If you expect me to make it all better in this chapter, sorry buddy. This isn't going to be a warm and cuddly chapter. Buckle up because this story is going to hurt. I call it the Superpsych Slow Torture.
Please listen to "Don't You Cry For Me" by Cobi.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Jack came out of Rudy's office on his own time, and it took a good long time. When Jack did make his re-entrance, he looked calm and collected, stoic.
Without warm up or a stretch, Jack approached the striking dummy shaped like a man. And boy did he unload on it. He unleashed with kicks, strikes, chops and jabs no had even seen. It was raw power and anger to which Milton would call Jack Style from now on.
Jack stood stock still and closed his eyes in total focus. Kim, Milton, and Jerry wondered if he had let out enough anger and was done. Rudy wondered what Jack's next move would be.
With eyes still closed, he turned his body 90 degrees to the left but kept his head facing the battered dummy. Jack opened his eyes and crossed his left leg over his right. His right leg came from behind the left and rose up, as he arched his side he cocked his right leg back and rocketed it back out. His foot caught the dummy right in the mouth and I shit you not, took the head clean off.
The others stood there with eyes wide and jaws dropped. They'd never seen a dummy's head tear off, let alone torn off by Jack. By the time their eyes left the dummy's head and went to Jack, they only saw his back as he left the dojo.
"I don't know what happened, but Jack obviously shouldn't drive like this." Kim said to Rudy before chasing after Jack.
"I hope Kim knows what she's doing. Jack might rip her head off, too." Jerry said, exhaling with a low whistle.
"No, I don't think so." Milton crossed his arms and watched Kim go. He knew something the others didn't.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Jack!" Kim called after him just as he reached his car.
Jack stopped and braced himself on the car with both arms. "What?" He said coldly. This was Kim. Jack wanted to burn the world down right now, but not Kim. Never Kim.
Kim froze when she heard his tone. She knew he was hurting, anyone could see that. She wasn't going to ask if he was okay just to be met with an 'I'm fine'. "Jack, what happened?" Her voice was soft, dripping with care and honest worry for her friend.
"Kim, I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk right now." His voice was cracked and raspy like he hadn't used it in days. Or like he'd been crying. Kim had heard his screams from the office. It sounded like he was dying. Not physically dying, but like his own soul was being torn from him.
"I get that, but can you at least let me drive you home? You're not okay and I don't think you're in a state to drive." Kim said almost forcefully, telling him there was no room to argue.
"Fine. Whatever." Jack yielded and tossed her the keys.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The whole ride was quiet and charged. Jack was adamant about not talking. Kim stole the occasional worried glance to gauge his mood. Dark, brooding and angry as hell.
When she pulled up to his house, he had the thousand yard stare and his jaw was clenched so tight she could almost see the strain on every muscle. She couldn't bare seeing him like this!
"Jack, I know you don't want to talk, but whatever you need, I'm here." Kim was nearly in tears herself from just seeing Jack in this silent agony. What he must really be feeling broke her even further, causing her eyes to fill with water.
"Kim, stop that." Jack demanded. "I don't need you crying on top of things." Jack took his exit of the vehicle and stormed to his house.
Kim stayed where she was, locked in place. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. She'd never seen him so cold and harsh, so... pent up. What will it be like when Jack Brewer explodes?
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Hey Jack?!" Kim called from the landing. "Jack?!" Of course that stubborn boy didn't respond. She would have to set up camp downstairs. She wasn't leaving him alone. Not yet at least. Not until he told her what was up.
She thought about going after him, but she thought better of it and decided to stay where she was. Eventually, he would need to come down for food or something. She would still be there, waiting. Kim Crawford may not look like the average guard dog, but she sure had a similar temper with the mouth to match.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
It was nearing 8:00 in the evening and there was still no sign of Jack. It was 10:00 in the morning when he had showed up at the dojo. He hadn't eaten in ten hours! Someone of Jack's life style goes through a lot of food. She had ordered Jack's favorite pizza so he would have some kind of comfort food to look forward to.
