This fanfic contains a lot of swearing, smoking, violence and various other mature themes.
All characters are the property of Rebecca Sugar and Cartoon Network, except for Erica and Parker.
This fanfic is written from the perspective of E. K. Brooks.
Chapter 14: Connie
I was walking across the square where the bus had stopped. I was on my way to the fry shop to get something to eat. It had taken me ten minutes of slow walking to get this far. Something bumped my shoulder and I stumbled off the gravel and onto the grass as a bunch of people rushed past me on bikes, laughing.
"Watch where you're going asshole!" I snapped as I tried to regain my balance.
"Why don't you keep out of my way, you fucking weirdo!" a boy in his early teens shouted cockily over his shoulder. He and his two friends laughed as they rode off down the street.
The nerve! If my leg was better I would have set off after them and given them a piece of my mind and probably a black eye or two. Fucking asshats! Didn't they see I was walking with a fucking crutch?!
"Jesus fucking Christ!" I grumbled, appalled. There was no one else around so I had no witnesses to this incident and no one to back me up if they were gonna come back. I hobbled toward the boardwalk. At least there would be someone there.
I made it to the fry shop and sat down at a table. The young boy who I had met when I arrived gave me a menu.
"Oh, hi again" he said. "Did you find who you were looking for the other day?"
"Yes. Yes, I did, thanks"
"Sorry I couldn't be more help"
"It's alright"
"I'll give you a minute to look over the menu, would you like a drink while you decide?"
"Yes, please. Mega porp with ice"
"Coming right up" he said in a bored voice and strolled off.
When he came back I ordered a plate of fries with garlic sauce on the side. To my surprise it only took a few minutes before he was back with the food, even if I was the only customer in the place. I forced myself to eat slowly, my mind still seething from being bumped into by those little assholes. The fries were really good and eased my mood a bit. I paid for my meal and started to walk back to the house, feeling like I needed a nap. When I reached the square again I saw a girl sitting on a bench, reading. The kid who had bumped into me was sneaking up behind her. Before I could call out, he had grabbed the drink standing next to her on the bench and poured it all over her head.
"Got nothing better to do than to read, you fugly bookworm? You're at the beach! At least now you're wet!" he and his friends laughed as the girl spluttered and jumped away from them.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I shouted and quickened my pace. "Leave her alone you little shit!"
"Oh it's the weirdo" he said with a lazy grin. "Watch out or I'll shove that cane up your ass!"
"Are you retarded?! That would explain a lot!" his face purpled at my words.
"You can't talk to me like that; I'm the mayor's nephew!"
"Good! Then I know who to talk to about your bullshit behavior! Now either apologize or fuck the hell off!" they got on their bikes and rode away, screaming insults at me. I reached the girl in a few seconds.
"Hey, you OK kid?"
"Y-yeah I think so… My phone…" It was sopping wet. "Oh no!" She picked up the soggy purple stained book. She started crying, apparently more upset about the book than the phone.
'Oh wow, OK, tears' I thought. My first instinct was to offer a hug, but I couldn't go around hugging random children, I'd get arrested. I dug around in my pocket.
"Here" I handed her a napkin "It's alright, they're gone" I said softly.
"No it's not! I'm never going to be able to replace it!" she wailed.
"Oh…" she was talking about her book. "I-is it a first edition or something?" an icy chill went down my spine at the thought.
"No… It was signed…" a shard of glass pierced my heart. One of my most prized possessions was a signed hard book copy of 'Night watch' by Terry Pratchett. If anything would happen to that I'd be devastated. It wasn't just an object – it was a precious, precious memory. I had met my idol the year before he died. I had been tongue tied and teary eyed, but had managed to thrust the book into his hands and he had smiled with a twinkle in his eye.
"Is this your favorite?" he had asked me and I had nodded slowly. He signed the book with a practiced hand and I had managed to squeak out a "'nk you" before my best friend pulled me away. He had snickered at this little internal joke and my heart had soared.
"I'm sorry kid… Wow, that really sucks" I said emphatically. "Do you want to call your parents to come get you?"
"They're working… I asked them to drop me off early so I could read before meeting up with my friend… Can I call him instead?"
"Uh, sure" I handed her my phone and sat down on the bench. She dialed a number and had a short conversation before handing it back to me.
"Thanks…" she looked sad.
"What's up?"
