Disclaimer : I don't own Ranger or Steph or the Plumiverse. I guess I really don't own Eva or Jeanna or Jenny.. I just made them up. By the way, Jeanna's name was originally Ari and Jenny's name was originally Gina, so if you see those mistakes, then that's what it is. KK, here ya go..
Eva Cortez.
She had been the most beautiful girl in his school; the same age as him, save a few months. He was 18, horny, and brainless. She was the typical girl-next-door, and he was the badass-gangsta, the one her father warned her to stay away from. He made it his mission to get in her pants at all costs, and, with his looks and bad-boy reputation, it probably wouldn't be that hard.
It proved to be as easy as he had predicted. He had had a night of bliss. He thanked her, zipped his pants, and left. Two weeks later, he graduated high school.
Around that time, he had gotten the phone call.
The one saying that Eva Cortez was pregnant.. with his child.
He was still a stupid teen, wrapped up in gangs, drugs, and alcohol, and was in no condition for a kid.
So, he ran.
Rather, he joined the army. (A/N : I have no fuckin' clue when he joined up. Humor me, mk?)
He stayed away for eight months, coming back only because his father demanded him to. He had, by that time, made up his mind that he would hate this kid, the one that screwed up his life. It had always been strictly casual sex, no strings involved. Now, he had some little shit he had to support. Before he even got back home, he arranged for he and Eva to get married. Not because he loved her.
Because it was the respectable Manoso thing to do.
So, he had arrived at the hospital, cursing the world under his breath. He had demanded to see the problem that had fucked up his life. The nurse had been hesitant, sensing his hatred to the child, but led him to the correct incubator. He continued to swear under his breath, right up to the point that the burden was handed to him.
He looked down and instantly fell in love.
As soon as Eva had gotten out of the hospital, they had tied the knot. He was forced to go back to the Army, and he left his new wife and child. He got fed up with the Army, and left. He had gotten a job working at a local bar. They had actually done well, the first two months that he was back.
Then, everything got fucked up.
It started with Eva's father dying. He had been their life support, the one who grudgingly gave them money when the paycheck just didn't cut it. He had, instead, began to work in yet another job, seeing his daughter only a few times a week.
This had also caused many heated arguements between he and Eva about the responsibility of Jeanna. The arguements got worse and worse, until one night, Eva used cocaine as a release, while he himself had used alcohol.
The cocaine/alcohol mix continued on for the next three months. With work thrown in, he saw his daughter very rarely. The arguements continued as well, until one night it became too much. He had thrown a picture frame from their half-assed wedding across the room -- it had colided with a mirror and peices had flew off.. and into Eva. The neighbors called the police because of the noise, and they had arrived to find Eva bleeding from various places on one side of the room, him with his hands through his hair on the other.
He had to admit, the scene did not look good. The broken picture frame had landed a few feet away from Eva, and, when looked at, it appeared that he had thrown it at her. She had not told them any different, so they cuffed him and hauled his ass off to jail.
As soon as he got out, he got a divorce and re-joined the Army, eventually making it to Special Forces. He had heard through the grapevine that Jeanna had been relocated to Eva's sister's care by CPS, and that Eva had gotten busted for cocaine. Eva had moved down to Miami to live near her sister and daughter.
After he had started RangeMan, he had gotten a few visits from Eva, asking for food and/or money. He always provided her with what she needed, even though he knew he was probably just helping her addiction even more. She always swore that she would sober up, but she needed a little bit of money to pull herself back up. He had always helped her.
It had been three years since he last heard from her. He, by now, had a steady life going.. as steady as one who lived his type of lifestyle could get. He had visited Jeanna recently, who still lived with "Aunt Jenny". Jenny had pulled him aside and warned him that Eva had dissapeared.. and that she was on the coke again. He had gave her a simple nod. He would not help her anymore; he couldn't.
So he had been walking back from the alley by Vinnie's, Steph beside him, when he saw a small figure leaning against his Porshe.
"Ranger?" Steph asked hesitantly. "Who is that?"
He did not answer her, but continued to walk until he was in front of the mother of his child.
She did not look good; worse than he had ever seen her. She had apparently shrunk, her skin was wrinkly, and he knew immediately she weighed about 75 pounds. He could see in her face where she had been beautiful at one time; now she was the ugliest thing he could think of.
"Eva," he said blankly. She looked at him, her eyes void. Her eyes flickered over to Steph, then she turned back to him. He noticed that her twitching was worse and figured she was about to ask for money.
Sure enough, she opened her mouth. "Ric," she said, her soft voice tembling, "I know I have asked a lot of you.. but.."
She paused, waiting for his reaction. He stood there, his face still unemotional.
"I need some money," she whooshed out.
"No," he said simply.
Beside him, he felt Stephanie stiffen in surprise. Eva looked as though she had been slapped, then she raised her hand to her mouth.
"But Ric," she pleaded, "Please, Ric, I can sober up, I am trying, I swear-"
"No." I took off my windbreaker and put it on over her sleeveless, raggity knee-length shirt. "I cannot help you anymore, Eva," he said calmly. He knew how cold and heartless he looked in Steph's eyes, but if only she knew the whole story..
"Ric," she begged, "I promise this is the last time.. What about Jeanna, Ric? Don't you want me to sober up for her? She needs me, and I need her, but I can't sober up without your-"
He was fighting to stay calm. "I believe the last thing Jeanna needs right now is you," he said sharply. Eva closed her eyes, then nodded.
"Okay," she whispered. As she turned, he had a sinking feeling that nobody would ever see her again.
The day after that, on the fourth page of the newspaper, in a small article, a report was written about a homeless crackhead's body that was found in a dark alley on Stark Street. Apparantly, she had committed suicide by slitting her wrists. Nobody had been there to identify her body.
He knew immediately who it was, and began to prepare himself for the phone call he was about to make.
Because he knew that, no matter how much she had lied and screwed people over, his daughter, Jeanna, meant the world to her.
And, although she never really understood her actions, Jeanna had loved Eva.
He held in a sigh as he heard Jenny pick up the phone, and braced himself for his upcoming task.
As he listened to his young daughter's sobs, he got into his car.
He still had to pay a certain Italian woman a visit.. and explain everything.
He decided it was time he told her about his past.
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