Author's Note: I hope y'all are enjoying the story so far. I truly am. I wish I were further in writing it than I am right now, but I'm otherwise extremely happy with it. I hope y'all are too!
Thank you autumnamberleaves, Ealasaid Una, JacobsConlonBrooklynNewsie, natalieblack2, Rachel, and destaaa246 for your absolutely wonderful reviews. Keep sending in your feedback. It never ceases to make me smile. :)
Chapter 4- Ribbons
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey, if you stay, I'll be forgiving
Nothing you can say can stop be going home
~Famous Last Words: My Chemical Romance~
Al's hand was fixed firmly over her mouth as she struggled to contain her scream of joy. She stared at the paper in her hands in disbelief. Four years. It had been four years since she had laid eyes on her brother and now he was coming home. She could hardly bear her excitement.
Jack had left only a week after her wedding. One day he was there and the next he wasn't. Al was inconsolable for nearly a week afterward. She had always expected her brother to go ahead and pack up for Santa Fe at some point, and even though she knew he wasn't much for goodbyes, she had always expected him to at least say goodbye to her.
So half of her had believed he had left and the other half searched up and down the streets for days, terrified she would find his corpse in the next alleyway, having been stabbed or beaten to death. It was a viable possibility in a big city and the more Al worried, the more panicky she became. After all, her brother knew her policy about the newsboys coming to her when they left at the very least.
He would have told me, she had recited like it was a mantra that would bring him back to her. He would have told me.
It had taken a week and a half after his departure for the letter to arrive. Al had read the message and laid her head in her hands to cry. David had rubbed circles on her back until she stopped. That was when she started breaking things. She had been so angry at Jack for scaring her so badly that she had gone on a sort of rampage, screaming about what a bastard her brother was and that he had a lot of nerve writing to her and expecting her to be happy for him. It had taken David a good half hour and a few cigarettes to calm her down.
Al almost smiled when she thought back to it. Poor David - having to deal with a half-crazy new bride for the first couple weeks of their marriage.
The first letter in response had been one where she lashed out at her brother with everything in her. She had been so angry. Of course, she didn't realize that David had already responded in another letter, reprimanding his friend for being stupid but also warning him about how distraught Al had been and that his first letter from her was likely to be a doozie.
After a few weeks had passed, though, Al forgave him and they started exchanging letters as often as possible. Al looked forward to each new letter from her brother with special delight.
Now he was coming back.
Al could hardly contain herself, so she shuffled back to her bedroom and got on her knees on her side of the bed so that she was hovering over David.
"Wake up," she cried, shaking him awake with both hands. "Wake up, Davy! Wake up!"
David groaned and opened his eyes. He saw the grin on her face and furrowed his brow for a moment before shooting upright and nearly knocking heads with her.
"Is it the baby? Do I needa call Genie? S'it time? It's too early!" His words were slurred with sleep and there was both excitement and terror in his eyes.
Al laughed and grabbed at his shoulders so he would stay seated and not start running to find his loafers.
"Jack's coming home!" she squealed. "Jack's coming home!"
"What?" David tugged at his ear and looked confused.
"JACK!" she slammed into her husband to give him an excited hug and nearly knocked the both of them off their shared bed.
David caught her and laughed. "Well, it's about time."
He sat up and helped her maneuver her way out of bed without falling out of it. She beamed up at him and gave him a long kiss.
"You taste like eggs," he pointed out as he pulled away.
"Better than morning breath," she teased.
Jenna woke to the sound of Al squealing in the other room about something or other and she slid out of bed, running her hands through her hair in an attempt to comb out the tangles. She was surprised at how well she had slept. She had expected to be up most of the night, the way she often was any time she had to sleep in a strange new place. The bed had been so comfortable though that she had somehow managed to sleep the whole night through. In fact, she couldn't remember having slept this well since she was a child.
She slid out of bed and pushed her hair out of her face. She had set the clothes Al had given her on the kitchen chair she had dragged into the room last night to use as a second lock, in case they had a key or if the lock wasn't as good as it seemed. She moved toward it now. She ran her hand over the fabric and smiled despite herself. It was so clean and soft that she could hardly stand it. Like the nightgown, it wasn't anything expensive, but it was volumes better than the clothes Jenna had been wearing for longer than she cared to remember.
