Chapter 2

Deadbeat

I need to become a multi-millionaire and retire before this car washing gig kills me Greg thought as he begin to hose down Mayor Dewey's reelection van.

"You know Greg, I'll think Beach City's voters will check my name on the ballot this year just because of how you make my reelection van look amazing." Mayor Dewey said confidently looking at the ridiculous vehicle with his head on it.

"Well I try my hardest to make every vehicle that I wash look it's best Mr. Mayor." Greg turning off the hose.

"I've noticed that Greg." He replied as he got into his reelection van, "Thank you and don't forget to vote for me in this year's election."

Watching as he drove off and began playing that annoying Mayor Dewey recording Greg let out a tired sigh. Rolling up the hose he thought about how this was yet another weekend of his that he couldn't see his son. Which meant that Pearl had even more fuel for the "Greg's a Useless Deadbeat" fire. A fire that seemed to grow every year despite all the evidence to prove other wise.

He paid his child support, acted entirely civil with Pearl, never missed a court date, and always met the standards set by CPS.

Sure it looked bad that he primarily lived in his van and was a forty year old car wash attendant but he had proved to the system that he was perfectly capable father.

Why couldn't Pearl see or understand that? How long was she going to blame him for Rose's death? How long would he have to fight to be more involved in his son's life?

Just a few more years Greg and he'll be eighteen. You won't have to worry about Pearl dictating every single thing he does anymore because he'll be a legal adult.

While that was entirely true it wasn't good enough for Greg. He wanted to be there for his son all of time not just every other weekend, not when he was a grown man with his entire life ahead of him. He wanted to properly watch his son grow up. He wanted to see him laugh and play and just be the unbelievably kind ball of sunshine he constantly was with no restraints or worries about losing his limited visitation. He just wanted to be the best father he could possibly be for his son.

Letting out another tired sigh he bent over to pick up a brush he had left on the ground.

"Hello Greg." A soft voice said suddenly

Looking up he saw that the voice belonged to a short caramel skinned African-American woman with an square afro wearing a red flannel and a pair of black jeans with red Converse hi-tops.

"Hi Navy, how's it going?" Greg asked as he stood.

"Good. How are you?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm alright. I just wish I had stayed a musician. Washing cars isn't as easy as it used to be." He answered popping his back.

"Oh come on Mr. Universe if you had stayed a rock star we would have never become friends." Navy said with a smile.

"You got a point there."

"Yup." Navy said with a smile, "So where's my other buddy Steven?"

"He got sick so he couldn't come over this weekend." Greg said sadly.

"Oh." Navy said with a sad nod, "Why don't you drop by the apartment later and woo us with us your karaoke skills."

"I'd like too but I think I'm just gonna stay home."

"Come on Greg don't be like that."

"Like what?" Greg asked confused.

"All mopey and sad." Navy said crossing her arms, "I know that you don't get to see Steven as much as you'd like to but moping around when he isn't around isn't good for you."

"I'm not moping." Greg protested.

"Yes you are Greg. Now come here and give me a hug." Navy said spreading her arms.

Hugging the short woman Greg let out his trademark tired sigh. Chuckling at this Navy tightened her hug.

"Now I expect your big butt to be at mine and my sister's apartment at 2100 hours." She said breaking the hug, "Not a minute after or a minute before."

"Heh heh. Alright Navy." Greg said watching Kevin drive up in his car, "I'll see you later then."

"Don't work too hard." Navy said as she walked off.

"I'll try not to."

"I'm going to take Mala to see Steven later." Lapis said standing on her tippy toes and kissing her wife on the cheek before she sat down at the dining table.

"Oh you mean your little Beach Summer Fun Buddy." Jasper said mockingly.

"He's a good kid and I enjoy being his friend." Lapis replied with an angry smirk.

"Don't you think it's a little weird that you enjoy spending time with our thirteen year old daughter's friend?" Jasper asked as she made breakfast.

"You haven't met Steven, Jasper. He's such a kind and caring kid that goes out of his way to make you feel like you're the most important person in the whole world." Lapis said with a smile as she thought of her Beach Summer Fun Buddy.

"Ma's right Mom," Mala said sitting at the table, "Steven is easily one of the nicest people to ever exist."

"I highly doubt that." Jasper grunted in response thinking about how people said the same thing

about Rose.

"It sucks that his dad's a deadbeat though." Mala said bitterly.

"Mala!" Lapis scolded, "You don't know anything about Steven's dad and shouldn't be badmouthing him."

"Well Steven's mom said he was a deadbeat and that's why he only sees Steven every other weekend." Mala explained matter of factly.

