A/N: WHOA NELLY! You guys are killing me with the hits and reviews! Me love you long times! Sorry about the weird posting increments, I want to have more chapters actually written and let them simmer so I can do my 78 re-reads before posting. It's story insurance.
Everyone, be nice, Jacob is in this chapter. But with what I have planned for him, there will be plenty for you guys to still hate him for. Shutting up now…
Oh yeah, Stephanie Meyer might have dreamt up Team Edward, but Team Badass!Bella is all mine!
La Push and The Pusher
BPOV
I'm pretty sure Charlie had a stocked booze cabinet, but I was even surer that he would notice even a drop missing. So after a quick stop at the convenience store, some solid flirting and gifted joint to the clerk behind the counter I scored a fifth of Jack Daniels and some rolling papers. I shoved the rolling papers with the rest of my stash in a box of tampons in my closet after organizing my purchases in my closet, and the bottle of Jack rested inside my empty suitcase.
I had already taken a few swigs and filled my coke can with more. I sat on the floor of my closet, until the can was empty and I threw a piece of gum in my mouth. Feeling triumphant I stood up. Then the room spun, and the colors blurred and the fucking room was closing in on me. Dammit, I hated bad highs. This fucked up little room was giving me the creeps. Slumping back down on the floor I reached in, pulling out a few little prescription pill vials from my bag. I looked for the little red and white capsule hiding in all the other rainbow of pills. Once I found it, twisting open the capsule, I snorted the contents of both tiny halves. Then I peeled off my clothes and jumped onto my bed in just my tank and panties. After lying for a few minutes, I felt my body sink into the mattress and my ability to move my limbs was far gone.
"I'm going to have to start a rule about pants." Charlie startled me a while later. I had actually dozed off and forgot where I was for a short while until I saw Charlie at my door with his gun still on his belt.
"I'm going to have to make a rule about knocking." Rolling over and snatching the pair of sweats I had on in the morning that I'd left on top of the night stand.
Charlie cleared his throat and turned his back as I struggled to pull my sweats on. "I know you said you're not a breakfast person. But, are you a dinner person?"
"I'm not an eating person, Dad." I tightened the strings of my sweats and tied a knot.
"Is that why you're so scrawny?" He peered back over his shoulder to see if I was dressed decently.
"I'm not scrawny." Okay, so maybe I had dropped a few pounds, but nothing terrible, he didn't have to call me names. I was considering calling out his beer belly while he eyed my baggy sweats. Ones that fit me properly a few months ago, Renee had been telling me to eat; she had probably called him to snitch about my lack of appetite. "You just don't have shit that's actually edible in your fridge."
"I'm brought you a burger and milkshake..." He must have remembered how much I liked milkshakes. He'd let me have one everyday when I would come up for Spring Break. Something I had stopped doing since the 8th grade. But I still had a weakness for them. "Strawberry."
"My favorite." I forced a smile and followed him downstairs to eat in comfortable silence. I was glad Charlie didn't ask me anything about how school was, I didn't want to tell him about making Mouse Girl cry, or tongue lashing Ice Queen, or about how I was pretty sure my Art teacher Lady Reagan was probably high on acid. Or have to explain why I gave all these people strange nicknames, like Prince Charming. In truth, I didn't want to know any of these people's names, except one.
"We're going down to the La Push Rez tomorrow."
We? I thought. "Who are you going with?" I set down my twice bitten burger relishing the thought of an entire unsupervised day.
"You."
"I don't want to go." I quickly argued. The last thing I wanted to do two days into my stay was sit around and watch Charlie fish…unsuccessfully at that. I spent more than enough of my summers and spring breaks dying of boredom while Charlie fished with his buddy Billy Black down on the Quileute Reservation. "I'll stay home and get some sleep."
"No." Charlie popped open a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and took a long gulp. "You'll be up and ready at 5 am and at Billy's, while I catch some fish."
"FIVE! You're fucking nuts..." I shook my head. No way was I going, much less at that ungodly hour. A minute long stare-down ensued that ended in Charlie throwing down a french fry he was holding and drinking the last of his beer. He was about to say something but I wanted the last word in. "No."