The outfit consisted of a light skirt in a cherry brown color and a cream-colored shirt. Al had even left a ribbon or two for her to decorate her hair with. After Jenna slipped into the clothes and gently laid the nightgown over the side of the bed, she moved to sit on the edge of the small bed she had occupied the night before and held the ribbons gently in her hand. They were both red and she stroked them gently with her thumb. Something in the back of her head told her that she was probably too old to wear ribbons in her hair, but they were so pretty that she could hardly stand it.
She looked up and glared at the door as if she could see the people on the other side of it. What were they thinking, giving her ribbons like these? What did they want from her? She turned her glare toward the ribbons and moved to throw them across the room, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Instead, she held them tighter to her chest and continued to glare at the door, doing her best to discern the motives of these Jacobs people.
She would stay locked in this room all day if she had to.
After ten minutes of sitting that way, Jenna grew restless. She gently laid the ribbons on the side of the bed and started pacing the length of the room. She wished there was a mirror so she could see how the ribbons would appear in her hair without actually leaving the room with them. She refused to wear them; they were tainted. If she wore them, she would be even more in their debt. In her eyes, the ribbons were some sort of bribe, some means of trickery that she wouldn't be fooled into accepting.
As it was, there was only her little bed, the kitchen chair, her worn shoes, and a cradle in the room. This room must be the future baby's room. Jenna wrinkled her nose at the ugly, faded pink blanket that lay strewn across it. Were they hoping for a girl or was this something from when Al was a little kid?
By the time she worked up the resolve to leave the room, she had already planned what she would do. She would wait until she had received her clothes and then she'd go up to Midtown or something. It had been a while since she'd been in that part of Manhattan and maybe she would be able to sleep on that fire escape that she had found last time. It was well concealed and made her feel much safer than most other places. She would stay there a while before moving on to Queens. She needed to stay out of Brooklyn as long as possible after what had happened yesterday.
Jenna pulled the chair away from the door and moved it to the side before unlocking the door and poking her head out. The hallway was clear. The voices of David and Al had stopped at least half an hour ago. It was about midmorning now and Jenna wondered if they had left her here alone. The thought made her anxious. Were they really so stupid as to let a complete stranger wander through their house alone?
She quietly made her way to the living room and nearly jumped when she saw Al asleep in the red, high-backed chair that looked entirely out of place, even among the mismatched furniture. From what Jenna had seen of Al, she didn't seem the type for ornate furniture, even if she could afford it. She lay now with her head lolling backward and her arms wrapped around her stomach. Her face was scrunched up like she was having a bad dream and Jenna couldn't help but wonder what it was about.
Standing there, she wondered what she was now expected to do. She strongly considered just leaving now. If she took off, she could keep the soft clothes and maybe even take the ribbons with her. She wouldn't be forced to figure out the reasoning behind the Jacobs' hospitality.
Even as she considered it, Al's head started to turn back and forth and she was whispering protests, her hands clenching and unclenching in her lap. Concerned, Jenna moved closer, unsure whether or not she should wake the older girl. Al's jaw quivered and she whimpered barely loud enough for Jenna to hear it, but that was enough for her. Reaching out a hand, she shook Al's shoulder softly. "Al?"
Al's eyes shot open and she sat up so quickly that Jenna jumped backward out of fright. Al blinked rapidly. She looked scared for a moment, but the emotion vanished when she seemed to realize that whatever it was she had been dreaming about was over. She smiled when she laid eyes on Jenna.
"You're up," she announced, stretching in her seat. "Did you see the breakfast I made for ya? It's in the oven."
Jenna shook her head, her brow furrowed as she wondered what it was that Al had been dreaming about.
"Well, come on." Al moved toward the kitchen and Jenna followed wordlessly, entirely surprised that this woman had chosen to feed her not once, but twice. She pulled out a plate of eggs from the oven and felt her stomach gurgle its approval. "It may be a lil' cold. It's been a while since I made it. I can heat it up if ya need me to."
Jenna accepted the plate and immediately dug in. The meal was gone in a matter of seconds.
"I'm glad to see my clothes fit ya. I was worried they'd be too loose, but they fit you well enough." She took Jenna's empty plate and went to wash it off in the sink. "You didn't wanna wear the ribbons?"