Kim huffed to herself and turned off the TV in Jack's living room. She had tried TV, tried reading and tried to take a nap before going back to the TV. Nothing held her attention or could keep her mind from replaying Jack's scream from Rudy's office that morning. And that dummy. She had never seen a display of strength and sheer destruction like that before. She wasn't impressed when it happened. She was honestly scared.
She fought with the idea of going up to check on him. She wasn't sure why he was home from Otai at all. Was it a family matter? Did something happen to him at Otai? He was fine when they picked him up.
The caring and worried side won out, and before Kim knew it, her tiny feet were silently padding upstairs and nearing Jack's room. Where were his parents? Were they on some kind of trip that stopped them from caring for their son?
She reached his room and very gently knocked, just in case he was sleeping. She wasn't sure if he was or not, but sleep is always a go to when something was wrong with her.
There was no response from the other side of the door, so Kim gambled and gently, slowly opened the door a crack.
The room was dark and she could just make out the shape of Jack's body on his bed. He was fetal with the blankets pushed to the very foot. Her eyes adjusted to the light, or the lack there of. She swore she could see the faintest of movements. His entire body gently shaking, almost rocking.
Before Kim's body registered with her mind, she was at the foot of the bed, pulling the blanket gently and slowly over Jack's lightly convulsing form. She stepped to the head of the bed and ran her small hand through his long brown hair. "I don't know what's going on, Jack, but don't think for a second that you're alone in whatever this is." Kim whispered in his ear. "I'm hear for you. Know that." Kim finished gently before kissing the top of his head. She couldn't think of a more pure, innocent and caring expression.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Kim woke up the next morning to someone shaking her shoulders. She looked up from the couch to see Jack standing over her, still in the clothes he wore yesterday. "Jack? How are you feeling?" She asked softly like the whole house was just waking.
"You start school today. Go." Jack ordered simply, his throat dry and his voice cracked and brittle. His eyes were beyond red and dry in appearance. Had he been up crying all night?!
"Jack, I think you need to..." Kim tried but was cut off by Jack.
"Go." His voice was more forceful this time, Kim's needs over his, whether she liked it or not.
"Okay." Kim relented, not because she was okay with it but because she didn't want to piss him off. This side of Jack had her tiptoeing around egg shells.
She stood up and without permission, wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I'll be back right after school. If you need anything, please call. My number is still the same." she whispered in his ear and hurried off to school for the day.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The first day of senior year was no different than any other for Milton and Jerry. Milton was just surprised Jerry hadn't tried anything up to this point in the line of pranks and schemes. He didn't even mess with Milton's paper.
Milton read every story; he read the journal reports, he read the opinion pieces and even the 'happenings' section. When he got the obituaries, his heart stopped and his eyes bugged.
Jerry saw Milton's reaction and couldn't keep his eyes from rolling. "What's Dilbert up to now, Milton?"
Milton was utterly speechless, so he just slipped the paper to Jerry.
Jerry's eyes skimmed and he finally caught it. Jerry swallowed heavily and looked to Milton. "I think I know what happened to Jack."
"Hey guys, what's up?" Kim asked a little downtrodden. Whatever was torturing Jack was slowly eating at her as well. Depressed by association. Is that a thing?
"Oh, not much." Milton lied.
"Me and Milton just saw Jack's parents in the ob..." Jerry was stopped mid word by a hard open palmed slap from Milton. "Ouch bro, so not cool!"
"In the Oboe section of the music store yesterday!" Milton finished without thought.
"That's weird. They never went to see Jack yesterday." Kim told them. "Or at least that's what Jack told me..." Kim lied to hide her protective watch of Jack.
Kim sat down with the boys, the three of them eating their lunches in dead silence. Kim didn't eat much, her appetite not surprisingly wrestled from her by her anxiety over Jack's situation. She couldn't focus on school let alone eat while Jack was at home, seemingly dying inside.
Milton nudged Jerry and pressed a finger to his own lips, telling Jerry to remain quiet. He waited until Kim looked up from her tray once she was tired of playing with the brown beings that had once been broccoli. "Kim, if you're not too busy after school today, would you like to accompany Jerry and I to Falafel Phil's?"
"Hmm?" Kim hadn't registered that the waiflike boy had spoken until he had finished speaking.
