A/N So I'm new to the POI community but I was inspired and here I am. Enjoy.
7.00pm – Joss' Apartment
Taylor sat of the edge of the bed smoothing out the crook in his straight leg dark denim jeans. Joss watched him complete this loop three times already from the slit in the half-open door: play with hair, pinch out the folds on his black turtleneck and flex his triceps to show off the 20lbs of muscle he had gained in the last 18 months under his father's training, and back to the jeans.
"You could just iron them you know, and use starch."
"Starch? I'm not trying that hard."
"You're not trying to impress that girl at all huh?" His face broke into that familiar silent side smile she knew too well. "You look great, son. Isabella will appreciate the effort."
"How long have you been standing there?"
"A while. Long enough to see you've got a hickie, right...there." She poked his neck and twisted her finger. "Does hers match?"
"How do you..."
"You just told me." Taylor mentally kicked himself for falling for it again.
"It's a..."
"You're seventeen Tay – don't tell me it's your allergies acting up or hives." He dropped the pretence and shrugged his shoulders, curling into an embarrassed, comfortable slouch. "What I wanna know is why you let Dad and Grandma meet her and not me."
He sighed, shook his head and pulled out four pairs of sneakers from his closet.
"What? I'm nice. And after five months – I would think you'd want me to see how great she is. Grandma said she's pretty."
"And smart – she passed your test."
"I know you like this girl, and she's important to you, but be careful."
"Ma are we having The Talk again?"
"We're having the I-know-you-don't-wanna-hear-it-but-you-need-to-hear-it talk. You've been seeing a lot of her so what I'm trying to say is,"
"Don't get any girls pregnant, we have plans..."
"She's not just a body Taylor. She has a heart, and so do you. Respect that." A faint frown formed in his brow. "Promise me you'll think about it."
"I promise." He sighed deeply, reminding her of his father. "I'll be back at 11:30." She chuckled with disbelief. "11 then." She cocked her head to one side and raised one eyebrow higher than the other. "Come on Ma, I have to take her home first, like you taught me."
She shook her head and laughed at his punchline, using her words against her. "Just this once. And treat her right. Just like I taught you."
Taylor grabbed the car keys on his dresser – as futile as it seemed to drive in New York City, Joss relented exactly three months after his seventeenth birthday and gave him the keys to a used black 2011 Kia Picanto. It wasn't a chick magnet but at least he had wheels unlike most of the kids on his block. He tried to shake off his mother's words but she had a special way of infiltrating his mind. "She must have learnt it in Iraq," He thought to himself.
7.45pm, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
"What would you do if you won the lottery?"
"Buy 50 pairs of fresh kicks, a loft and two tickets to Egypt."
"Egypt?"
"What's wrong with Egypt? It's the bedrock of civilisation. Anyway I'd take you with me."
When she laughed her teeth flashed and gleamed. He noticed those small things about her but didn't really understand why. "My dad bought a truck last week. Ma was so mad she threw away his dinner."
"They're still fighting over the money?"
"He said it's his money and he'll do whatever the hell wants with it. So you know how that went."
"So I guess you haven't told them about the texts."
"I can't. My dad'll flip."
He turned her face towards him gently and pushed back the black loose curls she could never clip flat down, then kissed her again, overpowering her mouth without a trace of friendship.
8.00pm – Joss' Apartment
Joss took the last sip of deep red Australian wine, arched her back against the cushion and curled her toes on the sofa. She couldn't remember the last time she was at home all night, popping corn, painting her nails and waiting for Taylor to come home like a normal mom. A strong wrapping on the window snapped her back in line. The window led to the fire escape which led to a dimly-lit alley. Her mind was already fertile from the sound alone, so she grabbed her Glock out of its shaft and edged towards the window from the left, stepping lightly.
"Joss," That tense, edgy, masculine voice called her name in warning. "Put that down, it's me."
Joss tucked the gun between her lower back and the waistband of her velour sweatpants and opened the window from the inside. "John. Hi."
