opened it and dug out the cookies he had brought, wishing he had milk when he twisted the cookie apart and licked off the filling before eating the actual cookie pieces.

Jess munched on enough to satisfy his stomach for now and put the rest away, slinging his backpack back onto his back. Still holding onto Mikey, he brought his feet up to pin his knees to his chest to try and get warm, his arms between his front and his legs.

After a while, he tried to read some more of Matilda. Being late in the night, Jess ended up dozing off again, being awakened by some guy reaching out to him.

"Hey, kid. What you doing out here all alone?"

Jess just stared up at him, ready to kick him in the balls if needed.

The guy reached out to touch his cheek. "How about if I take ya somewhere? Get ya somewhere warm? How's that? You like pizza?"

Jess kept silent, staring up at him. He did jerk his head away from the guy's touch.

"Now, don't fight now. You don't want any trouble, now do ya?" The guy tried to take hold of Jess' arm but he was able to bolt to his feet and out of the way. Just as the guy was about to make another move, the two of them were engulfed in bright headlights pulling up and stopping by the curb.

They looked over in time to see the door on the driver's side, open and someone step out and storm around the front of what Jess could make out to be his uncle's truck. Sure enough, Luke was coming over, glaring right at the guy.

Grabbing a hold of the guy by the shoulders, Luke jerked him away from Jess before punching him in the face and telling him to get out of his sight before he does even worse to him. The guy looked back over his shoulder as he walked away, glaring at Luke.

With him taken care of, Luke focused on his nephew, kneeling to his level.

"Jess, what the hell are you doing out here all by yourself?" He immediately took off his own jacket and wrapped the boy in it, noticing Jess still shivering. The grown man's jacket practically engulfed the five-year-old's small form like a large blanket.

Standing up, Luke led his nephew over to his truck where he opened the passenger side door and lifted him inside, closing the door afterwards. He then hurried back around to his side and slid in under the wheel.

Luke reached over to make sure the vents were on Jess to warm him up. He also turned the heater up a little more before turning in his seat to fully face the boy, demanding once more why he was out there alone and where was his mom, starting one of his rants how he must have broken about fifty laws getting here as quick as he possibly could.

His uncle held a firm expression towards the boy, awaiting an explanation. Unfortunately, the verbal thing came and went again, and Jess stared down at nothing in particular.

"Jess William Mariano, I am waiting," Luke held it just a bit more. Despite his uncle not being that fond of kids, the guy still had a soft spot for them, especially him. Out of the corner of his eye, Jess could see his uncle's facial expressions soften.

"What's going on, Jess?" he asked in a gentle tone this time.

Jess was fighting back the tears once more, not wanting to break down in front of his uncle. But, thinking about all that had happened earlier and what he saw that caused him to leave, it broke him once again as a lone tear floated down his left cheek.

His uncle must have seen it because he felt himself be pulled in after Luke had scooted closer, and held the boy in his right arm.

"It's okay, Jess. I'm here, I'm always here."

Jess allowed his uncle to hold him. Before long, he was burying his face into the familiar flannel his uncle always wore, gripping Mikey in his right hand.

Author's Note:

This will be a two part mini story so there will be one more chapter coming. I've had this idea stuck in my head for quite a while now and finally decided to get it out.