"Isabella. You WILL be up AND ready at 5 am, and you WILL be nice to Jacob while I actually ENJOY myself fishing."
"Sorry you're not having a blast with me Charlie. Go. Have FUN since you're SO tortured with me." I was not backing down. I was not going. So it scared the shit out of me when he pounded his hands down on the table, knocking the empty beer can on the side and rattling the table loudly. "What the fuck?!"
"I don't know what kind of bullshit Renee and Phil put up with in Phoenix. But there will be NO bullshit here. You do as I say, or I'll ship your ass right back to Arizona and they'll put you in that damned rehab like wanted to."
"WHAT?!" It was my turn to yell. What the fuck was he talking about? Rehab?
Charlie, holding himself up with his knuckles on the table, lowered his face to meet my eye and growled. "Yeah, Phil was going to put you in some juvy rehab home. I threatened to punch him in the balls if he didn't send you to me." I couldn't believe what he was saying. My mom would never do that to me. I guess Charlie saw my denial on my face, because he continued, in that growl that scared me a little. "I would rather get arrested for assault on that pansy-man Phil, than have my kid in some home with junkies over a little grass. I wouldn't do that to you."
A horrible mix of terror and sadness and guilt swept over me. It made my head spin. I bit my lip to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over. If thought being sent to Forks was a prison sentence, I was wrong. It was more like some kind of torture I was being put through for my shitty behavior. Not only was this a twisted punishment, it was also a trip down guilt road, with a side of bullshit. I was tired of seeing Charlie's face, so I shoved my chair back with my leg until it hit the wall and stormed up to my room. I slammed the door behind me and hid in my closet, putting out a spread of dust and pills and coke cans filled with whiskey for the night. If Charlie only knew I wasn't just into "a little grass".
Snort oxycontin to stay alert and focus on drinking, then I could sneak a smoke if I was quiet and snuck out the back door by the kitchen. Then I'd do a huge line of coke to be up with Charlie and go down to his fucking fishing spot. The kids there would have to deal with me coming down and I'd sleep in Charlie's car until it was time to leave. I set the pill out on a small piece of paper, the two coke cans and bottle of Jack next to it, and then rolled a joint with the weed I'd broken up and prepared, then rationed out some dust into a tiny plastic zip bag. That was the menu for the night.
After breaking up the oxy pill into a fine dust, I snorted it and fixed up my jack and coke, downing it until I was drunk. I waited until I could hear Charlie snoring in his room, so I assumed it was safe to go for my smoke. I snuck down quietly and found the back door opened silently and I sat on the back steps smoking my pot in the cold. It was quiet. Like, freaky quiet, even for Washington. Usually there was rain patting on the window, and even up in my room I could hear crickets and various other woodland creatures making their noises. But right then, it was quiet. Not a breeze to rattle the branches on trees or a threatening cloud to promise some rain. The moon was high and clear over head and I got a mean chill. I squinted my eyes at the patch of woods that was a rarely used hiking trial a few yards out, and I swore I could feel someone watching me. Something. It creeped me the fuck out. I finished my joint and went back inside with the tiny roach I would save for emergencies and desperate times. Even up in my room I was creeped out.
It was about four when I heard Charlie rustling in the bathroom and stomping around. He was hardcore about this early morning shit. I took advantage when he was showering and snorted my previously prepared coke and lay still until I felt the familiar rush from my head melt down to my fingers then down to my toes. Once I was sure I was flying high, I got up and changed into some jeans and my usual black tank and a hoodie. I was lacing up my boots when Charlie barged into my room and eyed me incredulously. I smiled smugly at him and grabbed my bag. "Ready?"
"Go start the truck...we're taking your car." He must have still been pissed from the night before because he didn't even look at me when he said it. Once outside I lit a cigarette and started my truck loudly. I smiled at the thought of waking up the entire block and the surrounding areas with the sound of the engine.