"He'll be a while… He's off with the ge-, uh, his family…"
"Did you tell him what happened?"
"No… What he's doing is more important than that, I didn't want to bother him with it…"
"Oh, hey now. Stuff like this is important" she looked so dejected.
"Yeah, well…"
"Did he say when he'd be back?"
"Not for an hour or two…"
"Ah…" my heart went out to the girl. I couldn't just leave her here with a soggy book and dirty shirt. "OK, kid, here's an idea" she looked up at me "how about we go get you a clean shirt? Do you know anyone else in this town?"
"Huh? Yeah… my friend's dad owns a car wash"
"Let's go" I got to my feet and smiled.
"Oh, you don't have to…"
"Hey, I want to. It's ok"
We started walking slowly.
"I haven't seen much of the city yet, I only came here a few days ago"
"Are you here on vacation?"
"Hah… I don't know to be honest. Me and my…" what were me and Jasper really? "Uh, we have just started renting a house here"
"It's a really nice place, usually… I've never met the boy who poured the drink over me before…"
"He's a little tick, don't worry about him. He's gonna get his just desserts"
"Please don't make trouble on my account…"
"It's no trouble; it's just what's right. No one has the right to do that to another person. It was really, really mean and completely unnecessary"
There was silence. I felt I had to say something more.
"Bullies are often people who have been bullied themselves and the only way for them to feel better is to make someone else hurt as much as they do. It's more about them and their own insecurities than it is about the people they target. So don't take to heart what he said"
"So I'm not a fugly bookworm?" she asked shyly.
"No. You are a girl with a passion for books. And books are awesome" she looked a bit happier.
"Do you read books, miss?"
"Of course, who doesn't? Call me Erica by the way" she smiled at me.
"I'm Connie. What kind of books do you read?"
"Oh all sorts. I'm a huge fan of Terry Pratchett. I must have re-read his entire series like ten times now. I usually read fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, thrillers… Well, anything that's good, really"
"I adore fantasy! Have you read The Spirit Morph Saga?"
"I was a bit too old when they came out, but they are on my list. Young adult novels are for more than just youngsters after all. I keep returning to the Harry Potter series, I'm pretty sure I know all there is to know about the Wizarding World"
"My favorite character is Hermione Granger! I love how she is written!"
"Hah! She's my favorite too" I smiled "And professor McGonnagall, ain't nobody messing with Minerva McGonnagall"
"There's the car wash" she pointed across the street.
I could see the rear end of a rotund man digging around in a van.
"Hi Mister Universe!"
"Oh, hi Connie" the man said as he turned around. "Your shirt! What happened?" he looked worried, she glanced at me before saying;
"A boy poured my drink over me…"
"What? That's not nice. Are you alright?"
"Yeah… I'm fine. But my phone isn't working and he ruined my book"
"Oh no! Do you want to call your parents?"
"No, it's fine. They're working. This lady helped me out" Connie pointed at me.
"Hello" I held out my hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Greg"
"Erica, nice to meet you too. Do you maybe have a shirt she can borrow?"
"Uh, sure, I think so. Probably have an old band shirt that'd fit you, Connie, if you don't mind it"
"That's fine! I just want to get out of this sticky one"
He rummaged around in his van some more and pulled out a black shirt with purple writing on it.
"Here" he held it out to Connie "there's a restroom around the corner"
"Thanks!" Connie said and went to change.
"Was it bad?" Greg asked me when Connie was out of earshot.
"Some little shit head just walked up to her when she was sitting on a bench and reading, grabbed her drink and poured it over her. I shouted at him and his friends and they left"
"What an idiot! It was lucky you were there to chase them off"
"I passed them earlier and they nearly knocked me over with their bikes. It felt good to tell them off"
"Ha, yeah. Hope they'll stop now"
"Oh, I'll make sure. The bully is apparently the mayor's nephew. I'll have a word with him"
"Oh, gosh, really? He's a bit… eccentric, our Mayor Dewey. But he's nice, I'm sure he'll want to do something about his nephew"
"Good!"
Connie came round the corner, wearing the black shirt but looking disappointed.
"What's up Connie? You don't like the shirt?" Greg asked, looking a little hurt.
"No, the shirt is great. It's just… I tried to wash the book in the sink and it all just fell apart…" she held it up. It wasn't bright purple anymore, but the book was completely ruined.
"Oh boy… I'm sorry Connie" Greg said compassionately.