"No," Jenna snapped. She felt a pang of guilt at the surprised look on Al's face after her angry reaction, but it passed soon enough.
"Well," Al continued, only a tad subdued. "I needa go see my husband's sistah today. I'm always happy for company. Care to join me?"
Jenna considered this for a moment. As skeptical as she was of this woman's hospitality, she didn't want to take advantage of it by stealing her clothes. If Al left, though, she'd probably kick Jenna out of the house until she returned. She highly doubted she would be able to find her way back to this place. All in all, she didn't really have much of a choice.
"I guess."
"Great." Al beamed and threw her hair up into some messy arrangement of rubber bands and pins that kept it all off her neck. She snatched up a basket filled with unknown items that sat near the door and were off.
It took a little less than half an hour to make their trek to this Sarah's house. On the way, Al took enough time to explain that Sarah was David and Les' older sister and she was living with her parents. She visited the Newsboys Lodge often and was apparently also pretty close friends with them. Once she had finished explaining that, they fell into a somewhat companionable silence. Jenna tried to memorize the streets as they wove their way through the city, but it was basically pointless. It was too much of a maze for her.
Finally, they reached the apartment building indicated as Sarah's and climbed up the stairs to the top floor. Jenna went intentionally slower because she could tell that Al was getting frustrated with her own inability to get up the stairs as easily as she used to. When they reached the top, she was out of breath but trying to pretend like she wasn't. She breathed heavily through her nose, regardless.
She moved to the doorway and knocked. Jenna moved to stand beside her, suddenly feeling a bit nervous about meeting someone else new.
The door opened to reveal a woman not much older than Al. She had a round face and light brown eyes and her smile lit up her face when she saw Al. There wasn't a single scar on this girl's face. Like Al, she had her hair up, but it was much tidier and her hair color itself was much lighter than that of her friend. She was altogether beautiful.
Jenna could immediately see the resemblance between she and her brothers, especially Les.
"It's good to see you, Al. You look great." Sarah leaned through the doorway to wrap her pregnant friend in a warm hug. She pulled away and moved to open the door further. "Come on in. Who's your friend?"
"Sarah, this is Jenna. Jenna, Sarah." Al answered before stepping through the threshold. Jenna followed quietly, offering Sarah a nod. "Runner and Les helped 'er out yesterday aftah some o' Jett's boys tried to rough 'er up. She needed a place to stay, so they brought her to us."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Jenna."
Again, she offered only a nod. She was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable. She wished she had stayed at the house or nearby. She could probably find it again. It couldn't be that hard. Only now it would be near impossible, even if she could think of an excuse for leaving.
Sarah poured them each tall glasses of lemonade while Al found her seat on the couch. Jenna followed, seating herself on the opposite end of the couch and doing her best to resist the urge to draw her knees up to her chest. She knew Sarah wouldn't want boots on her couch, but it was hard to keep herself from it. Sitting that way made her feel safer, more protected. For some inexplicable reason, she felt incredibly vulnerable right now.
She was glad the angle gave her a wide view of the room, though. She could see every movement Al and Sarah made and every doorway.
Al was silently watching her and it made Jenna want to squirm. She could feel the older girl studying her, trying to figure her out. But she didn't want to be figured out; she wanted to be left in peace. She didn't need anyone. She was fine on her own.
Jenna decided she didn't care whether it would offend Sarah anymore. She slipped off her boots and pulled her legs up, instantly feeling better about having herself guarded in even that small way. She smoothed her skirt down for modesty and silently dared Sarah to say something about it.
She didn't.
When she entered the room, Al was still watching Jenna with an unreadable look in her eye. Sarah handed each of them their drink with a small smile before sitting down in the chair across from Al, giving Jenna her space. She appreciated the thought.
"So, anything new since I last saw you?" Sarah asked, sipping at her lemonade like a regular lady. Jenna wasn't sure whether she as impressed or disgusted. She took a good gulp from her lemonade for good measure.
"Well," Al hedged, suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable. "I did find out somethin' pretty big this mornin'."
Sarah didn't seem to notice her friend's discomfort. "What was that?"
"Jack's comin' back," she said quietly.
Every bit of color drained from Sarah's face and her smile vanished.