I still felt like I was being watched, only to be snapped out of my paranoid reverie by Charlie slamming the door shut behind him. "Those things'll kill ya." He rolled his eyes at my smoke. "La Push isn't far." He quickly instructed me on how to get there before concentrating on untangling a roll of fishing wire.
"Charlie!" A leathery faced man in a wheelchair and a black Stetson wheeled over when I stopped my truck in a dirt driveway. The house behind him looked like some kind of refurbished log cabin. Painted rusty red with a dilapidated aluminum porch and an even worse looking garage off the side. It looked more like pieces of 7 different houses shoved together. "Where is she?"
"Hey Mr. Black." I had my hood up, flicked my cigarette butt down and smothered it with the toe of my shoe, and held my hand out.
"Hasn't your dad told you?" Billy shook my hand and laughed heartily. "Those things'll kill ya."
"There are worse things that will kill you." A similarly hooded figure appeared behind Billy, pushing Billy's chair, quite reluctantly as I watched.
"Right." I scoffed and watched Charlie and Billy chatter about swells and currents as Charlie pulled his fishing gear from the bed of my truck.
"Okay kids. Play nice." Charlie very unceremoniously left me and the unidentified hoodie standing in the driveway as he pushed Billy off into the street towards the dock.
"You look high as fuck." He hoodie murmured. I glared and tried to make out a face. "Oxy?"
"No."
"Special K?"
"Hell no." I laughed and caught a pair of eyes that finally emerged with a beautifully bronze face.
"I'm Jake." He pulled his hand out from his pocket and extended it towards me. "When Billy said Charlie's kid was coming over and I had to entertain some chick, I expected some blonde cheerleader type." He eyed me.
"Sorry to disappoint." I shrugged, not taking his hand.
"Weed?"
"No, that high wore off last night." I smirked. "I did a combo of a bunch of shit cause I was pissed at Charlie. But I would mind some right about now."
"Nice." Jake finally nudged his hoodie off and I could see his bloodshot eyes. "I never thought a girl with a name like Bella would be hard core."
"I'm a nice juxtaposition of cute name and snorting lines of coke at 5 am."
Jake chuckled and pulled a long rolled blunt out from his other pocket. "It's too fucking early not to be high on something." He sparked the long brown joint rolled in a cigar casing and took three long puffs before handing it over to me. "It's 4:20 somewhere."
"You're a saint!" I took the blunt and took a long hit and held the smoke in, hissing and blowing it out five seconds later. "Had I known, I'd have brought a peace offering of my own."
"We're a generous tribe." Jake shrugged and watched as I took another hit and coughed at the burning smoke in my lungs. "Puff, puff, pass Bella..."
We passed back and forth a few times until Jacob suggested we go inside and get out of the rain that had started drizzling down. I was thoroughly wasted now, and opted to veg out on the couch and watch Jake laugh at some morning cartoon. He was eating Doritos and drinking a Dr. Pepper when I dozed off quietly on the couch. When I woke up a few hours later there were two other guys standing in the middle of the living room staring down at me. A small panic rose in my throat when, to my instant relief, Jacob appeared and handed them two bags.
"This is skimpy Jake." One held the baggy up and showed it to the other. They were both tall and lean and russet like Jake. They had long black hair tied back in slick ponytails. One kept looking at me and it almost freaked me out. I didn't like being alone in rooms with too many guys. I fought back a memory and sat up to look at what was going on in the room.
Jake starting curing loudly at the complainer, "Fuck off Seth. That's a decent dub, take it or go fuck yourself."
"Calm down Jake." the starer finally broke his gaze on me and turned to Jake and back at the other guy. "That shit's legit Seth. Jake doesn't fuck us over like that, and you know it."
I knew exactly what this was. A transaction of the illegal kind. I was unsure who was buying and who was selling until Jake held his hand out. "Pay me." I'd found my vein to the Olympic Peninsulas' dark side faster than I expected. The two guys handed Jake 20's and stared back down at me. "That's Bella, she's a family friend...new in town..."
