Where Thing Stand
Rated R
Chapter 1
It had been a long morning unloading the catch off the 'Julianne', but Joey is happy now that it was done. They will have a few of hours to kill in Sydney before steaming back to Summer Bay. It has been a long 3 months but it has given her a chance to assess her feelings for Charlie. Which she has come to the conclusion that she will give their relationship another go if Charlie is willing.
Joey takes out her mobile and switched it on; she had left it turned off due to the skipper's dislike of the crew being distracted by calls and text whilst working, Joey thought that is a good health and safety practice. The message sound beep after the mobile starts up, telling her she has a voice mail, but Joey decides to call Casey. She had asked Casey if she could keep in contacted with her before she left because, one, they had become friends, and two so she could find out how things were going on in Summer Bay, most notably how Charlie is.
Joey hit speed dial for Casey's number and waits, she then hears Casey's voice, "hello Joey, how are you?"
"Find thanks, you?" she replies smiling.
"I'm good", Casey has one of those smooth honey voices, which makes Joey think of the nice next-door girl, which she knew Casey is definitely not, she can be a hellcat when she wanted to be!
Joey asks her tentatively. "So I was wondering..."
Before Joey can say another word, Casey cut in, "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this Jo, but Charlie has started see someone", Joey feels like all the air has been suck out of her, and she cannot breathe. After a long silence, Casey asks in a concern voice, "Joey are you still there, are you ok?"
"Who", Joey asks very quietly. All Joey can think is that Charlie has hooked up with Hugo, but she is not expecting to hear who Casey is about to say.
"The cop Angelo Rosetta", she says with distain.
Joey explodes, "Killer Cop! She told me how much she hated him!"
"Yeah well they say there is a razor's edge between love and hate", Casey caustically replies.
Joey head is spinning, her emotions fluctuating between overwhelming grief and pure anger, she has to think, try and get some control, she is shaking so bad, "I have to go" she tells Casey in a trembling voice.
"I understand Jo, but please call me later," Casey whispers.
"Ok, bye", Joey hangs up, she is totally devastated, she puts her hands on her knees and tries to calm herself and all she can think is 'what the fuck do I do now'.
Murphy, one of her crewmates, comes up behind her and says, "comin' for a well deserve amber fluid JC?" Smiling at her brightly, it soon fades once he sees Joey's face, "are you alright kiddo?"
Joey sees deep concern in his eyes, forcing a small smile she replies, "yeah, I'm fine."
"You don't look fine JC", he comments worried about her pale and trembling appearance.
"Nothing a few amber fluids won't fix, Murph", she replies straightening up and slapping Murphy on his left arm.
"That's the ticket JC, so first round is on you then", he says giving her a cheeky smile.
"Woohoo JC's shouting first", crows Jay.
"Onya JC knew you weren't as tight as a fishes' bum, like Matty said you were", Pete jokingly comments.
"What the fuck, I did not say that at all", Matty responds sounding indignant and giving Pete a death stare. Joey chuckled at her shipmates ribbings.
Jay laughing adds, "yes you did, I heard ya", with that Matty throws his hands in the air, and sighs long and loud.
"Come on ya dicks, let's find a pub", Joey says still chuckling.
"Amen to that", Murphy responds.
After being a the pub at Darling Harbour for an hour, Joey has consume 3 Carlton Colds and watches her crew mates interplay, and tries to decide what she is going to do. Go back to Summer Bay, 'cuz I have so much going for me there, a brother who has disowned me, so no real home, no stable job so no reliable income, and for the clincher, no Charlie. Life is so wonderful...not' she snorts to herself.
Joey suddenly remembers the voice message she has not checked. She pulls out her mobile and listens to it. "Hi Joey it'is Constable Georgia Watson, just letting you know that Robert Cruze's solicitor has got a continuance so the court case won't happen for another 3 months, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, please let your solicitor know because you never inform us to who they are. Take care, Joey". Joey deletes the message, puts the mobile on the table and put her head in her hands. 'Great more waiting and all I want is for that nightmare to be over, fuck' she thinks. Joey gets up grabs her mobile and tells her crewmate she will meet them back at the 'Julianne'. Pete calls out to her, "don't be late, you know how the skipper gets if we're late".
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there", she replies distracted.
After finding and internet cafe, Joey searches for a backpacker hostel near here. After ringing a couple places, she finds that the West End Backpackers has vacancies and is the right price. After making a booking over the phone, Joey heads back to the 'Julianne' to let the skipper know that she will be staying in Sydney. "Sorry to see you go Joey, you have been an asset, I wish you all the best," the skipper said smiling and shaking Joey's hand, which looked so delicate in his big meaty hand.
"It has been great working with you skip, you take care" Joey stretches up and kisses him on the cheek. The big man smirks at Joey.
At that moment, Joey and the Skipper hear the rather loud ruckus, as Matty yells, "you wait you fucking little bastard, I'll get you!"
To which Jay shouts over his shoulder "you'll have to catch me first, ya girl". Joey shakes her head laughing; she is going to miss these misfit clowns.
"So JC what's with ya bags?" Murphy enquires.
"Staying in Sydney for awhile," she replies.
"Why the hell do ya want do that", Pete asks with disgust for the city.
Joey chuckles saying, "need a change of scenery".
Jay grabs her in a bear hug, which startles her. "Will miss ya lil sis" with that, he plants a sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"Eeww, gross" Joey wipes the side of her face, to which everyone laughs. After she says goodbye to her crewmates, she heads to the backpackers.
Once Joey settles herself into the room, she heads off to have a well-deserved shower. After her shower, Joey gives Casey a call to let her know that she will not be coming back to the Bay yet. "Is this because of Charlie being with Killer Cop?" Casey asks.
"Yes and because the court case has be postponed for 3 more months. Also I need to think about what I really want to do with my life", Joey sighs wearily.
"I was looking forward to catching up with you in person, oh well at least we can chat now and again on the phone", Casey cheerfully replies. After yakking for another 5 minutes, Joey says her goodbye to Casey.
Joey stretches back onto the bed, sighs deeply and puts an arm across her eyes, and tries to starve off the depression that is trying it's best to overwhelm her. Joey is scared out her dark mood, by a woman hitting her foot and saying, "You look like you need a fun night out." Joey looks up to find auburn haired, emerald eyed, pale skin, curvy beauty smiling at her.
"That sounds great," Joey, says smiling shyly.
"Well get ya butt off the bed, we're leaving to go to the Great Southern Bar", she commands cheekily.
With that, Joey joins a group of 5 backpackers, which consists of 3 women and 2 guys. Over the course of the evening, Joey finds out that the gorgeous woman who invited her out name is Dana, and she hales from Ireland, as does Luke. Sonya is from England, Rowena is from Perth and Aaron is from New Zealand. After partaking in too many beers, Joey decides to head back to the hostel. Dana says for Joey to wait for them, but Joey tells her she will be alright and heads out into the night.
As Joey passes a darkly lit alley, a hand grabs her and roughly drags her into the alley. Before she can scream for help, she is hit across the face with what feels like a lead pipe. She staggers against the forceful blow as another takes out her left knee. She screams, which is met by another blow to her face, which breaks her jaw. She is then repetitively struck in the ribs; Joey tries to defend herself only to hear the breaking of bones in her arms. She feels a sharp pain down the top of her right thigh, she tries to crawl away only to be hit repeatedly on her back and her behind. She then feels hands on her searches clothes, her wallet is taken so is her mobile and watch. She faintly hears someone yelling, then another blow, this time to the back of her head. She hears footsteps getting closer to her, and then the world gets suddenly small, and then fades to black.