John climbed through the window and exposed the cut on his face by his right cheekbone. She held him by the chin and her eyes ran over his face then down his body. There was a small cut on his left hand, and his knuckles her bruised on the right. "What happened to you?" she knew her futile question would go unanswered, but she asked anyway. He could hear her concern, it felt like a warm syrup running down his throat to hear she cared. "Come here, let me take care of that." She led him to the kitchen, poured him a glass of brandy and pulled out the First Aid kit underneath the sink. "You know how to make an entrance, I'll give you that." She held a cotton ball to his face, the cut burned with iodine and fire as he let out a few muffled profanities.
"Please, don't ask."
"Should I ask Finch?" She put a pack of frozen peas in a tea towel. "Your fist is swollen. Here."
Reese downed the brandy in one go and took the makeshift ice pack back to the L shaped sofa in the living room. "I brought you wine but,"
"You smashed it on the head of whoever you were dealing with tonight?" She poured him another drink for his troubles and stared at him, guessing the events of his evening.
He played with the ice in his mouth. "Now that would be telling."He squeezed his fist, tightening his grip on the makeshift ice pack. "Thanks."
"Well I'm glad you chose me tonight." She blinked away her Freudian slip. "Uhh, I meant,"
"I know what you meant." He blinked the stinging tears from the iodine out of his eyes, regaining clear vision. He pulled her closer with his good hand and rested his chin by her ear. "You're my only choice."
9.18pm, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Taylor didn't know how to feel about what had just happened. What he had just done. What they had just done. Three years of ribbing in the locker room, and now he felt he couldn't tell anyone. Six weeks working up the courage to ask out the tall Cuban girl who had transferred to his school from Our Lady of Sorrows Girls' School in Staten Island. Isabella pulled up her bra straps and put back on her shirt. A button was missing and she was using the torch app on her smartphone to find it.
He kept asking her if she was okay, if this is what she wanted, more for himself because he wasn't so sure. Between nights of waking up in sweat, his mother's cautionary tales of the origin of the term "Love Child" and the box of condoms his father had given him on his sixteen birthday with a friendly man-to-man punch in the chest; he didn't know what to think.
"I can't find it."
"I'll look for it and bring it next time."
"And what do I tell my mom when she asks, mija, donde está el resto de tu ropa?"
"Bella,"
She looked up at him, smoothing out her skater skirt. "T,"
"I'm glad it was you."
She flashed another smile at him and fished out her necklace from between the seats. "I'm glad too."
10.40pm – Joss' Apartment
"You've been lonely." He declared rather than asking if it was true. He knew it was true.
"I'm not lonely, I have Taylor. I have my mom and my church and my..."
"Hairdresser in Harlem who thinks you're in the FBI, she's a booster by the way, and the owner of the bodega two blocks away who orders in your favourite soda from Colombia – grape Postobón – and the sex-crazed couple who just moved upstairs who keep your packages when you're away."
"What's your point John?"
"I already made it. You've been lonely. That's why I came."
"You came because once again you needed me to patch you up from some crusade. Nurse on call."
"The pursuit of justice is never done."
"Hey, give credit where it's due."
"Josiah Emmanuel Taylor, 1951 to 1999." Joss raised her glass at the mention of her father's name. "Maybe I have been, alone, for a while." He nodded with understanding. "Or maybe I was just waiting for you to come back. I haven't heard from you in a while John." It was six weeks and three days, not that she had been counting. "A long time in our world."
He kissed the corner of her mouth. "Don't worry about me."
"That's easier said than done. I care, so I worry."
"Let me care for you."
"Look at your face."
"A coward has no scars." He knew he could push her buttons with an old African proverb. She kept a book of them in the bathroom.
"Touché." She rubbed the back of his neck, working out the kinks. "You're tense," He relished in the power of her human touch. "My wounded bird."
Staring at her lowered head he came to a painful realisation. "I kept you up at night while I was gone. Joss I'm sorry."
Joss sat under the strange feeling, that he offered an apology. She mused over it while pouring him another drink. There was a scratching sound at the front door. John's eyes shot to it.
"It's either Taylor or the cat from 5a. She's looking for a new owner."
The jangling of the keys followed, John relaxed back into his seat. The door opened and she greeted Taylor. "Hey baby." Upon a second glance she saw the 5 foot 8 girl barely hiding behind him. "And who is this?" She raised one eyebrow, inviting Taylor's introduction.