"Pearl also said Rose was a saint whose shit didn't stink," Jasper said turning off the stove, "and never hurt a fly."

"Jasper!" Lapis said angrily.

"What? It's entirely true." Jasper said placing a plate of in front of Mala.

"While I agree that Pearl is incredibly biased I don't think it's appropriate to use such language in front of our daughter." Lapis scolded as Jasper placed a plate in front of her.

"Sorry Mala." Jasper said rustling her daughter's wild hair eliciting a giggle from the usually angry teen, "Who are you and what you done with my daughter?"

"Nothing I'm just having a good day." She replied blowing a raspberry.

"Is there anyway you can have a good day everyday?" Jasper said with a smile, "I like seeing you happy and actually smiling instead of being all dark and broody."

"She's not dark and broody." Lapis said coldly narrowing her eyes.

"Of course not." Jasper said calmly in an attempt to keep the peace as she sat down. Lapis shot Jasper a cold angry look that said we will have a talk about this later.

Mala hung her head as she saw the look out of the corner of her eye. She hated that her parents would fight every few days over the stupidest little things. She just wished they could be happy and stop fighting for a change. She liked when they actually were the happy family they pretended to be in public.

"Ma can we bring mom with us when you drop me off at Steven's? So she can meet him." Mala asked Lapis quietly.

Lapis wanted to say no. She wanted to keep Jasper as faraway from Steven as possible. She didn't want the kind hearted boy who had made her feel like she was important and actually worth something to meet Jasper. She didn't want that kind innocent boy to meet her bitter damaged wife. But as Lapis looked at the hopeful look in her daughter's bright green eyes she just couldn't say no.

"Okay. We'll bring mom with us when go to drop you off." Lapis said with a kind smile watching her daughter feel overjoyed at her response.

"Yes! Mom you'll love Steven he's funny and nice and he even said he thought my vitiligo was beautiful." Mala said happily to Jasper.

"Well he's right about that Mala," Jasper said smiling at the joy that just seemed to radiate from her usually angry daughter, "your vitiligo is beautiful."

It was moments like this when Lapis saw the girl she had fallen in love with in high school. The kind soft spoken girl who had bounced from foster home to foster home. The girl who knew just the right words to say to make you feel better. The girl who had me feel like I was the most important person in the world.

If she only was always like this Lapis thought bitterly as she finished her breakfast.

While Kevin was an obnoxious womanizing teenage snob to most people, he was almost always kind to Greg.

"Thanks Greg for making my baby shine." Kevin said looking at his freshly washed car.

"No problem Kevin." Greg said wiping sweat off his forehead.

With a wink and a thumbs up Kevin sped off. Greg waved goodbye before he began to pick up the hose when he heard someone running towards him.

"Dad!" Steven shouted as he wrapped his arms around Greg.

"Hey Stuball." Greg said hugging his son, "I thought you were sick."

"He's gotten a bit better," Garnet said calmly as she approached them, "and we thought it'd be nice to pay you a visit."

"Thank you Garnet." Greg said gratefully as he listened to Steven tell him about what he had been learning about this week.

"Did you know there's a gem called a rose quartz?" Steven asked excitedly.

"Yes I did Stuball." Greg answered happily.

"It so pretty right!" Steven said with stars in his eyes.

"Yup it is. It was actually you're mother's favorite gem." Greg told him.

"Really?" Steven asked shocked.

"Yup, she had a belly button ring with one in it."

"Wow! Can I get a belly button ring with one in it?" Steven asked.

"Yes you can when you're older but only if it's also okay with Pearl." Greg answered despite knowing Pearl would go ballistic when she found out.

"How much older?"

"At least sixteen." Garnet answered, "A body piercing is a big responsibility."

"But Mala got her ears pierced last year and she's the same age as me." Steven said crossing his arms.

"Getting your ears pierced is a little bit different then most piercings Steven." Greg answered.

"Can I get my ears pierced then?" Steven asked softly.

"Hmm I don't know Stuball." Greg said rubbing his chin, "How have you been doing in your classes?"

"Great you can even ask ma and she'll tell you." He said excitedly.

"Alright I believe you and it's fine with me," Greg said watching Steven jump for joy, "but you have make sure it's okay with Pearl as well."

"Do you think she'll let me Garnet?" Steven asked excitedly.

"Yes she will." She said confidently.

"Yes!" Steven said excitedly, "Mala and Connie are gonna freak out when I tell em I'm getting my ears pierced."

"Don't forget you still have to get Pearl's permission first." Greg said simply watching Steven call Connie.

