Disclaimers: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters. I do own Emily's friend Audrie.
Spoilers: None as of yet.
Rating: T for recount of child abuse.
Trigger Warning: Recounts of child abuse resulting in the death of a child. Here in the first part, Audrie talks of past of abuse on her and her baby sister. Please do not read if this is a trigger. I will have it marked so you guys can get passed it and continue on reading.
Note: Last chapter was a school chapter, so now we have a weekend/summer chapter.
Noon. August 4th, 1990.
James, Emily and JJ are on their way to Audrie's house to pick her up so she can spend the with Jenny and Emily. James pulls up to her house, and Emily tells JJ to stay put before going to the door. She knocks and soon Audrie appears and the two run back to the car.
"All right, girls, you know the rules. McDonald's and the grocery store only. You have for lunch, right, Em?" James says as he pulls into the parking lot of McDonald's. The girls are going to have lunch at McDonald's, go to the store to get some ingredients for the pizzas, and then they will call James to come pick them up.
"Yes, Dad. I have the money for lunch and the pizza ingredients."
"Alright. Here is some change for the pay phone. It is to be used only for the pay phone." After that, James pulls off and the girls go inside the McDonald's.
"Okay, Adie, you go order and I'll take JJ to the playroom. Be sure to get two cheeseburgers, and a Happy Meal and some tokens for JJ." Audrie nods and goes to order. She comes back a few minutes later to the playroom with a tray and hands out the food.
"Okay, JJ, go and get us some drinks. But remember, be extra careful and don't spill them." JJ nods excitedly, loving that she is 'grown up' enough to go and get the drinks. Since August of last year, the little girl grew the extra inches she needs to be able to reach the fountain drinks.
She comes back and they begin eating. Emily and Audrie enjoy their cheeseburgers while JJ eats her six McNuggets and then plays with her toy.
"Emmy, can I have some tokens now, please?" Emily hands them to her with the reminder to pace herself and not use them all at once. She only has ten, and each ride takes two each. "I know, Emmy. I'm gonna play with two now, then I'm gonna climb some, then I'll use the rest! That way they will last longer. That's what sissy says to me and El and Brea when Momma brings us here!"
"Okay, bug. Go on, you have about ten minutes. Then we need to head to the store."
"Okay!" JJ runs off and Emily turns back to Audrie.
***"So?" She says.
"So what?" Audrie says back, knowing what Emily is asking about.
"You know what, Adie. I saw her car. You know she isn't supposed to be around. What was she doing there?"
Audrie is quiet for what seems like forever, and just when Emily thinks she is going to ignore her, she finally answers. But isn't the answer Emily was wanting. "Em," Audrie sighs. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?"
"Come on, Adie. Just answer the question. I know you. I know you miss her, but she hurt you, don't you remember that? Don't you remember how-" Audrie cuts her off, and she immediately regrets asking the questions.
"Do I remember? Do I remember? Really, Em? Of course I remember!" She shouts halfway causing another couple to look at the two girls. She gives them an apologetic look and turns back to Emily, lowering her voice.
"Of course I remember, Emily. I remember being terrified for my life as I lay there and she beat me. I remember, before that, my baby sister wanting some milk in her sippy cup. I remember her not being old enough to know that she wasn't supposed to ask for things. I remember my mom yelling her, making her cry because she didn't understand why mommy was mad."
Audrie takes a deep breath. "I remember her trying her very best to get the milk out and pour it by herself. But her little arms just weren't strong enough. I remember my mom yelling at her some more, before she began to hit her. I remember begging my mother to hit me, not baby Hope." She takes a breath before she continues.
"And lastly, Emily, I remember my baby sister looking up at me, her eyes full of fear, pain, and confusion. Fear, because she had never seen our mother so mad. Pain, because it was the first beating her little four-year-old body had experienced, and confusion, because she just didn't understand why mommy had been so mad her at her. And I remember…I remember her telling me 'sissy, I feel cold.'" This is where her voice breaks, and Emily has to blink away her own tears. "And then, I remember her little body breathing her last breath."
