Knocking. That was the first thing Max's murky mind comprehended as he opened his eyes on a gray Sunday morning of 1975. He couldn't understand why the sky was so pale. It had been blue for so long, and now it was cold. Then he realized – it was actually morning. And there was still that horrible knocking sound.
He was stranded at the moment. The was had been over for barely three months, and he was fired from his Taxi job. Just one too many late arrivals. So now he was living with Sadie and JoJo. He knew that if he didn't get a job very soon, he would be begging Lucy and Jude to take him in, and he really didn't want to start babysitting their toddlers.
As the knocking continued, Max decided to see what the Hell was going on. He stood and pulled on a pair of jeans – no need for a shirt, really – and headed out of the spare room for the door. Where was Sadie? Still sleeping? Of course, Max though bitterly. Nobody could interrupt her beauty sleep. He rolled his eyes and opened the door.
Before him stood a girl, in her early twenties. Her hair was a rusty red that made her blue eyes stand out. She was pale, but not unhealthly. Slim, but not skinny, and dressed in a blue velvet dress that made her look like Janis Joplin. Her haircut didn't help. Her eyes were surrounded by dark rings, and the poor thing looked like she was about to collapse under the weight of her suitcase.
"Is Sadie here?" she asked. Her voice was clear, although tired, and Max noticed her swaying slightly.
"Uh... yeah, but she's asleep," he answered still taken aback. Who the Hell was she? With her free hand, the girl pushed her bangs out of her face and behind one ear. They slid back in front of her eyes not a moment later.
"Could you get her?" she asked, trying not to sound rude. She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. She needed to put down her suitcase and lean on the doorjamb for support. "Tell her it's Julia. I know she dowsn't like to be woken up, but it's... it's kind of an emergency."
'Julia' was shaking. Wheter it was from the chill morning breeze or exhaustion, Max didn't know. "Sure," he said graciously, stepping to the side to let the girl come in. She dragged her suitcase behind her, apparently lacking the strength to lift it. She sat down in the living room besde the window, rubbing her eyelids.
Max was slightly afraid. He had never tried waking up Sadie before, especially so early. This could endanger his manhood if he wasn't careful. He knocked on the door and stepped inside. "Um... Sadie?" There was a groan from under a heap of sheets, and a barely distinguishable 'fuck off'. "Sorry, but it's someone named Julia."
It was like someone had shocked the bed with electricity. Sadie was up and decent in record time, a robe covering her body as she pushed Max out of the way. He followed timidly. He was still exhausted himself, and was eager to go to bed.
"Jules," Sadie ried, rushing over. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages!" The girl shot up. Apparently she had dozed off the the brief moments that she had been sitting, but now she was on her feet, embracing the older woman.
"Oh, Sadie," she cried, her voice breaking. "I've missed you so much. Mom and Dad kicked me out," she sobbed. "They said that I wasn't worth their time. I had nowhere else to go!" She buried her face in Sadie's shouder. Max felt extremely awkward standing there. Sadie saw the look on his face and smiled wryly.
"This is my half-sister Julia. She's into music, too, and lives – lived -- in Chicago." She turned her attention to Julia again. "How did you get here?" she asked, sounding concerned. Julia waiped her eyes. "Bus. And I hitchhiked." she sniffled, looking at Max. It seemed that it was her first time actually seeing him. "I'm sorry," she said, breaking away from her sister and trying to get her hair out of her face again. "Did I wake you up?" Max replied without thinking. "Yeah." He noticided the murderous look from his landlady and cleared his throat. "I mean no. I mean... um... no problem!" Julia gave a watery smile and shook her head. "My apologies. I know I woke up Sadie, I'm actually surprised that I managed to get in. I was expecting to crash outside."
There was a grunt from the bedroom, and JoJo walked out, wearing a pair of boxers. He looked at the eagle-eyed Julia and turned on his heel, closing the door behind him. The redhead smirked. "A new one?" she asked her sister in a taunting voice. Sadie rolled her eyes. "Like you're any different. You still going with whats-his-face... Desmond?"
Julia looked down. "No," she said quietly. "That's one of the reasons I got kicked out. I was at a dance with this guy Rocky-- a total doll-- and Father McKenzie caught us kissing under the stairs." She looked up, a determined expression on her face. "We were only kissing, that's all!" She waved her hands for emphasis. "But... Rocky was kind of radical, and you know how they feel about that." The older woman nodded. "Yeah, I know as well as you do, if not better."