"Kim, are you okay?" Jerry asked. "You didn't actually try the meatloaf, did you? That stuff will immediately put you down for the count." Jerry shook his head from his horrifying experience.
"No, Jerry, I didn't try the meatloaf." Kim scowled at her tray as if the idea of touching the food to her mouth was an insult. "I'm fine." Kim lied. She wanted to see Jack and be sure he was back to his old self, that's all.
The three got up when it was made clear that no more attempts would be made to try and consume Marge's excuse for food.
"So, Falafel after school?" Milton asked in a more simple fashion this time. Falafel Phil's had really been their late lunches since sophomore year.
"Uh, yeah." Kim agreed. "I'll meet up with you guys at your locker, Milton?" Kim offered a rendezvous point.
"Sounds good."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Kim, Milton, and Jerry did go to Falafel Phil's as planned. Milton and Jerry had stomached what they had learned from the paper, and tried to act as casual as normal without seeming too casual. Kim was obviously distracted, but to her credit she kept up the best she could.
Their food baskets and cups were empty, and Kim had a to-go box and a pop (A/N: Yeah, I said pop instead of soda. Proud Michigan kid right here!) for Jack.
"Kim, before we go, I think we need to show you something." Milton said carefully and retrieved the paper from his backpack. "You should see this here, while we're here together." Milton slipped Kim the paper, Milton and Jerry watching her with supportive and sympathetic expressions.
Kim looked from their faces to the paper, seeing it was open to the obituaries. "Jerry, Milton?" Kim looked up, hoping they'd tell her she didn't have to look. She had an undeniable gnawing feeling this had to do with Jack.
"Read it, Kim." Milton told her in a voice that didn't sound his own. It was too cold and lifeless to be Milton Krupnick.
Her eyes skimmed down the page, searching for a name to stick out. A name did stick out, two names. Kim's heart stopped and she had to reread the names three times over to believe it. "This is a mistake." Kim said with false bravado. "They must have miss IDed." Kim stated plainly like it happened all the time.
"I don't think so, Kim. Given what we've seen the last three days, it has to be true." Kim hated when his logic killed her blissful denials.
Kim looked from the paper to the boys again. She closed her eyes and raised the back of her hand to her mouth while she tried to steady herself. She wanted to break down and cry. Not for herself, but for him.
Jack had been on top of the world three days ago. He was on his way up the Otai ladder and had one year to go. He was in the peak of physical and mental health. He had friends and family at home that cared for him. That family had been ripped from him, and he would need his friends more than ever.
Kim got up out of her chair and shook the table. "Get up. Get me to Jack." Kim ordered, leaving no room for argument.
"Yes ma'am!" Milton replied immediately, shocked to action by Kim's forcefulness.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The car stopped in front of Jack's driveway and before anyone could speak, Kim damn near knocked the passenger side door off and bounded for the door.
She didn't knock or call, she threw the door open and her eyes assessed the situation. God, it was ugly.
Furniture was wrecked to splinters, pictures and glass smashed and cracked, and there were drops of blood and smears here and there. Jack was a second degree black belt at Otai. Of course he did this himself.
The only piece of surviving furniture was the couch that now faced the back wall, with one leg apparently kicked off.
Kim approached the couch cautiously, not sure what she expected to find. What she did find was a passed out and bloody handed Jack, a bottle of his dad's Grey Goose sitting up next to the couch. It was standing up, a good two thirds gone.
She couldn't help stare, immobilized by this nightmarish, no, hellish sight in front of her. It was a good two minutes before one foot was moving in front of another. "Jack?" she said his name quietly, hoping to gently wake him without a startle. "Jack?" She tried again before kneeling down in front of his face.
The smell of alcohol on his breath couldn't be missed. Her eyes scanned his body and settled on his torn and bloodied hands. There were so many splinters embedded in his hands he looked like a box of toothpicks.
Kim's eyes welled with tears and they freely escaped. "Why did this have to happen to you?" Kim said even below a whisper. She pinched herself as if this was her own nightmare. It wasn't. It was real. And this was really her Jack in front of her, bloodied, beaten down and trying to stop feeling yet feel anything at the same time.
This isn't how she wanted Jack Brewer back.
Hurting Jack Brewer should be a sin, she thought.