"Hey." The starer smiled and I didn't move. I didn't like the way he looked at me and I looked at Jake.
"Okay fuck-wads, break bread or get out." That was their signal to either share their newly purchased merchandise or leave. They opted to leave and left Jacob back to his Doritos and Spongebob. "That's Seth and Sam. Sam's cool, but Seth always complains about my sacks."
"You deal from your dad's living room?" My voice came out groggily and I realized that my mouth felt like I had sand in it. "In plain day?"
"We're on a reservation. It's rez-grown weed, and I only sell to my people, I'm doing a civil service for my community!" Jake recited as if making an official statement. "My dad doesn't know, but I gotta make some money somehow."
"You ever heard of a job?"
"Fuck that!" Dorito crumbs flew out from his mouth. "But if you ever want some, just let me know."
"I thought you only serviced YOUR community."
He shrugged, "You're LIKE family."
I felt warm from sleep and peeled my hoodie off and was met with Jake staring intently at the flash of skin that had appeared from the bottom of my tank. I knew the look and I was about to use it to my advantage. "So you only have weed?" If he didn't have more of a selection, he'd surely know where to find it.
"Depends on what's in season." He shrugged, still gazing at me as I tied my hair back in a high ponytail. I was playing it up and giving him a bit of an innocent show. "I could get my hands on anything though. You need anything?"
"A coke."
His gaze broke from my chest to my eyes. "Oh, sorry. Come on." Jake got up and led me to the kitchen where he quickly handed me a cold can of soda. We made small talk, mainly about what was fun to do in the area, where to find good music, and of course which stores didn't card for smokes or booze. He asked me what I was into and was, from what I assumed, impressed at the long list of drugs I had experimented with. "Apple pipe, really?"
"Ha! Yeah, I swear!" I was perched up on the kitchen counter, my feet slightly swinging and Jake popped me open another coke can. "We'll have to try it some time. I'll bring the apple."
"Just bring yourself." Jake closed in on me, nudging between my knees, inhaling loudly and placing his face close to mine.
"Um..." The proximity of his face to mine was highly uncomfortable. Only because I've gotten in trouble with using my flirting to get free shit. I regretted it for an instant. "Jake?"
"Hmm..." He whispered and put one hand on the counter by my thigh, this other hand sweeping my bangs away from my face. "They wont be back for another couple hours."
Yeah, there was bound to be trouble if I didn't move, so I hopped down off the counter landing on Jake's foot. Ignoring his cursing from pain I grabbed my bag from the couch and bolted for the door. I came to a sudden stop in the middle of the muddy driveway. "Fuck." Even if he chased me outside, the next house was probably miles away, I couldn't even run out of the house without getting winded. I glanced at my truck and weighed my options. Charlie took my keys so I couldn't go even if it was an emergency, but maybe, just maybe I could lock myself in the cab until he came back. The rain had subsided and my boots were sloshing in the puddle of mud I had stopped in.
"Bella, hey!" Jake trotted out behind me, handing me my sweater, not minding the mud either. "I'm sorry, I swear I wasn't gonna do anyth-"
"I needed a smoke." I interrupted him and quickly threw on my sweater after realizing how cold it was. I dug out my cigarettes. "Shit, I'm out."
"I can ride us into town." He mumbled, keeping his eyes on the ground and prodding his thumb at the rusty motorcycle leaned on the side of the porch. "I swear, I'll be cool."
I had no other option. I would ride into La Push on the back of Jake's bike and hopefully Charlie would be back when by the time we rode in. I thought maybe Charlie would be pissed we left and would make us go home right away. Jake started up the bike and I hopped on the back. "Get fresh with me again, and I'll kick you in the nuts, agreed?" I grunted as I wrapped my arms begrudgingly around his midsection.
"You and Charlie sure do threaten ball kicking a lot."
"It's a Swan Family tradition."
We rode into town after about five minutes of riding down the main road and got what I needed. Jake tried to make nice, pointing out people he knew and the rickety building he went to school at. The reservation was a pretty shitty place. But then again, it wasn't like Forks was a glittery Manhattan cityscape either. I finally loosened up and felt at ease with Jake and we walked down to a beach covered in pebbles and huge rocks protruding from the sand and into the water.