Julia closed her eyes briefly, and held a hand to her head. "Uhh... I... I feel kind of dizzy. Um... could I have something... to eat, maybe?" Max could see julia losing her balance, swaying side to side. He lunged forward and caught her just as she fell. "Shit," he said, lifting her. He put her on the window seat, since JoJo was in Sadie's room and Sadie would probably kill him if he even considered his own room. Sadie was already scrambling eggs and pouring some water. All Max hoped was that Sadie didn't totally mutilate the eggs. He'd never thought that scrambled eggs could be so horribly insulted until he'd seen Sadie cook them once...
A sigh escaped Julia's lips. "I'm sorry," she murmured, opening her eyes. "Did I black out?" Sadie answered. "You collapsed. When was the last time you ate?" Julia was quiet, trying to recall. "Well, I left about... I didn't eat... um... four days." Max's eyes widened. Four days? He wouldn't be able to last that long. It'd been hard enough in 'Nam, and he'd really rather not remember that.
Julia sniffed. "Um.. Sadie, are you... cooking?" there was a note of such terror that Max couldn't suppress a laugh, despite his landlady's venomous glare. "Yeah," he said. "Unfortunately for the rest of us." Sadie rolled her eyes. "Knock that out before I hit you over the head with my frying pan," she threatened. Max saluted with a lopsided grin. "Yes, ma'am."
Sadie brought over a plate of eggs, and the water. To Max's surprise, the eggs were actually recognizable. "Hey, Sadie," he said, waiting for the plate to implode or something. "We should get you up before noon more often..."
Sadie groaned. "Speaking of which, I'm going back to bed. Julia, go easy on him. Max, touch her and you'll wish you'd never been born." she walked into her room and closed the door, leaving Max and Julia in an awkward silence.
"So... she's pretty protective?" Max almost grimaced at his pitiful attempt at conversation, but Julia laughed. "Not really, she's just... well, a lot of guys have taken advantage of me." She shrugged, taking small, tentative bites of egg. "Well, she's gotten better since I last had one of her attempts." Max looked confused, so Julia smiled and shook her head. "The food. It's actually edible. The last time I ate anything of hers, it was fried chicken, and it almost made me a vegetarian." Max laughed outright. "Yeah, she almost set the stove on fire a few months ago trying to bake cookies. Not pleasant." They laughed together, and Julia finally managed to sit up straight. Max frowned. "Why didn't you just go to your boyfriend's place?" Julia rolled her eyes. "As if. Rocky wouldn't take me in, and even if he did, I wouldn't want to be a part of his harem. Sure, he was gorgeous, but not good for anything long-term."
Max blinked. Was this girl for real? Of course, she was related to Sadie. "So, I guess you'll be staying here, then," he said, rubbing his neck. "I don't know where you'll stay, 'cos there's only the two bedrooms, unless we try clearing out--" Julia cut him off. "I'll sleep with you," she said, finishing off her eggs and sipping the water. Max was at a loss for words for a moment. "Uhh, bad idea. I mean, you heard Sadie. She kinda... scares the shit outta me." Julia laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell her it was my idea, and it'll be cool." She rose, yawning. "So, where's our room?"
It was all Max could do not to choke on his own saliva. He pointed wordlessly at the door to his bedroom, and Julia took a few steps in the direction before grabbing his hand and pulling him along. "Well, c'mon. Anyone that lives with Sadie has to be a slob, no offense. I'm not going in there alone." It was true, he was kind of a pig. Oh, well.
Julia collapsed on the bed, dragging Max with her. She laid beside him, looking at his scared face. "Talk to me," she said, closing her eyes. Max didn't know what she meant. "About what?" he asked, frowning. Julia opened her eyes again. "Were you in the war?" she pondered aloud, softly. Max nodded. "Yeah." "So tell me about it."
Max furrowed his brow, trying to find a good place to start. "Well, it was so hot the whole time. Even the nights were practically unbearable, and the rain was just... ugh. But the men. They were scary. I didn't want to go, I really didn't, but I had no other good options. The men, though... they were like... they never smiled, when one of their buddies got shot in the eye, they just kept going. It was..." he shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut.
Julia sighed. "Hey, look. It's okay. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She put a hand on the side of his face. "I didn't want to bring up any bad memories, I was just curious. Trust me, if there's something that you don't want to talk about, I won't make you. And if I do, that means it's serious." She yawned again, stretching. "Anyways, good night, Max." Without another word, she kissed him full on the mouth and rolled over. In minutes her breathing was even, and she was asleep, but Max didn't get any rest for some time.
Okay, so that's Chapter One! Don't hate me because it's short, it's basically just an introduction. It took me ages to find the right name for Julia, running over all the Beatles songs I could think of. I hope you liked it .