"This is Isabella Dominguez, my girlfriend. That's my mom, Jocelyn, and her friend John."
"Better late than never, it's nice to meet you Isabella. Come in."
Taylor closed the door behind them. "Actually I've wanted to meet you for a while Ms. Carter."
"You have?" She glared at Taylor.
"Taylor was all freaked out about it." Joss and John shared an amused smirk. Realising her foot was in her mouth, Isabella mouthed 'sorry' at him.
"Taylor tells me you're up for a National Merit Scholarship, mmmm smart and pretty." John tugged at her sleeve with his good hand, trying to rein her in and spare Taylor the embarrassment.
Taylor cleared his throat and put his arm around her waist for support. "She needs your help Mom. We need your help." His eyes darted to John's as if to say "yours too".
"Well I'd never turn away a friend of my son. What'd you need?"
Isabella handed Joss the smartphone. "I've been getting these messages." I know where you are, I know what you're doing, I can't wait to see you again... Joss read through the unanswered chain of text messages.
"Have you received any distressing phone calls? Or silent ones?"
"No, just texts."
"Is there anyone you can think of who'd want to upset you? Mean girls at school, an ex-boyfriend maybe?"
"I transferred to Mulberry in September, no-one really knows who I am. And my ex is at GWU all on Instagram not thinking about me."
"What about family?"
Isabella looked at John from the corner of her eye. "It's just me, my mom and dad, my Uncle Lupe and my brothers. Most of my family lives in Florida."
Joss was aware of Isabella's unease talking with John in the room, his demeanour didn't exactly scream soft and cuddly. She decided not to push and it was already 10.35pm on a Saturday night. "It's getting late, how about you come to the Precinct on Monday? Or just call me and we can talk some more." Joss punched her number into the smartphone. "Here's my number."
"Should I be scared?"
"I can't say for sure. Keep the texts, but try not to read or respond to them. And leave the worrying to me, I'll look into it."
"Thanks Ms. Carter."
Joss waved away her appreciation. "Taylor will drive you home, just make sure you call me."
"I will. Thanks"
"And it was a pleasure to meet you, let's not leave it another five months." She couldn't resist teasing Taylor once more, even a little bit.
"Goodnight Ms. Carter." Taylor opened the door for Isabella to walk through.
"Be safe, and Taylor," She wiped her bottom lip with her thumb. He looked at her, puzzled because he didn't know he was wearing his girlfriend's lip gloss until now. Her face read Busted. "Don't make any stops."
Joss turned to John after the door shut. "You know I don't like asking for favours."
"It's done. I cloned her phone while you were talking."
She smiled. "I like her. Even though her button was missing and he was wearing her lip gloss."
"I wouldn't call it wearing."
"You know exactly what I mean."
"You've done a great job Joss, but you have to let go of that little boy that lives in your mind. He's a man now."
She shook her head in denial and poured another gas of wine. "I'm not ready for this."
"When I was seventeen, girls were moving targets. Never steady girlfriends. And the last thing on my mind was their safety. So he's a rare breed."
"I don't want my son breeding for the next ten years."
"For a second just see him as a man in love with a woman he never thought he'd be with."
Silence penetrated the room, they stood under the realisation of the truth. He had never uttered the L word in all their years of knowing each other. That's why it was so easy for him to dip in and out of her life, showing up when he needed her, showing up when she needed him. Never committing in words but making it glaringly obvious in deeds. Laying down his life. Watching in the shadows. Always there.
Joss had carried a man on her back for years who couldn't give her what she needed, which is why she never pushed John to stay. She wanted him to, but only of his own volition. She spoke matter-of-factly, glancing up at the clock on the wall, thinking of Taylor getting home soon. Thinking of the man in her own life. "I guess you'll be in my bed tonight. Recovering."
"Yes, ma'am." He observed her the frown in her brow. "You're worried."
"I'm confused. He fell in love with her and I didn't even know it was happening."
He pulled her close to him with his good hand pressed against her lower back. "You can't stop the falling."He brushed his lips against hers, barely touching, just breathing. He slightly parted her lips with his tongue, running it across her teeth. She tasted of pepper. He stopped – realising she was looking at him like her patient, not partner, or whatever they were to each other. The beautiful contradiction was as much as he swore to protect her the more broken he would appear before her. He broke out of their embrace.