"Hey, if the author is still around, I'm sure you could get a new signed copy" I said, trying to find a silver lining.
"Yeah, she's still alive… But I have no idea if she'll come to Empire City again. She does do book tours and goes to conventions and stuff"
"If she doesn't you could send a letter, I've gotten books signed that way"
"Yeah, I guess you're right… "
"Was it one of those Morph Saga books?" Greg asked kindly.
"Yeah… It was the first one, 'Unfamiliar familiar"
"I think I've heard Steven talk about it… Isn't that the one with the girl who's a witch but doesn't know it?"
"Yeah…" Connie said sadly. Wait, had Greg just said 'Steven'?
"Hey, you know Steven?" I asked Greg.
"He's my son actually" I gaped.
"And he's my friend" Connie supplied.
"Oh my gods, really?" I laughed. "I know him too!"
"You do? Wait, are you the Erica Steven told me about? You came to visit and…" he trailed off. "You're the one who found Jasper?" his forehead knit in worry.
"Y-yeah…"
"You what?!" Connie exploded.
"Uh, yeah, but listen, she's different from before…"
"Yeah, Steven told me… But he's very trusting and always wants to believe the best about people… A-are you sure it'll be ok?"
"Yes" I said, my face locking into a very serious frown. "Look… You don't know her; you don't know what she has been through. I know what she did before, but she has changed since then. She's not working for Yellow Diamond anymore"
"Is she the one who hurt your leg?" Connie asked.
"What? No! She was the one who saved me from the shark!"
"You were bitten by a shark?!" Greg and Connie said simultaneously.
"Uh, yeah… "I answered uncertainly.
"Wow, a shark bite…" Connie mumbled.
"For goodness sake, sit down!" Greg blustered and pointed to a lawn chair closer to the entrance to the car wash. We all went to sit down.
"It's healing fine, but thanks" I said to stop Greg fussing.
"I'll get us some drinks" he said and went inside the car wash office.
"Does it hurt?" Connie asked me.
"No, but my leg is a bit stiff"
"Steven could heal you!" Greg said as he returned with three cans of luke warm soda. "He fixed my broken leg in a second"
"Oh, I thought that only worked on gems?"
"It works on everything! He made my eyes better! I don't have to wear glasses anymore thanks to him" Connie supplied, smiling.
I thought for a moment.
"Thanks, but I don't think so. I believe some scars are there to teach you a lesson… I think these ones tell me I need to work on my patience… If I had returned to shore and dropped off the fish I was carrying before I tried to untangle the net from the reef, the shark might not have attacked me at all. I didn't want to make two trips…" I chuckled, despite myself "Maybe they tell me I'm lazy"
Greg and Connie laughed uncertainly.
"It's fine" I said to try to smooth things over.
"What is Jasper like?" Connie asked after a moment of tense silence.
"Jasper? Oh she's…" I sighed. 'Gorgeous and has the sexiest voice I've ever heard' I thought. "She's, she's… something special, alright" my mind drifted back to last night and how we had fallen asleep holding hands. My cheeks flushed.
Greg grinned at me knowingly. "I think I know what you mean" he said.
"I meant, like, is she nice?" Connie asked, looking a bit red in the face.
"Yeah. She likes to sing sometimes, she has a… beautiful voice" I supplied, smiling like a fool.
"Rose had a wonderful voice…" Greg said, reminiscently.
"When did she pass? If you don't mind me asking" I asked Greg carefully.
"She uh… She gave up her form to make Steven. He has her gem, but he is half human. So, fourteen years ago. My, time goes by fast" Greg said, sighing.
"I'm sorry…" I said and Connie looked at Greg too, smiling sadly.
"He's so much like her" he said, smiling too.
"He's a special boy, alright. There's not a lot of people who would have helped an old enemy like that"
"That's Steven for you" Greg smiled proudly.
"Yeah he's pretty great" said Connie, her cheeks rosy.
I looked at the two of them and smiled.
"Thanks for helping me out, Erica" Connie said shyly.
"My pleasure, kiddo. I should be off, I'm overdue for a nap" I said with a wink.
"Do you need a lift?" Greg asked but I waved a hand.
"No it's just up the street, I'll be fine. It was really nice meeting you, I'm sure we'll see each other around" I stood up to leave and the two of them said 'Nice to meet you too' and waved as I walked across the street.