"So, yes, I do remember. Don't you ever think otherwise. My mother was there to try and talk to me. That's why her car was at my house. She wanted to tell me all about how she has thought of nothing but what she did, and that day Hope died. She wanted to say sorry, and ask for my forgiveness. But like a smart, logical person would do, I told her to get the hell away from me, and that I didn't want to ever see her again. Then you knocked, and we left and now here we are." Audrie turns from her then, and Emily decides to drop the subject. Even though Audrie was talking in whisper, she still doesn't know if anyone else heard her.***
After lunch, the girls walk over to the grocery store. They go in and immediately begin gathering the stuff for the pizzas. Then they head to the candy isle to get some candy for the crazy candy pizza they are going to try.
"Okay, what kind of pizza are we going to make with the candy?" Emily asks.
"Chocolate!" JJ says as Audrie chimes in with, "Gummies."
"All right, we can do half and half. Audrie, you go and get the gummies, make sure you get gummy bears for me, and JJ, you can get three kinds of chocolate. Okay?"
"Okay!" The girls separate and come back a few minutes later. Audrie gets gummi bears, worms and gummy hamburgers. JJ gets a Hershey bar, M&Ms, and skittles.
"We can do half with the gummy bears, worms, and hamburgers," Audrie explains. "Then JJ can put pieces of the Hershey bars and M&Ms on the other half. We can put the skittles all over it and that can be the candy pizza."
"It's gonna be yummy!" JJ grins as she bounces down the aisle toward the checkouts. They head to the checkouts and pay for the stuff. Then they head out to the payphones.
"All right, wait here with the groceries. I'm going across the street to the payphones. Jenny, you are to listen to Audrie, understand? You stay here with her and be good. I'll be back in a few minutes." The little girl nods, and Emily runs across the street to call her dad. Ten minutes later, he shows up and they head home.
Back at Emily's house. Around 2:15 p.m.
After they get the ingredients for the pizza dough mixed and James sets it aside to rise, Emily takes JJ and Audrie out to her barn to see her horses and the bunnies James raises especially for JJ and her smaller cousins.
Emily has four horses and three foals; a brown horse named Brownie, and Brownie's daughter named Brownie Jr.
A solid black horse, who is very beautiful and named, Beauty. A solid white horse, this one a boy, named Snow, and Snow's daughter, a mix between caramel and white, named Chestnut. And another, this one a light brown and also a girl, named Carmen, and Carmen's daughter Destiny, who is also light brown.
Emily goes over to Beauty's stall and enters with Audrie behind her. "Hey there, girl." She says, petting the horse's mane.
"Adie, do you wanna ride her? I'll get Snow, and we can ride them around the stable outside." Audrie nods and the two begin gearing up. Once they have everything, Audrie leads the horses out of the barn while Emily instructs JJ to stay in the barn where the rabbits are.
Then she and Audrie get on their horses, and start to circle the fenced in area that is beside and behind the barn. "Come on, Beauty!" Audrie shouts and clicks her heals for the horse to go faster. She and Emily are having a race, going around the perimeter of the gated-in area three times.
"Come on, Beauty. I'll make sure you get two extra carrots if you and me and beat Snow and Emily." Audrie tells the horse, and almost like she understands her, Beauty starts going a little bit fast. "Ah, yeah, there you go, girl. I knew you and I spoke the same language."
*In the barn with JJ*
"Hi, bunnies!" JJ squeals as she runs up to the little fenced in area where the bunny rabbits are. They have food and water bowls, and a little seat you sit on so you don't have to sit on the hay, as well as a little house James built for when the barn gets cold in the winter.
There are five rabbits. One solid while, one solid black older bunny, then three babies; one black, one while, and one black & white.
JJ creeps into the cage and sits down on the bench. She picks up the mamma bunny and holds her in her lap. She can't wait for Audrie and Emily to get done racing so she can show Adie her new bunnies. James received the family of rabbits just two weeks ago, and Audrie hasn't been here for almost a month.
The little blonde spent days on the phone telling Audrie all about the mamma and daddy rabbits and their babies. What color they are, which is a boy and which is a girl and everything else but their names. She wanted that part to be a surprise, and ever since Audrie promised today would be the day she comes over and spend the night, JJ has been looking forward to this moment all day long.
"Hi, mamma bunny." The little girl coos at the rabbit. "Are you happy to see me? I'm gonna show you and daddy bunny and all your babies to Audrie! She's going to be so happy to see all of you! It's going to be her very first time, so you have to be nice and not scratch her, okay?"