John took a shower to wash off the blood from the knife fight earlier that evening. In an ironic twist of events, he'd actually brought a gun to a knife fight, incurring cuts while throwing punches to defend himself. It would have been easy to shoot leaving a limp body and a solved problem behind, but he was coming to the realisation that he had seen enough bloodshed at his own hands. Besides the point was to convey a message, and to shoot the messenger would have severed the line of communication.
He noticed the tiles on the wall – the white tiles with a crooked line of light and dark blue tiles forming a border three feet from the floor. There was a fish sticker that never fully came off, six glow in the dark stars stuck to the ceiling and Tayyy written on the wall by the sink in red permanent pen. Snapshots of the childhood she fought to give him. John understood how hard it was for her to let him go.
11.50pm – Joss' Apartment
Taylor was in an inherited evasive, question-dodging mood when he came home. Joss dried the dishes as he washed them.
"Look Tay," she said, breaking the silence. "I think Isabella's a great girl, the type you should be with."
He smiled with embarrassment and awkwardness. "So you approve."
"I just want you to be happy, and to be a good man. Everything I've ever done was for you to become that."
"I know Ma." He could feel her getting heavy with emotion. Usually he avoided letting her go there, to that consuming place like he could feel her drifting downwards and distracted her to keep her afloat. "Remember the time we painted the hallway?"
"You were five, I knew you'd be underfoot otherwise so I put you to work instead. And you picked out the colours."
"I wanted Bert and Ernie on the wall."
"By third grade you made me paint over it. You got too big."
"I wanted Charizard or Geodude, instead we got flowers."
She probed while his defences were down. "Have you heard from Paul?"
"He's still in Rochester with Monique and her family. They're coming back tomorrow."
"Is he okay?"
"He sounds good, it's just kind of hard for him with Monique, she's always yelling at him then crying about it. And making these weird snacks."
"She's pregnant; she's entitled to a mood swing and a craving anytime she wants. Never forget that. You'll live longer."
"In other words, she's nuts." Joss hugged him and laughed her way out of the kitchen.
Joss stripped down to her aqua Brazilian panties and matching mesh bra and slipped into bed with John. Because he wasn't used to sleeping beside another person, she had to curl her body in sync with his as he lay awkwardly in her queen sized bed. He grabbed her by reflex and caught the herbal scent of her hair under his chin. "Joss," he moaned, becoming groggier with codeine pills he'd taken behind her back. He didn't want her to worry, seeing him was enough to do that. Joss relaxed with him, rubbing her smooth feet against his leg, closing her eyes even though she couldn't sleep, feeling his chest rise and fall against her back.
Sometimes when John was close to her she would remember Paul, which wasn't hard to do as she saw him every week, sometimes twice. She remembered how cold he was after his second tour – how he didn't and couldn't touch her but watched pornography for hours, how he would leave their bed if she held him at night and sleep on the couch instead, how he would sit at the bar for hours nursing a drink and stumble home in the early hours, fighting invisible demons and waking their son. Back then she didn't know better, she didn't know how sick he was or how to he0lp him. The snapping, the crying, the shakes, the video games, the numbing of his emotions and distraction from his haunting memories. She didn't know she couldn't help him and he couldn't help himself.
"Joss." John exhaled her name, she felt his chest rising and he took in a deep breath.
"I'm right here John. I'm here."
He felt under the covers for her waist and hips. He slipped his hand into her panties, searching for her softness. "I just wanna feel you." He slipped one finger inside her, then two, stroking her gently, strumming her like an acoustic guitar. She tightened and relaxed around his fingers, her sex was awakened when half the world was asleep.
"I missed you...shoulda called me...ahhh...John..." She let go of all she was holding back and released off the rhythm of his fingers. She looked back at him and locked eyes, wishing she knew what he was thinking. He slid her panties down her legs and pushed her onto her stomach. Joss could feel his shifting weight as he slightly parted her legs and pulled her hips into him. "Top drawer," was all she could let out coherently.