"This is First Beach." Jake kicked a rock and chuckled when it hit the water and bounced on the water twice before disappearing into a tiny wave. "We all come down here and have bonfires and get lit."
"Nice." We continued to walk and Jake asked me how I liked Forks High. I told him about Crazy Lady Reagan and the way I scared off Eric and the other kids. I told him about how weird Prince Charming was and how I wanted to pull out his sister's weave. "I swear, I think it's a weave!" We both laughed and I dodged a small wave that threatened to soak my boots further.
"Yeah, that's the Cullen kids."
"Cullen?"
"Yeah, our tribe has some kind of beef with them." Jake shrugged and took a drag of the joint he had sparked on our walk, passing it to me. "They can't set foot on the rez, if they do the elders have some dirt on them. Some kooky fable shit."
"Fables? Like Bigfoot and La Llorona?"
"Uhm..." Jake eyed me and furrowed his brow. "It's some weird Tribe thing."
"Tell me."
"I'm not even really sure what it's about, something about them being dangerous." He shrugged and continued. "Legend says that our tribe descended from wolves, we're like some wolfman hybrid whatever the shit, and the Cullen's come from some weird enemy tribe. They seem harmless, but the elders get real paranoid and check on them from time to time, they're hiding something. It's real shady."
Curiosity killed the cat, but Bella Swan wasn't a cat, and maybe Prince Charming wasn't as charming as he seemed. "What? Are they like mafia? Drug smugglers? Black market organ traders? Is that why they're all adopted? OH MY GOD! Maybe they're into selling babies!"
"Black Market Baby Brokers?!"
We both laughed until tears came out of our eyes and we ended up back by his bike. And as I hoped, Charlie and Billy were back when we arrived in the muddy drive, only now I was hoping we could stay a little while. Billy was pissed that Jake took me into town without permission and Charlie was pissed that we didn't have helmets on.
"I'm shaking in my boots Chief!" I mock punched him on the arm. "We got a killer case of cabin fever and went for a walk on the beach. Either that or we would have gotten naked and sinned on Billy's couch."
Jake and I laughed at our previous uncomfortable moment, but Billy didn't find anything funny about it. "Jacob. That's not funny."
"She's kidding Billy." Charlie grunted and raised an eyebrow at me before lugging his fishing case and rod in the back of my truck again. "We're gonna head out now."
"Was nice seeing you Bella." Billy shook my hand and smiled warmly at me. "Will we see you soon?"
"Yeah sure!" I looked over at Jake and made the "Call me" signal with my hand over my ear, mouthing it at the same time.
"You and Jacob got along." Not sure if it was a question or a statement I didn't say anything when I pulled onto the 101 and headed back towards Forks. "Bells?"
"Yeah, he's fun."
"Bella." He had a habit of grunting when he was trying to be all parental and shit. I knew where he was going. "There wasn't any kind of fooling arou-"
"I didn't fuck him dad." Very matter of factly as I prayed for my truck to go just a little faster. I wasn't about to start opening up to Charlie about what I did or didn't do with Jacob Black. Or any man for that matter. "Okay?"
"I didn't mean that." Even in the darkening light of the cab I could see his face flush red. That's another thing I inherited from Charlie, aside from his dark eyes and wavy hair, I blushed beet red whenever I was truly embarrassed. The fact that I was so jaded was a blessing because nothing really embarrassed me anymore. I couldn't remember the last time I blushed as hard as Charlie had a moment before. "Well, Jacob is a good kid. He's always willing to push his dad around."
"He's good at pushing other things too." I thought.
A/N: Okay, I'm holding any more chapters hostage until I finish TWO more chapters. No, seriously. I need at least a two chapter cushion so I don't feel pressure. Anyhoo…review and I might post faster. Hehe.
Currently Playing:
People Are Strange – The Doors
Moneymaker – Rilo Kiley