"I'm sorry about what happened Thursday, Greg." Garnet said quietly so Steven wouldn't hear.

"It's alright Garnet, it wasn't your fault." Greg said watching Steven excitedly tell Connie about getting his ears pierced and his mom's belly button ring.

"While Pearl's behavior was unacceptable, you need to understand she just worries about a lot about Steven." Garnet explained as Steven called Mala.

"I understand, Garnet." Greg said bitterly, "She just needs to understand that she's not the only person concerned with his wellbeing."

Instead of replying Garnet gave Greg a sympathetic nod as Steven said goodbye to Mala.

"Well we better get going, Steven" Garnet said softly, "We'll see you later Greg."

"See ya Garnet." Greg said with a wave before turning to Steven, "Come over and give your old man a hug before ya go Stuball."

"Bye Dad, I love you." Steven said hugging Greg tightly.

"I love you too Steven, be good and make sure you eat your vegetables." Greg said holding back tears as he hugged his son.

"I will Dad." Steven said before he the hug and begin walking with Garnet back to the beach house.

His son lived less than a mile and a half away from him and yet it felt like he was a million miles away.

"Oh my gosh Ma. Steven's gonna get his ears pierced." Mala squealed as she got off the phone with Steven.

"Really! That's awesome." Lapis said slipping on a pair of sandals with a blue diamonds on them.

"We can wear matching earrings now!" Mala said excitedly.

"You'll both look so cute." Lapis replied with a smile thinking about her daughter's not so secret

crush on Steven, "My love are you ready yet?"

"Yeah I am honey." Jasper said walking out of their bedroom wearing a black tank top that stretched tightly around her strong chest and black shorts that hid the bullet wounds on her left leg. Her wild bleached hair pulled into a pony tail.

"You look nice mom." Mala said looking at Jasper before she ran to her room to put on her shoes.

"Thank you sweetie." Jasper said with a kind smile as she began looking for the car keys.

Walking behind Jasper, Lapis wrapped her arms around her waist and stood on her tip toes to whisper to Jasper, "You look amazing my love. Just wait till we get back from dropping off Mala at Steven's."

Jasper let out a soft gasp as Lapis slowly moved her left hand down the front of her shorts and gently ran her fingers over and in her warm and inviting lower lips.

"Lapis don't. Mala could walk in and see you." Jasper whispered resisting the urge to tell Lapis to keep going.

"She won't see us my love." Lapis said softly as she pulled her hand out of Jasper's shorts, "Now shush and kiss me." she whispered putting her left pointer finger on Jasper's lips as she turned around.

Jasper just nodded and pulled Lapis into a deep kiss slowly lowering her hands to grab her behind. Squeezing it gently she broke the kiss and smiled as Mala hopped out of her room struggling to put her shoe on.

"Come on let's go." Mala said oblivious to the mischievous looks her mothers were giving her each other.

"I can't believe you took my baby out to see that deadbeat while he's recovering from a cold." Pearl told Garnet angrily.

"He's Steven's father and he deserves to at least get a chance to see Steven because he couldn't get him this weekend."

"Greg isn't Steven's father. I'm his father and his mother." Pearl growled jabbing her finger into Garnet's chest, "I'm the one who takes care of him, teaches him, cooks for him, tucks him into bed, and comforts him when he has nightmares. Me, Garnet not that deadbeat. He's nothing more than a glorified sperm donor."

Taking off her sunglasses Garnet rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh, "Pearl he's not a deadbeat."

"Yes he is Garnet. He a forty year old man that lives in his van for fuck's sake." Pearl said angrily, "Not to mention he washes cars for a living."

Garnet wanted to defend Greg. She wanted to tell Pearl that he was in fact a good man and an excellent father. That her hatred of the man Rose had fallen in love with was blinding her to the truth. She wanted to make Pearl realize that he wasn't in anyway responsible for Rose's death and had suffered just as much if not more from her death.

But Garnet couldn't bring herself to do it.

She couldn't bring herself to make Pearl see the truth. She couldn't bring herself to hurt Pearl. She had already suffered so much her entire life. She had been used and hurt by so many people and Garnet refused to be one of them.

So she just nodded and hung her head. She just let Pearl continue to belittle and insult Greg. It wasn't as of she were the only person to do so. Almost everyone in Beach City who had known Rose, secretly talked about how big of failure Greg was and how lucky Steven was to have his mother Pearl. How it was absolutely shameful that Greg was a man in his forties washing cars and only attempting to be a part of his son's life when it was convenient.

How all Greg was after all was just a another deadbeat.