After sitting with the rabbits for a few more minutes, JJ hears the older girls coming back
"Good girl, Beauty!" Audrie says after she has dismounted. "Such a good girl. Do you want a carrot, huh? I bet you do. And I promised you a couple of extra ones also." Emily and Audrie lead the horses back to the stables and give them their treats.
By the time they get over to the rabbits, JJ is bouncing in anticipation. "Adie! Come look at all the bunnies! Aren't they pretty?"
Audrie smiles at the younger girl. "Oh, Em! They're so cute! Look at all the bunny rabbits!" She squeals, very unlike herself and making JJ giggle. "Oh, look at the little bitty black and white one! Oh my goodness! Em, look at da liddle bunny-wunny!" She continues in a baby voice, and JJ falls over in a fit of giggles.
"Okay, okay, that's enough. Audrie, when you're done acting like a goofball, I think Jenny here has something she really wants to tell you."
"Yeah! Stop being silly, Audrie," JJ scolds, hands on her hips. "I wanna tell you their names."
Audrie sobers up and playfully salutes her. "Yes, ma'am. I'm ready to learn their names, ma'am."
"Good, go sit." JJ continues the act, pointing towards the bench on the corner. Audrie sits down and JJ picks up a rabbit. "These two are Blizzard and Midnight -mamma (white) and daddy (black) ones-." She sits the mom down and continues on. "Then the babies are Onyx -the black one, Spot -the black and white one, and Vanilla -the white one!" JJ lists off, pointing to each rabbit or baby, before reaching down and picking up Spot.
"Wow, JJ. Those are all very pretty names. You did a good job picking them out."
"Uncle James buyed us these, Adie." JJ says.
"-bought, bug." Emily corrects. "He bought them for us."
"Oh, yeah. He bought these for us. When I am here, my job is to feed and water the bunnies! Emily cleans out their cage. I have to come over every day after school and do that." The girls play for a little bit more before James calls them in to make the pizza.
Inside.
After Audrie and Emily both take a quick shower to wash off the smell of rabbits and horses, and JJ changes into a different clothes, they gather in the kitchen to begin making the pizzas. They get through the pepperoni pizza pretty easily. It's small because everyone else wants cheese, so they make a smaller pizza for JJ that will cut into about four to six pieces.
Okay, everyone, I divided the cheese into three bowls." James says. "Make sure you spread it over the pizza evenly. Like this:" He sprinkles the cheese over the sauce. "and be sure to be careful and not get it in the floor."
"Okay, Uncle James." JJ says. "When we get the cheese and pepperonis on, can you cook it?"
"I sure will. Have fun, girls. I'll be in the den watching TV if you need me, okay?"
The girls spend the next few minutes covering the dough with cheese. They then gather the candy and empty them into different bowls.
"Now, Jenny, you can put your chocolate candies on your side, Audrie and I will do our side, and then we can put the skittles all over. Okay?"
"Okay, Emmy!" JJ picks up some M&Ms and sprinkles them on her side. "Like this, Em?" Emily nods, "Yeah, like that, bug."
Once they are done, Emily says, "All right, now, I want everyone to some skittles and sprinkle them over the pizza. Like this," She demonstrates by gently shaking her hands dispensing the candy across the pizza.
The other two try it and soon they are finished. They have three pizzas completely ready for baking. A pepperoni one, a cheese one, and one with half gummi hot dogs, gummi pizzas, and gummi worms and bears, and the other half with pieces of Hershey chocolate, M&Ms, and skittles.
Emily calls her dad and he comes in, sliding the pizza in the ovens. The girls play with the left over dough, using cookie cutters, plastic knives and their imaginations.
Soon the pizzas are done and cooled. The girls get a chance to eat in front of the TV, while they watch a Scooby-Doo movie, with the promise that they must takes their plates to the kitchen afterwards.
The conversation from earlier, the one about Hope and Audrie, is long forgotten. And after the movie is over with, when they should be asleep, the girls are under the covers of the tent they've made in the living room out of bed sheets, blankets, kitchen table chairs, the couch and pillows, sharing secretes, JJ getting a special invitation to listen to the tales of middle school.
They talk boys (friends only), JJ's soccer team, and the new bunnies in Emily's barn for hours before they fall asleep all curled together, JJ in-between Emily and Audrie like the two older girls are her protectors.
Here it is! Review and let me know what you thought. And if you want more with Emily, Audie and JJ. :)
Up Next: school chapter; Ice Cream Shoppe.
Then: Sleepover chapter.